“You don’t like the university?” It was better to keep Kailen talking about other subjects than have him give me more dancing instruction.

“Fae of the Unseelie Court don’t become fairy godmothers.”

“Why not?”

He raised an eyebrow, surprised that I asked. “Mortals destroy and plunder the forest realms. We don’t grant wishes to your sort.”

There are several ways to make your dance partner uncomfortable. I’d thought Kailen had already hit upon the major ones by pointing out I sucked at dancing and insulting the women of my generation. But no, this kept getting worse. “I love forests,” I mumbled. “I wouldn’t ever destroy them.”

Kailen casually pulled me out of the way of a passing couple. “You’ll have children and they’ll have children. Among your descendants will be those who would gladly destroy every tree and blade of grass for enough coins.”

What was I supposed to say to that? “Sorry. I recycle whenever I can.”

His dark eyes fell on me again. In the dim light the seemed almost black. “The people of your century no longer believe in magic. You think of yourselves as builders and creators, yet not one of you can create a tree. You fail to see the magic lying within every seed.”

When was this song going to end? As soon as it did, I would claim I was thirsty and escape to the refreshment table. “If you don’t like people, why invite us to come here every night?” His “feed the trees” comment still sat in my mind, worrying me.

Kailen didn’t answer for a moment, and I wondered if he would ignore the question all together. Then he said, “Doesn’t Chrissy know the answer to that question?”

“If she does, she didn’t tell me.”

Kailen twirled me under his arm. My skirt spun, making the material bloom outward. He pulled me back, recapturing my hand. “I suppose there’s no harm in discussing our trees with a girl who loves forests. Surely on the trail here, you noticed how poorly the trees fare.”

“They’re not supposed to be silver, gold, and diamond?”

“It’s summer. They’re supposed to have leaves.”

“Oh. Right. I knew that. I just thought magic ones were different.” I could tell I’d lost all credibility as a nature-loving person. But really, how was I supposed to know what time of year it was? I wasn’t even sure what continent I was on.

I gazed at one of the diamond trees near the edge of the pavilion. Small leaves lined its branches—the way spring leaves look before summer changes them to full dress attire. These trees were either stunted or behind schedule.

“The trees here,” Kailen said, “are only kept alive by my mother’s magic. She believes if her orchard basks in the air of lovers, the fruit will grow again. Every night the couples come and dance. Yet still, their fruit remains unripe and unusable. It’s a fool’s errand, this dancing, and we the fools for it.”

“You can’t fertilize them somehow?”

He made a scoffing noise. “So speak the fools.”

Okay, maybe I should have known that if the queen could fertilize them, she would have already, but Kailen didn’t need to be rude. I was just making conversation.

The music wound down and he dropped my hand. “I won’t venture to teach you more steps tonight. Practice with your prince and perhaps tomorrow I’ll show you others.”

Only if I didn’t manage to snag the goblet tonight. I curtsied in return. “Thanks for your help.”

Queen Orlaith and Jason strolled over to us, her arm linked through his. Even in that position, they didn’t look like a couple. The queen was too otherworldly too mature. She seemed to be walking Jason like she might walk a dog. She deposited him in front of me. “It will give me great pleasure to see you dance with your lady. Enjoy the night.”

“Remember to let your partner lead,” Kailen added to me. He and the queen sauntered back toward their thrones, moving with effortless poise. A fairy thing, I supposed. No wonder Kailen thought I was a failure at dancing. I couldn’t compare to his kind.

The music started up again and Jason took my hand so that we could waltz. “This place is wild, don’t you think?”

A good word to describe fairies. Wild and undoubtedly dangerous too. It wasn’t a comforting thought. Before the night ended, I had to steal a magical object from them.

Chapter 15

Jason and I danced for a few songs. I wasn’t any better with Jason than I’d been with Kailen. Worse maybe, because Jason’s leads were vague. He would move his hand upward, and I would think he wanted me to twirl when he actually wanted me to go forward.

Every time I apologized for messing up, he said something like, “Don’t be so uptight. That expression won’t go over well on camera.” Or “You don’t need to be so starstruck around me, babe. I put on my pants one leg at a time like everybody else—except for this pair. A butler named Archibald dressed me. I could get used to that, actually.”

I nearly told him I stopped being starstruck around him after he called me a wannabe, but I figured there wasn’t a point to bringing that up.

Every once in a while Jason asked me where I thought the cameras were or how the show had rigged up the sound system. I always shrugged or said, “Beats me.” Which wasn’t a lie, so my nose thankfully remained unchanged.

While we danced, Kailen strolled around the pavilion, hands behind his back, impatiently checking the trees for changes. Every so often he returned to the queen’s table to speak with her.

She sat in her chair, haughty and cat-like, sometimes stroking the vines that swayed near her like fawning pets.

A large crystal clock hung from the ceiling at the far end of the pavilion. I kept glancing at it, waiting for midnight. At eleven forty, Jason and I made our way to the refreshment table. He poured himself a drink then plucked a yellow rosebud from a platter and popped it into his mouth. “Mmm. That one tasted like caramel.”

I poured myself a drink and examined the platters. Besides the fruits that I was used to, bouquets of lilies, roses, and daisies lay across them. The blossoms looked real. “They’re candy?”

“Either that, or I just discovered the reason women like flowers.” He picked up a white daisy and bit off a few petals. “Vanilla. Not bad.”

I picked up a red rose, hesitating before I brought it to my lips. “What if this is like the story of Persephone, and we’ll have to come back here if we eat the food?”

“Who’s Persephone?”

“You know, the Greek goddess.”

“I thought this place was Renaissance themed. What are you doing in Greece all of a sudden?”

Jason was apparently lacking in Greek myth trivia as well as fairy tale knowledge. I took a bite of my flower because I didn’t want to talk about it anymore. The petals tasted like hazelnut chocolate, and were therefore worth six months of my life, should it come to that.

We stacked fruit and blossoms onto plates and went and sat in the chairs closest to the queen’s table. Just before midnight she snapped her fingers and a wand appeared in her hand. I had expected something ornate and regal, but it looked like a thin branch plucked of leaves. She tapped it against the box, and the sides stretched and bent backward like clam shell opening.

The golden goblet sat inside. It was smaller than I expected, more like a tea cup with ambitions than a goblet fit for a fairy queen. She placed it in front of her and lifted her hand to Kailen. “The elixir?”

He pulled a vial from his shirt pocket, fingering it reluctantly before handing it to his mother. “Don’t waste the magic tonight. No matter how you phrase the question, the answer remains the same. It’s time to ask something else. Ask what Queen Titania plots against you. Ask if you have enemies in your midst.”

No, I thought. Don’t ask that.

Queen Orlaith popped the vial’s stopper off and poured the liquid into the cup. The first bell tolled the hour. Midnight. Picking up the goblet, she swirled the liquid around and around. “Magic cup within my hand, make me wise to understand.” Her tone was pleading, desperate almost. “What more of love is now required, to cultivate the fruit desired?”