The Changeling

Chapter XXVI- Old Friends

Sophie:

I heard Muirgen's voice and I quickly forced myself to pull it together, wiping my eyes and climbing off the bed. I felt Ciardha's eyes burning into me the entire time.

I walked towards the door and hesitated, my hand reaching for the doorknob. I took a deep breath, having no idea what it would be like to speak to the one girl who knew me before I was owned here. What was the reason for everything?

Suddenly, I realized I had to know, and I opened the door to see a tear stained face. Her beautiful red hair was messy, and her blue eyes only seemed bluer now that they were rimmed with red from crying. We just stood there, staring at each other for a moment, and I quickly pulled her into a hug.

"I missed you so damn much," I breathed, sighing into the hug.

"I'm so sorry," She said between sobs.

I pulled away to look her up and down before nodding and taking her hand to lead her into the room. I became aware of Ciardha standing awkwardly in the corner of the room.

"Girl talk!" I announced very pointedly at him. He rolled his eyes dramatically but did walk out of the room.

"Sit." I demanded pointing to a chair by the fireplace. I took one opposite it, slowly easing into the seat. "You have some explaining to do," I said casually while fumbling with a corner of my dress, the same one from last night.

She sighed, "Should I just start from the beginning?" Her voice was weak from crying no doubt.

"Please do."

"Well, first of all, I was born a merrow, and I grew up in a pod outside the coast of Ireland where we met. The village we met in had always had a tight knit relationship with the Aos si, for thousands of years. The village itself was crawling with fae folk, and no human even realized. When I met you, I knew immediately you were not human, but I had no idea what you were. Mostly, I was intrigued by this dilemma and I was happy to make a new friend and have a new face around here. As you remember, I gave you a tour of the town, and I tried to point out things that would normally spark the attention of a fae person- hell, we don't have a bell in our church. There's a reason for that."

I listened to her speak, and it made sense, but I tried to maintain some level of distrust as I studied her face. She was beautiful as ever, but the eyes that usually sparkled in amusement were dulled by tears.

"I took you to the hawthorne, a bar in town that was exceptionally popular for fae folk and the like. I introduced you to Mr. Ó Foghladha and his cousin, Mr. Dobhail. Mr. Ó Foghladha is a leprechaun and Mr. Dobhail is a Clurichaun, which is actually just the leprechaun's drunk cousin. I thought you'd show any sign of being a fae, or anything at the sight of them. But you didn't. Then, Conal found you-

"Is Conal..?" I asked, cutting her off.

"No, he's human. He has no idea about anything but the legends and stories. It's too bad you have a mate, he seemed to really fancy you."

I nodded to myself, and couldn't help but feel odd and uncomfortable at the thought of another boy having any interest in me. I mean, I only saw Conal as a friend, and I gotta sort this mate shit out first.

"Anyway, it wasn't until Conal found you that I started having suspicions. I knew all the stores of changelings, but it wasn't until I heard Bébinn talking to Mr. Brannon, the town leader, and they were speaking about you, thinking you were a changeling. It was that evening after I brought champagne and you got drunk. I wanted to see if you could get drunk because human champagne would not even phase a fae most of the time, but it definitely phased you. I heard them fighting, something about you and being a changeling and Beltaine. Bébinn was insisting no one interfere with the fae folk's matters, but I think Mr. Brannon did. I wanted you to be queen just as a friend would want a friend to- but I think Mr. Brannon honestly purposely chose you as queen, to see what would happen."

Suddenly, she began to sob, her words barely audible as she did so, "And I know it seems like I purposely put you in this position but I truly care about you and when I heard you were missing and your mate appeared at Bebìnns doorstep I knew the worst had happened. And we planned to rescue you and I saw you there at the summer court, a slave for Étain I- I knew it was my fault. I was overcome with guilt, I-"

I stopped her before she could carry on, walking over to her chair and pulling her into a tight embrace.

"I believe you," I said simply. I pulled back to see her big blue eyes staring at me in surprise.

"You-you do?" she stuttered out.

"I do, for better or for worse. I need an ally around here, and I want it to be you. Muirgen, you were the most welcoming person to me in Ireland and I'll never forget that. Also, I'm tired of all this masculinity, the air is so filled with testosterone I can barely breathe."

She laughed at that and the mood changed drastically.

"So, you found yourself mate- a powerful one at that," she said with a wink.

I rolled my eyes but couldn't help but smile, pride swirling in my chest even though I didn't know why. I had no true connection towards Ciardha, but I just- I missed him. Even though he was just standing right outside the door.

"I don't even know what to think about mates- or him. People at the summer court called him the devil," I said, whispering the last part.

Muirgen rolled her eyes, "Sophie, don't tell em you don't love a bad boy."

I stared at her, horrified and shocked that she said such a thing, but I couldn't help but burst out laughing at this accusation.

"He has many stories around him, but for the most part, he's ruthless, powerful and mysterious. What's not to love? I am just surprised he has a mate..." she started, her mind wandering off. Despite my insistent need to know what the rumors were about my mate, I looked her in the eye.

"They called the council," I gushed, not even thinking before I spoke.

Her eyes went wide and pale as she stared at me in shock.

"They- they what?"

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