Fae

by C. J. Abedi

  “He is my son,” Odin stated solemnly.

  Dana smiled. “I know, my dear friend.”

  “It pains me to see him struggle. I only want his happiness.”

  “It is not for us to decide. It is in the hands of Fate.”

  “Then may we hope to face the soft hands of Fate.”

  C

  “Think of today as a new beginning,” Mr. Allen instructed. I closed my eyes and silently agreed.

  Today was a new beginning.

  No more regrets.

  No more insecurity.

  No more thoughts of Devilyn Reilly.

  As I sat in our history class with Mr. Allen I decided that I would try my hardest to ignore the man that had dominated my thoughts for the past forty-eight hours. It had been difficult in English. It had been nearly impossible in advanced trigonometry, but here, in history, I would ignore him.

  I would.

  I kept telling myself that I could do it.

  “Okay class, settle down. We have a busy day ahead of us,” Mr. Allen motioned for students to take their seats.

  “We are starting a big assignment today,” he continued, “It’s a project I like to call, ‘Project Declaration.’” He handed each of us a sizeable packet as he walked past our desks.

  “This project is very important because it will have a special meaning to each and every one of you, as each of you will look at the long branches of your lineage and learn a little bit about your genealogy, your history. In this exercise you will each play a role in preserving your past for future members of your family.”

  Mr. Allen had definitely piqued my interest. I sat up in my chair and flipped through the packet.

  “In learning the details of your family tree, you will also learn about the history of your fellow classmates. Over the next few months, you may come to find the true meaning behind concepts like six degrees of separation, and you may realize that you are closer to your friends than you ever imagined.” He paused and then continued, “To make this project interesting, I’ve decided to pair each of you up with a partner.”

  Great, I grumbled to myself. I loved working alone. Especially since I usually got stuck with a partner who wasn’t as enthusiastic about education as I was, which then meant that I would end up doing all of the work.

  “You’ll find the name of your partner on the last page of the packet that I am passing out. Once you’ve located your partner’s name, I want you to find that person and sit down next to them, and then we’ll begin the first part of this exciting semester-long exercise. I sullenly flipped through the packet, my anticipation growing with each passing page. Once I got to the last page I easily found my name: Caroline Ellis.

  And then I looked to the right of it.

  Partnered with Devilyn Reilly.

  Did I read those two words correctly?

  I closed my eyes and re-opened them. This had to be some kind of joke.

  My heart stopped.

  I looked up and over to my right where Devilyn sat. It appeared that he had just discovered whom he would be partnering with as well, and he obviously wasn’t too thrilled with this particular match, either. His jaw clenched tightly as he glanced over at me like I was diseased.

  “Alright guys. Get up and go and meet your partner. You’ll be spending a lot of time with each other over the next three months.”

  Did he say three months?

  I wasn’t about to be the one to get up and walk over to him. I sat firmly at my desk, turned my gaze to the front of the classroom, and waited. Pigs would fly before I would ever give him the satisfaction of going to him first.

  Chairs squeaked as people shuffled by to meet their partners. Some were excited and others were clearly as disappointed as I was. It felt like an eternity before I heard him mutter to himself and get up to walk over to me. I could feel him looming over my desk, staring straight down at me.

  This time he waited for me.

  After what felt like an eternity I finally gave in and looked up at him. He raised a brow.

  “Let’s get this over with,” he said stonily.

  That wasn’t exactly how I pictured it, hoping for something a bit more endearing. With every word he uttered there was more confirmation that the man positively loathed me.

  “Gladly,” I responded, trying to be just as cold as him. He reached out and pulled a chair across from my desk and opened his notebook.

  I looked up to Mr. Allen for some direction. This was going to be a long semester.

  “Ok, is everyone settled?” Mr. Allen called out. “I’d like you to take the remaining hour to begin writing down the first branches of your family tree. Your mother and father’s names, grandparents, and so on. But I only want you to go back three generations, if you can remember all the names, of course. While you are working, try to think about these connections, these unions,” he continued. “One important element of this project will be to understand the depth and meaning behind the connections that were made throughout your family history. Were they for love? Were they for money? Upward social mobility? Convenience? I promise you that you will all learn a lot about life and about history in general. And you will see that although time may change, people rarely do.”

  I tried to focus on Mr. Allen’s words instead of the annoyance of the boy that sat across from me. He tore out a blank sheet of notebook paper and slid it over.

  “Ladies first.”

  Seriously? Gentlemanly words certainly did not suit him. I looked into his onyx black eyes and tried to think of a smart retort, but I was suddenly lost. I sucked in a deep breath and prayed he didn’t notice the effect he was having on me. Maybe my imagination was getting the best of me but suddenly I felt as if we were the only two people in the world. Everyone around us disappeared and it was just us, and I couldn’t stop staring at him.

  I didn’t want to stop staring.

  “Caroline.”

  Oh my God. He said my name. It sounded like music to my ears. My gaze moved to his lips. Perfect. The man was unblemished. What would it be like to kiss him?

  “Caroline?” He said again, getting agitated.

