The Summer Court

Chapter Fifteen

Elsine had slipped through the kitchen easily. No one questioned what she was doing or where she was going. As a child, she would come down often and beg for fresh pastry from Terwyn. This was a continued tradition even now that the princess came down to the kitchen to ask for sweets fairly often. It aided her to sleep or relax, and the help never asked questions. Today was no different as she padded gracefully through the busy kitchen, asking one of the chefs for two of whatever sweets they could spare. They sent her off with two sweet rolls filled with apple and dusted in cinnamon wrapped in a cheesecloth.

Elsine hurried across the grounds toward the stables; she didn't have much time now. Not after Kannon had caught her. Her cheeks flamed remembering the way he had looked at her when he spoke of perusing the art. Pushing the memory away she hoped the flush in her cheeks would disappear quickly.

The grounds were busy today, hedges were being trimmed, plants watered, and the white gravel of the pathways was being perfected. Heads bowed respectfully as she passed and Elsine tried her best to slow her steps to curtsey and smile at the people who kept her court functioning. One of the older stable hands was raking some hay back into the barn as she approached. He didn't look up, looking terribly bored and faraway as he watched the hay and gravel roll. Dust plumed and Elsine stifled a cough, fanning the air.

"Thomas." She said, smiling at the human man who jumped, making the princess start as well with a laugh. "I hope you are well?"

Reaching for his straw hat, his hair came free as he pulled it off his head- the toffee waves peppered with silver. His amber eyes widened, "My Lady! I am very well, thank you. What can I do for you?"

The princess held up the cheesecloth "I am looking for Darius."

"He just walked around to the back, My Lady." He answered, smiling finally, and motioned toward the backside of the stables. Elsine realized he must be going to the tack room and thanked Thomas, hurrying around the corner of the barn. She wasn't sure when Thomas had ended up in Tir na nÓg, or how but he had always seemed better off than other humans who had been captured by the Folk. Elsine wondered briefly if, perhaps, he had come here willingly with a lover. She wondered what he had to leave behind in his world. What he had to sacrifice of himself. Shaking off the thoughts she headed into the large doorway.

Peeking into the back aisles of the barn as she headed for the tack room to make sure she didn't miss him, she found them mostly empty. The horses must be in the grazing pastures today. The back, right end of the barn was where the tack room was. It was the biggest one. There were a few other smaller ones inside the barn. This one out back was mainly used for tack repair.

Coming around to the door Elsine rapped lightly on the door before pushing it open. He didn't look over his shoulder from where he stood in front of a workbench. The taut muscles in his shoulders and forearms twitched as he punched new holes in some leather straps, and again Elsine felt something stir in her stomach. She closed the door and watched him for a moment. The silence stretched and finally made him glance over his broad shoulder, but upon seeing her he craned his neck, his torso twisting to look at her.

"Elsi." He said as he faced her, looking surprised to see the princess standing in the tack room, blinking his steel-grey eyes that paused to take her in. Elsine's neck heated, caught off guard by his open stare. He had not seen her dressed up like this, most of the time the princess opted for trousers and a billowy shirt when she came to the stables. Today in her pretty, warm beige dress with the sweeping neckline and the gauzy material barely brushing the edges of her shoulders, she must have just looked like a girl to him after all these years.

"I don't mean to interrupt your work, I just. . . wanted to say hello and bring you this. For old time's sake." She offered him one of the sweet rolls, biting her lips together. It felt rather hot in the tack room, and his gaze was making it worse. Why was he looking at me like that? She thought.

He dipped his chin, a smile lifting the corners of his mouth as he took the treat from her, "Thank you." He was still looking at her, turning the roll over in his fingers.

"What?" She laughed, her cheeks starting to pink. When he only raised his brows in question Elsine planted her hands on her hips, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

She swore she could see a blush beneath the dirt on his face, but maybe it was the lighting. His shoulders lifted as he looked at the sweet roll in his hands, smiling. "Nothing. I just haven't seen you all. . . dressed up before."

"Are you laughing at me?" Elsine asked, laughing but wishing she would have come dressed like she always did.

The intensity in his grey eyes as he looked back at the princess stole her breath, "No, you look pretty."

Elsine smiled, "Thanks Dare."

He smiled back but dropped his gaze again and Elsine wondered if it was so odd for him to see her as a girl that he would act so differently. Shifting nervously on her feet she was about to say goodbye, but he pushed off from where he had been leaning on the workbench, setting the sweet roll on top of a clean rag. "So how goes the husband hunt?"

She snorted at that but turned serious as she fussed with her lacy sleeve. "Fine. . . promising."

He crossed his arms over his chest, "Promising sounds good. How have the outings been?" His face was unreadable, serious.

"Good, actually. It feels nice to get to know each of them as themselves instead of what they offer the court of Summer. Because those things are easy to tell but knowing someone's heart is . . . harder." She explained, looking at her slender fingers.

She could hear the smile in his voice, "You sound like a queen." He sounded proud, and it made her smile a little wobbly because it meant so much.

"I should get back." She sighed, lifting her gaze. "It was good to see you." It would be cutting it close, getting back to her chambers to be ready to leave on her outing. She would have to change her shoes, and dust off her skirts. Terwyn would be furious.

Darius nodded, the hair at his temples jumping with the movement. "I should get back to work." He replied, one side of his mouth kicking up. Moving towards the princess he reached out for a hug but stopped, "I don't want to ruin your dress. . . " Picking her hand up he pressed his lips to the back of her fingers and smiled at her, "It was good to see you too. Good luck with the summer court."

**Edited Kylie R. Trask 2022**