Solitary Fae (Humans vs Fae Book 2)

by Charlotte Royalin

  "Faariin doesn't seem to care for me." I clicked my tongue. Truly? That was the only one who could help me? Vethari chewed, mouth open as he chuckled over his food. "Girl—no one fae really cares for a human. But he is the only one with real court experience. And knowledge of fae naturally comes with such a title."

  I peered at him curiously, "Title?"

  My captor swallowed, his throat bobbing up and down as it took in the food. He wiped his mouth with the back of his arm. "He was a prince of the Seelie Court."

  Seelie? Now that was something I had heard about. The court of the good fae, the happy always mirthful faeries that continued in joyous dances and celebrations. Faariin was nothing like I'd imagine of a denizen of such a place. I could only nod in response, slowly becoming lost in thought. I could tell Vethari noticing this, and he seemed almost worried. Almost.

  He rounded the table, clapping a hand painfully onto my shoulder. He gave me one small shake, making me look up at him as he continued to stare down at me, a small frown on his serious face, but no anger. I blinked, taking in his features so up close, without the hateful appearance I'd become slowly accustomed to. He was much more handsome like this and reminded me of how he was when I first met him. My eyes began to trace the strong cut of his jaw, up to his full lips, and further to his almond-shaped eyes that swirled with a continuing movement of gold. I flushed, but he made no comment on my staring.

  "Rest. Tomorrow, Rolun will take you to Faariin." Another hard pat on the back, almost knocking me out of my seat. "And I will speak with Calidi about getting you a lighter bow," he guffawed, walking out of the small dining area toward the other room to his own quarters. Mumbling something about humans being weak and pathetic, the usual barrage of insults. Though they didn't have the same depth to them as they did before. And it for some Gods-forsaken reason, made my heart flutter.

  I had awoken that morning early to a rather annoying pulling of the hair. My eyes opened wearily to find Ke—whom I hadn't seen in some time—braiding my hair. After waving her off with her incessant giggling, Rolun came to me with a couple of meat pastries from the previous night, still as delicious, despite a day of sitting out, and reminded me to go meet Calidi at her shop so we could begin practice. Vethari would find me afterward to take me to Faariin's keep.

  I ate my meal along the way, practically dragging the heavy bow behind me as I started toward the fire nymph's armoury. It was only ten minutes or so to walk and although the town was rather small, it still had a good amount of life within. It seemed though that people were still unaccustomed to having a human around as the few that were up this early in the morning were pointing and whispering. I ignored most of it. It was easy to ignore rumours and name calling; in that regard humans were similar and it did a lady good to not partake in them if she had any station.

  As I approached my destination, I noticed Calidi and Vethari standing there arguing. I picked up the bow with both arms and propped it up against one of her counters. Her pointed ears twitched at the sound, turning toward me to acknowledge my presence before continuing her shouting match with the fae before her. "She will not be using anything lighter, and no one can say otherwise." Calidi crossed her arms, stamping her foot into the ground making a puff of black smoke rise.

  Vethari folded his arms as well, attempting to glare her down as his chin raised. She was a similar height to myself, but she didn't appear so in temperament. You would think she could match Vethari with her posturing. "I say she will. She is no good with such a heavy weapon, she is just a spoiled human girl. Give her something that can teach her to be more than that," he argued back.

  Calidi rolled her eyes. "And if I give her a smaller weapon, she will stay weak. This is the only way to get her to be more, you boggart."

  I winced, seeing Vethari's muscles tighten at her insult. I stepped forward, meekly, to jump into their conversation. "Calidi... If you could just ease the tension on the string." Though they didn't seem to care or pay any attention to what I was saying continuing to yell at each other. And rather than yelling about my bow, it grew instead to shouting insults and calling each other names, some of which I hadn't even heard of.

  "Troll!" Calidi stomped again, the familiar puff of smoke wafting into the air.

  "Hobgoblin!" Vethari retorted. Never had I seen him so childish or thought him capable of being so.

  "Fachan!"

