So, to start, I just want to say that shortly after my last update (which was like months ago… heh) I discovered the update/replace chapter option when managing stories on here, and have since fixed some things. For one, I completely replaced the italicized part, and fixed the centering in the prologue. I rewrote the poem in chapter 3 considering it was probably the worst thing I ever wrote. And I edited the italicized part in chapter 5 since I felt it was too rushed. So for everyone who did not already notice, this is my gift to you (: And I'm also SO sorry for putting this on hold for so long.
Copyright: I own none of the characters I stole from the Iron Fey Series. None.
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Her eyes were closed, breathing steadily evening out, though it was still somewhat ragged.
"Tell me you are mine."
Her eyes shot open, concentration broken as she clumsily jumped to the side.
"You sir are a cheater," she snapped, trying to regain her control.
"You must be prepared for anything my dear." Rowan replied with a playfully devilish grin.
They stalked each other in a slow circle; Rowan took an occasional swipe which Reina skillfully dodged every time, never once breaking eye contact.
"Admit that you love me. I know you do" he nonchalantly stated despite the circumstance.
Reina narrowed her eyes at him. "I know what you are trying to do, and it's not going to work"
"Oh really?" he grinned.
She then took that moment to spin around him, knock his legs out from behind, and jump onto his chest acutely placing the edge of the sword against his neck.
"Really." She stated with a victorious grin. She then placed a delicate kiss on his neck, slightly smiling as her cheek brushed against the cold faery-steel of her sword. Then as fast as she took him down she jumped up, sword in hand, and began walking away.
"Where do you think you are going?" Rowan called slightly breathless as he winced and rubbed the thin line of blood from his neck.
"To go find Kaveh," she called back without stopping. She looked back and winked, "I need a real practice-partner."
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Chapter 5
Life doesn't always take you where you expect it too.
Like for instance, that Elysium night, the night when I attempted to be on my best behavior; I ended up trading in my chance of a new dagger for an arrogant smirk and bright green eyes. And this I assure you is no exaggeration, for not only was I left to ponder the feelings of the night as I sat in a cage at the edge of Titania's throne, but I also couldn't get Robin Goodfellow out of my head.
"Can I get you anything Princess?" I looked over to see one of the servants, Domalpho…Domiro…Domino… I'm not really sure, something along those lines. I raised an eyebrow and he hurriedly continued with, "food, drink?"
I sighed and flashed him a smile to which he nervously looked away. "How about you go be a dear, and fetch me a bottle of wine."
"But… uh… Miss Titania said..," he stammered.
And with that I figured that Dom-something-or-other was another useless servant. I didn't have anything better to do though, you know with the cage and all, so I decided to see how swayable he was.
"But Miss Titania isn't here right now, is she?" I cooed
"Well no… but if she comes back…"
"Which won't be for a long while."
"I don't know…, I mean I guess if-"
"Oh, great!" I interrupted a little annoyed with the stammering. "Thanks dear, just go ahead and bring the whole thing, no need to bother with the glasses."
"Wha-, I….," he soon realized that I was no longer paying him any mind, and I watched with satisfaction as he scampered off with a "right away, Princess".
Ordinarily I would feel a bit guilty for abusing power like that, but what I had said about Titania not being back for a long while was absolutely true. You see my lovely Queen had a habit of sticking me into a cage, instructing the servants on what to do, and then leaving until she felt it was an appropriate time to let me out. I would be lying if I said I never questioned why Titania didn't stick around to enjoy my humiliation, you know with the whole overruling personality she had, and I had come up with a theory.
You see I think in the end, and yes this did somewhat frighten me, she found a part of herself in me. She couldn't sit there and watch the creature she tried to bring up as herself sit degradingly showcased in a cage fit for an animal; must have done something to her pride. But you see there was one thing that Titania valued more than her pride, and that was her power, and that was also why I was also in my current unfortunate situation. I wasn't sure when exactly I was to get out of here, but I also knew that it wouldn't be until Titania found it fit to return, and sometimes it ended up being days upon days before then.
I sighed and leaned my back against the bars as I admired the most beautiful piece of weaponry ever to have graced the world.
