Amongst the Waking Dreams

Chapter 2

As I close the doors of the office behind me, chatter can be heard coming from the front entrance. My friends must have arrived. The kitchen is down the opposite hall and my stomach growls again as the scent of breakfast is still present. In my eagerness to meet my friends, I ignore my rumbling and go to greet them instead.
    Back in the main foyer, Prudence and Ayla are enthusiastically chatting about something as they wait for me.
    "Took you long enough," Ayla teases as she spots me.
    "Garrick wanted to discuss something," I say, adopting their same contagious grins.
    "It's fine. We weren't waiting that long," Prudence offers an apologetic smile for Ayla's impatience.
    Ayla and Prudence are my two greatest friends, even if they are my only friends. Being a mortal in the Vale doesn't exactly make you very popular, so it's usually just the three of us.
    Prudence is also human. Her mother, like mine, married a faerie. We were both raised in the Vale, so being the only humans our age, we gravitated towards each other early on. She's always been small and soft spoken, with her doll-like face and mousy brown hair. As humans, we have constant targets on our backs, but Prudence even more so. She looks as if a strong wind could knock her over.
    Ayla is nearly the opposite. Whereas Prudence is all soft curves and delicate features, Ayla has the tall, strong and lanky body of a faerie. She comes from a long line of pureblooded high fae, giving her striking edges and sharp eyes. The points of her ears tower out from beneath her thick moss colored hair. I'd always admired her looks and bold comportment. Ayla is a force to be reckoned with.
    "You ready to go out?" Ayla asks suggestively, wiggling her eyebrows. She loves nothing more than sneaking away to the mortal realm. She lives for disobedience.
    "Of course," I tease back. She gives out a small giddy chuckle as she wraps her arm in mine. We head out the door as Prudence trails behind and shuts it.
    It's a short walk to leave the Vale. There are several pathway entrances scattered about that travel between the two realms, but only fae can walk through them. Without Ayla, Prudence and I would never be able to leave. The nearest one is in the Moorwood, on the outskirts of Garrick's lands.
    "Ugh, I wish you wouldn't dress so plain," Ayla teases again as we walk. "There's no need to cover up so much."
    Prudence comes to my defense, "There's nothing wrong with a little modesty." She flashes me a small grin and I send one back.
    Ayla persists, "There's nothing wrong with a little individuality either! I'm just saying, the girl could pick a color other than black for once, or at least style her hair! We're going shopping, for Christ's sake. It's not like we're committing a crime."
    I look down at my clothes. It is too much black, but it's for the best.
    These sorts of conversations are common among us. Ayla means well, but she doesn't understand what it feels like to have fae ogling all the time. They stare enough when I'm in fae clothing. Flashy mortal clothes would only make it worse, but Ayla never understands this. She loves to wear her mundane outfits, and she loves it when people stare, whether it's in interest or disgust. Attention has always looked good on her.
    Prudence understands, but she also likes to look good at all times. She has on simple blue skinny jeans and a very girly strawberry printed top that frills out over her hips. The short bell sleeves and sweetheart neckline make her look like a princess. I never understood how she's so ok with showing off her curves this way.
Fae don't really have many curves. We used to be teased for them when we were younger. I remembered the horror when I turned eleven and they first started to sprout on me. Boys used to pinch my sides to mock me as I walked by. When I was first hitting puberty, I would wrap cloth around my figure to try and flatten it. The bindings kept getting tighter everyday. It felt like a blessing when I finally turned fourteen and was allowed to start wearing stays.
    Sometimes I admire Prudence for putting up with the sneers. She always looks pretty despite them all.
    Ayla in comparison dresses rebelliously. Everything she does is a rebellion. Today, much to her parents' horror I'm sure, she's wearing purple shorts with black fishnet stocking underneath and combat boots. Her crop top t-shirt reads "My Body is a Temple: Ancient and Crumbling." She parts her hair to the side in order to show off her constellation piercings in her ear. She never glamours her ear points for the mortals either. She just lets them believe that they are body mods.
    I look quite plain next to my friends, but it never bothers any of us, even if Ayla pretends that it does.
    "Are you guys going tomorrow?" Prudence makes conversation. She's talking about the Null Ball. She, like me, only ever goes if all three of us are going.
    "Eh, I was thinking of skipping it," Ayla answers.
    "I was thinking about it. I still need to talk to Olenna though," is my reply.
    Prudence is demure in her response to our answers. "Oh...ok. Well, I thought it could be fun. We haven't really gone to a ball at the palace for a while." This is Prudence's polite way of trying to get us to go. Ever so passive.
    "I'll ask tonight. Garrick already said yes, so I'm sure it's a done deal." I smile at her.
    "I can think of a million more fun things to do than to party with a bunch of drunken lechers, but I guess I'll go if it means that much to you." Ayla feigns annoyance before breaking out in a grin again. "Plus, I heard Rivera will be there. She just got back from her year-long hunt. I'm dying to have pleasant company back in Vanaheim. Besides you two beauties, of course." She winks at me and I chortle.