  Vethari seemed stunned at the insult, making me curious as to what exactly a Fachan was. His teeth gritted together, his jaw muscles visibly flexing underneath his skin, an intense scowl on his face as he stuck his finger close to the woman's face, "Listen here, nymph. I am your better, and I demand you do as instructed." His face was almost turning red from frustration.

  Calidi answered with a cackle, slapping his hand from her vision, her tone almost mocking, "And this is not a court, High Fae. We are all equals here, now run along. I'm sure there are some errands for you to do for Faariin. Be a good boy."

  Vethari inhaled deeply, visibly shaking, before scarily going rather calm. An unnerving smile finding its way to his lips, "Indeed, Calidi. There are errands I must run." And with a slight bow at the waist, Vethari brought his hands around him in the center, muttering several words under his breath as his hands lit up in a glow. His head turned up last moment, a smirk on his face toward me before his body completely ripped from existence. Instead, nothing but tendrils of white smoke in the air as he vanished.

  I gaped, my ears ringing at the sound he had made. Calidi shook her head, and sighed, a look of annoyance on her face. Seeming to remember me trying to get into the fray, she turned around, giving me a hard look. "Do you know what I am to make of that?"

  I shook my head, mouth still wide. "What did he just do? What was that?" I asked, managing to gain some control. The fletcher walked backward to what I could only perceive to be an anvil, gathering some supplies and a quiver of arrows. "That, my dear, was real magic. Something only High Fae can do. The braggard."

  Real magic. It was nothing like I'd seen humans try to attempt in the district of arcana, the few times I'd been allowed to wander there. They could do parlor tricks, make things glow, make medicine. But completely vanishing out of existence, or wherever he went, that was something else. Calidi made her displeasure well known as she shoved a short bow at me. This weapon was much easier to hold, though still heavy. "Come, I'll teach you how to shoot something other than the dirt," she sniped.

  10

  Calidi stood behind me, a long stick in her hand as I was encircled. Sweat beaded at my brow as I held the bow up, holding the arrow in the first two fingers of my right hand. I pulled it back as hard as I could against the string of the bow. It was taking all the energy I could muster within my arm to do so. "Don't stiffen your shoulder so much!" She gave my shoulder a whack with her swatting stick, as I so lovingly called it. I winced, almost loosing the arrow, but managing to hold it.

  After a few seconds of watching my form, she finally stood off to the side, raising her hand in the air. "Aim. Aim. Now shoot!" she called, hand waving down in the air as I released the arrow, it finding purchase in a bale of hay with a wooden carved shooting board hanging across the front. Damn, miss again.

  "Nock!" she demanded. I reached for the arrows in the quiver on my back, nocking it as I drew back on the string as hard as I could, once again trying to remain in the position she had given me these past several hours.

  "Good, but you fumble when you draw your arrow," she said. nce more walking around me in a circle, assessing every last detail of my form. This time hitting me on the head, though not as hard as other parts of my body. I sucked in air through my teeth, wincing at the bite of the swatting stick. "You must trust yourself. The sign of a true archer, which is an artform, is to trust your quiver on your back. Don't hesitate to draw, it should be fluid. In less than three seconds you should be able to nock an arrow after firing." She nodded to herself at the impossible speed.

  I wanted to say something snarky. I'd
never wielded a weapon in my life, what on earth did she think she was going to get from me? However—I did need something desperately to distract me. And who knows, maybe by the time the Great Hunt came around, my shot will be good enough even I could be part of the militia. My father would absolutely hate that. I supressed a laugh with Calidi watching me so closely.

  The thought made me loose slack on my bow, the arrow firing off into the air at an awkward angle before sinking into the dirt. Calidi caught me with another swat to my elbow, "Focus!" she shouted.

  Once more, we had been at this for most of the morning, and it was well into the early afternoon. With a pinch at the bridge of her nose and a sigh, I knew I'd let her down once again which was becoming the norm, I was only human, after all, and was reminded of such as frequently as I thought it on my own. "Enough, enough. Calidi needs a break," she said to herself. Her temper was rather steamy after her encounter with Vethari.

  As if on cue, I turned around as I perked up to the sound of the familiar click-clack of Rolun's hooves on the ground.

