by Alison Pensy
“Faen,” she shouted through her constricted vocal chords. Nothing more than a hushed whisper emanated from her mouth. “Faen, help me,” she said again, futilely hoping that he could somehow hear her or sense that she was in danger. She looked over towards the courtyard, and her heart sank. It was still empty.
She was quickly sinking into blackness; no, she couldn’t let this happen.
Do something Faedra, she commanded herself. You need to do something now, or you will die. Right here, right now.
The thought of what it would do to her father, to find his only daughter’s battered remains, lying lifeless behind the hotel, sparked something deep within her. Her fear turned to anger, which in itself, turned into the searing sensation of energy flowing through her body. The streetlamp above her flickered.
Faedra opened her eyes and summoned all the energy she could from her body, then her mind started reaching outside of her skull, searching for other sources. The light above her flickered again, and she took hold of its energy, too, pulling it inside her body and molding it with her own. The bulb in the street lamp shattered, sending a shower of sparks raining to the ground like one of those fancy fireworks she enjoyed watching on Bonfire Night.
She looked straight into the redcap’s eyes.
“Not tonight, you don’t,” her whisper was barely audible as she channeled all the power she was controlling through her palms and slammed it directly at its chest.
The intensity of it threw the redcap violently back against the dumpster again. She couldn’t control the immensity of the force she had created and it sent her flying backwards, also. Her whole body was picked up by it and she was hurled into the wall behind her with brutal propulsion. She caught a glimpse of Faen exiting through the door into the courtyard. He conjured his sword from nowhere and was spinning it in his hand as he moved towards her. There was a blood-curdling crack as her head slammed against the hard stone of the brick wall. She fell limply to the ground.
“Faedra!” she heard Faen shout, just before everything went black.
Faen moved with lightning speed to the darkness of the area behind the hotel. The street lamp was broken now, so the only light emanating there was the dim glow from the floodlights in the courtyard. He moved with stealth over to the redcap. It looked unconscious but he wasn’t taking any chances, and ran it through with his sword. Faen mumbled something and the redcap shimmered and disappeared. He stood up alert, his sword held ready for battle. He scanned the area for anything else, but couldn’t sense anything untoward. In the next heartbeat, he was kneeling over Faedra’s lifeless body that was now lying face down on the ground.
“No, no, no, not again. For the love of the Gods, not again,” he cried as he carefully turned her over. She felt limp in his hands, just like Lillith had eleven years ago. He examined her face. She had a gash on her forehead; blood was trickling from it down the side of her face. He gently moved a lock of hair away from the gash so he could take a better look. It didn’t look too deep and it started to heal right in front of his eyes. He heaved a sigh of relief. She was not dead if her body was healing.
“Faedra, can you hear me?” he asked, his voice soft as silk.
She groaned in response. Her eyes flickered open for just a second as she took in his features and could see the agonized look in his eyes. It nearly broke her heart.
“I am taking you home,” he said, and she felt the ground disappear beneath her.
Faedra attempted to try and comfort Faen with a smile, and then sank back into the black abyss once more.
Faen made it to her home within moments of lifting her from the cold hard ground. He lowered her cautiously to her bed. He had to check and see if any bones were broken because, if they were, they had to be set straight or they would heal crookedly. He took each of her limbs and gently straightened them one by one. He watched as the bruises disappeared almost before they even had a chance to develop. After she turned of age, the healing process her body possessed became even more efficient. He took hold of each hand and examined her fingers. Nothing seemed to have been broken and he rested them down on either side of her body. He leaned forward and coaxed the tangled strands of hair away from her face and waited.
The energy he had just witnessed her expend probably had as much to blame for her state of unconsciousness than her head being slammed against the wall. He went down into the kitchen and rummaged through the cupboards until he found what he was looking for. He filled a large glass with water, then filled it almost half way with sugar, stirring it until it dissolved. He returned to Faedra’s room with the glass and placed it on her nightstand.
A few more moments passed. Faedra sucked in a deep breath, as if she had been underwater and just come up to the surface for air. Her eyes flew open; wide and scared. She scanned her surroundings and saw Faen sitting beside her; she threw her arms around him.
“You are safe now, Ms. Faedra,” he said softly, in an effort to calm her. “Here, drink this; you need to regain some of the energy you expended,” he said, handing her the glass from the nightstand.
“What is it?” she asked. Although, she trusted him implicitly, she still wanted to know what she was putting in her body.
“Sugar water,” he stated.
She drank it without further comment.
“Did you see what I did?” she exclaimed enthusiastically, after she had finished the entire glass.
“Yes, it was most impressive, Ms. Faedra.”
She looked around again, a little disoriented. “Wait. How long have I been gone from the party?” she asked, looking down at her torn and dirty dress.
“About fifteen of your minutes, I estimate,” he replied.
“Oh, good grief, I have to get back there.”
She pushed herself past him and headed for the closet. She certainly couldn’t return dressed like this; her father would freak out.
“That is not a good idea.”
