Faery Tail

by Deborah McNemar

  "Sit!"

  Star glared at him for a minute. If she sat, she had a lap for him to drop Jose into and run for it. She didn't want to give him that chance. She wanted answers. Tossing her hair back with a sniff, she stalked to him, dropping to her knees on the carpet.

  He started to say something and stopped, frowning. His eyes were fixed on a spot below her chin and she didn't think he was looking at her necklace. Taking a deep breath, he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. “Princess, you are enough to try any man's patience."

  Star crossed her arms and held onto her glare. “Me? I'm not the one out playing super hero, Centauri. You'll get yourself killed doing stupid things like that."

  He started to laugh. It caught her off guard and she could only blink up at him. She had forgotten how good he looked with humor dancing across his face. God, she'd missed him.

  "You challenge the Sidhe Queen, infuriate the Unseelie King and cause untold upset in the Fae Realms and you have the temerity to call my protecting you stupidity? Princess, it isn't stupid. It's the only way I'm going to keep my sanity."

  Star tucked her head letting her hair fall forward to hide her face. They could go on like this all night, snipe and counter, and she would never get a single answer out of him. That he hadn't run for it yet was a good sign. That he seemed willing to talk even better. Screwing up her courage, she asked the question she truly wanted the answer to.

  "Was that night by the waterfall part of the game, too?"

  His breath hissed through clenched teeth. She waited, trembling, for his answer. He shifted slightly, moving Jose into a more comfortable position.

  "I should tell you yes and let you hate me,” he murmured. “I should let you put me behind you without another thought and get on with your life. But I can't do it."

  He rose, stepping past her and Star felt her hopes crumble. But he wasn't leaving. He only laid Jose on the couch. Straightening, he tucked his hands in his back pockets, his expression as solemn as she had ever seen it.

  "Star, when all of this began my only concern was getting Sol out of yet another mess he'd gotten into.” He didn't sound particularly happy about it, either. “I knew little of the Sidhe and less of you. All that was required of me was to bring you to the Meanduraug willing to marry. I had two weeks to succeed or Sol would be killed. The only way I could think of to do so was to pretend to court you.” He shrugged, looking away. “As long as I didn't meet your challenges, I could walk away with Sol, the both of us free. Then I met you."

  Star twisted her fingers together and listened.

  "You ran and I thought that you were as flighty as every other Sidhe I had ever met. That's when everything started going wrong.” Centauri paced a few steps. “You didn't challenge me to climb a mountain or kill a troll. You didn't ask for baubles or a dragon's head. Then I saw you with the boy and with your friends. I watched and I listened and the more I saw and the more I heard, the more I knew I wouldn't walk away untouched. By the time we entered the Realms, I was lost and I knew it."

  "Why didn't you just tell me the truth, Centauri? Why not just tell me that you needed to help your brother? Why the lies?"

  He shook his head. “Don't you understand, Star? By then, my choice was to tell you and lose both you and Sol or keep my silence and pray that somehow I could find a way to redeem the mess I'd made of things."

  Silence fell between them. The unceasing patter of feet on the cold floor of the hall and the muffled sound of conversations were suddenly loud. Star stayed where she was. He was explaining but it wasn't enough. She needed more.

  "Star, chica? What are you doing on the floor?"

  Star whipped around to stare at the wizened old woman in the doorway. “Abuela?"

  "Si. Now, come give me a hug and let me look at you. I haven't seen you in much too long."

  Star obeyed, happy to see the old woman and yet frustrated at the interruption. “Jose is going to be glad to see you. Maria wasn't sure if you'd be able to make it.” She hugged her tight and tried to smile. The woman's eyes studied her face intently and then lowered.

  "Chica, where is the rest of your dress?"

  Star grimaced. “I can thank my sister for that. I picked a dress out and she made some purchases and handed me the bag. I thought it was the dress I had picked. Way wrong. Never trust your sister, Abuela. Especially a sister trying to get you hooked up."