  I huffed, letting my shoulders fall to my side as I slung the bow over my shoulder. Taking careful steps up to her, I placed a gentle hand onto the nymph's arm, causing her to look at me in question. "Calidi, I'm sorry about Vethari, earlier. I know he can be a brute, for lack of a better term. Are you alright?" I was genuinely worried. She had never seemed so flustered before that. Though I hadn't known her long, something seemed off with her.

  She smiled, patting a hand over my own in reassurance. "Trust and believe, no one can get under Calidi's skin but Calidi. I am in my head far too much," she admitted, before turning away from me. With a wave, "Go, human Penelope. Bother your fawn until I see you tomorrow."

  Even at her 'loving' nickname of being human, she still used my name. And I smiled at the hot-headed woman as she disappeared into her workshop which I was positive was also her homestead.

  "Penelope!" Rolun called, trotting toward me happily, with a flute tied loosely around his neck, bouncing against his torso with each joyful step.

  I pursed my lips, tilting my head to the side, something was different about him. He seemed almost older. And something with his hair? I was unsure. "Hi Rolun." I smiled at him, reaching to muss his hair as I became acquainted to doing. Then I felt it, the two hard lumps obscured by his thick mess of a mane, causing me to pull my hands back. "What in the name of Awul is that?"

  He bleated excitedly, spinning in a circle on his left hoof with his arms in the air in a grandiose display of joy. "My horns, my horns are coming in!" he said, much louder than necessary. I didn't really know what that meant, but from what I could recall of pictures of these creatures, they usually did have a rack of ram’s horns. "What does that mean? You're old enough to play outside at nighttime now?" I laughed, taunting the poor boy. He pouted, his tail wriggling and puffing up as he displayed his anger. He raised a finger at me, something I felt like he learned from Vethari. "Listen here, lady, I'm more than twice your age! Respect your elders!"

  I just could not be rid of the huge smile on my face. Even though indeed he was older than me, it was just precious how he was trapped within the body of a child. He snorted like a bull, turning his head up, "Anyhow, to answer your question, I'm going through Taela. It's a time in every young satyr's life where he begins to catch up to his age, and become a man, mhm," he said, mostly to himself as he nodded ferociously. I cocked my head to the side.

  "So, you're going to turn into an old man, tomorrow?"

  "What? No! Old by human standards, a young man by fae years," he said, with that damnable finger wagging. "So, you'll be near to my age after your…Taela? What exactly is it?"

  His turn to tilt his head to the right, scratching underneath his chin, "It's kind of hard to explain. You humans wouldn't understand, but it's like a metamorphosis. Like a—"

  "Like a butterfly?" It wasn't that hard for a human to understand a transformation. Of course, I didn't understand the complexities of it, but hopefully I could learn more about these people around me.

  "Yes, like a magnificent butterfly. I'll be the best fawn of them all," he uttered, pleased with the prospect.

  I ran a hand through my hair, pushing it out of my face, now that I let it hang down freely rather than tied back. "Aren't you supposed to be taking me somewhere?" I inquired. "Oh yeah!" Rolun exclaimed, picking up his multi-piped flute, playing a high-pitched tune. Wind blew around us as he did, the sound of thunderous beating against the ground was heard behind, rushing toward us in our direction with loud thuds. Louder, and louder, until it exploded forth from the flora.

  An ibisa.

  Looking like the one I had to ride to get here. It screeched, pawing at the ground with its mighty claws, bending its head down. As if kneeling. Rolun grabbed my head, skipped forward, and led me up to the beast, which made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. "Come on, up. We're going to get there faster this way," he sang cheerfully, gripping onto the mixture of white fur and feathers as he swung his little legs upward, finding purchase easily.

  I looked at the bird-monster, catching its large avian eyes. "It would seem they decided not to eat the human after all. What a pity." I felt the words ring through my head. The voice was monstrous. I could have sworn it was the beast underneath us, though the ibisa didn't open its beak to speak. That made me shudder at how it penetrates your mind? The laugh that followed bothered me as well but got me moving to grip on and climb aboard like Rolun did. Though with less grace. "I don't like this one," I said simply. The ibisa squawked. I wasn't sure if it was laughing or ready to tear me apart.

