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“Jon! Terran found a house!” Daniel exclaimed excitedly as he entered the Tavern.
Jonathan looked up from the book he had been reading. The evening before had been a slow one so they had little to do before opening tonight.
“And this affects me how?” Jonathan asked, placing his book down.
“Because she invited us for lunch their today.”
“Us?” Jonathan asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Well… she invited me… then I asked if you could come along and she said, “I suppose so,” so technically I invited you but I don’t think that matters…” Daniel rambled.
“Joy of joys, lunch at the faery girl’s house,” Jonathan muttered, returning to his book.
Daniel sighed. “I know you two don’t get along but at least she makes an effort. Besides, the place is lovely, right at the forest’s edge. It’s a small cottage-like place, about a half hour walk out of the village.”
Daniel continued to chatter on about Terran’s new place and other such nonsense while Jon pretended to read his book while really listening to every word Daniel said.
--
Jonathan was walking along the forest’s edge, a letter to Elizabeth in hand. Daniel was still inside with Terran, but Jonathan decided he wanted to take a walk and figured it would be a good time to try and find Reid or Lilian.
“Looking for me?” a young voice said from behind Jonathan. Jonathan turned and found himself face to face with a short boy looking about 9-years-old with silver green hair and pale gold eyes. Of course, appearances can be deceiving. By this, it is simply understood that those that look like 9-year-old boys, may, in fact, be 54-year-old Elves.
“Reid!”
“Well of course. Have you been waiting long?”
Jonathan shook his head and tried to hand Reid the letter.
“All business, as always,” the Elf replied, refusing the letter. “And I figured you’d want to chat for a bit.”
“Reid, if you’ve got information, just spill. I haven’t time for your antics. If I’m too long, Daniel and Terran will start to wonder,” Jonathan replied, carefully minding his temper. Reid had the ability to really annoy Jonathan, more so than most people.
“Well, it’s about that Terran girl. But before I tell you what I know, let’s hear what you know.”
Jonathan took a deep breath and counted silently to ten. “She was trying to find a group of Fae, lost the trail and is going to wait around here for a while.”
Reid starting giggling, “Boy, oh boy, does she have you fooled!”
Jonathan glared at the Elf. “Explain.”
“She’s running from them! The Fae want to get rid of her because she’s not full blood and will never get her wings. Ha! She’s hiding out in the village until they decide she’d not worth the trouble anymore.” Reid was still giggling like a child when a loud scream from the cottage reached Jonathan’s ears.
“We’ll talk more some time later. For now, just make sure Elizabeth gets this,” he said handing Reid the letter again.
The Elf nodded, accepting the letter this time, his giggles gone. “Don’t worry, she’ll get it. But be careful around the Fae girl, she could be dangerous. Lili and I will look more into it if you’d like,” Reid said seriously.
Jonathan nodded, mumbled his thanks to the Elf and headed back to the cottage.
--
“Are you two alright?” Jonathan asked as he entered the cabin. Terran was cleaning up what was left of a glass bottle.
“Pixies,” Daniel said. “I think Terran was right, the Fae have been through the village, and I don’t think they’ve all left.”
Terran looked up at Jonathan from the floor. “I guess I screamed when the bottle dropped. It kind of startled me,” she said sheepishly.
Jonathan sighed. “I think Daniel and I should get going. We’ll have to open up the Tavern soon and it’s a half hour walk back.”
--
“See, I told you it would be too bad. Other than those Pixies, I’d say it all went pretty well,” Daniel said as he and Jonathan headed back to the tavern.
“I talked to Reid,” Jonathan murmured.
“Reid was here? Why didn’t you call me?” Unlike Jonathan, Daniel got along relatively well with the cheeky Elf.
“Terran lied,” Jonathan started.
“What?”
The whole way back, Jonathan explained what he had learned from Reid and what he thought of the whole situation.
--
Terran looked up from her book when she heard a soft knocking at her door. Cautiously she called, “Who is it?”
“It’s Lilian,” came a musical voice in response.
Terran placed her book down on the table and went to unlock the door. She opened the door to see a girl of about 17, (in actuality, more like 100 or so), with pointed ears poking through short silver green hair. “What brings you here?”
“We need to talk. Reid talked to Jonathan today,” Lilian said. Lilian, though her hair and youthful appearance were that of a typical Elf, was certainly not what most Elves looked like. Unlike the usual ethereal white complexion and pale gold eyes of most Elves, her skin was like creamy chocolate, brown and flawless, and her eyes a dark hazel flecked through with gold. “He told Jonathan you lied.”
Terran sighed and sat at her kitchen table, gesturing for Lilian to do the same. “Well, he would have found out eventually anyway, so I suppose it’s not all bad.”
Lilian sat adjacent to her friend and responded, “Terran, I’m not sure you’re grasping this. Jonathan is far less likely to trust you now that he’s discovered the truth without you revealing it yourself. He’ll be suspicious as to how you managed to anger the usually easy-going Fae!”
