watching the tiny drama unfold.
“Phillips was just telling Fuller an abridged account of what happened on the front lawn,” I recounted. “He was about to blow a gasket when Harris swooped past him and told him to calm down. I give him a fifty-fifty chance of blowing a gasket for that, too. Wait, you can’t hear that?”
“No,” Peter said, laughing through the word. “I don’t know anybody here. This is just weird. I usually know four or five people out of a hundred.”
“Don’t change the subject,” I said, turning back to Fuller as Harris finally managed to get away. “Why can I hear them but you can’t?”
“You haven’t noticed that you’re a little faster now?” Peter asked me quietly, turning his back to the audience. “That you can see a little better? Why would it surprise you that you can hear a little better? I don’t think the Fae power is changing your body, but it does seem to be improving your performance physically.”
“I suppose that makes sense,” I replied absently staring at the open door instead of paying attention to Harris and Fuller. It took a moment for me to remember them.
“You didn’t see what he did on the patio, Clifford. A human-fucking- elf-king just claimed a Breach of Hospitality on my front lawn and you say it’s not a problem?” Fuller said in a loud whisper hoarsely. Too loud, I thought, to not be heard by others nearby, till I noticed the privacy shielding Fuller had erected around them. It gave them a dull, hazy look and muffled their conversation so it should have been extremely difficult to hear them.
“No, Darius, I said I have taken care of that problem,” Harris said softly, absently smiling and waving modestly at no one in particular. “If they bring it up, we’ll apologize and discuss it. However, they were right. By all accounts but one, they agreed to compromise on all points but one until the situation got threatening. And we did threaten. We were warned off and we threatened again.” He turned to make sure he had Fuller’s attention when he said this. “ He reacted, just Seth.”
Fuller studied Harris for a moment then looked out over the filling room smiling at new arrivals he didn’t know like old friends from his college years. “What are you getting at?” he asked Harris, inching his way down the wall toward the front of the room.
“I mean that if Seth was serious about a breach then all five of them would have torn this place up until you were standing in the center of a half-circle in front of them. That was a display of power. Seth was saying, ‘yes, I am as good as you’ve heard, now back down.’ The big problem there is, Seth does not—and I stress, does not —like doing that. Big brother and the blonde kid seem to be teaching the other two in some pretty esoteric magic. Most of us can’t even see what they’re talking about much less manipulating. And rumor has it that Seth believes that both Ehran and Ethan are more powerful than he is. That was before his ‘coronation,’ though.” Harris followed him deeper into the room.
“So how am I supposed to be acting here?” Fuller asked nervously.
“Like you’re having dinner with anyone else you don’t know,” Harris said nonchalantly. “Just remember that they can see you. They are an extremely honest and forthright group of men and they expect that in return. Don’t play games and don’t be condescending. Seth will shove both of those right down your throat and have you smiling while he does it, trust me.”
Chapter 4
“Señor Florian!” I called through the room once I saw him. “You won’t be joining us here?”
“No , mi amigo, ” Florian said from two rows out from the dais and smiling sheepishly. “I have found it safer to observe from a distance where you are concerned.” Kieran laughed as the blush ran up my face, turning quite a few heads when the peals
“Phillips was just telling Fuller an abridged account of what happened on the front lawn,” I recounted. “He was about to blow a gasket when Harris swooped past him and told him to calm down. I give him a fifty-fifty chance of blowing a gasket for that, too. Wait, you can’t hear that?”
“No,” Peter said, laughing through the word. “I don’t know anybody here. This is just weird. I usually know four or five people out of a hundred.”
“Don’t change the subject,” I said, turning back to Fuller as Harris finally managed to get away. “Why can I hear them but you can’t?”
“You haven’t noticed that you’re a little faster now?” Peter asked me quietly, turning his back to the audience. “That you can see a little better? Why would it surprise you that you can hear a little better? I don’t think the Fae power is changing your body, but it does seem to be improving your performance physically.”
“I suppose that makes sense,” I replied absently staring at the open door instead of paying attention to Harris and Fuller. It took a moment for me to remember them.
“You didn’t see what he did on the patio, Clifford. A human-fucking- elf-king just claimed a Breach of Hospitality on my front lawn and you say it’s not a problem?” Fuller said in a loud whisper hoarsely. Too loud, I thought, to not be heard by others nearby, till I noticed the privacy shielding Fuller had erected around them. It gave them a dull, hazy look and muffled their conversation so it should have been extremely difficult to hear them.
“No, Darius, I said I have taken care of that problem,” Harris said softly, absently smiling and waving modestly at no one in particular. “If they bring it up, we’ll apologize and discuss it. However, they were right. By all accounts but one, they agreed to compromise on all points but one until the situation got threatening. And we did threaten. We were warned off and we threatened again.” He turned to make sure he had Fuller’s attention when he said this. “ He reacted, just Seth.”
Fuller studied Harris for a moment then looked out over the filling room smiling at new arrivals he didn’t know like old friends from his college years. “What are you getting at?” he asked Harris, inching his way down the wall toward the front of the room.
“I mean that if Seth was serious about a breach then all five of them would have torn this place up until you were standing in the center of a half-circle in front of them. That was a display of power. Seth was saying, ‘yes, I am as good as you’ve heard, now back down.’ The big problem there is, Seth does not—and I stress, does not —like doing that. Big brother and the blonde kid seem to be teaching the other two in some pretty esoteric magic. Most of us can’t even see what they’re talking about much less manipulating. And rumor has it that Seth believes that both Ehran and Ethan are more powerful than he is. That was before his ‘coronation,’ though.” Harris followed him deeper into the room.
“So how am I supposed to be acting here?” Fuller asked nervously.
“Like you’re having dinner with anyone else you don’t know,” Harris said nonchalantly. “Just remember that they can see you. They are an extremely honest and forthright group of men and they expect that in return. Don’t play games and don’t be condescending. Seth will shove both of those right down your throat and have you smiling while he does it, trust me.”
Chapter 4
“Señor Florian!” I called through the room once I saw him. “You won’t be joining us here?”
“No , mi amigo, ” Florian said from two rows out from the dais and smiling sheepishly. “I have found it safer to observe from a distance where you are concerned.” Kieran laughed as the blush ran up my face, turning quite a few heads when the peals
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