Authors: Lauren Shelton
But she didn’t reply. She didn’t know what to say, and
she was suddenly aware of how afraid she was to accidently say something that might upset him again.
Tru looked at the ground, imitating Edyn’s actions just
minutes before. And as she stood there, her eyes wandered from the damp, grass-covered ground to his immaculately clean toes, and then slowly shifted to his bare
ankles. She made it about half way up his calf before she
took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Tru’s questions
began burning in her head again as she sorted through
them all. But when she finally landed on a safe one, one
that would cause the least amount of trouble to them
both, Edyn broke the silence once more.
Tru looked up into Edyn’s warm eyes. She felt like crying, though she couldn’t really explain to herself why. One
day, he wouldn’t be just Edyn anymore. He would be
Edyn, the married man. And when he was married, Tru
would probably be out of the picture. She knew she had
only known him for a few short hours, but in some weird
way, she felt strangely connected to him, like she had met
him in a previous life.
Tru knew there was a good chance he would forget
about her, but would she ever forget about him? Could
she let herself forget about him? It was a strange thing for
her, feeling that way about someone she hardly knew. It
was almost like she needed to be his friend. It was like she
wouldn’t be able to live her life anymore unless Edyn remained in it.
“Yeah,” Tru replied. She wasn’t ready to go home, but
as she though about it, she realized how exhausted she
really was. A yawn pushed its way out of her mouth, causing her eyes to slightly tear up.
“Well, shall we?” Edyn reached out a hand. Tru took it
without any amount of hesitation, and waited as he lifted
her effortlessly into his arms.
As they flew through the air, Tru kept her eyes open.
She wasn’t as afraid as she had been before. In those few
moments, she felt safe in Edyn’s arms. Nothing could
hurt her now, not even the thought of Airi in a long, white
wedding dress, walking down a long, tree lined isle, lit by
a dozen glowing lanterns, surrounded by a large gathering of ridiculously good looking fairies.
Edyn’s voice rang through her head again
⎯
I won’t let
you fall.
And as they flew the air, Tru listened to the
steady rhythmic sound of his breathing. It was melodious,
almost nursing her softly to sleep in his muscular, yet still
lean, arms.
The two arrived at the edge of the backyard in a matter
of minutes. Nothing had changed since Tru had left the
house earlier that night. It was still dark out, but the glow
of the moon made every item in the yard perfectly visible.
She wondered desperately how long she had been gone.
As Edyn gently released Tru from his grasp and set her
feet on the ground, she stared up into his eyes, wondering
what he could possibly be thinking about. The pained
look on his face had vanished while they were in the air,
and had been replaced with a calmed gaze.
“When will I see you again?” Tru asked, barely audible.
It had been the question she was almost too afraid to ask.
Edyn looked at her. A quaint smile began to appear on
his face. “Soon.”
“Good.” Tru still had many questions to ask, and she
wasn’t going to forget them this time.
“I look forward to answering those questions.”
Tru’s eyes grew wide. She had been so wrapped up in
her own questions and thoughts that she had forgotten
that Edyn could hear every single one of them.
Quickly, Tru turned around, fearing that Edyn could
see the blood rushing into her cheeks, and began walking
toward the house. She was nearly two feet away from the
door when she could feel Edyn’s familiar warm hand
wrap around her wrist, pulling her back toward him.
“Are you not going to say goodbye?” he asked as she
turned to face him. Tru looked at his tanned hand as it
loosely held onto her pale wrist. The contrast between the
two was obvious, even in the dark.
“Why say goodbye when I know I’m going to see you
soon?” Tru said through a smile.
“You are right. Then how about until next time?” He let
go of Tru’s wrist, slowly, slightly bending at the waist as if
he were taking a bow.
“Okay,” Tru managed to say through a giggle. “Until
next time.” She looked at him for a few more seconds,
then turned and ran for the door. When she put her palm
on the handle, Tru paused and turned around to look at
Edyn one last time. But when her eyes adjusted to the
dark backyard behind her, Edyn was already gone.
“Ah, there you are Edyn,” Kayne said, holding his arms
open to greet his brother, as he sat casually in his chair.
Kayne was just as good-looking as his younger brother.
They could have passed as twins if it weren’t for the fact
that Kayne had an unusually pale shade of blonde hair
that resembled the hue of the almost white sand one
would see on a postcard next to a single palm tree and a
wave-less ocean in the background, not to mention the
massive pair of golden wings that were folded against his
back.
The man’s clothes were much different from Edyn’s as
well. He wore a long maroon cape under his wings that
looked as though it were made of a silky fabric. His leather pants were covered slightly by what looked like a long
loincloth that reached his knees. And his crown made of
gold ⎯ embellished with small rubies and sapphires ⎯
sat high on his head. It looked weathered and slightly tarnished, as if it had been passed down from generation to
generation over the course of a few thousand years.
“Hello, Brother,” Edyn replied, landing a few feet in
front of the man as he sat on his wooden throne. Edyn
knelt to one knee, bowing his head as Kayne looked down
at him. “You requested my presence.”