  “Yes?”

  “Are you finished?”

  And then there it was. Humiliation. It hit me like a bolt of lightning. But I raised my chin, and it took all the courage I had left to stare him straight in the eye.

  “Finished with?” Would he say it? Could he actually call me out on staring at him? I doubted it. Even he wouldn’t stoop that low.

  “Checking me out.”

  Where to hide? Where to run?

  “Actually, yes,” I answered coolly. My face had to be beet red.

  Who was this person that had invaded my body and taken over? I did not recognize her. The old Caroline would never have answered. Maybe stuttered, run for cover… but this? What was wrong with me?

  “Good. I’d like to get on with this,” he almost smiled.

  “Right,” I began. I wrote up at the top of the piece of paper, CAROLINE ELLIS’ FAMILY TREE and drew a diagram.

  “My parents,” I said, practically defeated. “I guess I’ll start with them. Lisa and David Ellis.”

  “You have beautiful penmanship,” he remarked softly.

  Excuse me? Did I hear him correctly? Had he just complimented me? I looked at him, confused.

  “Go on,” he growled as if he had not uttered those words. As if it were even possible, he seemed even angrier and more distant than before.

  “Umm…” There was that umm again. “My mom’s mom, her name was Poppy, and she was married to…” I was a disaster. I couldn’t even think straight. His smell. His proximity. It was driving me crazy and completely making me lose my train of thought. My mind wandered. “His name was…” What was his name? I rested my hand against my forehead. For the life of me, I couldn’t remember.

  Moments passed.

  “For the love of…his name was Harry!” he shouted at me.
The rest of the classroom looked at us. I stared at Devilyn in complete shock. How could he possibly know what my grandfather’s name was?

  He stared down at the desk. “Lucky guess.”

  “Guess?” I said in disbelief. “I don’t understand.”

  “There’s nothing to understand. I just guessed. Harry was and is a common name.”

  He sounded so sure of himself. So confident. But how could he know something like that?

  “Are you going to take up the rest of the time in class asking me ridiculous questions, or do you think you can manage remembering your grandparents’ names?”

  Right. Back to being the jerk again.

  “I think I can manage that,” I said coldly as I scribbled the names down. I was beginning to realize that I really didn’t know that much about my family background. Most of my history was one big question mark. Luckily, Mr. Allen only asked that we go back three generations. I ran pen over the empty branches. Funny that I had never thought of asking my mother about it.

  “I guess that’s it.”

  This couldn’t be—only a few branches with actual names attached. I suddenly had an overwhelming urge to talk to my parents about our family history. Our relatives. Our past. Both my parents were only children. There were never any large gatherings of cousins, aunts, and uncles. It was always just us.

  I had a vague memory of my grandparents, but they had passed when I was a young child. And up until this moment, I had never thought that it mattered to have a large family around. My parents were everything to me. They were enough.

  But now, because of this stupid assignment I wanted to know more. I wanted to know why I loved to run long distance. Had there been an athlete in our lineage? Neither one of my parents had liked sports. Why was my hair darker, while both my parents were fair? Who did I look like? What relative in our family tree had shared my love of the arts? Had anyone been quiet like me? And as Mr. Allen had asked, what were the reasons behind their unions? It seemed that by answering these questions that burned in my mind, I would suddenly understand myself. My core.

  I couldn’t wait to get back home.

  Devilyn leaned across the table. “What’s wrong?” he asked softly.

  D

  “Nothing.”

  Her answer was curt. It wasn’t as if I deserved to know more. I continuously treated her like she was infected with the plague.

  But when she creased her brow and looked genuinely perplexed by the fact that she couldn’t remember a single relative, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. It wasn’t her fault. She didn’t even know that she had been adopted by the Ellis family. They had made the decision to never tell her.

  But I knew they had found her on the front steps of their house. I knew she had been a baby, a foundling bundled up with a note that read, “Treat her as if she was your own.”

  Lisa Ellis had been told that she would never have a child and believed the baby was her gift from God. David had been just as overjoyed. They waited for months to see if someone would come and claim the child. Told the authorities. But no one ever showed up. It was as if the child had been placed there by magik.

  Or by Odin. I remembered when Odin took me to the Elizabethan Gardens to tell me the story of Caroline’s ancestors. I was a boy at the time, only eleven. At that age, I never questioned Odin. He was my savior, my mentor, my God. I always looked up to him and did as I was told. He had showed me the world solely through his eyes, and when he took me to the enchanting gardens, he told me that he wanted me to learn everything about the future that faced me.

  My destiny.

  My life.

  He wanted me to know all that I could, so that when life placed me in difficult situations, I would know to just charge forward and accept that in the end everything would fall into place. No matter what challenges lay on the road before me, I would find my way.

  He had looked formidable that day, as mighty of a God as the legends said.

  “Your destiny was cast when the ship carrying the 114 colonizers arrived here from across the great sea,” he had told me. “One of the passengers was quite special. She was beautiful, innocent. She had life within her. She was so enchanting that one day, when she was deep within the forest, she caught the eye of Arthur, a warrior prince of the Light Fae.”

