Trigger warning
This chapter includes very slight mentions of abuse, non-consentual actions and trauma, but I wrote it so that it's rather subtle so I don't think it warrants a trigger warning per se. Still brace yourselves for gruesomeness
Definitions
capaill uisce = carnivorous water horses
Fuath = water fae
fetch = supernatural double; doppelgänger
Pronunciations
Roisin = row-sheen
Laoise = lee-sha
O'Beirne = o-birn
Roibhilín = roh-ve-lin
O'Floinn = o-flinn
Síle = she-la
Finnbheara = fee-yon-veh-ra
When Bri returned to school after lunch—without Félix as he had gone off to look for Nino and Alya at the cafeteria—she had a lot to think about. The topic that was pressing on her mind the most was the peacock Miraculous. She could tell there were gaps in how Félix had explained it to her.
At the beginning of the school year, he and Adrien had robbed their father's safe and the peacock brooch had been part of the loot. It had spent all that time in a pocket dimension until Félix had pulled it out again in an attempt to possibly figure out if some of the stolen goods could be of help in their current predicament. It was then that he had discovered what the brooch really was and had without further ado brought it to a guardian—whose whereabouts he apparently had found out from Tikki of all people. That person had then decided that the Miraculous should be given to Marinette for extra protection and as a means of communication with Bri during Akuma attacks.
The story wasn't a lie, but having been around silver tongued tricksters for centuries, Bri also knew a twisted truth when she heard one. Félix had deliberately left out information or even mixed up the timeline of events, but she couldn't tell just how much information he tried to hide. Perhaps his story was only a mere speck of the whole truth or it might well be almost the entire truth with only a few details missing that were, perhaps, even unimportant.
Tikki had been oddly quiet ever since Félix had divulged the story and Bri's questions had been met with shrugs and one-word answers. The kwami seemed to either know the missing details or she, too, was pondering what they could be. Or, perhaps, she was figuring out what to feel about her former chosen using a different Miraculous now.
Bri leaned back in her seat in the second row with her eyes on the door, waiting for Félix and the others to return. She most especially braced herself for Alya's arrival and thus for the inevitable latest theory or other excited rambling the girl would greet her with. She could see how Marinette was fond of her as a friend and Bri definitely admired Alya's enthusiasm for getting to the bottom of a mystery, but she still was a little too naïve and, dare she say, premature for her taste. Not to a fault of the girl of course, but there was a reason why she, an over seven centuries old…being, favoured Félix's enlightened company to that of a regular teenager. When it came to friends, she very much preferred the one she managed to find all on her own.
Marinette: hi did you have a nice lunch? c:
Kagami: An enjoyable and balanced meal, so I suppose I did. Thank you for inquiring.
Marinette: no problem! ;) let's be a little rebellious and have a cheat day next week after fencing practice! We can go to my place and stuff our faces with pastries!
Kagami: I do not think my mother will permit it.
Marinette: rude! (of her, not you!)
I'll just bring pastries to the practice then and we can eat them afterwards before you're picked up!
Kagami: That should be doable, but as I have extra training after getting home, it shouldn't be anything too heavy.
Marinette: gotcha!
Bri was proud of herself for slowly getting the hang of texting, mostly by copying Marinette's style and practicing with Félix who wouldn't judge her for blunders. She was about to compose another text when the distinct feeling of something fey made her raise her head.
Chloé sauntered into the classroom. A true queen bee whenever she had seen one, born to rule, with her self-assured posture—head raised and dismissing eyes glaring at anyone who dared to look at her wrongly. All of it, traits that generally spoke of power. Letting her eyes sweep around the room told Bri that this power Chloé held over the class was in no way an exaggeration, seeing how she invoked fear in many with a simple glance their way. The exceptions were the fae, which was ironic enough to make Bri want to laugh out loud but at the same time made her heart clench in pity for the halfling.
Juleka seemed undecided at best—the news of Chloé's failure to attain Danu had made the rounds among the Court and defamed her—and Alix was simply unbothered, even giddy. Félix was absolutely pissed but seeing how Chloé had targeted Marinette, that was to be expected.
All things considered, Chloé was what the Folk liked to call a queen of insects, a fae that ruled over humans alone because they had fallen out of grace with their own kin. The title 'queen bee' therefore fit oddly well.
Bri yet had to determine if it was just a clever façade or if Chloé was even flaunting that title proudly. Marinette definitely had done fine work, even if not intentionally, by letting the halfling princess grow fond of her and other humans. The waves her disappearance made in the Court and Chloé's life would certainly be interesting for Bri to watch and experience, as she was unwittingly right in the middle of what might turn out to be a Court war. Again. Well, at least she had the Ladybug Miraculous this time.
Manon, as it turned out, was much like a fae child: wild and unpredictable. Just like Marinette's diary entries and Tikki had suggested, she needed to be supervised at all times or else she'd get into mischief the second a blind eye was turned. Unlike fae children, she didn't randomly glamour herself and everything in her surroundings though, which made the difference of night and day to Bri, and let her breathe a sigh of relief. Compared to her life in Faerie, things in the mortal realm were really toned down a lot and she slowly felt herself enjoying the relative peace.
She eventually managed to catch a break from chasing Manon through the house by her suggestion to watch My Little Pony. While it was somewhat embarrassing to have to ask Sabine if she could help put it on—Bri knew neither what My Little Pony was, nor how to play it on the TV—it was ultimately worth it for catching the little girl's undivided attention for more than five minutes at a time.
Bri only half paid attention to the adventures of pastel-coloured ponies in a land full of magic while sneakily getting out the phone.
Marinette: hey do you know My Little Pony? It's surprisingly interesting for a kid's show!
Kagami: I have heard of it, but never seen it before. What is it about?
