Summer Garden

Claven

Claven was confused.

She was upset that she'd missed the opportunity to raise the Faeling. She couldn't work out why, either. Who would want to raise a terror with that kind of insane power? Why would anyone even want to mother that child?

Maybe it was the thought of serving Luna.

A deep thrill ran from the top of her head to her toes. The thought of the woman turning to her with a smile, and reaching out gently and stroking her cheek.

Claven coughed nervously, trying to squash the thought, and then turned red as everyone looked at her. "Nothing."

They went back to discussing the logistics of protecting Trei, and preparing for the coming war against the Fates. Claven however wanted to sink into a wall and disappear. How could it have happened? How could she not have seen the signs coming?

She'd made her breakfast. She'd fed her in bed.

She had a crush.

Claven felt angry, wanting to hurt someone, herself, anyone. Why was she infatuated with the woman who had stripped her of her freedom? Who had turned her into a slave for doing the only thing she could to survive. A woman who forced her to wash dishes and scrub floors, ignoring that she was a councillor, one of the rulers of the Fae. She had the right to speak to the queen, and to oppose her. And instead she'd been turned into nothing but a... Slave.

She turned red as she realised she didn't mind. She didn't mind doing what Luna demanded. She was cruel at times, yes, but she was also kind. She had let Claven see magic for the first time in her life. She had served her tea as if she were an ordinary house guest. She let her sleep in. This wasn't the future of a slave, who could be beaten and betrayed every moment of their life.

She could trace the moment this had started.

It was easy enough.

When she'd seen the world for the first time, sitting there on her knees staring at the dark forest, her cheek still stinging from where Luna had hit her.