Part 4:

Borrowed Royal

"You must be careful. King Myrin is a far less tolerant fae king than King Oberon," Nyllay said. They had spent several weeks headed west, for the court of this particular fae king was quite a bit further in that direction than King Oberon's, and they had to recross the path from Alessa's home in addition to that. The dragon-in-human-form continued, "He is far more likely to kill you for just crossing into his lands, without knowing the reason why. He is paranoid the humans will kill him, however silly it is, as there are very, very few humans this far south in the world. This is his second court, having been chased from his other one."

"Would that even be the case for halflings, like Thomas?" Johnathan asked.

Nyllay nodded. "To King Myrin, any fae that would willingly mate with a human is a traitor to fae kind. The halfling themself would be an abomination."

"Wow, he sounds like he's a riot at parties." Thomas' attempted jest fell flat at Nyllay's usual blank stare and Johnathan's deadpan expression. He raised his hands innocently. "Just trying to ease the tension, please continue."

"We must conceal his fae-magic. The only thing Myrin hates more than a human is a halfling," Nyllay explained. "I will accompany you on this task, but I will not intervene in the negotiations. It would be inconvenient if you two were to perish. My presence will likely prevent that."

Johnathan nodded in understanding. "How do we go about concealing his magic, though?"

"I will take care of that."

"This itches," Thomas complained. Nyllay had placed a spell on him that concealed the aura of his magic. Of course, the moment he next used it, the protection would be useless, but until that moment, due to the unique draconian magic, Thomas would seem just as human and non-magical to the fae as Johnathan would.

"Caterwauling won't change a thing, Tommy," Johnathan sighed. "Except to make the rest of us want to hit you because you're being annoying."

"Easy for you to say. You're not the one who itches non-physically in a way that is literally impossible to scratch. What if your…I don't know, your liver or something itched? You can't scratch your liver. It's like that but a hundred times worse. Like the inside of my brain and heart or something itch and it's driving me mad!"

"I'm sorry, there's nothing that can be done. Unless you'd like to be killed by a crazy fae king?"

Thomas grumbled at that, but stopped his whining.

"We approach the entrance," Nyllay, who'd been silent until that point, said. "I will negotiate until we come face to face with King Myrin."

"I can't feel the entrance and it's weirding me out, Jonny." Thomas whispered before getting hushed by Johnathan.

"Who goes there?" A voice called.

"Nyllay, Dragon, and two humans who are under my protection."

"Dragon, eh?" A younger-looking fae appeared in front of them. "Haven't seen one of those before. Of course, I heard they were dying out or something. I thought you were bigger, with scales and wings?"

"We have human forms that are just as dangerous." Nyllay's voice, while in the same monotone as always, seemed to convey a threat within the words that unnerved Johnathan. "We seek an audience with King Myrin. We are an embassy, of sorts, from King Oberon."

"Ha! I don't believe that. King Oberon isn't stupid enough to send two humans to King Myrin, despite how fond King Oberon himself seems to be of them."

Nyllay's aura seemed to intensify, and it was borderline terrifying. And yet the voice itself never changed. "You dare doubt me? Knowing that Dragons are as bound to the truth as Fae?"

Earlier, Nyllay had mentioned this to Thomas and Johnathan. Technically, since Thomas was a halfling, he could be called human or fae, meaning that the dragon's earlier statement wasn't an untruth. The fae were unable to tell an untruth, but they'd become very good at misleading. They couldn't tell an untruth, but they were capable of "lying."

This time, the irreverent fae-boy seemed uneasy at the dragon's words.

"You will inform King Myrin there is an embassy from King Oberon waiting for him, and you will do so immediately. Am I understood?"

"Yes!" And the fae was gone.

Nyllay rubbed it's temples, the closest thing either of the duo had ever seen to emotion from the dragon.

"You're right scary when you want to be," Thomas commented, earning a blank look from Nyllay and an elbowing from Johnathan.

The fae boy appeared briefly, said, "King Myrin will see you now," and then vanished. Clearly he was frightened of Nyllay—rightly so, Johnathan thought. Honestly, even non-magic people knew not to irritate a dragon.

"Follow me," Nyllay said. It led them past an arch of stone, heavily covered in vine, and the aura changed in a manner that Johnathan knew that they'd passed into the fae realm. Closely connected to Myula, the fae realm could be accessed only by passing through certain spots, much like they had back when they entered King Oberon's court. Otherwise it was closely layered over Myula, but other than the spots where it was grounded, or anchored, it was almost another world entirely, pocket-dimension-like.

This fae kind was wildly different than King Oberon. Where he had dark gold skin, King Myrin was almost frighteningly pale green, almost scaly looking. He had no wings, but a serpentine tale was visible resting as he lounged in a daybed-type affair as a fae-boy, younger than the other one they'd encountered, held a bowl of an odd sort of berry—like mulberries, but a violent green-red—while anxious courtier fae small talked in little groups around the room. Where King Oberon had elegant robes, King Myrin's clothes almost looked like armor. One had a relaxed aura of authority—the other, however, had a frighteningly contrasting air of cruelty in regards to their rule. His own people seemed terrified of him.

Johnathan had to suppress a shudder, and Thomas had gone pale. Nyllay, predictably, seemed entirely unaffected.

They waited nearly half an hour before King Myrin acknowledged their presence.

"So this is the embassy my old friend Oberon sent? The dragon is unexpected, I must admit, but you think that Oberon would know better than to send filth to accompany it. Perhaps too much close contact with those beasts has tainted his mind with one of their aging diseases?"

The courtiers giggled nervously.