Yes, if only to torture me further, my wonderful mother had decided that it would be a wonderful idea to hang my new dagger off a tree-branch directly in front of me. It's so beautiful, I kept thinking as I dazedly stared at the eloquent glass craftsmanship with vines engraved up the side… It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Well, that and Puck's eyes- I groaned and hit my head against the bars. I really needed to stop thinking of him; it was a one night thing, nothing more. I mean right now he was probably having tea with Miss Stares-a-lot from last night, and they probably finished the night with a walk, and then he kissed her and… Oh, fabulous now I was jealous. I didn't even know who Miss Somehow-better-than-me was, and I was already picturing stabbing her with that pretty little dagger in front of me.
I tried to relax myself by closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, something that I found always worked for me. And true it did work for a few seconds, and then my mind starting flipping through scenes from last night and all hope was lost. It wasn't like I wasn't telling myself repetitively that I would never see him again either, it just simply was not working.
I didn't really understand what my deal was. I mean sure he was extraordinarily attractive, and sarcastic, and- but in the end he caused me to not get my dagger! And then I was in this cage, and was in my state of inner turmoil because of him.
So I then decided on convincing myself that life would be better without him, and I should just imagine that the entire fiasco had never happened. I myself think I was doing an awfully good job too, and then he just had to come along and ruin it.
"Having fun there, Princess?"
I jumped, a startled yelp escaping my lips as I ever so gracefully banged my head on the roof of my delightful cage.
Puck began to hysterically laugh, falling to the ground and clutching his stomach in glee of my misfortune. Under normal circumstances I would have been furious considering the small hit my pride had just taken; however, at the moment I was too dazzled by the slight sense of euphoria I received from hearing the red-head laugh. Between that and how my mind continued to shout out in glee how my hero has arrived, and he's come to rescue me like I was some sort of damsel in distress, caused me to stare at him dumbstruck. I would later only slightly fight the urge to bang my head against a wall as I recalled how I dreamily sat there with a small smile on my face while I unconsciously rubbed my throbbing skull.
By the time Puck managed to sit up, I had snapped myself out of it and quickly settled my expression into a glare.
"Eh, Beautiful, you okay in there?," he poked my leg through the bars, "I know you're in a cage and all, but no need to look so sour about it."
I narrowed my eyes at him and he grinned.
"For your information, I'm perfectly happy here," I huffed, defiantly crossing my arms promptly ignoring the slight pain as I hit my elbow against one of the bars.
"Yes, I understand my presence has that effect on people," he crossed his arms and smirked, "though I don't intend to stay here all day."
I was about retort when Dom-I-really-have-to-learn-his-name came back with my wine.
"Uh… here you go Princess…," he looked over at Puck and squeaked before running off.
Puck arched an eyebrow and my expression changed to a smile as I took a quick swig of wine.
"Well isn't he a charming fellow, could tone it down a bit on the, everyone's-around-to-kill-me persona though."
I laughed already beginning to feel the effects of the wine, I looked at the bottle; this was strong stuff.
Puck narrowed his eyes at me. "Now I'm normally not one to rain on anyone's parade, but you sure you should be drinking that much, Fia?"
I giggled. "Don't know, don't care," I shuffled down a bit lower to get more comfortable. "I don't know if you noticed, Robin," I knocked against the branches of my cage, "but I don't have anything else better to do today."
"My very heart is hurt by your negligence," he shook his head and then stuck out his hand, "now, give me the bottle."
In response I childishly shook my head and hugged it to my chest.
He sighed and then leaned in real close. "What if I made you a deal?"
I tried to give him a skeptical look, but I'm pretty sure it came out more as a squint. "What kind of deal?"
He smiled. "It's pretty simple really, just hand over the bottle and I'll get you out."
"Out of where?"
He laughed. "Ordinarily I'd wait to see how this would go, but unfortunately there's something I need you at least slightly competent for." He smirked, "Out of the cage, Beautiful."
Oh, I knew that.
"Okay," I said somewhat sadly as I handed over my half empty bottle.
"That a girl," he said happily as he took the bottle before taking a drink out of it himself. I looked at him momentarily stunned as he put his lips where mine once were, but luckily I still had enough sense to snap myself out of it. "Alright," he continued placing his hands on the branches, "let's see here…"
And with that the two branches bent away from each other, creating enough of an opening for me to get out. I beamed and quickly scrambled out; partly afraid they would decide to pop into place again.
Once I was out and standing, I immediately thought that maybe the sun and freedom would clear my mind a bit. It didn't.
