A Little Night Muse by Jessa Slade

dresser aside.
    Next to the crumpled satchel that Adelyn had carried, the
mushrooms were hardly larger than his pearl buttons, but they formed a perfect
ring on the rough old wood.
    Glad he’d never been good about dusting, he took a breath and
stepped into the circle. He closed his eyes and whispered, “Adelyn.”
    Adelyn had thought her first steps back into the phaedrealii would be triumphant, on Raze’s arm. Or if
not triumphant at least minus the Queen’s death mark on her name. Instead, she
was sneaking in through the same back corridor where she had been tossed out by
EveStar.
    Doubt slowed her steps. Was she right about the Queen’s
handmaid? Had those vague words meant what she’d thought?
    EveStar had said other phae left,
never to return. Adelyn had assumed that meant they died hunting the Hunter. But
no, they left because they wanted to. And they had never returned because they
found something else. Something better.
    Thanks to Josh, the veil had been lifted and she finally
understood. In the phaedrealii , she had existed only
to inspire others. In Josh’s world, she could make things with her own two
hands. She could make cornbread and clean dishes. She could make something of
herself.
    She could make love.
    She clenched her fists, trying to hold onto the memory of
Josh’s callused palms across hers.
    But now thanks to her , that valley
sanctuary was threatened, and phae like herself who
needed a place would find the way closed.
    Maybe she should have stayed in the valley while the battle was
fought around her, but she had stayed in the phaedrealii , too afraid to leave. Too afraid to even inspire
herself. This time, she wasn’t going to stop with an inspiration; she was going
to make a path for others like her.
    Assuming she wasn’t simply snuffed out like a bad idea.
    She made her way blindly down the corridor, stumbling in the
dark without the light of the wisps. Once, she had kept them close as an
affectation, because everyone looked beautiful by wisp-light. But now she
thought maybe the pretty light had kept her from having to acknowledge the
shadows at the heart of the phaedrealii .
    She couldn’t pretend anymore.
    As she reached the more commonly used corridors, the lingering
glow of passing phae lighted the walls. She wrapped
one of her veils loosely around her face. Not much of a disguise, but boring
enough not to intrigue any phae who might seek to
unravel a more elaborate illusion. She needed to find EveStar and see if her
hunch about the handmaid was right: Someone was pointing discontented phae to the Hunter’s valley. But now they needed her
secret key.
    She passed two elaborately ornamented phae , dripping with jewels and nodding feathers. The Queen must be
in one of her expansive phases. That could be good, if everyone was distracted
by her generous mood. Or they could be trying to placate her because she was
surly.
    Despite her divorce from the court, Adelyn felt her heart
stutter in remembered anxiety at the mere thought of the Queen’s moods, good or
bad. She felt like an interloper in her old veils, decorated only by the leather
belt with its carved copper buckle.
    “Sweet muse!” The bellow—or so it seemed to her—brought her
whirling around. “You have returned. Did you find the Hunter?”
    “William, hush.” She hurried toward him. “Do you want to get me
killed again?”
    He had the grace to flush, as only a human could, but the
gesture did not soften her as was the knack of certain other human males.
    She stared hard at William, wondering at his allegiance. The
Queen had stolen him away from the world, but he had never seemed to miss it.
Josh would never let himself be imprisoned, not when he had his valley. No
illusion would ever satisfy him.
    She took some peace knowing no matter what happened to her,
Josh would be there, with his cows and Wolly and the stars under whose light
they’d made love.
    She shook off her mournfulness. First things first, as her Josh
would