“If you are found to pledge to another breed, the female is punished. They treat it like an act of treason, assuming you are destroying your magic. Magic that should be given to the throne in taxes.” The bitterness with which she spoke almost made me sick. This story was much too close to home for it to be unbiased. Though I wondered how long it had been since she actually talked about any of it.
“They cut their heads off!” She almost screamed the words at me. I jumped in my seat and dropped the spoon onto the table. As her words sunk in, my mouth dropped open.
She put her elbows on the table and let her face fall into her hands. I stood and walked over to her and placed my hand on her back. I didn’t know how much comfort I could offer, what with my own loss, but at least I could understand.
Finally she lifted her head, wiped her cheeks, and took a deep breath.
“I’m so sorry. It’s been a long time since I talked about this.”
“Don’t worry, I understand.” I cleared my throat. “So, the King orders people who love another breed to be behea…killed?”
“Not just love. It’s not against the law to love anyone. It’s only unlawful if you make the pledge.” Alec had said that if you tell another Fae your name that you are pledged…so I guess she was talking about marriage, or something like that.
“Oh.”
“Lix wouldn’t listen to us. She believed they would be okay, that they could get away with it. They planned on leaving to go to the Mortal Realm. But before they could leave, they found her and killed her. When Alec got home that night, he found her head on his pillow. The sexist bastards allow the men one more chance. He would be beheaded if he pledged to another breed again.”
Alec? He loved a Nymph? Well, no wonder he was going crazy being back here. I’m sure he was facing so many memories. I felt so bad for all the things I said to him and how angry I had been at him.
“After that he left. He kept serving as a Realm Guard, unlike Kerr who couldn’t do it anymore. And he never came back.” She seemed so sad. She didn’t seem to hate him for getting her granddaughter killed. I mean, I guess it wasn’t his fault, not really, but they both should have known better.
“Well, until now,” she said, with a smile finally gracing her lips again. She looked fragile and sweet again, the angry, depressed, scary old lady was gone.
I smiled back, hoping she would understand everything that I couldn’t say. That I was sorry for her loss. That I was happy she was happy to see Alec. But also that I just didn’t understand.
“How can you be so happy to see him after what happened?”
“You misunderstand. It was not his fault. She sought him out. He fought off her advances for four years before he relented. And it was apparent to everyone that they were in love. Plus, I love him too. He was…is just as much my family as she was. We suffered two losses at that time. The loss of two family members. We could have consoled each other, but he wouldn’t have it. I don’t think he could bear to be around us anymore.”
I believed that. I could understand that. How could anyone want to see their dead lover’s family all the time?
“It brings me joy to see him.”
“Yes. And I can tell he is happy to see you as well.” She smiled as I said it, as if to say thank you. “How long ago did this all happen?”
“Forty years. She has been gone for forty years now.” Holy crap! I’m not even half that old.
“I recently lost someone close to me.” I couldn’t make myself tell her it was my parents. But I felt like I should let her know that I understood her pain.
She nodded. “Death is a many edged sword. When you think you have gotten past it, or won against it, it will come back to slice you yet again, over and over through the years as places and things remind you of those you’ve lost.” She placed her hand on mine and patted it. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
We sat there in silence as we both thought of those we had lost. My parents have been taken from me, and she too had someone taken from her. I realized then who she really blamed, why she didn’t fault Alec. The monarchs, the King and Queen of this Realm.
So, I guess I was eating breakfast with a rebel.
Chapter Nineteen
The Tribulation: A period of 160 years when Queen Norleen was captured by King Mastikh and held prisoner. It was at the end of this time period, almost two decades ago, when the rightful King Coenraad left The Empyrean.
Alec didn’t get back until after dinner that night. I was sitting on the bed, in the bedroom I had been using when he knocked.
“How are you?” he asked me after walking in.
“Fine.” Though I understood him better, I had been getting angry with him as the time went by today. He didn’t tell me where he was going or when he would be back. He just left. Several times throughout the day I had wondered if he would come back at all. Maybe it was my own insecurities or just my general anger issues…but I had been freaking out most of the day wondering where he was and if he was okay.
“I wanted to apologize for leaving without speaking to you. I was going to tell you, but I didn’t want to wake you. Plus, it was easier for me to ask around without you being there.”
My eyes shot up to him. “What do you mean? I could have helped you.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “No, you couldn’t have. You don’t know the customs of the Nymph. You don’t know who to ask, or what to ask or where to go. You have no offensive skills and nothing that could have been any use.”
My face warmed as the color shifted. Blushing was dumb. Especially when it was because I was angry. He was right, and there wasn’t anything I could say to refute him. So I crossed my arms in front of my chest and sulked.
“I found a lead that I had to follow. I had to…talk to him.” Though when he said it, I had a feeling he didn’t mean just talking. “I plan on going back tomorrow. There is someone else I need to talk to.”