“I don’t care, Faen. My dad will be worried sick. I don’t even have my cell phone; it’s in my purse that is still on a table back at the party.” She ran over to the home phone that was sitting in its charger on her nightstand, picked it up and started dialing. Faedra made sure to put in the couple of digits needed so that the number wouldn’t show on his caller ID. She hoped he would think she was calling from her cell. She couldn’t stand the thought of him worrying about her. “I’ll call him from here.”
“Hello,” Henry answered. She could hear the music in the background. Good the party was still in full swing.
“Hey, Dad, it’s me.”
“Fae? Where on earth are you? I was starting to get worried.”
“Don’t worry, I needed some fresh air and went for a walk in the village.”
“On your own?” he exclaimed.
“No, Faen’s with me,” she cringed as soon as she said his name, and Faen shot her a strained expression
“You went home to get your dog?” her dad asked incredulously.
God, she hated lying to her father, and she was hopeless at it.
“I thought he may need to go for a wee,” she said cringing again. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“Fae, you do the oddest things sometimes. I tell you, that dog knows he has you wrapped around his paw.”
She raised her eyes to the heavens. Oh, if only he knew.
His tone changed then. “Is Frederick with you? He disappeared about the same time you did.”
“Yes, Dad, he’s with me. He didn’t want me walking alone, so he asked if he could join me.” She listened as her dad grumbled something into the phone, but, just at that moment, a loud song started up in the background and she couldn’t make out what he was saying. It was probably for the best. “I’ll see you soon,” she yelled over the din.
“You are going to have to be more careful what you say in the future, Ms. Faedra,” Faen said, stating the obvious.
She turned to him and squared her shoulders. Whether or not he had looked concerned about her when she
was lying in his arms almost dead, he certainly didn’t now. He was back to his usual stuffy demeanor, and right now was the wrong time. She had almost been killed tonight, certainly had the stuffing knocked out of her, and she just about had enough of the self righteous fairy that was intruding on her life.
“Well, excuse me for not having my brain firing on all four cylinders after having it slammed into a brick wall just a few minutes ago,” she snapped.
She had been expecting a full-blown throbbing migraine after that incident, but, as yet, nothing had materialized, for which she was relieved.
Faen raised an eyebrow at her outburst but said nothing for a moment.
“Fred, Ms. Faedra?” he looked at her questioningly. “Do you believe I look like a ‘Fred’?”
Faedra’s shoulders slumped. No, he most certainly did not look like a Fred. “Give me a break, Faen, it was the only other F-word I could think of at the time,” she said, raising her eyebrows at him. “But I changed it quickly. I don’t think Frederick’s too bad, though.”
Faen was quiet again, watching with interest as Faedra continued to look in her closet for a suitable replacement. She picked a similar styled dress, but this one was a deep forest green with a cream embroidered trim around the hem. She hoped not too many people would notice. Who was she kidding? This dress looked nothing like the one she was wearing that was now ruined. She held it up and looked over at Faen, eyebrows raised. Faen shot her a puzzled look.
“Out,” she snapped and looked towards the door.
“Oh, yes, of course, Ms. Faedra,” he uttered before his swift exit.
Faedra mumbled something about ‘ungracious fairies’ under her breath as she changed into her other dress.
“If you insist we go back to the party, I will not leave your side again,” he stated without compromise through the door.
“Whatever,” she retorted.
“Even if you have to go to the bathroom!” he added for good measure.
She scowled at the door.
“Okay, I’m ready,” she said as she opened the door a few moments later to find him waiting patiently, as usual. She had changed into her other dress, tidied her hair, cleaned the blood from her face with a moist wipe, and touched up her makeup, all with such incredible swiftness it surprised even her. There was just a tiny red mark on her forehead where the gash had been, and she covered that easily with a little concealer.
“So, do I get to go flying again?” she asked when they were standing outside. She had missed the first experience due to a lack of consciousness.
“If we are to arrive swiftly, yes.”
“Which brings me to my next question,” she paused for effect.
“And that would be?” Faen responded.
“If I have on this ointment that is supposed to enable me to see through glamour, how come I still can’t see your wings?” That particular point was needling at her now.
Faen gave her one of his wry smiles. “That would be because, how would I say, I ramped up the frequency of mine, so to speak.”
“Not fair,” she mumbled. He just inclined his head in his annoyingly gracious way and held out his arms.
“May I?” he asked.
“Oh, go on then, if you must,” she replied nonchalantly, trying very hard to hide the fact that she was super excited that she was about to go flying with a fairy.
Faen scooped her up in his arms. She wrapped hers securely around his neck, and they glided gracefully across the field to the village. It took her breath away.
“What if someone sees us?”
“They won’t. I have hidden us.”
Faedra watched as they skimmed above the rooftops of the houses in the village. It was an exhilarating feeling with the warm breeze blowing on her face and through her hair. Although, all too quickly, they were on the ground again, and walking back through the front entrance to the Old Brewery.
Faedra took a deep, steadying breath as they got closer to the party. She knew she had some explaining to do. She had just been for a ‘walk’ in the village with a man no one had ever met before, and she had changed her dress.
“Well, here goes nothing,” she whispered to herself as Faen leaned forward opening one of the doors to the banquet room for her.
