Fae Eyes

by Michelle R. Reid

  “I don’t have it,” I whispered to the ground.

  Aunt Nia let out a strangled sob and covered her mouth with both her hands.

  I would never forget that sound.

  Unlike Mama, who had her hands full with my seven older brothers’ needs, Aunt Nia had been able to give me special attention after my legs were damaged. She and Uncle Albus were a large reason I learned to walk again. And I’d returned the favor by allowing Uncle Albus to die.

  “What?” Papa yelled.

  The pot slid out of Mama’s hand and splashed into the sink water.

  Sobbing in full, Aunt Nia ran out of the room. Heartbroken as she was, she was still careful not to bump me as she went out the door. I could hear her sobs until she slammed the door of her neighboring house.

  I opened my mouth but my voice wouldn’t work. I had to swallow twice before the lump in my throat was cleared enough to talk. “I-I’m sorry. I ran into some slavers. They took the money and left me the Fae.” I motioned to him.

  The Fae’s eyes were flicking around the room. His face was calm, but wariness was creeping in.

  Papa’s sun beaten face went white. “How could you let that happen? We sold half our livestock and a third of the family’s property just to get that much gold. And you bought a slave Fae with it, Maira? You, of all people?” His hands fisted on the table. “No Fae is worth that much!”

  “I’m worth more,” the Fae said in a steady voice.

  With an enraged yell, Papa lunged across the room and punched the Fae across the face.

  “Papa!” I yelled in shock.

  “Nigel!” Mama gasped.

  The Sun Fae stumbled against the wall. He turned to Papa as he pulled his fist back again. The Fae’s wings started to glow, and his lips curled in a snarl.

  My jaw dropped as the wooden wall touching the Fae’s wings began to singe. Because of my order, he couldn’t physically attack Papa, but the Fae could still burn our house down with his wings.

  “Stop! Both of you, stop!” I stepped forward. Pain shot from my heels to the tip of my head. I gasped and my knees buckled.

  Papa caught me.

  Using Papa’s thick arm to brace myself, I looked at the Fae. “Calm down. Wait outside,” I ordered quietly.

  His face contorted with rage but his wings stopped glowing. He turned on his heels and marched out the door.

  Papa scooped an arm around my waist and half carried me over to the table then sat me down in a chair. He moved around to the other side and put his hands on the worn wood.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered, not sure what else to do.

  He snorted. “That’s not going to fix this mess.”

  My hands clasped together in my lap. “I tried to sell him. I’ll try again tomorrow.”

  “He’ll never fetch that amount of money, Maira.” Papa pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long breath. “Those damn Fae. Why do they torture us so much? It’s bad enough a Red Cap poisons my brother, then my own daughter exchanges his life for a damn warrior Fae.”

  My chin started to tremble. Tears I’d been holding back pooled in my eyes and burned. “I’ll fix it. Somehow.”

  He flung his hands into the air. “How? How can you fix this?”

  A couple tears trickled down my cheeks, despite my effort to keep them in.

  Papa stiffened, the angry lines on his face giving way to shame.

  “Nigel!” Mama gasped and pointed a finger at him. “Don’t you talk to her like that!”

  His brows pulled together over his hazel eyes, as his emotions warred with each other. He pounded his fist into the table and hunched over, breathing deeply.

  I stared at his fist against the wood. He’s never beaten me before. I was usually treated like a breakable piece of glass, tucked away in my little garden where I could only watch the rest of the family from afar. But I wouldn’t blame him if he took his hand to me now.

  “Off with you,” he barked without looking at me. “We’ll ... discuss this more in the morning.”

  I bit my lips and fled out the open front door as fast as I could. The Fae fell into step right behind me. He had nowhere else to go anyway, since I had his Pearl and he was limited on the distance he could go from me.

  Papa’s voice followed me through the open door. “I knew I shouldn’t have let her go.”

  “Then why did you?” Mama demanded.

