Chapter 1

Lucien found himself sat in a garden he didn't recognise, the flowers he was knelt in front he'd never seen such flowers, he looked down at his hands and realised they were not his own, they appeared to belong to a child, a female child at that and not even a fae, a human. The hands plucked a rose from the stem and a thorn cut into the child's hand and blood started to slowly drip onto the white flower staining it red, the girl didn't appear to cry from the sting of the thorn, instead she just stood and ran over to a woman, again a human. " Mummy mummy" the little girl cried out happily to what he supposed was the child's mother, she presented the flower to the woman who appears to scold the child for getting dirty and sent her into the house to clean herself up. He follows through the child's eyes as she walks up to the rather large house, it certainly isn't anything grand like they have in Prythenia but for humans it was rather grand, the little girl gave the flower to a woman who seemed to be a servant who took the flower from the girl happily and showed the girl to the wash room, it was only until the little girl was alone that she began to silently weep, he could feel her sadness and lonely ness as if they were his own feelings. The child looked into the mirror above the sink and before he could get a glimpse of the child he awoke. His heart was racing, and his cheeks were wet, he placed his hand to his face, and he realised he had been crying like the little girl had. This wasn't the first time he had dreamt about this child or this house, for the last five years this girl seemed to haunt his dreams, he never got her name or the two other children that would appear from time to time. As he could make out, the girl's father and mother were respected in their community and had money, he never finds out who they are apart from them being the child's parents as she calls them " mummy and daddy". They appear to be absent parents, the father is often away and the mother seems to be more occupied with the eldest child who is also a girl, there is another child again a girl who is younger than the one who's eyes he sees through, if he would make a guess the youngest is around two or three and the eldest seven, this is all educated guesses that he has made. It would appear he dreams of this girl once a year and seeing this is the fifth dream he is guessing she is around five years old. Why was he dreaming of a human child? What could it possibly mean? He hated humans but when he though and dreamt of this girl he didn't feel hate, he had the need to make her smile, he longed to hear her laugh and play innocently like children should even if they are human.

The dreams didn't start for Elain until her sixteen birthday, by then her mother had passed away and her father had lost the families fortune, and his legs were brutally broken so he was unable to fend for the four of them. Elain didn't blame him like Nesta did for there short comings, she believed he had done his best, but she did wish there was something he could do to stop them being exiled and forgotten about. Fourteen-year-old Feyra took it upon herself to take care and feed them. Even though the sisters did not know but Elain had taken upon herself to beg for food. Nesta never lost the proudness of the life they used to have and Elain knew she herself was no hunter and even if she was intelligent when it came to plants there were none in winter she could harvest to keep there hunger at bay, she the only thing she could do was beg, she would ask if she could do any type of work to make any type of money but the only work that people would take her up on was prostitution and Elain knew if she would one day marry a lord or a decent man she would have to be untouched and the though of putting herself through such work would kill her own spirit. But if Feyra hadn't managed to shockingly become a good enough hunter then Elain knew she would have to sell her body even at such a young age, she felt sick knowing the danger Feyra put herself in daily when Elain could just eat her own pride and men would pay a pretty penny to take her maiden hood, for a girl like Elain what else did she really have to sell? If she had to sell herself then it would be to someone who could afford the price to look after her family and none of the men in this village could afford that price. Even though Elains birthday Is in spring she always asked if she could sleep in the middle on her birthday, she never told her sisters why, but she loved the feel of them both beside her, sharing the bed with Feyra and Nesta was one of the things Elain loved about their new life. As she drifted off she could see a beautiful meadow full of different wild flowers Elain had never seen in her life, her hands brushed over the different buds and she realised the hands were not her own but belonged to a man, as she looked around all she could see were the flowers and nothing else, this meadow must be miles wide, the scents of the flowers filled her nose and she felt ultimate comfort, she didn't care where she was but she wanted to be there, she lays down and watches the sky, her hands places on her face, she can hear someone in the distance calling but she cant make out the name, who ever it is appears to be a man, she signs loudly and the person appears stressed, as they stand she finds herself awake in her bed between her snoring sisters. What a strange dream, she thinks to herself.

Twenty years pass and each year Lucien dreams of the same girl who is now a young woman, he has seen her grow up and lived through hardship and loss, he never heard the names of the other two now woman or the woman who he dreams through, he never got to see her face as every time he almost did he would awaken, the same as when her name is about to be revealed. He never told anyone he dreamt of her, what would they think? Maybe this was the girl who would change everything? But why would he be getting the dreams and not Tamlin? Lucien sits up in his bed, it had been about six months since the last time he had dreamt of her and each dream he felt more desperate for answers. A loud knock startled him from his own thought and Tamlin came marching in, he realised the knock was more a warning that he has about to walk in rather than wait for permission. He looked at his friend and high lord and he was panicking " its happened, Andras has been killed by a human woman" Lucien thought for a moment he was still asleep, and he was dreaming, " where is she" Lucien demanded as he stood, Tamlin just looked at his friend unsure what to do " Tam where's the woman?", " are you sure it should be me who retrieves the woman?" he hates seeing his friend this way, unless its to do with using he brute strength Tamlin was pretty useless, " we've gone over this Tam, it has to be you" Tamlin just nodded at him and stood there, Lucien tried to hide his frustration " go Tam and bring the woman here, try not to scare her, ill make sure everything is ready for when you arrive back here" with that Tamlin left Lucien alone is his room, would he know finally see the woman of his dreams? Would he finally get answers?

