A/N: LAST CHAPTER!!! Then the sequel. Thanks for all the reviews:

Tad Zendol: Hahaha, I love your reviews, they're so long and make me feel humorous (ask any of my friends, I'm not funny at all). I'll try to get the sequel up as soon as I get back from my trip (I'll be back on July 6, I think, but I'm not sure. Around then).

WKOA: Yeah, Grecia's my flashback story, sorry. Anyway, Idirus is in this chapter.

Reduvis Ekkilo: Yeah, I like this one better than Falcons of Napyra too. I am on such a block in that one, it's not even funny.

Anyway, here's the chapter, and I must apologize for lack of description. I write mainly for fun, and to me, writing description is boring, so I just don't bother. As long as everyone sort of knows what the characters are like, that's fine with me, for the most part, screw the setting. Yeah, sorry about the rant. Here's the chapter.

Chapter Thirteen

Humans Can Surprise You

“I love you,” sighed Carsaion, “I love you so much. Do you love me?”

“NO!” insisted Joe for the thousandth time.

Carsaion grinned. “Oh, you’re hot when you lie. Isn’t he, Merlei?”

“Very,” she agreed, “I love both of you, and both of you love me, and you both love each other.”

Joe struggled to leave, but then realized that he was tied to a pole wearing only his boxers. Go figure, they were the ones with the little bunnies on them too.

“Oh, God,” he muttered as Merlei and Carsaion both drew nearer…

“Joseph?”

“Get away…”

“Joseph?”

“Help me! I’m being molested!”

“Joseph?”

“NO! I WILL NOT ALLOW MYSELF TO COMMIT SUCH INDECENT AND DISGUSTING ACTS WITH YOU, YOU PERVERSE AND TWISTED EXCUSE FOR A FAERIE!” he screamed. Then he realized that he was awake in bed. He blinked. “Oh, hello, your Majesty.”

Feina frowned. “I will not ask.”

“Uh, why are you here?” he inquired, sitting up, desperate to mask his embarrassment.

“There are a few questions I have,” the Queen explained, “Would you be at liberty to answer?”

Joe raised an eyebrow. “Uh… sure?”

“Excellent!” she exclaimed with a smile, “Blood type?”

“What?”

“You heard.”

Joe shrugged. “B positive.”

Feina smiled. “Perfect. Favorite color?”

“I don’t know… grey?”

“Good, good!”

Joe had to say, he was very confused.

“Any siblings?”

“No.”

“Aunts or uncles?”

“Not that I know of.”

She paused briefly. “Any skills?”

“Like what?” answered Joe, shrugging.

“What are you good at?” she rephrased.

“Not much. I’m good at math, I guess. And science. I’m kind of a computer geek.”

“I see,” replied Feina, “What is this thing you call a ‘computer’?”

Joe opened his mouth to reply, but Feina interrupted him. “Well, we do not have them here, so I suppose it does not matter. What is your astrological sign?”

“Taurus,” he answered, not seeing the point of this one at all.

Feina shrugged. “Could work, I suppose. Thank you, Joseph.”

“Uh… you’re welcome… I guess…”

The Queen grinned. “You are wondering what is going on, are you not?”

“Yeah,” replied Joe automatically.

“Are you still having headaches?”

“Uh-huh…”

“Does your back still hurt?”

“Sort of…”

He watched impatiently as she surveyed him. “You look so much like your mother,” she told him, “but I can see in you someone who is not her… your father, perhaps?”

Joe had no reply to this. All he knew about his father was that he was a few years older than his mother had been and a good-for-nothing criminal. Eli had said something about armed robbery, but after all this, who could trust Eli?

“Joseph,” Feina addressed him, “Did Eli tell you how your mother died?”

He nodded. “You know what a car is, right? There was a crash- she was hit by a drunk driver.”

“Yes. Well, that is lie. Your mother did not die in a car crash; your father killed her.”

“What?”

Feina nodded. “You heard.”

“That’s not possible,” muttered Joe under his breath, “They found both cars… and the driver…”

“A conspiracy,” Feina insisted, “If you remember, your grandfather used to be quite wealthy, did he not? When you were younger?”

“He said the economy recessed. I didn’t know what that meant then.”

