Prince of the Courts

Prince of the Courts - Chapter 10

An insistent buzzing broke through Seraphine's sleep, and she briefly weighed the relative merits of blasting her cellphone into tiny, silent pieces against the hassle of getting a new one. Reason prevailed and she pushed an arm out of her blanket burrito to grope around until she could snatch the bundle of annoyance and retreat back into the covers. When she saw the caller I.D. she considered sending it straight to voice mail, but given the circumstances of the previous night and her unusual house guest, she decided it might be prudent to answer.

"Lark," she sighed into the phone.

It was a short conversation out of necessity, and when she ended the call she pulled the pillow out from under her head and squashed it down over her face. This boy was an awful lot of trouble. She hoped he was worth it.

She wormed out of the nest of blankets and slogged her way to the washroom, grimaced at the impressive snarl her hair had achieved in such a short span of time, and then cranked the shower on.

When she was properly in order once more and dressed in a smart dark pantsuit she headed toward the kitchen in search of Sera and Rayce, fervently hoping that she wasn't about to walk in on them in a compromising position. Although I wouldn't mind so much with him, if I can be really honest with myself...

Rayce was curled up at one end of her couch, feet tucked under him, a blanket over his lap and a mug of tea on the side table. He was reading the well-worn book in front of him with a fierce intensity and didn't even notice her padding around the corner. She blinked and came to a stop. It was a rather endearingly domestic scene; she almost hated to intrude until she remembered why she was standing here instead laying wrapped up in her duvet.

"Good book?"

Rayce lifted his head slowly, eyes lingering on the page while he clearly finished the sentence he was reading before turning his enchanting green eyes on her. Good heavens, it's not fair.

"Oh, yes! Although, I'm torn between relief that there are still six more, and sadness that there are only six left." Sera tilted her head to the side questioningly and Rayce sheepishly lifted the cover of the book so that she could see. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

She kept an absolutely straight face and cleared her throat. "Where's Sera?"

He placed a bookmark into the novel carefully and set it down on the coffee table. "She's gone to bribe her friends in low places to find out what's happened to my family."

Seraphine lifted an eyebrow in surprise. Interesting.

Rayce pushed the blanket back as he continued, "I didn't think you would be awake for hours yet. Are you alright?"

"The Institute called to engage my services. It seems that someone uploaded a video of a mysterious Faerie warrior wielding a double-bladed staff against some blurry shadows in downtown Toronto last night. Now I need to go through the headache of wiping memories and laying down a tricky bit of magic to smooth over what people saw. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" She smiled innocently and then immediately felt guilty when his face fell. She rushed to continue, "But it's quite alright. I really only need a cat nap here and there."

A smile broke across Rayce's lips as he caught her pun. "Can I do anything for you before you leave? Or anything, really?"

"Bless you, dear, that's kind, but I had rather thought that I would do something for you before I left." Seraphine crossed to the bookcase in her sitting room and held her hand lightly over the third shelf, a pink aura pulsing faintly from her palm as the books there faded away to reveal a safe. She spun the dial expertly and then pulled out a while-gold arm bangle from within.