Amongst the Waking Dreams

Chapter 3

"I still think tomorrow could be fun," Prudence says as we make our way through the woods.
    We are back in the Vale now and heading to our next destination: the Myrn river. It runs through the heart of the woods and flows all the way to the sea at the base of the capitol. The royal palace sits at the edge of where the river meets the sea.
Prudence is yet again babbling about the Null Ball tomorrow night.
    "I don't know why you would want to go so badly. I can't imagine it's all that fun for mortals," Ayla says.
    She has a point. Fae parties are more of a hazard to humans than anything else. We spend most of our time glued to the wall and watch the festivities. Many of them are too dangerous for us to participate in. We can't eat most of the food, we can't dance because we won't be able to stop if we start, and it's not wise to speak to anyone in case they mistake us for part of the entertainment. There isn't much for us, but what Ayla will never understand is that it is still better to be on the edge looking in than to not be a part of it at all. Sometimes I wonder if I would be bored with all the balls too if I grew up always partaking in them.
    "Well, it's not like we have anything better to do," Prudence responds.
    "We could come watch the nixies again tomorrow," I suggest.
    Nixies are water sprites. There are many kinds of nixies, but we are currently on our way to see the hennish nixies. They are small in size and somewhat resemble a frog with fur. They are also luminescent and quite pretty to watch in the water. They light up the river as they hop along the rocks and swim through the current. We come almost every year to watch them. There really isn't much else to do.
    Ayla and Prudence both look sour at their disagreement about tomorrow, but we're nearly to our spot now. We walk in silence the rest of the way so as to not scare the nixies off. The woods thin out into a small clearing and the rush of water becomes louder in the open space. The hennish nixies are already in full movement under the height of the moon. The clouds occasionally drift in front of the lunar beams and allow the glow of the nixies to really shine. Ayla helps us navigate through the dimness as we climb down the slope of the bank to the water's edge. We take our usual spot atop the mossy rocks to watch. Silver and blue light streams through the water as the small creatures swim about.
    "You two said you would go," Prudence whispers.
    "I never promised," Ayla says. This instantly winds Prudence up even more.
    It's a very fae response. Faeries can't tell lies. If they say they will do something, then you should make them promise if you really want to hold them to their word. I'm never sure if Ayla says things like this to tease us or if she's simply used to speaking like this after hanging out with other fae. They tend to like twisting their words and using the boundaries of speech. It's not a promise unless they say they will do it, and it's not a lie unless it's actually untrue. There's a lot of ways to twist the truth in order to speak a lie.
    "We never go to these sorts of things together anymore." Prudence's nose has a tendency to wrinkle when she's annoyed. It scrunches up her freckles.
    "So? Why do you care so much?" Ayla acts even more at ease when she's annoyed. I'm not sure if she does that to tease Prudence or if it's also a fae habit. "Nobody goes to those things unless they want to drink, dance, or have sex. I can't imagine you're wanting to take part in any of those activities."
    Prudence blushes at the last 'activity' of Ayla's list. Faerie folk are extremely open when it comes to that sort of thing. When you live forever, modesty tends to not matter a whole lot. It's yet another thing however that Prudence and I are on the outside looking in at.
    I ignore my friends as they bicker, occasionally hearing bits and pieces.
    "Unless you're...meeting someone?" Ayla teases.
    "What? Ayla! I'm not meeting someone!"
    I stare into the murky water as it rushes by. It's particularly high this time of year and the current is strong. The nixies are starting to disappear as my friends' voices grow louder. They dim their lights at the noise, making everything darker.
    "Don't worry, Prudence. Your secret is safe with me."
    "I'm not meeting anyone!"
    Something then darts through the water that catches my eye. It looks a bit larger than a nixie. Roughly the size of a small dog. The shape lumbers up the current languidly.
    "Just tell me who it is! I won't tell your mother."
    "I'm not. meeting. anyone."
The dark shape plods around in an ungraceful manner. I see a dimming nixie whose light has yet to go out swim near it. The shape then slowly makes its way through the murky depths towards it.
Ayla continues her taunts. "Is it someone you met from your lessons? I knew I should have been chaperoning you!"
And Prudence continues her defense. "I don't talk to anyone there! You know that. Tell her, Nym. I'm not meeting anyone. No one talks to us at lessons."