“He paid for it with practically all of his wealth,” she continued, “He set you up, Joseph- he crashed into her vehicle with one he had bought, and hired an actor to play the drunk. The scam cost him a fortune.”

Joe shook his head in disbelief. “Why would he do that?”

Sighing, Feina sat down on the foot of the bed. “I am not about to lie to you; you are the only thing the man has. He knew that if you knew, you would go looking for your father, bent on revenge. He never wanted that- he wanted you to stay with him forever. His love for you is practically an obsession, but Humans are like that in their old age- they forget how to let go.

“We Faeries are different- when we are about to Die, we know our Time is almost up. When something must be done, we know it cannot be resisted. Humans were once like that, but have since become blind to the force of Time- to the value of youth and the meaning of Life.”

She reached to his face and tucked a stray lock of brown-black hair behind his ear. “You are a respectable young man, Joseph Shepherd. You are harsh, stubborn, and can be rather rude, but your heart is in the right place. I know you can keep a secret.”

“Uh… thank you, your Highness,” Joe acknowledged in an undertone, “What’s this secret?”

“You must not tell Azara or any of my other daughters,” she ordered.

He nodded. “I promise.”

Feina sighed. “Joseph… my Time is running out. Soon, I will have passed on, and Merlei and Carsaion will rule the Faerie World. I love my daughter very much, but she is not sincere, and far more than selfish. And as for Carsaion… well, he is not as he seems. I must trust Arlan to guide them- otherwise, there will be a new age, one of scarcity, chaos, and war.”

She paused, biting at her lip. “There is to be an assembly tonight- I do advice you to attend. Some answers may be revealed to you then.”

Someone knocked on the door.

“Enter,” Feina acknowledged.

It was Idirus, the shy young Faerie Joe had encountered two days earlier.

“Excuse me, your Majesty,” she mumbled in a woeful, quiet voice, “Lord Arlan would like to speak to you in the Throne Room.”

“I must go now,” she told him, “The assembly will taking place in the Stone Chamber. Remember to be there- or you may find yourself uninformed at a critical moment.”

-

“No,” insisted Govan once again, “I was told that you were not to enter and I do not plan on allowing you to do so.”

Patroius smiled. “Can I interest you in a gold necklace? For your mother, perhaps, or a woman you fancy? It is quite valuable.”

“I will not accept your bribery, my Lord. You are not welcome.”

“Well, isn’t that a pity!” laughed Patroius.

Being dal’Arei, Patroius was a far more accomplished magician than the young guard and was able to knock him unconscious with a spell before he even knew what was happening. Grinning, Patroius casually stepped over Govan’s unconscious form and into the palace. This was one meeting he was not about to miss.

-

“This is the entire Faerie Court?” asked Joe in an undertone as soon as he and Azara entered the Stone Chamber, a circular dungeon-turned-auditorium directly below the Throne Room.

Azara nodded. “Excluding Patroius.”

Apart from Feina and Patroius, there were eight noble Faeries that made up the Court- Lord Plador, Lady Tuana, Lady Aerona, and Azara’s paternal grandmother, Lady Yoaka, on the dal’Arei side and, representing the del’Erai, Lord Anvar, Lord Rolan, Lady Eliane and Lord Nimvus, as well as several higher nobles of neither great line. Each of them, with the usual exception of highly independent Lady Eliane, had brought a servant, each of which stood near the back with Feina’s most trusted employees- Aod the librarian, Eseno the maid, Janelik the butler, Layr, Cielle’s tutor, Celdwin the charioteer, and little Idirus.

Sighing, Azara led Joe to the row of small thrones behind Feina’s large one, where Nareia, Cielle, Blake, George, Merlei, and Carsaion were already seated. She let Joe have the end and took the seat between him and Nareia.

“Erbadin’s bane, it’s quiet in here,” her sister whispered, “You would think that someone had died.”

Azara glanced down at the ground. “Yes, it is odd, isn’t it?”

“Where is Lord Arlan?” asked Nareia after quickly scanning the room.

“He is a busy man,” Azara replied, “He cannot be everywhere.”

Meanwhile, Blake and Cielle seemed to be involved in a remotely interesting conversation a few seats down.

“See that door over there?” began Cielle, pointing to the back of the chamber, “In there, there’s a cauldron full of meiadolai dust.”

