by CC Solomon
“They are harmless but nosey. You are a new face and they are usually at the realm portal where we arrived. Typically, they are the first to see those who are coming or going,” Bella explained.
“What other kinds of Fae are there?” Lisa asked. She put out a hesitant hand, palm upwards. A fairy came and landed on her hand. She was blonde and smiling. “What’s your name?”
“Twila,” the tiny pixie replied in a high-pitched voice.
“Nice to meet you, Twila. I’m Lisa.”
Twila giggled. “I know. We’ve been expecting you!”
“There are many types of Fae, if you recall from our talks long ago,” Bella went on. “In our Seelie areas, we have pixies, gnomes, brownies, and mermaids. Mermaids can be in the neutral towns as well. In the neutral towns, you have fauns, leprechauns, hobgoblins, banshees, and nymphs. Oh, and some elves live in our realm as well. They are more of a cousin to the type of Fae that you and I are because we are the most human like. However, they often live in the human world.”
Lisa nodded absentmindedly, too caught up in viewing her environment. They reached the town, a collection of white-domed buildings and houses with colorful doors. Various figures walked the marble streets, going about their days in the same manner as the human towns. They were as diverse as she could imagine, of all colors of human and then colors and shapes beyond the ones she knew. Some were purple or green, others over seven feet tall and still more the size of Twila. Some appeared less human, with skin textures she’d never seen on humanoids.
Groups of child-like Fae ran around them and laughed. Other groups of older Fae stopped and turned to look at the pair, whispering to each other.
Lisa tensed up, assuming she was the subject of their discussions. She leaned in to Bella. “Are they talking about me?”
“Probably. You are a new face. And one of The Six. You also know the soulmates.”
“The who?”
“We can talk more about that when we see Arwa.”
“I do have another question. How can we be so diverse? I thought the Fae were from Europe?”
Bella turned to her and stopped walking. “The Fae don’t originate on the earthly plane. Race and ethnicity are human constructs. Yes, Europeans, like the Scottish, were the first to widely mention us, but we don’t originate from there. We accepted the names attributed to us to make it easier for you but our language is not English. We are everything. There are humanoid fairies that look like every human ethnicity. Some take the form of their surroundings when they go to the human world. Hence why the European fairies are Caucasian in appearance. But you and I are Fae. Our queen is Fae, but her family court spent time in the Middle East and therefore, many in our court years ago took the appearance of those people. However, we’ve become much more diverse.”
Lisa nodded. They continued the walk-in silence as Lisa looked around in awe. She felt like Dorothy visiting Oz. Everything was so foreign, yet odd and beautiful. The air smelled of pastries and flowers and a calming sense of peace spread over her. Twila had moved to perch on her shoulder and from time to time she would hum a tune Lisa found delightful. She wanted to put the pixie in her pocket and keep her forever.
They kept walking until they reached a mansion. The building was tall and wide and it was surrounded by a field of flowers. Giant white gates blocked their entrance and two guards, dressed in pristine white suits, stood in the front. They were tall, at least seven feet. One had skin so pale he was nearly white with matching stark white hair, eyebrows and lashes. He had eyes the color of blood.
The other guard looked just as intimidating. His skin was a pale blue and he was bald with pointed ears. His eyes were golden and he had inch long bottom canines, which protruded from his mouth.
The imposing pair looked down at the three of them with neutral eyes.
“Hi, we’re here to see the queen,” Bella said, looking to both guards. “Lisa is here with me.”
The guards looked to each other and the blue fairy nodded. The gates slid open behind them.
The white guard spoke to Bella in a language that Lisa did not know. It sounded like a mixture of Japanese and Italian to Lisa, if such a thing was possible.
“What did he say?” Lisa whispered as they walked past.
“The queen knows we are here,” Bella replied.
“What language was that?”
“The language of the Fae,” Twila answered in a tiny, cheerful voice. “You don’t know it?”
“No, she doesn’t. She was raised in the human world. She knows nothing of our ways,” Bella explained.
