by Piper Rayne
“Can I ask you something now?”
“Please,” I said.
He paused, and then, “I don’t want to offend you, so I don’t know how to ask.”
“It’s okay,” I urged.
“I don’t mean to be calling you a liar or anything, but I don’t know how else to put it. Did someone really call you ‘ugly’ as you put it? I don’t think you made it up, trust me on that. I just don’t understand. I’m finding that fairy and humans don’t see things the same at all.”
All that nervousness over me thinking he doubted my word? In our land, a girl’s opinion didn’t count for a thing. Why should he even care? Was it because I had brought him food? He was right. Humans spoke a completely different language but, somehow, it felt more like mine.
“You were worried I’d be offended just because you didn’t believe something I said?”
“No, I do believe it,” he pleaded desperately.
“I’m not offended,” I smiled, wondering if he would be what the humans called a feminist. “And I don’t understand some of the things you worry about. Yes, he insulted me in front of everyone. What’s so hard to imagine?”
“Just... Why, or how, or... What did he say, exactly? How did it come up?”
“Well, I do believe ‘why’ was already covered,” I said, pointing toward my back and praying my dormant, purple-edged wings wouldn’t stick out when I did. “I don’t know how much of a story there is, but here’s what happened: The realm of fairy is divided into kingdoms or tribes. Each kingdom has a palace containing a crystal that keeps us safe. The climate is controlled and we are generally invisible to you humans and some other beings unless Regina or her sisters step in. The two most powerful crystals are held by the Sol and Luna tribes. We are the Luna fairies,” I paused just to be sure I hadn’t lost him. He nodded his head.
“One day last year, my father—that’s King Peabody—invited the king of the Sol fairies—Orion—and his tribe over for a festival and feast. I knew what business was to be conducted because my father had told me ahead of time. King Orion knew as well. His son—Prince Zane—did not. I had mixed feelings. It was my mother’s one wish for me, that I find someone who made me happy. She used to tell me that one day I would find a man who thought I was as beautiful as she did. He wouldn’t care that my wings were mostly dormant the same way hers had been.” He wouldn’t want to hurt them with stupid tests of my bloodline either.
I stopped to wipe tears from my eyes. I felt foolish. I was spilling my guts about my petty problems to someone who was locked up and wondering if he was going to be maimed the next day. But there was no stopping. I looked at the traveler and was amazed to see him looking at me with rapt attention. He motioned with his shrunken human hand for me to continue.
“I asked myself all that morning, ‘Could this be it?’ I had never met Prince Zane. My imagination only allowed me to build him into a handsome, loving husband-to-be. But that was hard. I was disappointed the second I saw him. He strode into a banquet with his chin in the air, ordering his servants about with an arrogance that would have been comical if not so unfortunately real. He spoke to anyone but the two kings with an overwhelming condescension. I almost cried at the thought of having to get used to him. My husband, my new life, was to be this? Still, I managed to keep myself together until the announcement. Later, I crossed paths with him before dinner in the main lobby. We bumped into each other. He seemed annoyed until he saw my collapsed wings. Then, it was plain disgust that creased his brow. ‘Do excuse me, please,’ he sneered nastily. You know what? Even that didn’t prepare me for what he did later.” I wished I could slow my words, but they kept tumbling out. If the stranger thought this part was bad, wait until he heard about the mattresses Zane had ordered be placed in my room.
“But I don’t understand. Why would he hate your wings? Did he not know of the kingdom you come from?”
I pressed my finger to my lips. There was no way I’d ever be able to explain it all to him if he interrupted me. Our kingdoms had twisted, winding histories. My wings were a sign that we were destined to fail, and only a true princess would ever offer a future Sol king proper heirs. I figured it best to just get out as much of the story as I could and hope the stranger could follow. It wasn’t like humans were dumb. Odd. Intrusive. Weak. Rude, even. But never dumb.
