A Court Of Blood And Rays

An Expected Surprise- 19

A slight nudge in her shoulder stirred her away from her dark memory. She looked up only to meet the deep green eyes of her fae friend

Yes, you heard that right, fae friend, not Demi-fae

Apparently, all it took was one good scare for him to lose control of his glamour.

Niravi had thought it would be absolutely hilarious to scare Zilalh while he was sleeping, making me the floorboards creak and the fire roar to life on its own. The trees that night seemed to join in Niravi with her escapades.

While Zillah was searching for the cause he saw Niravi dressed in her long dark cloak that covered her face right in the middle of the room like the grim reaper.

That is all that took Zillah to scream like a little girl. In his shock, his glamour faded and Niravi saw his pointed ears, ethereal skin and long limbs that he hid for decades.

At first, she didn't realize as she was too busy laughing and crying her eyes out; but when she did she was astonished.

"You are a faerie! I should have known long ago!" She whined.

Zillah was too shocked to speak. His mouth was gaping open as he closed and opened it only to fail to speak.

At last, he choked out, "wait, you are not afraid?"

Niravi scoffed, "I spent the night in a cell speaking to a high lord, threatened by another high fae lady and had my skin burned off by three others. If I can handle that then I definitely can handle another fae who thinks he looks scary but is just a little fae who has a heart as soft as snow."

She threw her clack behind the chaise and stretched her long legs on as she closed her eyes.

Zillah was even more shocked but his heart fell more sorrow and pain than he has felt in a few years. He eyes her scarred hands.

"Faeries did that to you?" He whispered.

She hummed back in response.

"Then how can you bear to look at me?"

Niravi sighed, "like all beings that walk this world there are both good and bad. Just because faeries are more powerful does that make them crueller than humans? Powerful yes but now cruel. I have seen far more humans commit more evil than I ever thought I could.

If there are good and bad humans doesn't that mean there are good and bad faeries? I always ignored mother and father when they continued to spew their bigotry about favourites and continued to discriminate against them when for the past few centuries they have not committed crimes against us.

Why should I believe that every faerie I see is bound to send me to hell?"

Zillah was immersed in thought as he sat opposite to her.

Without any more prompt he continued his story.

"I am sixty-seven years old and I have never stepped a foot in Prythian. My mother was a high fae noble from the day court. She could have led the life that every faerie dreamed, but she hated that everything she did was controlled by her family.

So she decided that the person with who me she would love the rest of her life with would be her decision and not what the elders decided.

She fell in love with a lowborn. For years they kept it under wraps but they found out. They always do. They killed her lover and they would have killed her too in so-called "for the honour of the family" but him of course brought her enough time to run away, to go far away from Prythian-