Wow, that took a bit longer than I expected. Oh well here it is Chapter Two! Hopefully I'll be quicker next time.
Two.
Siobhan
The next day I woke up, praying to some deity that last night was a simple dream. That I had not been carried shamelessly out of The Rath by some Mortal boy I had no connections with, I had not made a fool of myself screaming at Keenan, but I had learned by now I was not so lucky.
I fought the urge to cry, it was just so humiliating, people left, I was used to that, why did I go have to cry at the first person who gave me a warm smile? I thought just staying tucked away in these warm sheets, not having to face whatever lay ahead. But that was just more cowardice and I was tired of it. I slowly pulled untangled myself out of the webs of sheets. I felt like death. It wasn't just the effects of my drinking fiasco last night, which was nearly gone.
No, I felt soul sick. In the past months this feeling was familiar, just the feeling of absolute wretchedness, uselessness. And being unsure what to do about them. I pulled the covers off me, and put my feet on the warm wooden floor, many of the girls were still sleeping, thrown about in odd positions; some were even tangled with other people. It had to be at least 2:00 in the afternoon, another day I had spent mostly in bed.
I threw on a clean set of clothes, and ran a brush through my hair. Then I slowly went to where I knew everyone would be. Being a summer girl meant that I could pretty much do whatever I wanted, I could sleep all day, and be up all night, no one cared. I could roam the halls, slipping in and out of rooms no one cared. I liked it, having no schedule no responsibilities, well most of the time. Every now and again it was lonely, knowing no one cared what you did, no one waited for you to wake up, no one waited to go somewhere with you, no one would get angry at you if you misbehaved.
Ever since we found our Queen, it was Tavish's job to keep us happy, which we all loved. Tavish was the King's Advisor, he was important, he was still important but now it was like he obeyed our every whim, it was slightly comical. Eliza always fancied him a little more than the rest of us, he had barely noticed until recently, now neither of us knew what he was going to do. He was so serious and proper, with Eliza's blunt way they made an unusual couple.
"No that was not what I said at all!" I heard Eliza's musical voice suddenly, followed by a low voice, I assumed was Tavish. So they two were already fighting, they always found something to bicker about, from clothing to politics, they were like water and oil. I followed the sound of their voices to the study, Eliza was standing with her arms folded across her chest, Tavish looked slightly confused, and a bit annoyed.
"Yes, yes you do you always put words in my mouth" "When have I ever-" "yesterday when I said I disliked rainy weather, you said that I always complain" "I didn't say that" "Yes, yes you did, you said that I could never see the bright side of anything" "I wasn't serious" "But I can never say a word without you exploded at me for something" he argued, that may be true, Eliza had a very hot temper. "Well maybe because you constantly condescend me" "Then why are you so eager for my company?"
Eliza opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Tavish walked out. Eliza turned to face me "He makes me so furious" she exclaimed "What was it this time?" "Oh it was stupid" "It always is" "Which reminds me where did you disappear to last night?" "Oh I just went home early" I said, which was true, details were not important, Eliza had a sly grin on her face "Oh really?" I nodded "Yes" "Tracey told me she saw you get carried out by an unknown gentlemen" "Well Tracey loves to exaggerate" I said "Siobhan don't be so uptight, tell me" "It was nothing, embarrassing really" "It always is" "He just offered to take me home is all" "Did you know him?" "No" "Wait, Siobhan, was he a mortal" I didn't say anything, I just looked down at my hands, observing my chipped nails. "Well that's a little anti-climatic" "How so, he was mortal?" "Siobhan, please, you have done so much worse" "I yelled at Keenan" I admitted
"you yelled at Keenan? Why?" "I don't know, it seemed important at the time, I can't remember" "Alright that does sound bad" "But anyway, tell me about your yummy mortal" "I never said he was yummy" I protested, did I really just say that? "Siobhan, you let him take you home in his arms, he was yummy" usually I would roll my eyes at such statements, but in that moment I was trying to recall what he looked like. I just remembered he was nice, he was so obviously mortal, a presence I had nearly forgotten in the company of fey.
