Brooke awoke the next week to a commotion outside her window. She dressed quickly and hurried down the stairs where she almost collided with her father. "What's happened?"
Her father grabbed her shoulder. "One of the hunters has returned. He brought something with him!" The king's eyes were wide as he spoke. They hurried outside together.
An impressive man sat atop an equally impressive horse, waiting. Behind him, pulled in a wagon, was a cage. Brooke stopped short and peered into the cage. It appeared to be some kind of large bird. Alls she could see were dark feathers. She quickly turned her attention to the hunter who had dismounted from his horse.
He was tall and well built, although rather slender. His hair was long, golden, and shone like the sun. His eyes were a piercing blue. He was ethereal. "Your majesty." He bowed low as he spoke to the king. His voice was at once, both soft and commanding. "I have brought you the creature from the forest. He shall trouble your people no longer."
The king bade the man to rise. "What is your name?"
The man stood, towering once again over both Brooke and the king. "I am called Ianthth, my king."
"Well then!" The kings voice boomed out across the crowd. "Let it be known that in three days time there shall be a feast in honor of Ianth the hunter for he is a savior of our people and a bringer of peace to our land! Anything he desires, be it in my power to give to him, shall be his!"
Ianth bowed low once again. "You are too kind, my king. I do not deserve such honor. I only wish to bring peace of mind to the people."
Later that afternoon, Brooke sat in her father's study with Ianth and the king.
"So Sir Ianth. What is it that your heart desires? What is it that I can give to you for your service to this kingdom?" Brynard asked the hunter.
Ianth stared at his feet for a moment, as if trying to gather his courage. "I ask only for one thing your highness. I would ask your permission to marry your daughter."
Brooke let out an audible gasp.
Brynard's reply was quiet but stiff. "You would ask for my kingdom itself."
Ianth looked the king full in the eyes. "Then I ask for your permission to court your daughter and prove myself worthy of her hand, and of your kingdom."
The king nodded. "A diplomatic response. Very well. If you prove yourself and if Brooke will have you." He waved his hand in dismissal. "We shall see you at the banquet, good Sir Ianth. And once again, thank you for your service."
Ianth bowed to the king. "It is my pleasure, your majesty." He then turned to Brooke. He knelt and kissed her hand. "Until we meet again, my lady." He brought his blue eyes up to meet Brooke's green ones. She wasn't sure what to make of the handsome man. She blushed as he left the room.
The king turned to her. "What do you think of him?"
"His request was a bold one father, although he phrased it softly. He is obviously intelligent and shrewd." She thought over the events that had transpired. "I'm not really sure what I think of him." She said honestly.
The king nodded in agreement. "He is a strange young man. That is for sure."
Brooke wandered out into the courtyard where Ianth's creature was being kept. As she entered the courtyard, she noticed a small crowd surrounding the cage. She drew near and could hear the crowd mocking the creature in the cage. Some people threw rotten food and rocks.
Brooke was angry. She thought her people were better than making fun of a creature in a cage, even if it was a monster. She shoved her way to the front of the crowd. "You should all be ashamed of yourselves!" She cried out. "Is this really how the people of Aruna conduct themselves? You're all acting like children at a circus!"
The crowd began to disperse as the princess' angry words carried out over them. No one wanted her to call the guards on them.
Once the crowd was gone, she turned to the cage. "H-hello?" She spoke softly to the creature. "Everyone is gone. You're safe now."
It was a human voice that answered her."Safe?" It scoffed. "I am in a cage in the hands of my enemies and you have the audacity to tell me I am safe." The great wings shook as if with laughter. The creature turned swiftly, pressing it's face against the bars. "I am no safer here than you are princess." It sneered.
Brooke jumped back from the bars. She could see now that the creature was a human-like man with great dark wings. His eyes were dark and animalistic. The lower half of his face was covered by a mask that looked like a bird's beak and raven feathers. She thought of the creatures in her dreams.
"No one is safe anymore. The enemy of all sleeps in your very house and you welcome him in with open arms." He turned away from the bars. "You humans are all the same. Too stupid to see what's in front of your very noses." He chuckled. His voice was muffled by the mask he wore and was thickly accented.
"Well." Brooke sniffed. "If you're just going to insult me, I may as well leave."
"Do whatever you want. We're all dead anyways. Not that it will be a loss for you humans to die." He shrugged. Brooke shook her head and walked away.
"Father?" Brooke asked at dinner that evening, "What is the creature that sir Ianth captured? Do we know?"
He shook his head. "No one is quite sure, although the librarian insists the creature is a fae."
"Fae don't exist." Brooke rolled her eyes. "They're just fairytales."
