Work Text:
Revels had never really been Jude’s thing. She was human, and the Folk were all too eager to take advantage of that. She had been pulled into dances before, unable to stop dancing due to her mortality. It was not a pleasant feeling. Taryn had suggested before that they take turns dancing, one of them pulling the other out when it was long enough, but Jude wasn’t the biggest fan of the idea. Revels were also crowded, filled with faeries, many of whom were not fans of her as a human. Overall, revels were not the most joyous experiences, though over the years, they were something that Jude had gotten used to.
After she had become the High Queen of Elfhame, though, things turned a little different. She sat on the throne next to Cardan, her husband and the High King of Elfhame, and none could make fun of her mortality and turn the revels into a disastrous event. (At least, they couldn’t do that without risking the ire of the royal family.) Their partner, Nicasia, who was not married to them but likely would be soon if all went well, still participated, dancing among the crowd. Jude could tell that sometimes Cardan wanted to join in, but his father had never done so when he was King, so he was unsure if he would be allowed to do so.
“You can go,” Jude suggested once. “The Folk will be delighted to have their king dance among them.”
“I do not wish to leave you alone,” Cardan replied. “I do not wish to leave Nicasia alone either, but at least there are no assassins after her head.”
It was true, there were many assassins after Jude. However, she didn’t let that stop her from going on. “I have my spies looking after me. I will be fine.”
Cardan gazed at her and said, “If I go, we go together.”
Jude didn’t attempt arguing with that. Cardan could be stubborn. Especially regarding things like this.
“Do you not know how to dance?” Nicasia asked Jude once.
“I do know how to dance,” Jude responded, slightly offended. “I just don’t do so often.”
Nicasia tilted her head. “Why not?”
Jude looked at her partner. If they were both mortals - well, a normal mortal raised in the mortal world, in Jude’s case - then Jude would have referred to Nicasia as her girlfriend. But here, in Faerie, such terms were not as common. “Because dancing usually happens at revels, and when I dance at those, I cannot stop.”
“You have me,” Nicasia replied. “And you have Cardan. We would pull you out.”
Jude remembered the similar offer that Taryn had made her before. “Perhaps,” she said. “But really, I would not like to risk it.”
Nicasia gave an elegant shrug and leaned back. “Very well. It is your choice.” She got up from her seat and extended a hand to Jude. “But we are not at a revel now. Would the High Queen entertain me with a dance?”
Jude smiled lightly and accepted Nicasia’s hand. “She would.”
They danced that night in Jude’s room, smiling at each other in a way that would have left the Jude of the past speechless with shock. And Jude enjoyed it.
Cardan and Nicasia were whispering to each other again when Jude entered the bedroom. She glanced at them as they fell silent. “What’s going on?”
“Something secret,” Cardan replied.
“I can tell,” Jude said with a roll of her eyes. “Does it concern me?”
“You are involved,” Cardan said. “But I can assure it is nothing you need to worry about.”
Jude frowned but said nothing more. If Cardan and Nicasia didn’t want to answer her questions, well, there wasn’t much she could do about that.
“Well,” she said, changing the subject. “I’m tired. Let’s all sleep.”
“Sounds fantastic,” Nicasia responded, getting up from the bed and reaching for her nightclothes. Cardan also reached for his, but he didn’t get off the bed to do so, which Jude found incredibly lazy of him but also such a Cardan thing to do.
All dressed for the night, they curled up in bed together. Cardan was in the middle this time. Jude smiled lightly as she began to slip into sleep.
She woke up for a brief moment to hear the word revel thrown around. She decided this was a boring topic and it didn’t take long for her to sleep again.
The next night, they had a surprise for her.
“You said you could not dance at revels, or else you would never stop,” Nicasia said. “So we decided to reserve the revel area for ourselves tonight.” She smiled. “All three of us.”
“Jude Duarte, High Queen of Elfhame,” Cardan said with a smile. “Would you give us a dance?”
Jude stared at them in surprise. “Well,” she started, paused, then said, “yes.” She took Nicasia’s hand in one of hers and Cardan’s in the other, and soon they were all swaying together in their dance.
It was a truly pleasant feeling, Jude realized. She had never quite realized how much she was missing at each revel due to her own mortality. Now that she did know, perhaps she would look upon revels with longing of what she could not have. But for now, this was great.
This was something she could live with.
When they were over, Cardan invited musicians inside. They did not dance to their music, knowing that the magic of the Folk would be within the air, but they still listened.
It was beautiful music.
It was a beautiful night.
Jude looked at her partners, Cardan and Nicasia, and smiled lightly.
They were beautiful too.
One did not thank the Folk, so Jude did not, but as they retired to sleep later that night, Jude said, “I enjoyed it.”
“That was the intention,” Cardan replied, looking at Nicasia. “We’re glad it worked.”
“If only you could dance at true revels,” Nicasia replied. “But these shall work just fine as a substitute, right?”
Jude nodded. “Right.”