Rebirth by Laura Hall

Author:Laura Hall [Hall, Laura]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Laura Hall

Thirteen

To my credit, Lucian didn’t have to drag me across the threshold. I went willingly, forcing my icy legs to move one step at a time. It wasn’t a graceful entrance, but it was brave. I figured that had to count for something.

The audience hall wasn’t actually dark. As soon as we walked a few feet within, light rose like someone was slowly cranking the sun to high. Marching toward a distant dais were massive stone columns, but if they’d once held a purpose, they didn’t now. Nothing was above them but sky, deep blue and streaked in places with gossamer clouds, the sun lingering beyond the western wall.

The air was fresh, the smell of the sea strong, and despite the distinct roar of waves against rock far below us, no wind stirred in the chamber. I knew, had I still been able to see magic, that a spell dusted the imaginary ceiling.

We walked across tiles that shifted color depending on the angle of sight, from seafoam to alabaster to deep oceanic blue. Soft string music played somewhere in the chamber, but I couldn’t see the musician. They might have been behind a column, or cloaked in magic, or beyond the raised platform ahead with its single chair and single occupant.

Manannán mac Lir, King of Eamhna, ruler of the Blood Court, Master of Storms—and probably a thousand other scary titles—was old for a Fae. Old enough that as we neared, I saw creases radiating from the corners of his eyes and around his mouth, the lines pale against sun-darkened skin. His hair was long and windblown, white as clouds, his eyebrows the same snowy shade, thick and straight over eyes that shifted among the same colors as the floor. His dress was casual, like he could no longer be bothered by vanity. A loose white blouse was open at the neck above well-worn gray breeches and boots. A thick gold pendant hung on his chest, a three-pronged spear that I recognized as a symbol of sea, fishermen, and a certain ancient god.

I didn’t know I’d grabbed Lucian’s hand until he gently extricated it to bow before the king. I started to do the same, then wondered if I should be curtsying, and ended up half bent over holding my skirts out to either side. The music came to a sudden, if expert, halt.

Lucian made a choking sound. Afraid to move, I closed my eyes and whispered out of the corner of my mouth, “Just kill me.”

A rusty bray pierced the strained quiet. Then it happened again, longer and louder. I couldn't believe it, but the more impassioned the sound became, the clearer the truth.

The king was laughing.

“Stand up,” whispered Lucian.

I swung upright to see the figure on the throne wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. As soon as he looked at me, though, he fell into another round of laughter. The sound of it grew more lovely as it progressed, losing its jarring edge and becoming full-bodied, deep and thrilling as liquid sunshine.

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