Unfettered

Part 1: Chapter 8

"You'll make us sad if you leave," said the voice. "We are very fortunate that you came to us. You are special children with unique blood."

Arjen leaned forward suddenly, but Arien pressed a hand on his mouth to keep him quiet. "We're not sure what you mean," she said, "but we can't stay here. Someone is after us."

The glow brightened and a small, blue, elongated figure with two solid red eyes appeared. Pointed ears peeked out from beneath its short hair. Arien shivered at the sight. She knew what these creatures were now.

"We will hide you," said the faerie. "Stay with us and you will always be safe. You are both twice blessed, and worth protecting."

Worth protecting? No one had ever said that to them before. But what did it mean by "twice blessed"? Did it mean the imperial family that was blessed by God? She felt Arjen sigh in frustration from behind her hand.

"We appreciate the offer, but we simply can't stay," said Arien gently. "There are things we want, like our own future..."

Their laughter quieted and dozens of them gathered around the twins, taking shape in blue-green halos. Their eyes peered at them eagerly and Arien felt her brother go tense.

The faerie's voice remained kind. "If you will not stay with us, then at least grant us one request."

Arien knew where this was going. She wasn't worried, but she was afraid of how Arjen might react. "Of course. What would you like?"

"Let us drink some of your blood."

Arjen jumped to his feet. "What?! That's gross!"

She stood and firmly grabbed his arm. "It's all right. They're blood faeries, but they're friendly." But being "twice blessed" is probably what saved them from being swarmed by angry little vampires. Blood faeries were known for devouring entire horses for wandering into their territory.

"You're really going to let them drink your blood?" Arjen asked, unease lurking behind his eyes. "Why?"

Arien rolled up her sleeve and told him to do the same. She spoke in low tones. "I don't really know, but it's probably because of our royal blood. I guess they find it tasty."

He pulled up his sleeve, his nose wrinkled with disgust. "Are all of them going to drink?"

"We have to let them." The faeries seemed to respect them, probably because of their royal blood, but she wasn't going to test how far that respect went. She wanted to make it to Aramore with her face intact.

"They'll suck us dry—"

"Shh!"

Arien steeled herself for the horde of tiny mouths that flew in to sink their teeth into her flesh. It felt like hundreds of needles piercing her arm, and she realized there wasn't enough room for all of them. Arjen's arm also became crowded.

"H-Hold on a second," she said, reaching for her other sleeve. They thronged around the exposed skin, biting and slurping with glee. They talked amongst themselves as they did so.

"It's truly delicious."

"Just as I imagined it would taste."

"The two flavors are distinct."

"But they are even better together than separate."

"Truly, truly!"

Red streaks dribbled over Arien's arms, but the faeries didn't waste a single drop. Beside her, Arjen groaned as the faeries continued to make a feast on his arms. What had seemed like an hour ended in a few minutes, and the faeries licked the twins' arms clean. The wounds healed without leaving scars, which surprised Arien. Did the bite of a blood faerie leave no mark?

"We thank you, blessed ones," said the faerie who had first greeted them. It bowed low as it floated in the air. "You have given us a gift we will never forget. Please, pass through our land, and we will be sure no one will follow you."

The twins rolled down their sleeves. Arien didn't know how much blood they had taken from her, but she felt a little queasy. "Thank you."

The faerie pointed into the woods. "Go that way. Follow the stream, for it will take you out of the forest."

Early dawn lightened the sky and the faeries dispersed. The twins followed their directions and found the stream. Once there, Arjen retrieved the dagger from his pack, took off his shirt, and began to cut around the blood stain in the fabric caused by the arrow. The bleeding hadn't been much, surprisingly, but he wouldn't want to walk around with a suspicious blood stain on his shoulder. He shuddered when he looked at the red splotch.

"Ugh. They were like a bunch of flying leeches. I wanted to swat them off," he said.

"It's a good thing you didn't. They probably would've been happy to just eat us."

Arjen took out a fabric remnant and a small sewing kit to help patch the hole. "And what was all that weird stuff they were saying? 'Twice blessed'? What the hell does that even mean? Let's hurry up and get out of here before we run into anything else. If the emperor comes this way, maybe they'll eat him. I hope they do." He quickly finished up the patch and turned to her. "Are you all right, though? Is your mana back?"

"Most of it. But now I'm sleepy because we've been awake all night." She stifled a yawn.

"We also just lost a lot of blood." He shook his head and glared back at where they had come. "First bandits tried to kidnap us, then the knights almost got us, and then faeries wanted to eat us. All in just one day. I hope Aramore is better than this."

There was no knowing until they got there. It was a city, liable to have all sorts of danger. But the twins had no choice but to survive any way they could. Their other option was to turn themselves in to the emperor and be executed. If surviving meant letting blood faeries drink from their veins, then so be it.

After filling their water bottles in the creek, they followed it out, and just as the sun cleared the horizon, they found the road and turned towards Aramore.