Dusk of the Realm

12

Isaiah had been watching Serena for weeks. He had not been sure until now that she was exactly who he was looking for, and he was unwilling to go back to the Realm with anybody but the princess in his care.

No doubt lingered in his mind any longer. The name of the general of the Fae army on her lips was enough proof for Isaiah to act on.

The girl opened her eyes and blinked up at Isaiah, still murmuring Wulf's name as if it was simply part of her breath. Her skin was glistening with sweat, her extravagant blue and silver gown stuck to her body almost indecently, though Isaiah paid that no attention. He expected Serena's eyes to be troubled, confused, pained - but when he looked into them, he saw a steely determination.

"Serena?" he asked cautiously, aware that there were people all around the two of them. A young man was hovering particularly close. Isaiah could feel his breath stirring his hair, and was fighting the urge to snap at him to get away. It had been clear over his period of observation of the princess that the boy, Gabe, was intoxicated by Serena. That was not surprising, given her heritage. Whether she had magic or not, Fae had a type of allure like no other creatures, and Serena was certainly not unattractive. The poor boy did not stand a chance.

The princess swallowed Tarin's name and focused her eyes on Isaiah. "You were the one who was staring at me," she proclaimed, not bothering to be quiet. There were glances of confusion all around, and Isaiah gritted his teeth, wishing that he could speak to her without an audience.

"Serena," he said, staring at her meaningfully and hoping that she would not hesitate to break free from the crowd once she understood. "That name you were just saying... I know it."

She might not have had the advantage of magic anymore, but her next movement was so fast that he might have believed she did. Her hand darted out and grasped his tie, tugging him close to her face as she whispered, so swiftly that there was no chance that anybody else could catch the words: "You're from the Realm?"

As she pushed him away and struggled to sit up, as if she had only grabbed him in the first place for some kind of support, he nodded at her. Her sapphire eyes, emboldened by the makeup she had applied for the dance, nearly bulged out of her head.

"I remember," she told him, as if this statement was one of the utmost importance. And, as he had been debriefed by Wulf himself, he knew that it was. "I remember," she repeated, but that was all she got in before people forced their way between them, saying things about ambulances and parents and resting. Serena did not bother fighting the crowd, but as they half-carried her towards the doors, she made sure to meet Isaiah's gaze again, and very clearly mouthed one word: Follow.

He had been planning on it anyway, of course. He shouldered through the doors and watched as the princess was accosted by the two adult humans she had been living with. As she spoke with them, the rest of the crowd began drifting away. The adult woman was gesturing towards the ambulance, but it was obvious from her body language that Serena was refusing to get inside the vehicle. The woman put her hands on her hips, and Serena just stared back at her. They had clearly reached a stalemate.

He could not entirely blame the woman for being insistent after hearing about the princess' episode; it had been quite frightening, after all, watching Serena collapse and writhe around on the ground, clutching at her head as if it was breaking apart from the inside and she was desperately trying to hold it together. At first, he had thought that her magic had been returned to her, and fear had risen up in him. Wulf had explained the sort of reaction that would drive her to, and what Serena had done had not seemed very far off from his description.

However, it seemed that instead of her magic, she had unexpectedly received her memories. He wondered what had happened back in the Realm to cause that. Nobody knew exactly how Eris had stolen Serena's memories - or magic, at that - from her in the first place, but perhaps Wulf had finally figured it out. Isaiah would not put it past him; the man was a powerhouse, and certainly nobody that he would ever want to cross. And as far as Isaiah could tell, when it came to the princess, Wulf was an absolute madman. There was nothing he would not do to bring her back home.