THE KINGDOM OF THE FAE:
ASSASSIN'S BLADE
Prologue
The sun shone.
And the flowers of Middle Earth opened.
But the ones deep in the forest opened to reveal creatures as yet unseen.
They were small with wings.
They sparkled and shone.
They were astonishingly beautiful.
They could be very small or as large as men.
They were called Fae or Fairies.
Eventually the Fae, wild beings, indeed, created small villages and decided to join together.
Under one ruler.
However, who should this be?
"It will be between the brothers Anadarious and Allario!" The old crone, their seer, Inatea declared one day.
She gestured to the two.
They were both beautiful and fair with blonde hair and grey eyes.
She then, with dramatic gesture, threw the bones.
They rolled across the earth.
Then stopped.
There was a dramatic pause as all the fae watched, breathless.
The old crone then looked up, her eyes seeing but unseeing.
"It shall be.." she said, looking between the brothers. "Allario!"
There was much cheering.
A crown was presented and placed atop Allario's golden head.
And he was declared King of the Fae.
Chapter One
Many years later…
"Your fated mate is here." Inatea told Allario one day.
She had entered his palace in high typical fashion, all drama, as usual, demanding to speak with him.
Allario was not sure he heard her correctly.
"My fated mate?" he asked.
"Fated mate." She repeated, eyes flashing with fire and something otherworldly.
She then pulled out a stick, rather ordinary looking, really, and a rock, rather ordinary, as well.
She then placed them on the floor before him.
And gestured.
As if he would know what this meant.
"It is a rock and a stick." He said calmly, used to the seer's odd behavior.
"The stick points to her." The fae said, the only one that aged.
It was guessed that her foresight caused this, draining the eternal youth of all fae.
Yet, she was eternal.
"And where is this fated mate?" he asked.
"The west glen." She told him.
"She is still young. But you must get her and bind your troth to her." She added with all seriousness.
Her eyes got that look again, otherworldly, as if seeing beyond them, beyond time.
"The future of the fae depends on it." She added ominously.
Some might dismiss this as the crazy ramblings of an old crone.
However, the Fae were a superstitious lot and he heeded her words.
"I will do so anon." he told her with all seriousness.
"How do I know which dwelling?" he then asked.
She handed him the stick.
"I will accompany you." She then surprised him by saying.
"And what is the stick for?" he asked.
"Just in case." She told him before marching out the door, her servants and apprentices following.
But none saw the shadow under the window.
The next day they reached the west glen.
All was sunny and bright.
But then they saw it.
The village was burning.
All was ash and fire.
Someone or something had set fire to this place.
"This is the work of evil." The crone hissed.
Allario could not disagree.
He flew from house to house, all nestled high in the trees.
But either the occupants were dead or had fled.
"Someone knew we were coming." He said aloud.
"Indeed." The crone said.
"It seems we have a traitor in our midst." His brother, having accompanied them, said.
"Traitor." The crone hissed.
"And my mate?" Allario asked her.
She gestured toward the stick at his hip.
He picked it up.
Suddenly, it felt hot and he dropped it.
It tumbled and landed in ash and fire.
Where it was consumed.
They began burying the dead, ferrying them to the ground and a glen not far away.
And Allario mourned the loss of his people.
And the mate he had been so close to having.
Henella ran through the woods.
She had fallen asleep in a glen again playing with fireflies.
The sun was bright and shone in her flaming red hair.
Her bare feet touched soft grass and moss.
Then she smelled the smoke.
Though very young, a little girl, really, she knew something was wrong.
She turned fairy size with wings.
She flew up and approached the village, wide-eyed.
All was smoke and ash.
She flew to her hut.
To find both of her parents dead.
Burned to ash and cinders.
She cried out and tears streaked her face as she backed out of the hut.
Into a figure.
His face was covered and she would have screamed had he not covered her mouth with his hand.
"Shhh." He said. "It is okay, little one."
She picked up a stick that was in the fire, a strange stick, since it did not burn her.
But she did not care as she swung the flaming branch at him.
He grabbed her wrist, looking between the stick and her strangely.
"You…" he began. "It is you."
Her young brain was unable to process this, especially at finding her parents dead.
"Let me go!" she commanded him.
He then crouched down in front of her, wings pulled in none-threateningly.
"What if I were to teach you how to defend yourself?" he asked.
"You would do that?" she asked.
"Yes." He told her.
"I will take care of you and teach you how to fight. Then one day you can avenge your parents." He added.
She looked at the hut, burning furiously now.
"Where would I go?" she asked.
"What about my parents?" she asked, a sudden onslaught of tears streaming down her face.
"Don't worry." He told her, smiling at her under the hood.
"We will both get what we want." He added.