  “We let go so many hands to save money, there was no one else to send. You know as well as I do that if we didn’t finish reaping today, the crop would have spoiled. Then the whole family would starve come winter. Then she begged, and I thought ...” Papa’s voice lingered in the air. “I just wanted to believe that she could do it as much as she did. I should have known better.”

  His words were like salt crystals, stabbing into my already bleeding heart. I hobbled away as quickly as I could and didn’t stop till I got to the stable, where I couldn’t hear Mama and Papa yelling or Aunt Nia’s sobbing through the walls of her home.

  The Fae followed me inside. There weren’t any lights on, and the dying sun left it dark, but the light glowing from the Fae’s wings lit up the room. His nose wrinkled from the animal smell.

  I sat on the straw pile in the back of the building and buried my face in my knees. My legs throbbed with pain. I hugged them, feeling the raised skin of my scars through my skirt, and focused on the pain. Maybe it would distract me from the emotional turmoil I felt.

  I thought I could do it. I really did. It should have been a simple trip, since Papa had already made the negotiations. Simply walk there, buy the nectar and walk home. It was my first chance to show them I wasn’t as useless as they all thought. That I could do more than tend flowers and herbs while they did all the real work.

  I failed.

  The Fae stood ten feet away. He folded his arms and shifted his weight to the side. “You tried to stand up to a bunch of murderous slavers. Why didn’t you stand up to that human?”

  I flinched at his voice. My hands fisted in my skirt and I glared at him. “He’s my father. Do you even know what it’s like to have a father?”

  The Fae’s eye narrowed and he looked bitterly to the side. “Of course, I do.”

  I didn’t know much about the Fae society. It never dawned on me that he would have a father. Does that mean he had a mother and siblings too?

  I bet he’d never disappointed his family, though. Papa had never voiced it until now, but I’ve had to live with the knowledge of my uselessness for the last seven years. I couldn’t even open new business deals through marriage like my siblings and cousins. It didn’t matter that I had a pretty face; no sensible, hard-working man would marry a young woman with damaged legs. Even Papa’s face contorted with disgust when he caught sight of my mangled flesh.

  “Is this where you sleep?” Distaste was thick in his voice.

  It might be. I didn’t deserve a warm bed tonight. Maybe if I came home with the nectar tomorrow, they’d forgive me. If Uncle Albus didn’t die first.

  I dropped my face into my knees again. What a mess. Why couldn’t nectar be easier to find? Only the Fae knew where it was.

  I gasped. Goosebumps covered my body as the idea formed in my head. I didn’t have Fae nectar, but I did have a Fae. They cultivate the nectar from the forests. If he was from this region, he might know where to find it.

  I looked at him. “Tell me the truth,” I ordered softly. “Is there Fae nectar not far from here?”

  His mouth twisted in disgust. “Yes.” The word was dragged from him unwillingly. His wings flickered bright like a lightning bug.

  It was almost too good to be true. Slowly I stood up. “Will you take me there?”

  “No,” he barked.

  I blinked, then realized my mistake. I’d only asked. I swallowed. Honestly, it wasn’t that easy for me to order someone around like this all the time. It made me really have to think about how I worded everything. “I order you to take me there, safely.”

  His
hands fisted and he looked out the window at the night. “When do we leave?”

  “Right now.” I limped out, with the Fae right behind me.

  “Now?” He was incredulous. “It’s miles away. Are we going to walk the whole way?”

  “Can we walk there in a day?”

  “Well, yes.” He scowled, obviously thinking it was bad idea.

  “Then we’ll walk.” There weren’t any extra horses for me to take anyway. We sold them all this morning and my family would need the remaining ones for plowing tomorrow.

  I must have spent longer than I thought in the barn because the lights were out at my family’s house, and all the surrounding ones. Papa must have let out enough steam that he could at least lie in his bed. While the Fae waited outside, I crept into my house and put some food in a satchel. Blankets would be too bulky to carry, so I grabbed two scarves and tied them to the strap. I closed the door silently behind me.

  “Which way do we go?” I asked when we were past the homestead.

  Stone faced, the Fae pointed into the forest that rimmed the western fields.