“Well you tell Reid or Jonathan or whoever that they merely hate me because I was born. That and the fact that I’m almost their equal, minus the fact that I'll never have wings. Which is sort of an advantage, I suppose, seeing as it makes it less complicated for me to blend in with the humans…”
“Just… be careful, okay?” Lilian said, sighing slightly.
“Yeah.”
--
“Elf!”
‘Oh damn. Not this guy again,’ Reid thought as heard the commanding voice. He turned slowly, coming face to face with the crimson-eyed man he had told himself to avoid. “What is it that you want now? I’ve got places to be.”
“You know exactly what I want,” the man replied smoothly.
“I’ve told you, unless you want all the Elves in this forest after you, leave me alone. I’m not interested in willingly being your slave,” Reid replied, thoroughly annoyed.
“Actually, what I did want to ask had very little to do with you this time.”
“Well, get on with it then.”
“The half blood, if I were to take him by force, would the Elves look into it?”
Reid thought about this briefly then responded. “Well, the Elves probably wouldn’t care all that much, but you would have to deal with Jonathan…”
The man laughed. “The wolf boy? I’d hardly consider him as threatening as a colony of Elves!”
“Fine, fine, I’m done with this,” Reid muttered, more to himself than to the man. With that, he carefully held the letter in his mouth, murmuring a quiet incantation while doing so. A moment later, a silvery green-feathered dove flew out of the trees, a letter in its beak.
“The half blood it is,” the mysterious man whispered.
--
“Jonathan?” Daniel asked, after locking the front entrance of the tavern.
“Yes?” Jonathan replied, looking over at Daniel as he wiped down the bar.
“About Terran… I just… maybe she had a reason to lie to us. I know you never trusted her, but after what happened last week, she did keep her word and not tell anyone… and I’ve gotten to know her better…and I… I think she must have had a reason for lying to us.”
Jonathan sighed, knowing Daniel was probably right. His friend may have been a bit naïve, but his instincts were often correct. “We’ll talk to her tomorrow about it, alright?”
Daniel nodded. “But don’t go to her without me. You have a tendency to lose your temper quite easily.”
“Don’t worry, I'll come by your place first thing tomorrow and then we’ll go talk to her,” Jonathan assured him.
Daniel smiled. “Alright then. I guess I'll head out for the evening. G’night Jon.”
“Sleep well, Daniel.”
--
After leaving the tavern, Daniel walked home humming a quiet tune to himself. He didn’t mind walking home alone all that much, even if he knew it was dangerous to be out there at night. He felt safe as long as he was humming or whistling a song to himself. Tonight it was a lullaby that Jonathan used to sing to Elizabeth when she was younger.
He kind of missed the Jonathan he used to know. Back then, Jonathan, though still over-protective of his sister, was a lot more easy-going. Ever since the humans here started executing the half-bloods that used to find safety in the village.
‘That’s probably why Terran came here. She knew this village used to be the safe haven for half-bloods. I know he doesn’t trust her, but she should be allowed a little privacy. Still, I wonder why she lied…’
“As the wind blows through the woods, the forest nymph does sing.”
Daniel stopped walking when he heard the voice singing. It was the lullaby he’d been humming before.
“A quiet song to keep you still, and gentle dreams she brings.” As the verse was finished, a tall man with silvery white hair stepped out from the shadows. “A boy like you should be home in bed at this hour,” the man said, his voice calming, almost musical.
“I’m not boy,” Daniel responded, a little afraid.
“No, I suppose not. That lullaby has been banned in this village, as in many others, has it not?”
“I… Yes, it has…” Daniel wasn’t sure what to make of the man. He seemed, for all purposes, harmless, but Daniel had long ago learnt not to trust appearances.
“Yet you hum it. No child of today would know that song. Unless of course, they weren’t human.”
Daniel stepped backward, away from the man; his once seemingly calming voice, now instilled a great deal of fear in him.
“Why are you backing away? I won’t hurt you. At least, not for a while.”
“I haven’t any idea what you’re talking about. I… I need to go,” Daniel managed to say before turning to run back to the tavern and Jonathan’s flat. What he didn’t expect was the man to be, once again, in front of him, barring the way. The man’s eyes, though unthreatening before, glowed a dangerous red.
“I wouldn’t try to run from me, were I you. It will only make this harder for you in the long run.”
“I… I wasn’t going to run. I merely realized I was walking in the wrong direction,” Daniel said, trying to keep his voice steady.
“That’s not what your mind said,” the man replied, grinning at Daniel.
“I… how? Why is that everyone I meet that’s not human can read my mind,” Daniel muttered, more to himself than the man in front in him. “Who are you, and what is that you want with me.” ‘Did I just say that? Wow, I guess I’m a bit braver than I’d thought.’
Still grinning, the man replied, “My name is Danté, but you’ll be calling me ‘Master' from here on out.”
With those words, Daniel felt the world around him swirl and disappear as he blacked out.