Summer Garden

Claven

Claven finished washing the dishes, and was busy drying her hands when she noticed the servant standing behind her. She wasn't sure how long he'd been there. She still wasn't sure how he managed to come and go as quietly and silently as he did. At the very least she couldn't find the hidden channels that Luna had said he used.

She looked at him, "Another duty, Enri?"

The butler shrugged, "That is not for me to say, Madam Claven. The mistress has asked that you join her outside."

The Fae nodded sullenly, and shrugged on her coat as she walked towards the door. He was an odd one. Never used a single word more than he thought was appropriate or necessary. Claven wasn't familiar with him or his name, but not all Fae were famous, and some just kept to themselves. Some had suggested that Lady Summer had met all Fae, and knew them all... But others had said the same thing about Janus, and he'd never sought her out.

"Oh, get over yourself."

Claven shivered in the blistering wind, tucking her face into her coat as she stepped out, stopping slightly behind the Faen woman. Luna was standing knee deep in the snow, wearing what appeared to be a long t-shirt, and nothing else. Perhaps she didn't feel the cold? On the other hand, she might be as insane as some were suggesting.

Luna waved a hand, "Tell me, what do you see here?"

Claven glared through the snow, and looked back and forth, "Nothing. I can hardly see in front of me."

Luna laughed and turned, "Really? Try again, and this time, try and see the auras."

"I cannot, mistress." Claven responded sullenly. How many times did she have to tell the witch that she could barely use magic?

Snow hit her face and she gasped as she found herself on her hands and knees, her ears ringing. She touched her cheek gently, feeling as if it were burned. An angry voice spoke quietly, "I am not a witch, Claven. I am not a mortal. I am Fae. And I... Am not forgiving. Remember that."

Claven spat, looking in surprise at the red liquid that sank into the snow, "Will you police my thoughts now, mistress?"

"You live and die by my will, and mine alone." Luna replied angrily, "If that means you need to change your thinking to not offend me, then you will. Your life was forfeit the moment you raised a hand against me. Now, I'm sure you comprehend the idea of seeing an aura, so just try."

The Fae pushed herself upright, her tongue feeling her loosened fangs gently, and she glared at the snow. Some nonsense about focusing her mind. Opening the doorway inside her skull, letting her gain access to herself. She breathed slowly, and tried to picture a doorway. She jolted as the door in her mind swung open of its own accord, revealing a dazzling array of colours she couldn't even recognise. These were not the colours that the world was made of. They were more vibrant. They sang inside her skull as she pictured them.

She reached out for them, and gasped, falling to her knees as the colours flooded over the landscape in front of her, pooling in various places. She could see trees, and in them darker shadows. In the snow just in front of her she could see a dozen prone figures, breathing slowly.

Luna placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned in, "When I want you to do something, Faeling, you try it, whether or not you think you can. You had no skill with magic once, and you still don't. I've forced open the door for you, letting you touch the stars... But believe me, if you reach out to them, they'll burn you. You don't have the skill or aptitude for much magic. But I won't have you being killed because you're a defenceless idiot."

Then the Fae walked away slowly.

Claven didn't move, she just sat there, in the wet and cold, staring at the world in front of her. She was seeing it, finally truly seeing it for the first time. This was the world that other Fae had always seen. A place of wonder, of light and colour dancing in a complex pattern that played out as the lifestream flowed through all things. This was the beautiful world they had always lived in... That she had been denied.

And Luna had given it to her.