Faye and Ruin

Dinner and a Dream

Ethimelle suddenly formed in front of me and gave a soft bow. "Dinner is ready." She said and then glanced behind her where Bayne still stood. "Oh, it looks like you already have an escort."

"It was unplanned." I replied and she gave a curt nod and then faded away like water evaporating into the air.

I glanced at Bayne who took a deep breath and then smiled at me, as if the weight of what we had just discussed wasn't there. But I couldn't find a way to return the smile and he let it fall quickly from his face.

We exited in silence from the room, and I followed him down two flights of stairs and then turned into a grand dining room hall. Just as elegant as the rest of the palace and built with the same deceiving stone that showed the outside world. We were near the floor of the jungle, so the lighting was darker, more hues of purple that played against my dress so perfectly.

I was King Orym's toy tonight.

There was nothing but a large rectangular table that stretched the expanse of the room. Floating orbs formed above the center of the table into a chandelier shape, casting a warming and bright glow along the occupants that were already there.

Two Fae that I hadn't met yet sat at either side of King Orym who sat at the head of the table directly across from me. Directly across from the entrance. Deimos and Brierra sat next to the Fae on his left and Bayne took a seat next to the Fae on his right. I however, didn't know what to do, so I stood there in the entrance and gaped a little at the massive table.

Thick, dark, gnarled like the jungle roots around us where platters of the most delicious smelling and looking food were placed. Roasts, and turkeys, and goblets of gold filled to the brim with wine. It was only then, as I glanced around the table did I notice everyone but Bayne had pointed ears.

But there wasn't time to study it as King Orym gave me a deep smile and held both his arms out towards me. "May I present Azora. Bound to me, never to be a threat." He presented me, just as I had expected as a trophy. I was clad in a purple dress that matched so well with his purple and silver robes. Power swirled upon it, the whirls of starlight that glittered overhead on the fake ceiling drawn towards this man.

The banded crown that adorned his head once again looked as if something slithered across it, and he waved a slender hand at the empty seat next to Bayne. I found my way over and sat down, trying to ignore the eyes that were upon me.

The two Fae looked towards me with wide smiles of recognition. And it was then that I realized they had both been at the arena. One had a pink glow to his skin and thick dreadlocks for hair that ran long down his back. His eyes were fully green, not a single white to them with blackened pupils and red robes hanging in riches down his body.

The other had less pink to his skin, less of a glow since it was made of bark and his eyes were dark, beady and he was completely bald. A little stouter than anyone else in this room. He was the first to speak. "What a beauty she is. So comforting to know that she is in your hands and under your control."

This room held many persons of high power and I could feel the energy dancing in the air, tugging at my own power that crept just beneath the surface of my bones. "Yes, I dare say she is." King Orym answered and he raised his chin at me. Something slunk into his eyes that had me shivering but I wasn't quite sure what it was.

The conversation turned to politics as the two Fae and the King became engrossed in whatever current crisis was going on. I indulged in the delicacies around me, filling my stomach with the utmost delightful bites. Nothing I would eat ever again would have this same effect on my palette. Even the wine in the goblets tasted of a little something else.