Green by Laura Peyton Roberts Read Free Book Online Page B

off darkened buildings barely taller than my head.
    "Where did everyone go?" I asked anxiously.
    Kate pointed forward. "Look."
    Up where the houses ended, I caught a glimpse of a mammoth crowd, the sky above them lit in an extraordinary way. Floating nearly low enough to touch, brilliant horizontal rainbows of illumination shimmered and flowed like phosphorescence on a night sea.
    "Leprechaun lights," Lexie told me proudly.
    "Rainbows at night," I breathed. "They're so beautiful!"
    Then we cleared the buildings, and the banquet spread before me. Laid out in a darkened field were a few hundred leprechaun-sized tables surrounded by tiny chairs.
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    Centerpieces of burning candles lit thousands of pointed faces with, wide excited eyes.
    The crowd caught sight of me. "Lilybet! Lilybet! Greeeeeeeeen!"
    As I stepped onto the clover, a volley of emerald fireworks exploded overhead, nearly scaring me out of my flats. Green sparks showered down through the swirling rainbows, and I felt my heart rise up, taking courage in the beauty of the moment.
    A bagpipe began playing. Bronwyn nudged my leg, urging me forward. At the center of the field, a large wooden platform held a long, almost-human-height table lit by dozens of candles and surrounded by one normal chair and twenty ladder-legged stools. I made my way to the platform, waving self-consciously to the leprechauns who called my name, pretending not to hear the gossip about me as I passed.
    "Lil! Lilybet!"
    "If she isn't the spitting image of our Maureen ..."
    "Those shoes are Horace Greens!"
    "Lil! Lil, over here!"
    "Pretty as a picture, she is. No, an angel."
    I climbed the steps to the platform in a daze. I had never felt so popular before--or heard a stranger say I was pretty. In the weirdest surroundings of my life, I actually felt kind of ... normal.
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    Five older leprechaun women stood waiting beside the long table, wearing robes of green velvet embroidered with silver. Their white-streaked greenish hair was swept up in intricate dos adorned with jewels and feathers. The most elegant woman in the group had hair that was nearly completely white and wore a robe of pure silver. A tiara of gumball-sized emeralds sparkled above matching crinkled eyes.
    "The council," Lexie whispered excitedly, trailing at my heels. "And our Mother, Sosanna, chief o' the Clan o' Green."
    The chief's emerald eyes met mine. "Welcome, Lilybet," she said. Her voice was strong and clear despite her obvious age. "You are very welcome."
    Sosanna raised a hand and a hush fell over the crowd. "Tonight we feast our sister Lilybet," she called out, "on-trial successor to our beloved Maureen. Let the banquet begin!"
    A rowdy cheer went up, drowned by the echoing booms of more green fireworks. The members of the council took seats at the table, assisted by sharply dressed male companions who claimed the stools at their sides.
    "Sit down, Lilybet! Take a load off!" a familiar voice urged. Balthazar had found his way onto the platform too. His beard was oiled and braided, and fancy medals covered his coat right down to his round belly. He looked so ridiculously full of himself I almost had to laugh. Instead I showed him my back and took the only chair.
    Bronwyn sat on the stool beside me. Lexie got my other
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    side. Installing himself next to Bronwyn--who I was starting to think was his girlfriend--Balthazar winked at me. "Brace yourself, Lil. Here comes the cheese!"
    Waiters balancing silver platters streamed onto the field. Some made their way to the platform, while dozens more worked the tables below, serving up an assortment of sliced cheeses. A leprechaun with silver pitchers in both hands filled goblets at our table with a nasty-looking green liquid that fizzed up, then skinned over like pond scum. Balthazar drank his down in three gulps and motioned for a refill. The waiter quickly obliged him before reaching toward my goblet.
    "I'm sure Lilybet would prefer water," Bronwyn intervened.
    Flushing, the