"What are you thinking about?" "Nothing" I said "Right of course not" Eliza and I had been friends for centuries, she knew when I was lying. "No matter you will tell me sometime" she said. I probably would, Eliza and I told each other everything, even if it was just the decision whether we liked blue or purple more, but not now, usually the first tiny interesting thing that happened to me, I would rush to Eliza and tell her everything.
But this felt more personal, I didn't want anyone to know about it, I liked having something that was just mine. Even if it was a petty conversation with a stranger, it was still mine and I just wanted for something to be secret just for once. "So what are we doing tonight?" Eliza asked, tonight? My head could hardly wrap around the thought, it seemed like tackling the outside world was like fighting through a war zone, it was dangerous and you never knew who was going to find you.
"I think just something small" Eliza continued "Can we not just stay in?" I said, Eliza sighed "why are you so lifeless all of a sudden?" I shrugged, I had no idea, I just felt so drained lately. "The best cure for being lifeless if going out to where life is" Eliza explained "I will not tolerate you being grumpy and mopey you understand?" I nodded, it was best not to argue with Eliza. We decided to attend the dance at the River that evening; Eliza assured me that it was going to be a small crowd.
Tracey and Aoife both joined us, Tracey was the youngest of the Summer Girls, I remembered when Tracey joined us, she was so young, though many of us were considered young when Keenan took us, and Tracey lived in a world different from many of the Girls. Though when Keenan courted me I was old enough to wed, I was old enough to have a life, even though I wasn't exactly sure what Keenan had meant by forever, I always knew that with Keenan, whatever I chose would be life changing. I remember those final months before Keenan took me, being courted by various young men in the village. Tracey didn't live in that world anymore, people didn't marry that young anymore.
Tracey was a girl, a girl who didn't truly understand what Keenan was telling her, what he was doing to her. She was still fragile; she wasn't strong enough to be away from the court. Tracey surely wasn't strong enough to live in the world she had been made apart of.
The sun was sinking into the sky, but it was still warm, I could feel summer coming, for the first time in a very long time, summer was truly coming, it would thrive, we would thrive, for the first time in Nine Centuries our court would be strong again. I was honestly a little surprised about how excited I was about this; I could feel it tingling against my skin, the fierce loyalty to my court surprised me.
The dance by the river was perfect, there were no mortals in the area, The Fey, from all courts, I noticed, could be themselves. We were trapped by mortal eyes so often, pretending to be mortal when we were not, living in a city inhabitant by so many of them, one sometimes forgot what it was like to actually be fey. I was dancing then, I was caught up in a rush of energy that filled me with great delight, an energy that just made me want to move and never stop.
And I didn't, I could barely remember if my feet were actually touching the ground or not. Sometime, hours later, when the sun had fully died and a sheet of stars filled the inky stars, I stopped dancing. Eliza and I met up, our faces glowing, our limbs felt strange, like maybe they didn't belong to our bodies. "I think we should go home" Eliza said "Wait" I said "Can we go get a drink first?" Eliza looked surprised, but the good kind of surprised "Of course we can" she said, trying to hide her obvious delight of my wanting to be out more.
We decided on the Crow's Nest, it was closet, and I was always charmed by it. It wasn't at all empty, even for the late hour, it was mostly mortals, but ever so often I could pick out a Fey in the crowd. Eliza and I had a few drinks, we discussed our day, we discussed how Tavish infuriated her constantly, but still he was all she could think about. I didn't want to discuss Niall, even though I knew I should, but it was still too raw, too sudden.
Even though we never really had a deep relationship, I was a summer girl he was the King's advisor, but there was a connection, no one could deny it. It was Niall who had taught me to be what I am, when I had felt forgotten and alone, when I had felt mortal. And it hurt, that he had just left, without a word, like three hundred years hadn't meant anything to him. In time I would be able to say this allowed, in time it would pass, I would forget it, I had eternity to do so though, now I would let it run it's course, even though it was rare in the summer court, so rare sometimes it was easy to forget what it felt like, sorrow existed.
We left an hour later, the first affects of the long evening beginning to take weigh down upon us. "Um excuse me?" I heard a voice call, Eliza and I both turned, it was a boy calling one of us. A mortal boy, I was about to be confused when I realised who he was. Green eyes, dark hair and a pleasant smile, The boy from the Rath. I was speechless "Do you have a minute?" he asked, and I just couldn't say no.