    Prudence and I may keep to ourselves, but Ayla loves a good time. She spends most of her nights, when she's not with us, with Rivera's group. Rivera, as mentioned earlier, is the king's youngest child. I've never spent much time with her, given that she's always surrounded by her faerie followers, but Ayla tells me she's pretty chill. From my point of view, she looks like all the other royals, constantly encompassed with her people, building her ego and reassuring her in everything that she does. I wouldn't mind meeting Ayla's other friends, but hanging around one of the royals is making the statement that you are one of theirs.
    We talk about other idle things to pass the time of our walk. We head across the field just outside Garrick's stronghold, over the small hills, and into the Moorwood. It's not much further into the thick trees before Ayla announces in a condescending way, "Ok kiddies, we're here! Hold hands now, so no one gets lost."
    Since only fae can pass through the pathways between both realms, we have to be touching Ayla in order to do so as well. This particular faerie door is at the base of a tree. The Moorwood is so dark I always forget which one it is. Ayla says that she can just 'feel it'. Prudence and I both take Ayla's hands as we walk single file through the tree. We stoop low so as to not hit our heads in the narrow passageway.
    Passing through the pathways doesn't really feel like anything. It feels like a breeze and smells like musty smoke. I don't know why, but I always shut my eyes. I've passed through hundreds of times, but I still close my eyes. Sometimes, I think that I can see shadows or blue lights flash across my lids. The paths are completely dark, but I get the feeling that I might see something if I open my eyes while walking through. We never talk during this part of the journey. I think my friends can feel the same eerie sense that something is here with us.
    Before long, we're on the other side and the world changes before us. Gone are the quiet dark woods, and now sound surrounds us. We hear cars honking in the street and people conversing on the sidewalks, slightly muffled by the trees. This faerie door lets out into the middle of a city park. We come out of another tree trunk, still stooping low to not hit our heads. The stone park path leads to a dark corner, surrounded by trees and bushes. There's a single bench and a lamp post that is forever burnt out. It's secluded enough that no one ever spots us when we emerge from the tree.
    The park gives a false sense of privacy. It's fairly dim, with lots of walkways winding through the foliage and small gardens, but all around it are the tall buildings of the busy city. The canopy is pretty thick here, but we can still see the skyscrapers and hear the bustling of the city dwellers. It feels ironic to have a small plot dedicated to nature, forever being choked by modern urbanism. It's a harsh contrast to the Vale where everything is the natural world, and it leaves me reeling every time. Ayla is practically bouncing on her feet at the sudden change in atmosphere.
    "Ooo, where should we start today?" She asks us as she's already bouncing down the path to the entrance of the park. Prudence and I follow after, pausing only a moment to acclimate to the change.
    "We're here for the necessities, right? Why don't we get those first before we forget?" I offer. Ayla gets distracted easily and we often forget the main reason we even came here.
    The necessities are different for each of us. For Prudence, they mean getting some more makeup and disposable cameras in order to add to her photo collection. My necessities mainly mean checking out the book store and seeing what movies are on at the cinema. Ayla's goal in coming here is candy, especially peach rings. She's obsessed with mortal candy and believes that nothing in the Vale can compare to it.
    "Good idea," Ayla answers back. I can practically see her already salivating for her treats.
    We head to the 24/7 mall. It has pretty much everything we need and it's open all night. First up is the main department store that takes up a large portion of the building. Immediately inside, Ayla and Prudence are already running off to look at clothes. I follow them for a bit as they pick out new tops and dresses and enthuse about the latest trends. I don't really see the point in spending so much time on mortal clothing. We're not here that often and none of them will suit the Vale. I instead wander off as they talk.
    I pass through the underwear and contemplate buying another bra. I only own a plain black one for the few days that I spend around the house or when Ream isn't around to lace my stays. Deciding against it, I instead spot some socks the next aisle over. I don't particularly like mortal clothes, but I do like their socks and they're small enough to not be noticed. I pick out a pair with little mushrooms decorating it and another with cats. Cats have always been my favorite, but we don't have many in Vanaheim. Most of the small animals that exist in the mortal realm get eaten by lesser fae if they ever make it into the Vale.
    I head towards the front to find my friends, perusing the other aisles along the way. I pause when I pass a pillar with a floor length mirror on it. My appearance is pale and plain in my black clothes. The hoodie doesn't even have any writing or pictures on it, and the kohl around my eyes and berry juice on my lips isn't doing much. Perhaps Ayla was a little right. I could at least style my hair.
    "Do you want to try some makeup?" Prudence appears next to me. She was watching me watch myself. I lighten at her suggestion.
    "Sure," I say.
    We head towards the cosmetics, and Ayla is already there, testing out every perfume they have.
