#nicaryn

Chapter 1. Love potion number 9

Taryn POV

It was no small thing to gather the ingredients I needed. For months, rosehip has been fermenting in a bottle of faerie wine under my bed. I snuck in the gardens to gather fresh rosemary. I could have purchased the items, of course. However, the grimoire I read stated that the more work you put in, the stronger the potion. So I collected honeycombs from a wild beehive and extracted the honey myself. It was messy and exhausting, but there is little I would not do for true love.

Even if Locke says faeries do not love like we humans do, I can make him love me and only me.

It’s not that I don’t want Jude to be happy. I do. They’re just… not right for each other, you know? Locke is all smiles and games. Sometimes I wonder if Jude ever lets her guard down. I have not seen her laugh in years.

The glass vial containing the potion sloshes in my dress pocket as I make my way through Locke’s maze, towards the center where I know today’s festivities are taking place. It’s a regular weekday—Locke and his friends never need a reason to celebrate. Prince Cardan’s bad mood is reason enough, and he’s always in a bad mood when sober. Not that he is any better when intoxicated, but he usually doesn’t pay me any mind when he is and that is fine with me. As I reach the center of the maze, I see that today is no exception. He’s sprawled out on a fine blanket, a whiskered girl braiding his hair. He gives a quick look my way as I emerge, but quickly snaps his head away with a sneer.

The usual.

Nicasia is hovering near him, not approaching but clearly hoping he notices her. She’s breathtaking in an opalescent gown, the sleek plunging neckline showing a large expanse of flawless skin sparkling with glitter. Her hair falls in voluminous blue curls decorated with aquamarine gems and string. On her head sits a crown of shells and pearls.

“My dove,” a familiar voice croons behind me, “you came! I was starting to worry.”

I turn to face Locke, ever handsome in a wine-colored doublet. They’re all so beautiful, I stand out like a horse at a wedding banquet. How could I possibly stand out when they’re so ethereal and I’m, well… human?

“Sorry for the wait,” I tell him, smiling. “I had to sneak past my sister.”

“Jude is always welcome, too,” he tells me as he pulls me in his arms.

I try not to react, not to show him his words affect me. He loves to remind me that he’s dating both of us. It’s part of the challenge he gave me, I suppose. If I can share him with Jude, then he will agree to marry me soon.

“Not Jude,” I tell him.

“I always forget you have two sisters,” Locke says, a hand brushing against my cheek. “You’re all I can see.”

I can feel myself blushing, and he gives a quick kiss to my cheek.

“I’ll go get us drinks,” I say, shrugging out of his arms. “I’ll be right back.”

I saunter over to the banquet table and grab two cups. I fill them with the darkest wine available, hoping it will hide the deep scarlet of my potion.

My hands shake as I reach in my pockets for the vial. I try not to look suspicious as I uncork it, hiding it under the table as I do. A quick look around tells me that nobody is looking my way. I dump the contents in one of the cups and give it a quick swirl, watching as the potion disappears into the wine.

I am really doing this. It’s wrong. It’s the stuff of fairytales, but when one mingles with the fae, one can only win by playing by their rules.

A manicured hand grabs the glass meant for Locke from my hands. I don’t need to look up to know who it belongs to—it’s of a paleness only the fae can achieve, with green undertones that would look sickly on anyone else. On her, however, it’s elegant.

“And here I thought Locke had no human servants,” Nicasia says, gazing down at me with ocean-deep eyes.

I swallow, willing myself not to react. Not to roll my eyes or scowl, no matter how much I want to. Nicasia places a hand to her breast, faking surprise.

“Oh, silly me! It’s no servant. It’s only one of the worms.” She gives me a once-over, her upper lip slightly pulled back. “Could have fooled me.”

I reach for the cup she took from me, but she lifts the goblet above her head, too high for me to reach.

“That is for Locke, give it back,” I say, trying to sound less irritated than I am.

Nicasia waves a hand dismissively. “Just get him another one.”

I try to reach the glass, but she waltzes away. Once out of arm's reach, she brings the glass to her lips and I watch wide-eyed as Nicasia drains the glass containing the love potion meant for Locke. The potion I spent months working on.

“What is it, little wormie?” Nicasia croons.

The potion is supposed to make the person fall in love with the first person they see. It’s fantastical, unbelievable, but my relationship with Locke needs it. And now Nicasia… I hope that all of this was for nothing. I hope the potion was nothing but a hoax.

“You look sick,” she says, tipping her head slightly to the side. “Perhaps you should retire for the night.”

Nicasia reaches out, her fingers slipping through a strand of my hair. I flinch away from her, suddenly afraid that the potion worked and that she is about to kiss me. As I do, I bump into something—someone—behind me.

“There you are,” Locke says as he slips his arms around my waist. “What’s taking you so long?”

He kisses my temple, then looks over at Nicasia. “Nicasia. I hope you are not trying to steal my lover.”

Nicasia snorts, but it sounds fake. Loaded. “It takes one to know one.” -

tag list: @figonas @kingandfireheart @godgavemelou @lizziebxnnet @hazelsheartsworn

She’d stood, left to retrieve something from the guest room she and Cardan stayed in during their visits. It was small; a bed and a night table, with a small closet that had a few mortal outfits tucked away.