  Abuela chuckled. “I don't. That's why I never left her alone with my husband. He was enough trouble without her help.” Her eyes lit on Jose and softened. “He's sleeping. That's good."

  The phone in the corner rang, a shrill interruption. They all stared at it. It rang again and Centauri picked it up, holding it to his ear cautiously.

  "Yes? Good. I'll tell them. Thank you.” He replaced the receiver slowly. “She's out of surgery. It's a baby girl and she's down in the hall in the nursery if we want to see her. It'll be a bit before Maria is out of recovery."

  Star tried to catch his eye but he avoided her, scooping Jose up against his shoulder. She felt the ripple of magic and Jose woke, rubbing his eyes. Immediately, he looked at Star and his eyes filled with tears.

  "You have a new sister, niño,” Abuela told him with a cheerful grin and a pat on the back. “Let's go see her."

  The boy sniffled but didn't cry. Centauri remained silent as they followed her down the hall and through the double doors that led the glass enclosed nursery. There were only three infants in the nursery tonight.

  Star leaned against the glass and stared down at the tiny little life in the plastic bassinet. There was no doubt about which one she was. She was the only girl. The tiny pink hat gave that away.

  "She perfect,” she whispered. “So tiny. Ten fingers and ten toes, two arms and two legs. She's perfect all right."

  The tiny girl opened her eyes and Star caught her breath. While she knew that newborns couldn't see very well, there was no denying the knowledge that rested in the eyes of the child who stared up at her. Those were eyes that saw more than flesh and would see things in her life beyond the human world. Fairy touched.

  Fey?

  "Oh, sweetheart.” How in the world had that happened? Wishes and dreams shouldn't have touched the child with enough magic to cause this.

  Jose wriggled free of Centauri's grasp and pressed himself close to the glass, on tiptoes to look over the railing. He was too short to see much. Abuela lifted him so that he could get a good look at his new sister. He rocked his head against the glass as if coming to decision.

  "Are you Maria Sanchez's family?” A man in blue scrubs stopped beside them. He looked both young and exhausted. “I'm Dr. Green."

  "How is Maria?” Star's heart seized and started galloping when the doctor smiled.

  "She's fine. Better than fine. I've never seen anything like it."

  "The tumor was operable?” Abuela gathered Jose closer in her arms. “I'm her grandmother."

  "Yes, ma'am.” Dr. Green was nodding, a blissful smile creasing his face. “When we first found the tumor, it was growing around a major artery. We wanted to take the child early but Maria refused. The c-section tonight went like clockwork and since we had her open, we took a look.” He shook his head again. “The tumor was actually smaller than when we first found it. It had retreated from the artery, which has been our main worry from the first so we removed it. It's been sent to the lab for analysis but the prognosis for full recovery looks good."

  Star could have kissed the man on the spot but settled for a watery smile. “Can we see her?"

  "Technically, it's past visiting hours but you can peek in on her. They should have her settled in her room by now. I'm just going to ask that you don't stay long. She needs her rest. Room three-oh-four."

  Jose was wiggling again but once his feet hit the floor, he took his grandmother's hand and looked up at her with solemn eyes. “I want to see mama, abuela."

  "Then come, niño.” She smiled down at him and led him back down the hall toward th
e rooms. Star followed, looking back over her shoulder at the Tuatha de’ who still stared through the glass at the infant.

  "Centauri?"

  He looked up and Star held out her hand, but he didn't move. He was not going to get away as easily as that, she decided. Striding back, she linked her fingers with his and did her best to drag him after her. She only budged him because he allowed it and she knew it but that was good enough for now.

  They paused in the doorway. Abuela sat in a chair beside the bed, Jose curled in her lap. Maria was sound asleep. She looked fragile against the clinical whiteness of the sheet but Star could already feel the strength returning to her.

  "Star?” Abuela murmured. “May Jose stay with me tonight? I will bring him back in the morning but tonight I could do with the company."

  "Are you sure?"