“Okay,” I said, hoping to encourage him to continue. Because though I was angry at him for not telling me anything, I was dying to know what had happened during the day and if he found anything out.
He came and sat down on the bed next to me. “I am sorry that I didn’t tell you I was leaving, I wasn’t expecting to be gone all day.” He sounded so sincere.
He was looking right at me, and I realized that he was the first person who didn’t look confused when he looked into my eyes, other than my parents of course. He didn’t flinch away, or look at me like a freak. He didn’t act like I was something other, even though I didn’t really fit in his world either. He just looked right at me. He looked at me like I was someone…a real person. Someone important.
“Okay. It’s fine. Just don’t let it happen again,” I teased him. Because really I had nothing over him. He smiled back at me and nodded. “So, who did you talk to? Did you find anything out? Were they here?”
“I found someone who I believe knows of these Fae. What we’re looking for is a group of four or five, most Nymph, maybe one Pixie. That’s all I really have to go off of, and of course their scent.” I nodded. “So, when I questioned him, he directed me to another Nymph, one called Samael. I will go see him tomorrow.”
This was good. A lead. Something. A tendril of hope. Something that I would clasp onto, hold onto with all my might and not let go of. Maybe, hopefully, this Samael guy would know where we can find them. My next obstacle would be getting Alec to take me along. After his little, you-don’t-know-anything speech, I wouldn’t even ask him. I would just follow along behind him if I had to.
“Anyways, I was thinking that if you aren’t too tired, maybe I could make it up to you.”
“What? What do you mean?” I asked, thoroughly confused at the change in conversation. My own train of thought was far away focusing on how I was going to follow a fairy without him knowing.
“I thought we could practice defensive moves, if you’re up for it.”
I nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, I would like that a lo
t.”
He turned and walked outside, stopping between two giant Oaks. Thankfully, it was late enough that I didn’t see anyone else around. I so didn’t want to look like a fool in front of anyone, especially not a breed I wasn’t familiar with. Then Alec lit up his hovering light thing, the same thing he had done before, so that we could see in the dark.
“Hey, why have you been keeping your wings in lately?” I was starting to think I had made them up in my mind.
“I would keep them out if I were to fight, but it makes less of a statement when surrounded by Nymph, especially here in their Central Village.” I guess that made sense. No Nymph had wings. I wondered if they felt cheated, since Sylph were the only Fae to get wings? Or maybe they didn’t question it at all. Who knew?
When he got into his battle stance, I went to mimic him, but before I got into it, I stopped. There was something I needed to know. Something I had been thinking about all day, since the talk with Nona this morning.
“What do you think of the King and Queen?”
“What?” he asked, his face was confused and he stood up rigid, his spine straight. “What do you mean?”
“Are you a rebel?” I asked finally.
“Why would you ask me that?” He looked defensive.
Maybe it was just the battle stance turned rigid that freaked me out. But then I regretted that Nona had told me anything. Though I appreciated knowing it, and understanding why Alec is the way he is, it wasn’t her story to tell me. Now it felt weird knowing everything without him ever saying anything about it.
Still, I pressed on. “I think I should know if you are a rebel. Know what I’m getting myself into. I have no urge to fight against a high-taxing, brutal king. I really don’t care about it.” Though he didn’t know that I knew, I still felt bad for sounding as harsh as I did. I just needed him to know where I stood on this.
“I am not part of any rebellion. I do not conspire to bring down the king and queen. I am a Realm Guard, so I follow their commands.” Then he crouched a little lower and motioned for me to follow his lead. I did. And then he continued, “Though, that doesn’t mean I give a damn about him. I have no loyalty to the king.”
He moved to his left, and I moved to my right, so we still faced each other, and got back into the battle stance. Then we moved the opposite direction. And then back again. In a weird way, it almost felt like we were dancing.
“I still hope for the day that the rightful King and Queen return. They were good Fae, honorable, courageous and fair.”
“How long have they been gone?” I asked in between breaths. Alec was moving at a faster speed, moving forward and backward and still expecting me to get back into the same defensive position.
“King Mastikh and the Pixies took over about 200 years ago. Though King Coenraad was still in the fight at that time. The followers that were loyal to him followed him and fought against Mastikh.”
Now we were moving in a circle, still facing each other. He would go twice to the right, then once to the left, then twice to the right, so that we were turning all the way around. I was almost running to keep up with him. And as he started leaping instead of just stepping to the side, I had to jump hard to maintain the same distance between us.
“But finally, after twenty years of battles, King Mastikh had something to use against Coenraad,” he was starting to breathe harder now too, so it was getting more difficult for him to talk. “He had captured Queen Norleen.”
“Copy me,” he said suddenly, leaving behind the story. Then, as we moved right, to right, to left he started spinning himself between each move. I stopped to watch him. It looked like a dance he was performing, and it was beautiful. He was graceful, but still scary fierce. I knew that in any position he landed in, he would be able to defend himself. So I quickly copied him.
