Solitary Fae (Humans vs Fae Book 2) Page 6

  Unlike when I first entered the town, however, the streets were mostly barren.

  Rolun coughed a bit, "Yep, this is the place," he said and walked ahead of me. I pouted as he left me. After what happened last time I tried to run, I'm sure he was confident I wouldn't do it again. He was right in that assumption. And if I was to survive here until they gave me back to my family, I'd need at least one friend. Who'd know how long it'd be until that time was to come.

  "Rolun, wait a moment, won't you?" I picked up my pace until we were next to each other again, almost stride for stride considering his tiny legs. His tail fluffed up, shaking a bit. I couldn't tell if it was in annoyance or otherwise.

  "I'm sorry for running off before. I shouldn't have done that." I chewed on my bottom lip. I felt terrible. After a moment with no reply, I kept on with my apology. "Did Vethari do anything to you?"

  I could have sworn there was a bleat from the little satyr as he stopped, the fur on his legs seeming to fluff up at my words. He turned to me, placing his little hands on what would be hips as he frowned upward at me. "Is that what you expect from him?" Taken aback, I splayed a hand on my chest in surprise. "He was angry of course! You have to understand that he can be frightening, but he is far from a simple boggart-headed fae," he snorted, head tilted up to the side with his eyes shut. The smugness of it all. "And more than anything, he was worried about you. You're going to get the humans away from us. So, stop trying to run away." I arched my brow in confusion.

  "Pardon me, but the fact that he can show any emotion even close to empathy or worry is a surprise to me."

  "You humans are so simple! Vethari is more than you can ever understand, more than any of us. He is the eldest Fae here, you know." He was so snarky it was beyond adorable. So, I just huffed, not wanting to bring this into a full-blown argument, settling for ruffling the hair on his head, sitting down into a squat before him.

  "As long as you're not mad at me, I'll be happy. You're my only friend here."

  He seemed to perk up at my words, eyes wide in childish joy—despite being in his fifties as he claimed. "Friends?"

  I nodded, pulling the satyr into an embrace. Another cute bleat as he pulled away from me, not getting a chance to embrace me too before footsteps approached us.

  "Are you lookin' for the fletcher?" a soft almost echoing female voice asked. I looked up, standing immediately at attention. Rolun trotted up, nodding toward the woman.

  "Vethari sent word ahead, didn't he?" the boy asked in curiosity. The woman made a face,

  "Aye, that he did. Don't know what he's expectin' from a human lass durin' the Great Hunt, but I'll do what I can."

  I eyed her once over. Her hair was a burnt-orange color, skin dark to the point of being near obsidian, and her eyes were bright catlike yellow. She waved for us to follow into the makeshift shoppe. As we ducked underneath the roots to enter, I could smell the faint hint of charcoal and ash. It wasn't entirely unpleasant as much as unexpected. I couldn't help but stare, trying to figure out what kind of fae this was now.

  "He has my payment, I'd assume, yes?" she asked, and Rolun retrieved one of the rolled-up parchments from the scroll case on his back. Extending it out as far as he could to her before she snatched it up, unravelling the string that kept it tied together and reading over it. "Oh, how delicious." She sat it down inside a small box that was placed upon a table. I laced my fingers together, simply waiting. "So, human girl. Vethari plans to make use of you," she began, her eyes now drifting over me. It wasn't disconcerting, but the fact I was in tattered clothing was embarrassing. I kept quiet. "Though we'll see how useful you are. Rolun, you may leave us."

  The satyr bowed. The grand flourish was well executed I noted, before he skipped away without a wave goodbye in my direction as he left me here alone with this—woman. "So, what is your name, dearest?" She didn't even glance at me as she spoke, grabbing some carved wood and long twine that needed to be further stretched.

  "Penelope," I answered sheepishly.

  "What a lovely name," Her hand moved over the wood slowly, "Penelope."

  Her fingertips began to sear with white hot light, and where they touched onto the smoothened wood, lines began to form over it. Not in the literal spelling of my name, but in what seemed to be a different language. I watched in amazement. "How do you perform such magic?" I found myself asking, walking ahead to approach her on her workbench.

