Incarnate

The Seelie Queen

The beauty of the queen was beyond words. Renée looked on stunned into silence and seemed to be stuck in her gaze. Her feet were rooted to the floor, her body stiff. Something about the queen captured her. She felt like she'd met her before but couldn't seem to put her finger on where. Too stunned to rack her brain as to where she may have seen her, she just gawked. Someone trying to get her attention ripped her out of being stunned.

"Ah-hem. Renée, you okay?" Jackie asked urgently while looking at the queen, her cheeks growing red. "I'm sorry, she seems a little discombobulated."

"I am sorry, for a moment I thought that I had seen you somewhere before. But maybe it is my imagination. It is nice to meet you, Your Highness." She took a slight bow, assuming that was the custom. When she looked up a pleasant smile spread across the queen's lips.

"Well, we have met before. Though, I'm not sure you would remember that life. You look so much like you did then. If I didn't know better, I would think it was still you of that time. Please take time to enjoy the party, and afterward, we will proceed to a more private room so we can talk." She seemed to glow with happiness.

Turning to Jackie, she said, "Thank you, dear, for bringing her here to me. Please do enjoy yourself and the two angel-blooded are welcome to join as well."

She excused them with a wave of her hand. They walked back into the crowd. Fae danced, dinned, and flirted. Renée, for the first time, really looked around. She saw beings seemingly made of the bark and leaves of trees, flowers, and some seemingly iridescent. Put altogether, it looked like the forest itself danced underground. She could see now why the park above remained so beautiful. It almost seemed as if anything that these Fae were to touch, nature would sprout beneath them. Just as she thought of it, she looked down and saw that beneath the feet of some of them, small flowers were sprouting, leaving behind beautiful footprints. The smell in the air felt intoxicating. A mixture of gardenia, magnolia, and jasmine perfectly blended. For the enclosed space, it seemed as if a gentle breeze wafted around, but no fans were in sight, nor were any openings that she could see. Down here was another world entirely.

"Are you doing all right?" Cas whispered in her ear. She almost forgot they were here. She turned for a moment and saw that Jackie and Gage took off to do their own things while Cas stayed behind.

"Did you grow up around things like this? You do not seem shocked at all."

"Well, we deal with the Fae often. The first time I ever saw one was about four years old. I was in the park above when I met them."

"Wait. Are you telling me that you used to live here that long ago? You had been here before? Where did you go?"

"I went to train, and yes, I was born here as were you. It's quite a nice place. My parents lived here for a long time before they were killed in battle a few years ago. My real parents, that is."

"Both your parents died?"

Tears started welling up in her eyes. She didn't know why but this news hit her as hard as it would, had it been her own parents. He immediately reached out to her seeing her reaction.

"No, it's all right. I have come to terms with it. Please don't cry. I'm sorry, had I known it would make you cry, I wouldn't have told you."

"You must have had a hard life. Who raised you?'

"I was raised by other Nephilim. It's not the kind of life you would guess. We spend a lot of time training from very young and do not live our lives like mundanes."

"Mundane, what is that?"

"Mundanes are those that are not of angel or demon blood, the normal people in the world."