“All through dinner I could barely manage to look at him. I spent the full meal in strange hopes that he would transform somehow. ‘That’s my future,’ I kept thinking. ‘The whole life I’ve lived up to now is now supposed to revolve entirely around this...Jerk!’ Then came the announcement: ‘Friends, nobles,’ my father said, standing. All fell silent and looked at him. ‘I am pleased to announce that by next spring, the two most powerful houses in all of fairy, Sol and Luna, will be bound by marriage. A union that no other ten kingdoms added together could hope to disrupt.’ I wanted to die right then on the spot.”
The traveler shook his head.
I kept right on going. “I saw the prince raise his head in interest. He knew he was about to receive a bride, but who? He looked hungrily at my half-sisters. ‘And so, I have offered to King Orion for his son Zane,’ who Father gestured to, ‘the hand of my daughter, Darian,’ and he gestured to me. The prince’s eyes followed my father’s hand and widened in disbelief when they landed on me. All I could do was smile nervously. Before I had a chance to wonder how he’d react, he screamed, ‘What?’ He slammed the table with his fist and stood. He looked in outrage at his own father. ‘Can this be true? Could my own father have agreed, on my behalf, without my knowledge, that I should take that...that purple-winged hag as a wife? My first wife, no less! The very thought of soiling my dick by siring an heir with a woman that not even a commoner would touch! Do we even know if she is of royal blood? How many mothers has this freak run off? Wasn’t her own mother a freak too? Isn’t she the one who tried to run off with the crystal?’”
Sebastian drew in his breath at my words as I blushed.
“And then everyone was quiet and staring at me. What was I supposed to do after that? I looked into the eyes of a few people. I could tell they were enjoying my anguish. My oldest sister was smiling and even nodding in agreement. I ran out, just before the shock wore off and I began to cry.”
“I feel bad for doubting you,” the stranger said in quiet amazement. “I’m so sorry this happened. And I thought humans were rude. He doesn’t deserve you.”
I wiped away a few errant tears and smiled. “His ‘apology’ wasn’t any better. He found me later on a balcony. He didn’t put a hand on my shoulder or ask me to look at him or anything. He just said, as if he were granting the largest favor in history, that I could be his wife. If...and then he listed a bunch of conditions: No talking, no touching him, things like that. Right down to how he ‘supposed’ he’d try to father an heir with me, so long as I kept covered up and quiet. He’d ‘just be doing his duty,’ he said.”
“And you’re going to marry him...in the spring? Still? But why? Have you lost your mind? That won’t be any sort of life!”
There was no point in explaining the dynamic with my half-sisters or the rules of my father’s kingdom. Humans didn’t work that way. My mother once told me they had a thing called choice. It was why I’d always been jealous of the humankind. “Oh, yes... Politics... It’s complicated and something you wouldn’t understand. Your realm doesn’t work like ours. It’s not that bad – really. I suppose I should be honored. My name will go down in history. The kings have wanted this union for ages.”
“Is there nowhere to run?”
“Any kingdom I fled to would just send me back here. Then I’d be punished and in the same situation, only disgraced on top of it. And to flee into the wild isn’t possible either. Trust me, I’ve thought about it. Our territories keep us invisible to mortals, as you know. The only way around that is a witch’s curse.”
“Hmm,” he said thinking.
“What?”
“Well, at lea
st you haven’t given up hope. That’s good. I don’t think you should.”
“What? How do you know? I don’t feel the least bit hopeful, I’ll have you know.”
“Alright, sorry,” he said, looking away. And then, “You say you’ve accepted your future, but I see too much life in your eyes for me to believe that. I’ve seen the eyes of hopeless folk, believe me. They’re dead inside. They stare off into space, taking nothing in, giving nothing out. I could be wrong. These are just some of those thoughts I share in my travels. Or maybe I’m just drunk.”
Deep down, part of me knew he was right. Still, I wasn’t sure I should be taking advice from a human, and the last thing I wanted was questions about my mother. I had no answers for him. On her, I had no answers for anyone. “It’s late,” I said. “Can I get you anything else?”
