~ When All Is Said And Done ~
- Chapter 1: There Are Feathers Everywhere -
Niall had no idea where or how to even begin looking for Bananach. The only clues he had that something was wrong were her obvious absence and his nightmares - nightmares which he was sure were somehow connected to her nightmares.
He searched her nest but found no clues there that could possibly point to her current whereabouts.
He did find a lot of loose feathers. Long, black ones. Hers. On impulse, Niall picked up one of the feathers and tucked it into his pocket. He didn't know why he did it, but something about the action comforted him in a way he could not describe.
The nightmares made him restless, and he would often aimlessly wander the streets at night. He kept Bananach's feather with him at all times now.
When he found her, it was completely by accident. He almost walked by without so much as glancing in her direction, but he felt some subconscious instinct tug at his attention and his gaze slid to the mouth of a shadowed alley. A thin stream of light filtered down from a second-story window, lending enough illumination to the alley below that Niall could see that there was someone there.
She was sitting with her back against the alley wall, with her head back and her knees pulled up to her chest. There was an odd hitch in her breathing.
It wasn't until Niall was kneeling beside her that he realized who exactly he was looking at.
"Ba-"
She put her fingers to his lips and hissed, "Don't say my name."
"Darling," he murmured instead, pulling her into an embrace. "I've been so worried about you."
She was surprised, and confused, by the Dark King's actions. But faeries can't lie, so she knew that what he said was true.
"I've been looking for you," he continued, speaking softly as though trying to sooth a frightened animal that he was afraid would flee. "I almost didn't recognize you just now." As he said this, his fingers found her feathery hair - which was much shorter than it should have been. "What happened to your hair?" he asked, sounding upset.
She didn't know why he cared about the length of her hair. True, she'd never had it cut before, but she had also never been particularly well-groomed at any point in her life before. She'd be willing to bet that the Dark King had never seen her with her face completely clean of ash and blood or dressed in clothing that wasn't camouflage-patterned before, either.
He seemed to honestly be concerned about her, and to have no clue what the reason behind her disappearance was. And, whatever else had happened between them in the past, he was the Dark King and she was a member of the Dark Court. She was his to protect. Not that she'd ever thought she'd need his protection from anything... Still, she felt safe enough in his care.
Ignoring the question, she buried her face against his neck and mumbled, "I feel sick."
-to be continued-
A/N: Reviews are love.