"Great King Myron, we have been sent with a message, a request, rather, from King Oberon." Johnathan refused to break eye contact with the fae king. As frightening as this fae was, he refused to demean himself for him. "He says that you previously borrowed something from him, and that it is past time to return it."

The reminder made the king's mocking air turn dangerously cold. The courtiers shifted, clearly uneasy. When King Myrin flicked his hand, his subjects nearly bolted in their hurry to leave. They were gone in moments.

"Ah yes. I suppose it was too…optimistic to hope he'd forget about this." The words of the king came out almost a hiss, and the aura around Nyllay seemed to physically sharpen in warning. These non-humans were masters at manipulating the atmosphere, Johnathan noticed with wary awe. Their expression and posture changed none, but the aura shifted almost tangibly.

"Serana, I summon you," King Myrin snapped.

There was a shift in the branches of the willow at the edge of the clearing and there appeared a girl who looked similar to Saen, the fae-woman who was King Oberon's niece. They shared enough of a likeness that they had to be related—the same dark skin, but this fae's hair was several shades darker, but still a stark crimson. Serana's eyes, while green, were more of a forest-canopy-at-midday green than the almost glowing green of Saen's. She wore what seemed to be a sort of grey armor, but it was clearly crafted very differently than King Myrin's, or any armor Johnathan had seemed before.

"You called, your highness?" The woman's voice seemed strained, like she was attempting to remain emotionless but it was a struggle for her. Her face was clear of emotion, not as much as Nyllay's, but enough that most humans wouldn't be able to tell the difference. But Johnathan noticed the tenseness of her entire being, like she was holding back from lunging. Like a cat that was ready to strike at a moment's notice, but could not due to some unseen force.

"It seems that it has come time for you to return to your father," King Myrin drawled dangerously. "What do you have to say to that?"

"It seems I must leave."

"It seems so. You are allowed to leave." King Myrin turned to Nyllay. "Get the filth out of my sight."

Nyllay nodded respectfully, turning around. Johnathan and Thomas made to follow, and they were shortly joined by Serana as they left the court of Fae King Myrin.

A few hours later, as they were nearly out of King Myrin's territory, dozens of arrows flew out of various directions. None of them touched the travelers—every single one froze in a bubble, like formation around the group. Serana snapped her fingers and they crumbled to dust as the boys struggled to get their frightened mounts under control once more.

Then, in a quiet, calm voice, she said, "Tell your king that another attempt like this will be his last attempt at anything. Now scram."

"A little dramatic." Nyllay commented dully.

Serana shrugged at the boys stared at her in awe, particularly Thomas. "Have you met my father? He's far more dramatic than I, sending two human boys to remind Myrin that my time in his service is up."

"Actually…" Thomas began, flicking his fingers and summoning a pebble from the side of the path. The use of magic effectively broke Nyllay's protection.

"A half fae?" Serana gasped. She then burst out laughing. "Oh, I must commend father for that bit of brilliance. A half fae—right under Myrin's scaly nose!"

"Your father? Do you mean King Oberon?"

"That's right! He lent me to Myrin as a temporary warrior-servant in return for some favor Myrin did for him. Alas, the King Myrin"—the mocking in her voice when she said "king" was impossible to miss—"kept me for two months longer than the agreement—I couldn't leave without permission, you see. But, I did get a very good idea on how much of what, warriors and otherwise, Myrin has access to, so at least it wasn't a complete waste of time." She seemed incredibly proud of herself, and rightly so, going by what the boys had heard and seen of King Myrin.

The woman hadn't said a word previous to the arrows in their few hours of traveling, but it seemed that now she had almost transformed, becoming a talkative, mischievous woman.

"So, tell me, now that we're out of Myrin's earshot, what'd led to you all being sent to end my loaned servitude?" Serana asked.

And so, Johnathan once more explained the situation.

"My, my, that's quite the story. Retrieving me was the last task, no?"

Johnathan nodded as Thomas said, "Yes."

"Well, I'm going to have to tell my father what a fine job you did, going up against ol' Myrin like that. Very few humans would have been able to hold their head high and keep their voice steady against him like that. Color me impressed, really. I really have to work to remain emotionless around him, myself. Then again, I'm very expressive, as you've probably noticed. That pish posh so many fae bother with, trying to keep emotionless around humans and speak only with subtle eye shifts and whatnot has never appealed to me."

She and Thomas began a conversation, and from the way it kept up Johnathan could tell the two would end up very good friends.

"I'm pleased to see that you've completed your quest, and relatively unharmed." King Oberon was lounging in his throne, his daughter Serana sitting cross-legged in a chair next to him with a grin on her face. "The magic-work on the stone vial is quite interesting, who crafted it?"

"That would be me, your highness," Thomas said.

"Fascinating piece, you must show the court stonesmith the spell some time."

"I'd be honored."

"And Johnathan, you say the unicorns willingly gave you a tail hair?"

"Yes, your highness. I promised them protected sanctuary in the kingdom I hope to build. It will be for all magical creatures who seek peace and safety, afterall. Just because they are not humanoid doesn't mean they won't receive the same benefits."

"Very well put, couldn't have said it better myself." The king nodded approvingly. "And I see Alessa was similarly convinced?"

"I offered her the same, but she turned it down and wished me well. She wished to remain alone."

"You seem concerned about her?"

"Yes. She seemed very lonely, and reminded me greatly of my dear aunt. She deserves to be happy."

The smile upon the king's face turned bittersweet. "She does, doesn't she? Alas, we can only respect her wishes. And Serana has gone into great detail about your exploit in King Myrin's court, and I am nearly as impressed as she. The land I promised will be yours, for the kingdom you strive to build."

"Thank you, your highness. I hope we can have a successful friendship between our kingdoms forever more."