A/N At the End, all recognisable characters, places, story information is courtesy of SJM, Olwen and my OC's are my own.
As Tamlin shot off on all fours, his powerful legs chasing down the human man, I knew I couldn't let myself stay stood here, again in the wake of the High Lord of Spring. And anyways, this was my concern too, whoever that man was he had seen me using my powers and with the wall fallen, who knows what he would do with the information. I might only have been here a short time but it was clear to me the Spring court had its enemies.
I set off moving, slowly building myself to a run, yet I realised even this wasn't quick enough to keep up with the high lord in his beast form. As a demi-fae I'd always been graced with the ability to move swifter than a human, but my legs couldn't carry me as fast as I needed to go, and with all the bracken filling my path I was further slowed, finding myself hurdling over branches every few step. As I continued to move I suddenly felt a swift breeze from behind me, and as I realised it I let myself be carried by it, utilising my powers to also lift the branches out of my way. I moved faster, growing closer to Tamlin on his chase, following the path he had carved. I raced through the forest, finding myself speeding past the trees at a pace I had never been before, stretching my legs in a way I hadn't in all my life. The colours were blurring past my eyes as I sped forth, racing until I could see a clearing ahead and hear the distinct growls that I recognised as Tamlin's.
My feet came to a stop just before the treeline, slowly allowing me to move forth yet stay behind the High Lord; I was still on unsure footing with him and couldn't quite tell if I was wanted here or not. As I moved around him, keeping my feet light in case I needed to retreat, he barely gave me a glance, keeping his eyes focused entirely ahead of him. I turned my head, matching my gaze to Tamlin's and finding the human there, backed up against the trees. No path lay beyond, just heavier trees and among them a thick layer of thorns and bracken that would be impossible for the man to get through before Tamlin got to him. The High Lord clearly knew his lands.
Tamlin snapped his jaws next to me, letting out a low growl that had the man cowering. I looked back to him, realising he kept flicking his eyes to me, then back to the man. Did he want me to speak?
The man, crouched now, bowing his head, was wearing my queen's colours, a uniform formed of almost entirely black with only a coloured stripe to represent the rank. I knew vaguely of the rankings from some of my father's commissions; some of the higher officials would pay him to make fine suits for court. This soldier wore black lined with a deep orange, signifying him as a field marshal, a common foot soldier but one whose job it was to watch and report; some might say a spy.
'What brings you here?', I ask in the most intimidating voice I can muster,
'My Queen's orders' , he still doesn't look up, almost as though he is afraid looking will bring him under some sort of spell.
'And what were those orders?', he does look now, staring directly at me, his brown eyes boring into me with a look of disgust,
'To find her property,' his words are direct and sharp, as soon as he has said them Tamlin roars next to me, stepping closer to the man, allowing his teeth to show.
Somehow, with Tamlin closer to him he gains confidence, though whether it is adrenaline coursing through him I don't know.
'They're coming, all 5 of them, to claim what's theirs and take more than before', while Tamlin continued to snarl at him, his anger growing, I became more and more uneasy. I knew little of the other queen's but I knew that mine, the second oldest, was cruel and unforgiving at all times. My father had dreaded her ever coming to our shop, every tailor she had used before had either been executed or imprisoned, who knew what she would have done to one with a half fae daughter. I stepped forward, closer to the guard, completely ignoring Tamlin's maw, trying to decipher what he was saying, to work out what more he knew and was hiding from us within his words; as I began to open my mouth to ask more questions, the sudden roar from the beast's mouth had me quickly retreating. I was once again behind the High Lord of Spring and in a position where I could no longer see the guard, Tamlin having grown so close to him he was completely blocked from freedom. Another roar came out and I realised what it was the High Lord was intending.
I moved to try stop him but before I could he lurched forward, launching his jaws dead into the chest of the human we had cornered. I stepped back again, bringing the arm I had reached out pathetically to try stop Tamlin and instead using it to cover my mouth, open in shock.
