“Don’t apologize, child!” she tapped my shoulder playfully. “General, do you mind if I steal my Myrcy girl? I haven’t seen her in weeks.”
Myrcedes laughed. “He was actually going to come with-”
“No,” I shook my head. “I don’t mind a bit.” Myrcedes looked at me in confusion, but I merely smiled and nodded at her. “Enjoy your catching up.”
I enjoyed my time with Myrcedes, and I looked forward to more of it, but I needed some time to myself at the moment to process all that had happened in the past few hours, anyway.
19
Myrcedes
“Oh, you wouldn’t believe the state of things without you here,” the motherly wraith said as she carried the plate down the stairs to the kitchen. “Mercy, Myrcy! It’s merciless! Everything just runs smoother when you’re here. Oh, I know you have so many important things to do up there on Earth, I do. I still wish you’d abandon all of that important work and just stay here all the time, though.” She smiled playfully as we entered the kitchen, and I couldn’t help but laugh. Gloria reminded me of my adoptive mother, who’d taken me in after Minerva had killed my family. She was completely human and had no idea about the supernatural world I was now a part of, but she and Gloria shared the same cheer, love, and desire to take care of others.
The cook fixed me a plate of warm food as she caught me up on all the business in the castle. Apparently, Maluc and Hestus had gotten into an argument that had been heated for all of fifteen minutes before they were laughing with each other again. The gargoyle brothers had also been making an effort to be friendly to Kalian; as soon as she said that, I knew they were only trying to do so out of respect for my wishes. I’d asked them to keep him company before I’d left for my extended trip to Earth. Brayanna, one of the Daughters of Aphrodite, the club of women who’d taken up residence in the Moonstone Castle purely for the purpose of waiting around to fuck Daath and Syrion, had gotten caught having sex with an incubus in public on the grounds three times within one week, so as punishment she had to scrub the floors and the walls in all three of the rooms. Siena had been quite obvious in her attempts to seduce Kalian, and, apparently, he’d reacted as cool and stony as you’d expect an army General to, and I couldn’t help but crack an amused smile at that.
As soon as I was made acutely aware of every move everyone had made while I’d been absent, Gloria switched topics. She always wanted to hear about Earth, how it had changed, what people were wearing and doing, and what I was up to. I gave her a rather shallow summary when it came to the stories of evil magic and vivid nightmares, which was honestly all I’d been consumed with for days. Well, that and making coffee.
“Oh!” She clapped. “I gave Serriah that mug you wanted her to have!”
“Did she like it?” I raised my eyebrows in anticipation. Daath said it was the dumbest thing he’d ever seen. I wanted to let her know I was grateful for her help in the fae realm, but I just hadn’t had the time to do anything substantial. Clueless for where to find elf-related things, I’d happened to find a year-round Christmas store, and that was where I saw the silly old thing. I thought it was precious, but Daath’s teasing left me nervous.
“Like it? Myrcy girl, she loved it! She said she’d never seen anything so cute!”
I felt my whole body relax, and I smiled. There were obviously bigger things to be worried about at the moment than the reception of a gift, but maybe that was why the small victory came as such a massive relief.
After I was overfull of snacks, I excused myself to find Daath and Syrion. They needed to catch me up on everything they had learned from the council members and Serriah. Syrion sent me a message that they were in his room. I knocked on the moonstone door to his chambers. There were only three moonstone doors in the castle, one leading to each of our rooms. Theirs were across from one another, while mine was in an entirely separate wing. Initially, the room they’d given me had a regular door made of wood, but on the same day they’d gifted me with the purple moonstone throne, they’d switched out my bedroom door, as well. The cosmetic shift had no real effect on anything other than to serve as a symbol of importance, which mattered more to them than it did to me, but I appreciated the thought, nonetheless.
The pale moonstone door opened to Daath and Syrion, both sitting on a white couch. We didn’t spend much time in Syrion’s room, as generally the three of us congregated in mine, but it was beautiful. His walls were a light off-white color, so it wasn’t overwhelming, but I knew that white was a color that comforted him and always had. His floor was an ash gray, and the furniture was all very sleek. I’d never actually tell him this, but his otherworldly, ethereal bedroom honestly resembled something I’d see on Pinterest.
I sat across from the boys on the ottoman in front of them. “How did it go with Serriah?”
“Well,” Syrion nodded. “She’s doing her best. We’ll need to establish another solution soon.”
“I’d say it’s not our responsibility,” Daath interjected, “but seeing as how we currently have eight of their ten council members in our dungeon, we haven’t left them much option. The other two aren’t qualified to rule as monarchs.”
“What qualifies someone to rule?” I cocked my head.
“There’s an ancient form of fae magic that isn’t practiced anymore,” the onyx-eyed brother explained. “At some point, a few millennia ago, the