“Mastikh kept Queen Norleen captive for at least 160 years. Those years are known as The Tribulation. King Mastikh grew harder and meaner. He instilled new laws and began taxing our magic more. He started taking more food, to serve to his army, and killed anyone who refused. It was at the end of those 160 years that King Coenraad left us.”
By this point we were both breathing pretty hard, spinning and crouching. Turning then crouching. Walking then crouching. And running then crouching. Then he stopped and stood up straight. I hunched over in an attempt to steady my beating heart and lungs that were screaming for more air.
“Not everyone believes he is dead as Mastikh claims. Some, especially some of those in the rebellion, believe he saved his queen and they escaped into hiding.”
“Wow,” I said, not really caring about all the king and queen stuff. Mostly I was focusing on watching the way Alec moved, and trying to make my body move like his did. Which was super hard, by the way. Still, the whole queen-getting-stolen thing was sad.
“Okay, so I think you got that part down. I want to try and move you now.”
“Okay,” I said again, because even though I didn’t know what he meant, I was up for anything. I was so tired of this try to stand right thing.
“So, you try to maintain your hold, while I try to push you down.”
I nodded my head, understanding.
I was still breathing hard, but better than I was before. I went back down into my almost crouch, where my knees were shoulder width apart and bent a little. I kept my hands up and open, as he told me. First he came at me from the front, and pushed just a little, but still my feet shuffled back as I tried to right myself.
“No, you have to shift your weight. Hold yourself up.”
I sighed, but got back into my stance.
Then he went to my side and pushed my shoulder. This time I did a little better, but still I had to move my feet. Then he started moving faster. My right side, then my left, then from behind, then my left again. There was no rhyme or reason to where he went. He just circled me, going back and forth and pushing me.
“Geez, give me a break,” I said finally. I was exhausted, and it was apparent, since I was getting worse rather than better at staying up. He sighed, but nodded.
“We can be done for the night, if you want.”
“No. Just let me catch my breath,” I told him. I squatted down, and tried to breathe easier, then finally laid back down on the grass, trying to get more air into my lungs. He walked up and looked down at me, smiling.
“You’re doing well. We don’t have to continue.” Instead of answering him, I only shook my head and then pushed myself up to my feet.
And we did it again and again and again.
I started noticing something. If I pushed into his shove a little, I could stop myself from moving. I started focusing on anticipating where he would shove me, so that I could push a little in that direction. And it made a significant difference. I started staying up, even with push after push from him.
I also noticed that he started pushing harder. Not just a little brush, like he had been. It turned into a full on shove. So I had to try even harder to stay upright.
At one point, he was coming up to my right, so I put all my weight on my right foot, readying myself for impact, but at the last second he switched sides before I could react, and he pushed me from the left. With all my weight on my right side, I went down hard, landing on my right hip.
“Are you okay?” he asked, pretending to care, even though his mocking smile was laughing at me.
“You did that on purpose, you jerk,” I accused. And to my complete shock, he started laughing. Like a for real, deep belly laugh.
“Yeah I did. I wanted to see how fast you could react. You were doing great, so I thought I would switch it up.”
I rolled my eyes at him and pulled myself up. He came and offered his hand, but I ignored it.
“For the record, you aren’t supposed to laugh at a girl when she falls down.” But his smile grew as I teased him.
“Well, maybe you shouldn’t be so…you.” Then he laughed at himself.
“That doesn’t even make sense.” I final
ly started laughing too.
“Who cares? I don’t have to make sense all the time. And I’m not the best at come-backs when there’s a silly girl distracting me.”
“No kidding. You could have fooled me.”
“Whatever. I can’t be the best at everything all the time.”
I rolled my eyes at him, as he chuckled at himself.
“Come on,” he said before leading me back inside.
That night I slept hard. No dreams. Just much needed rest for my head and sore body.
Chapter Twenty
Dux: The Sherriff of a Village. In any Village other than the Central Village, the Dux is the ruler of the town, acting as both Sherriff and Mayor. In the Central Village in each Province, the Lord and Lady are the rulers, under only the King and Queen.
The next morning I woke up to Alec standing over me. I almost jumped out of my skin seeing his green eyes looking down at me while I was vulnerable in bed.
“You coming with me today, or what?” he asked. The same smile from last night was still on his face, and his eyes were a pretty, bright green today dazzling with hidden mischief and excitement. I only nodded at him and he said, “Great, you have five minutes to get ready.”
I looked at the window, and noticed the sun wasn’t even up yet. Dang, today would suck. My hip hurt like hell, my arms and legs were sore too, as well as other various parts of my body that had been shoved. Not to mention my sore, blistered feet.
Still I got up, dressed quickly and then ran out of the room to find him.
As we were leaving, Kerr came up behind us and whispered something in Alec’s ear. Alec only nodded and then clapped him on the shoulder. I wish I could’ve heard what they said, but I couldn’t hear any of it. Hopefully I would have better hearing after my birthday when I got all magical and stuff.
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