My mates all had elemental-themed dishes, while the Fortune Fae at our table had decided on some items similar to mine.
And all around us were tables filled with different types of fae.
I loved it, this feeling of togetherness among the realms. It gave me a glimmer of hope that this Interrealm Fae Academy might actually kick off.
A spark of Winter Fae magic tickled my nose, drawing my focus out the windows once more. Fae magic still amazed me, particularly as I could sense the essence humming across my skin like a live wire.
The waves left behind a foreign kiss that called to my water magic. An icy swirl danced along my fingertips in response—one Cyrus responded to with a trickle of his own power.
My lips quirked upward in response, the sensation one that called to my very soul.
You like that, little queen? he asked, his icy blue eyes meeting mine from across the table.
I responded by increasing the flow of water around my fingertips, only to jolt as he matched my speed and took control of it with his own ties to the source. He was the Water Fae King, granting him unlimited power when it came to his element.
He sat beside his cousin Kalt, who was currently serving as a dignitary intern in one of the other fae realms.
Winter Fae, I thought, glancing outside for the fifth or sixth time tonight. They were the ones behind the magic here in Greenland because they used a similar shielding power up in the North Pole.
All those stories about Santa and his elves? Yeah, they stemmed from a real place. It had blown my mind when I first learned about it, and I was dying to visit someday. They were working closely with the Elemental Fae, mostly because they already resided in neutral terr
itory in the Human Realm. And they were rather kind, too.
Kalt leaned in to ask Cyrus yet another question, one my mate accepted with a contemplative nod before replying.
My heart warmed at the sight of their mentorship. I rather liked this nurturing side of my Water Fae mate. Although, it hadn’t escaped my notice that he seemed far more patient with Kalt than he was with me.
“Oh, so the trials have started, then,” Gina said from beside me, her voice holding a touch of excitement.
The water swirling around my fingers dissipated into mist as Cyrus focused on the Fortune Fae, his gaze narrowing. “Don’t do that.”
She blinked her soft blue eyes at him. “Don’t do what?”
“Play in the future,” he snapped.
“That’s akin to telling you not to indulge your affinity for water,” she retorted, frowning. “Does that mean I’m ahead? Because the path is pretty well formed.”
“It is,” her mate, Zeke, agreed softly, his blond hair flirting with his shoulders from the gentle breeze Vox had just conjured from the opposite end of the table. “But I think we might be in that timeline now, Dreamcatcher.”
“Oh.” Her full lips twisted to the side. “Right.”
“What trials?” I asked, confused by her sudden commentary. Of course, I rarely understood her random statements. The woman loved to talk in riddles and often didn’t make any sense at all. But we’d grown closer over the last few years. Mostly because we shared a lot of the same political motivations.
It wasn’t always that way, though. I hadn’t liked her at all when we’d first met. She’d been just as cryptic then, saying something about a dark piece that didn’t fit. A dark piece that had turned out to be a lot closer to us than any of us had realized. Alas, that was in the past now.
However, I’d strongly disliked Gina on sight because of her stunning looks and the way Exos and Cyrus had clearly displayed a history of knowing her. Fortunately, they’d only shared a friendship.
A friendship that appeared to be in jeopardy now as they were both glowering at the Fortune Fae.
Zeke cleared his throat. “Just because I’m blind doesn’t mean I can’t see,” he said. “Don’t look at my mate like that.”
“Okay. What’s going on?” I demanded. “Why are you all so tense? What trials are coming? Is this because of the school?”
A few fae at a nearby table stopped talking, their pointy ears all angled our way, my tone having caught their attention.
I wanted to smile and wave them off, but I was too concerned about Gina’s cryptic commentary to focus on diplomatic niceties.
Kalt cleared his throat. “I’m going to get another spritemead.”