Marinette: it's about magical ponies in a magic land who are having adventures. apparently it teaches about how friendship works c:
Kagami: It definitely sounds like a kid's show.
Marinette: well, it is. But it's still very good from what I can tell!
"Marinette, look! Now it gets super cool and scary!" Manon suddenly said, making Bri look up from her phone.
"Scary? I thought this was a kid's show?"
Manon nodded enthusiastically. "It's a cool kind of scary! The pink alicorn princess is the villain!"
Well, Bri had already gathered as much from what she had seen so far. Especially since the main character, Twilight, had been suspicious of that specific pony for the entire episode. She watched on, raising her eyebrows when said pony called out the pink princess to be evil and then listing off her misdeeds. Except, no one, not even the literal sun monarch, believed her.
"Now comes the scary part!" Manon announced and bounced in her seat, hugging Bri's arm close.
Well, for a kid it might come off as scary. After all, being surrounded by flames and sinking through the ground seemed…uh…quite extreme. The pink princess was definitely evil.
"Cool right?!"
"Morbid," Bri commented with a nod.
"What does morbid mean?"
"Uh…nevermind."
As the next episode started playing with Twilight trapped in a crystal cave, Bri unlocked the phone once more.
Kagami: Are you watching it out of boredom or curiosity?
Marinette: I'm babysitting right now and the kid I'm babysitting wanted to watch it, so here we are. there has just been a surprising plot twist! O:
Also, how does one explain the word "morbid" to a child?
Kagami: I am not very educated when it comes to children, but depending on the child's age, I'm not sure it's a word they should learn quite yet.
Marinette: ok thanks! She's six years old Anyway, how are you doing?
Kagami: I am doing quite well, thank you.
Marinette: we've known each other for one week and a day now! Time passes fast, doesn't it?
Kagami: It actually passes with the same speed as it always has.
Bri couldn't help a sigh and shook her head.
If only that were true.
Despite her immense knowledge of the Folk, she couldn't help but envy Kagami just a little for her ignorance. The less anyone knew about fey things, the better they were off usually. No pain and less danger.
Marinette: it's still nice to hit a milestone isn't it?
damn I should've brought pastries to fencing yesterday already for an early cheat day and to celebrate
by the way I'm hanging out with two of my friends tomorrow and we wanna go through Paris for a bit. do you want to join us?
Bri saw how Kagami started typing, stopped for a minute, and then started typing again. A song had just ended in the episode when a text popped up.
Kagami: I'm afraid I'll have to decline. My mother won't let me go out on undertakings of this kind, especially not on such a short notice.
She was about to reply to that when Manon suddenly insistently pulled at her arm.
"Marinette, look! This is the best part!"
Bri had to admit that she hadn't paid attention to the episode much during the last few minutes and needed a moment to reorient herself. Two pink princesses, one in her wedding dress, one roughed up. It wasn't until one pony asked how there could be two of them when Bri tensed up.
An imposter princess. A wedding.
And then, the godforsaken, damned sentence that made her freeze in place.
"She's a changeling!" The roughed up pink princess said—the original.
A church.
A beautiful white wedding gown meant for someone else.
An accusation.
A dagger.
Blood.
Curses.
People that screamed, wishing her to die.
Strong hands that pulled her out of the mortal realm once more and back into Faerie.
"I'll patch you back up, little ladybird. Can't have you dying on me just yet."
Events she had tried her hardest to forget suddenly crashed back into the forefront of her mind like a tidal wave and she instinctively clapped a hand in front of her mouth not to scream or to throw up.
"Sweetie, are you alright?" Sabine, who had been in the kitchen, asked.
Bri shook her head. She needed to get out of here right now.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled, grabbed the phone and stormed up to her room, tears already pricking at her eyes.
The hatch was slammed closed and instantly locked with shaking hands. Only when she was sure no one could enter did she tear off her shirt and reach for the rowan wand that held her glamour. She wanted to rip the necklace that held it and throw it across the room, but even in her chaotic state of mind she knew that that would make more trouble than it was worth. Instead, she lifted the long silver—iron—chain over her neck and put it down on the floor before curling up into a ball next to it.
"Bri?" Tikki asked hesitantly, sitting down about half a meter away from her face.
Her second pair of arms—if she could call the insectoid appendages that—rested on the ground while her wings were kept in place by the ladybug-like shell. The stupid bra kept her from unfolding them, but she knew that if she'd take it off too, she'd feel much too vulnerable to bear.
"Over seven hundred years can fuck you up bad, Tiks. Humans aren't meant to live that long and our memory can't keep up, so we…we just forget things…or think we forget," Bri said quietly.
Her voice had something small to it, a quality that she usually never allowed it to have. She was safe with Tikki right there though. For the first time in who knows how many years, she could allow herself to be weak again, if only for a moment.
"Oh Bri, it's alright," Tikki cooed and floated closer to pat her head soothingly. "Those horrors are over now and you're safe."
"You have no idea what…"
She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. There was no reason to solidify those memories of torturous times by talking about them now. They were in the past and they couldn't hurt her. She had made sure of that…with an iron dagger.
Twice.
No, she shouldn't think about that now. Even if she tried to suppress all the in-between, she had always remembered its end vividly. It was both the most horrifying and satisfying moment of her life and, not to dilute herself, one major event that had pushed her into insanity for a couple of centuries before she had caught herself again. For the most part, at least.
With still shaking hands, she picked up the phone and scrolled through the contacts before she found Félix's number. Tikki was amazing to talk to, but she could neither take care of Manon for the remainder of the time, nor tell Sabine a convincing lie as to why her daughter wouldn't leave her room.
"What is it?" Félix's voice sounded from the other end, already annoyed.
"I need a big favour," she said, trying to keep shivers or any other form of weakness out of her voice. The result was a seriousness she had only solely used in his presence before.
