Goblin Ball Read Online Free

cases of the chocolate ones and have them sent directly to Faeview, please? The maids like them too.” Now that was a sentence Lilith never in a million years thought she’d say.
    “Of course, my lady,” Bella said.
    Morning Glory dangled the scarf over Lexi, still sleeping. The fairy teased the skin on the toddler’s cheeks until she woke up with a darling, chortling baby laugh. Lilith’s heart softened a little. Only her mom could do that.
    “What’s a gifting?” Cammy said.
    “For the baby, of course,” Glory said. “Yes, for Lexi!” She picked her granddaughter up out of the push chair and set her on her hip. She very nearly lifted off, but Lilith’s cautioning glare seemed to stop her at the last minute.
    Don’t fly, don’t fly! At the thought of flying, Lilith felt the urgency of her own wings, undulating beneath her shoulder blades, wanting… wanting.
    “Oh, a baby shower,” Cammy said. “Wonderful.”
    “And it should be a picnic, don’t you think?” Glory said. “At the Temple of Joy and Wonder. On May Day.”
    “Fine,” Lilith said.
    “Hurray!” Glory kissed Lexi’s nose, and the child laughed again.
    “What lovely blue eyes she has,” Bella said. “She must get them from her moth—”
    Lilith turned away, but it was too late. Bella had noticed. Lilith’s eyes had gone green—and greener the more she expressed her fae nature.
    “Good.” Lilith took Lexi from Glory, who spun in a quick circle but at least kept her feet on the ground. Almost. “So you can go now and let Cissa know.”
    “Who is Cissa?” Cammy said.
    Glory stopped spinning and gave Bella an incredulous look. “Why, our queen, silly. Queen Narcissus of the Dumnos fae.”
    “Of course she is.” Cammy had a big grin on her face.
    “Mother, please.” Lilith could see a new round of village gossip brewing in Cammy’s expression. The new countess is fae, and she’s pixilated our darling boy.
    Her wings screamed to come out, a sign that at the moment her eyes were indeed sparkling fae green. If she didn’t get Glory out of the shop, the French girls were going to witness a full-fae pop-out—and she wasn’t sure from which fairy.
    “Ta-ta, then—and thanks for the present!” Morning Glory stuffed the scarf into her hidey pouch—where had that come from? She pressed her fingers to her lips and blew a kiss to Lexi along with a faint shower of sparkles and shimmering dandelion flowerets.
    “Oooh!” Cammy looked delighted.
    “What was…” Bella tilted her head, stunned.
    “Mother, no!”
    “Good-bye, good-bye!” Morning Glory sprouted her wings, flew up to the ceiling, spun twice, tossed exploding fairy dust and popped out.
    A pregnant silence hung in the air until one of the signage men came through the door. “All finished out here,” he said cheerfully, as if he lived in a normal world. “Could you kindly tell us where to find a nice cuppa nearby?”
    Everyone inside was still staring spellbound at the spot near the ceiling where Morning Glory had just disappeared.
    “Forget,” Lilith said under her breath and in desperation wiggled her fingers in the direction of the French girls. A look of puzzled ignorance filled Bella’s eyes, but only Bella’s.
    As if the news had broken that Christmas had come and Santa was real, Cammy grinned from ear to ear, looked to her sister, to Lilith, and back to the spot where Morning Glory had popped out.
    “I knew it,” she said. “I knew.”

« Chapter 4 »
Cissa
    Cissa’s bower
    Sun and moon, Cissa almost couldn’t breathe! It was so good to get out of the throne room, away from the courtiers, the singing, dancing, the raucous jokes, and exploding fairy dust. She used to love all that stuff, but it was no fun when she could only watch.
    She was queen now. She had to be wise and serene and… and queenly.
    She never could make it to her private bower in one transportation. She stopped for breath at a fork in the corridors well beyond the throne room.