The waiting was proving to be a form of torture all its own. Sitting in my room, my foot tapped anxiously on the floor as I waited for my summons.

It would appear the Queen liked to make her dinner guests wait. Something my stomach did not approve of. I hadn't received any more food than my fruit this morning and my stomach was beginning to rebel, demanding I find a kitchen and raid the fridge. Did Faeries even have fridges?

The sun had gone down about an hour ago and I only had a single candle burning in my room. A rap sounded on my door and a brownie appeared, looking annoyed. In its language it motioned for me to follow.

Standing up, I quickly checked my reflection. I'd gone for a simple blue gown this time, the top half was a corset style so it appeared more formal than the comfortable green dress I'd worn today. My hair was done in a tight bun, tendrils falling to frame my face. Mom had always demanded I learn how to put my hair up properly, always saying you never know when you might need to look your best. It would seem mom was right once again.

I felt a momentary pang at the thought of her but put it to the back of my mind. I had other things to freak out about right now; like a private dinner with a powerful Faery Queen. I followed the brownie through the dark corridors, which looked more spooky than comforting at night. There were too many shadows for creatures to be hiding in. Looking out at the garden, I saw the Oak tree standing tall, a dark ominous shadow in the night. Somehow I felt like it was warning me of what was to become.

We stopped at a large door, intricate gold leaves covering the wooden frame. The brownie went in quickly, I waited for a moment, my stomach no longer empty but filled with nervous butterflies.

The brownie reappeared momentarily, hissing in a strangled voice. "You enter now."

Nodding, I braced myself, slipping on my mask of calm as I walked through the door.

I entered another grove, smaller than the last few I had been in. Candles floated above and I tried not to stare in wonder. Clenching my shaking hands, I looked to the table.

The Queen sat before me, still as a statue. Though her body was still, her eyes followed me as I moved across the room, curtseying before her. My knees thankfully didn't buckle this time and I think I managed to pull it off without looking too much like a complete moron.

A brownie scurried to pull out my chair and I sat opposite the Queen. I hesitated sitting when the brownie took their time pushing the chair in. Annoying little bugger. When I was finally seated, the Queen spoke.

"I hope you're hungry, Lady Laila I've asked the chef to prepare my favourite dish tonight."

"Yes, I am thank you Your Majesty. I am thankful of your offer for dinner. I'm hoping we can better acquainted."

The Queen raised her eyebrows. "Do you, now?"

I bit my tongue, screaming at myself internally for saying something so stupid. Now she'd be asking me to tea parties and sewing sessions and who knows what other boring girly things that I hated.

She was still waiting for a response and I floundered. "Ah, I mean since we will be family and all that soon, you know, I guess I thought it would be good if we got to know each other a bit better."

Internally I shouted once more. Real smooth Laila, you've just left yourself wide open for an attack. The Queen reached forward and took a sip of wine. "If it is that important to you perhaps we should make this dinner a regular occurrence. Would once a week suit you?"

She was asking me but I already knew I didn't have a choice. It was either agree with her or insult her by saying I'd rather stay in my room. Of course if I stayed in there the brownies would just let me starve.

At the thought of the brownies an evil idea began to form. "That would suit me perfectly, Your Majesty. I shall look forward to it. I must admit I am rather curious, I ran into Lady Evangeline this morning when I was looking for breakfast and she told me the brownie's left it in your rooms yet, I have not had a meal enter my room all day. Could this perhaps be because I am new and I was simply overlooked?"

The Queen's eyes narrowed as I heard the brownies, scurry frantically into the darkness. "I apologise Lady Laila, it is not a common occurrence, I promise you it won't happen again."

Though soft, her voice carried an edge that the brownies heard, twittering away in their own language fear evident from their tone. I had a moment of guilt which quickly passed due to my increasing hunger.

I bowed my head respectfully. "I am most grateful, Your Highness."

"Well, now that the unpleasantness is over we can enjoy our meal."

As if they were waiting for her command, two brownies hurried out, placing our meals before us. It appeared to be a simple salad, filled with a variety of different leaves and fruits and berries. It looked more like foliage picked up from the garden than food but I wasn't about to argue. I had a feeling I would never see meat being served at a table in Faerie.

Cautiously I waited for the Queen to begin, as Kalen had instructed me. Once I'd stopped chasing him that afternoon and promised not to concuss him, he'd tried to explain what I would need to know for tonight's dinner. He spoke quickly, not giving me time to absorb as much as I would have liked, but so far I seemed to be doing everything right.

When the Queen took her first bite, I gratefully took a bite of my salad, surprised by the flavours it held from the fruit juices. It was actually quite delicious. Another bonus of being half-fae I had discovered was I could tolerate their food without pining for it. I'd once eaten some berries as a young child, not realising they were from the other side. They were my father's, he had a source who would procure him with Faery food as it was the only food he could eat.

Horrified my father had slapped the berries out of my hands, ignoring my cries of pain as he tried to make me bring up what I had eaten. Unfortunately it was too late. The next day, my father looked at me with surprise when I continued to eat normally, as if nothing was wrong. I remember him asking me if I was craving the other food. I'd shaken my head, still scared of his actions the day before. His look of relief though eased my fear and after that he explained why he had been afraid.

