The Faerie Slayer
Chapter 38

Abby’s Pov

I hadn’t realized that I’d been staring off outside of the window in my room until Fay nudged at the gown on my shoulders and said,” he’s not coming, princess.”

“What?” I shook my head as if to gain insight.

“Your wolf friend, the wedding is tomorrow, I would have thought that our talk would have sensed you up a bit.”

I nodded and swallowed the hard lump in my throat,” no I know, I was just wondering where Elie is.”

The dress had dropped to where my bare feet stood and I held Fay’s hands as I stepped out of it. My breathing was heavy as I slipping into a cashmere night gown. By my bedside table was another cup of slumber tea.

“You liked it last time, so I made you a fresh pot,” Fay reached for a cup and brought it to my lips as I sat back on the bed. I sipped it gratefully. If there was any thing that was going to help me get some sleep tonight, it was a cup of slumber tea.

When Fay departed the room, I lay still and waited for the tea to work. It never did.

Every time I dozed off I was awakened with the creeping thoughts that Kade was out therealone in the magic woods being eaten by monstrous plants and slithering creatures. I sat upbefore the sun and ran towards the window. I knew I wouldn’t have much recollection of this in the morning. I peered outside into the pitch black.

Please, I thought to whichever god guarded above this unholy palace, please bring him back.

When the sun had made its way around, eventually I went to sleep.

It felt like minutes later that Fay burst right back in. I rubbed my eyes and glared through half of my vision.

“You look horrible,” Fay inspected my face close up,” your under eyes are practically black, did you sleep at all?”

I shook him off and tried to go back to bed.

“You have to wake up!” His stern voice was now louder,” the queen is awaiting you for breakfast.”

At the memory of how it went last time, I wanted nothing more then to just go back to sleep.

A cold shower and a change of clothes later I was being escorted by Fay down to have breakfast with her majesty.He assured me that he’d have a fellow hob friend present me with poppyseed tea which was the folk equivalent for coffee. As I sat down, careful to avoid the queens studious eye, I eagerly searched for it.

He said it would be a pitch black liquid in a small white mug, I thought and caught sight of it by the platter of jams. I grasped it quickly and sipped it hungrily.

“Is my staff starving you?” the queen suddenly began.

“No, they’ve been great,” I said, setting the mug down. It was nothing like coffee, one sip of this tea and I felt as if I had rested for days,” I didn’t sleep much last night, that’s all.”

“On the night of your crowning? Not to mention, you are to marry my son.”

I nodded and sipped again,” I’ll be alright.”

“There’s no option not to be,” she clicked her fingers and a small girl hob with thin blond hair approached the table,” bring two more poppyseed teas,” she demanded.

I grabbed a brown piece of toast and spread it with a blue jam. The tastes erupted on my tongue like a mini tornado of strange flavours. I could not decide if it was delicious. When the teas arrived, I finished the second one in a minute. The queen had not lifted her eyes off of mine.

I felt the energy returning to me and feared that by the end of the teas, I’d have enough to bounce off of the walls.

“Feeling better?” she enquired.

“Yes thank you.”

“Good, I expect that tonight you’ll be on your best behaviour?”

What could a half mortal like me possibly do to not behave against a mob of magical demons, I thought to myself but instead, I pressured the corners of my lips and said,” of course.”

“I have a surprise for you,” she said in between chews,” something to remind you of home.”

“What is it?”

“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise. You’ll receive it tonight, after your crowning.”

The only surprise from home I wanted was to be home. I suddenly had the feeling that whatever the surprise was, I wouldn’t like it very much. Faeries have proved to not be so thoughtful. I suddenly could not help the dawdling thought that fought against my will toretrace.

I hadn’t heard back from Kade and Elie, if I was going to be crowned and prisoned for the rest of my life tonight, I, at the very least deserved to know what happened to them.

“Have you found him yet?” I asked with my eyes glued to my plate.

The queen did not seem to need indication on who ‘him’ might be. She simply said,” my guardsman did.”