  "Oh, ibisa are sweet. You just gotta learn how to handle them." Rolun shrugged off my statement, smoothing the head of the creature with not a bit of worry. "Alrighty, let's head to the keep of Faariin," he said, grabbing tightly onto the bird, and me following suit quickly before I could get thrown off. Exactly what I knew it would try to do.

  Then it charged.

  I gritted my teeth, not realizing how fast the hefty thing could travel. It was frightening.

  I closed my eyes the whole ride there, Rolun's laughter the only thing I focused on instead of hurling up those meat pies.

  It was more than a blessing to be off the damned beast, and as I dismounted I could have sworn it tried to snap at my fingers when I attempted to right myself. Could have just been my imagination although, given its desire to eat my flesh, I think I might have been right. One had to be careful around an ibisa.

  It had been a quick journey to what I can only assume to be the 'keep' of Faariin. Though a traditional keep it was not. It was more like the remnants of grand hall that had broken down over time. It was similar in size to my own estate, if not a little larger. Made of grey slate stone, covered in ivy and moss with many places broken away that let in the sunshine and moon light during the eve.

  It seemed like something one might find in an old storybook, where something was hiding inside like a forbidden treasure. Though not treasure but fae were within here, as far as I could assume.

  Rolun walked slowly ahead of me by a few feet as he led me up to the tall door on the outside, giving it a once over before waving his hand in front of him to some invisible force I could not see. "Rolun the fawn, and Penelope the human," he calmly announced, though to what I was unsure. I merely stood there, awestruck at the beautiful home.

  As on if on cue, the vines that had encroached around the splintering wooden door began to curl back in retreat. Finding purchase toward the sides of the entry-way, which allowed some force that had the door slide open. A groan emitted from the wooden entry. Rolun wasting no time to begin his usual trot through, though I was hesitant. Something inside was making my skin come up in goose bumps. Though there was no cold, it was like a perpetual lightning storm was inside, causing my hair to stand on end.

  Rolun glanced over his shoulder, arching an untamed brow in curiosity, "Well? It's safe here, nothing's going to happen." He nodded, waving for me to follow. Still hesitatin
g, I stepped through open doorway, slowly. Once I had come to stand side by side with Rolun, a whoosh of air blew past us as the door immediately slammed shut, making me jump a bit in surprise.

  The interior of the room was nearly all black. As if the sunshine from outside couldn't penetrate, even through the various openings in the walls. My fingers clutched together behind my back, trying to keep myself from fidgeting nervously. Then the lights came on. Many, many white- and golden-hued lights began to slowly emit light upon the sides of now visible columns. Globes that glowed bright and drifted around, though staying fixed in a one spot as if on a sconce.

  Then I looked up, and the vaulted ceilings of the infrastructure began to glow as well. Vines covered in blue-hued leaves covered the majority of what was left of the ceiling and columns. Even so, on the arched ceiling itself there were pieces of art that could just be seen if one would squint enough. The paint was heavily chipped, and the figures were hard to discern.

  "This is beautiful," I found myself whispering, turning around to take in the essence of this keep.

  "Yes, it is." A voice echoed ahead of us, grabbing my attention. There, his own skin seeming to glow amidst the darkness, stood Faariin within the low light of his small tower. He appeared to be like a steeple within an old temple. He stood in the hallway farthest to the right. Just, standing. Waiting for one of us to say something.

  "Faariin," Rolun began, tapping a hoof backward, and bowing flamboyantly with a sway of his arms, then standing once more. I watched him, then turned back to Faariin. His black eyes focused ahead, though it was hard to tell which one of us he was staring at with his pupil free orbs. I stayed still, allowing my fingers to fall to my side, keeping them from pulling into balled fists. "I'm sure Vethari sent word ahead, but Penelope here," he continued, gesturing in my direction beside him, "has come to learn from the books we keep. To learn about our people." Another grand flourishing bow.