In the Land of Fae 2: Return to Ice ♔ (gxg)

3. violent

The chair wobbled beneath her feet as she hoisted herself up onto it.

She had let her hair down since the wedding, and her makeup had been smeared by her tears. She sniffled as she very carefully picked up the heavy portrait, twisting herself back around and holding it up in front of her. She was careful to line the frame up with the nails she had hammered into the wall. Very gently, she placed the portrait against the wall and adjusted it, making sure it would hang on its own before slowly removing her hands from it.

A dark figure came swooping into the room, and she turned her head to see Alastair, who looked equally as startled to see her.

Her red eyes looked the girl up and down from where she stood on the upholstered chair. Her eyes noticed Nikolaus' portrait that was now hanging on the wall, and her dark eyebrows scrunched in confusion. She had sent the portrait with Nyx to give to Valerie.

"She didn't want it," Nyx answered the fae's confusion. She turned and wiped any dried tears from her face so that Al wouldn't see. "Said Henry wouldn't understand." She went to jump off the chair, but the fae glided to her and held out her hand, placing one on Nyx's waist and guiding her to the floor.

Alastair pursed her lips. She wanted to say that Valerie should be honest with him, but telling a human about the Fae would not be a good idea considering the suspicions rising in the human village. Still, she didn't see why Valerie couldn't have just kept the portrait and hid it somewhere in secret.

"Did she take any of the other gifts?"

"No," Nyx breathed as she stood in front of Alastair, staring up at the portrait of her father from below. She slapped her hand over her face.

The fae looked at the girl curiously from over her shoulder. "What is it?"

Nyx removed her hand and aggressively gestured to the painting. "It's crooked! I put the nails in crooked!" She threw her head back and groaned in irritation, and Alastair smirked discreetly.

"I will get Abitha to come fix it. She's a real carpenter," Al smoothly assured her, wrapping her arms around Nyx. "Don't worry about your mother, love. She has many reasons to be put off by the reminders of what once was."

"Well, I'm a walking reminder, so I guess she's put off by me, as well," Nyx huffed, seeing herself in the face of Nikolaus. She turned around in Alastair's arms and looked up at the fae. "I told her."

The woman straightened, removing her hands from Nyx's waist. "Told her what?"

Nyx's golden eyes lowered to the chair as she nervously ran her finger along its back. "About us."

Alastair took a short breath in. "You wanted to give a woman a heart attack on her wedding day?"

"She didn't react well, Alastair," Nyx prompted, seeing the fae's ears twitch upon hearing her use her full name. She remembered the look on Valerie's face, and her stomach tightened.

The fae inhaled deeply and rest a warm hand on the girl's face, stroking her cheek softly. "Well, I can't say that I blame her, really."

"Why not?" Nyx offendedly asked, raising her voice slightly.

Al removed her hand and took a step back. "Because you are her only child. It's a mother's instinct to feel protective—"

"No, it wasn't that," Nyx cut her off, walking away from the fae and pacing the room in a circle. "She tried to marry me off as soon as I turned 18. She has no qualms about that." She clenched her jaw and fiddled her fingers together, avoiding Al's burning stare. "She said—" She froze in both her words and her steps, remembering her mother's words. Violent. A ticking grenade.