Hey Everyone! 😊
Congratulations on nearly making it to the weekend! I don't know about for you, but for me it has been a very long week, and I'm really looking forward to a little break. And, so, to get that weekend started off right, I thought I'd share a little peek into Fairie. Enjoy! 😉
Excerpt from Taken by the Huntsman:
With the human, he would be patient. From what he had overheard from the Sidhe, it was clear that the Erlking valued her for some reason. Toiseach thought it would be better if he could convince her to tell the Erlking that he and his people had nothing to do with her abduction before he contacted the Huntsman. But for that, he needed her to be calm. He sat there watching her, she was such a small weak creature; it was a mystery why the Erlking would take an interest in her. At least she had stopped screaming a while ago, and her breathing seemed to be returning to normal. Eventually, he saw her peek her eyes over the edge of her knees, which she had drawn up against her and huddled behind. Her face paled even more.
Toiseach was careful to make no movement. He had positioned himself several feet away from her, hoping that would keep her from feeling threatened, and now he barely breathed. He just sat there, as still as the stone he resembled, and watched her. As time passed and he made no move, he saw her muscles start to relax fractionally. He thought that she might be receptive to some rational conversation.
Being careful to keep his voice as soft as possible and to remain still, he asked, “What is your name?” It seemed like a safe, non-threatening question.
At the sound of his voice, she tensed and her eyes went wide. She sat there, looking at him as though waiting for him to pounce.
He stayed still and listened to the silence for a few moments when it occurred to him that she might not understand him. He thought he was speaking the same human language he’d heard her address the Sidhe in, and in which the Sidhe responded. "Anglish," he thought they called it. But it had been so long since he had spoken the language; he knew that he might be speaking it incorrectly.
“Do you understand me?” he asked.
Cassie listened to the creature that looked like a cross between a rock and a bug speak to her. Its voice was gravely, like listening to stones move over each other, but its English was clear, if a bit archaic. Eventually, she realized she was either not hallucinating, that somehow all of this was real, or it was going to take longer than she’d hoped for the drugs to clear from her system. On the off chance that this was somehow real, she didn’t want to risk being rude to the monster who, for whatever reason, seemed more interested in conversing with her than in consuming her.
“Yes, I can understand you. My name is Cassie. What’s yours?”
The living boulder let out a breath and said, “My name is Toiseach; I’m king of the Goblins. I won’t hurt you and neither will any of my people. I will call the Erlking and let him know where you are and that I will return you to him."
Toiseach was relieved that the human woman seemed to be returning to her senses and that her mind didn’t seem to have suffered any permanent damage from the shock she had experienced. He was still concerned about the blood coming from the place the Sidhe’s blow had connected with her head, humans could be so fragile, but he was afraid to move closer to get a better look. She still seemed to be unsure that he truly meant it when he told her he would not harm her. But at least she was speaking to him like a reasonable being.
“What is ‘the Erlking’?” she asked.
Toiseach was surprised at the question, but answered, “He is the one whose mark you wear.”
“Mark?” Her eyes widened as she looked at herself, trying to find a mark.
“You cannot see it with your eyes, but it is obvious to any Fae. It means you are under his protection.”
"I don’t know any Erlking,” she said.
Toiseach looked at her. He knew humans often lied, but he didn’t think she was doing so; she seemed too frightened and confused. He replied, “I cannot explain that, but you do bear his mark and I will return you to him. I dare not do anything else, and you would not be safe in a Goblin hive.We eat humans.”
She looked up at that and studied him, he was careful to make no movements. Toiseach wasn’t sure sharing that bit of Goblin culture with her was a good idea. But it was true Goblins did sometimes eat humans, as did many of the Fae, and he didn’t want her trying to run away from him.
“I give you my word that I will not harm you, nor allow any of my people to harm you, but I must return you to the Erlking.”
Cassie looked at the insectile rock who called himself the Goblin king and searched for any hint that he was lying. About any of it. But she found no deception in his face. Though, that didn't mean a lot when looking into a bunch of insect eyes, she thought to herself.
Still, she didn’t see that she had much choice but to believe him at the moment. He looked fully capable of pulling her apart like a plastic doll if he wanted. The fact that he was just sitting there, looking at her and conversing with her, was a pretty good indication that he meant what he said. She didn’t see the blue-haired man and wondered if Toiseach had eaten him.
“What did you do with the blue-haired man?”
“He is restrained, but undamaged, and will also be returned to the Erlking.”
“Do you know why he kidnapped me?”
“I do not. I can offer you no explanations for the actions of the Erlking or the blue-haired Sidhe.”
“Sidhe?”
“A type of Fae.”
Cassie thought about that. “Do you mean Fae as in fairies?”
“No Fae will thank you for calling them a ‘fairy,’ but I believe that is one of the names we’ve been given in human stories. We live in the realm of Fairie, but we are Fae.”
So if all of this was real, and not just some drug-induced nightmare, Cassie was someplace called Fairie. “Are we still on Earth?”
Toiseach had maintained contact with the human world, he wanted to know if the humans ever started looking for Fairie, and if they ever came close to finding it. So he was familiar with some of what human science had discovered and what had been theorized. “Earth and Fairie share space, I believe the human scientists would call them different dimensions, but you are no longer in the human world. You are in Fairie.”
“How do I get back to Earth?”
“That is something you will have to ask the Erlking.” Toiseach was willing to be patient and reassure the human by answering some basic questions. But if the Erlking wanted her in Fairie, he would do nothing to help her leave. Besides which, now that she had knowledge of Fairie and the Fae it was against the law to return her to the human world.
“Okay, how do we talk to this Erlking?”
Want to see Cassie meet the Erlking? Go ahead and grab your copy at the link below. Happy reading! 😊
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