I stared at her with nervous anticipation,” and?”

She met my gaze but hers was blank,“my guardsmen is as ruthless as he is loyal, unlike that dirty spirit. There no need for his mention. You will never see or hear from him ever again.”

I felt my elbow drop against the plate in front of me, causing it to shatter loudly against the hard floor.

“Is he dead?” I breathed out but she did not answer. Instead, she acted as if I hadn’t existed anymore. I did not need her to say the words for me to burst into a fit of hysteria. My entire body seemed to shake with panic and tears. I cried out and buried my face in the palms of my hands. A group of hob servants came rushing from the back at the scene that I had caused. The queen clicked her fingers again and suddenly I was being thrown like a rag doll against the shoulder of one of the ogres. I kicked and screamed against his solid grip. I wanted to share in Kade’s faith. I could not live knowing what I had caused.

“Let me go!” I shrieked against his broad shoulders in a state of fury. I could not recall a time that I had been more emotionally undone.

The ogre slammed me against the floor of my bedroom. Upstairs, a group of hobs were sealing the window shut. I threw myself against the door that the ogre had locked and eventually, he came back in.

“I have permission to do this,” he said as he grabbed me by both of my arms. I struggled against his grip and but truly was useless. He tied my arms to the railing of the stairs and sat me down on the first step.

“I will untie you tonight before the ball,” he said I let my head fall against the wooden railing and cried until I was sure I had no more tears.

It must have been hours later, I had eventually lost track of time. I’d become nothing more then a pulse to a body when the door was sprung and in walked in Fay. I did not feel a sense of relief, nothing could have comforted me. He was mumbling little somethings but my ears were ringing . Perhaps I’d sobbed so much that I’ve exhausted the rest of my senses.

Whilst releasing me from the ties, Fay was saying something along the lines of ,” should have stayed quite...why bother asking...now you’re a mess!”

He cupped my face with his gentle palm and brought my eyes to meet his. I felt a tear roll down to the top of my lips but he wiped it away before it got the chance to travel further.

“You can’t torture yourself like this,” he said,” that would be the last thing your wolf friend would have wanted for you.”

“Kade,” I breathed out,” say his name when you talk about him, my wolf friend has a name, it’s Kade.”

Fay seemed disappointed with my response. He slumped me against his body and helped me up the stairs. From the second floor, I could hear someone else barging in. Fay put me through a warm bath and combed my wet hair whilst I lied there. He scrubbed my skin with the same nice smelling emory soap but I did not take ebullience this time. He dried me off and told me stories about the simple pleasures of the faerie world in hopes of cheering me up.

“Ride stags through the Enchanted Hills...fly up on a Grig and kiss the bright orange skyline!”

I could not be bothered to spare a hearing ear. I could only think about Kade and little Elie and how they become fated for life’s worst outcome as a result of meeting me.

Izibba ran up the stairs, just as Fay was finishing up the final touches for my makeup. She held a gown in her grasp, unlike the other flat silk ones I had worn, this one had lots of volume. Today, she wore leather black pants and an olive green bralette the same shade of her hair that was decorated with what looked like little bugs. She was still barefoot, her feet acting as long heeled stilettos.

Still, I could not be bothered, not even her entrancing beauty struck me. They fiddled with my body and poked me a hundred times. What seemed like hours later was really merely minutes and I was suddenly ready. Izibba sipped her wine and Fay looked as if his delight would soon cause him to levitate.

“Look at yourself,” Izibba said, revealing wine stained teeth,” you’re magnificent.”

I turned to stare at myself through the large mirror attached to the chest. The dress itself was a glistening champagne colour. It began with two slim lines on my shoulder, progressed into a heaping low cleavage and further down to cup the rest of my body. Layers of a darker shade of champagne chiffon material bestowed the dress more volume beginning at my hips and ending at my feet. I turned to look at the backs swooping hemline that revealed most of my skin, ending right at the lowest of my back. The dress was as equally scandalous as it was elegant. For a second, it took my breath away.