Cardan held up a large star ornament and turned to Oak. Oak, who sat next to him silently holding popsicle stick ornaments he’d glued together in school and organizing them by colour, and then deciding it was better to do so by size. “What’s this one?”

Oak turned to him, and his eyes lit with excitement. “It’s a tree topper! It goes on top of the tree, like a finishing touch!” He said, every exclamation showing his enthusiasm. Cardan glanced at the tree, and then the topper.

Jude’s socked feet padded across the carpeted floor, stopping short as she watched her husband turn the glittery star over in his hand, a trail of stardust glinting in his palms. Their soft conversation drifted to her, the silly curiosity of his questions making her heart swell.

Cardan glanced to Oak, a soft smile playing at the corner of his lips as he placed the star on top of his head. There, he mouthed. Or perhaps he had said it so quietly Jude couldn’t hear him. She stalked over to him, landing with a soft plop before reaching over and adjusting it.

He stilled beneath her touch until she’d removed her hands, pulling them back and folding them in her lap. “Crooked,” she said. That was all. Cardan mirrored her small smile, shy but sure.

“Oh!” Oak exclaimed, turning their attention to him. He pulled out a heap of Christmas lights and had started pulling random strands before passing them to Jude in defeat as he hung his head in silence. She detangled them quicker than he would’ve thought possible, if Jude wasn’t the most super person ever — there wasn’t anything she couldn’t do.

Oak giggled, whispering something in Cardan’s ear. He raised a single brow in return, a questionable curiosity shining in his eyes. Jude crossed her arms; there was no way this would end well.

He caught hold of his tail, holding it in his lap, though there was no way he could hide the small flicks of the end he didn’t hold, the soft tuft brushing against Jude’s thigh. Oak gingerly wrapped the lights around his tail, stifling laughter the whole way.

Jude shook her head, looking around the room. Beside Oak was Heather, who sat next to Vivi. Then there was Taryn, who was separated from Vivi by the tree that Cardan wasn’t quite sure why they needed inside. Nicasia sat next to Taryn, who looked anxious from the mess strung across the floor in between all of them. Jude wasn’t sure she knew exactly what was going on, either, but made no attempt to find out.

Oak handed the plug to Heather, who opened her mouth to ask a question, before deciding against it. She turned, passing the plug to Vivi who sat closest to the extension cord. Vivi plugged them in, the sudden, warm light gathering everyone’s attention.

The soft glow from the lights mimicked a fire, Cardan thought. Jude pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head to herself.

“We should wrap it in a popcorn garland!” Oak announced. Cardan asked if that was what it sounded like, being suddenly reminded of the popcorn he and Jude shared last week when they watched a horror movie that he may or may not have gotten over.

He explained that it was, in fact, exactly what it sounded like. Vivi chimed in, telling him that they were not making popcorn just to look at.

“What about tinsel?” He asked, reaching for the unopened bag. The shiny slivers of disaster reflecting the soft glow of the Christmas lights back at him. Heather snatched the bag, shaking her head.

“No tinsel.”

Oak grumbled to himself, “What’s the point of buying it if you won’t even let me use it?” Jude laughed, quickly covering it up with a cough. Cardan elbowed her in the side and Jude coughed harder.

His tail was much heavier now, and it couldn’t swish behind him no matter how desperately it tried to. Cardan made a face.

It itched, at first. And then it burned. It was a silent panic that only Jude seemed to notice, everyone else enveloped in conversation. His fingers fumbled with the cords before Jude gently batted them away, carefully unraveling his tail from the strands. Cardan took them from her hands and placed them on the couch behind them, their luminance forgotten.

His tail wrapped around his torso then flipped around and curled around Jude’s arm. She brushed the soft tuft between her thumb and forefinger gently, slowly losing herself in the conversation.

“Vivi, did you leave the oven on?” Heather asked, moving stuff off her lap to stand.

“Me? Cook? Funny.” She said, not bothering to turn to her.

Heater stood, stretching towards the ceiling. “Probably the heater, then,” She decided, watching the snow drift past the streetlamps outside. She turned, definitely not expecting to see the couch on fire. Exactly how long had the Christmas lights been left on?

Cardan and Jude, Heather and Vivi and Oak, and now, Taryn and Nicasia stood gathered on the sidewalk, huddled together like they were caroling.

One of the firefighters walked over, looking backward as the rest of his team put out the remnants of the fire. “Which one of you left the Christmas lights on?” Slowly, everyone turned to Cardan, who was scratching behind his head and smiling nervously. “You know those are flammable, right?”

“I do now,” he said, his tail twisting around Jude’s calf.

The firefighter turned on his heel and returned to the rest of his team shaking his head to himself. Jude offered Vivi and Heather a room in the palace, with their reluctant agreement. She turned back to Cardan, who didn’t entirely seem to know what to say. He looked up at her, his smile quick. His tail tightened on her calf.

“Merry Christmas.”

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big thanks to @jurdannet​ <3

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