In the Land of Fae ♔ (gxg)

9. the past

Her boots crunched along the snowy ground behind Erlin whose bare feet shuffled through it.

"Did Al say what she wanted to talk to me about?" Nyx asked the faerie who walked a few feet ahead of her, raising her voice over the snowy wind that sharply bit at her nose.

"No," Erlin yelled back at her over the whistling wind. "She never explains anything to me!"

"That makes two of us," she grumbled.

She watched his chestnut brown wings twitch, pieces of snow falling from them. She could only imagine how out of place Erlin must have felt. He was quite obviously the runt of the pack, and was apparently mostly used as a messenger or servant.

They made it past the tall, frozen willow tree and to the other side with the bigger cottages underneath the tree cabins. She continued to follow Erlin where he led her to one of the cottages' front door, immediately grabbing the doorknob and barging right in.

As they started to enter through the door, the two were immediately met with a loud and slicing, "What have I told you about knocking, you foul beast!"

Erlin immediately froze in his steps, earing perking upwards as Nyx halted to a stop right behind him. Her eyes locked onto the fae who leaned back in a wooden chair in front of a fireplace right across from the door. Another empty wooden chair sat across from it, and they were both pointing towards each other, parallel to the fire. Nyx's stomach dropped as she assumed that chair was for her.

"S-Sorry, Al—Alastair," Erlin rushed, averting from using her nickname to using her full name out of respect. 

"Don't be sorry and especially don't be ignorant," the fae snapped, her red eyes glowing from about her pale face in the dim room where the only light was the faint beam from the window and the orange glow from the fire. Her dark, large wings were spread about and cupping herself as she sat in the chair, legs crossed and elbows resting on the wooden arms. She glanced over to the girl who stood behind Erlin, her dark lips pursing. "Leave us," her velvety voice echoed.

Erlin, with his pointed ears dropping down and his mouth kept in a taut line as if he was trying not to cry, scurried away and left Nyx standing there alone at the door, eyes locked with the fire fae's.

The woman tilted her head slightly, an unreadable look on her shadowed face. Then, without breaking eye contact, she lifted her hand and smoothly twirled her fingers towards the empty chair across from her in a motion that signaled for Nyx to sit. 

Gulping down her nerves as best she could, the girl took a silent intake of breath and carefully closed the front door of the cottage that consisted of a single, large room with a few more chairs over in the corner and a table that had scrolls of paper laying messily atop it. She could assume that it was some sort of planning area. Once the door was closed, the room was even darker and quieter. The dense trees surrounding cottage and the cloudy skies about did not allot much light to come through the few windows.

Flattening the skirt of her dress nervously, Nyx removed the hood of her cloak from her head, hesitantly taking steps towards the empty chair. The nearer she came to Alastair, the brighter the fae's eyes seemed to glow. They were darker that day, but Nyx couldn't tell if it was because of the lighting and lack thereof or not. Unable to hold the fae's stare any longer, she shifted her eyes to the floor as she took a gentle and slow seat in the chair. The wood was cold against her backside, but the fire only a couple feet next to her warmed the tip of her frozen nose.

She brought her numb, nearly trembling fingertips to the button of her cloak which suddenly felt as if it were choking her. Struggling to undo the clasp due to how cold her hands were, she flickered her eyes back up to the fae who watched her intently. Her pecan hair with a glaze of mahogany rested over her shoulders and at her chest, the locks straight but thick in their visual softness. The fae wore her all-leather apparel, with the loose black shirt and tight black pants accompanied with the trademark bare feet of the fae people. Bulky silver rings sat on nearly every one of her fingers, some engraved bands, some chunky rubies, and some sparkling garnets.