Steal the Sun (Thieves #4)(14)

I nodded. Revenge was important in our world. I turned and looked at Bibi, who only reached my shoulders, or she would if she stood up straight. Bibi seemed to be trying to shrink into herself. Still, she had a job to do, and it was time she learned how to do it. “Please inform Mara that I will be sleeping with my husband. She can either move my luggage or I will move it myself. Daniel will also be joining us in whatever room Prince Devinshea has been given. They might not recognize my marriage to Daniel, but Dev certainly does.”

Without a doubt, Dev would have the best room. He was a prince, after all.

“You want me to tell her?” Bibi asked, her dark eyes wide with fear. “You want me to speak to her?”

I walked back toward the troll. It was time to start making the best of things. If Mara thought I was going to bitch and complain and beg for a better assistant, then she was wrong. I sat down on the bed so I was at eye level with Bibi. “Yes, Bibi, I want you to tell Mara that she has made a dreadful error and must fix it right away. You tell her your mistress is insulted and will probably do something terrible if she doesn’t get her way.”

Bibi shrank back. Her whole body shook. “I will carry the luggage myself. Please don’t harm me.”

“No, sweetie.” Neil knelt down beside her. He was sincere as he dealt with the frightened girl who was probably older than all of us combined. “You aren’t getting it. She isn’t going to hurt you. You’re part of the team now. Zoey here is loyal to her crew. She might yank out that hair of Mara’s though.”

“What is a crew?” Bibi asked, shyly smiling at Neil. Her eyes were big as she took in Neil’s blond hair and light blue eyes. She sighed as he smiled at her.

Trolls have no gaydar.

“It means you’re with us now,” Neil explained. “You work for Zoey, so you’re one of the gang. If someone messes with you, then we handle it.”

Bibi thought about this for a moment. Big tears shone in her eyes as she looked up at me. “But I am a gardener and a troll. It is an insult to you. They meant to shame you by placing me in your household.”

“Then they did a terrible job, Bibi.” They hadn’t done their research on me. “Would you like to know a secret? I was practically raised by trolls. They were Huldrefolk, like you. Daniel and I spent many summers walking the bridges. You are not an insult to me. You’re a cherished reminder of my home.” Just the day before we left for Faery, I’d gone to say good-bye to my adoptive summer parents, Ingrid and Halle. They had been filled with advice on how to survive Faery.

“She told the others you would be upset by me,” Bibi told me. “She said I would be awful and you would come begging for her help.”

I was going to have to have a little talk with Mara. It sucked because my plan coming in was to try to blend in as much as possible. I was going to try to be what Devinshea needed me to be. I planned on learning how to be a member of this family, but it was looking more and more like I was going to have to be me. If terrifying trolls and going all mean girl on the new kid was what passed for family here, then they were going to get the full Zoey Wharton Donovan Quinn treatment.

“I think you’ll make a fine social secretary once we figure out what you’re supposed to do,” I assured the troll. “That will be the real challenge because I have never been a member of a royal court before. We’ll just have to learn together.”

I hoped not to have to learn too much, though. I had more to do than learn royal protocols. We had a war to deal with at home, and the truth was I was anxious to get back to it. I needed to find the stone for Marini and then figure out how I could screw him over with it.

“I have a schedule,” Bibi offered. “Tonight you have the meeting with the queen. I am supposed to make sure you are dressed properly. Prince Declan selected a gown for you.”

There was a large closet across the room. I decided to have a look at what Declan considered “proper.” I just hoped the damn dress actually had a bodice. I wouldn’t put it past him to give me something that showed off way too much of me. I stared at the dress that hung alone in the massive closet.

This was what I was supposed to wear to dinner with the queen tonight? I laughed because it was blatantly obvious someone had switched it out. Declan might be a complete dick, but he had no desire to humiliate me. Declan would never have picked out that bland color or the hideous cut of the dress. He considered himself a fashionable prince. The person who had swapped the dresses must have thought I was an idiot or didn’t know Declan. The prince would never in a million years have selected something that didn’t leave my boobs hanging out. I wondered where the real one was but decided it was long gone.

“Ewww, Z. Did Declan lose his mind?” Neil pulled at the mucky brown fabric.

Bibi walked up, shaking her head. “That is not the right gown. The one the prince ordered was beautiful. It was made of fine fabric and the color was a lovely green. This is terribly old-fashioned. It is a gown an elderly country woman would wear, certainly not the wife of a high priest.”

I giggled. I couldn’t help it. I was back in junior high. I should watch out because someone was going to try to steal my boyfriend next.

Bibi looked close to tears. “It is not funny, my mistress. You will be a laughingstock. Appearances are important here. There is no time to make another and I am afraid you will not fit into the other women’s dresses. They are much taller than you. This is a disaster.”