“What’s that?” asked Blake.

“It’s this magic dust that reveals the signs of del’Erai and dal’Arei. If you’re either, the symbol glows on your forehead, red for del’Erai, blue for dal’Arei. But if you’re not, it kills you.”

Blake choked. “Pleasant.”

Nareia gently rubbed his arm. “Don’t worry; they won’t bother testing you when you don’t claim to be either.”

Even further down, Carsaion seemed to be attempting to amuse Merlei.

“It’s kind of funny, actually,” he was telling her, “My father never actually knew my mother’s name. She traveled in the Faerie World under the name of Aspen.”

Merlei was less than impressed. “Good for her.”

Azara felt a tap on her knee.

“Idirus?” she addressed the girl, “What is it?”

The young servant didn’t reply.

“Idirus? Please tell me.”

Those large red eyes slowly looked up as the child began to recite:

Grey winged stranger,

Wayward guise,

Does not know,

Where danger lies,

Dust of old and sign anew,

Eight tens less a century,

Then subtract two.

Bright young Princess,

Sorrow knocks,

True love hidden,

Bound by locks,

Listen now and listen well,

Listen, listen,

Time will tell.

Behold the imposter,

Masked deception,

Observe the truth,

In recognition,

Beneath boy’s skin,

She knows what lies,

There he is- the man within.

She smiled as soon as the nonsense stopped flowing from Idirus’s small mouth. “That’s beautiful, Idirus. Did you make it up yourself?”

The girl took a minute to glance around the room before replying. “You weren’t listening.”

“Idirus-”

Too late- she was once again on the other side of the room with the other servants. Azara sighed; she had too much to think about right now. She closed her eyes, rested her head on Joe’s shoulder, and began to drift to sleep.

-

“Esteemed nobles of the Faerie Court,” began Feina as she stood, “Welcome to the Stone Chamber.”

Nareia took this as her cue to elbow the sleeping Azara. “Wake up!” she hissed.

Azara slowly opened her eyes. “Hmm?”

“I regret to announce that Lord Arlan is unable to be with us today,” the Queen continued, “Unfortunately, he has some very important matters to attend to. Now, we must discuss the marriage of my daughter, Princess Merlei, to Prince Carsaion. As you all know, the wedding will take place exactly one month from today.”

Joe sank down in his seat. Nareia couldn’t blame him- she saw no reason why so many people had to be there. Feina, Merlei, and Carsaion were really the only ones this applied to.

“The feast must be spectacular,” piped up Lord Plador, a slightly pudgy Fire Faerie of about Feina’s age with a bushy red beard and a hearty laugh. He was a dal’Arei male, like Patroius and Carsaion, but he already had a wife, and, as such, was not available to marry Merlei (although she likely would not have wanted him anyway).

Feina smiled. “I believe I will put you in charge of food, Lord Plador, as long as Lady Aerona and myself decorate.”

Plador nodded. Lady Aerona, a young blue-haired Water Faerie of impeccable taste, nodded. “It would be an honor, your Highness.”

Flowers, dresses, guests… Nareia didn’t bother to pay attention. All she knew was that, one of the bridesmaids, she was to wear Dark colors- not suitable, considering she was a Water Faerie. Well, she could wear black, she supposed, as long there was little or no purple. Azara to, being a Fire Faerie. The real challenge would be making Cielle, a Wind Faerie, look decent… and of course, Merlei had to wear white. She would look awful in it; Nareia had to stifle a small laugh.

“Of course, there is one small surprise which none of you were expecting,” added her mother after once again confirming the date of the marriage, “This has to do with not the wedding, but the groom himself.”

Nareia grinned. She knew it. She had known it since the moment she had first met Carsaion. Everyone had, she was sure of it. Why on earth did her mother feel the need to inform everyone that Carsaion preferred men? Hadn’t they figured it out for themselves already?

“Prince Carsaion is-”

“Not him!”

The interrupting voice belonged to none other than Lord Patroius.

“What are you doing here?” demanded Layr, “I thought Lord Arlan told the guards to keep you out!”

Patroius laughed evilly. “They tried to. Unfortunately, they were no match for me. But what truly amazes me is how any of you could ever think that bumbling idiot of an imposter was ever my son.”