Fay had decided to style my hair down in long wavy curls that ended at my mid back. Izibba seemed to search my face for contentment as I slipped into a glass pair of heels. Finally, after not being able to fathom her sullen expression, I said,” the dress is amazing.”

She beamed,” I think it’s my best work yet!”

I nodded,” thank you.”

Fay disappeared downstairs and Izibba turned me back towards the mirror. She hovered behind me, hands on my shoulder and whispered in my ear,“you don’t look so pleased to be marrying one of the most powerful people in the land of Fey.”

“He’s not the one I love,” I whispered, staring at my reflection with teary eyes.

“I heard about your story. Birthed and raised amongst mortals your whole life, I don’t blame you for not knowing any better.”

“I could say the same about you. You’ve lived here for so long, you don’t know what it’s like back home.”

“But this is your home, you’re a faerie.”

“Only by blood.”

“If this is the fate that you draw for yourself, then you will never smile genuinely again. You have to change the prescriptive to better the outcome.”

“The queen kidnapped me from my home, killed the man I love and fated me to an eternity of hell in a fake marriage,” I could hear my own anger reflect through my words.

“Luckily your eternity is not very long,” she snickered. At my expression she continued,“fate is cruel sometimes,” Izibba said,” but Edmund is a good man. You have nothing to fear.”

“How do you know? That he is good?”

“Because I’m in love with him, and he’s in love with me, but it’s as you said, life usually fates you to an eternity of hell, and I am most definitely not heir to any sorts of crown.”

Fay returned minutes later and I was relieved that I would not have to spend another second in Izibba’s company. I was drowning in my own endless misery, I could not afford the weightof hers. He led me by my hands to the top of the stairs where the festivities have begun. From up here, I could see that the number of people have doubled since yesterday’s party. A larger band strung against instruments to play music just as blissful as before. The doors leading to the outside have all been opened and faeries flood in and out. What was most different then before was that tonight there was what looked like a stage. Six massive chairs behind one larger one rested upon a levelled surface. Seated on five of the seven chairs where faeries that that I had never seen before, the sixth one was empty and on the biggest throne was her majesty herself. At the bottom of the stairs, dressed in a suit that matched the colour of my gown, was Edmund. He offered a reassuring smile at the sight of me. I was released from Fays grip and pushed by him towards the top of the step where I was now within seeing view. The room glanced up at me, a thousand faerie eyes felt as if they were stripping me naked slowly and laughing at my shame. Instead, they clapped, and to my surprise, they cheered for their long lost princess. I kept my eyes down as I focused on taking one step at a time. The last thing I needed was to stumble or fall therefore proving to them just how unfit I am as a half-mortal. I grabbed Edmunds hand, like deja vu and we proceeded through the crowd this time instead of around it.

Edmund introduced me to dozens of faeries. After a while, the night began to blur. I clutched on a glass of foul wine and pretended to be content. I forged the image that I was not here against my will and slowly, my reality was beginning to set. I glanced at the doors every few minutes.

I know it’s not possible, but please, I prayed, please save me.

Of course I knew that Kade would not be walking in through those doors. He was dead, and if he wasn’t, then bursting in through the castle doors would definitely ensure it.

I had felt the eyes of the six seated upon the raised surface the entire time. The queen had been calculating my every move as if stipulating I might just do something to wreck the festivities. We turned to face a man with long silver hair and a handsome face. He had icy blue eyes that looked as if they could see through layers. I immediately recognized him as one of the people seated on the stage.

He held his hand out to me,” I’m Gior, it’s so nice to finally meet you.”

I smiled politely and shook his hand, careful to avoid his long sharp fingernails,” Abby- I mean Aubrette Fawn.”

“You mean Evergreen.”

“Right,” I nodded,” Evergreen.”

“Gior is my cousin,” Edmund explained although he seemed to grow tense,” unfortunately.”

