careful to keep her slow fury burning beneath the surface. For now.
Aliette shrugged, a casual gesture surely calculated to arouse anger. “I destroyed nothing. Your ability to throw wild accusations has increased, child. I’m impressed.”
“What are you talking about? Let’s start with something you can’t possibly deny: did you, or did you not, take Navin Sharma and hold him captive until I brought you the elixir.”
At the mention of the elixir, the queen’s expression darkened, but her voice remained level. “Oh, the human boy. Yes, I suppose that much is true.”
Donna couldn’t hold back a snort of disgusted laughter. It was either that or go crazy. Or maybe try to strangle Aliette right there in Mildred’s, surrounded by a dozen witnesses.
“So if that part is true, what did I get wrong? Enlighten me.”
Long, pale fingers pulled a silver cigarette case seemingly from thin air. The effortless show of magic made the hairs on the back of Donna’s neck stand upright. She shivered asshe watched the Wood Queen open the shiny case and pull out an unfiltered cigarette.
Just for a moment, Donna’s arms began to tingle—that newly familiar sensation that seemed to be getting worse whenever she was faced with something particularly stressful. After Ivy had left this morning, it had taken her tattoos a full half-hour to stop moving.
Thankfully, this time, the moment passed and Donna breathed again. She gulped in the coffee-flavored air and gratefully allowed the lingering taste to awaken her. The pain in her chest was no less, but at least she could move her fingers without having to worry about the tattoos spiralling around her arms beneath her favorite black velvet gloves.
“You can’t smoke in here,” she snapped at Aliette, trying to regain control of the situation. She shook her head at how bizarre it was; what the hell did an elf queen need to smoke for?
“Oh, this little thing?” Aliette twirled the cigarette between her fingers, making it appear and disappear as it flashed in and out of view. Her nail polish shimmered like rubies.
“Stop that,” Donna said, trying and failing to keep the irritation out of her voice.
“Stop what?” Aliette replied, opening her eyes wide and innocent.
Donna frowned, about to say something angry, then stopped. The queen wasn’t kidding. Her “human” hands were empty.
“How did you..?” Her voice trailing off, Donna figured it out. God, she was slow. If Aliette was powerful enough to hold a glamour this strong in the center of Ironbridge, then of course the cigarette case, the trick with the dancing cigarette … all of it was just part of the glamour. Fey magic. She hadn’t been able to detect it because her whole body was practically vibrating with the queen’s presence anyway. How could she possibly differentiate between what was real and what was merely created by the woman-thing sitting in front of her?
Taking a steadying breath, Donna knew what she had to do. It was going to hurt, but it’d be worth it if her plan worked. The iron in her hands and arms could affect fey magic, of that she was pretty certain. Maybe now was a good time to test that theory.
She slammed her right hand down over Aliette’s, holding back just enough that the table didn’t collapse. But she made sure the queen felt a good deal of her enhanced strength.
The woman’s face hardly changed, but Donna detected the tightening of her lips and strain around her eyes. In fact, the more she looked, the more she could just make out the shimmer in the air around the queen. It was like that strange effect you can see over the horizon of a straight road on a hot summer’s day.
Aliette hissed. “You little fool. If you break my glamour, how will you explain my presence here?”
Satisfaction seeped into Donna’s bones like a healing balm. “I can’t break your glamour, Your Majesty. I can onlybreak your concentration—but it seems like that’s pretty easy to
Aliette shrugged, a casual gesture surely calculated to arouse anger. “I destroyed nothing. Your ability to throw wild accusations has increased, child. I’m impressed.”
“What are you talking about? Let’s start with something you can’t possibly deny: did you, or did you not, take Navin Sharma and hold him captive until I brought you the elixir.”
At the mention of the elixir, the queen’s expression darkened, but her voice remained level. “Oh, the human boy. Yes, I suppose that much is true.”
Donna couldn’t hold back a snort of disgusted laughter. It was either that or go crazy. Or maybe try to strangle Aliette right there in Mildred’s, surrounded by a dozen witnesses.
“So if that part is true, what did I get wrong? Enlighten me.”
Long, pale fingers pulled a silver cigarette case seemingly from thin air. The effortless show of magic made the hairs on the back of Donna’s neck stand upright. She shivered asshe watched the Wood Queen open the shiny case and pull out an unfiltered cigarette.
Just for a moment, Donna’s arms began to tingle—that newly familiar sensation that seemed to be getting worse whenever she was faced with something particularly stressful. After Ivy had left this morning, it had taken her tattoos a full half-hour to stop moving.
Thankfully, this time, the moment passed and Donna breathed again. She gulped in the coffee-flavored air and gratefully allowed the lingering taste to awaken her. The pain in her chest was no less, but at least she could move her fingers without having to worry about the tattoos spiralling around her arms beneath her favorite black velvet gloves.
“You can’t smoke in here,” she snapped at Aliette, trying to regain control of the situation. She shook her head at how bizarre it was; what the hell did an elf queen need to smoke for?
“Oh, this little thing?” Aliette twirled the cigarette between her fingers, making it appear and disappear as it flashed in and out of view. Her nail polish shimmered like rubies.
“Stop that,” Donna said, trying and failing to keep the irritation out of her voice.
“Stop what?” Aliette replied, opening her eyes wide and innocent.
Donna frowned, about to say something angry, then stopped. The queen wasn’t kidding. Her “human” hands were empty.
“How did you..?” Her voice trailing off, Donna figured it out. God, she was slow. If Aliette was powerful enough to hold a glamour this strong in the center of Ironbridge, then of course the cigarette case, the trick with the dancing cigarette … all of it was just part of the glamour. Fey magic. She hadn’t been able to detect it because her whole body was practically vibrating with the queen’s presence anyway. How could she possibly differentiate between what was real and what was merely created by the woman-thing sitting in front of her?
Taking a steadying breath, Donna knew what she had to do. It was going to hurt, but it’d be worth it if her plan worked. The iron in her hands and arms could affect fey magic, of that she was pretty certain. Maybe now was a good time to test that theory.
She slammed her right hand down over Aliette’s, holding back just enough that the table didn’t collapse. But she made sure the queen felt a good deal of her enhanced strength.
The woman’s face hardly changed, but Donna detected the tightening of her lips and strain around her eyes. In fact, the more she looked, the more she could just make out the shimmer in the air around the queen. It was like that strange effect you can see over the horizon of a straight road on a hot summer’s day.
Aliette hissed. “You little fool. If you break my glamour, how will you explain my presence here?”
Satisfaction seeped into Donna’s bones like a healing balm. “I can’t break your glamour, Your Majesty. I can onlybreak your concentration—but it seems like that’s pretty easy to
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