"Bold of you to assume I have time to grant one."
That was fair. He was under a lot of stress lately and she hadn't been very good at helping him out with it, so why should he help her now?
"Félix please!" Tikki cut in pleadingly. "Bri is feeling very bad right now and she's supposed to babysit Manon. It's only a question of time before Sabine comes up and wants to check on her, but she can't right now."
There was silence on the other end, followed by a quiet "Oh."
"It's just like one more hour, really," Bri continued. "And I swear I'll owe you in return. Tikki and you can hold me to that."
"Fine," Félix sighed. "Will I get an explanation afterwards?"
"Maybe. No promises."
"Alright, I'll be over in five minutes."
He hung up and Bri kept staring at the phone until the screen turned off.
"You know, Tikki," she said after a while, already hearing noises downstairs that indicated Félix's arrival. "I'm glad I got Marinette out of here before she shared my fate."
"I'm glad about that too," the goddess said quietly and nuzzled Bri's face.
"Being a fae bride is a neverending nightmare for sure," she mumbled while her eyes drifted down to where her insectoid arms lay as limply as her human arms.
Neverending indeed.
"Roisin promised to collect bluebells for the wedding! Just imagine it: Me in my wedding dress walking through an arch decorated with bluebells! It'll be beautiful!" Her little sister swooned as she twirled in place while Bri scrubbed the laundry.
"And I told you to gather St John's wort instead. You don't want to tempt the Folk, do you?"
Her sister waved it off. "We have the Lady in Red to protect us from them, it'll be fine!"
Bri grimaced and felt Tikki twitch in the pocket of her dress. The Lady in Red would definitely be at the wedding, but could she really do something while not transformed? And it wasn't like she could transform in the middle of the ceremony either if something happened.
"It'll be so wonderful! Bells and flowers and music! Roibhilín and I will exchange our vows and he'll say–"
"Laoise!" Bri cried, accompanied by many more voices calling the same name.
It was no use though, her sister was gone. Stolen away before her wedding ceremony, dress and all. She should have prevented it, as she had already feared it would happen. With a quick look around to see that no one was looking, Bri swiftly hid behind a large pile of hay.
"We have to find her fast, Tikki! What if they fed her to the capaill uisce?!"
"You can't make a bargain with them, it's too dangerous!"
"Laoise is gone! She's my sister! What, do you just expect me to stand by and just let it happen?! I saved lives from the Folk before, this is just one more."
"Just remember to not go into Faerie. I can under no circumstances travel to Tír na nÓg with you, or the balance of this realm will be broken."
Bri took a shuddering breath. "I'll still get her back, even if I have to bargain with them."
She set her eyes on the hill in the distance with the thorn tree at its top. It was a place for wishes, for prayers, for hope and for bargains. A place for the Folk. It also was the place she needed to go.
"Tikki, Spots On."
Taking a deep breath, she took a step in the hill's direction.
Her feet stopped on the soft moss that covered the hilltop's ground.
"I ask for the return of Laoise O'Beirne! Unharmed, unglamoured and in the same state as the one she was in the moment before she was taken."
She stood at the foot of the thorn tree, bandalore in hand and did her best not to glare at the Folk that surrounded her—staying polite was of utmost importance, otherwise she might never see her sister again.
"An interesting wish," one of them said, sitting on a rock with carvings she couldn't read.
"It's a demand, not a wish," she specified with a firm voice.
Chatter broke out around her. She knew that she had no ground to stand on when it came to fairness here. The village might not have displeased the Folk to prompt such a kidnapping, but the Folk just did what their wit told them, not fearing any consequences. They could do whatever they wanted and it was the mortals that needed to pay their dues to right the mischief.
"How bold of you, Lady in Red. What do you have to offer?"
Tikki had said no bargains, but Bri was smart. Surely, she was clever enough not to fall for their tricks.
"Quite a few things that might be of your interest. For now, though, I want to know why Laoise O'Beirne was taken, by whom, where and for how long. Answer those questions and my offer towards you will become more appealing."
The fae man on the rock seemed to ponder over that for a bit with a hand stroking his chin.
"It's not every day that the wielder of Danu herself marches up to my hill and makes demands," he eventually said. "I am curious what you have to offer, but know that if I am not pleased with it, I will freely take from you what I desire to honour our bargain."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Just to clarify: You will give me information, and based on that information I will consider how to proceed. I didn't agree to anything yet."
No offers upfront before she knew what she was in for. Some of them liked to take mortals for a dance throughout the night and bring them back the next morning. If that was what had happened to her sister, then she'd be back at dawn with her feet bleeding, but otherwise fine and alive. That would also mean that whatever bargain Bri made on this hill right now would have been for naught. She needed to tread carefully until she knew what exactly she was dealing with.
"You look quite determined to get this maiden back," the fae man said.
She decided not to answer. There was no lying to him.
"Very well, I will answer your questions in exchange for an offer that will interest me."
She waited for him to continue, but he just grinned at her expectantly.
"I…" She wracked her brain to find something she could offer that would be of value to him and wouldn't cause lasting damage. "I think of offering to take down the wards around the village during Midsummer."
It was risky, but doable. She'd just have to take the entire village away to an open field and place wards around that instead, for the entirety of the festivities. The village buildings would be without protection for the days, but at least the villagers would be safe.
The fae man nodded, seemingly happy with that offer.
"Laoise O'Beirne was taken because she's a beautiful bride and can do better than being betrothed to a lowly human."
Bri felt anger and indignation at that. Roibhilín was a perfectly fine man, the very best her sister could ever ask for! She had watched him gather bouquets of wildflowers and then shyly give them to her sister while Laoise had blushed and beamed at him. The two of them were made for each other.
"She," the fae continued, "was taken by me and into my sídhe, the very hill we stand on."
