The Wild Hunt

by hunterofartemis126

Mark Blackthorn was kidnapped by faeries during the Dark War and he was forced to join the Wild Hunt. How will he survive in a world where he believes that his family are dead? Will the arrival of an arrogant young Faerie Prince to the Hunt help him or will he simply have one more person shunning him?

4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own The Dark Artifices, Cassandra Clare does.

Author's Note: Thank you so much to The Purple Warlock for your lovely review! I'm so happy that you liked the chapter and I hope that you will like this one as well. Let me know what you think in a review.

Chapter 3: A New Friendship

That night, Kieran and Mark stayed up for a long time, talking in low voices so that the others would not hear them. Mark asked Kieran about his life before he had joined the Hunt and Kieran began to tell him about the dark and mysterious Unseelie court that had been his home.

"It's very different from the Seelie court," Kieran explained. "It was full and darkness and black magic. My father, the king, rules it with a fist of iron."

"Did you have many friends there?" Mark asked, genuinely curious.

"No, I never really made friends in the court," Kieran answered after a slight pause, "I was so much younger than the others and I did not practice dark magic in the same way that they did."

Mark looked at Kieran and he realised that beneath the royal exterior there was a boy who had known pain and loneliness in the same way that Mark had when he had been torn away from his family.

"Do not pity me," Kieran said after a moment's silence, "I did not need their companionship."

"But surely it must not have been very pleasant for you," Mark said, thinking of the way he had felt, so alone even though he was surrounded by others.

"I got used to that a long time ago," Kieran admitted, "It was really all I ever knew."

They sat for a while in silence, watching the stars. The quiet between them was not uncomfortable and Mark didn't feel the need to fill it with chatter. At last, Kieran spoke.

"Tell me of your life as a Nephelim," He said, "I have not met many Shadowhunters in my lifetime."

So, Mark began to tell him about the Clave and the hard Laws which governed the Nephelim and about his own family. As he talked, he found that it helped, to talk about the ones he loved and to be listened to.

"You must love them very much," Kieran said softly. "It sounds like they gave you a good home, despite the fact that you are part fey."

"It did not seem to matter to them," Mark agreed. "They were a loving family, and I would do anything to be able to go home."

"We are the same in that way," Kieran told him, "I too did not wish to join the hunt but I was forced to. I would be glad to go home, but I cannot. And so, Mark Blackthorn, I have a suggestion for you."

Mark looked at Kieran with interested eyes. "And what is your suggestion?"

"I suggest that we, that is to say you and I, should try to see the positive side of being here. Let's make an adventure out of it. What do you think?"

Mark thought about his words for a moment. Why not try to keep himself from being so miserable? Why not see to find some good in his situation? "I think that that is that best idea that I have heard since I joined the hunt." He answered, and Kieran's answering smile took his breath away.