“No,” he said, but I could tell he was holding back by the way he pulled at his rounded ear.
“What is it?”
“Well... Just so I don’t have to wonder... Do you think you could come visit me again?” This time, he blushed.
A smile took an uncontrollable hold of my face. “Why, of course I will.”
He looked relieved as he returned my smile. “Thank you.”
“Sebastian...thank you. Thank you for talking to me.” Humans aren’t rude at all. The man’s thanked me ten times at least. Why did Father teach us that rude was a top characteristic of their breed?
He held up a hand. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you needed someone to talk to even more than I did. And it was my pleasure, believe me.”
As I undressed for bed, I felt a giddiness that was completely separate from that caused by the lingering effects of the wine. Why should talking to a stranger for a few hours have such an effect? I realized it was because for the first time since my mother left and suffered the ultimate punishment for it, someone had really listened to me. Had things been different and I’d been lucky enough to be born human, I’d have become a therapist. I’d be a counselor who helped people feel less alone. It was kind of what Sebastian did. Yet, somehow he said his work was tied to death. That part didn’t make much sense. I’d have to ask him about it in the morning.
I had a feeling he would have questions for me too. He had when I’d left him. From his pauses and his questions, I could tell he was really thinking about everything I said. And he wanted so badly to help... Help me, a stranger myself, whose people had locked him up. I thought again about his eyes... They, and his voice, held such warmth. Never had I been so ashamed of my own kind. Whatever. You aren’t like them. You never were. Think about Sebastian. It’s only for a short time. You’ll be stuck forever with Zane. Maybe Sebastian can teach you enough to help them change. If they only felt that warmth... I laid down thinking about that warmness, imagining it flooding over me, wrapping me up like a cocoon. Shame he’ll be moving on soon. At least I’ll see him once more tomorrow. Yes, after breakfast.
But I couldn’t sleep. It was just not a thing. The stupid pea Zane had insisted on made a lump so big it was impossible to get comfortable. I hadn’t slept right in weeks and it was beginning to get to me; making it harder and harder to deal with Simon and even Father, who was constantly demanding things of me lately to ensure a smooth merger of the kingdoms. For that, I hated Zane. He was doing this only to mess with me, and yet, I was far too stubborn to tell anyone about the pea. It was my only chance. Between my questionable maternity and the fact that an ordinary fairy princess would be freaking out about her wings, it was the seed of doubt that might set me free. At least, that was what I told myself as I shifted under the silky sheets.
For as much as I detested him, it was clear Zane harbored even worse feelings for me. He wanted me in pain. It was like a battle of wits and determination and I was not ready to throw up my hands. He wasn’t either. I knew it wasn’t that he really questioned my status as royalty. Our kingdom kept the records on lineage. He knew I was the real thing. I knew exactly why he and his father insisted on testing me. They wanted to damage my wings. And that? Well, it wasn’t happening. Maybe tomorrow, I’d even use them. Tomorrow would be a better day. I could feel it. Finally, after four hours of tossing and turning, I fell asleep with a smile on my face and hopes for a brighter day.
It didn’t work out that way and breakfast was a nightmare. Bolton and Simon were also eating at the royal table to discuss the matter of the prisoner. I was sitting right next to my father but still had to struggle to hear what was said over the whispers and giggles of my half-sisters on my other side.
“Braxon said he was covered in hair,” Bella, the youngest said.
“Not just that bit on his face. But his arms, his chest,” said Piper, the oldest.
Then Lily, the middle half-sister and one of my worst enemies, spoke. “I don’t care about that.” The other two followed her constantly, sucking up to her. She was the prettiest. Perhaps the prettiest girl in the kingdom. Her hair was silky blonde and, of course, her wings were perfectly transparent. Transparent wings were considered more magical than tinted ones like mine. Secretly, I found hers boring but no one was asking me. I couldn’t look at her without becoming enraged with jealousy, especially when I saw how she treated men. They were nothing but toys to her and she made sure they knew and accepted that before they were allowed near her. She would use and humiliate them any way she could and still they flocked to her just because she was the prettiest...