If the bandalore hadn't been magical, Bri was certain it would have broken by how tightly she was clenching it. The arrogance of the Folk truly knew no bounds.
"For seven years she'll be my bride, wife and servant of my every need. Does that displease you?"
Bri had immense trouble to not punch the bastard in the face right then and there. That wouldn't help her case, so instead, she took a very deep breath to calm her nerves.
"I see," she said, swallowing the many curses she had wanted to say instead.
"Now that you have this information, what will you do with it, oh Lady in Red?"
The title sounded like a mockery coming from this creature's lips. Once more she reminded herself to stay calm. He just wanted to rile her up so that she would make an impulsive, emotional decision. Whatever her decision would turn out to be, it would still be emotional though because this was her sister she was bargaining for here! She couldn't leave her trapped in a sídhe for seven years while being no doubt tortured by that sadistic beast! She deserved a happy life with Roibhilín, starting with their wedding.
"I will think of a suitable offer to you to get her back and return here at dawn. Vow to me that you will not harm, enchant, curse, or otherwise magically or physically tamper with Laoise O'Beirne who you stole today, nor let anyone else do any of those things, until we have come to an agreement at dawn. She is to be returned in the same state she was in the moment before you took her and I will still demand this at dawn."
The fae nodded. "I vow to abide to your terms until we bargain again at dawn."
One glance at the night sky told her that this didn't leave her with much time.
The stars were shimmering and Tikki was not happy.
"I told you not to bargain with them!"
"And I told you that I can't just let my sister rot in a sídhe for seven years!"
The kwami sighed deeply.
"What if the fae demands something from you that you cannot give? Or worse, if he demands something horrible from you that you can give and will?!"
Bri looked out the window at the night sky. Dawn wasn't in sight yet, but it was summer, one week before Midsummer, and the sky would start brightening again soon.
"I need to give something of equivalent value to him, don't I?"
Tikki nodded.
Just what would equal her sister in value in the fae's eyes? A dozen horses? Half of the harvest? The full harvest?! All milk of the village?
She shook her head. That all didn't seem like things that would appeal to a creature like him. She had to stop thinking material and start thinking barbaric, like a fae would. The equal value of a maiden on her wedding day was another maiden on her wedding day. Or, at least, a maiden for a maiden. As much as she loved her sister and wanted her back, she wouldn't wish this fate upon any other girl in the village either. It still seemed like she was close to a solution though. A life for a life was a common deal, not just with the fae and it would definitely sound appealing. Just who…
Tikki suddenly looked at her in worry when her eyes lit up with an idea. A horrible idea, but she was sure it was going to work.
"I see you have indeed returned," the fae greeted her when she marched up the hill and stopped before him.
Instead of a reply, she only gave a sharp nod.
"Have you thought of an offer?"
"I have. But before I give it to you, I have another condition."
He waved her on to go ahead.
"I want Laoise O'Beirne returned to this hill after you agree to my offer and have a chance to have one last conversation with her. I will tell you when the conversation is over and you will not interrupt or sabotage us before then. It will not take long and I do not intend to trick you with it."
The fae nodded. "Interesting. As long as I accept your offer, I will also accept this condition and vow to abide by your terms."
Bri nodded and looked into the fae's unsettling amethyst eyes. He was handsome like all of them, couldn't lie like all of them, but she was still wary of his trickery. If she wasn't careful with her wording, he would find a loophole and twist her words, following them to the letter but not the spirit.
"My offer to you, creature of the sídhe, is an exchange between Laoise O'Beirne and another maiden that will take her place. Laoise O'Beirne is to be returned to this realm, to this time and to this place in the same state before she was taken, still a maiden, still unhurt, unenchanted and fully human, just like you promised her to be when we talked at dusk."
"You surprise me, Lady in Red. In order to protect one of your sheep, you sacrifice another."
Bri shook her head. "The maiden I offer you is none other than myself. I will take Laoise O'Beirne's place as your bride for seven years. In addition to that, I demand that no harm is to be done to the village by the Folk and no other person is to be taken from it by the Folk either."
She tried very hard not to shake in fear and disgust. The thought alone of becoming this being's bride was revolting, but knowing that her sister would be safe and happy would make it worth it. At least that's what she told herself.
The fae, for his part, seemed stunned by her offer for a moment, before an eerie grin stretched across his face.
"This indeed is an unexpected offer. I accept it with all your conditions."
He snapped his fingers and through a mist suddenly stepped Laoise, still in her wedding dress and extremely disoriented. She looked unharmed and undisturbed though.
Bri couldn't help but surge forward to hug her. According to her bargain, she didn't have much time now.
"Spots Off," she whispered while still embracing her confused sister.
"B-Bri – "
"Listen carefully Laoise," she interrupted her while Tikki hid in the folds of Laoise's wedding dress before the Folk could see her. "I was the Lady in Red and I made a bargain with the Folk to get you back and to keep the village safe."
Tears sprang to her eyes as she took off the earrings and placed them in her sister's hand.
"Keep them safe and remember me. I will take your place for seven years while you can live happy and in peace. Tell our parents and the village what happened, but don't try to get me back."
Laoise nodded, tears in her own eyes. "Isn't there another way? We could offer our best cattle and prepare a feast for them, or we could – "
Bri averted her gaze. "The bargain has already been made. I can't take it back now."
"You sacrificed yourself for me," her sister said, horrified with tears streaming down her face.
Bri just nodded.
"I will never forget it and I'll tell my children of you until you can meet them."
Bri sniffled and nodded. "Do that. I-I'm sure you'll be a wonderful mother, Laoise."
The two hugged once more.
"I'm sorry I can't be at your wedding."
"You made sure that there would be a wedding. I should have listened to you earlier when you warned me."
