Free A Fey Harvest by Amy Sumida Page A

quite alright,” Arach gave me a look and I stopped chuckling. He was right, Guirmean was new to ruling, we should cut him some slack.
    “ What's an asrai?” I asked.
    “ They're a type of water sidhe,” Guirmean explained. They're usually quite shy and stay in the deeper ocean. The sun can turn them into a pool of water, so usually they choose not to chance it.”
    “ Yeah, that would suck,” I glanced quickly at Arach, wondering if that was an inappropriate comment, but he just rolled his eyes at me.
    “ They're all very attractive and they have the magic of persuasion over the opposite sex,” Guirmean cleared his throat, “but as I said, they're usually more elusive than Dearbhail. I'm not really sure why she wanted to serve us today.”
    Arach cleared his throat and gave Guirmean a look I couldn't decipher.
    “Oh yes, I apologize. Here,” Guirmean held out a hand, “let me fill your glass.”
    I passed him my glass as three men entered holding serving platters. These guys were all dark haired, with large liquid eyes and sweet faces. They had a similar look about them, so I assumed they were the same type of fey. Each one went to one of us, so we all had someone at our elbow at the same time. Guirmean handed me my full glass before turning to his server and taking a portion of food. I looked to my right and saw the platter held out to me at the perfect height. I took the serving fork, which was placed neatly beside the food, and took a piece of delicate white fish in some kind of creamy sauce.
    “Thank you,” I said to my server and he smiled serenely, nodding his head before moving to Arach. The three waiters shifted as one, moving around the table gracefully, so that once more, we each had someone serving us at the same time. It was beautiful and perfectly executed. I wanted to applaud but when I glanced over at Arach with a gleeful expression, he just shook his head, albeit with the hint of a smile about his lips.
    When the men finished their maneuvers, they headed out just as silently as they'd come in and we set to work on the first course. The food was amazing and unsurprisingly seafood dominated. Besides the fish, which turned out to be in a beurre blanc sauce, there was a fey version of lobster thermidor, and a puff pastry stuffed with a buttery crab filling. The wine was light and sparkly, the perfect accompaniment.
    “ This is wonderful,” I groaned happily as I put another bite of lobster in my mouth. “Thank you for not making me eat anything slimy.”
    “ Vervain,” Arach huffed, an undertone of laughter in his voice.
    “ No, it's fine,” Guirmean laughed. “I love your wife's honesty. I've never enjoyed the fey court style of conversing. All this grandstanding and posturing and then sweet compliments that actually hide insults. I never got the hang of it, much to Dubheasa's disappointment, and so would often remain behind when she went to High Court. I'm relieved I don't have to do that with you two.”
    “ See,” I shot Arach a sassy look. “He's cool.”
    “ Cool,” Guirmean grinned, “ yes, I guess I am but I'd never thought to hear that as a compliment from a Fire Queen. Thank you, Queen Vervain.”
    “ It's her human vernacular,” Arach explained. “I'm slowly beginning to understand it myself. Evidently both hot and cool are complimentary terms, along with sweet, sick, and groovy, although I admit sick completely confounds me.”
    “ Sick?” Guirmean gave me the wide blink. “Thank you for not using that term to describe me.”
    “ You'll both learn,” I waved away their teasing. “Someday I'll have all of Faerie talking like me.”
    “ Oh no, please,” Guirmean held up a hand and I thought he was going to say something funny but slightly insulting. Instead he said, “You'll lose your unique charm then. I'd hate to have to label you common.”
    “ Thank you,” I smiled in delight.
    “ That reminds me,” Guirmean nodded his acceptance of my gratitude. “Your