The Queen looked up from her meal, she ate slower than me, of course I hadn't eaten all day so I was using that as my excuse for eating like a pig. "I take it you are enjoying your meal?"

I nodded, trying to swallow what was in my mouth as I responded. "Very much, it's delicious, ah, Your Majesty."

The Queen smiled and I froze with my fork half way to my open mouth. In my head, a smiling Queen wasn't a good sign. She surprised me though by saying, "You do not always have to refer to me as Your Majesty you know. In private you can refer to me as Mara. We are going to be family after all. It will be nice having someone use a name other than, Your Highness or Your Majesty. I find myself longing for days when people knew me before I was Queen. Sadly many of those people are long gone by now."

Slowly, I lowered my fork feeling a pang of sympathy for the Queen, ah, Mara. I wasn't sure what it was like being Queen of an entire Court but I couldn't imagine it was easy. "If it pleases you then, I shall call you Mara in private but only if you agree to call me Laila."

The Queen smiled and I felt my eyes narrow. Why was she being so nice? I kept thinking she was like a gremlin or something. I wondered if she turned all evil when she got wet. Stupidly I checked the time on my watch, making sure she wasn't eating past midnight. Still early. Though I knew it was foolish, a part of me felt relief.

"It is agreed then Laila. We shall become close friends, you and I."

Uh oh. I didn't like the sound of that.

"So, I hear you enjoyed our gardens today with my son?"

"Yes, I did Your - uh Mara. They are very beautiful. I've never seen their like before."

Mara seemed pleased with my comment and took a sip of her wine, her eyes never leaving my face. There was something in her eyes that changed, sending a shiver down my spine. Feeling like I could use a touch of courage I took a swig of mine, my hands trembling and I managed to spill it down my front as I hurried to swallow it.

Flushing bright red, I stuttered an apology looking up to Mara. No longer was she at the table but beside me, the brownie who had been coming to help me, stepped back into the shadows, surprise on its face.

Well that just confirmed it. Even the brownies were freaked out by the Queen. Obviously she was up to something.

Touching my dress she dabbed lightly with my napkin, her hand resting on my arm. I started to mutter a thank you when I felt it. Something flowed through me, freezing my body to the chair. My eyes moved frantically and they came to rest on the Queen, her eyes now dark and serious staring into my own.

She was using her power on me. Dammit Laila she tricked you! Her eyes went dark black as they stared into mine, her hand gripping my arm tightly. Panic spread through my body as I stared unwillingly into the Queen's eyes.

When she spoke her voice was dark and commanding, laced with power. "Why are you here? Speak truthfully."

Unable to stop myself I responded, "I'm here to marry Kheelan."

"Why did he ask you to marry him?"

My panic was in high gear now as I tried to break free but it was pointless. I was completely in her power. "He said he loves me."

Her eyes widened in surprise and if I could have moved my own they would have been surprised too. What the hell was that? He never said that.

"Did my son offer you any promise or trinkets to marry him?" she demanded.

"No, he only offered himself. I wanted nothing else, our love was enough."

Okay some serious hoodoo was happening right now. I don't know how but I was lying to the Queen through her truth spell or whatever it was she was doing to me. Had Kheelan prepared for this? If so, when had he placed this charm on me?

For the next few minutes the Queen continued to interrogate me about her son. Many of the questions I didn't know the answer to and yet my mouth did, answering each one without fail. If Kheelan was behind this, I didn't know if I wanted to kick his ass for using his tricks on me or kiss him for saving my ass.

Eventually the Queen sighed and let go of my arm, standing up and returning to her seat. Once she had sat down, my body began to move once more. I found myself tilting forward and stumbled to the ground from my chair, head threatening to split in two.

The door creaked open, the noise ripping through my skull and the Queen called out, "Ah Captain how kind of you to respond to my call. It would seem the Lady Laila has been too eager with her wine and needs to be taken back to her room. Will you be so kind?"

"Yes Your Majesty."

I didn't know what was happening but I felt like I'd just done six tequila shots mixed with some vodka or something. Maybe it was an after effect of her power. I tried to say something rude to the Queen, against my better judgement but thankfully all that came out was garbled nonsense.

The world tilted as the Captain picked me up and then we left the small grove, moving to what I hoped was my awesome bed. The Captain moved too quickly and I groaned.

"Slow down please," I slurred, hand reaching for my spinning head.

"Be Quiet." his voice was cold and judgemental. He obviously thought I was just a drunken idiot.

Killjoy jerk. I didn't have to put up with this. Struggling in his arms I managed to slip from his grip, crying in pain as my hip connected with the cement floor. The Captain was immediately down beside me. "Foolish woman, stop struggling and sober yourself. You're drunken state is unforgivable, Kheelan will be most displeased."

Fighting back tears I pushed him away. I'd had enough of being nice and being treated cruelly for one night. Struggling to my feet, I tilted towards the wall, hitting it loudly as it supported my weight. Tears slowly slid down my cheeks against my will and I moved forward slowly, gripping the wall like a lifeline.