"This isn't a time for regrets," Bri said, though it very much was. "Please live your life to the fullest and I'll come back eventually."
The two sisters cried some more and had trouble separating. True to his word, the fae didn't interrupt them but just patiently stood next to the thorn tree, waiting like an ambush predator about to tear apart their unsuspecting meal.
"I'll protect the village until you're back," Laoise whispered at last and clenched the earrings in her fist.
Bri shook her head. "You're not made for fighting, Laoise."
Her little sister sighed. "Maybe protecting isn't always about fighting. This right now isn't a fight either and you're still protecting me and the rest of the village." Maybe Laoise was even right with that and she could make a great holder for Tikki. "I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too. Please, just…be happy."
This was her only wish.
Laoise nodded. "Please survive, so you can be happy someday as well."
Those were the last words she had heard her sister speak before the sun peeked over the horizon and she told Laoise to run home, with a promise to see her again in seven years.
Bri turned around to the fae.
"I'm ready."
She wasn't.
Seven years.
Seven torturous years full of nightmares and Bri was finally free. No longer a maiden nor as naïve as she had been when she had made the bargain all those years ago, she finally stood on the sídhe's top again, looking at the buildings in the distance that were her village.
She didn't waste time and ran down the hill, through the high summer grass, scaring off insects and birds alike. Home. Finally, after what felt like a lifetime of suffering, she was back home. She would see Laoise again and meet her nieces and nephews. She'd be an aunt! If her sister had held on to the earrings, she'd even see Tikki again! She could be the Lady in Red once more and royally kick the Folk's butt if they dared to even come close to her again!
Something was wrong.
Over the last few years, her instincts had made the difference between life or death several times and just like all those times, they now told her that things weren't how they were supposed to be. She heaved for breath, malnourished as she was, and then continued her approach towards the village in a slower pace, now cautious. When she finally reached the first buildings, she narrowed her eyes, trying her best to remember if the barn had always been there, or if it had been built in the last seven years. Other buildings looked off too, as if they had been repaired several times over, while others were completely gone or even replaced with new ones.
Bri decided to just ask the first person she came across.
"Excuse me, but can you tell me where Laoise O'Floinn lives?"
Her sister would have taken on Roibhilín's last name after marrying him.
The woman seemed confused. "There is no one with that name living here."
Cold shock ran through Bri at those words, as if someone had thrown her into a river in winter.
"There are the O'Floinns though, they live in the house by the creek. Maybe you just got the first name wrong?"
Since when was there a creek?
"Oh, thank you," Bri mumbled and then stumbled into the direction the woman had pointed.
She ended up in front of a house that might have been her own once upon a time, but she barely recognized it anymore. The chimney was in the same place, as were most windows, but the roof and walls looked like they had been repaired many times over to keep wind and rain out.
"Can I help you?" A voice from her left asked and Bri involuntarily jumped.
And then, she stared. Laoise! Or…not Laoise? The woman held a striking resemblance to her sister in any case. Blue eyes, long brown hair with a red sheen, the same friendly smile.
"Laoise?"
The name slipped out before she could help herself.
"I'm sorry, but not quite. My name is Síle."
Bri involuntarily had to cringe at the wording. The village should be more careful when it came to giving out their names.
"Oh, I'm sorry. You just looked a lot like her. Do you perhaps know someone called Laoise O'Floinn?"
The woman, while still feeding the flock of chickens around her, seemed to think.
"My great grandmother was named that, but she died twenty years before I was born and you look about my age so you can't have known her."
The icy cold feeling from earlier was back, numbing her to the bone.
"Have you…have you ever heard of the Lady in Red?"
The woman nodded. "My grandmother liked to tell stories about her that she heard from her mother. Apparently, she was my great grandmother's sister before she sacrificed herself to the Folk."
Numb.
"W-when was that?"
That she could still form words while the world was falling apart around her was a miracle.
"A hundred years ago as far as I know."
Gone.
Her sister, her parents and everyone else she had known and loved was gone.
Only when the woman shouted after her in concern did Bri notice that she had started running.
Sleeping on a faerie hill was a bad idea, but there was no other familiar place for her to go. Everyone and everything was dead and bones and gone. Everything she had suffered seven long years for was gone. What had she suffered for? Had it been meaningless in the end? No. The woman she had talked to, a descendant of her sister, was proof that it had been worth it. Laoise had been able to marry the love of her life, have children with him and, as Bri very much hoped, lived a long happy life. Just without her in it.
She could return to that house in the morning, introduce herself and get acquainted with that distant family. She'd be able to live happily with what her sister had left behind for her.
She shouldn't have slept on a faerie hill.
Bri knew from several years of experience that one wrong move in Faerie meant death. One bad-timed word or an unsatisfactory dish served would be harshly punished with just that. After all, when serving a queen of Faerie in her underwater palace, only one simple gesture of a fae's hand would make it impossible for her to breathe, or would steal the warmth from her body. That she was still alive after all these years was wondrous enough.
The Courts were curious about her as a former chosen of Danu, but not curious enough to let her live under any circumstances. She was a servant and a slave rather than a guest.
When mortal time didn't matter, Samhain, Beltane, Midsummer or other feasts were practically every day. It was a neverending row of festivities and through all that, Bri, too, was held in limbo. Her body didn't age, because what was a curiosity to the fae when it died in what was a mere blip of time for them?
Oh, how much she longed to feel ground under her feet again and to breathe fresh air instead of water. She wanted to feel gravity and hear the songs of birds, even if it was in Faerie. She should've been careful what she was wishing for, as the Otherworld had a cruel way of maliciously complying with such wishes, just like the Folk that lived there.
Stumbling over someone's tail was all it took for her to drop a platter she had been tasked to serve at the queen's table. Even if the food now swam around and wasn't touching the floor quite yet, it would still be rude to just pick it up from the water and arrange it once more. She had made a faux-pas and she knew she was going to be punished for it.