Carsaion opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, Patroius had sent a powerful spell his way. He flew from his seat, engulfed in a violet glow, to the center of the floor. He hit the ground, all consciousness lost, revealed to be in actuality…

“Lord Arlan?” gasped Cielle in disbelief.

“Yes, Princess!” cackled Patroius, “It is Arlan, my fool of a younger brother! You do not have your foul claws on Carsaion, Feina- I will find him before you will, as I knew I would!”

Joe yawned. “Who really cares?”

“Joey…” sighed Cielle, “Not now…”

“Shut it!” he snapped, “Cielle, you’re a spoilt, bratty Princess and a complete idiot, will you just let me talk?”

Her lower lip quivering, Cielle buried her face in George’s shoulder, almost assuredly crying. Blake sighed and Nareia shot Joe a sharp glare. As she had told him, only she was allowed to be mean to Cielle.

“Joe!” Azara snapped.

“Sorry,” he apologized insincerely, “Anyway, we all know you’re this big evil bad guy who wants to be King of the Faerie World, but why? Why are you evil? Why do you want to rule the world? Did you have a bad childhood or something? Were you a four thousand-year-old virgin who could only get Humans? This doesn’t make any sense at all!”

“Silence, Human!” Patroius commanded.

Joe, however, chose not to listen. “You know what I think? I think your first time with Carsaion’s mom was your first time ever. I don’t think you ever did it again after you and her broke it off. You’re just a pathetic, demonic, gothic evil dude who has serious trouble getting laid! Yep, that’s you. One woman, one kid, one trillion slow-”

He was cut off by Patroius racing to his side and grabbing him by the shirt collar.

“I warned you; now it is time to permanently shut those pretty little eyes of yours!”

Azara leapt to her feet. “No! My Lord, please-”

“Azara…” choked Joe, “Don’t…”

Patroius promptly cuffed Azara across the face with his free hand. “Stay out of my way, girl!”

The Court gasped in horror as Patroius dragged Joe to the back room, one used for the brewing of complex and potentially dangerous potions that only Lord Arlan would ever dream of attempting, dangerous to all commoners because of the vaporous meiadolai dust. This was the end for Joseph Shepherd, Nareia knew it- they hadn’t been friends, but nonetheless, she couldn’t help but feel somewhat queasy.

Anxiously, the court sat, hardly breathing as they waited for the green glow of the dust as it destroyed its young otherworldly victim. At last, the light emerged, but instead of the toxic celadon, it was… blue?

A twisted smile playing on his face, Patroius emerged from the room, still clutching Joe’s limp form.

“Well, well, well,” he muttered, “Feina and Arlan think they are so clever, but Patroius outsmarts them each time. They have something I want, and they try to hide it, but I am the master treasure hunter.”

He conjured up a small cloud of meiadolai dust. Nareia felt her jaw drop. Everyone in the room, save for Feina and Azara, gaped at the glowing blue dal’Arei that had appeared on Joe’s forehead.

“Behold!” Patroius barked, “My son, Carsaion Eihairos a’Rohi dal’Arei.”

He cast the unconscious boy to the ground as the dust faded. Breathing heavily, Azara glanced at her mother. Feina nodded, and Nareia watched as her sister rushed to the side of the fallen Human- Half Faerie, she corrected herself.

Patroius turned to Merlei. “Look at him, my dear. He is young and impulsive, as well as brash and harsh of mouth. He would make neither a good husband nor a good ruler- I must advise you not to take his hand.”

Merlei nodded. “I do not wish to.”

“But you will,” Feina insisted, “Leave this place, Patroius.”

“No!” he argued, “Not without him.”

“He is going nowhere with you,” snarled the Queen.

“Then say that she will be my wife.”

Feina remained unmoved. “Never.”

Patroius scowled, glancing around the room at the various members of the Faerie Court, each one prepared to fire off a spell should he make one wrong move. Finally, he promised, “You will regret this.”

And with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.

-

There were eight of them sitting in Joe’s bedchamber as he lay asleep on the bed. Lady Feina was there, as well as Lord Arlan and Merlei. Nareia and Cielle had shown up, Blake and George accompanying them. Azara, of course, had been there as long has Joe himself had.

“Mother,” she addressed Feina as she stroked the face of her comatose lover, “Lord Arlan… you explain. I am in no state to.”

