A/n: Ya know, I'm not real sure about the chapter divisions. When I originally wrote the story, I didn't divide it into chapters, I wrote it pretty much all as one piece, so now I'm going back through it and dividing it into chapters, which is kinda tough, especially since I'm not bothering at the moment to go back and rewrite to make the transition smooth. And I just now realized that almost every chapter ends with Rella going to sleep. Lol, oh well. I'll fix it later. -is a member of Procrastinator's Anonymous-
Noon sunlight shone across her eyelids, waking her. Startled, she woke all at once and sat up immediately. How in the world did I manage to sleep so late?! Rhianna is going to kill me--hopefully not literally!
There was a moment of disorientation when she realized that she was sitting in the middle of a clearing in a forest, practically on the forest floor, half-covered by a blanket that certainly wasn't the one she had made herself. Shaking her head, she looked around in confusion; then she saw the two faeries talking to each other on the other side of the clearing, and memory came rushing back.
Ruby looked in her direction and, noticing she was awake, waved a hand at her, beckoning her to come over. With a sigh, she emerged from her bedroll, reluctant to leave behind the warm blanket, and stretched, wincing as her overused muscles from the night before began to ache.
"Finally, you're awake," Ruby teased. "There's a brush for your hair inside our pack--I noticed you only brought a comb. And if you want to bathe, there's a stream over there." She pointed a little to the right, into the woods.
Rella considered, but didn't relish the idea of a bath in stream water, sure to be freezing in the middle of autumn. She nodded to acknowledge that she'd heard the fairy, then grasped the faeries' pack and sat, placing it in her lap.
She began to rummage through the pack, wondering momentarily if the faeries would think she was being nosy. They didn't say anything, though, and she at last found the mentioned hairbrush. Setting the pack aside, she began to run the brush through her hair, reveling in the feel of actually being able to use a real brush on her hair, but wincing as she encountered numerous snarls.
Still brushing her hair, she looked at the two fairies. "So, are you two going to explain today what you didn't explain last night?"
"Certainly," Ruby replied, spreading her legs out into the center of the half-circle the three sat in. "What questions do you have?"
She took a deep breath, considering, then had to pause to work out a particulary difficult tangle with her fingers. "First of all, why are you two helping me?" she asked at last.
Ruby opened her mouth, but Emerald answered first. "We already told you," she stated impatiently. "You're of fairy blood, and everyone says there's something special about you."
She frowned, and put the brush aside, done with her unruly hair. "Fairy blood? What fairy blood?"
"Your mother was a half-fairy," Ruby explained, "meaning your grandmother was a full fairy, but your grandfather was a human. So, I suppose you could say you're a quarter-fairy. Humans with fairy blood aren't at all common, but they do happen occasionally."
"And you've been showing some of the signs," Emerald added.
"Yes," Ruby agreed. "Your mother didn't, but you do. I assume that's why you were able to hear Emerald and I talking; a normal human wouldn't have been able to. I didn't think it would show up quite that strongly, but apparently it has."
"Signs?" Rella asked, still feeling confused. "What signs? And...so I'm a fairy?"
"Quarter-fairy," Emerald corrected, somewhat haughtily. "There's a big difference. You don't have wings, for one thing."
"As for what signs, there's plenty of them," Ruby continued. "There's your ears--they're just a little bit pointed at the tip. But that's the least of it. I'm not really sure right now what signs you've been showing, because I haven't really had time to examine you, but you'll probably be able to do your own magic eventually--with some training required, of course."
Rella stared. And stared some more. "Me?" she squeaked at last. "Do...magic? Are you sure you have the right person? I'm no sorceress, not like Rhianna."
Ruby smiled. "We're very sure, dear. And yes, you could do magic. It wouldn't be like ours', though, or like Rhianna's. Yours' is a blending of fairy and human magic."
She was still sure they had to be mistaken, but decided not to press the matter. Shaking her head, she sighed and stared morosely at her feet. Great. I've escaped from Rhianna, but I'm with a couple of faeries that claim I can do magic...this is too weird.
Then again...I can talk to horses. Is that magic? But I mean, it's not like what Rhianna does. I can do it without trying, and I'm not exhausted after I do it or anything, like Rhianna is after she does a spell. But still...
Shaking her head, she climbed to feet, pulling a clean gown from her pack and pulling it over her head. All this talk of fairies and magic was too much this early in the morning. Or this late. Whatever.
"So," she asked, turning back to the fairies, "what's the catch? What do I have to do to get you guys to keep helping me?"
"There isn't one," Emerald said impatiently.
"Yeah, but isn't it just a little too convenient that I have to travel with you guys now? If I don't, I won't have your magic to protect me from Rhianna. And I can't go back--that would be entirely stupid at this point."
Ruby shook her head. "We're not going to make you do anything you don't want to do, I promise. We're just trying to help you."
Rella shrugged. She still wasn't sure she trusted them; then again, she really wanted to trust them. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, she reminded herself.
Looking at the other two, she asked, "So what are we going to do now that we're away from Rhianna's?"
"That, my dear, is up to you," Ruby said, getting to her feet and dusting off her bare knees. "If you wish, you could go to the Prince's ball; that was what we had intended when we rescued you. But if you would rather not go...well, we won't force you."
Rella snorted. "I already told you how I feel about that. With my luck, either the Prince would want to marry me and I'd hate him, or I'd go and fall madly in love with the Prince and he wouldn't even look at me. Either way, I'd really rather not go."
"Well then," said Emerald, also getting to her feet. "If you're not going to the ball, then it's up to you to choose--wherever you want to go is fine with us. Right, Ruby?" she added, looking at her companion.