"And so, we meet again, little ladybird," a voice said that made her want to take the knife from a nearby platter.
"Finnbheara," Bri hissed through gritted teeth.
It was anything but polite, but the fae king was also anything but in her good favour and he deserved to know it. After all, he alone was to blame for ruining her life. In the seven years where she had been his bride, she had lived in his admittedly beautiful palace with mindless pretty women that had proudly called themselves brides. They were kidnapped like she was, but the beauty of the sídhe had enchanted them and so, unlike her, they had loved their life there. Glamoured little puppets, nothing more. She had been the only one to see the horrors that lurked behind the golden arches, anything but blind to what her life had become.
Sometimes, in very rare, quiet moments, she found herself missing Finnbheara's golden palace. Compared to her role as a servant in a Fuath queen's castle, being a bride had seemed easy. There had been so many brides Finnbheara had been able to pick from, that she had been able to escape his glances most of the time, free to roam the grounds with a free mind. In the first few years she had asked herself what Úna, Finnbheara's fae wife and queen of his sídhe, had thought about her husband amusing himself with hundreds of mortal wives. Only later had she found out that the Folk didn't seem to care much about infidelity in general and marriages were more of a political matter.
"Still a feisty little creature, aren't you?" Finnbheara asked with a grin that she wanted to slap off his smug, beautiful, horrible face.
Bri didn't dignify his question with an answer and instead attempted a hasty retreat. He grabbed her arm and tutted at her like one would at an insolent child.
"Running away isn't very polite after fourteen years of not seeing each other, is it? Especially after the mess you just made with the food. You wouldn't want to cause your queen trouble, would you?"
She swallowed the urge to growl and glare at him as she tried to rip her arm out of his hold. Of course, it didn't budge. He was a fae king and she was a weak mortal who didn't even belong in this realm. There was nothing she could do here. Nothing except to survive, just like her sister had told her to.
"Of course not," Bri said in a saccharine voice, though the sarcasm was obvious, at least to her—most fae she had encountered seemed to have trouble comprehending the concept of sarcasm, which might or might not have saved her neck a couple of times when she hadn't been able to bite back a mocking remark.
"Splendid," Finnbheara said and dragged her to where the queen was feasting.
It was all she could do not to stumble and make even more a fool of herself. Instead, she kept up with his pace and tried to look as dignified as at all possible. For a mortal, that was.
"Greetings, my queen. What an interesting feast you have let put together tonight," Finnbheara said.
Bri, meanwhile, kept a close eye on the Fuath queen. Her eyes weren't just an icy blue but almost white and her hair black as tar. One of her long sharp nails impaled a small sea creature on her plate and she ate it with a pleased look on her face. After all these years, Bri barely had the reflex to gag at such things anymore.
"Finnbheara, my old friend," she said, her voice as chilling as her eyes were bright. Bri suppressed any sort of reaction when the queen's icy gaze drifted over to her. "Do tell me what you are doing with my pet. Has she caused you harm?"
It was a valid assumption, seeing how Bri's first impulse had been to stab the motherfucker with a carving knife.
"Nothing I'm not used to from her already," Finnbheara assured the queen with a self-satisfied laugh. "No, I have come to speak to you in a matter of mutual interest."
Bri didn't like where this was going.
"If the interest is mutual will show. What is your proposition?"
"We're all hoping to see something unexpected and incredible from this unique creature here, but in all the years she has been in your domain, nothing noteworthy has happened. I suspect that her mortal body doesn't agree with the, for her, unnatural condition of being underwater, so I propose to take her up to the surface with me to see if change will come forth that way."
Her desire to stab him grew tenfold.
The queen stood up, a scowl on her face.
"Are you suggesting," she said, her echoing voice making the chatter all around fall silent. "that you are to steal Danu's chosen from me to take as your own price?"
Finnbheara bowed respectfully. "I am merely suggesting a new environment for her so we can see if she blossoms in Tír na nÓg when my sídhe did nothing either. And, if perhaps an offspring or two results from our time together, you shall receive them when they are born."
Bri had frozen on the spot as if the water around her had turned into ice.
Offspring?
No.
God, no! He couldn't be serious!
Oh, who was she kidding? He absolutely was serious! That absolute bastard! Wouldn't be the first time he was trying either.
The queen took a seat again and Bri was sure that she heard the whole room take a collective sigh of relief.
"Very well, I will grant you to take her with you, as she doesn't seem to be of use to me here. I withhold the right to claim her offspring as my own though, as soon as it is born."
Now she honestly felt sick to her stomach. Running into Finnbheara was by far the worst thing that could have happened.
The first breath of fresh air after fourteen years without it was an indescribable feeling. Freeing, light, heavy, easy. The weight of possibly being suffocated any moment of any day was gone, but another weight, an even heavier one, had taken its place, but it wasn't gravity. She glared at Finnbheara as she brushed wet strands of hair out of her face and followed him to the shore.
"I'm not becoming your bride again," she hissed when he lifted her up on his white steed—her legs were too weak still.
"I don't recall that being part of our agreement," he said as he mounted the horse as well with her miserably wet, small and weak in front of him.
"Agreement?! We didn't agree on anything!"
The horse started moving, much faster than any mortal horse would ever be able to run.
"No, but I came to an agreement with your handler, the queen."
"Handler," Bri scoffed in disgust. "You're just mad because she stole me away before you could do so a second time."
"Ah, but I did get you back after all, didn't I?"
She was very tempted to tell him to go screw himself, but seeing how she was in no condition to be nasty to him and get away with it, she bit her tongue.
"So, what now? I'm your pet or something?"
"Or something. Say, little ladybird, how would you like to go back to the mortal realm?"