All I could hear were his growls, jaws snapping and flesh being torn open. I could no longer bare to look and closed my eyes, hiding myself from the horror. I turned away from the sight.
I stayed there, breathing deeply and trying not to consider the fragile human life, until I felt a hand upon my shoulder. I lurched around and immediately fell backwards, rushing to move away from the High Lord, back in his high fae form, blood upon his face and dripping from his golden hair.
I crawled further backwards, slowly guiding myself up onto my feet as he began to give me a strange look, pitiful and sad.
'Olwen you must-' he began,
'No,' I spat out, before turning and running away from him.
'Wait!' he called out, and I heard him begin to trail behind me. I neither wanted nor needed this; the very human part of me was hurt and afraid, and I knew he would not understand it. I could hear him continue behind me, calling out every now and then, but I wanted to be left alone. He had far more speed than I did so I called to the roots and vines around me to help, casting them around so that they might force him to stop and block his way, yet his footsteps still fell in my wake.
I continued but couldn't seem to stop him coming, but then I heard a soft grunt and a thud,
'Please, Olwen, just wait' his words were somewhat breathless, and more than anything I was struck by his use of the world please. He was a High Lord of Prythian, as far as I knew he didn't ask for anything.
I stopped, ten feet ahead of Tamlin, and turned back. My breaths were heavy and soft tears were falling down my face. I saw him there, laying on the ground with a root wrapped around his ankle, my doing. I continued to keep my distance, not letting him go just yet,
'Why?' I breathed out, 'why kill him?' my words were laced with an unspent anger and that ever present fear. As I continued to look at him, my question hanging in the air, Tamlin looked down at his bound ankle and then looked back to me, before sighing.
'You wouldn't understand, just let me get up', there was an impatience to his voice now. I said nothing and continued to glare at him, letting him know he wasn't getting out till there was some explanation. He slowly blinked, then looked down again, anywhere away from my gaze. Good, I thought, that I should have some power here.
'It is the most fae instinct I have, to kill.'
I narrowed my eyes, waiting to hear more.
'I have lost a lot, so what I do have I intend to protect. I cannot allow anyone who threatens my court to live.' His eyes met mine again and while his words hadn't explained quite enough, they settled me somehow, settled enough to release his ankle.
I moved towards him as the branch retreated, curling away from him. I considered helping him up but thought better of it, him being a high lord and also realising that after transforming back from his beast form, he was barely clothed and my modesty prevented my eyes from lingering. As he stood up he clearly noticed this and laughed to himself ever so slightly. I turned away from him again, crossing my arms and beginning to move off; he hadn't reassured me so much I would walk next to him. He walked behind me and I could hear him still slightly laughing to himself.
'What is so funny?' I stopped and quickly turned back around to him, sternly questioning him, openly showing the annoyance in my voice.
He laughed again before saying 'you really are quite human, aren't you?'
'And what is that supposed to mean?'
His smile suddenly dropped and gave me another strange look, one more to add to a string of them today it seemed. I once again began to walk, following the trodden path from earlier back towards the manor. He stayed a few steps behind me, which I silently appreciated.
As I walked I began to breathe calmly again, letting my thoughts drift away from me and my arms drop back to my sides. I began to gently drift my hands around in soft patterns, to try and direct the plants around me to follow them. At first I had little success but slowly, I began to manipulate the tangle of vines as I walked alongside them. I was getting more confident, it was slight progress but for me that was all I needed. I thought back to my father and home, and of the soft little poppies that used to grow outside our house, and as I did they began to bloom among the other wildflowers, bringing a smile to my face.
