Read Online A Fey Harvest by Amy Sumida - Free Book Online

warm mist. It was opaque, like fog, but glistened like clouds in bright sunlight. It was a brilliant white but had an opalescent shimmer to it that shifted constantly from pearly pinks to cerulean blue.
    You probably think it was a full, fluffy affair, something from Cinderella or some other old Disney cartoon, but actually it was the most slinky dress I'd worn in Faerie, even counting the black number I had been wearing the first time I'd popped in by accident. The steam dress was meant to be steamy and create a steamy atmosphere.
    It clung to every curve I had, stretched thin as silk but much more fluid, starting at one shoulder and skimming down over my chest like I was emerging from a hot bath with the steam clinging to my body. It continued down all the way to my feet, where it pooled out, quite literally, to form a sort of liquid train that slunk behind me, clinging to the floor and probably cleaning the carpet as I walked. At the one shoulder where it started, it swirled up and around my face, becoming almost transparent, like a shifting, sparkling veil which trailed off into nothing.
    The fabric rippled every time I moved, releasing a froth of steam that made me look like I was constantly walking through a sauna. It had warmth but although there was obviously water involved, the dress was dry to the touch, very silky but dry. I ran a hand over it, yet again, watching the steam lift off of me and the material ripple out like I'd skimmed the surface of one of the hot springs in the Fire Kingdom.
    “You look smokin' hot,” Arach's reflection smiled at me in the mirror.
    “ Smokin'?” I laughed. “Very cute but seriously, this dress is amazing.”
    “ Well, thanks to our new pixies, you can have as many amazing dresses as you want.”
    “ So, no regrets over my stealing the earth fey?” I lifted a brow and stood up to face him.
    “ Regrets?” He laughed, “I haven't had so much fun in millennia. You've insulted the Earth Queen while somehow looking not only innocent but righteous, and brought us master craftsmen in the process. Why do you think I want to visit Air so badly? I was hoping we could find something else to steal there.”
    “ You know living with you is like living with a psychotic five-year-old sometimes. Now you've added kleptomaniac to the list. A psychotic, klepto toddler, that's what you act like.”
    “ What is psychotic?” He narrowed his eyes on me.
    “ Crazy, bonkers, lulu, mad, nutty, unhinged, flown the coop-”
    “ Yes, I think I understand,” he grimaced. “Are you sure you want to go into the Kingdom of Water with a lunatic?”
    “ Well maybe it's a lunatic I'm looking for,” I sang á la Billy Joel, and threw my arms around his neck when he only raised an eyebrow in response. “I wouldn't want you any other way.”
    “ And you call me psychotic. Wait... what's a klepto?”

Chapter Nine
     
    I've been to the Kingdom of Water only once before and it hadn't been a happy occasion. We'd been chasing a rogue Queen who'd tried to kill me and then to add insult to injury, she'd stolen my ring! It was okay though because she was dead now. At least I hoped she was dead because the place the ring had taken her to was a tad bit inhospitable for her kind.
    We'd taken our coach again, drawn by sleek black horses with red eyes. I wondered about them, I'd never seen a stables in or around the castle. I'd seen where the carriage was stored, inside the entrance cave to the right, but never the horses themselves. It was odd, now that I thought about it.
    “ Where do we keep the horses?” I glanced out the window at them and saw one of them fling its red-tipped mane, sparks flying off the ends of it.
    “ The what?” Arach looked confused.
    “ The horses,” I said slowly, “the animals pulling the carriage.”
    “ You mean the phookas?” He said just as slowly.
    “ Phookas are dogs,” I gave him my what the fuck face. “Those are not dogs, they're horses.”
    “ They're phookas,”