"Yes. However, it's a better explanation than anyone else has given. The creature is very strange indeed."
She nodded her agreement but inside her mind was turning. The dark one in her dreams said they were fae and the creature in the cage reminded her so much of her dreams. Perhaps she would have to pay a visit to the librarian.
After dinner, she made her way to the royal library. It was a massive room that was rarely visited, although Brooke had found herself there on more than one occasion.
The librarian's name was Dor. He was an ancient, tiny man with fluffy white hair that stuck out in all directions. Brooke found him immersed in an old, dusty tome.
"Excuse me?" She gave a little wave as she tried to draw his attention.
He looked up at her, his blinking eyes made huge by his glasses. "Oh! Your highness! Forgive me, I did not hear you!"
"It's fine." She sat down on a footstool across from him. "What can you tell me about the Fae?"
The old man's eyes lit up. "You've seen him then? The Fae in the courtyard?"
Brooke nodded.
"It's quite dangerous you know, to keep a Fae in a cage. They're wild beings. Not meant to be captured. If he ever gets out of that cage, well..." Dor trailed off, his face suddenly becoming very serious. "He would probably kill us all." He finished.
"I didn't think Fae existed. I thought they were only in fairytales." Brooke prodded for more information.
"Yes, most people do. The Fae are solitary folk. They keep to themselves. I think they'd probably be quite content if we'd all just forget about them." He stood. "Here, just a moment." He walked away, weaving his way through stacks of books only to return momentarily with an ancient looking book in hand. "This is the oldest known record we have of the Fae." He opened the book towards the middle and flipped through pages until he found the one he was looking for.
Brooke stared at the page, studying the illustrations. The drawings looked just like the creatures in her dreams. She flipped the page and gasped softly. A full page illustration of the dark Fae in her dreams glared from the book. A small caption read, "The Fae King"
Dor glanced up from the pages at her. "Princess? Are you alright? You look as if you've seen a ghost!"
"I-" Brooke stammered. "I've been having these dreams. They're so vivid, so real. He's in them."
"The Fae king?" Dor sounded shocked. "Princess you must tell me everything."
When Brooke finished telling Dor about her dreams, he flipped through the old book in front of them until he found what he was looking for. "Fae dreams. They're usually had by someone with an unusual connection to the Fae. No one knows how they work, or why."
Brooke shook her head. "But I don't have any connection to the Fae. I didn't even believe in them until just now!" She protested.
"You may have more of a connection than you know princess. Please be careful. You may not be safe. The Fae are wild and unpredictable." Dor cautioned her.
She sighed. "I will. Thank you Dor."
He nodded. "Any time your majesty. It's a pleasure having the company."
Brooke tried to sleep that night, but found herself wide awake long after midnight. Finally, she went out into the courtyard and stood near the Fae's cage. "I know what you are." She said to him.
He ruffled his feathers and poked a sleepy head out from his wings. "So? I know what I am too. It's not like it's a secret."
"What's your name?" She demanded.
He snorted. "You could no more pronounce my name than you could pronounce the name of the wind."
"Just tell me." She sighed.
"Fine. I am called Al'lak'korr'ahn'vic'." It sounded more like something a raven would say than an actual name.
"You're right. I can't pronounce that. I'll just call you Alec."
"No. Absolutely not." He growled.
"You can't stop me. You're the one in the cage." Brooke smirked.
"Thank you for that, princess." He spat the word like an insult. "Thank you for reminding me that I've been reduced to nothing more than an animal by you boorish humans. That I, once so free, now bide my days in captivity"
"It's what you deserve. How many of our people have you killed? Hundreds have gone missing over the years." She accused.
"What?" He stood and grasped the bars of the cage, staring at Brooke with disbelieving eyes from behind his mask. "I've killed none of your people. The Fae do not kill. We may not like humans, but we are not killers. If your people have disappeared in the forest it is by their own stupidity, not because of the Fae."
"Why should I believe you?" Brooke asked quietly.
"I don't think you'd be here talking to me if you thought I was a killer." He shrugged. "Why are you here anyways?"
"Tell me of the Fae king." She sat on the ground facing the cage.
"What of him?" He glared down at her.
"I have dreams of him."
"You?" He glared harder at her. "You have Fae dreams?"
She nodded. "I want to know why."
"I wouldn't know." He turned away from her for a moment before facing her again. "They're inexplicable, even to the Fae."
"Well, you're not any help." She sighed as she stood to leave.
"Wait!" He called after her.
She turned. "What?"
"If you release me, I can take you to the Fae king. He may be able to explain your dreams."
She shook her head. "You're dangerous. I have little inclination to let you out of that cage."
As she walked away, he muttered something that she was pretty sure was a curse word.