The shape is swimming a bit quicker now as it nears the dimming light. The nixie has a burst in speed as it senses the shadow, but it isn't enough. The dark splotch under the water encumber the nixie as they struggle beneath the current. There's not so much as a bubble or a gurgle to indicate if the water sprite is screaming.
"Nym.. Nym... Nymeria!"
I start as I realize Prudence is trying to get my attention.
"What?"
"What are you staring at? You look like you're having an episode," Ayla mocks me.
"It was... nothing. I thought I saw something," I turn to look back at the river and find no light now. It's too dark to even see the shape swimming about. "What were you saying Prudence?"
"We were talking about lessons and how no one ever speaks to us there. Right, Nym? Tell Ayla, so she'll stop pest—"
Prudence is cut off by a whooping and crunch of dried leaves as three figures drop behind us.
"Well, if it isn't our lucky day to stumble across such beauties," says the largest of the three figures. I recognize the voice instantly and my stomach sinks. "Or should I say beauty,'" he continues with a laugh and what I assume is a smirk towards Ayla. It's too dark to really see their faces as they stand in the shadows of the trees, but I recognize them all the same.
"Go away, Blaine," Ayla responds. She may seem at ease when she's bickering with Prudence, but her annoyance is very evident now. Her brow furrows and her voice is full of warning, even if she's still lounging back on her rock.
"Now, now. We're all friends here. Right, Ayla?" Blaine responds.
"Hey Ayla," greets the second of the figures in a more friendly tone. I recognize his voice too. It's Seeder, and I assume the third figure must be Emrys. The three fae boys are often found together. I've never spoken to Seeder or Emrys much, but Blaine makes his distaste for mortals painstakingly obvious.
"We were enjoying our evening until you came along." Ayla pretends to examine her nails. Her attempts to seem at ease and gain control aren't really working. She doesn't care much for Blaine.
"Oh, don't be that way Ayla. You used to be so much fun before you found your little pets." They step into what little light there is cast by the moon and I can see Blaine's scowl. Seeder looks a bit on edge and Emrys looks bored. Neither of them say anything though.
"We're not pets," I mutter under my breath, but I'm sure he heard.
Ayla's scowling now too as she sits up. "You can leave if you wish to speak of my friends that way." Blaine looks annoyed as he glares each of us down. His gaze catches on Prudence and she blanches under it. Ayla practically growls in warning at this.
"Enough. We just came to see the nixies. The same as you." Emrys finally speaks with an air of indifference as he moves to sit on one of our rocks. Prudence looks rigid when Seeder takes a seat on her other side. To my immense displeasure, Blaine positions himself in between me and Ayla. He leans back on his elbows and playfully nudges Ayla's leg that she has propped up. She frowns, but doesn't say anything.
The three of them occasionally attend lessons with Prudence and I. The vale doesn't have a formal school system. Most households hire tutors for the main subjects, or tutor their children themselves, while additional lessons are offered at the royal palace. Ayla finds the lessons to be boring, so she refuses to go. They are among the few 'safe' activities for mortals however, so we attend them without her.
Blaine is your typical large oaf. He speaks too much and yet has little to actually say. His favorite topic is belittling mortals. Seeder is unusually soft-spoken for a fae. He's among the few that actually keeps their noses in the books at lessons. Emrys, out of the three, is the most quiet though. I've never really seen him have much to say on any matter. He tends to doze at lessons and always seems indifferent regardless of the occasion. I know of each of them, but I don't make it a habit to speak to faeries that I don't know personally.
"Have you read the books that Melmont is covering tomorrow?" I hear Seeder asks Prudence. He never talks to her. My ears are caught between their conversation and Blaine with Ayla.
"You missed Lyon Fest tonight," Blaine says to Ayla. She lets out something between a huff and laugh as she replies.
"Why would I go to that old boring festival? It's nothing but dancing around a bonfire. You see one, you've seen them all. Besides, I had more interesting things to do tonight." As she speaks, she reaches into her bag to pull out a packet of skittles. Blaine's face has a look of revulsion on it.
Prudence is then talking to Seeder in my other ear, "I started to, but we're thinking of attending the Null Ball. So, we probably won't go to lessons tomorrow anyhow."
Blaine seems to be getting heated at Ayla about the candy. "You shouldn't bring those mundie things here. It's not right." Mundie is short for mundane. He's chiding her for having mortal items in the Fae lands.
