The Fae Prince

Chapter One

         "Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand." - William Butler Yeats

Wren was used to being unable to breathe. She'd spent most of her life running, and breathlessness had become her constant companion. And unfortunately for Wren, she despised running. Despite doing it nearly every day of her life for seventeen years, it never seemed to get any easier.

         She was contemplating her hatred of the very act when she was in the midst of it, flying around a corner down the cobbled streets of town. She utilized the crowds to her advantage, emerging herself in it to keep hidden before darting down another alleyway. It had been miles and yet, the men trailing behind her were relentless in their pursuit.

      I should just let them dagger me at this point. She thought. Would be less painful.

      No one had ever followed her this far of a distance before. She had grabbed the bread and a bag, which she had hoped was filled with money, off the carriage of a nobleman and took off. She had mastered the art of robbery at a young age, being forced to learn to fend for herself, and in order to not starve on the streets, she had to be nimble about taking whatever she could get her hands on and fleeing as fast as her scrawny legs could carry.

     Why are they still following me? She thought angrily. They were making it much more difficult than it needed to be. Surely the small sack she stole was nothing to them. She made sure, as always, that whoever she stole from was well off enough to survive without the bits of bread or few coins she snuck away from them. Why wouldn't they just let her go?

      Her lungs begged for oxygen and her vision started to darken, notifying her that she was reaching her breaking point. She couldn't keep going and they didn't seem to be stopping.
In an act of hopelessness and desperation, she did the unthinkable. Something that had the potential to be far more dangerous than any punishment those men could place upon her. But then again, she thought, what if the stories aren't true?

      Without further thought, as she was out of time and nearly out of energy, she left behind any sense of logic or sensibility that would yell at her to just give herself over and she made a run to the trees at the edge of town.

       When she reached the forest entrance, she turned her head to look at the men trailing her, and as she expected they stopped. Frozen in place, looking at her with horror in her eyes and jaws dropped in shock, she left the men behind her as she ran into the trees, but not before she heard one say, "nothing we can do now, she's as good as dead in there."

        The fear bubbled up inside of her, but Wren would rather risk the possibility of danger in the forest over the certainty of arrest in the village. She continued on deeper into the forest before collapsing on the ground in exhaustion.

        She laid still, eyes shut tight, waiting for her breath to come back to her and praying her heart wouldn't pound out of her chest from the exertion.

      She breathed in deeply, noticing how different the forest smelled than the town, which had the unwavering aroma of roasted meat and livestock.

         The forest, however, smelled of fresh air and lilacs and earth. She opened her eyes, taking in the scene before her. The colors were like nothing she'd ever seen in her life. They were vibrant and bold and the intensity of their beauty was overwhelming to her eyes. For a moment, she pitied the townsfolk, knowing they'd never witness something as profoundly lovely in their lives.

   But despite the undeniable beauty, she was suddenly filled with an overwhelming sense of dread. Uneasiness washed over her and she glanced around nervously, not sure what brought on the sudden revelation. The landscape was the picture of serenity, yet there was no doubt that the feeling she had was apprehension.