The House of Cards

The Sidhé

                  

The Sidhé

The knock on my door startled me, as I was not expecting a visitor so late at night. I placed the book that I had borrowed from Queen Mab on the stump that served as a nightstand, and swung my feet out of bed and onto the warm wooden floor.

The Queen of Air and Darkness had been more than accommodating when we had asked to stay the night, providing us with rooms and a fresh change of clothes. The faerie fabric slides across my skin like silk, but it as warm as wool.

She had even allowed me access to her library when I had asked. I needed something real after the fantasticality of the past few days. She had happily complied, saying she too had a fascination with the works of humans.

I pull the door open to reveal Daniel, looking strangely casual in the hand-woven shirt the fae had given him, paired with the clean pair of jeans he must have pulled from his backpack. The hems of the shirt are a bit worn, but it fits him well.

A little too well.

"Hey," he says, tucking his hands in his pocket. His long hair is pulled away from his face in a tail behind his head. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

I eye him up and down for a moment. There is more to this visit than that, if the look on his face says anything.

"They put you in a room with Solomon," I guess, a small smile sliding across my features.

Daniel grimaces, cerulean eyes filling with annoyance. "Fates, yes."

I chuckle, and open the door a little wider, allowing him to slip in. "I could use some company."

He enters, falling onto the woven couch that sits in front of the roaring fireplace. It casts a warm glow around the room, bringing some life to the dark tree limbs that make up the walls of this court. I sit in a chair next to him, pulling the thick red blanket I stole from the parlor into my lap.

Daniel eyes the rumpled amber duvet on my bed. "Did I wake you?" he asks, an apology already on the tip of his tongue.

I shake my head quickly. "No, I was reading. The Queen has been awfully kind." I pause for a moment. "To be honest, I am afraid to go to sleep."

Daniel's eyebrows pull together, and he leans forward, clasping his hands and resting his elbows on his knees. "Why?"

The question is so simple, but I feel my lower lip begin to tremble. I have never voiced this fear to anyone before, not even my mother. I roll my lips together.

Four times twelve is forty-eight.

Five times twelve is sixty.

"I have shared dreams with Jack since my magic manifested," I say, voice soft. If Nidawi is right about these Fae, anyone could be listening. "Sometimes, he is lovely. Sweet, kind, concerned. But other times..." my voice begins to tremble, and my hand creeps to my throat, fingers dancing across bruises that have long since healed. "Other times, he is not. And it scares me to no end, not knowing that, when I fall asleep, if I will encounter a dream, or a nightmare."

Daniel is quiet for a moment. "Is there any way to avoid the dreams?"

I shake my head. I have tried before, to resist the pull of the dreams. It is impossible.

"The bond between the Fool and the Universe draws us close," I murmur. "We do not feel it when we are awake, and if we do, it is only a little bit. But we are vulnerable when we are asleep, and that is when it is strongest."