“Sit,” she says, tossing me back into a chair with enough force to nearly tip it over. “I was about to explain our wedding preparations, and I don’t appreciate the interruption. It is my special day, after all, and the least you can do is listen to what I have planned.”

I eye her warily as she settles back into her seat. “Now, I thought we’d have two kinds of fountains. Chocolate and sparkling wine. What do you think?” She looks at me expectantly and blinks her eyes. “Hmm?”

“You’re asking me?”

“Yes. Of course I am.”

It’s clear she’s starting to lose her patience.

“The dress. Once you see the dress, you’ll be as excited as I am.”

I really doubt that, but I keep my mouth shut.

She claps her hands, and two High Fae servants materialize. They’re both stunning in the way of Fae, with long blonde hair that falls nearly to their ankles. They wear loose white dresses that I recognize as the ceremonial garb reserved for Zerra’s disciples. They also wear the same vacant expression as all of Zerra’s helpers.

Between them, they hold a dress made of folds of sheer white fabric, the train so long the end disappears out the doorway.

“Isn’t it divine?” Zerra intones, and there’s a beat of silence before I realize she’s speaking to me. “Isn’t it?” she asks again, her lips thinning to bloodless white.

I shrug because I have no idea how to answer the question—it means nothing to me—and I’m sure it’ll annoy her if I fail to demonstrate sufficient enthusiasm.

“It’s a dress,” I say dryly, like the complete asshole I am.

Then I take a long sip of my wine, staring into the cup, before draining the entire thing and reaching for the decanter on the table. At this point, I’ll have to drink this entire place dry.

“Yes but isn’t it special?” she needles. “It’s the dress of my dreams. I never got to have a wedding, you know. I was dragged up to this godforsaken place and forced to live here.”

“Forced by whom?” I ask. I’ve never heard anything to suggest her words are true.

“The Empyrium,” she says with a petulant sigh.

“Who?”

She turns her eyes back on me and obviously doesn’t want to bother explaining anything else. She just wants me to shut up and do what she asks.

“They’re the supreme beings who oversee Ouranos and all the worlds around us.” She waves a hand as though they’re there hanging above her. My eyes flick up as though I’m really expecting someone to be there. Get a grip, Nadir.