Everyone seemed to hold their breath as they took in what was before them. The man and the woman were both extraordinary in their way, their beauty putting shame to our appearances. Faeries. They had to be faeries. No human could look like that.
"Get out."
The words blurted out from my mouth before I could even register it. It sounded strong, no hint of a waver detected. All heads turned to me, five pairs of eyes all looking at me. My eyes remained pinned on the two faeries.
"I said get out."
"Or what, human?" the woman spat out, her sapphire eyes locking on mine.
Sapphire eyes.
I froze. The fairy-tale meadow. The doe. The sapphire eyes I caught spying on me. It all came crashing down as rage overcame me and I checked my grip, aiming for the woman's heart. Her mocking smirk never faltered even though she was in a life or death situation. It was as though she knew something else that I didn't and found it very amusing at my attempt to kill her. The man had a smirk playing on his lips as well, the streaks of gold in his chocolate-brown hair made him look as though he had a halo.
"Or what, human?" the woman repeated, her voice sending tingles up my spine. It was like a siren's call, so melodic and angelic that it would make you beg to hear her voice again. But I knew better to fall for her spell. Who knows what the faeries would do to you as their pets.
"This." The feather fletching of the arrow brushed my cheek as it flew straight towards the woman's heart. Her eyes widened a little, creating a perfect arch of her brows before she gave a sly smile and ducked. I watched horror-struck as the arrow flew for the man's chest instead, but he stood there unruffled, unimpressed. For when I thought the arrow had killed him, I watched as he snatched it from mid-air, catching it between two fingers, snapping it in the process. I stumbled back, shocked. These were faeries, not humans, they were heartless murderers.
"Enough of these silly games. We have real matters to discuss."
The two parts of my arrow clattered onto the ground as he dropped it to the side. I couldn't move. I had forgotten how powerful the faeries were. They could kill you with just a snap of their fingers.
I dared a glance over my shoulder. Theodore had his mouth open in mid-scream while father was bowing before them, muttering some strange words which were too low for me to decipher. Alistair continued standing tall in front of his brother and father, wielding my hunting blade before him. The man just smirked at the scene before him, knowing he could take us all down in just under a second.
Stupidly, I took another step towards the faeries, keeping the table between us. My bow was just a step ahead of me from where I had dropped it, but the faeries were standing in front of it now. This is it. We are doomed.
"P-please," my father babbled from behind me, failing to find it in himself to come to my side. "Whatever we have done, we did so unknowingly and—"
"W-w-we didn't kill anyone," Theodore added, choking slightly on his sobs, his arms raised above his head, as though that gesture would protect him from them.
I snatched an arrow from my quiver, preparing myself to throw it if I needed to. "Get out," I snapped at them, pulling my arm holding the arrow behind me, ready to hurl it. "Get out and begone." With my trembling hands, I would be lucky to even hit one of them, much less their hearts. A knife—I would take a damned dinner knife if it were available. It had a much better grip.
The male faerie chuckled at my response, his laugh so bitter that it seemed as though he didn't want to be here at all.
"Fools, one of you have broken the Covenant of Peace! It is only right you face the consequences now, or risk war between the faeries and humans again. Who broke it is all I ask." The man stalked forward, setting a hand on the dining table, inches away from the doe's carcass. His face was stern, yet I couldn't help but ogle his face. So clean and perfect. Chiseled face, nice tan skin, full juicy lips, and those eyes, those beautiful golden amber eyes which looked like dancing flames.
I dared another step forward as the man's eyes flicked to me, watching me come closer. My voice was surprisingly even as I challenged, "What do you mean?"
He growled, low and vicious. "Someone crossed the border. Someone crossed into the faerie lands of Asteria," he said. My heart stumbled a beat. The wrath in his voice lingered in my ears as he said those words—it was perhaps even traced with pity.
I kept my chin up. "Crossed the border?"
"Yes, the invisible border that separates the human lands from the faerie ones. The border in which gives off a thick, metallic stench," he snarled in response. He knew. He knew that I was hiding something. He suspects that I am the one who crossed the border.
"If the person mistakenly crossed the border," I said as calmly as I could, "what payment could we offer in exchange?" I stepped on my foot to make sure this wasn't all just a nightmare, and I would wake up by the fire, exhausted from my day of hunting in the forest.
The woman let out a hiss of what could be a sour laugh. She pushed off from where she was leaning on the wall by the entrance to walk up to me, stopping about a foot away from me. Up close, her skin radiated warmth, the heat in which you would find on a perfect summer afternoon. It was so intense that I started to sweat. "The payment you must offer girl is the one demanded by the Covenant of Peace between our realms."
"For crossing just a measly border?" I retorted, and my brother murmured my name in warning.
The man whirled to me. "Just answer our question. Who crossed the border?"
I stared into those amber eyes. "I did."
"Liar. Surely you are lying just to protect your family."
"No. I crossed the border while I was hunting. I crossed the border. Not them, me," I repeated.
The woman who had been assessing me said to the man, "She's not lying."
The male faerie looked at me with interest and gave a broad grin, showing off his pearly white teeth. I slid my gaze to my family for support, but they were too busy staring helplessly at the faeries to bother about me. With a sudden recognition, it all came slamming down on me. This is why the grass looked greener, flowers and plants looked more vibrant and there were cloudless skies. And immediately I knew, an uncoiling clarity raining down on me. Alistair would buy time for Theodore to run. He wouldn't care about father though, but he would go down swinging if it meant Theodore, the gentle heart, the warm brother had a chance to escape.
It was that unexpected flash of understanding that had me responding to the faeries. "What is the payment the Covenant of Peace requires?"
The man's eyes did not leave my face as he said, "A life. Any illegal crossing of the realms are to be paid by a soul from the rival's lands in return."
Theodore had quieted his weeping while Father continued begging. My knees quaked. I couldn't escape this. Couldn't outrun this, couldn't even try to escape as the female faerie had returned to blocking the door. If fate had decided this to be my future, so be it. "Please, do it outside," I whispered, my voice trembling. "N-n-not ... here." Not when my family would be forced to watch me shredded into literal bloody ribbons.
The male faerie huffed a twisted laugh. "Willing to accept your fate that easily?" When I just stared at him confused, he said, "I'll give you credit on having the nerve to accept your fate so quickly. You see human, there is an option in this payment. Asteria must claim your soul in some way, either in death or living in their rival's land until the day you die. As both of us are representatives from the immortal land, I could shred you to bits, or you can live out the remainder of your precious little life in Asteria. Your choice."
I blinked, making sure I heard everything correctly. "What?"
The woman rolled her eyes, as if I was as stupid as a hog, "You can either get gutted tonight or live your life in the immortal lands of Asteria forever."
"We'll give you some time to make your decision. Tomorrow at twilight, I would be expecting an answer from you and if you do agree to live in Asteria, well, we would be leaving tomorrow. So use this time to say your farewells and choose wisely before we meet here again, " the male faerie said quietly—almost reluctantly.
"Goodbye for now," the woman chirped, giving a wink to my brothers before disappearing in a flash of bright light.
"Remember, I will be expecting your answer on twilight tomorrow. Don't be late or else there would be new consequences." The faerie looked at me for the last time before disappearing in the same manner, this time even brighter.
I released a tight breath I didn't know I was holding as I slumped onto the ground, burying my head in my hands. The male faerie's eyes were the only thing I could see, lingering on the backs of my eyelids.
Remember.
. ____________________ .
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