CADENCE: A TALE OF MODERN FAERY
prelude: i dance with the dead
The drums pounded out a heartbeat as the night smothered the land like a blanket. Darkness was a sweet escape from any late night wanderers. An owl hooted softly, but it went unheard as screams and chants drowned out everything else. Small fights had broken out in some places – after all, the wine flowed freely at any faerie revel – but most of the crowd eagerly watched the green-clad figure on the hill.
Talathian watched the ocean of fey beneath him, clamoring to get nearer their chosen leader. A bark of laughter escaped him as he surveyed his new lands. It was all his now. Almost one year of planning and preparing later, the Seelie Court was his.
He would avenge his queen.
Slowly, the crowd organized themselves, settling into lines. Faerie after faerie came forward to kneel before him, whispering vows of loyalty. Once it had been he who was forced to lie before that foul traitor Roiben, but never again would that happen. As his court moved back once again, he stepped forward. Moonlight glinted off his sharp features and his moss green cloak swirled behind him. Everyone fell silent, watching the one who held them.
"My friends…my people. Today is the beginning of a new era, and we must welcome it in! We have been oppressed and loathed by those invaders – those Unseelie! However, now the world is ours! The Seelie Court is ours once again! Lady Silarial shall not have died in vain! Shall we settle for what we had before? No! Even the Unseelie Court will fall before us now!"
Cheers rose up and more fighting started with an outburst of angry passion. Talathian smiled, cold and cruel, nodding with pleasure. This was his day and nothing could change it. Revenge was a wonderful thing.
He clapped sharply once, watching as three fey stepped forward, dragging another with them. One of the two was tall and broad, with bark for skin and fern-like hair, while another was slender with pale blue skin and hair. The third stood a distance off from the first two, and it was to her that Talathian looked. Her black hair came down to her waist, and fell into her face to hide violet eyes. When she opened her mouth to speak, her slightly pointed teeth shone.
"Here he is," she murmured, gesturing to the faerie man the other two held.
The crowd roared with delight, chanting and screaming. The dark-haired girl smirked, nodding to Talathian and stepping back down into the masses. The other two fey shoved the man they held forward, chuckling.
Talathian smiled down at the bloody back and silver head that were beneath him. Slowly the faerie man rolled over to glare at him, platinum eyes fierce.
"You won't get away with this. You can never hold both courts."
With a widening smile, Talathian lightly kicked him. "Why, I'm sure I can manage it. You did, for a while. And this time your pixie girl will not save you, O Lord Roiben. You've failed."
And the faerie revel continued loud and long, until the night was all but gone.
Author's Note: This would come almost a year after Ironside in the series timeline, which is fairly obvious. This is my first venture beyond a oneshot, and I already have several chapters written. I'll post these gradually - once a week? every other week? - which will allow me to keep writing new ones while always having material waiting. I know this 'chapter' is a little short, but it's only a prelude and the rest are close to twice as long on average. Please read and review, and feel free to offer plenty of criticism; no one besides me has gone over this, and I would appreciate it if people could point out grammar mistakes. If there's anything else I can work on, mention that! I love specific reviews! Also, I'll go ahead and get this out of the way so my later ANs can be shorter: all chapter titles and the title come from the song "Cadence", by Anberlin. Personally, I like the acoustic version, and I think the lyrics fit the Faery series well. That's why this is a prelude instead of a prologue (the music theme). So all my titles belong to Anberlin, just like Tithe, Valiant, and Ironside belong to Holly Black (this is a disclaimer, by the way. don't go sueing me).