  She grinned, still focusing on the wood. "Not magic. I am a nymph, fire is the element of my making. This is as natural to me as manipulation of nature to others." Finally, her fingers turned back to their dark color, and she began to arch the bow forward, attaching the string to one end securely. "No, true magic is something only the high fae can do. Like Faariin."

  The wood groaned at the pulling, and the nymph's biceps and forearms flexed, though her face didn't show any sort of strain. "Like your Vethari."

  I pulled a face, if only to keep myself from blushing. "I'm just his pawn, nothing more," I reassured her, and myself, pushing our evening together from my head. The woman shrugged, easily tying off the bottom edge of the twine to the lower portion of the wood. "It matters not to me. He's quite the mate," she said calmly, though it only made me feel more embarrassed than I already was.

  I did have to admit the positive qualities of Vethari—all of which were only toward his appearance. Everything else about him was overwhelmingly a negative. Enough to overshadow his Gods given beauty.

  "Ah, finished. Here, take it and tell me how it feels." The nymph practically shoved her little project into my hands, the bow still rather warm from her manipulation of the wood. "It's heavier than anything I've personally used," I joked. I'd never held a weapon in my life. It wasn't as heavy as a composite bow looked but was still much longer and thus heavier than anything I'd held in my hands.

  "Then you'll just have to get used to it," she walked around the counter and to one of the many other bows already strung tightly. She grabbed one from the far left of her open room and slung it onto her shoulder. "I'll be teaching you how to be a productive member of faerie society, darling." I narrowed my eyes at her, causing her to give a shrill of a laugh. "Come, Calidi will teach you."

  "I can't do this!" I shouted. My arm began to shake as I attempted to hold the bow aloft in the air without resting the bottom on the ground. We had been attempting this all day, as the sky was pitch black. Small lights drifting around the trees was the only thing allowing me to see. "It's too heavy," I groaned. My fingers were so sore from attempting to nock arrows, only to have them fly no more than a few feet before sinking into the dirt. Most of the time, however, they just slipped from my fingers from the tension of the bowstring. It was too much for a lady to hold.

  "No, you really can't." Calidi smiled, approaching me to relieve me of the bow and my quiver. I sighed, beginning to rub the knots out of my bicep. "Why on earth do I need to participate in this Great Hunt, anyhow? Why can't I just be alone until it's time for Vethari to take me home?"

  "Remove that pout from your lips, little girl. You sound as spoilt as a babe still on the teat." She gave me a hard slap on the back, causing me to lurch forward. I realized this fae was far stronger than she looked—and she already looked rather brawny to begin with. I coughed hard, making my throat sore.

  I huffed, letting the bow fall to the ground as gently as I could, which wasn't gentle at all. "Just tell me why I have to participate."

  "Because Vethari says so. And since you belong to him, his word is your command." If looks could kill, I would have sent her straight to the oblivion. She clicked her tongue in disapproval, shoving the weapon back into my chest. I grabbed it, despite how tired I was from the hours of training.

  "It is a privilege, besides. You will hunt beside other fae. Some are hunters and huntresses, most join in just for the sport. And if you do well enough, us solitary fae may come to accept you. You get honor. Or reputation, as humans seem so fond of attaining."

  I nodded. At the le
ast, I wouldn't be bored while I patiently waited to be reunited with my family. As my thoughts began to turn to that of home, I could almost feel the welling of tears swell in my eyes. I missed, and worried about, everyone, but most of all I was worried about what my mother was doing. If she was alright, or if she had passed. I sniffed at the thought. No, I'd be strong and push those thoughts aside. No matter what the fae thought, there was no way my father would let that happen. If he had fallen out of love with her, he was still not evil enough to just let what little of her health falter.

