When the Kingdoms Met the Courts

Chapter Seven - The Ideal World

1k Reads! WOO! Thanks so much guys. Never did I think my story would do this well. On another note - I'm actually updating! I'm sorry, I know I promised someone that I'd update a week ago, but that never happened. Not only am I lazy, school just began again (Aussie school years are different to others around the globe) which isn't much of an excuse considering I've only had like twenty minutes worth of homework. The song I have linked is from the anime "Bleach", which I absolutely love. I know I know, it's one of the mainstream shows, but do I care? Nope. This song makes me depressed, mainly because this piece is always played through sad scenes. Also, do any of you actually listen to my recommendations? Probably not. Anyway - enough from me.

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Elain's mind was tinted with fear as she swiftly shot through the dark and sketchy alleyways. Mice scurried away into their little holes the moment they heard her footsteps pound down onto the harsh rock pathway. She didn't dare look behind her, she knew she was being followed simply by her sense of hearing, enhanced by the high fae ears.
   A brick wall marked a dead end. Slowly, she faced the man. Elain wanted anything but a fight, all she wanted was to escape. But she knew from the second he swivelled around that he was not a lowly soldier. A captain, perhaps.

   "I'm sorry, take the watch," Elain whimpered, staggering over to the man. "Take the watch. I just need something to make money with."

   "There are better options than thievery," he replied, advancing towards Elain. She noted the way his muscles tensed as he walked, how his golden-brown eyes were calculating what her moves would be before she even made them. "You are skilled, how could you run that fast? No minor thief should be able to outrun me. "

   Tugging her hood over her ears to cover them even more, she simply replied, "Both my parents were athletic, I spent my childhood running around their farm and my adult life on the run." Lies. So many lies she's had to tell these past few days. Elain hated it, hated the dishonesty, hated the life of squalor, even though she'd lived in it for years.

   "And I am a warrior with professional training. I have ran alongside Queen Aelin Galathynius and King Dorian Havilliard, I have sparred with fae warriors," by this point, he was towering over her. In one swift movement, he'd flicked the hood off her head to reveal the pointed ears and her refined features. "A fae, that was the only other option."

   "What shall we do with her, Chaol?" The lady asked, jumping down from the windowsill Elain didn't know she was on and lowered her bow. "The king wanted trade agreements signed, not some lowly fae girl who has resorted to pick-pocketing."

   "Are you not questioning why a faerie like herself is living in squalor in Melisande? Surely she'd have her place in Terrasen or Wendlyn." Elain winced as the man - Chaol, as he was called - snatched her arm. He scowled at her as she whimpered, her lower lip trembling. Elain was confused, she only wanted to get back home.

   "Please," begged Elain. "This isn't necessary."

   "We've seen enough fae to tell you aren't a normal sort. It's in your accent, even the shape of your ears. They're pointed, yet not as long," Nesryn grabbed her wrist and inspected her hand. "Your hands appear to be delicate, weak. Not scarred." She turned to Chaol, "I think we leave her be. Inform the king of her existence, give her some money and go back to our duties."

   Elain had dropped to her knees. She was grateful, so grateful. She'd been thrown into this unknown world, forced to commit crime, the thing she most despised. This was all she could ask for. "Thank you," she was crying from joy. She had no clue what would happen to her - would she have been thrown into the dungeons? Would they have put her on the chopping block? These were questions she didn't want answered.