The only good news was that people were legitimately happy to see the custodes. They smiled and waved, offering up food, drink, and lodging. One creature even offered her baby for a kiss. The custodes had been isolated for a long time, but they had not been forgotten.
We’d ventured close to the vampire lair, an area mostly ignored by the elves. The vampires obviously preferred it that way, but Romulus didn’t think it was right. Changes were coming, and I was pretty sure the vampires would hinder some of them. Then again, get in line. No one seemed to deal with change exceptionally well.
Reaching the lair had meant something else, too. I had kissed Darius goodbye, swallowed my heart, which had climbed into my throat, and tried to put on a brave face as I turned and walked away. My vampire crutch had been taken away. I sure hoped Emery was half as good at strategy.
That had been a while ago now, though, and we didn’t have much time before the battle or the ambush or whatever was going to happen when we reached the castle.
“Is it your bunions?” Dizzy asked Callie. They were walking behind me with the mages, while Halvor stoically kept pace with me. A circle of fae surrounded us, taking up the whole path, and for the life of me, I could not convince them to let me out. I had even offered to walk with the shifters. No dice.
“I haven’t had bunions a day in my life,” Callie replied.
He tried again: “Is it your secret bunions that you pretend not to have?”
“You know very well I don’t have bunions. Old people get bunions. I’m not old.”
“Not just old people have—”
I threw Penny a glare to shut her up. This wasn’t a conversation she needed to get involved in.
“I agree about the walking,” I said, watching as the landscape gradually became more floral. The trees looked too cultivated, like a kid had stuck a bunch of perfectly round green lollipops into the ground. Unlike in the Flush, there was no floral scent to accompany the rows of bright, multicolored flowers lining the gold-cobbled path. No lush feeling of foliage chilled the air.
“Is that real gold?” I scuffed the ground with my toe, not wanting to mess with the magic in case I screwed it up. This close to the elves’ home, they’d be sure to find out about it sooner rather than later, and it would be considered a serious offense. I didn’t want to add that to their list of grievances.
“Yes,” the woman to my right said, looking off into the distance at the spires of the castle. “They like to make a statement about the wealth of the Realm. They always have.”
I slowed and scuffed at the ground again. “Does anyone steal it?”
“Why would they need to? Everyone in the Realm is provided for,” she replied.
“Number one, that’s not true and never has been,” Emery said. “Number two, they most certainly do not steal it, no. The elves would hang you for that infraction. Or kill you in some other way, probably on display.”
“Stealing is a crime,” the woman said, and lifted her chin a little.
“Sure, if you get caught,” I muttered, watching my boots tread on the gleaming gold. “What a waste. I could make great use of one of those gold stones.”
“You have all the money you could possibly need,” Penny said.
“No, Darius has all the money she could possibly need,” Callie replied. “Reagan needs to get her own money.”
Dizzy scoffed. “I can’t see a blasted thing around all these bodies. But I’m sure you could take one or two and get away with it, Reagan. If you wait until there’s no one around, how would they know?”
“They’d do an inquiry, which is a very hostile way of asking questions until they find someone to blame it on,” Emery said.
“You’re familiar with how the elves do business, Emery?” Romulus called back.
“Very, which is why I am not overly enthused about heading to their castle. If I didn’t think this was the only way to clear my name, I wouldn’t go anywhere near this place.”
“Clear your name and help out a friend, I think you meant to say.” I glanced back at him with an eyebrow cocked.
“Are we friends?” A grin pulled at the corners of his lips. He watched the side, peering out between the press of bodies. “Penny seems to think you only tolerate me because of her.”
“Well, isn’t that a little self-centered, Penny?” I glanced at her this time. “You think my life revolves around you, do you?”
“It’s not like you have a friend factory you routinely visit,” she replied. “I doubt you’d give Emery the time of day if he didn’t hang around because of me. And he’d definitely keep you at an arm’s length. Admit it, I’m the reason you guys are in each other’s lives.”