I ran over to Puck and threw my arms around him as I exclaimed, "I knew that the wine would be good for something!"
I felt him chuckle as I pressed the side of my head against his chest. "I'm just going to raise my self-confidence a little bit more and pretend that this has nothing to do with the alcohol."
I just giggled and nodded not really caring what he was saying. He just smelt really good, and he was warm, and I might have been a teeny bit drunk.
I hiccupped.
Okay, a-lot-a-bit drunk.
I felt him softly push me away, only to look me in the eyes at arms length.
"I have to go back to the court," he said slowly, amusement lacing his every word. "Will the Queen be back tomorrow?"
I shook my head, fairly positive.
He grinned and nodded, "Then I'll be back."
Then in one swift motion he kissed my cheek and then vanished into a cloud of black feathers, chuckling.
I blinked. What I would give to be able to do that.
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I didn't do much the rest of that day.
I had planned on grabbing my dagger off the tree, only to realize that it was a bit higher then I had thought. Depressed on my beautiful weaponry being so close yet so far away I decided on just sleeping the alcohol away before I did something stupid. You see, although normally I could hold my alcohol pretty well, I wasn't lying when I said that stuff was strong. Normally I would never allow myself to get intoxicated like that, but well, I guess I did.
The thing was, I didn't even make it to my bed, and instead I simply curled up in the grass next to a tree. Also, considering I hadn't gotten much sleep after Elysium, cages were not comfortable, I ended up sleeping for a bit longer then I anticipated.
"Morning, Princess."
I woke up only to be met with the eyes of none other then Puck. Now say what you want, but this was certainly no rude awakening, so I therefore didn't act like it was.
Instead, still dazed with sleep, I looked up and offered him a small smile, chiming him a quick, "Hello."
He offered me a hand, which I graciously took, and pulled me to my feet. I took a moment to stretch and yawn, running a hand through my slightly disheveled hair, and pulling at my cloths. I felt him watching me, but I didn't really mind, I mean I watched him half the time anyway. After several moments he broke the silence.
"Not saying I want her to return or anything, but any idea when your royal highness is getting back?"
I shrugged. "I don't know, a few days maybe it depends," I paused to think, "Though Elysium is kind of a big deal so she'll probably wait longer."
"Alright," he said happily, "So we'll have this thing done in three days, then we'll plop you back into your cage and your royal highness won't suspect a thing."
I blinked at him and he grinned. I had a bad feeling about this.
"You see," he mischievously started, "I happened across a dagger the other day that looks an awfully lot like that one you've been drooling over," he nonchalantly pulled an identical dagger out of his holster and without looking began casually tossing it up and down. "I could give you both if you helped poor Puck here with a teensy little favor."
Now I'm not sure if it was because I had practically just woken up or not, but I found myself not really thinking clearly, again. My eyes kept following the dagger and I began to wonder when I had got so caught up over weaponry. My mind just kept repeating I want it like a crazed redcap, and I faintly heard myself say the words, "Alright, I'll do it."
Faintly in the background I hear Puck's reply, and he went on to say some other things but I wasn't really paying attention. My mind was a little busy trying to figure out what I had just done.
See, now I know it wasn't the logical decision, I just made a deal with the worlds most famous prankster, but I mean really, when had I ever thought logically when he was involved? Then add two extraordinarily amazing daggers to the mix and you have yourself one nonsensical imbecile of a Princess.
I mean I didn't really think too much of it though. Even after taking a few seconds to mull it over I really couldn't see the bad in it. Puck would give me both daggers and all I would have to do is offer him some sort of favor. I mean he was Robin Goodfellow, what could the hidden Summer Princess give him that he didn't already have? In reality I didn't have much to loose anyway, and having that beautiful piece of craftsmanship would be completely worth it.
"-and all you have to do is help me steal Titania's mirror," he finished.
Wait… What?
"Excuse me?" I questioned, sincerely hoping he didn't just say what I thought he did. He in return gave me an exasperated look.
"Oy, Princess, were you not paying attention to anything I just said?"
I gave him a sheepish smile.
He threw his arms up. "You know Fia, a bit of warning next time before you go all spacey on me. I love my voice and all, but I'm not the biggest fan of talking to myself."
"You have really nice eyes." I cut in, half speaking my mind and half trying to make him, well… not so frustrated.