Her breath hitched and she was sure he had noticed the small flicker of hopefulness inside her. She trampled it out as soon as it appeared. Finnbheara was a fae! They weren't benevolent or kind, especially not him. If he offered her something she dearly wanted, then there was bound to be a catch.
"You know I want that, so what do you plan to trick me with this time?"
Finnbheara chuckled. "Not a trick, just a regular bargain."
"Wasn't it too last time?"
He hummed and then decided to stay silent. That scumbag wanted her to become desperate and ask him for his offer, because that's the kind of game he liked to play. Well, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction! Instead of replying, she watched the landscape go by rapidly and drank in the sight of trees, even if they bore no mortal fruits and some had leaves of a soft azure colour instead of green. Others could even eat her if she wasn't careful.
"My proposition," Finnbheara eventually said, apparently having gone impatient. "is for you to replace the brides I steal and live their lives. As soon as you're found out, you'd have to return to me of course."
That…seemed oddly tame for one of his suggestions. There was another catch.
"And that's all I have to do? Play pretend?"
"For the most part, yes."
"And what's the other part? The prize for this surprising generosity?"
"Living with the guilt of having stolen someone's happy life and, of course, your name."
While the first one hit deep, it was the second part that shocked her to her core.
"Wouldn't you break your bargain with the queen if you took my name? After all, it sounded like you wanted to borrow me and you can't very well give me back after that."
"Indeed," Finnbheara said and his voice sounded smug and malicious, just like it always did in her nightmares. "Though I didn't promise her to give you back, just your offspring."
"What if I say 'no'?"
She felt him lean down and place a kiss on her neck. Bri shuddered and was tempted to let herself fall off the horse and get trampled.
"Then you'll become my favourite bride. After all, it would be rude to keep the queen waiting for too long after making this delicious promise."
She hated him. She hated him with all her being.
Though, if literally selling her soul to him would give her reprieve of this torture and let her live a human life, even if it was stolen, then she'd do it. And one day, she swore, he'd pay for ever taking advantage of her.
The sound of knocking startled her out of her daydream…day-nightmare? Daymare? Maybe even a flashback?
Who the fuck even knows at this point?
Bri turned her head to the still closed and locked hatch beside her, not in a mood to answer or even open it. She noted how Tikki must have thrown a blanket over her in the last hour while she had been out, but even throwing the kwami a thankful smile seemed like too strenuous of an activity right now.
"Manon has been picked up and Tom and Sabine are both downstairs in the bakery," a voice said and Bri needed a second to chase the ghosting echo of Finnbheara's voice out of her head and recognize who was speaking.
Félix.
His voice was pleasant, as all fae's voices were, or at least those that aimed to tempt. Apart from that, though, it was a long shot from anything she had ever heard from the Folk. It was, dare she say, shockingly human. The humanness of it that soothed and eventually convinced her to reach over to shove the bolt back.
"It's open," she mumbled from her spot on the floor and only a moment later the hatch opened to show Félix.
"Careful, iron," she said and motioned with her eyes to her necklace that still lay on the floor.
Was it a simple nicety or perhaps to distract her from his eyes? Human voice or not, cat eyes were wholly inhuman and it reminded her of a few of the Folk she would rather want to forget forever.
Once Félix had climbed into the room, he closed and locked the hatch behind him and sat down on the floor next to her with a polite distance. She was thankful that he didn't say anything.
"I'm so glad you came to help!" Tikki said and hugged Félix's face. "She has been like this for over an hour now. I think she's in shock."
"Simple breakdown. It happens," Bri mumbled with her eyes trained on the wooden floor.
She was glad that Tikki was there because, mostly human or not, it spoke against every single survival instinct in her to be this vulnerable in a fae's company.
Félix sighed. "You don't have to talk about it if it makes you uncomfortable, but can you at least tell me what set you off?"
Bri sighed as well and rolled on her back, dragging the blanket with her and crossing both sets of arms over her stomach. Her eyes were set on the ceiling and she grimaced a bit when she accidentally pinched her wings with the movement.
"You'll laugh, but, My Little Pony."
She was glad to have her eyes trained on the ceiling now because she really didn't care to see his reaction to that piece of information.
"Let me guess, the royal wedding episode?"
The lack of judgment from his part honestly surprised her since he had always been quick to judge her for basically everything she did. Perhaps, though, he had more empathy in him than she gave him credit for. And also, more knowledge about children shows than she had ever expected from him.
"That's the one. As soon as they said 'changeling' I just…I remembered something I worked hard on forgetting. You know all those stories people tell of how they get rid of changelings once they're found out? They're burned, tortured, mangled, stabbed, abandoned on a hill as an infant, all these things. It was a royal wedding; I was the princess's fetch and things went well until one person in the crowd suddenly shouted 'changeling' and threw a dagger at me. It didn't just stab me, but was a glamour breaker too. If Finnbheara hadn't gotten me out of there, I might have died."
"Finnbheara?"
Bri couldn't help but flinch at hearing the name fall from someone else's lips.
"The son of a bitch that stole my sister, my name and ultimately ruined my life, trapping me in Faerie, making me a changeling. It took me three centuries but I killed him." A wide and probably manic grin stretched on her face at the thought. "Him and my darling daughter. An iron dagger to the heart for both of them. Most satisfying day of my life."
Silence fell on the room after that and Bri emptily stared at the ceiling.
"You had a daughter?" Tikki eventually asked quietly.
"Not willingly. She had the same amethyst eyes as that scumbag. I couldn't even look at her most days because of it and fae children are…they're not like human children. At least I ended this twisted nightmare before I could get too attached."
Eventually she looked to the side to see that Félix had paled and looked at her in horror, his ears pinned back and tail limb on the floor. She wasn't sure if his reaction stemmed from a shock to hear that she killed her own child, or fear from the fact that she had once ended a halfling's life in a brutally painful way. Just in case it was the latter—he had nothing to fear from her if he continued to behave civilly after all—she continued.