“I know,” Arlan agreed, “Here is the complete story as I know it and have recorded in a document of mine that is found in the Arlan File. About nineteen years ago, I was in the Human World doing a favor to Lady Feina, and it so happened that this favor had landed me on a Human ship known as a cruise. One day, I slipped on the wet floor- who cleans the floor of a ship, for goodness’ sake, especially when many of those on it are not sailors, but immaculate wealthy Humans who never get their shoes dirty?- and toppled over the railing into the ocean. Now, being an Earth Faerie, I do not swim very well, but I was fortunate to have been saved by a young Human who had dived in after me. Her name was Deborah Shepherd, and she had been vacationing with her fiancé.

“We became friends over the course of our voyage and I found myself falling in love with her. When we docked in the islands known as Hawaii, her fiancé left her for another woman and I took her to the Faerie World with me, as she was quite keen on going and needed to get her mind off of things. I eventually took her to my family’s ancestral home by the Lake of Rohavil, where she met and fell in love with my older brother, Patroius. She told him that her name was Aspen and that she was a Half Faerie searching to have her wings and antennae released, and the two of them became engaged in an epic romance, resulting in the conception of this child lying here.

“When they discovered her pregnancy, Patroius rushed her to the Mist Pool in the Sunless Forest, vowing to marry her as soon as she had been released. But alas, she was not, as she was not Half Faerie she claimed to be, but a Human.

“So Patroius abandoned her, taking her back to the Human World and to the house of her father, only returning for the birth of his son. He named him Carsaion. She gave him a Human name- Joseph Shepherd. They fought briefly over custody of the child, Deborah eventually winning because of my intervention. For this, coupled with my strong allegiance to Feina, I was disowned by my brother and the dal’Arei.

“For eight years, he left her alone, until he finally decided to take back the offspring that he felt rightfully belonged in his possession. He caught his former lover on her way back from work, and they argued. Eventually, they came to blows, and with a spell, he killed her.”

Sighing, Arlan glanced at Joe and Azara. “And now that Carsaion has at last come to this World, Patroius will not rest until he has him in his clutches, although for what purpose, we do not know. He would gain the most from killing him, which is what we believe he is planning, but we could be underestimating his fatherly nature.”

“I don’t think you are,” Nareia muttered under her breath, “There’s no good in Patroius. He’s pure evil.”

“An oxymoron,” hissed Merlei, “and a lie. Patroius may be harsh at times, but there is no such thing as pure evil. There is only pure unhappiness, which is what you condemn me to if you wed me to this Human. If you want to know what I think, let Azara have her half-breed Prince and I will have the Lord that is left.”

Feina stood. “I must do as I see fit for the good of this World. To the both of you, I apologize.”

She then dismissed herself, followed closely by Arlan.

“Come on, George,” urged Cielle, “Let’s go.”

George got up. “Coming, Blake? Nareia?”

Slowly, they filed out, Nareia in the rear and turning back in the doorway.

“This must be hard on you,” she told Azara.

Azara nodded. “It is. I knew it; Lord Arlan told me, but…”

“You don’t have to say,” Nareia insisted, “I know. You love him. You can’t help it.”

Sighing, Azara closed her eyes. “Exactly.”

Sending her what was supposed to be a reassuring smile, Nareia left, her pace quickening to catch up with Blake and the others.

Azara leaned over Joe’s face, gently brushing her lips against his. “I told you we could never be. You thought it was because you were not a Faerie. You were wrong- it was practically the opposite. We cannot be together because you are dal’Arei.”

Kissing him once more, she left the room after her mother, sisters, and friends, closing the door firmly behind her and leaving the unsuspecting Prince to dreams of a World in which he was who he had always believed himself to be.

How will Joe react to his new identity?

Will he and Azara learn to cope with their now ill-fated romance?

Will Nareia succeed in turning Blake into a Faerie?

Will George admit to his feelings for Cielle?

And what about Merlei…?

All this and more in the next installment ofTales from the Faerie Court.

A/N: Thank you all for reading and reviewing. I await coming back from my trip to an inbox full of reviews... I will start the sequel immediately after I get back. So long for now, but... I shall return! Gwahahahaha... GWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! (chokes on gum) Blech! Okay, I'm good.