  “But that is against the law,” I remember saying to him.

  Odin had smiled at me and nodded sadly.

  “It is, but it was love at first sight. He couldn’t resist.” Odin waved his hand and instantly I saw Arthur before me, approaching Eleanor. “Watch closely, my son.”

  Odin had been right. Eleanor was beautiful. Her long hair framed a striking face, one that was remarkably similar to Caroline’s. Arthur, a warrior by trade, was tall and handsome with blond hair and sparkling blue eyes.

  “I don’t recognize you,” Eleanor said, staring at him.

  “My name is Arthur. I was here before you arrived.”

  Strangely, Eleanor was not afraid. “We were told that we were the only ones here.”

  Arthur shook his head. “No, you are not alone,” Arthur took a step closer. “Tell me your name.”

  “Eleanor. Eleanor Dare.”

  I could see that Arthur was entranced, beyond smitten. His eyes shined so brightly that it was a wonder she didn’t ask him about it, or maybe she didn’t care.

  Odin waved his hand again, and the scene before me changed.

  I watched as Arthur and Eleanor embraced. She was wearing a white gown with a lily wreath on her head, and he was in traditional Fae clothing. He held her hand solemnly.

  “I promise to love, cherish, and protect you for all eternity, Eleanor. You are my mate, the chosen one for my soul, and I will love you until the light is extinguished from my being.”

  Eleanor kissed him passionately.

  Again, Odin moved his hand and I saw a pregnant Eleanor sitting by a stream, smiling as she rubbed her belly. Her peace lasted only a moment as Arthur ran into the clearing.

  “Eleanor!” he shouted out, holding a sword in his hand. “I must get you out of here!”

  Eleanor stood up in fear and reached out to him. “What is it? What has happened?”

  “He knows. He has found out, and he’s coming for me. For you. He will stop at nothing to destroy you and our baby.”

  Eleanor was terrified. “But why?!”

  “Because he is a monster,” Arthur replied in anguish. “Because I chose to love you. I chose to love a human. We have married, and you now carry a halfling. I have defied the laws. I have committed a crime in loving you.”

  “But why?” she pleaded desperately.

  “We are not allowed to mate with humans, Eleanor. For my kind, it is a sin. The ultimate offense against our race.”

  “How can loving someone be a sin?”

  For some reason, I never forgot those words. It was true. I could feel her pain even at a young age. I understood why she was horrified. She loved; there should have been no pain or shame in it.

  Arthur leaned down and kissed her.

  “I do not regret one day, one second that we’ve spent together. You are my life. My love. And this child is proof of everything we’ve felt for one another.”

  “What are you saying to me?” Eleanor began to cry.

  It hurt to watch them like this, and at the time I wondered why Odin was showing me such an intimate scene.

  “I have to go and plead our case. I will speak to him, to Alderon.”

  “No!” Eleanor screamed at him. I could feel the shiver race up my spine. “He will destroy you!”

  “I cannot allow anything to happen to you.”

  Eleanor began to sob.

  “What will I do by myself? Without you?”

  His sadness overwhelmed me.

  Arthur smiled at her and placed his hand on her swollen belly. “This child is half of me. It is a testament of our love. I will come for you.”

 
; But he didn’t.

  The scene before me dimmed, and then Odin showed me something that I would never ever forget.

  Arthur was staring up at an angry Alderon as he stood on a round stone pillar among the court of the Dark Fae.

  They had used magik to hold Arthur against his will. He stood pinned on top of the pillar, unable to move his body, unable to move his hands, held by magik behind his back. He had been angry. But after many hours of interrogation his anger had turned to frustration.

  He was growing lifeless inside, I could tell, but he kept his exterior strong. He was losing strength, I could see, but he didn’t give them the satisfaction of showing it.

  “You have defied the laws! You have committed an unforgivable act. Procreating with a human! How could you rebel against your own people?”

  Arthur looked up at the court, mustering up every ounce of his strength. He would not go down without a fight. He would not allow them to crush his spirit. He was a leader.

  “I love her. I will not apologize for what I feel,” he replied defiantly.

  Alderon shook his head, looked around at the other Fae.

  “So be it! Know this, Arthur. Know that on this day in front of this court you have admittedly defied our laws,” he said menacingly. “You alone caused this outcome. So let it be known that I will not rest until the woman and the child are dead. That child is an abomination!”

  Arthur’s eyes lit up with blue fury as he tried to break free of the invisible chains that held him.

  “NO!!!” He roared.

  Alderon lifted his hands up in the air, the dark sky rumbled at his command. The moon that had been pearl white moments before turned a deep onyx, and Alderon began to chant, “A Tuatha mana de sona. Are you prepared to hear your judgment?” Alderon asked Arthur.

  Arthur stared at him proudly. I admired his courage.

  “Banishment in the Yew for eternity.”

  Alderon lifted one hand and sucked the darkness out of the moon. A giant black orb appeared before him and began to swirl like a tornado until it captured Arthur. He howled as his body was pulled and twisted around in the orb.