The Seelie's Mirror

Chapter 4 At the Center of The Swamp

Chapter 4 

It's a beautiful, brand new day today. The sky is clear, the monstrous plants are asleep, and the non carnivorous birds are singing at a distance. In the faery realm, it is the perfect day for a lovely stroll. Or that would have been it, except for the grumpy fairy prince walking like a teenager with his panties in a wad beside me.

"Look on the bright side," I try to start a conversation to comfort him as soon as he starts kicking pebbles. "At least you got your work done...?"

I almost scream when Klovis turns to me. His skin, which is already a dark shade of Indigo, can surprisingly go even darker, seeing how evident the dark circles under his eyes are. My skin crawls the more I look at his crazed ridden face.

"Livia, there's nothing bright about working on twelve thousand sheets of paper the entire night!"

Twelve thousand!? Wow. I don't think that I can work past two...

Fairy stamina is amazing. I should have Klovis help me out the next time I get homework.

"Y-You know, we have this saying that reward comes after...stress...?" I hate how my voice just tones and cracks at the end, making it obvious that I am lying.

"You have no such saying, don't you?" Klovis blatantly calls out my lie. His brows are drawn together in scrutiny.

"N-No...sorry." I turn my attention ahead so I can hide the embarrassment on my face. It hasn't been long since Klovis and I left the palace. I don't even think that Klovis got more than two hours of rest just to finish all the work that Grignel asked him to do. "You know, you don't have to come today. Jade and I can go search for ourselves."

Jade, who walks on the other side of Klovis, gives out a low growl that sounds like a tiger purr.

"I can't leave the task to just you and Jade." Klovis shakes his head. "You guys might not be able to know what to look for."

"And you do?"

Klovis met my gaze for a hot second with a blank face. All of a sudden, he raises his thumb and flashes me a confident smile. "I'll know it when I see it!"

"It sounds to me like you don't have a plan."

Klovis completely ignores me and suddenly skips all the way to the direction of the boarder, with Jade following and matching his master's energy. Sometimes, I wonder, how did I even become friends with that guy again?

***

Klovis and I manage to reach the border between the Seelie and Unseelie realms, which are separated by a river. Although the grass seems greener on the other side, I can say for certain that everything there is deadly compared to where I am standing. Even if the plants in the Unseelie realm look poisonous and deadly, at least they won't try to kill, dice, melt, or eat you. I used to question why the natures of the two realms were opposite, but now that I am aware of the reason, I will never question it again.

I just hope that Klovis will be able to fix this world and restore it to the way that it is.

"You seem to be looking at the Seelie domain intently. Are you thinking about a certain fiance of yours?" I know that Klovis said it to tease and distract me, but it was a horrible topic to bring up.

"Klovis, can we focus on the task before I throw you in the water?" Klovis would usually back away and cower when I threatened him, but right now, I see his expression brightening.

"That's it!" He exclaimed, looking at the river.

"That it? You want me to throw you?" I eye him carefully, not even bothering to mention that I am weirded out by him. "Don't tell me that's your kink?"
"I'm not a massochist!" He blushes.