"Oh? And what's so wrong with candy? Have you even tried them before?" Ayla says, offering him her hand of skittles.
Seeder is then speaking to Prudence.
"I didn't think many mortals attended the Null Ball," he says to her.
"Isn't it a festival to celebrate the marriage of some fae?" She responds.
"It's one of the ancient holidays. That's one of the legends of it, I suppose, but it's hard to determine between fact and myth with the old customs."
"I wish they would shut up. The nixies will never light with all their yammering."
I'm shocked to find that this voice came from beside me. I'm even more shocked to find that Emrys is speaking to me.
"I never took you for a nixie enthusiast," I say back to him.
He chuckles under his breath. "'Enthusiastic' isn't the word I'd put on it. More like 'idly amused' by them. They do look quite lovely on these overcast nights. The cloud cover makes them glow brighter." I look over at him out of my side eye. Emrys isn't particularly exceedingly good looking, but he has the same stunning features of all fae, perhaps a bit more charmingly boyish with his youth still. His ears point high out of his lengthy reddish hair, a sign of coming from a long line of fae blood, like Ayla. His hair is a bit uncut, but it suits him. The tips curl around the base of his tanned neck. His green eyes are intently focused on the water, as if he actually is hoping to see hennish nixies. If he notices my gaze, he doesn't say anything.
Out of all the conversations, I can't decide which is worse. Would I rather talk about the Null Ball, candy, or the nixies? It's a hard choice, to be honest. I get the feeling that Emrys feels the same. I can see Prudence out of the corner of my eye on the other side of Emrys listening in on our conversation. She must be bored talking to Seeder about books or the ball or whatever it is they are discussing. Ayla and Blaine seem to be getting more perturbed with each other as she tries to convince him to eat the candy. Why the boys are even here is still perplexing me, but I get the feeling that it wasn't just to chat and watch nixies.
As the tension between Blaine and Ayla grows, he suddenly announces, "I have an idea. Let's play a game." My wall of caution thoroughly slams down at this. Fae love their games, and they rarely end well for mortals. Ayla seems oblivious to this. As good of a friend as she is, she still tends to see these 'games' as innocent entertainment.
"That could be fun," Prudence naively says. I'm surprised she spoke at all, as shy as she can be. Most of these games are fun, or at least they seem to be as I never participate, but I've seen them go wrong for humans too many times to drop my guard. I assume Prudence is weighing her caution against the notion that she may be included for once. Seeder smiles at her encouragingly and my eyes narrow. Ayla has gone full fae mode and looks giddy at the idea of a game.
"What shall we play?" Ayla asks. "We could play Cheers to the King?"
"That's boring, and too easy sober," Emrys says. He still seems uninterested in these tedious conversations, but perhaps less so at the prospect of a game.
"I had my mind on Wager," says Blaine. Ayla rolls her eyes at this.
"That's supposed to be a drinking game," she says.
"So is Cheers to the King," Blaine spats back.
Seeder then offers a suggestion. "I think we'll find that most of them are supposed to be drinking games. We could just play without the drinks?"
Prudence, again surprising me at her boldness, when she asks, "How do you play?"
Blaine seems happy to oblige her. He has an air of arrogance as he explains, as if he's educating the naive little mortal. "The rules of Wager are simple. Someone makes an assumption about you. If they are right, you drink, and if they are wrong, then they drink. You're wagering that you are right."
"How do we play without drinks then?" I ask.
"I guess you'll just have to tell us if we're right."
"But then that defeats the purpose," Emrys says. "Half the fun is guessing if they're lying."
Prudence looks confused. "What do you mean?"
"Well, fae can't speak lies, as you already know, but they can drink or tell the wagerer to drink instead. It's supposed to be a lying game."
"Sounds very fae," I mutter. Emrys turns from Prudence to me and smiles as if I just told a joke.
"It's not really fair then, since Prudence and Nymeria can still lie," Seeder says like a sourpuss.
Ayla huffs. "Since when is fairness a criteria of fae games?" She puts air quotes around the word 'fairness'. I'm grateful at her attempt to lead the conversation away from talks about our mortalness.
"I suppose we'll have to trust them," Blaine says looking at me. I don't balk under his stare even though it feels like an accusation. Maybe he assumes Prudence is too shy to lie, but that I wouldn't have any such confliction. I ignore him as Emrys lets out a sigh and begins the game.