  "Go to your home, Penelope. I will see you early in the morning to continue our training." Calidi's voice pulled me from my morbid daydreaming. I could only nod once more. Maybe learning to shoot an arrow or two at a rabbit or buck could help give me peace of mind. Still, I frowned at the fiery nymph, "It's not my home," I retorted. She merely snorted, walking ahead of me back toward the main open area of the fae village. I didn’t follow, instead heading immediately right, and making my way to the burrow that was now my place of rest.

  Thinking about sleeping on the hot furs again frustrated me with the thoughts of home still at the forefront of my thoughts. However, I remembered to pull that mask of cool calm, pushing back any heat in my face, and tears from my eyes with a deep sigh. I had to learn to adapt to my surroundings, as a lady did when entering a new kingdom. Yes, that's how I'd think of it. Just like being introduced to a new culture, and you needed desperately to learn as much as possible to assimilate. That was how diplomats worked with gaining allies. And with my own skills I could possibly gain a couple myself.

  First, Rolun. Despite him being a child by the fae standards of immortality—at least for what I had read in books—he was the closest to what I had as a friend. Calidi maybe could be a second one, and with her muscular physique and flame-wielding abilities, she could be the one that helped me the most when it came to defending myself, should the need arise. While Rolun could help me with social encounters, something about his sweetness led me to believe that he was best with that rather than the nymph. She seemed as if she may rub people the wrong way, fae or no.

  Oh, how I wish I had my storybooks and faerie tales still intact. They would no doubt be of help, but maybe there was something else I could read there.

  While lost in my thoughts, it wasn't much of a surprise that I'd already made it to the thick roots of the front of the burrow home, the simple cloth covering the entrance was only fluttering slightly in the twilight, but even without it blown open, something wasn't right. Where you could feel someone around you without seeing them? It was that same feeling. But inside the home. Something about that energy seemed tense.

  I quietly lifted the fabric door over my head, peeking inside, down the slope that led into the main area of the house. I could hear voices. They seemed to be in the parlor to the right, and by the pacing and shouting it wasn't too hard to tell who the voices were. Vethari—that was a given. And the other?

  Faariin.

  9

  "Are you sure of your plan? You know I trust you more than my kin, and your choices."

  Yes, it was Faariin's voice. Not as deep as Vethari's, but still cool and collected, and demanding attention regardless. I tried to stay against the wall, gripping the bow in my clutches tightly to keep the possibilities of dropping it to a minimum. My feet slid forward ever so slowly, little by little, just to creep past the precipice of the main entrance to the room.

  "I am sure of my plan, sovereign." Vethari sounded a bit disgruntled. Then again, when didn't he have some sort of attitude? He continued, "When the time is right, after the Great Hunt preferably. I will give her back to her people under the treaty of maintaining our lands, and the humans looking elsewhere for their timber; elsewhere for their construction and expansion of their own territory." I stiffened. After the Great Hunt. That's when I was to return home? I still wasn't sure when it was, exactly.

  A moment of silence, Faariin gathering his thoughts before responding. "Just how did you come about to procure any allegiances, no matter how meager, with the humans? Enough so that you think you can trust them? And they you?"

  He made a good point.

  Vethari snorted, and I could hear footsteps circling the room slowly. "I have sent letter by bird to the leaders of the girl's city. Believe me. I have dealt with humans many times without the urge to slaughter them." I couldn't see in the room, but I could feel the energy of the tense face-off between them. "I am far older than you, Faariin. Do not forget where my allegiances have lain. And how I've dealt with humans in our old court."

  "How could I forget, Vethari. After all, we became blood-brothers once you fled to my family's court. Besides, you aren't more than two centuries older than I."

  I choked, immediately putting a hand to my mouth with wide eyes at the thought of it. They were most certainly long lived, but I couldn't even imagine them being so... ancient. Unfortunately, their conversation didn't go on any longer for myself to gather any further useful information, for after my little choking fit, it was all of five seconds before I found myself pinned to the ground, the wind knocked out of me. Bearing down on top was Vethari, bared teeth and brow furrowed. Looking past him as I tried to catch my breath, was the cold, stone-faced expression of Faariin.