  The old woman looked up, her smile misty. “I remember, chica. I remember sitting this way when my Rosa lay in a bed like that after having Maria. They are good memories but company would make them nicer."

  Star nodded. “Sure thing. I'll meet you back here in the morning then.” She shook an admonishing finger. “But if he gets too rowdy, you bring him to me. Deal?"

  Abuela turned knowing eyes on Centauri. “Take her home, Principe."

  "Bruja,” Star teased.

  "Sabia,” Abuela corrected gently. “I'm not a witch but, then, it doesn't take magic to see what he is, only the wisdom to see with your heart and not your eyes."

  True words. Star gave up the contest with a quick smile and a tug on Centauri's hand. He resisted this time and she glanced up to meet his puzzled gaze. Not a challenge. A question.

  "Please?” She held his gaze, willing him to give in. She didn't want to relinquish his company just yet. She still had so many questions. So many hopes.

  He yielded without a word.

  Star led Centauri from the hospital and into the night. The city was alive with lights around them, the sounds of life a different sort of song than the one sung during the day. Her heels clattered on the steps. Centauri didn't pull his hand free as they turned onto the sidewalk and headed toward Star's distant apartment. He seemed content to walk beside her in silence.

  "What are you going to do now?” she wondered aloud.

  "Why do you ask?"

  "Obviously, because I want to know and you haven't said."

  He thought about that and then shrugged. “I don't really know, Princess."

  She skipped over a crack in the cement and looked up at the sky. There were too many lights that blurred the sky here, but she could feel the stars twinkling high above. She hadn't made a wish tonight, she realized abruptly. For the first time in a very long time, she had missed wishing on the first star of evening.

  "What do you want to do?” She sounded lonely. She didn't mean to, it just came out that way. His fingers tightened on hers.

  "Tonight or in general?"

  Always the Fae, she snorted softly. He had to qualify his answers.

  "Tonight. Tomorrow. A hundred years from now."

  He sighed. “Tonight is almost over, tomorrow has not yet been born and who knows if I will be alive in a hundred years."

  "That's not an answer."

  "It's the only answer I have to give.” He shook his head. “Leave it be, Star. You have nothing to worry about. I am hardly in a position to make demands."

  "I didn't think you were going to make demands.” Star frowned at him. “I simply asked what you wanted. I gave up asking about wishes."

  She felt it then, a faint shimmer in the magic around her. A wish? It was an insubstantial thing and gone before she could grasp it. She glanced at Centauri, curious. His gaze remained on the street ahead of them.

  He truly was the most handsome man she'd ever seen. While she wished they had met under different circumstances, there was no changing what had passed. There was only moving forward. Could she forgive him? Her heart tripped a bit at the thought and then settled into peace. But she had to be sure...

  A car honked in the distance, a blare of raucous sound. There was shouting and then the blurp of a siren and things went quiet again. Reality beckoned but Star couldn't let go of the moment.

  "If you could do one thing tonight, if you could have one thing, what would it be?"

  Centauri stopped. “What is it you truly wish to know, Star? For your kindness tonight, I will give you one truth for the asking."

  Star thought that one over. One question to answer all her questions? That was a tough one. She paced in front of him, studying the hard expression and the rigid stance. His eyes were guarded as he watched her. She finally stopped directly in front of him.

  "All right. Here goes. You spent a few days with an air headed Sidhe Princess,” she began softly, her voice cold. “You said a few pretty lines and told me a few harmless nothings. In the end, you saved your brother and even got laid in the process."

  He jerked at that but there was no other sign of emotion from him. Star narrowed her eyes and shook back her hair. She was going to have to work for this one and she knew it.

  "I freed you of all obligations to me, Centauri. You owe me nothing. So why are you even here?"

  He didn't answer immediately. He was both Fae and a warrior, which meant his brain was probably churning out all the possible answers to that so he could choose the safest one, the one that would obligate him the least.

  Star shook her head, her heart sinking. Turning on her heel, she continued her walk home. It would take her a little over an hour, she calculated. She could only hope that, dressed as she was, she wouldn't run into any trouble.