    "They don't work if you put them all on," Prudence says to her. The faerie girl smirks back.
    "I don't get why human perfume smells so strong."
    "That's because you don't sweat," I say. Prudence laughs with me while Ayla feigns annoyance again.
    It's true that fae don't sweat, another thing that makes me admire them. They frustratingly always smell good, like pine trees or jasmine. It's even more frustrating that they use their own perfumes when they tire of their good scents and want to smell like a different good scent. Meanwhile, Prudence and I are lathering on lotions and bathing practically in syrup to try and mask the scent of B.O.
    "Do you want to start with lip gloss? I notice the fae stuff doesn't show up that well on our skin," Prudence says to me.
I nod as I hop up on one of the metal stools, ready for her to experiment.
    "What color do you want?" She picks out a few and holds them up for me.
    I stare at all the different pigments, each one hardly a shade different.
    "Does it matter?" I ask.
    "Of course it matters! You should pick one that goes with your style." She holds each one up as she lists them.
    "Show her your nipples," Ayla calls as she listens in. We both start at her outburst and turn to her with befuddle expressions. "Don't humans match their lip color to their nipples? I read it in a magazine."
    Prudence and I both look at each other. Being mortal doesn't exactly mean that we understand this world.
    Prudence ends up picking out a color for me along with some eyeliner, mascara, and blush; the basics she calls them. We then go to the cashier to check out our spoils that we found. Ayla takes her time looking at the candy on the shelves leading up to the cash register. We wait for her since we don't have any money. None of us have money, but Ayla is fae. That means that she can use a glamour on the human worker so that they think we paid. In the beginning, we felt a bit conflicted about doing this. It is stealing technically, but we have no way of getting mortal cash. We settled on using fae money and glamouring it to look like mortal funds. The fae use precious metals as coins for money, so they aren't entirely useless in the human realm. We hope that the store people find a use for them when the magic wears off and they finally see them for what they are.
    After we "pay" for our things, we head out to the next store. Along the way my friends stop for bubble tea and at a new shop that sells waffles wrapped into cones and topped with fruits and syrups. I take a few bites of Prudence's, Ayla never shares her sweets.
The next store we come to is for me. It's the only bookstore in the mall. We browse the shelves and I buy a new copy of one of my favorite fantasy books. My old copy is worn out from being set down outside so often. I like reading fantasy novels and wondering if the authors have ever been to the Vale. It amazes me that they may have come up with those ideas without ever having seen the creatures that actually exist. To most humans, my life is the fantasy, but I prefer the escape of these books, written by mortals that have never faced the real thing.
    Time is running out as the night goes on. We leave the mall, but there's still a few important items that we need to grab. As we make our way to the park, we stop by a convenience store along the way. Ayla is here to seek out more candies, while Prudence and I head to the feminine hygiene aisle.
    Perhaps the biggest difference between fae and mortal bodies is our cycles. Fae women still bleed, but they are only fertile maybe one week out of a year, if even. They live practically forever, so their bodies are made to produce slower. So, while Prudence and I get our monthly visit, everyone else deals with bleeding once a year. They do have hygiene products in the Vale, but they don't work very well. We make sure to grab a box of tampons every time we go out. 
    We don't talk about it as we check out and leave. In fact, we make a point to ignore the situation and avoid conversation about it at all times. Prudence and I have heard the talk about fertility over and over. Olenna always tells me what a blessing it is to be able to have children so easily everytime I complain about the discomfort each month. With such short cycles and long times in between, fae can go centuries without getting pregnant and they usually only have one child during their lifetime. It is because of this that children are usually viewed in two different ways. They are either insignificant—after all, what is two decades of raising a child when one lives forever—or they see them as blessings. Olenna is among the ladder, and she practically worships Beau. I suppose I can understand. He is the only child she'll probably ever get. Everyone was surprised when she got pregnant so quickly after marrying my father.
    Fertility, among the more prejudiced fae, is believed to be the only worthwhile aspect of mortal women. As much as some fae dislike mortals, they can't deny the appeal of not having to wait hundreds of years to produce an heir. Everyone marries young in order to get a start on trying for a child, and when we come of age, marriage may be the one time that all fae will take interest in Prudence and me.
    We have mixed emotions about it. It was why both of our mothers got married. The only reason that we are mortal is because my mother had an affair with another mortal, and Prudence's mother had her from a previous marriage before she met a faerie and moved to the Vale. This has been an ongoing constant subject for us, and we are reminded of it every time we have to buy these stupid products. Ayla doesn't always understand our struggles as mortals among fae, but she does understand this. She's witnessed more than once how some fae will so blatantly ask us about our periods, as if that is the only thing worthwhile talking to us about.
    So we all walk in silence as we leave the store. It isn't until a few blocks down that we finally start to talk again about what to do next as we head back to the park, back to our tree, and out of the mortal realm.