Lisa looked to Bella with quizzical eyes. “Weren’t you born and raised in my world too?” she asked.
“I was and then I left when I became an adult.”
They walked on the sparkling cement road leading to the mansion. “Why does it smell like a giant cupcake here?” she asked.
Bella chuckled. “It smells different to different people. I smell fresh bread.”
“I smell picawillies,” Twila stated.
“Pica-what?” Lisa asked, trying to glance at the pixie on her shoulder.
“Picawillies, silly!”
“It’s a type of candy, here,” Bella explained. “Like marzipans.”
Lisa nodded.
“They’re the best!” Twila exclaimed.
They reached the golden double doors, which opened without being touched. Stepping through, they entered a grand foyer facing a wide, marble staircase with golden railings.
A fairy appeared on Lisa’s right and she jumped in surprise.
“Queen Arwa will see you in the parlor,” said the fairy. She was short, not quite five feet tall. She had large brown eyes that took up half her face. Her hair hung in a long, brown braid, which was resting on her shoulder.
Lisa couldn’t help but think the small woman looked like a cute anime character. She felt it best, however, not to share that thought.
They followed the fairy down a hallway to the left and stopped at an open door on the right. A warm yellow light spread into the hallway from the room.
The short fairy stopped at the door. “Go in, the queen will be here momentarily. Help yourself to the refreshments,” she replied before turning and leaving.
The trio entered the room and Lisa exclaimed. The parlor was huge and gave Lisa the feel of an exotic spa. The walls were maroon and peppered with gold-framed paintings of mysterious beings. The floor was a dark wood of some sort. The furniture and accessories were a mixture of purple velvets and rich, colorful patterns and golds. To the left of the room stood a long rectangular table with golden trimming.
On top of that table was a spread to send a person into a food coma. Bright, mouth-watering miniature cakes and decorated cookies, tiny quiches and sandwiches, and glass pitchers filled with red and blue liquids sat in an enticing arrangement. Steam released from one pitcher filled with a red liquid.
Twila exclaimed and flew over to the spread. She nibbled on a pastry almost her size.
“This looks amazing,” Lisa whispered. “But I can’t eat.”
She thought of Charles. The pain hurt but, oddly, not as much as when she’d first arrived. There was a throbbing in her chest but the distraction of this new world seemed to lessen the hurt, for now. She was sure once she got a moment of rest, she’d be faced with that pain again.
Bella walked to the table and picked up a mini quiche, biting into it. She closed her eyes and hummed. “I think you should try to eat. Just a bite,” she said, opening her eyes. “Have a petit four. They are divine.”
Lisa walked over to the table and hesitantly picked up a miniature sponge cake covered in turquoise-colored icing. She frowned and bit into the treat. Her mouth was dry and she wasn’t sure she’d be able to choke the bite down but as soon as the flavor hit her tongue her mouth began to water. It was the best dessert she had ever tasted. She bit into it again and again. When it was done, she licked her fingers.
“Good, right?” Bella asked. “Try
a quiche.”
Lisa moved to the other end of the table and picked up a tiny quiche. It too was heaven in a bite. Bella poured blue liquid into a cup and passed it to Lisa. “Drink,” she stated.
Lisa eagerly took the cup and drank the liquid. It was slightly tart and sweet at the same time and went down her throat with a soothing warmth. “What is this?” she asked.
“Tea. Well, our type of tea.”
She drank and ate more. The heaviness in her heart lifted further and she felt almost giddy. How could she be happy? A sense of peace flowed through her. Food had never been that comforting to her before but perhaps the food of her new people was helping her.
“Oh, I’m glad you like the refreshments,” came a distinguished voice from behind them.
Lisa coughed, slightly startled by the new member to the room. She turned and almost gasped at the owner of the voice.
