COF 3: The Fallen Dynasty

3 | Peltra (I)

"And humans won?" Xanthy glanced at the Cardina Palace to find it long gone.

"More like both sides fell into a stalemate," June cleared his throat. "Both sides knew that it's a lost cause so they just stopped," he regarded Xanthy from his periphery. "So now you know why humans despise fairies."

Xanthy pursed her lips. It's true. That's why humans view fairies as bloodthirsty creatures. Humans who get bonded to fairies were considered traitors and their children considered abominations that needed to be purged. It was a prejudice brought on by war and oppression.

A pang of sadness shot through Xanthy's heart. All the more reason she should stop this oncoming war with everything she could. None of them needed any lives being robbed of their freedom just because they were not ordinary and war would only encourage that sentiment. Xanthy shook her head and sighed.

"That sucks so much, you know?" Xanthy twisted a lock of hair with her finger. "Not every human will get a chance to interact with a fairy in their lifetime like I did. They could have learned the truth that fairies are not all that hideous and that they are people, too."

If Xanthy from the beginning of the year heard her current sentiments, she would've passed out.

It's true, though. Xanthy spent her whole life believing that fairies only wanted to end humans but now that she had been to two fairy territories, not even one of them gave thought of killing a human. In fact, they seemed to acknowledge that humans existed and respected the race's boundaries, too.

June nodded as if sensing her thoughts. "It's really a privilege to be educated," he said as he sniffed with what Xanthy realized to be disdain. Did he have something against educated people? "Alas, the High Queen could care less about humans since she has her own fairy land to run."

Xanthy bobbed her head. Another item was chucked into her mental list. June knows about the High Queen not caring about humans.

But...didn't everyone know about that?

Xanthy resisted the urge to claw at her hair. Instead, she resorted to clenching her jaw to tamp down her growing frustration. She hated it that she was reduced to hanging onto every word that bled out of June's mouth just to get to know him. In fact, nothing has changed since they got together. Xanthy would ask a question that veered into June's personal life and he wouldn't answer it or change the subject completely.

It's...like talking to a wall at times and Xanthy hated every single one of it. What was really with June's past that he didn't want to talk about? Curiosity gnawed at Xanthy's gut. Part of the reason she agreed to this...thing with June was because she originally thought that once people enter into these kinds of commitments, they wouldn't be afraid to be open anymore.

Looked like it wasn't the case with June.

"You okay?" June's voice speared through Xanthy's thoughts. She looked up to find him smiling at her like everything between them was fine.

Xanthy grinned and gave a light chuckle. It's probably nothing. She had to give June enough time. "Sorry, just thinking about something," she scratched the back of her head before craning her neck to find that the forest thickened around them. She knitted her eyebrows. "Where are we?"

June jerked his chin forward where the forest opened up to a flat expanse of low-lying ground. "We're here," he urged his paulsare faster and Xanthy followed.

Xanthy's jaw dropped as the scene before her sent pangs of fear into her gut. Her throat dried up. This was...

There were no words left to describe the destruction that loomed just below the hill they were on. Peltra had been burned to the ground.