“Did he really smell like an animal?” she asked.
“Oh, of course, Braxon didn’t get close to him. You know how Braxon is. But Simon said he did. He told me his skin was wet, and that it smelled.”
Simon was the one exception to Lily’s rule on men, probably just because they shared the same mean spirit. They often dallied together when they weren’t busy finding some way to torment someone. It never failed to surprise me why Lily would want to spend her time with a man like him. She could have any man in the kingdom and she had chosen my abuser. I shouldn’t have been shocked. My relationship with my sister was complicated.
“What else did Simon say?” whispered Bella.
I tried again to ignore them and listen to my father speak with Bolton, though it was Simon doing most of the talking. Simon wanted to find some way, any way, to make Sebastian suffer. The chamberlain, my father’s advisor, merely wanted justice for the sake of the court. My father just wanted done with the whole business.
“Sire, if we do cut his hand off, we will be maiming him and possibly killing him,” the chamberlain said. “That is not our punishment for stealing. I say again, it may be best to simply let him go. We don’t know exactly how the humankind work.”
I closed my eyes, wishing for my father to mumble some agreement so it could all be over. Instead, he said, “That may have been suitable if not for the fact that these two idiots dragged him across a parade line in front of everybody. I should charge him for interrupting the ceremony as well. Still, he was accused of stealing publicly and he must be suitably punished, publicly. Then, he may go.”
“How about we flog him?” Simon asked with a sadistic smile.
“No, Sire, that creates the same problem. If his wounds do not heal, we may kill him,” the chamberlain said.
“The stocks?” Bolton suggested.
Father laughed. “Unless human anatomy is far more different than ours than I am aware of, Bolton, may I remind you that he is not a woman?”
“Just cut his hand off and send him on his way,” Simon said. “What matter if he wanders off and dies somewhere in the wilderness?”
“Away from the public eye,” my father mused, and I could tell he was seriously considering it.
“No!” I cried and regretted it immediately. I had clearly annoyed my father, and a gleam in Simon’s eyes told me that he now knew I cared about the stranger. It also told me he was hopeful that he’d soon be able to have his way with me – again. It was how it always happened…
“You object, Princess?” Simon asked, mocking me.
He knew that encouraging me would only wind up with us alone. He was a monster.
Go easy. Don’t let him win. There has to be a way to reason with him and protect Sebastian. “Father, as king, isn’t your first job to be fair to all in your realm? If you hurt him so that you know he’s going to die, isn’t that just a facade of justice? You’re better than that.”
“Someone may discover the corpse,” the chamberlain added, not to be on my side, but out of practicality.
“I’ll chase him away myself,” Simon said. “No one will find him.”
“No!” my father said, his annoyance growing. “No, it must be something else.”
The table chatter lapsed into silence, the men staring at their food and thinking. Except for Simon, who was smiling at me in a way that made my stomach lurch.
I averted my gaze. He knew I didn’t want to see the human hurt. “Sire? How about trial by combat? In the training arena.” He suggested it while still looking right at me.
I interrupted my father as he was about to speak, “He’ll be killed there, too!”
“Darian! Hush!” Father yelled. He raised his hand and I cringed, but he didn’t hit me. “You are not part of this conversation anyway,” he hissed. “Know your place, girl!”
Simon continued to sell his idea. “Sure, he’ll die, Sire. But you will be able to say you gave him a fair chance. Surely, if he is innocent then the gods will see him through it?”
“How is pitting a mortal our size against a bladed fairy, in any sense, justice?” I said, mostly to myself.
Father turned to face me slowly, threateningly. “Darian, I am trying to figure this out. If you interrupt me once more, you will end up in the stocks yourself.”
At this mention of the word ‘stocks,’ Simon and I looked at each other. He grinned as my hand tightened around my fork. He licked his lips. I looked down in silent fury, determined to hold my tongue. I would not give him or my stubborn father the satisfaction.