Nights of Fire & Ash

Chapter 5

"Please tell me that you are not going to try and make me wear this." I looked down at the big ball gown that looked like I was just thrown up out of a cotton ball. The inside of the shop that we wandered into had dresses that I think I had only ever seen in children's stories.
"I just thought you would look so pretty in it, and you do!" I looked down at myself. The pink dress made me feel pale and pasty. I looked far too skinny and scrawny to be in it. I was practically drowning it. My breasts barely filled out the dress. I am sure that I was in the absolute smallest dress that was available. The dark skinned fae who assisted me into the dress looked like she was going to be sick when she saw all the bones in my back and ribs. This last week of actually eating real food helped me somewhat. I was starting to have actual curves in my legs.
"No, this is not it. I cannot wear this." I stepped off of the pedestal and hurried to the dressing room. The dress shop attendants quickly followed me in.
"Miss, you do like extra beautiful in this dress. Let us help you find something though. I think that you would look delightful in a bright shade of blue or-" I finally cut her off.
"I thank you so much for all of your help. I am sure that I am a horrible customer. I am just not comfortable in dresses." The attendant slid the curtain closed behind us. I had spent the second half the day looking at dresses all up and down Veranomos. This had to be the fourth store we had been in since lunch.
"Hold on! Don't get dressed quite yet. I think that this dress is the one. It isn't big or too stiff. I think that you will find it is absolutely gorgeous." I groaned a little bit. I could not believe that she found something else. "Don't get that way! It is the last one, I promise!" Tatiana slid a dress behind the curtain. I looked it over. It was a deep shade of crimson red and black. It had a red lacy collar that exposed one of my arms and continued down the other arm with black and red lace down the sleeve. Down the corset and into the beautiful black skirt, there were intricately sewn red flowers that flourished from the collar down to where they circled the hips.
"Oh my, this is one of the most gorgeous dresses that we have on site. You have to try it on. It will look absolutely ravishing on you." The attendant practically squealed. "We have been waiting on someone to buy it for months."
I initially balked at the gown, but I finally backed down and tried it on. I can't say that I was unimpressed by the dress. My pale olive skin didn't seem so pale as I stood in the mirror. I looked from the bottom of the dress upwards. I caught a look at my face that I used to do my best to avoid. I looked like my mother, I know I did. I just didn't always believe it. My chin was sharp, and my cheeks weren't quite as sunken as they once had been. It was noticeable that I had been eating more and more. I had her hair. It was light brown that almost turned blonde in the summer time. The eyes looking back at me were my fathers though. They were dark green with a light golden hazel hue around them. I never felt like I was my own person when I looked in the mirror. I had my grandmother's chin, my father's eyes, my mother's face, but it was always someone else that I saw when I looked in the mirror. I looked away finally because I was becoming too emotional.
"Oh my good goddess! You look spectacular. You have to take it. We are buying it. That is exactly what you need to wear. No more objections." Tatiana spun me around in a circle. "You are gorgeous. Absolutely drop dead gorgeous, and I am not only saying that as someone who was once human. You are going to even turn heads of the High Fae tomorrow night. I can't wait to see Mak's face when he sees you come down to the party like that." I blushed just a bit. I had never really heard someone refer to me as gorgeous. Pretty, maybe, but never gorgeous.
The day was quickly turning into evening, and with our mission to find a dress for Winter Solstice complete, we would finally be making the trip back to the castle. In the carriage, it only took us about 30 minutes, but the night was closing in around us. The castle looked much larger from the outside. Our horses brought us around to the North side of the castle, and that is when I saw Makiel, Caythan, Zathrian, and my mysterious savior again. My heart thrummed in my ears. I listened to them as the horses came to a halt.
"Oh, Makiel, you always were so daring and willing to push the limits." The mysterious man said.
"Leave, Izarus. You have no business to be here." Zathrian spat. I knew that he saw us. He was staring right into his mate's eyes.
"Stay completely silent. Izarus should not be here." Tatiana whispered to me.
"I heard that you brought yourself a little human to the Fae realm. Do you not worry what the humans will do? Do you not worry about her going back to her little family?" Izarus snickered at him.
"The problem has been resolved. Why are you here? Do you have nothing better to do with your time? Ruling a kingdom is just too boring nowadays? Why don't you crawl back into that shit hole and keep from staining the actual blessed courts." Makiel snarked back. His stature was rim rod straight, but he looked as if he were ready to fight the man at any moment.