  "I thought you wanted an answer."

  Star paused to look back over her shoulder. Centauri hadn't moved. She shrugged, trying to ignore the tears that pressed against the back of her eyes.

  "One of the things Luna taught me very young was that if you have to think about it, it probably isn't the truth."

  "You accuse me lying to you?” He crossed his arms.

  Star tried not to notice how the t-shirt stretched lovingly across his chest when he did that. She failed miserably.

  "Not yet. You offered me a truth, Centauri. The one I want isn't the easy one, the one you can poke holes in. I want the real truth, the one that hovers around your heart. The one you can't bring yourself to look at too closely."

  The shimmer in the magic was stronger this time, a wistful longing. It slid through her fingers before she could capture the essence of it.

  "I was not searching for a convenient lie, Star,” he denied. “But what you ask for needs words to frame it."

  "Don't bother.” She shrugged again. He was Fae, she reasoned against the hurt. He couldn't help being cautious of his words. Oaths were formed too easily to take words lightly.

  "Come here.” He beckoned her closer. “You asked a solemn question and I intend to give you a solemn answer."

  Star studied him suspiciously. “You can tell me from there."

  He shook his head, a faint smile softening his eyes to dark espresso brown. “This truth must be told close, in a whisper so it doesn't get lost."

  A lure. It was a blasted lure. She knew it. She also knew she was going to give in. Slowly, she retraced her steps until she stood a few feet away.

  "Closer,” he coaxed.

  She took another step.

  Centauri captured her hand and lifted it to press her palm against his chest. Over his heart. Star's mouth went dry.

  "I give you this truth, Star. I can't frame it with words. I have tried. But it, nonetheless, is true. Now, what was it you told Foxglove?"

  It began small, a faint and barely felt whisper of a desire that welled from him. The magic rose and the whisper became a wish, shimmering over her in growing waves until she could hardly breathe. It faded slowly, leaving her staring at the Fae Prince.

  "I didn't get laid as you put it,” he said into the silence that strangled her. “I found a woman I want more than I have ever wanted anything in my life. But I can't win
her. No matter what power I command or what strategy I use, winning the battle means losing the very prize I crave."

  "You wished.” Star's voice strangled in her throat.

  "I don't have pretty words or even the right to whisper them. I gave up that right when I betrayed your trust."

  "You wished.” Stronger this time.

  "I am here to protect you because I can't do anything else, Star. I have no right to be here but I can't stay away. Tell me you wish me gone and you will never see me but you may trust that I will always be here, in the shadows, watching over you."

  Star couldn't form words when he took her fingers from his heart and pressed them to his lips. His grip tightened as he went on, his voice rougher now.

  "If you desire to be with the solitary, I wish you every happiness. You deserve to be happy. But I will not trust your safety to him alone. Luna is devious..."

  Star covered his mouth with her hand and he closed his eyes. She could feel the force of his wish rising again only to be cut short ruthlessly.

  "Let me see if I have this right. It's my choice?"

  He nodded.

  She pulled her hand away but he didn't move. “For your information, if I'd wanted Damien, I'd have gone after him years ago.” She studied his set expression. “What other choices are you offering me?"

  "My presence."

  "I think I'd rather have you where I can see you.” Wondering where he was would drive her insane. She took a deep breath and plunged ahead. “You offered me another choice once. Did you mean it?"

  "What choice?” He sounded suspicious and she hid a smile.

  "You promised me that once I was home again and safe, you'd tell me the whole story and I could choose.” She shrugged. “I'm home, Centauri. I'm as safe as I can be anywhere and I know the story now. Does your offer still stand?"

  His eyes flashed up and in the dark depths she saw surprise, hope and heat before he slammed his control home again.

  "I have no right to ask such a thing of you, Star."

  "Whoa, right there, studly. You said it was my choice. Are you going to start breaking your promises to me now?"

  Centauri remained still and she could feel the battle inside of him, wishes warring with honor and logic. She held her breath.