Ruby nodded, but still seemed disappointed at Rella's reaction to her suggestion. Rella, considering her options, shrugged. "Um...I dunno. I've thought about escaping plenty of times, but I never really thought about what I'd do once I was free." Her stomach growled, reminding her forcefully that she hadn't eaten since she had escaped Rhianna's. "I do know that I'm starving, though."
Ruby, digging in her pack, emerged with a purse that rattled as it was moved. "I believe we can manage to find our way into town and get ourselves some breakfast."
Rella, edging along the crowd in the city streets, felt that her stomach was actually entirely full for the first time in years. The meal they had bought with the fairies' large amount of coin seemed incredibly large to Rella, although the fairies' hadn't seemed to think it so. Emerald had left just after they ate, leaving Ruby and Rella to their own devices; so, as it was time for the Autumn Faire in the town of Karak, the two had gone off to see the sights.
Rella had at first wondered how the two fairies would manage to pass among humans without being noticed. Her question had been quickly answered as the two performed some sort of magic they called an illusion, causing them to seem like a normal brunette and blonde, without wings, dressed in ordinary, everyday shirt and breeches. Rella had found that when she looked at the two of them out of the corner of her eyesight, she could vaguely see the outline of the wings on their backs, but had decided not to mention it; their talk earlier of her having magic had been unnerving enough.
Their first stop was to watch one of the many street magicians performing on street corners today, as Ruby explained to Rella how each of the man's so-called "magic" could be performed easily enough with sleight-of-hand and a few special props.
Next, they made a brief stop by some of the Hakarian warrior tribe demonstrating their skills, as Rella bought a small cinnamon pastry from one of the street vendors. After that, Rella indulged herself a little with the fairies' large amount of coin, purchasing a new black shirt and white shirt, and, upon urging from Ruby, a pair of tan breeches and some new, shiny black boots.
Their next stop was to watch some of the famous Likarian trick riders, showing their skills in a large arena at the end of the street. By the time the demonstration was done, Rella was left in awe, wondering how in the world the Likarian's could manage to be so agile on the ground, much less on horseback.
After some more browsing and sight-seeing, Rella's stomach demanded lunch, and so the two stopped in a small restaurant and treated themselves to another meal, again, much larger than what Rella was accustomed to. The sun was setting below the horizon in the west by the time Ruby and Rella finally returned to their campsite, exhausted from their long day.
Not too long after the two returned, Emerald returned as well, leading along a large chestnut pony, saddled and bridled, along with filled saddlebags. Blinking, Rella looked towards Emerald for an explanation.
Emerald, seeing the confused look in Rella's eyes, grinned. "Assuming you don't want to stick around town, I figured we'd have to be traveling somewhere soon, so I went ahead and got the travel necessities." Unloading the horse of its' bags, she sat and began to rummage through them.
"Why just the one horse for all three of us?" she asked, finishing the pastry she had bought earlier and wiping the crumbs from her fingers.
"The horse is for you," Emerald explained. "Fairies don't tire as fast as you humans, and we're faster and our feet aren't as tender, so we can travel on our own two feet. I got a couple of more decent outfits for you"--with this she pulled out from the bags three brand new outfits, similar to those Rella had bought earlier--"and a few other things--a canteen, soap, some food, you get the picture. We should be set for a week or two with this."
Getting to her feet, Rella walked over to the horse. The kindly young pony--a mare, Rella saw now--butted her in the chest, whickering softly in greeting. Patting the horse's nose, Rella giggled. "Hello," she told the horse quietly. "You are a beauty."
Thank you, the mare replied modestly. You should see some of the other horses where I come from. They are much prettier, and certainly a lot taller, where I come from. Sometimes they like to bully me.
"They oughta be ashamed," Rella remarked, scratching an itchy spot on the mare's coat. "You're a sweetie, and I can't see why they'd want to be mean to you. What's your name, anyway?"
The twolegs back home always called me Honey. I have gotten used to that, so I suppose it is my name.
"Honey? That's a sweet name," Rella said, and giggled. "I'm Rella. It's certainly a pleasure to meet you, miss Honey."
It's pleasure to meet you as well, the mare stated politely. How is it you can talk to me, though? You're the only twolegs I've ever known who can talk to horses. Although, I suppose you are a strange bunch--it nearly scared the life out of me when that blonde friend of yours suddenly turned into a tall person with wings. Oh, and your friends with the wings are staring at you.
Turning, she saw that Honey was right--they were staring at her. Blushing, she barely noticed when Honey head-butted her again, leaving a streak of green slime down her shirt, and then returned to grazing.
"How long have you been able to talk to horses?" Ruby asked, as calmly as if she discovered people with these strange talents everyday. And maybe she does, Rella thought dryly. After all, she is a fairy.
"Well, I'm not sure, but I found out when I first came to Rhianna," Rella said, linking her hands behind her back. "I...never thought it was all that special."
"It must be a result of your fairy blood," Emerald said, shaking her head. "Any more strange talents you'd like to tell us about?"
Rella blushed again. "Well, I can talk to birds too. And...when you two had on your illusions, if I sort of looked at you sideways, I could see the outline of your wings."
"This requires thought," Ruby remarked. "However, I believe a good night's sleep first may help, because I don't know about you two, but I am quite exhausted." That said, she climbed into her bedroll, and promptly appeared to fall fast asleep.
Shaking her head, Rella followed into her own bedroll, leaving Emerald to take care of Honey for the night. She curled up in the warm blanket and soft pillow, and was asleep as soon as she closed her eyes.