Dean laughs. "Good luck with that, Ari."
"Me? You could help, you know. He is your brother," I remind him.
"Yes, but he's much more susceptible to your charms, than mine," Dean says.
The healer leaves, and Dean follows her out the door, then stops before closing it behind him. "If you get too lonely, Princess, I'm just down the hall."
I roll my eyes. "Good night, Dean."
He winks at me, a mischievous smile on his lips. "Good night, Princess."
As the door closes behind Dean, I stare down at the man I love. He's pale, still, almost lifeless, but if I watch carefully I can see a gentle rising and falling of his chest. He's still alive. Healing, presumably. Safe, for now. I familiarize myself with his room, which is similar to mine, and use a remarkably modern bathroom to wash the grime and man-goo off me. Then I rummage through Fen's clothes until I find one of his shirts to sleep in. I don't want to go back into my room just yet. Not with the mess still on the floor.
Baron is asleep at Fen's feet when I crawl into the bed and scoot close to the unconscious Prince of War. He smells of pine and wood. His body is warm, but not hot. I place a hand gently on his abdomen and close my eyes. I'm not sure what I'm doing, but I open myself up to my magic, the way Varis taught me.
There, just at the edges of my grasp I can feel a trickle of power, but I can't reach it. Why can some use their magic here, but I can't? There is so much I still don’t know. I need to find a way to be stronger, better. I need to find a way to help retake Stonehill and save everyone from Levi's evil rule. I need to find a way to end this war and bring peace to both the vampires and Fae.
***
Fen is already up and dressed when I wake the next morning. "You should be resting," I mumble, trying to shed the cobwebs from my morning brain.
"I've rested plenty," he grunts as he shrugs on his cloak. The thick brown fur seems too hot for indoors, and I wonder if he’s wears it more out of habit than necessity.
"You were badly injured last night," I say, sitting up. "We aren't safe here."
Fen signs, then sits down next to me and lays a hand over mine. "It was just a scratch, and this is the safest place we'll find."
We lock eyes, and for a moment I believe him, for a moment I feel safe.
Then the bedroom door creaks open, revealing a fully clothed Dean on the other side. "Good morning, Princess… brother. Ready for another exciting day of guess who's here to kill us?"
"Too soon for jokes," I say, remembering the man-goo from last night. "Speaking of, I need a change of clothes. Last night's are ruined."
"Clothes are overrated," Dean says with a smirk. "I can think of a better look for you."
Fen walks over to the door and kicks it closed. "Go away, Dean. We'll be out soon."
"Such unkindness," Dean says through the thick wood. "And here I was, just coming to tell you Sly is ready to see us."
There is silence for a moment, then the sound of heavy boots stalking away. Fen tosses me some clothes from his dresser. "These should cover you well enough for now. Undoubtedly Sly will just transform them to something he prefers regardless."
"He likes dressing his guests, I take it?" I ask, pulling on oversized pants and using a leather belt to keep them up.
"It's one of the necessary evils of coming to The Black Lotus," Fen says with a frown.
I laugh. "There are worse things than nice clothing," I remind him as we leave the room and head to Sly's office.
Fen side-eyes me. "I'd rather deal with the worse things," he says.
The hallways are long, wide, and elaborately decorated with art and artifacts that look foreign to our world: A carving of a creature that looks half-snake, half-bird. A statue of a stumpy beast resembling both a turtle and a mouse. Not like anything I’ve seen in Inferna or Avakiri. "Where is all this stuff from?" I ask.
"Different worlds, different realms," Fen says. "Sly's a bit of a collector. It's considered courtesy when staying as a guest to bring something from your world to gift him with."
"Did we bring something?" I ask.
"Not this time, but we've given him many artifacts from Inferna."
Sly and Dean are sitting in front of a fire sipping drinks when we arrive. Sly stands, arms outstretched, greeting us as if we haven't seen one another for months, rather than hours. "So good to see you both well and refreshed, if so poorly dressed." He pulls out his wand and without another word, spells us into new clothes.
Both of us now wear the same regal costumes he put us in last night. "I'm surprised," I say. "I didn't think you were the type to wear an outfit twice in a row."
He laughs. "You know me well, already, my lovely kitten. But you had so little time in this beautiful ensemble, it seems only fitting." He hands us each a drink and gestures to platters of food on the table. "Help yourself to anything you fancy. I apologize for the unpleasantness of last night." His smile slips and his eyes glow red for a moment. "The Prince of Envy has some explaining to do," he says with a fair bit of menace.
Fen and I sit, with Baron at our feet. I notice Fen's glass contains a dark red liquid that I'm guessing isn't wine. I sniff at my glass, but it seems to be ordinary orange juice. I sip it cautiously, just to make sure.
"The Prince of Envy is my problem to deal with," Fen says. "He won't live long enough to explain anything to you, Sly."