I felt a hand on my arm and I said through my loud sobs, "Don't touch me! I've had enough for one day. First you, Captain Killjoy won't let me learn to defend myself, then I have to suffer through that dinner with the Queen which was just some ruse so she could use her powers to interrogate me! You just believe what she says about me being drunk without question, which I'm not by the way and continue to treat me like a moron. Well forgive me but I can do that myself, I don't need your help!"

I wasn't sure how much of that made sense, much of it was mixed in with my sobbing but it seemed Captain Killjoy got the message. Slowly I continued my way back to my room. Each corridor seemed to go on forever and eventually I stopped, realising I had no idea where I was going.

"Dammit!" I hissed through my teeth. Slowly I curled onto the floor, happy to just sit there until I was able to move without using the wall.

Closing my eyes, I turned my head, the cool of the stone wall soothing my red cheeks and aching head. I don't know how long I sat there. No sound could be heard through the Court apart from my unsteady breathing. As I started to drift off to sleep, one last tear fell from my eye. It's descent was stopped by a calloused finger, brushing it away.

Shocked I spun around too quickly and everything moved in crazy hypnotic circles. A man crouched before me, hand still raised to my cheek as he steadied my trembling. The dizziness faded and it was the Captain crouched before me, emotionless as he stared at my cheek.

"How long have you been here?" I whispered.

His eyes moved to my own as he murmured. "I never left you, my Lady."

The fact that he had followed me as I stumbled through the court and then waited for my crying to subside shocked me from my stupor. I suddenly felt more alert, fully aware his hand still rested against my cheek.

Quickly I brushed his hand aside, trying to pull myself up with the wall. The Captain pulled me up by my armpits and steadied me. "Are you able to walk, my Lady?"

"Yeah,' I said quietly, too tired to start an argument with him. I could have nodded but just the thought had my head spinning again.

The Captain offered his arm and silently I accepted his help, folding my arm in his as he helped lead me back to my room. We remained in silence, the Captain probably because he didn't want to talk to me and myself because I was focusing on not vomiting all over my front.

Just as quickly as my drunken state had come on, I now felt like I was experiencing a hangover to top all hangovers.

Focusing on my feet, I asked the Captain. "Captain, do you know what the Queen did to me?"

He nodded. "It's a technique she uses to get the truth out of people. With a single touch she can make a mortal give up all their secrets. It works on you because you have mortal blood in your veins."

"Right,' I whispered, glad my nausea was beginning to subside. "Are the after effects always this bad?"

"After effects?" He sounded confused.

"Yeah, feeling like I've been on a one night binge with a hangover from hell."

"No mortal has ever described having this reaction before my Lady. Are you sure it is not the wine you drank?"

"Despite what the Queen said I only had one sip!" I snapped. "I'm no light weight buddy, I could probably drink you under the table, if you need convincing."

"I'd like to see you try, my Lady."

I heard the amusement in his voice and looked up to see him smiling, eyes still looking down the corridor ahead. I quickly looked away. A smiling Captain was a scary Captain in my book. Basically a smiling faery was a scary faery, I was beginning to find.

"Another time Captain."

We walked in silence once more, the moonlight lighting our way through the dark corridors. As my headache became a dull throb, we reached my door. I reached for the door handle but the Captain squeezed my arm, halting me.

"My Lady,' he hesitated, "I apologise for my behaviour this evening. I judged too quickly and in doing so upset you. I hope you can forgive me."

I waved my hand, brushing it aside. "It's fine, my magical drunken state played a big part in those tears. Also it's been an interesting first day in the Court. I'm just tired that's all."

I went to open my door but again he stalled me. "What's wrong?"

The same look appeared on his face again from this morning. His mouth opened and I tried to be patient but when your experiencing a really bad hangover, patience tends to go out the window. "What is it?"

I didn't think he was going to respond, sighing I began to turn around when he spoke, his voice rushed. "Would you please refer to me as Drake when we are not in the Court's eye?"

What?

"What?" I echoed my thoughts in a breathless whisper.

He appeared flustered momentarily as he said quickly, "I am happy to be known by my Captain's title but when I am with friends and away from the propriety of the Court I prefer people to use my name. Will you do me this honour, Lady?"

Too shocked, I nodded my answer, suddenly very aware of his hand holding my arm. A look of relief passed his face and he let go of my arm and I instantly missed the warmth.

"Is that what you've been trying to ask me all day?" I spoke suddenly.

He appeared surprised. "You saw this?"

"Wasn't hard not to see, you looked like a floundering fish, no offense." I added quickly.

He nodded, before stepping away and bowing slightly, formality returning. "I hope you feel better in the morning my Lady. My sister has informed me earlier on that she shall join you to break your fast. Is this acceptable?"

"Uh, yeah sure. The more the merrier." Secretly I was please to have someone I actually liked join me for a meal.

"Very good I shall inform her before I retire. Will there be anything else?"

"No, thank you."

"Good night then, my Lady."

He turned to leave and I murmured softly, "Good night, Drake."

His step faltered but he kept moving forward and I watched him until he vanished around the corner before I went into my room, hoping tomorrow would be a better day.

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