Knight to the Silver Throne

Chapter 5: Dancing Fæ

"Feamir is the name my mother chose for me... while my father wanted to call me Arleen...", she started to explain and earned a knowing nod from Tirghernán.

"And you do not have the best relationship with your father?", it felt like he knew Feamir's situation, when he asked like that.

"Yes!", thinking about him alone would make her angry and depressed. She still remembered the time when her mother was alive and that she still had expectations for her father then. However, from all she experienced, learned and saw from her father since then... only complicated feelings were left, probably mixed with more than only a bit of hate after she learned that he may has caused her mother's death.

Not wanting to think about him more she nipped on the wine again. The wonderful taste filled her mouth and Feamir could even feel the alcohol rushing into her brain. It felt like it calmed her feelings and thinking. Feeling more comfortable she signed before putting the glass back on the table.

"My father probably... most likely... poisoned my mother to death...", it was Feamir's first time saying this suspicion out loud. It felt relieving. She never said it, because she knew that others were not dumb enough to not think about it, but no one else cared. It was an open secret and that was for her the most depressing part.

"Oh, my...", the voice of the archfey still was calm, but Feamir still believed to hear his shock, "It seems that a mortal's love is even shorter than their lives." That could have been a sentence that insulted her, but because she agreed with his sentence, Feamir was not able to feel offended. Her father's behavior taught her about some of the fairy tale lies like "undying love" or "selfless altruism". She could not speak for all mortal races, but at least in her experience humans would do nothing without some kind of self-interest. Again, the girl drunk a bit of the delicious wine, a bigger gulp then the last time. After placing it down again, humming approvingly, she followed the intricate patterns on her silver chalice.

Silence followed. Normally it would have been felt awkward and if Feamir would have looked around a bit more, the others on the table such as Caprinvur, definitely felt uncomfortable, however, she did not notice anything of that. She was more focused on her own thoughts and Tirghernán smilingly gave her the time to do so. At some point he interrupted her with his magnetic voice however: "Do not hang on to these thoughts if they are depressing you. Tonight, is supposed to be a happy night, remember? Think about something more pleasing instead!"

Suddenly interrupted like that, Feamir looked up, into his magnificent friendly smiling face. He was right. She should not think about something depressing like that. As if mirroring his smile, she started to smile as well. It was not really correct to say that he comforted her, but what he said still actually improved her mood a little.

Noticing the changes in her behavior, the fey dukes smile deepened. "If thinking about you father is depressing you, why not talk about your mother then?", he asked, taking a small sip of wine himself. That proposal seemed not that bad to the mortal girl. Thinking about her mother made her nostalgic, but it was true that most memories with her were happy ones.

"My mom was an elf from a small village. She never what my father would deem a 'proper' woman.", Feamir chuckled when she thought about it, "She once beat our hired mercenaries into a pulp. And whenever my father came back with a new 'unpickable' lock, she would pick it in seconds in front of his eyes." How she told these things showed everyone Feamir's affection and admiration for her mother.
"I don't know much about my mother's family, but I was actually trying to visit them before Aru and Iri found me in the forest."

"Really? Was your goal Yethil Village then? That is the only village where it would make sense to dare to go through the deep parts of the Silver Forest.", Tirghernán inquired. His gentle look led Feamir to not only answer his question, but actually tell him even more: "Yes, my mother is from the elven Caesin family from Yethil Village. She once told me that they are an important family in the village, something like being mayors for generations. But you know the village?"

The white-haired archfey let out a small laugh and answered: "Yes, we have a few... business dealings with them. Especially the Caesin family."
That sentence made Feamir incredibly exited. "Then you can help me get to them?" If it were possible there would be stars in her eyes, the hope in them was obvious. It seemed that this amused Tirghernán, because he let the loudest chuckle out since the start of the conversation. However, he still answered her, still sounding entertained: "Of course I can, but everything can wait until tomorrow."

Suddenly Tirghernán stood up from his chair and Caprinvur winced uncomfortably for a second, before concentrating on his meal while seemingly trying to actively ignoring the archfey and the mortal girl. But he still curiously looked at what the Duke of the Silver Throne was doing from the corners of his eyes.

The duke came to Feamir side, she on her part just looked up to him confusedly. "Would you grace my with a dance tonight, Feamir?", he offered her his hand to help her up. His face and voice where so hypnotizing and Feamir noticed her rising heartbeat. Her face became red, but the thought of refusing him never crossed her mind. Instead, she felt incredibly happy and privileged to be asked by the incredible handsome archfey.
There was a little voice in her head suddenly screaming that something was not right, that she should be careful. However, that voice was drowned out after she looked into Tirghernán's beautiful blue eyes. She remembered that she first thought that his gaze was sharp enough to nearly physically hurt, now they seemed to be so gentle, understanding and congenial. So, she took his hand happily without hesitating anymore, "It would be a pleasure, your Grace."
How could Feamir not want to dance with him?

Tirghernán led her to a dance floor that definitely was not there before. The floor was not the typical ground with grass and dirt from a forest clearing, but a marble floor. But since tables were able to materialize out of nothingness, it seemed like everything was possible here. The music was not a tune Feamir knew, but she liked it, nonetheless.

The archfey duke had impeccable dance skills. Even though, Feamir learned dancing, she felt like she would have managed even without by just following Tirghernán. Not many "mortal" dances partners of her were able to do that, maybe not even the dance teacher her father hired for her. Feamir did not even needed to concentrate on her steps, like she was just flying around in the archfey's arms. Never had she so much fun dancing before.

"Tonight is a night of wishes and wonders.", Tirghernán suddenly started speaking, he looked at her, it seemed like dancing was not costing him any concentration at all, "So, what are you wishing for?"