"I wager that you have never kissed a man, Ayla," he says exasperatedly to her.
Seeder laughs as Ayla flips him off. "The point is to ask things you might be right about," he says to Emrys. She sticks her tongue out at him.
"Half the fun is lying, and the other half of fun is drinking. Both of which are not included in this version of the game," Emrys says with a shrug. His indifference is really starting to annoy me.
"I have one," I say. All eyes turn to me and I suddenly feel stupid for speaking up. I turn to Emrys before I have too much time to second guess myself. "I wager that you pretend to be bored so that no one ever judges the things you are actually interested in."
Seeder and Ayla chuckle this time as Prudence looks incredulous at my brashness. Blaine looks more annoyed, but Emrys masks his expression into one of amusement for once.
"What makes you think that I care what people judge?" He says.
"Doesn't everyone?" I say.
He pretends to think for a moment before saying, "you drink." His green eyes look like there's a dare in that somewhere. He could still be lying. He didn't say if I was right or not, just that I should drink.
"I have one!" Prudence announces a bit loudly at the tension. I break Emrys' stare to look at her but I feel his eyes still on me. She looks between me and him and swallows nervously. "I wager that Seeder has never visited any of the other courts."
Emrys finally turns away to see Seeder's response. He smiles at her. "No. I've never left Vanaheim, you're correct."
"Why not?" I ask, not because I'm interested but because I don't like the way he's looking at Prudence. I still don't trust why we're playing this game. "Wouldn't you like to see one of the seelie courts?"
"I wouldn't mind seeing another court, but what could be more splendid than High court? The King's court is said to be the most spectacular, after all."
"Fair enough," Ayla says. "But, now it's my turn." Technically, there isn't really an order to the game. For having suggested it, Blaine is being rather quiet.
"I wager that black isn't your actual hair color, Blaine," Ayla says with a mock pouty face. We all snicker a little at this. I remember him with wisps of pale yellow hair when we were younger. I suppose he thought light hair didn't make him look threatening enough. Blaine doesn't look annoyed at the questions so much as the fact that Ayla is teasing him. I can feel the tension building between them again.
"You're supposed to ask questions you don't already know," Emrys says, still smiling. He seems like he is enjoying the building atmosphere.
"I might not be right. Maybe his hair has just darkened with age?" Ayla feigns innocence. Blaine smiles and laughs quietly with everyone.
"I always forget how amusing you are, Ayla. It's such a shame you never hang around our kind any more." Blaine says it like idle conversation, but I can hear the condescending undertone. He could mean that she spends all her time with Rivera's friend group, but I think we all know he really means Prudence and me.
Ayla is still smiling, but the fun has left her eyes. "Maybe if you were more amusing then I'd want to hang around your kind more."
Blaine laughs humorlessly as he turns away from her. His eyes pass over each of his friends before he says, "I have a wager."
My body tenses, already knowing that this isn't going to be good.
"I wager that you can't swim."
I barely have time to process the words before I feel him shove me off the rock and into the river. The icy water stuns me as I plunge into it. I may have fallen in close to the bank, but already the strong current is pushing me to where my feet can't reach. I sputter and use my arms to push myself back up to the surface. Something hard slams into my back and I find that I've landed on a rock midway across the stream. My hands slip around on the algae covered surface, but my grip is strong as I struggle to hold onto it. As the shock wears off, I look to the shore to see how far down I've already traveled. About fifteen feet away I can see our group still there. They're all standing now, watching me. The boys are laughing. Prudence looks nervous while Ayla looks concerned.
"What the hell, Blaine!" She shouts at him.
"What? It's just a joke, Ayla. Humans can swim, right?" He laughs more at her anger. His friends look like they're confused why she's even upset. "Look at her. She's fine, Ayla! It's just a joke," Blaine says again.
"Swim back over here, Nymeria. He was just kidding around," Emrys calls to me, still chuckling.
My cheeks burn with embarrassment now as I look away. The water is near freezing and my numb fingers are struggling to keep their grip on the slippery rock. I assess for a moment before answering.
"I can't," I call back. Emrys is not chuckling anymore and I glance at him. He looks confused, like he's weighing if I'm that much of a sour sport that I'd rather stay in the water than swim back.
"What do you mean?" He calls.
"Come on, Nym. Stop being a killjoy," Seeder says. Ayla looks furious now. Prudence still looks very nervous, like she might be next.