"What? Didn't believe me when I said my life was hell? At least I know what I saved Marinette from, that's for sure."
If possible, he got even paler at the mention of his friend.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly.
"Nothing to apologize for. You're fae: you react, not empathize. I don't blame you for your nature."
"No, and that too. But, I'm sorry for what happened to you. You didn't deserve any of it."
She looked him in the eyes with a small smile. "I know I said it to Adrien earlier, but being unusually human applies to you too, Félix. Trust me, I've seen all nuances of the Folk and you're really something else. I realised that back in the sídhe and it's still true now."
Another silence stretched between them. One in which Félix blushed and shuffled around all flustered. It was adorable and something she hadn't seen from a fae very often. They usually were too proud to show such emotions, especially in front of humans—or unholy abominations in her case. Eventually, he seemed to collect his thoughts again.
"At the risk of sounding rude, I just have to ask: Bri, if you already lived at least three hundred years, then how old are you?"
She couldn't help it, she had to laugh. He was so awkward about it, as if the question would offend her in any way. As if anything of mundane nature could offend her at all anymore!
"Seven-hundred-forty-seven years, give or take. That's my personal count and it doesn't align with the year I was born in this realm's time. Based on that I definitely would be much older. But you know, if you spend most of your life in Tír na nÓg and sídhes, time is a somewhat screwed concept."
Bri couldn't really tell why, but talking to him made her feel a little better. Perhaps because he understood what she was talking about without flinching but also wouldn't use that knowledge against her. Probably. She finally sat up, which made the blanket slide to the floor, and fluttered her wings a little while still keeping the bra on—poor Félix would probably faint on the spot if she took it off. On second thought, she really should have thrown a loose shirt on that accommodated her second pair of arms before letting him in if his quickly averted gaze and furious blush was anything to go by. Well, too late now.
"Oh, I…thought you were younger," Félix eventually admitted with an embarrassed cough.
Bri giggled. "Why thank you. To be fair though, I am stuck with eternal youth as long as I don't have my name."
"You look like Marinette right now so…" He paused and looked at her face more closely. "Actually, you don't really. Just similar, like a cousin of hers or someone similarly related."
Bri shrugged and took the necklace with the rowan wand to hold it up. "Glamour, remember?"
"When we met in the sídhe you looked different. If you're using a glamour anyway, then why change your physical appearance?"
"It's a failsafe. Besides, after wearing more faces than I bothered to count and living for over seven centuries, I forgot what my face looked like. It's not like we had many mirrors back then, or at least not very clear ones, and the few times I looked into one weren't enough to properly memorize my features. It sucks but can't change that now. At least my voice stayed the same, that's really the main thing that I need a glamour for."
"You don't know what your face looked like?" Félix asked quietly, shocked once more.
Bri sighed. "One of the prices to pay. But honestly, I don't mind. The girl from back then, the Lady in Red, Laoise O'Floinn's sister is long gone. Even when I still wore my own face, people thought I'd never return, so there's no reason to hang on to ancient memories." Her sad smile fell. "But even if I try to start anew as a fetch, it's just a matter of time until someone drags me back into Faerie. As long as I don't have my name, I won't be free."
Tikki flew up to hug her face. It must be torturous for her to know her name and not being able to give it back to her.
I guess even the goddess of Creation has her limits.
"How can you get it back?"
She looked up at Félix in surprise. His voice had suddenly taken on a serious tone and there was the typical gleam in his eyes that a fae had when they were up to something. Though it seemed like this time, this might be in her favour.
"Finnbheara took my name and I killed him. There was a Fuath queen who stole me after I had just returned to the mortal realm, who knew, but she died in a Court war a hundred years ago. Apart from those two, I don't think anyone knows my name. I know my last name because it was also my sister's, but I can neither say nor write it."
Tikki perked up.
"Your sister never was my holder, Bri," the kwami whispered with wide eyes. "She had my earrings but never put them on!"
Her own eyes went wide. "Does that mean…"
Tikki turned to Félix. "Bri's sister's maiden name was Laoise O'Beirne. Now you have half of the puzzle solved already, kitten."
Bri had to hold herself back from screeching in joy but still hugged the kwami tight to her face.
"Thank you, Tikki. Thank you!"
She turned to Félix with the most genuine grin she had worn in what probably were centuries.
"You'll really try to figure it out?"
Félix nodded. "It's the least I can do."
Bri shook her head. "No, it's the most you can do. This is everything to me, Félix. It's literally my freedom, my life!"
He ducked his head awkwardly.
"I'm not going to make any promises, but since you were Tikki's chosen, there are bound to be stories about you. Maybe one will mention your true name. I know I can't just guess around with these things."
"You're brilliant!"
She, too, had tried to read every story from that time she could get her hands on, but even if the events of stories lined up with her life, there was no way for her to tell if the names she found were hers or not. She might as well have called herself Ainsel! Which she did, sometimes.
"A fae took my name, so a fae has to give it back. And, well, needless to say, no fae would ever do that." Before he could protest or see her tears, she surged forward to hug him. "You have no idea how much this means to me."
Félix awkwardly hugged her back, mindful to not touch her wings.
"I probably really don't," he admitted. "But for me to be of any help, I'll need to know a little more."
The thought of telling him about what she had relived in memory earlier was an unpleasant one, but desperate times called for desperate measures. She had, finally, for the first time in over seven centuries, found a fae who was trustworthy enough to hear what she had been through and who was not only willing to listen to her but, most of all, willing to find her name based on her tales and give it back to her. Bri ended the hug and gave him a lopsided grin.
"Hold on to your whiskers, kitty. This will be a long, traumatising story."
