Rowan Fómhar
"How long have you known him?" I asked without looking her way. I didn't have to specify who, there was only one person I could be referring to.
She spent a moment contemplating whether or not to engage me. "I met him the morning of the night I was brought here. Faerie." I glanced at her out of the corner of my eyes, catching her nose scrunching to make her dislike for our realm known. "He was the one who told me where I was and what I was dealing with. He's also why I haven't died yet." She ended her words with a glare so strong that I felt it cutting into the side of my face.
I turned my head to meet her eyes, seeing the message they wordlessly conveyed. She wouldn't be the reason he died.
"I'm sure it must have come as a surprise," I said, facing forward as I continued to set the pace for our stroll.
"That's an understatement. Faerie is nothing like the fairytales I grew up hearing."
"Hmm, humans have a tendency to romanticize our kind. It's like the beauty they see blinds them from the cruelty it's capable of. Fae used to use that blindness to lure your kind across the fold, wanting to be entertained with dances and parties that didn't end until their untimely deaths. Only a few ever returned home, even fewer making it back sane." I peeked at her, watching as she reached out to feel the softness of a flower petal. "How long have you been in Faerie?"
Her fingers stiffened before they dropped away. "So this is why you wanted to go on a sudden stroll, huh? To ask me the question Silas won't answer."
"I'm just-"
"Curious? Yeah, sure," she rolled her eyes as she strode ahead of me, a slight wobble to her steps that had my eyes narrowing. It was too pronounced for how much I had witnessed her drink. "No need to lie to me, Captain. Ask away. I'm more than happy to provide answers if it eases some of his pain."
My jaw tightened. Lengthening my stride, I caught up to her in a matter of a few steps and chose to remain one behind her. "How long have you been here?" I repeated, not wasting any time trying to convince her otherwise. We were past that. To pretend otherwise would be insulting.
She gave a shrug as she plucked a small blue flower and raised it to her nose. "I lost count of the days. They've long since turned from weeks into months." Wrinkling her nose at the scent, she lowered it to pluck one of the delicate petals and let it fall to the ground as she moved on to pluck the next.
"Do you know why you were brought here?" I asked, watching as it drifted to the ground.
"I know as much as you do. Perhaps even less." The truth in her voice came in the form of sorrow. It tainted her words and the strength she used to continue to bare the flower she held of petals.
"Have you ever crossed paths with a fae before?"
"I didn't know they- you existed until Silas told me. If I have, I couldn't tell you."
Nor would you have any reason to.
I nodded, not letting any signs of the thought show on my face when she looked back at me- No, not me. Her eyes lowered to my hand where the bottle hung from my fingers.
Turning my hand, I used a loose finger and my thumb to keep the bottle upright as I lifted it, moving it into my other hand and breaking her line of focus. Caught, her eyes snapping up to meet mine. The hard swallow that I could hear and see in the movement of her neck told me that the silent message in my gaze had been received. It hadn't been fifteen minutes yet.
The offended frown that I caught a glimpse of as she turned away had the corner of my mouth twitching. The same corner that pulled down as my thoughts shifted to my next question.
