Guest Post: L.K Rigel

I’m so happy to be here for a guest post at 1000 + Books to Read. Thank you for having
me! I’m L.K. Rigel. I write the post-apocapunk Apocalypto series (Space Junque, Spiderwork,
and Bleeder). My latest series, Tethers, is about fae and wyrders, also known as fairies and
witches.

I thought it would be fun to have a little sneak peek at Bride of Fae (Tethers 2), the sequel to Give Me – A Tale of Wyrd and Fae.

In this excerpt, we learn more about Idris, the king of the Dumnos fae (or is he?) and get an introduction to Dan, the hero of Bride of Fae, and his sister Cissa, an unrepentant kleptomaniac fairy:

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It was taking an age to assemble Idris’s court for troop night, and Dan was tired of waiting. The trooping fae must be gathered at the circle by now. He could imagine the music and dancing going on while they waited for the king’s entourage. Dan’s body cried out for movement. He wanted to run. To dance. To fly away from Dumnos to the borealis and sky-surf in the northern lights.

If Dan could, he’d end the obsession with form and formality in Idris’s court. It wasn’t fairylike. Idris insisted on the pomp and ceremony for political reasons, to make the fae forget he had no right to sit on the moonstick throne or wear the crown. No right to lead the trooping fae into the human world as he would tonight.

Dan could never forget. After all, he was the rightful king of the Dumnos fae.

A thousand years ago his parents, the last true king and queen, had been killed by a wyrding woman. Idris had agreed to serve as regent and protector of the child Dan and his infant sister. Then when Dan came of age, no one could find the enchanted cup needed for the coronation ritual. Despite the reward Idris offered, the fairy cup remained missing to this day.

When Idris started wearing the moonstick crown and allowed the fae to call him my liege, Dan should have objected, but he found that he didn’t care.

He’d been surprised to realize he didn’t much like the Dumnos fae. If Idris weren’t such a bad ruler, Dan wouldn’t mind if the fairy cup was never found. But Idris was a bad ruler, and the Dumnos fae were on the verge of a shift from light to dark. Idris had to go, whether the cup was
found or not.

At least his sister was enjoying herself tonight. Cissa looked spectacular standing beside the Moonstick Throne, like an ongoing firework. There were arm slits in her cloak, and she gestured madly as she talked. The amazing fabric shimmered. She’d chopped off her apple-
red hair again so it stuck out in wild spikes. When she laughed, other conversations paused and heads turned her way. Fairy, sprite, pixie, or leprechaun—it didn’t matter. Cissa’s wicked delight bedazzled them all. Even Idris responded to her. A layer of hardness lifted from his face, the light in his eyes burned a little less cruel.

“Let’s go now!” Cissa stamped her foot with a playful pout. “Maxwell is probably still
cleaning the dirt from his toenails.”

“Maxwell?” Dan raised an eyebrow at Aubrey, the closest Idris had to a confidant. “He invited a goblin to join the promenade?” Goblins were necessary, of course, but they were so ugly! Idris had banned goblins his court for that reason.

Aubrey shrugged his shoulders. “Idris never claimed to be consistent.”

Cissa flitted around the throne in a shimmering blur and settled just above the ground, floating in the air before the throne, careful to keep her cloak drawn close. Dan inwardly chuckled. No doubt she had plans to scandalize them all when she revealed the outfit underneath—or lack of one—when they got to the troop circle. “Why should we have to wait for that goblin?”

The king shifted his weight with grace and seemed to consider Cissa’s words. He did look marvelous on the throne. The moonsticks imbedded in the throne’s back caught and reflected light, like those in his crown, giving the effect of moonlight on fresh snow.

As usual, Idris wore almost nothing. His crown of leaves and moonsticks sparkled with captured moonlight, silver blue beams against his wild flame-orange hair. An ornate tether
cascaded from his throat over his chest, woven with diamonds and sapphires and a large bead of bright-cut Dumnos steel at his throat. A length of cloth wrapped about his loins completed his
ensemble. He was wiry but muscular, with the fine build of a dancer.

“All right.” Idris blew a kiss Cissa’s way and rose from the throne. His voice was mellow
and loaded with innuendo and made Dan think of sunlight on honey. “Max can catch us up.” The
faux fae king’s every movement exuded self-satisfaction, power and grace.


Dan couldn’t deny that fairy had style.

Idris led the procession out of the hall with Cissa on his arm, followed by Dan and Aubrey, then assorted court fairies, some pixies and two leprechauns.

Cissa looked back over her shoulder toward, visibly relieved to be going. Oh, Cissa! Dan
let out a sharp laugh. Her cloak’s fabric wasn’t just beautiful—it was magical, probably goblin-
made. And Max was probably the goblin who made it.

Dan would lay bets Cissa had stolen it.

Idris paused at the Bower of Elyse and everyone halted. By the angry shriek behind them, someone must have trod on a sprite’s toes.

“Pardon me.” The deep, gravelly voice belonged to Max.

Cissa kept her eyes forward, and Dan glanced sideways at Aubrey. Having Goblins in the
troop was distasteful enough. Inviting one to join the king’s entourage was plain bad form. The
corner of Cissa’s mouth twitched, but she kept her composure. Aubrey’s face remained a mask.
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I hope you enjoyed this excerpt. Poor Cissa! She’s going to have to pay for her thieving—Max the goblin may be ugly, but he’s very clever and capable of getting his due from a bad, bad fairy…


L.K. Rigel can be found on Facebook, Twitter and her website! Make sure you stop by and check this fantastic author out!