Bad Fae | romantasy | Bad Fae #1

Chapter Twenty-Nine

With questions of my loyalty put aside – for now – and Feyrith focussed on finding the crown, his interest in monopolising my time was waning to the point that I'd had a week of days to myself. Not alone. Never alone. A Shaden was with me always.

That day, Ninleyn and I were walking through the Aena Dorei markets. The layout and atmosphere were so similar to the markets in Arksale that, aside from the very fae nature of the patrons and stall owners, I almost felt like I was back there.

I was looking over a stall of trinkets and jewellery. Pieces that sang to me of glamour and beauty like near everything else made or touched by fae hands. I'd never really been one for such things, being so used to my father and his court forcing me into things for their amusement. But with my own sense of freedoms and going so long without wearing any other than the pendant Dain had given me, I found myself drawn to them. I just wasn't, yet, brave enough to buy anything.

Not that I knew how I would do so; payment in the markets seemed to be a combination of bartering, coin, and unseen things I assumed were debts or other magics perhaps. None of which I possessed the means to use.

So, I wandered away from the stall and we continued ambling around while I thought about how my life had changed so much in the near six months since I'd taken my trip to Febren. There was a whole world, quite literally, open to me now. One I could belong in. One that I'd never really considered exploring. One I'd never thought I could explore.

"Ninleyn...?" I started and I felt his amusement.

"Yes, Yana?"

"Are all Vodreylians assassins, or is that just a wicked rumour the humans tell their children to make them behave?"

He chuckled. "The Voidsworn are the only assassins of the Vodreylians. All Voidsworn are Vodreylian. Not all Vodreylians are Voidsworn."

I inclined my head. "Hm. Okay, then."

"What makes you ask now?"

I shrugged nonchalantly. "I was just wondering how one becomes a Vodreylian assassin."

"Thinking of a career change?" he teased.

"Thinking of a career," I answered.

"There is no requirement for you to have a...career."

"Maybe not. But there is a desire." Or, at least, a desire to do something with my life.

"Fair enough. And what interests you? I thought you wanted to be an historian in Aclad? I'm sure the ilids could be convinced to let you train in their art."

"Ilids. I heard Dain mention them the other day. Who are they?"

"They are our history-keepers. They hold all our stories and legends. They are most often found in the libraries, but many still roam the world, recording more stories, spreading those they have, and collecting from other cultures and lands."

The idea did appeal to me, but... "And could I do that from the Darkrealm?"

He paused before he answered, "It would not be impossible, but it could prove difficult to get the full benefits and satisfaction."

"I see."

"If you are considering what to do that keeps you with...us...?" he said slowly, questioningly.

"I am considering what to do at all. Since I was old enough to realise there could be more to life than being paraded around for other's amusement, I believed that life was unobtainable to me. I still dreamt, but I had...other dreams that overshadowed any life I might live for myself."