He snorted. "Flattery doesn't always work on everyone Princess." Though despite his words he uncrossed his arms and his cheerful grin once again returned. "Lucky for you, it still works perfectly well on me."
Success.
"Now, what's this about stealing the Queen's mirror?"
A mischievous grin swept over his face as he replied, "Break into the castle, steal the mirror, sneak back out; piece of cake."
"But aren't both Oberon and Titania going to be in there."
"They might be," he winked, "but that's the fun part."
"Wait, but why?"
He sighed, "Oy, Princess, does it even matter?"
I narrowed my eyes at him hating that I got myself into this mess; in the end though I simply shrugged.
"I guess not, why do you need me though?"
He snorted. "I don't need you, just makes things easier. You take one staircase, I take the other, and we're out in time for dinner."
I would've asked him why me, but I kind of just gave up then. In the end I was tied into this entire fiasco anyway, so what did it matter, mind as well have some fun with it.
"Just hand me the dagger," I sighed knowing that the moment I held it the contract was sealed.
He reached for his holster, but then I watched in confusion as he put his hand back down.
"Are you sure you're up to this, princess?" He smirked
I narrowed my eyes at him. "And what do you mean by that?"
He continued to smugly look at me. "Well, I was thinking, and not only have I never seen you fight, but I'm not even sure you can fight, Beautiful."
"What! Of course I can!" I pushed his shoulder and he laughed.
"Pushing isn't really what I was talking about, Princess."
Well it was now or never, I figured. And with that I lunged at him.
He dodged my first assault, and I dodged his. And that's how it kept going, us circling each other both looking for a weak spot. We were both defensive fighters for the most part though, so it wasn't really all that exciting. Finally I managed to drop down and kick out my leg, successfully knocking him down. I was just about to call victory when suddenly I was knocked onto my back.
He was leaning over me holding my arms over my head, and I couldn't help but realize how suggestive this position was. I watched as his face came toward mine as he leaned over and breathed, "Give up yet, Princess?"
I had a few options here. For one I could try to struggle to escape which would only constitute more laughter on his part. Two, I could throw in the towel and beat on him for taking down a girl. Or three, well three was a win-it-all, or lose-it-all situation that was completely crazy, and yet just might work.
Me being a girl who liked taking chances; I chose the wildcard.
…And I kissed him.
It was meant to be a quick thing. The plan was to just shock him enough so he would let go and I could smugly break away. But he tasted like apple, and some kind of mint and who ever paid attention to plans anyway?
Everything I was wanted to fall apart right then and there; and truthfully it was kind of frightening. I felt my heart wildly pounding against my chest, and like a broken dam suddenly a thousand voices of uncountable words rushed through my head. I caught phrases that were familiar yet alien; things that I wanted to understand yet it was like my mind wouldn't allow me to process what they were. Though just as fast as it came, it rushed by leaving me simply with the symphony that was unique to him. There was a familiarity in him that I simply was not allowed to understand at the time. I didn't mind though, because for once there was something I wanted more than answers; and that was him.
It was kind of a strange moment for me; it was like half of me was doing everything it could to keep the walls from falling, while my other half completely surrendered to him. Somewhere in the back of my mind I acutely registered that I could now easily break through his grip, but you see on one side I didn't want the kiss to end, and on the other side I didn't want him to know that I could stop this if I wanted to. My stubborn pride wouldn't let me give that much of myself away yet. So instead I lay there at his mercy, wishing I could only allow myself to run my hands through the hair that kept brushing against my face. I'm not sure how long we stayed there together like that; it was almost as if time took a break to marvel at the two of us. What I do know is that even when Puck pulled away, I really didn't want him to.
We sat there staring for several moments panting and wide-eyed, never seeming to break eye contact. There was a wordless conversation held between us in that moment. At this time I'm not really sure what it was about, but I know that a story went on between those two pairs of eyes. A story of rights and wrongs, and pasts and futures, and of a particular event we had both just partaken in yet had no idea what it meant. I ended up being the one to finally break the silence.
"I win." I voiced, a smug grin gracing my features. There was a double meaning somewhere in those two words that caused Puck to frown and me to laugh at his expression.
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Well… what do you think?
And I just want to say there was A LOT of dialogue in this part, way more then I'm used to.
Hope you liked it though!
Also I want to thank you guys so much for your reviews, it really helps out. (:
