Chapter 11: Wrongly Accused

A few moments seemed to be a few hours to the fairy, as he stared incomprehensibly at the door and listened to the other rebels run up the stairs and out of the castle. On the inside, he felt a little betrayed, but mostly he felt terrified. Mostly because the guards were going to be on their way down momentarily to check on the prisoners, and nobody would be there but him; the other part of him was afraid of what was going to happen to him when he got back to the rebels' base.

That was, if he got back.

Finally, he heard a pair of footsteps--footsteps that sounded familiar. He was hopeful that it was somebody coming back to save him. Of course, the fairy wasn't ever really lucky, so he wasn't too shocked when the door flung open and smacked him in the face, knocking him back into the wall and knocking him out.

"What do you mean, gone?!" Lore snarled as he stormed into the room.

"The prisoners escaped!" Agro shot back, annoyed. "The rebels busted in, beat up a bunch of your pathetic guards, and ran out with the prisoners!"

"Why didn't you idiots stop them?!"

"Because they were gone by the time we were informed that they were here," Marcus answered in a rather snarky fashion. "I told you those guys weren't fit to guard their own belongings, let alone your precious fairy bait!"

"That's enough out of both of you!" Lore barked, causing the two guards to back down slightly. He groaned loudly, knowing that it was his ass that was going to be in the spit for this, and turned back to the empty dungeon in annoyance. He was about to open his mouth to bark some more orders at the two knights when his eyes caught sight of something green and glowing in the corner. Curious, he made his way toward it, kneeled down, and picked it up.

"What is it?" Agro immediately demanded, stepping up. "What did they leave?"

Lore could only smile a wide, almost demented grin. "Boys," he informed, getting up and turning toward them, "we've got a fairy."

Agro looked excited, but Marcus had a much more cautionary expression on his face. "Um, Lore," he began, somewhat uneasily, "it looks dead."

"It's breathing," Lore replied quickly, more or less ignoring the comment. "Come on; we must show the king!"

***

Slowly, almost painfully slowly, Flit blinked his emerald green eyes open. Before even looking around, he knew he'd been moved; instead of laying on the cold, hard ground, he was now in a cushy bed; also, instead of looking at a dark, stone ceiling, he was looking through thin metal bars at...well, a stone ceiling, but it was the bars that he was concerned with.

He tried to move, but felt that incredible pain shot through his body at multiple identifiable points whenever he did, and decided that moving definitely was not in the question at the moment. Instead, he turned his head from side to side to get a good look at his surroundings.

The room was large and round, filled with alchemical equipment on assorted tables. There was a window on the far side of the room, and a telescope was perched near it. Assuming that he was in the observatory, Flit turned his attention to his most immediate surroundings. It was a bird cage with a tiny, tiny pillow put in it to act as a bed (and, he had to admit, it was working) and a box of matches to serve as a table. He was curious as to whether or not there were matches left in the box, but didn't have long to dwell upon that thought, as the door to the room flew open.

"Now get your ass in there and make sure he's still alive! You know it must be alive for this to work!" The door slammed after the person shouted.

Flit wasn't sure he wanted to know who was coming in to check on him; after all, what human could heal a fairy?

"Oh, Flit, you're awake!"

The fairy didn't need to think twice before he recognized that high-pitched, ungodly obnoxious, swooning voice. He hardly had time to brace himself, however, before he was tackled by a certain skeleton from his closet.

"I've missed you so much!"

"That's great, Alana, really..." Flit managed to choke out from under the pixie. "You're murdering me, can you get off?"

"Oh! I'm sorry!" she shrieked, jumping back. "I'm so sorry, are you alright?"

"I can't move, my brain feels like it's going to explode, and I'm stuck in a bird cage in a castle where everybody's after my blood." The sarcasm was difficult to mistake. "I'm just fine and dandy, really."

"You poor thing," she murmured, fluttering over to the box of what had once been matches, pulling it open. Flit watched as the pale blue creature bend over the box and dug around for something; her short, dark blue dress hardly covered any of her body, and her translucent robin's-egg-blue wings opened and closed slowly in order to help her balance. Finally finding the object for which she had been seeking, the pixie got up and made her way back over to Flit's bedside. Her deep sapphire irises were covered by her long, similarly-shaded, flowing hair, and sparkles seemed to just come off of her body (which, Flit reminded himself, they did--that's what pixie dust was. Not quite so glamorous as myths proclaimed, but true nevertheless).

"Now here, take this," she instructed politely, pouring a liquid into a glass and handing it to him. "It's for the pain."

Flit just stared at her.

"Oh, right, that whole moving thing still hurts." Smiling inappropriately, she tilted Flit's head back and poured the liquid down his throat. "That should take effect soon. So," she continued, way too happily, as she sat down on the floor of the cage, "how have you been since you left?"

"Fine," he answered vaguely. "Until I got caught here."

Alana tisked a few times as she stood up. "I want to hear the whole story after your nap."

Flit immediately turned his attention to where Alana was standing. "what do you mean, 'nap'?"

"Oh, that medicine makes you sleep, too," she informed lightly as she fluttered off.

"Get back here!" he demanded. "I'm...not through...with..." His words slowed to a stop as the potion seeped into his system and knocked him out again.

***

I think...I dreamed.

It was...I think it was back in Avalon. That was the day everything in my life just went to hell. And to think it started off so well...

Alexiel woke me up that morning. I remember her well. She was gorgeous--everyone said she was the prettiest of all the fairies. I know I certainly thought so. Her hair was a gorgeous amber color, flowing and silky down to her hips. Only a few shades lighter, her skin was velvety and supple, clothed in the finest amethyst silks and accented by golden bangles on her wrists and ankles. But I think I loved her eyes the most--a brilliant shade of heliotrope that reflected the sunlight like a thousand crystals. She was stunning, and she was mine.

That morning, she seemed so excited. She'd discovered something fascinating, something that tantalized her. "Come, I want to show you," she whispered into my lightly tapered ear; her warm breath hardly carried the words from her soft, pink lips. It was early, and I was tired, but I went anyway. She wanted me to, and who was I to refuse?

She led me through the forest, farther than I usually went. I didn't think much about it--after all, I was still half asleep, so I frankly didn't care. It wasn't until I could see out of the forest that I became worried. I turned to Alexiel to assure that we weren't going to leave when she stopped me.

"Look." Her velvety voice oozed over me, and I followed her purple eyes to the source of her excitement. It was the first human I'd ever seen, but sadly, not the last. He seemed to be a bit emaciated and pale, almost looking like a vampire with his dark hair and sunken eyes. At first, we both thought he was asleep in that meadow, but we were both horribly wrong.

"It's a human," I murmured, fascinated. "How did one find its way here?"

Alexiel just shook her head. "I don't know, but how interesting! I want to go look at it."

"No, Alexiel, you can't," I replied sternly, moving between her and the supposedly sleeping human. "It's too dangerous, especially for you."

She just gave me a look, and I melted on the inside. I put myself back together quickly enough to put out another forceful, "no," before she shrieked and gestured behind me. I made a motion to turn around, and she hurtled me to the side. I was able to catch a glimpse of what I later discovered was the human.

After a few moments, I managed to struggle out of the brush from where I'd been thrown. And when I saw what had happened, I wished I hadn't.

Blood was splattered all over the plants and grass by where Alexiel had been floating, and the human had blood pouring from its mouth and all over its hands. What was left of Alexiel's body was thrown onto the ground a few feet from me. I was physically ill, and nearly threw up because of it. That vile human, pleased with its blood gorge, happily sauntered of to the edge of the forest, where I lost sight of him. I knew he'd get his.

There's an old adage, among the fairy elders, that said that if any creature spilled the blood of a fairy within the confides of the forest, he would die upon leaving the forest. The elders never seem to be wrong, so I believed that the human would be dead by the time I moved close enough to see it. And I didn't care.

I shot over to where Alexiel lay, and picked her up, caressing her in my arms. There was a part of me that knew she was dead, but there was also a part of me that didn't even know it and refused to believe it.

I think I screamed.

I don't remember what happened next. All I could think about was Alexiel; I don't even know how long the trial lasted. The only thing I could remember was the last thing that they said to me before I left the forest.

"A jury of your peers has found you guilty of the crimes of treason against the state and regicide. Your punishment is banishment from the forest for all eternity."

I couldn't even defend myself. There was nothing I could even say. I was empty inside, hollow, dead. I think I still am, but I don't know anymore. I've adjusted well enough, but sometimes I still feel this way.

After being expelled from the forest, I traveled for days on end. I must have gone an incredible distance, because I arrived at a human city. My body collapsed on me just outside of a pixie hollow.

Alana was the one who had nursed me back to health. Even then, I had realized that she loved me, but I couldn't even begin to think about returning the affection.

I think I cried then.

And I couldn't take it anymore. I needed a new start, a goal, a purpose. There was nothing for me among the pixies--I would have just wallowed in self-hatred; they reminded me so much of Avalon. One day, though, I was lucky enough to be fluttering about the market square, outside of Sir Lawrence's, on the same day as some of the rebels. I think it was Phoenix, but I don't know; it was long enough ago that I've wiped it from my memory.

At any rate, he brought me back to the rebels, and Damon put me to work—

***

"Flit! Flit! Are you alright?"

The fairy shot up in his makeshift bed, flicking his attention around the room until it landed on the origin of the voice. "What is it, Alana?"

"You were shrieking something horrible in your sleep," she murmured. "Something about Alexiel..."

Flit sighed, turning away from Alana. "It's nothing; don't worry about it."

"If you say so..."

The door to the observatory opened, allowing the king's men to enter. Flit knew each of them by name, but his lack of regard for them (as well as his dwindling thoughts on Alexiel) kept him from even paying attention.

"Flitterworth Florin," one of them began, sounding overly authoritative. "The king wishes to have a word with you."

"Yeah, I bet," Flit grumbled to himself, instinctively wrapping his hands around his neck.

"He wishes to discuss the mythology surrounding your race," another continued.

"Sounds like fun."

"We will return for you as soon as you are well."

"I'm never well; I'm sick in the head."

"Physically well," a third amended.

"Well, he is physically well," Alana informed mildly.

"Alana!"

"I'm sorry!"

"We shall return for you later," the first decided, probably motioning for the others to leave. "Make sure you are well." With that, the door slammed shut.

"Alana."

"...Yes?"

"I fucking hate you."