“What about food from the I Scream Diner, where Emma works in the human world?” Bran suggested.
“Agreed—their burgers and shakes are the best!” Lachlan said, nodding eagerly.
“All right, then—I don’t know what that kind of food is, but I love to try new things,” Lady Isella said. Pointing at the cloth, she commanded, “Fill yourself with delicacies from the human eating establishment called the ‘I am Screaming Diner.’”
“That’s the I Scream Diner, Mother,” Lachlan corrected her, grinning a little. “It’s a play on words because one of the foods they serve is ice cream—which is like a sweetened, frozen creamy dessert.”
“Oh, well…all right.” Lady Isella shrugged and addressed the cloth again. “Fill yourself with delicacies from the I Scream Diner at once.”
The cloth was suddenly filled with everything on the I Scream menu from hot dogs to onion rings to cheeseburgers to the all-important “Best Cuban Sandwich in the World!”
As the familiar smells drifted to my nose, my stomach rumbled again.
“Oh my—that smells divine!” Lady Isella sniffed, her delicate nose twitching at the scent of the hot food. “What should I fill the flask with?” she asked us.
“Strawberry milkshake,” I said at once. “Uh, unless anybody else wants chocolate or vanilla?” I added looking around. “I didn’t mean to be rude, it’s just that strawberry is my favorite, but really, I’ll drink anything but coffee flavor.”
“Strawberry is delicious,” Lady Isella said firmly. “That is a flavor we have in both Realms as well.” She pointed at the large blue bottle and told it, “Fill yourself with strawberry milkshake at once.”
Immediately, the blue bottle filled with the pale pink concoction. It even made four straws appear, so we could all share.
Since it was Lachlan’s mom, I wasn’t worried anymore. All four of us dug in, passing the milkshake bottle around the table, and commenting on how good the food was.
At last I sat back with a sigh. I had put away a hotdog and a cheeseburger as well as some onion rings and lots of shake. I was full.
“That was wonderful,” I told Lady Isella. “Thank you so much for feeding us.”
“I’ll come again tomorrow morning if you like, and give you breakfast,” she offered. “My room is just down the hall from yours and now that Grund must stay one thousand meters away from me forever, I’ll have it all to myself.” She smiled happily.
“That would be wonderful,” I said, smiling at her. It occurred to me that if I picked Lachlan as my consort, she would be my mother-in-law. Which was a really weird thought—but she was such a nice woman! I really liked her.
Then again, I had liked Bran’s mother too—though I had only met her once. But she seemed to really care about him and I was sure she’d make a good mother-in-law too.
Ugh, why am I thinking about whose mom would be the best mother-in-law when I’m not even seventeen yet?
It was a crazy question—maybe I was only comparing my two guys’ moms because I found it so impossible to pick between them on their own merits.
Well, we were still together for now, I told myself firmly. So I wasn’t going to think about choosing any more tonight. For now, I just needed to try and get a good night’s sleep to be fresh for whatever Mad Queen Mab threw at me in the morning.
“What do you think we should expect tomorrow?” I asked, as I saw Lady Isella to the door.
She frowned speculatively.
“Not too much during the day, I wouldn’t think,” she said. “But tomorrow she’ll call for a banquet and declare that it’s time for you to choose between the Winter and the Summer Courts. Don’t be fooled though…” She raised a finger at me in warning. “It’s just an excuse to get you near enough to try her siphoning spell on you. You must have your magical guard up and don’t let her take a single drop of your youth or beauty. After the banquet is over, you can safely declare your choice and return to the Summer Court and she won’t be able to stop you.”
“All right.” I nodded. It sounded easy enough, though I would have to ask Lachlan to help me work up some kind of magical shield to keep myself safe from the siphoning spell. Still, remembering the vast river of power so close by, I was confident I could protect myself.
“I want you to know, I understand that you’ll have to choose the Summer Court and Bran as your consort, my dear,” Lady Isella added.
“I haven’t made up my mind yet,” I protested. “I need both Bran and Lachlan right now!
“I know, but eventually you must choose between them and the two courts and you cannot want to live in a place where there is so much danger.” She looked sad. “I would wish to have you for my boy, but you cannot choose Lachlan without also choosing the Winter Court and Queen Mab will never give over her power. So you must take the Summer Court, where Queen Elia will care for you instead of trying to kill you.”
I knew it sounded like a straightforward choice but it wasn’t so black and white to me. Despite Mad Queen Mab and her hold over the Winter Court, I couldn’t bring myself to abandon Lachlan.
“Your son took a geas off me and paid a terrible amount of pain to do it,” I told Lady Isella. “He has stood by me through thick and thin—I don’t love him any less than Bran.”
“You’re a sweet girl.” She sighed and patted my cheek. “I’ll be sorry never to see you again, when you leave for the Summer Court.”
“You’ll see me again no matter who I choose,” I said firmly. “You’re out of your bad, er, marriage now.” (Had it been a marriage? More like a years-long abduction, I thought.) “You’re free now,” I went on. “So why shouldn’t you come back to the Summer Court, too? You and Lachlan both?”
“Oh, I’m afraid we wouldn’t be welcome there, my dear.” Lady Isella shook her head sadly. “I will be looked down on as ‘used goods’ because of what happened with Lachlan’s father and my son would be viewed as inferior because he is only half Fae.”
I remembered how the Fae of the Summer Court had whispered about me and Lachlan and the way the Fae at Nocturne were so nasty to him, too. She was right—but I didn’t care.
“I don’t care about that,” I said stubbornly. “You come back to the Summer Court and you’ll sit beside me every single meal and be one of my, uh—does the Princess get ladies in waiting or is that only the queen?”
She smiled at me.
“The princess is permitted ladies in waiting, if she so desires.”
“Good. Right.” I lifted my chin. “So you’ll be one of my ladies in waiting and then we’ll see who dares to say nasty things about you and Lachlan! If they’re rude to you, they’ll be being rude to me too and I will make it very clear that I won’t tolerate that!”
Lady Isella laughed with delight.
“Oh, my dear—you remind me so much of your mother! She couldn’t stand injustice either. She was always fighting for those who were weaker than her. Very well…” She smiled. “Either way, I will be happy to take you up on your offer. But for now, you must get some sleep. I fear tomorrow will not be uneventful.”