Liam leaned down and kissed her cheek, although her five-foot-ten height meant he didn’t have to lean very far. “As long as you always want to come home,” he said. “I can’t quite imagine living here full-time.”
Her heart swelling with the knowledge that he would follow her wherever she went, Barbara almost missed the shape arrowing in overhead, so large it blotted out a piece of the sky as it grew closer. She hid a grin when Liam ducked involuntarily as the iridescent black dragon with glowing red eyes swooped overhead and then glided to an earthshaking stop right in front of them. Apparently she wasn’t the only one who had missed being able to let her real colors shine.
“Wow,” Liam said. “And I thought he was large as a dog.”
Babs looked up with eyes even rounder than usual. “Is that Chudo-Yudo?” she asked. “He is beautiful.”
“Yes, he is,” Barbara said. She’d always thought he was the most glorious of all the Baba Yagas’ dragons, although she’d never tell her sister Babas that. She rarely got to see him in his dragon guise these days, but when he went to court he usually liked to show up in his true form, even if that meant having to pull his wings in close to his body to avoid knocking over the furniture.
They walked the short distance to the castle, Chudo-Yudo gliding above them. As they grew closer, they could see the towering spires and perfectly manicured rolling lawns dotted here and there with inhumanly attractive courtiers dressed in their flowing silks and gloriously sumptuous velvets. Heavenly scents floated up from rosebushes and flowerbeds in colors never found on the other side of the door. Once they passed a phoenix perched on its nest, flames flickering from the edges of its red and orange wings.
The court was always a little bit much for Barbara’s taste—too many bright colors, too many strong perfumes, too much gossip and intrigue. But what else could you expect from a kingdom where many of the denizens lived for centuries and had nothing better to do than play croquet or attend high tea? Smaller paranormal creatures, less beautiful than the ruling class, scurried here and there carrying trays or fetching ornate filigreed fans. She stopped one of them, a sweet-faced brownie woman wearing a cotton muslin dress with an apron crafted from a giant leaf, and asked where the Queen and her consort were.
The brownie, recognizing her, curtsied and pointed down the slope that led to the lake at the far side of the castle. “Their Highnesses are having a picnic by the water, Baba Yaga. Lots of dainty sandwiches I brought them.”
A picnic was good, Barbara thought. Feeding visitors was part of the ritual courtesy of the Otherworld, and hopefully being by the serene waters of the lake would put the Queen in a relaxed mood. She nodded her thanks to the tiny servant and led her group down a path, edged by ever taller and more glittering roses, until they arrived at their destination.
The Queen, as fantastically beautiful as ever, sat upright in a throne-like chair by the edge of the water, her consort the King in a matching chair by her side. The rest of the courtiers attending the picnic, about two dozen in all, either sat in smaller chairs or sprawled in luxurious comfort upon tapestry blankets or silken pillows strewn around the pristine white sands of the lakeshore. Silver trays and small ornate tables held crystal goblets, multitudes of delicate finger foods much too elegant for any mortal picnic, and plates of airy, brightly hued confectionary.
Tittering laughter and murmuring voices intertwined with the sweet song of birds (and some things that weren’t quite birds) and over that soared ethereal music being played by a trio of fauns playing their flutes under a nearby weeping willow tree.
The Queen looked up at their approach and gave them a benign smile. “Baba Yaga, what an unexpected pleasure. And with such an entourage.” She gestured at the assembled company. “We are having a light afternoon repast. You must join Us.” She narrowed her eyes, staring at the dragon. “Dear Chudo-Yudo, you are as resplendent as always, but I do believe you are crushing one of my ladies-in-waiting under your right wing. Assume a more reasonable size for the occasion, please.”
The dragon shimmered slightly and shrank down to the mass of a large car instead of a small house, bowing slightly as he did so, and apologizing to the slightly crumpled but still graceful woman who emerged from under his wing.
“Why didn’t he just do that in the first place?” Liam whispered to Barbara.
“Because he’s a big showoff,” she whispered back.
“I heard that,” Chudo-Yudo said, his dragon grin almost as wide and toothy as his doggy one.