Moonways Pt 15

'Where' turned out to be a small, stately office; the kind that had been Victorian houses in a previous life, but were now usually occupied by solicitors or dentists or accountants. The particular set of stairs Lily limped her way up were fairly unassuming, but her heart thudded uncomfortably in her chest; she might has well have been walking into a pit of bears. In fact, bears would probably be less scary. She walked past a polished brass plaque on the gate post.

CROW ENTERPRISES

Now that was just tacky! She wondered if fairies bothered with last names in Fairyland. If they had palaces, then they probably had phone books, right? Not a word had been exchanged between the three since Lily had asked where they were going, and that included answering her question. She had snuck glances at her captors as they walked. The man was scowling, his hands jammed deep in his pockets, his eyes staring at the middle distance. The woman's expression was closed and carefully blank, but she too seemed preoccupied. Lily supposed they wanted to know what was going on with the Percontors as well, and she doubted they were consulted about matters of government these days.

The woman put her hand on the front door and gently pushed; Lily felt the air pressure change, as though it had grown denser. Tension crackled around the trio, and Lily realised with a start that they were both nervous too. She wondered who they were in the clan. If they were nervous about entering, they were probably not very high up. She had wondered what the king and queen might look like; she imagined stately gowns and lavish embroidery, or maybe soft silks and manicured fur? From what she understood, they had tried to use their position to rule the humans. She supposed they would be haughty and aloof in their finery. She wondered if she would have to bow.

The door led into a hall devoid of any decoration, bare walls smooth and unbroken all the way down to another single door at the other end. What is it with these people and hallways? She hesitated on the threshold, and the man turned to her.
"If you must be here, hurry up. Why are you so slow?" Without the spelled tongue, his voice was cold and rough around the edges, as though he had been at the wrong end of too many cigarettes and whiskey bottles. Lily looked at him derisively.
"So you're just now noticing that? My feet are hurt." The look did not go unnoticed, and his eyes narrowed.
"You should have said something."
"And why exactly would you care?"
"Good point. I wouldn't."
"Quiet!" The woman's voice broke through their heated murmuring. Sullen silence descended once more.
What a brat, Lily thought angrily as they neared the other door. The woman too. She was spoiled, he was petulant, they were both childish brats.

For a moment, the pair paused at the door. They seemed to grow straighter and taller, gathering the tension around themselves like cloaks until they radiated with it and it was suddenly uncomfortable to stand next to them. The damp steamed off them until they were nearly dry. Lily was left cold and soaked, but she was unsurprised. Then the woman pushed the door open, revealing a room much larger than the outside of the building seemed capable of. It had high, vaulted windows and was empty but for some spartan arm chairs and about thirty Fey of wildly varying appearance.

There were suits, and camoflage, and bright colours and sweeping blacks and green hair and red hair and shaved heads and pale skin and skin darkened by sun, but from what she could see they all had one thing in common; blue-green black tattoos of crows peeked out at her from every corner.

Before Lily could gather them all into her glance, they did something completely dumbfounding. They turned, as one, and bowed, then fell to one knee. Every single person in the room. It took a moment for her to realise that they were bowing to the man and the woman she had come with. They entered the room slowly, as everyone stood in stately silence. Seas of unspoken words washed around the room, but the silence was unbroken, and Lily felt a swelling of pressure inside her that filled all the empty spaces in her head until she couldn't think of anything but the impossibly beautiful pair in front of her. For the briefest moment, she saw a mantle of golden light about the man, and a pale, silver glow washed over the woman.

Then it passed, and the pressure was broken, and everyone in the room stood once more. Clarity didn't so much rush as it crawled back into Lily's head, but still, she was amazed. They had been, for that moment at least, undoubtedly the Queen of Midnight and the King of Noontime. Though most of it had gone, it still lingered there, demanding everyone's attention. When the former Queen of Midnight opened her mouth to speak, everyone held their breath, and Lily caught herself doing it too.
"Hello, kindred. It certainly has been a while."