  "I don't want to see her face around here longer than necessary. After the Great Hunt, I want her gone from our village."

  He didn't appear the least bit angry, but his cold visage still sent a chill through my body. Faariin turned on his heel and strolled casually through the opening of the burrow past us, as Vethari remained pinned above me. I frowned up at him, "I was just coming home from practice," I said, tilting my head toward my bow that lay to one side. If it had broken, I wasn't sure who I'd be more afraid of, Vethari or Calidi. He didn't seem to care, though he did crawl off me, tucking a dagger into his bandolier that I hadn't even notice him draw. He was a quick combatant.

  Of course, I didn't get any assistance on his part as I rose to my feet, collecting my weapon. Dusting off my now once again filthy clothing, I glowered toward him. He returned the look before he gave a roll of his eyes, his features softening a bit. "At least you didn't run off again when you had the chance to—this time."

  Flushing, I tucked the loose strands of hair behind my scarred ear that had been knocked from my ponytail once I hit the floor. "My father always told me I learned the hard way, but I'd rather not die from any further mysterious creatures prowling these lands trying to learn that lesson." I looked toward him, and I noticed his gaze fixed onto the blunted tops of my ears. His pupils seemed to expand as he focused, his breathing hitching slightly. I quickly brushed my hair back down over to hide them from his sight. Did he find them hideous?

  "Your father… yes…" He seemed to trail off, snapping his attention away from me as I hid my small mutilation. Quickly he turned his back to me as he began to walk toward his sitting area, opening his box and beginning to pull out foodstuffs from deep inside its eternal depths. "Smart lass," he closed the lid after removing a small wicker basket with pastries. Mostly rolls or muffins it seemed.

  "Speaking of smart..." I began, following him as he left the main foyer that I had been sleeping in, and into the room he was just in with Faariin. There was a large oak table with many rings around its center. It was basically a stump that hadn't even been smoothed or lacquered. It was tall, and again roots from the floor seemed to jut from upward and create a basic sitting stool.

  "Speaking of which?" Vethari asked, impatiently waiting for me to continue. "I was wondering. Is there anywhere in this place where I could ... learn. Of faeries, and what you are. Your culture?" Vethari stopped mid-bite of the soft, doughy-looking breads, the center oozing forth what looked like what I would imagine to be brisket—if they were to have that sort of thing here. Finally, he turned full attention toward me in curiosity. "You wish to learn? And what—adapt? You aren't going to be here forever, girl." I shrugged, slowly reaching over—testing my limits with him—and pulled
one of those buns toward me. Vethari watched my hand with a hard look on his face. Though he didn't stop me as I put it into my mouth. I'd just been training all day. I was hungry.

  "I think it'd be helpful. Until this great hunt occurs, I'm stuck here. So, I might as well try to fit in as best as I can." I took a thick bite from the meat pastry. Trying to contain the urge to hum in pleasure. Was all food of the fae this delicious? So moist? "And when it's time for you to take me home; maybe I can help with your plan to bring peace to our territories." Vethari stopped with his eating, his eyes turning to take in my own.

  A few moments of silence passed, and I could see him calculating in his head. What he was calculating, I was unsure of. I just had to keep reminding myself: Fae cannot lie.

  "Why, of all humans, do you care so much about us? More than other humans I've met in my lifetime."

  "My mother. She's a special woman, and... she loved stories of the faeries, and told me of them when I was young." My eyes turned downcast at the thought of my mother. Vethari shook his head, running a hand across the lower half of his face in thought. I looked at him, searching for any sign of an answer. He didn't reply immediately.

  My lips parted slightly, unsure if I should continue to ask him more, about what he said to Faariin, but his hand whipped upward, pausing me before I could speak with a single finger lifted to the air. "If you want to learn more, I suggest you go to Faariin. He knows most of the stories of old, since it was once his duty to learn them for his own court. If he wants to help you, fine. If he doesn't, then it matters little to me." The golden fae stood, grabbing another bun from the basket and stuffing practically the whole thing into his ravenous maw.