Delphinium, or A Necromancer's Home (TCoLaD Book 2)

Fée Funeral

~ Trisday, 1st of Aprilis, 11831 ~

It was dark when Pierre woke. At first he thought it was worry that took him from dreams, but he then saw Mora sitting on the edge of his bed. Her clothes were more smog than cloth, with a low-cut back, her great bat-wings displayed. She also wore a veil crowned with blue larkspur that stood out in her dark hair.

"There is a funeral procession coming," she said as he sat up. "One of your distant kin, I believe. You have never seen a fée funeral, and I thought you might wish to."

"I am technically fay, and even then, do not call myself such. Would I be welcome?" He did not consider himself fée, his late father and living sister were those who had been raised in Faery. Fay implied a more distant relation to the plane, like his cousin Eglė and perhaps even Ophion, who had adopted her. But anyone related at all to Faery, no matter how distantly or closely, could be called fae.

But he usually thought himself just human.

Was there a different attitude in Piques than where he had lived in Cœurs? He did not remember if it had affected his childhood much, besides celebrations and leaving offerings on certain days or searching for fairy rings. After his père's disappearance, the roi and reine had taken him in, citing that he needed a stable home and to learn politics, as he was a noble child and heir to a duchy. His uncle Ophion had visited when he could, still often traveling as a doctor to all who were in need. Then later, in becoming Lord Physician, Ophion was at the castle far more often, and he sometimes celebrated the festivities with Eglė and Pierre.

"You are son to a man that had been chosen and spirited away to their plane. His time there will have changed his humors, his person, for the rest of his life, and for any child he sired. Your duchy is the closest to Faery as well. There will be weight to that heritage even if you do not embrace it. You should learn." She crawled over to his side, her layered skirt disappearing into the darkness when it was too difficult to pull along and reappearing when convenient. "And I have never known you to pass up an opportunity to learn."

"This is most certainly true, my lady."

He got out of bed, beginning to change his clothes as she settled into the warmth his body had left.

"Is there a particular reason you are luring me to this side of myself? We have discussed it before, but never in depth."

"The royal land of Hearts clings to its humanity—did you never notice other students uncertain of being paired with you, or even professors wary of your gaze?" she asked. He had, of course, but never thought it had anything to do with being fée-kith. Such things were rarely mentioned in Cœurs. He would have thought it to do with status as princeling or even an aura about him because of the dark cræft he practiced. Then again, his closest friends were from the land where a misstep in the woods would lead you into a fée's domain.

"And?"

"As I said, you are fée-kin. They, and the keres, were the first true people of this land. You are no longer my suitor. You have passed your tests as a physician and are a lord of death, true, but only as a human man."

He stopped buttoning up his waistcoat to turn and look at her.

"Then there is more I could do?"

She did not answer, which in and of itself was answer enough. If the comparison held true, then it was easy to understand—he was a physician, but had not the experience of a doctor many years into his career. Now as a lord of death, and a fay one at that, the spirits may react to him in other ways. This was merely another beginning.

Pierre finished dressing in dark formal attire. This was a solemn occasion, and to offend the fée would be a terrible thing. When he looked over at her again, Mora was missing. A sprig of larkspur lay on his pillow.