  My stomach tightened. I should have known it was that direction. It’s been seven years since anyone in my family stepped foot in that forest. Just a week ago, Uncle Albus reminded us again that getting too close was dangerous. He didn’t even have to set foot in the Fae forest and he got poisoned.

  I nodded and swallowed back the sickening fear. “Okay. Lead the way.” I paused. “What’s your name, anyway?” I didn’t want to be on first name basis with a Fae, but I really ought to learn it now, since I wasn’t selling him in the morning anymore.

  He looked at me long and hard, like he was debating on answering or not. I was just about going to give it up when he said, “Helios.”

  I nodded. “Hello, I’m Maira.”

  Chapter Three

  I forgot to pack a torch or tinder, but it wasn’t an issue. Helios’s wings illuminated the dark. That wasn’t the only thing that changed when the night set. His hair was the color of the noon sun during the day but, when the sun went down, turned the color of the setting sun.

  It was a lot better than my hair, which wasn’t blonde or brown or red, but a combination of all three. To prevent the low tree branches from catching it I had to braid it, but the long strands kept slipping out of the braid.

  I could see perfectly, but my legs stumbled on the uneven deer trail, and I seemed to trip on air all the time. As helpful as the light was, Helios’s wings cast long shadows on the many trees, dark lines that could hide any number of nightmares. The night bug songs that would sing me to sleep from the safety of my bed now grated on my nerves. Every time an owl or bat screeched, I jumped, convinced we were about to be attacked.

  I thought Helios would get frustrated with my slow progress, but he continued to march ahead of me in silence. The moon was high in the sky when he stopped in a small nook created by a circular cluster of trees. The bare ground between them was lower, like a huge bowl, with various sized roots winding through the dirt.

  I looked around in alarm. “What’s wrong?”

  He planted his hands on his hips, his chin high. “I’m tired. I’ve been up since before dawn yesterday, and I don’t think it’s wise to trek the whole night long.” Now that he was facing me, I could finally see the dark shadowed under his under his faintly glowing eyes.

  I was out of breath, and my legs felt like they were going to fall off from all the walking. Still, I couldn’t help but glance around in unease. “This is Red Cap territory. It’s not safe.” I knew all too well how unsafe it was.

  He scowled and sat down on a raised root. “Technically, no forest is safe for humans.” His brows rose on his handsome face. “Or are you going to order me to walk the whole night?”

  That’s what I had planned, but now that he put it in words, I realized how unfair that was. “No, we can rest.” I untied one of the scarves and held it out to him. “Here. I don’t have a blanket, but this might help a little.”

  He frowned in confusion. “What’s that for?”

  I shook my head. “I know it’s still summer, but it gets cold at night.” I motioned with it to his dirty, grey slave clothes.

  He gave a short laugh. I couldn’t tell if he was mocking or not. “I’m a Sun Fae.”

  “Oh.” So, he doesn’t get cold? What a luxury. I moved to the other side of the grove and sat down against a tree that twisted and branched into two trees just above a short, thick stump. It was hard and lumpy, but I wiggled around until I was comfortable enough. Carefully, I laid one scarf over my arms, the other around my middle, and tucked my skirt against my legs.

  I glanced back at Helios and jumped when I found him watching me. “What?”

  “I don’t understand you.” He stood up and walked over until he loomed over me. His amber eyes, glowing faintly in the dark, were hard.

  I flinched away, trying to melt into the tree. “What are you doing?” I squeaked in panic.

  “What are you doing in the middle of a forest that scares you, with a Fae you’re terrified of? You can’t even look at me without flinching.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Why are you even doing this? They don’t expect anything from you.” His chin jerked behind us, in the direction of my farm.

  His words hurt just as much as Papa’s. But unlike Papa’s, I didn’t have to care about Helios’s feelings. “What would you know?” I glared at him full in the face. “How could you even understand? You’re physically perfect. How would you know what it’s like to go from perfectly normal one day to a damaged product the next? To go from being your papa’s pride to being treated like glass that could shatter at any second?” All the hurt emotions I’d held in for so long, rose up like a giant fist ready to smash the fragile mental wall I’d built.