'It's good,' Tamlin said behind me, I looked back at him wryly, unsure what he meant,
'Your control, much better than it was before.' I smiled to myself,
'but I think perhaps you might be best stopping for a little while, can't be certain of who is watching us out here',
I dropped my hands to my sides again, thinking on his words and not wishing to see another dead body today. I nodded back to him wordlessly and continued walking; he had met my pace now and was stood alongside me. We walked side by side for a little while longer before I could see the manor through the treeline; as we approached the edge of the forest Tamlin stopped, staring back at his home and taking a deep breath.
'You'll see me tomorrow, for now, I think you should rest,' I nodded, agreeing with him,
'If anyone asks where I am, you can tell them I'm making sure there are no more of the Queen's men hiding within the forests,' I looked away, trying not to think of the bloodied body left behind, and then gave a small curtsy. As I stood up straight again I caught Tamlin's eyes before turning away and taking back off to the manor.
I didn't look back but I hear the familiar cracking of bones and static electricity in the air that accompanied his transformations. As I walked back over the meadow I picked up my skirts, only now considering just how impractical they had been, yet when I looked down, the long layers weren't ripped, damaged or stained in any way my clothes from home would have been. Clearly these fae gowns were made of stronger stuff, or as I suspected, laced with some form of magic.
I made my way around the manor and to the front door, pushing it open slightly to enter, hoping I wouldn't be noticed. However it took very little time it seemed for Gerda to find me, followed closely by two other women who were working as maids within the house.
'Lady Olwen, I hadn't expected you back so soon! Is the High Lord with you?', I was looking around as she said this, noticing Faolan and Enoch meeting each other on the balcony above, whispering. I eventually looked back to Gerda,
'He had to go. You wouldn't mind directing me to the library would you Gerda? I think I have some reading to do',
She very promptly directed me along the way, up the furthest staircase and through a pair of double doors climbing with roses, much like the rest of the building, letting me know that I only need call and she would bring me something to eat. I thanked her as I went on my way and found myself in that safest and most wonderful of places, the library.
My father had never let me visit the library in our town, afraid of people seeing me there and finding out about my fae heritage, yet he knew of my love of books and made sure to bring me whatever he could, always buying me new ones on my birthday, allowing me to build my own little library at home.
It had been my way of exploring the world within my own four walls, to discover and learn more than I ever could have imagined, and so now, when there was so much I needed to know, only one place was suitable.
I knew little of the seven courts of Prythian, other than that they lay beyond the wall but now I needed to know more, especially after all of Enoch and Carrigan's theorising. The Spring Court's Library was far more than I could ever have dreamed, with all its walls teeming with books, the stacks piled high and shelves full of thousands of worlds for me to explore. I ran my hands along their spines, taking in their titles and the smell of books surrounding me. I sighed contentedly and breathed it all in, searching for books that could help me out. After scanning through the first set of shelves I had gathered myself a solid pile and took them with me, finding myself the perfect spot on a window seat that looked out over the Spring Court. These first few books were what I could find about the lands history and its links with the cauldron. They believed the world had been made inside of it, and all magic came from there long before either humans or fae, so if Enoch was correct, the very magic that each of the courts held came from it. I read deeper and deeper, reading each and every little detail so that I might glean something from it, making notes in my head of what I needed to find next. I hadn't realised quite how dark it had gotten outside but I couldn't stop reading, wanting to only know more. It was only later when I began to yawn and closed my eyes I realised quite how late it had grown. I stopped for a second, just to rest my eyes, but it was some while before they opened again.
I hadn't known how long had passed when I felt myself jostled slightly, as though being lifted, yet I allowed myself to drift off again, breathing in a sweet smell of roses. I was barely aware of the movement, feeling more like I was floating, til I was placed down onto soft, comforting fabrics, a quilt carefully lifted over me. I settled down, breathing quietly, and the last thing I heard was a very soft growl as I fell asleep once again.
A/N;
Hello again!
Trying to get better at updating this so you can all keep reading!
I feel like parts of this chapter maybe went a little too quick but I'm kind of still working out my pacing, so apologies if it feels rushed at all. i'd appreciate any feedback!
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laurelbloom xx