Her father was on her in a flash. “Why did you go wandering off without telling anyone?” he demanded. Then looked down at her dress and narrowed his eyes at Faen who was glued to her side, just like he said he would be.
“I spilled red wine on my other one, Dad, so I nipped home to get changed. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my birthday in a stained dress.”
He didn’t look entirely convinced of her story, but didn’t say anything more on the matter either. “Well, you’re back now. Please just let me know if you decide to go on a walkabout again. You know how I worry about you.”
“I know, Dad, I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.” But something told Faedra that maybe it wasn’t a promise she was going to be able to keep in the future. She suddenly yearned for the uncomplicated life she had lived until this morning, where she knew exactly who she was and where she was going.
CHAPTER NINE
Faedra was hoping that no one noticed the fact that she had devoured almost half of the contents on the buffet table upon her return. She had no idea how many calories her body literally burned earlier that night, but her body was screaming at her in no uncertain terms to replenish them. She was starving and couldn’t get the food down quick enough.
“Feeling a bit peckish tonight are we?” Amy said jovially as she crept up behind Faedra, making her jump. “That must be at least your sixth plate of food.”
Rats, someone did notice. “It’s my Birthday,” Faedra replied blankly; she couldn’t for the life of her think of anything else to say.
“Well, remember, a moment on the lips, lifetime on the hips,” Amy said with a smirk. Faedra narrowed her eyes at her friend; Amy just shrugged in response and gave her a wink.
The party wound down gradually after that. Faedra said more “goodbyes” and “thank you for comings” than she cared to remember. It was half past midnight before they got home.
Faen was waiting in his dog form at the front door when they arrived. He had left as Frederick the same time she and her father had.
“That was a wonderful party, Dad,” Faedra said as she gave him a hug. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome, darling. I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. Well, it’s been a long day, I’m off to bed. Goodnight.” He kissed her on the forehead and made his way to bed.
“Night, Dad.”
Faedra and Faen made their way to Faedra’s room, too. She was exhausted and looking forward to a good night’s sleep. She wasn’t going to forget her eighteenth birthday in a hurry, that was for sure.
After she changed into her pajamas, she let Faen into her room. He was still in his dog form. She climbed into bed and fell asleep almost instantaneously.
Faen took his usual position on the rug beside her, but he didn’t fall asleep. He was on full alert, listening to every creak and groan the old house made at night. He knew that the house was warded and nothing could get to Faedra here, but he was extremely concerned about the blatant attack on her at the hotel. He had no idea why the redcaps were interested in her or who they were in allegiance with, but he was determined to find out.
He was pulled from his thoughts by a noise that Faedra was making above him in her bed. He sat up and watched her for a moment in the glow of a soft light he had created over her head. She was still asleep, but her body was starting to move agitatedly under the covers. Her hairline was wet with sweat, and her eyes, under their lids, were moving about erratically. She was having a nightmare. It didn’t surprise him. She had battled a redcap and lived to tell the tale. Not many fae could say that, let alone a human.
He blurred into his true form and stood over her. Maybe he could calm her dreams if he could comfort her somehow without waking her up. He frowned when he reali
zed he didn’t know how. Tentatively, he moved his hand towards her face. His fingers hovered above her forehead for a moment, then he drew them away again. He hated to see her in distress, but felt powerless to do anything about it.
Her face contorted and she started mumbling incoherently. The mumbling got louder and louder until he thought she was going to scream. It was an automatic response; he put his hand over her mouth just as she did, in fact, scream. He managed to muffle it, knowing that it would have woken her father if he had not.
Faedra was flung from her nightmare by the built in shut-off mechanism that everyone has in their brain to wake them from a nightmare before it gets too intense and you can’t escape it. Her eyes were wide with fear again as they looked down at the hand that was covering her mouth, then up at Faen in confusion.
“You are safe, Ms. Faedra. You were having a nightmare. You screamed and it would have woken your father,” Faen’s voice was a soft whisper.
Faedra nodded her head in understanding; he lifted his hand from her mouth. She sat up and looked at him with a blank expression. At first she felt numb, but then it started, a slow tremble from the center of her body that quickly intensified to a violent shake. Her teeth started to chatter and her whole body shook uncontrollably from head to toe. She was suddenly freezing. Her lips turned blue and felt numb, but there was sweat beading on her forehead.
Faen could see what was happening. He had not witnessed it in the fae, but he had seen it in humans. She was going into delayed shock. He’d been amazed at the resilience Faedra had shown after her attack earlier on, but she’d been so focused on getting back to the party so her father would not worry, that she hadn’t given herself time to digest what had just happened to her. Now, several hours later, her brain and body were telling her it was time to do just that.
“Ms. Faedra,” he whispered calmly. “I believe you are experiencing what humans call delayed shock.”
Faedra just stared at Faen, almost like she was looking through him and didn’t quite see or hear him. He raised his hand and rested it on her forehead. She felt like ice to the touch. He grabbed her bathrobe from the chair and wrapped it around her shoulders. “Can I get you anything?” he asked with growing concern. “Is there anything else I can do?”