  The malice vanished from his eyes, and he inched back a little bit.

  I wasn’t done. “Do you know what it’s like to simply want to help someone and knowing that you can’t? To watch them sweat day in and day out so that you can stay warm and eat, but never be able to share the burden? To know that you are the burden? They will never say it, because they love you. And all you want to do is prove that they don’t have to try so hard. That you can do something too.” My voice caught, forcing me to stop talking or I would cry.

  I wasn’t looking for pity but I got it anyway. “I wouldn’t know what that’s like.” He turned sharply and sat back in his spot.

  Angry at myself for finally voicing what I’ve always thought, I glared down at my lap. “I don’t have a Pearl to lose.” I gripped the warm stone hanging around my neck. “But I know what it’s like to have your will taken from you. Some Fae did it to me seven years ago.”

  His mouth twisted in bitterness, and he looked away.

  Enough time passed that I concluded he wasn’t going to speak anymore. The events of the day pressed down on my tired mind and body. Eventually I fell into a bothered sleep.

  I must have dreamt him whispering, “They took mine too. A fortnight ago.”

  * * * * *

  I woke with searing pain shooting from my toes to my hips. Screaming, I bent over and hugged my legs. It hadn’t hurt like this since the day it happened. As quick as it started, the throbbing lessened to a dull pulse. Through watering eyes, I looked around, panting out the pain.

  On the other side of the glade, Helios jumped to his feet with a Fae curse, startled out of sleep. Morning light streamed through the trees and gleamed off his sun-colored hair. His hand fisted, at the ready. He looked around, trying to find a reason for my scream. But there was only silence in the forest. His handsome face hardened as he glanced at me in annoyance.

  Not feeling the least bit sorry for him, I moaned and clutched my legs.

  A scampering noise scuttled across the leaves to our right, echoing in the too quiet forest. Then another and another and another, quick little feet accompanied by high-pitched chatter. They were getting closer to us.

  The hair on my body rose a
s my heart quivered. My legs sent angry pulses up to my hips and back down to my toes, but I didn’t dare move to soothe the pain. Those weren’t animals.

  Helios turned to the sound, glowering as he lengthened his spine.

  The skittering stopped, leaving a deafening silence. I strained my ears, trying to hear a morning bird, a bug’s wings, the shifting of leaves in a forest breeze. There was nothing.

  Four Red Caps stepped out of the shadows and into the sun beams streaming from the tree canopy, not ten feet from me and Helios. They were only three feet tall with round heads and bodies sitting on top of long, thin legs, but the malice that vibrated from them was that of a giant. Their skin and mismatched clothes were varying shades of dirt. Reddish brown caps—the color of dried blood—stretched over their scalps. Their mouths pulled into wide, evil smiles as their yellow eyes gleamed. The same smiles that haunt my nightmares.

  My hand slapped over my mouth and failed to stifle my scream of terror.

  Helios gave a low, almost feral growl. His wings glowed like the sun, and fire encased his hands. “Maira, tell me that I can kill them!”

  “Yes!” I gasped and pushed as far as I could into the crook of my tree, as if hiding in it would save me. My sweaty hands couldn’t grip the bark properly and my legs felt like they were in boiling water. All I wanted to do was curl into a ball. “Yes! Anything!”

  A Red Cap in the middle of the pack, wearing a necklace made of what looked like teeth, let out a sharp bark. The three Fae standing slightly behind it lunged forward. Moving faster than cats, two Red Caps went after Helios’s legs while a third jumped high in the air and slashed at Helios’s head with its long talon-like nails.

  “This forest is ours!” the one in the air hissed.

  Helios moved so fast, all I could see was a blur of light. He caught the Fae in the air by the throat and swung out his long leg, sending the other two Red Caps flying into a tree. They squealed when their backs hit the trunk and slid to the ground. Helios lifted the Red Cap by the throat and stared into its face as it withered for air. “Over my dead body, traitor,” he seethed.