"Ah, I wonder if you're more worried about her figuring out what kind of male you truly are. Have you told her about the f-" Then Makiel made a run towards him, and in return, he blasted him towards the wall of the castle and held him with an invisible hand. "Seems I have touched a nerve. Don't forget that you are not the most powerful here. Even though your snake of a brother took the throne, you still are after it, but don't forget that while you're more powerful than he, I am more powerful than both of you."
"Izarus, why are you here? Our king is returning tomorrow morning. If you need something, you can see him after the holiday." Heldius stepped around the corner.
"Ah, the emissary doing his duties as normal. I just came to remind you all that the treaty tells you to leave the humans alone. You assisted on the capture of the rogue angel last week, but it does not give you the right to kidnap human women. We are already on the brink of war here, do not give the humans a reason to believe we are trying to break the treaty with them as well." He snapped. Makiel dropped to the ground. "I won't be back unless you give me a reason." With a flourish of snowy magic, he was gone again.
~
Later that evening, we had all gathered for dinner and pre-solstice events for the evening. Dinner had been full of delicious choices, a stuffed bird, brisket, potatoes, and rolls. It was all piled high, and I could barely keep myself from drooling at all of the food. My family at home would have balked at the idea that people eat like this every day when we could barely keep food on our tables for more than 3 days out of the week during winter.
"Well, this has been one of the better pre-solstice dinners that we have had in a long time. I think that we should start eating like this more often. I am going to have to see those kitchen servants about preparing more meals like this one. Are we having dessert tonight?" Heldius was stretched out in his chair after eating at least 3 plate fulls. I gawked at him in silence. I couldn't imagine that he was going to continue to eat more.
"I think you should steer clear of the kitchen, Hel. The last time you ventured down there the chef almost had your head on a platter for dinner." Caythan chuckled at him. Zathrian smirked at the ground.
"Oh, pish posh. He was just being a bit persnickety after I offered my opinion on his tarts. You can't deny that they were pretty dry that day." Makiel rolled his eyes at the entire table. Like normal, when my eyes ventured over to Aillard he was quietly observing us all once again.
"Okay, okay, boys, I think we are having dessert in the sitting room." Tatiana rose from her seat. Zathrian followed her out. I thought we had maybe would stay in here for presents around this amazing tree.
Mariel and I brought up the end of the group. He brushed his hand up against mine
"Listen, I know you didn't come here by choice, but I think you'll find that some of the things that we do around here aren't so different from back home." Makiel gave me a faint smile. I thought about returning it, but I wasn't going to stay here and live like this. He couldn't hold me captive and pretend like everything is okay.
"It's not terrible here." Is all I could say in return.
As we walked into the sitting room, I felt like I had just fallen into a children's story. The windows in the sitting room had green garlands around them. A fire was crackling behind brown leather couches. In the corner next to the fire, a tree that was at least another 3 feet taller than the one in the dining hall. I didn't even want to know how many servants it took to drag it in here. With red, gold, silver, and white flowers, spheres, and Fae lights, the tree was just a complete work of art.
"Wow, you really out did yourself, Tatiana." Zathrian placed a kiss on her temple.
"Thank you. Took me two whole days to decorate this room." I started in here and used it to inspire the servants to do the remainder of the castle. She was like a queen. She should be the queen. With her and Zathrian side by side, this place would truly feel like a strong kingdom.
"Well, so what's for dessert? You know I was promised dessert in this room." Heldius plopped down on one of the big cushion chairs.
"Would you think about anything except food for like two minutes?? We literally just finished dinner. I think I saw you swallow a turkey leg whole earlier." Caythan rolled his eyes. "I swear, I don't know how you were appointed the emissary. The way you eat, you could have scared away half a kingdom."
"You know, I'd like to see you go smooth things over with the Fall Court after the shit you all have pulled recently. We are lucky that with the way you people run-a-muck at the borders and take Fall females to bed that we even have any relations with them at all." Heldius pointed at Caythan. "Anyways, if you weren't such a lady's man and a fool, you wouldn't have gotten caught making out with a Fall Court Princess and then getting us kicked out of their manor!"
"Boys, that's enough! It's like listening to children bicker." Tatiana looked like a mother about to blow her top. "I swear if you don't shut up there won't be any presents tonight at all."
"Yes, mother, we are sorry." Heldius looked up at her under his thick eyelashes.
"We are so so sorry, Mother dearest. We won't fight anymore as long as I ge the first gift!" Caythan lunged up and before he could get to the presents. Heldius tackled him.