"I mean, I can't," I say again. "The current is too strong."
The boys aren't laughing so hard now, but Blaine looks even more amused at this. I feel ridiculous, all wet and stuck clinging to a rock, while he smirks down on the situation he caused.
"You mean humans are so weak they can't even swim a river?" He says.
"It's too cold, asshat. She can't swim in this cold and when the current is this strong." Ayla defends me. She's already taking her boots off to come and get me. None of the boys offer to help. "Just wait right there, Nym. I'm coming," she calls to me.
It takes her a few moments to unlace her boots and I can hear a thump and a growl as she gets the first one off and chucks it at Blaine. I focus on keeping my grip on my rock rather than looking back at the boys' smug looks again.
As I continue to wait for Ayla to unlace her other boot, something in the water catches my eye. A similar dark splotch to the one I saw earlier is a few feet in front of me under the current, and I can see it start to make its way towards me. What was it that Garrick warned me about earlier? Something about the river? A chill that has nothing to do with the cold now runs down my back.
Nobvarks. There are fucking nobvarks in these waters.
"Ayla! H-Hurry up!" I shout this time as I begin to panic. The cold makes me stumble on my words and the roar of the water is near deafening. I can't really tell, but I think she can still hear me, though barely.
Nobvarks are not particularly deadly, but they do have rows and rows of sharp teeth. The last thing I want in this situation is for it to take a chunk of my calf out.
"Hold your horses, Nym. I'm taking my tights off." Ayla has to take her shorts off first to then take her tights off. Blaine smirks as she undresses before him. She scowls at him and chucks her second boot. My lips quiver as I try to shout again, but the chattering from the cold makes it difficult to speak.
Prudence, bless her soul, at least notices the panic in my voice and she is watching me rather than Ayla stripping. She also takes notice of what I am looking at. She squints in the dark, and finally makes out the shape lumbering towards me. "There's something in the water!" She shouts, pointing. They all look up at this and follow her finger.
"N-N-Nobvarks!" I manage to sputter out. I hear a splash and I can only assume Ayla is already in after me. I don't know how long it will take her, but the nobvark is already to my rock. I can't see it anymore as it swims behind the other side. I frantically look down and around me to see if it's going for my feet. I kick harder trying to propel myself higher out of the water, but my cold limbs are moving languishly now. I hear a hissing sound above me and look up to see that the nobvark has crawled up the side of the rock and is looking directly down at me.
Nobvarks are slimy, ugly creatures, with four legs like a bulldog and narrow slits on their snout like a snakes. They don't have eyes and I find myself instead staring straight at its bulging jaw and thin line of a mouth. Its hiss is coming from deep within its stout body. I let out a scream as its line of a mouth begins to gape open and I come face to face with its cluster of teeth and horrendous, steaming breath.
As I scream, my arms lose their grip, sliding me back under the water. In my fear and coldness, I forget to swim and instead tumble helplessly down the stream. In the confusion, I feel strong arms close around my waist. I pray that it's Ayla. From the way that the figure is kicking towards the surface and not further down to the depths of the river, I assume it's Ayla. I gasp as we break the water's surface and I can see her face. She starts swimming us back to the bank. She lets me go as my feet finally find purchase and I can't move fast enough to get away from the nobvarks. I stumble over my feet as I half walk, half crawl out of the river. Prudence comes to my side as I roll onto my back and gasp. She has pulled a jacket out of Ayla's bag and is draping it across my shoulders as my friends help me to sit up.
It takes a few moments for me to notice the laughter.
I look over to see Blaine and Seeder bent over in hysterics. Emrys is back to looking indifferent. Tears prick my eyes, but I choke them down as I blush in embarrassment. I look away so as to block out their stares. Prudence looks helpless as she helps me stand, while Ayla is already wheeling on the boys.
"What the hell is your problem? She could have been seriously hurt!"
Blaine stops laughing as he regards her.
"We should hang out again sometime, Ayla," he says. "I really did forget how much fun you can be."
There's a different look on her face now, one that I can't quite place. She doesn't say anything back, as she spins to help me again. Blaine snickers as he grabs Seeder's arm and they turn to leave. Emrys looks back at me again before following after them. There was something in his eyes too that I can't quite place.
I curse myself as I look down at my shivering and wet clothes.
This is going to be hard to explain to Garrick.