“You know, Aubrette,” Gior studied my eyes,” you are a spitting image of Lochlan.”

I did not have a response. No one had ever told me that I looked like my father and it just occurred to me that I had no idea what my parents looked like. Gior raised a fingernail and pointed it towards a bird similar to the one Elie had sent with a message. He mumbled something that I could not understand under his breath.

“Ardeat.”

The bird suddenly burst into a small gust of flames that eventually disappeared with the air. None of the others seemed to have noticed.

“He wasn’t invited,” Gior said with a sarcastic chuckle,” tell me Aubrette, have you began to explore your powers as a Moiety Child?”

I shook my head. I have not even began to think about it,” I haven’t.”

“Can you summon portals? Turn a stag into a Sidewinder? Make ice of fire and fire of ice?”

I shook my head and Edmund answered for me,” we have nothing but time to teach her, for tonight, let her enjoy her wedding night, Gior.”

“Already protective of her, I see.”

Edmund wrapped an arm around my waist and bid his cousin goodbye. I smiled polity but was happy to end the interaction. An approaching figure stole the attention of most faeries. It was a women, with long burgundy hair that strapped to the side of her body in a high and thick braid. She wore heavy makeup and bore dark eyes and wore a black and crimson dress that made her look as if she’d stepped out of a mid-evil film. A few feet behind her was a hunchback trow that seemed to parallel her every move.

She halted high heeled black boots in front of me and yielded me a hand with long coffin shaped red nails,” Aubrette,” she breathed out,” you’re stunning.” I cut myself on a piece of sharp metal jewelry that decorated her nails.

“Ouch,” I retrieved my fingers.

Edmund seemed just as tense at her arrival. She stared at me as if she seemed to know me and so I asked,” who are you?”

She grinned almost wickedly,” I’m Isabelle Urwin, I was your mothers best friend.

I wonder if she knew that Kade had told me all about her attacks.

So you’re the women that’s been trying to kill me, I thought, but instead I said,” it’s so nice to meet you.”

“The pleasure is all mine. Have you met my daughter yet?” She pointed a finger towards a shorter faerie girl who cowered behind a table stuffing her face with food. She seemed to be the opposite of her mother in every way,” that’s Penelope.”

“I haven’t.”

“She is next heir to the crown, after you, come, I’ll introduce you-”

Before Isabelle could drag me to meet her daughter, the queen intervened. She stood facing Isabelle, a strict look on her face.

“I hadn’t realized that you would be invited,” she said.

“And why wouldn’t I be? After all, this is my family just as much as it is yours, Ana,” Isabelle did not seem threatened by the queen. Instead, she held her gaze.

Edmund steered me away towards the outside.

“You look like you need a break,” he whispered in my ear and I nodded. I could not think of anything else I needed more.

On the lifted platform , what resembled a large white stone balcony that wrapped around the entire perimeter of the castle, Edmund steered me to the corner where no one else was. I closed my eyes and took a few shaky breaths. When I opened them, I searched for the moon but I could not find it.

I asked myself, where am I? How did this happen?

I thought of my parents and how they allowed love to cause both of their destruction and now mines.

Could it ever be worth it? Surely, I would never have a daughter with Kade if I known it would fate her with misery.

I felt Edmund lay a hand on my waist and flinched. I could not look him in the eye and so I did not bother. There was no more acting, no more keeping up with the lie to help Kade and Elie. I did not need to act fond of him anymore. If they were going to keep me here against my will, then I will act like it shamelessly.

“What are you thinking of?” he asked.

“What will you tell my parents?” I asked, staring straight ahead into the murky woods,” my human one’s, back home.”

“What do you prefer?”

“You don’t care about what I prefer so why do you bother to ask?”

He removed his hand and took a step back.

“I’ll arrange for a shapeshifting pixie to take your form and forge the scene of your death somewhere. They will think that you have died.”

I closed my eyes in an attempt to stifle the waterworks but they flooded naturally. Edmund walked away.

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