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

2. the wedding

It was a cloudy day in the Fae village, and so it was in Nyx's mind.

For that day, Valerie, her mother, was getting married.

She could hardly believe it when she had last visited Valerie about two weeks ago when she showed her a little diamond ring on her nimble finger and told her the wedding would be in two weeks.

And, of course, the groom in question was none other than that Henry whom Nyx had always suspected wanted to court her mother. She had to admit that her mom did seem quite elated when she told her the news, but Nyx had a horrible feeling in her stomach that she just couldn't digest.

Maybe it was the possessiveness of being an only child with a single mother. Nyx could not hold a possession against her, being that she, herself, got stowed away into the Fae world and, especially, into Alastair.

Speaking of the devil—Alastair strolled into their quarters as Nyx had just pulled her green dress over her shoulders. She turned to look at Alastair through her bent arm and asked, "Zip me up, please."

Al neared the girl, the edge of her wings grazing even the doorway that was made for the width of Fae like all the others in the castle. Nyx felt warm fingertips at her lower back, heard the sound of the zipper closing, and felt the tightening of the dress around her waist.

Even though the Fae had secretly provided food for her and her mother throughout all those years, they only had so much to give. Nyx had always been a small, pale, scrawny child and young adult. Now the Fae were making Alastair and Nyx intricate dishes with what ingredients they could find, and since Alastair's nerves had been getting to her lately, Nyx ate up everything they gave her. After years of starving, she could never let a drop of food go to waste.

So she had filled out more, and summer's touch had kissed her skin an olive color. She found that since the discovery of her Fae abilities, her eyes and hair appeared more golden. She thought maybe it was just her own mind imagining things, but even Alastair had noted it frequently.

"I wish you could go with me," Nyx commented as she felt Al wrap her arms around her waist. Alastair offered to fly Nyx there at least, but they did not want to risk any of the humans catching sight of the Red Devil any more. "The last place on earth I want to go is my mother's wedding to bloody Henry."

"Is the man really that bad?" Alastair amusedly questioned as she pulled Nyx into her, burying her face into the girl's neck and closing her tired eyes.

Nyx looked at their image in the vanity mirror. With the way Alastair was holding her, it looked as if Nyx had a pair of raven and crimson wings, herself. She often wondered if one day she would wake up to the painful feeling of golden wings sprouting from her back, but everyone told her that was the last thing they expected—her powers had always been within her, she just had never knew to harness them before that fateful night.

Feeling Al's warm breath seeping over her neck, she pulled the fae's arms off her gently and turned around, watching Al struggle to open her eyes as she raised her head up. It was then that she noticed dark circles underneath her scarlet eyes that looked more dull than usual.

Nyx's golden eyebrow curved with worry as she placed a hand on Alastair's warm face. "You're not sleeping."

Since they shared a bed, Nyx had been woken up many times by Alastair's dreams. Startled, she would look over to the fae to see that she was yelling in her sleep or sitting upright, eyes wide open but still dreaming as a scream escaped her throat. Once Nyx woke her and asked what was the matter, Al would propel herself out of bed with her wings and walk out of their room and to the balcony room where she would sit awake for the rest of the night, lighting a fire in the pit out there to keep herself warm.