She was beautiful. She had a flawless, honey complexion that seemed to shimmer with high cheekbones and full lips. Her almond-shaped eyes were a startling electric blue and her hair was golden-brown, partially underneath a maroon head scarf. A crown of sorts rested on the back of her head. It was golden, with long narrow points protruding like knitting needles. She wore the most magnificent gown. It was a swirling patterned frock of maroons, golds, and blacks and belted in the middle before flowing outward.
When she moved towards Lisa, she looked like she was gliding.
“I’m Queen Arwa. Welcome to my court,” she said, offering her hand to Lisa.
Lisa put down a pastry and wiped her hands on her pants before shaking Arwa’s hand. “Hi, I’m Lisa Xu. It’s an honor to meet you, Queen Arwa,” Lisa replied before doing a partial courtesy.
“Oh, none of that. Call me Arwa,” the queen fairy stated with a laugh.
Lisa looked up at her, almost wanting to look away from her beauty. “Can I say your makeup is amazing. Like, I need to learn from you.”
Arwa smiled. “It is all in our glamour magic.”
“Well, my magic doesn’t come out like that.”
Arwa winked at her. “Give it time, it will.” She leaned past Lisa and took a cookie off of a platter. “These are my favorites. I have such a sweet tooth. Take some treats and let us sit and talk.” She motioned Lisa to the other side of the room, where there were love seats in front of a fireplace.
“Should we leave, Queen?” Bella asked.
Arwa shook her head as she poured herself some of the red tea. “No, stay. You are her new friends, right?” She turned to Lisa again with those shocking eyes and Lisa nodded her head eagerly.
The women sat on the couch with Twila now perching on Bella’s shoulder.
“How do you like what you’ve seen here so far, Lisa?” Arwa asked, sitting across from her.
“It’s amazing. Everything is so beautiful.”
“We try very hard to have a place of peace and tranquility. I hope that you feel welcomed here.”
Lisa nodded quickly.
Arwa’s smile faltered slightly. “I’m very sorry to hear about what happened to Charles.”
Lisa’s eyes widened. “You know about him?”
Arwa nodded slowly. “We all know about The Six. We cannot afford to lose any of you. You are too important to your world and our own.”
“But Charles is…” Lisa’s voice quivered. She couldn’t say the words. The image of his lifeless body clouded her mind and she held in a whimper. “Dead.”
Arwa raised her eyebrows. “Dead? No. Charles is alive.”
Chapter 3
“We must leave to see Misandre soon,” the tall elf known as Yuri stated. He had short white hair and crystal-blue eyes, with a long nose and thin lips, currently twisted in dismay. His face, rarely full of emotion, looked unusually annoyed that evening as he stood in the doorway to the hotel’s office.
Joo-won sat back in his leather chair and smirked at Yuri. “You really don’t like her, do you?” he asked in his deep, unhurried tone.
The Russian elf scowled. “I don’t like that monster often at her side,” he replied. “He is trouble.”
“Ah, the ghoul. She is Unseelie, it is expected that she would surround herself with unsavory characters. It is good that he accompanies her. He reminds us that we can never trust her.”
Joo-won rose to his feet. Standing at six-foot-three he was as tall as many humanoid fairies. He’d lived for five hundred years, spending most of his days between the human world and the Fae realm. When amongst the humans, he predominantly stayed in what was most recently known as Korea and his appearance matched the ethnic group that he’d grown to love.
He was handsome, with hauntingly beautiful eyes the color of turquoise marbles and full, soft lips. His hair was jet-black. There was a gentleness to his appearance, making him appear deceptively passive and just a tinge weak. He was neither and anyone who dared to test his strength soon regretted it.
“I don’t understand why we are getting involved with the Unseelie. We should remain neutral and not take sides. There is a truce. Having two supernatural pairings of soulmates is causing too much trouble,” Yuri complained.
“I would agree. Both sets could destroy us all. Which is why it is important that if we are unable to stop them both, we at least end one set of them. Since we cannot avoid what is to come, the original soulmates are our best option,” Joo-won explained, walking to the door.
“I agree, they are the most likely to win and if we side with the wrong pair—”
“We risk the death of our kind.”