"Hey! No fair!" Heldius and Caythan slammed to the ground and started rolling around. Finally, Makiel and Zathrian pulled them apart by their ankles.
"You don't get to open anything until Raeva opens her present from me!" Tatiana started digging under the tree. Heldius and Caythan plopped down on the cushion chairs with their arms crossed. Caythan stuck his tongue out at Heldius, and Heldius proceeded to flip him off. I chuckled just a little bit. They reminded me so much of my brothers at home. I was starting to miss them more than I thought possible. I missed the constant screaming and running around. The flurry of activity through our little house made me feel like there was something missing here.
Tatiana dug through the gifts and handed me a little box that ways no bigger than my hand. I smiled at her as she handed it to me. I started to tear open the dark blue paper. I carefully slid off the tape holding the box together, and inside was a beautiful silver bracelet. Tears welled at the rims of my eyes.
"Oh, you don't need to cry. It's okay, really." Tatiana came over to hug me.
"It's not a big deal. It's okay. I just, I've never gotten a real gift before. My family was too poor. I just want you to know how much I really love this." I hugged her tightly. "All of this makes me miss them so much." Tatiana didn't say anything. She just gave me a tight squeeze. I took a deep breath and let go of her.
"No more of that. Let's continue. Thank you very much. I truly love them. It is beautiful." I smiled at her. I sat down on the couch. Makiel eased down next to me with such elegance I could hardly tell he was sitting. I glanced over at his muscular build and up to his face. Something about it looked like he was almost guilty of something.
The night continued with a present here and a present there. I had the feeling that they looked like a true family. My mind drifted back to earlier in the night when we arrived. I thought about the Summer King and Makiel. They looked nothing alike. They couldn't really be brothers, could they? Finally, the night was winding down. Zathrian and Tatiana were busy engrossed with one another. Heldius and Caythan started in on a game of checkers, and Aillard was carefully examining a blade that was gifted to him by Caythan. He said it was made of the finest metals and accented by the most beautiful gold. Makiel looked over at me. This had to be the most awkward interaction, which said a lot since I went to secondary school with humans.
"I, uh, I don't want you to feel like this is too forward, but I got you something. I know you didn't have any way to get to the city, so I really don't expect anything." He handed me a box that was about the size of his hand. I stared at the dark green paper and silver bow.
Great, now he's giving me presents. He thinks that this is going to smooth things over?
"I mean, it's not much. I just saw it while I was running a few other errands for the King, and it reminded me of you." He gave me a faint smile. I looked up at his face. I could feel the anxiety radiating off of him.
"Uh, okay," I slowly took it from him. I pried the bow off and slowly took popped the tape off of the bottom of the box. As I slid the lid off the box, I looked at the necklace. The chain was slim, and at the bottom, there was a little pendant dangling. It was a golden circle with a flame through it. Up the side were small diamonds, and in the center was a dazzling red ruby. I was taken back. The bracelets had been simple but still elegant. This was eye catching jewlry that made you continue to stare. "Wow, it's, um, wow."
"I hope you like it. I mean, if you don't, you don't have to wear it, obviously. I mean, it's just I know-" I finally couldn't stand to watch this anymore. He was rubbing his long fingers up and down his tanned muscular arms.
"No, it's very beautiful. Thank you. I love it. Will you help me put it on?" I tugged the necklace out of its velvet place holder and handed it to Makiel. His smile moved its way up from his lips towards his eyes. I could feel the happiness pushing into my skin. He carefully took it from my fingers as I pulled my hair to the side of my shoulders. I watched as the necklace ever so lightly sat between the cleavage of my breasts. Makiel quickly clasped the necklace in place. It looked so heavy in the box, but hanging off my neck, it felt as light as a feather.
"In the Winter Court, the mines are filled with Apricitian Gold that is warmed by the sun and cooled simultaneously by the snow and ice. It leave the gold and silver there so light but strong that it is easily worn, but there has only been a rare amount of minerals and swords that can break it." I dangled it through my fingers. If it were this light to me, it must be like wearing nothing on a High Fae body. "It's incredibly rare to find in the Summer Court now."
"I do really love it. I have never worn something so beautiful." I smiled at him. It was probably one of the first genuine smiles that I had sent his way since he brought me here. We spent the rest of the night sitting around the fire. I listened to the stories that Caythan, Zathrian, and Heldius told. I sat a little closer to Makiel than I had previously. Once I went to bed, I changed into my nightgown and left the pendant on while I slept.