Aneurin

Chapter Four ~ Tensions rise

A week had passed since Rose's funeral, though the villagers of Aethelney still had yet to figure out what had caused her death.

Some blamed a fever, others were certain that she had fallen and hit her head. While many put her death down to the Faes.

"If we sit here and do nothing they will pick us off one by one until there is no one left!"  Henry cried to the growing audience that stood around him in the village centre.

"There is only one way to put an end to this, we need to take them head-on. Fight them until they leave us alone."

"That is not the way to solve this-" John, Enid's father said. The crowd parted, allowing him to get closer to the blacksmith. "-We need to be rational. If we can talk with them-"

"Rational?" Henry scoffed. "-And these are the words of a father whose daughter is not yet cold in the ground!"

John's eyes lowered and he fell silent.

"If we are going to fight them, we need to gather weapons-" Henry stopped, his face frozen in shock, fixed on the forms of two approaching Faes.

At his silence, the rest of the villagers turned to look as well.

Many grabbed their children and pulled them away - retreating to the safety of their houses.

The crowd dispersed and chaos ensued.

By the time the Fae's reached the village centre, the majority of the villagers had fled. None of them wanted to be the next Rose.

The Fae's eyed the villagers cautiously as they approached. They were heavily armoured and had swords at their sides though they made no move to unsheathe them.

"We have come on behalf of our Queen. She wishes to send you a message." The villagers that had not fled inched closer. Still watching the Faes warily should they attack, but curious none the less.

"We have heard that you believe our kind to have killed a child of this village. We have been instructed to tell you that the child's death was not of our making. We want no quarrel with you."

"You started this quarrel. Tell me, does your queen have enough wood for her fires? Enough meat on her table?" Henry snarled, taking long strides towards the two Faes.

At Henry's sudden movement, one of the Faes reached for his sword.

The Fae beside him was quick to stay his hand, grabbing his wrist before he could fully unsheathe his sword.

"No, Sindri, there is to be no violence!"

"We do not eat meat, human. Nor do we destroy the forest to light our fires! Unlike you're kind we help the earth, not contaminate it!" He glared hard as the Fae beside him looked to the crowd of villagers that had begun to close in around them.

"I think it is best we leave you now. We have delivered our message, we advise you to take heed of it." And with that, they disappeared into the forest just as quickly as they had come.

Enid was sat beside Aneurin at the base of a waterfall. Her eyes followed the swift movements of his hands as he played his harp for her, his long, elegant fingers plucking the strings expertly. The sound was pure and sweet, like the water that rushed over the jagged rocks of the waterfall and into the pool below.

Enid had never heard such music before. It had a certain warmth to it, just as fire does. It both soothed her and displaced all of her thoughts at the same time.

A few silver strands of hair moved in front of his eyes as he played. His head fell back, exposing his throat and the soft, supple skin around it.

Occasionally, his eyes would rise from his harp to look at her and he would send her a soft smile.

He stopped, placing his harp on the ground beside him and turned to her.

"Did you like that?" His eyes held a gentleness that Enid had never seen before.

"Yes, very much-" She hesitated "-I was wondering if you could tell me about the Faes. Why do they hate us?"

"We don't hate humans, we once lived alongside them happily. We helped to grow the farmer's crops, soothe the cattle after a storm-" His eyes stared unseeing as long forgotten memories of his past resurfaced "-in return, they would ensure we could live in peace, away from the developing world."

"Then what happened?" Enid leaned forward, impatiently waiting for him to continue.

"Then the villagers decided they no longer needed us, they destroyed much of the forests and killed the animals for their meat. And they forgot all that we had taught them."

"And you let them?"

"No-" He shot back, before realising what he had done and his face became gentle once more "-not all humans are as understanding as you are. When we tried to put them back on the right path they...they refused to listen. That is when we took control of the village. We had to in order to preserve the forests and protect the animals from harm."

"Why would anyone want to hurt animals?" Enid whispered under her breath, though Aneurin seemed to hear it.

"Enid?" She looked up at him.

"You understand why we did it, don't you? Why we had to take control of the village?" She nodded.

"What is your village like?" She asked, lightening up and picking herself up to sit closer to him.

"My village?" A quirk of a grin flicked across his lips "My village is beautiful, time stands still there. Nobody is ever sad or angry. There is only joy and happiness."

"That sounds nice." Enid replied, a peaceful expression on her face as she tucked her legs up under her and rested her chin on her knees.

"On midsummers nights there is singing and dancing, and everyone from across the village comes to celebrate. We dance all night. There are great feasts and the children play around the Fae rings. It is truly a wonder to behold."

Her imagination ran away with her as she thought about young fae's playing with carved wooden horses, and the beautiful music that played until sunrise.

"I could take you there one day if you would like?" Her eyes went wide and she nodded eagerly.

"Oh yes please!" And she giggled.

Aneurin smiled and he was like the moon.