A woman appeared at the entrance behind Yuri. “We are ready to leave,” she said with a look of contempt on her neon-green eyes that contrasted against her deep-brown skin.
Yuri jumped slightly and turned to face the third in command. “You are like ninja, woman. I never hear you approach,” he said with a slight smile.
Now, there were two times when Yuri showed emotion. Annoyance at the ghoul and happiness at Senna. It was clear he was in love with the woman but he’d yet to do anything about it. Joo-won assumed it was because he had some form of self-imposed order that he could not fall for a woman he worked along-side.
Senna crossed her slender arms, face still in a scowl. Her dark brown hair hung loosely around her shoulders, parted in the middle.
“That ghoul asked me to be his woman last time we met,” she hissed. “Doesn’t he know that I would never be with someone who would eat me as soon as I held my breath too long?” She shuddered. “Like I’d want to kiss someone with flesh trapped in his teeth.”
Ghouls, although human-like in appearance, were similar to gremlins, because they enjoyed the flesh of the dead. They also had no problems in making someone dead in order to eat their flesh.
Yuri lost his smile and sputtered. “Shall I kill him for you?” he asked.
Joo-won raised his hand. “I don’t think that would be of benefit to us,” he replied in amusement.
Senna patted Yuri on the shoulder before turning away. “A portal to their realm is open in the main conference rooms downstairs,” she replied.
Joo-won and his elven followers had taken over a section of the downtown Baltimore area near the water. It had formerly been the luxury part of the town, hosting expensive shopping, dining, hotels and apartments. When the supernatural came, like most cities, it’d been overrun by death from The Sickness and the paranormals. For years, Baltimore had been a buffet for bloodlust vampires and other creatures who preferred cities over the countryside or suburbs. After the human and animal resources left the cities, destroyed by fighting off paranormals and civil unrest, natural wear and tear on the area had occurred.
For Joo-won, this became the perfect place to build a temporary base as they awaited further instructions from the soulmates. They repaired the dilapidated section of the town but blanketed the area with a glamour spell, maintaining the façade of a destroyed city to keep wanderers out.
Joo-won’s main residency was in the upscale high-rise hotel overlooking the
water. This particular hotel was where most of the elves resided, including his second and third in command. The trio took the elevator, having also restored electricity to this sector of the city, to the ground floor conference room.
Once there, they stepped through the black portal and were instantly dropped off into the Unseelie queen’s castle. They stood in a hallway surrounded by gray brick walls and floating orbs of light. Two guards, one male and one female, stood in front of the trio.
“We’re here for Misandre,” Joo-won stated.
The female guard nodded. “She is expecting you. She is in the basement. Follow us,” she stated curtly.
Joo-won raised an eyebrow but proceeded to follow the guards. Usually, they met in her study.
They walked down the dimly lit corridor, pausing slightly as they heard a loud male scream.
“Everything okay?” Yuri asked in a controlled tone.
Another scream.
“Yes,” said the male guard. “The Queen is overseeing some business. She wants you to meet her in the basement to save time.”
“What type of business?” Senna asked, frowning.
Another blood-curling scream.
“Punishment.”
Joo-won rolled his eyes. Of course, the sadistic wench would want an audience for her torture. She was probably proud she could do such a thing and wanted to show off.
They walked down a long narrow staircase, closer to the screams. At the foot of the steps was another hallway with prison cells on both sides.
“She has a dungeon in her home?” Yuri asked disapprovingly. “How…archaic.”
Senna jabbed him in the side. “It certainly isn’t cozy,” she observed.
They turned right down another corridor and walked on until they faced a closed steel door. The male guard opened the door and stepped to the side.
Joo-won walked in with Senna and Yuri following. The door closed behind them. He grimaced. The room smelled like blood, urine, excrement and vomit. The floor was covered in some type of straw and the walls were a stained, dark-gray cement. The orb lighting floated in the corners of the large, square space, barely illuminating the room. Against the wall farthest from them was Misandre. Her back was to them and she partially blocked two other bodies.