Elain felt happy and content, the wolf Feyra had killed will see them through the winter from the money she got for the pelt and the deer will feed them for some time, Elain certainly didn't mind the cooking but she did wish they could of afforded some herbs, she had tried to grow herbs and through the spring, summer and even autumn months she managed to keep them plants alive but the winters were just too harsh. Her family seemed so happy in that moment, Nesta had even cut double the firewood, they were all sat together enjoying their meal, she knew they'd all sleep happy and their bellies full tonight. An awful sound cracked through the house and caught everyone's attention, the door had been destroyed into splinters and a vicious wind cut through and standing there was a beast, so fowl Elain didn't believe such creatures escaped our nightmares. The beast roared murderers, and Elain knew what this thing was, it was a fae. A fae that had come to there home, a home they thought they'd be protected from, this monster had come for them and would eat them. Elain was frozen with fear and Nesta used her own body to shield her but she didn't protect Feyra, Elain tried to reach her younger sister but she couldn't move, she couldn't even move her fingers, she needed to get to Feyra but she was to afraid, she could do nothing as this monster took Feyra all Elain could do was cry as Feyra bravely walked out the house with this creature, what was it going to do to her little sister, she wished Nesta had thrown herself in front of Feyra instead of her but deep down Elain was glad that Nesta protected her and she felt even worse for feeling that way. Everything suddenly went black, and she blacked out.

Lucien watched from his window as Tamlin and now the young woman came into view, he could see Tamlin was in his beast form and Lucien let out a curse " what part of don't scare her did he not understand?" but he also thought if she took down Andras then it was best to be prepared, he could see the young woman well enough to notice she was terrified and he knew he had his work cut out for him. He waited a little while, he listened through the door hopeful Tamlin could take care of the situation without his help, it didn't take Lucien long to realise just how helpless his friend is when it comes to females or even human woman. As Lucien walks into the dinning room he quickly observes to woman, she scrawny, dirty, she was pretty for a human but the thing that stroke Lucien the most was how young she clearly was, she was barely a woman, he wasn't sure if she was even still a girl, HA a girl took down Andrias, if there whole realm didn't depend on this human he'd laugh, it was almost too cruel. He could tell how terrified from them both she was, he slightly felt sorry for her, but she was a killer and if she killed Andrias in cold blood what to say she wouldn't kill Tamlin or himself just given the chance, they all knew how desperate they were for this curse to be ended and any of them would of taken Andrias place to do it but it still hurt to think his friend is now dead. With how wonderful things were going in the dinning hall Lucien realised he needed to help Tamlin out and play the villain and let Tamlin come across as the hero, which considering Lucien's distain for humans and what this one had done it wasn't too difficult. After a short while of teasing and the girl had left and when the woman had told them she was seventeen Lucien realised this wasn't the young woman from his dreams, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he knew her. Maybe it was just because she was to be their saviour or another reason, but it left him feeling unsteady.

Elain awoke with Nesta steadying her on her feet, her head spun, and she felt like she had whacked her head or drank a whole bottle of wine to herself. "where's Feyra?" Nesta asked their father, her face was full of worry and concern " she left last night Nes, she's gone to be with our aunty" Elain replied, how had Nesta forgotten that? Nesta looked at her like she had gone insane, and their father placed hi hand on her arm to resume her, it was so odd for Nesta to be acting the way she was, she seemed scared. A knock on the door broke Elains attention and has turned to answer the door Nesta grabbed her arm to stop her "don't! answer that" she snaped at her, Elain just looked at her sister in shock, what had got her so rattled? There father hobbled over to the door and opened it, standing at the door was a man, Elain couldn't quiet hear what he was saying but she could see him fairly well, she was taken back by his other worldly beauty, she had never seen anyone so beautiful in her life, his hair was red and long but neatly tied up, his hair reminded her or a log fire, he wore a eye patch over his left eye but his right eye was russet and the colour drew Elain in, his skin was a warm sun kissed golden colour, everything about him was warm and inviting, Elain just had to know who this man was, she managed to free herself from Nesta's grip and wondered to her father's side.

Lucien noticed the human woman appear next to the older man, he knew this woman, he had known her whole life, this was she, the woman from his dreams, she was Feyra's sister. What did it mean? He had waited so long for this moment but know it was here he had no idea what to do or say so he did the only thing he could and bow to her " my lady, I apologise for disturbing you this morning" she was strikingly beautiful, he couldn't deny that even if she was a human, her hair was golden brown just like Feyra's but she has brown eyes matching the man next to her, she was a delight to look upon, he couldn't keep his eyes from her. She bows her head back to him and her father speaks " I don't understand, how is it possible" his voice was shaky and full of disbelief then suddenly the man changes "well of course they've been found, it was just about time they would "after explaining that the man's fortune had been found Lucien informed him that the money would be with him shortly. Lucien found it difficult to pull away from the young woman, but he had no excuse to linger, he finally saw the woman who had crept into his dreams for the last twenty years. Once he had informed Tamlin that Feyra's family where now taken care off, he questioned his friend how things with Feyra were going but to no surprise it wasn't going well. "I'm not used to having to woo females, I'm high lord I shouldn't have to try" Lucien tried to hide his wince at Tamlins arrogance " she's human, show her your soft side Tam, compliment her, make her feel special" Lucien basically pleaded.