“You may rise,” Kayne said as he rose from the intricately detailed throne.
Edyn looked up at his brother, and then slowly rose
from the floor of the hollowed out tree they were occupying.
The interior of the massive trunk, beginning about
hallway up the tree, resembled a small circular ballroom.
The walls of the room had been removed in large intervals, making the top half of the trunk look as though it
were resting on twenty tall pillars made of intricately
carved wood. On each pillar was a lantern made of leaves.
The lanterns, however, were not lit by fire, but rather tiny
clusters of fireflies trapped inside the leaves, giving the
room an eerie greenish glow. On either side of Kayne’s
throne, was a short set of stairways that came together
behind the chair, and led out through an open doorway to
a balcony. Edyn knew that the balcony led to a wooden
bridge that cut across the forest to another tree where
Kayne’s sleeping quarters were, a room he had only ever
entered once, when the room had belonged to his father.
Stationed at the bottom of each stairway, as well as
both of the doorways on either end of the great room, was
a tall Fey guard, clad in leather and metal armor. Their
helmets, also made of metal with leather chinstraps, bore
the mark of the royal family on either side⎯ the symbol
that Edyn had a permanent reminder of on his left shoulder. All four guards were lean, but muscular, with angular
jaw lines and dark brown hair that flowed down their
backs, landing just above their leather belts. None of
them moved when Edyn had entered the room ⎯ not
even a slight shift in their glances.
“It has come to my attention that we have a traitor
among us.” Kayne looked at his brother as he walked
closer to him. Edyn folded his hands behind his back,
looking directly back at him.
“What
can
I
do,
your
Majesty?” Edyn
watched
as
Kayne walked closer. Soon, Kayne was standing just inches from him, close enough so that Edyn could feel the
warmth of his breath against his skin.
“I want you to find the runt and bring him to me.”
Kayne looked down at the ground and began pacing back
and forth in front of Edyn. His long cape dragged across
the floor behind him, his feet somehow managing to remain perfectly silent in the quiet room.
Edyn watched his older brother carefully as he paced
around the room, silently reading the thoughts that were
practically screaming out of Kayne’s mind.
“But Brother, that hardly seems fair.” Edyn removed
his hands from behind his back and took a step toward
Kayne.
“Excuse me?” Kayne questioned, taking a step toward
Edyn.
Edyn’s gaze quickly shifted to the floor. “I am sorry.
Your Majesty
.” Edyn bent at the waist, crossing his hands
behind his back once more.
“You
will
do as I command. You are a soldier. Albeit, a
Prince
, but a soldier nonetheless and you will follow my
orders.” Kayne looked at Edyn’s bent body a moment
longer before turning away to walk back up to his throne.
And as he took a seat, he looked at the guard standing by
the door behind Edyn. “Take him away,” he said, throwing his hand through the air as if he were swatting away a
fly.
The guard was at Edyn’s side in an instant, grabbing
his shoulder. Edyn looked at the man’s hand, then up into
his eyes. The guard released Edyn’s shoulder quickly, a
scared look on his face. Edyn smirked slightly at the man,
and then turned around and walked out of the room and
onto the short balcony just outside the door.
“Edyn!” Airi shouted, landing on the balcony beside
him. “Is everything alright?”
Edyn
looked
at
Airi
momentarily
before
quickly
spreading his burgundy wings. “Go home, Airi.” In an
instant, Edyn was in the air, ascending toward another
open balcony on the tree, just a few feet above them.
But
Airi
was
too
fast.
She
landed
on
the
wooden
planked terrace
just
moments
before
Edyn,
with
her
hands on her hips. “Why are you acting this way?” she
asked, looking up at him.
Edyn hurriedly pushed passed her, through the narrow
doorway that had been covered with a sheer fabric, and
into the small, dimly lit room. “It is nothing. I
am
sorry. I
just have a lot on my mind at the moment and prefer not
to be bothered right now.”
Airi stood in the doorway and watched Edyn as he
walked around the room for a moment, before he took a
seat on the hammock that hung from the ceiling next to a
small window that had been carved into the trunk.
Edyn’s
room
was
much
smaller
than
the
ballroom
downstairs. It was dark and heavily covered in clutter⎯
weapons, animal hides, and small piles of metal trinkets
he had found in the forest. His handmade, rope and animal skin hammock acted as a bed, but was rarely ever
used. Edyn preferred sleeping outside, high in the trees,
away from the rest of the village. He liked to look at the
stars, counting them as he dozed off, like humans counted
sheep.
“You are thinking about that girl again,” Airi said,
walking to Edyn’s side, with a hint of anger in her voice.
“No.” Edyn lied. He was thankful that Airi had not
been gifted with the power to read minds. He had hidden
so much from her, and if she knew, she would go straight
to Kayne, without any hesitation.
“Then please, tell me. You do not have to hide anything
from me.” Airi took a seat on the hammock beside Edyn,
and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.
Edyn looked at Airi. She smiled playfully, revealing her
perfectly straight, blindingly white teeth. “Airi, please,” he
said, brushing her hand off of his shoulder. Without jostling the hammock an inch, Edyn rose, and walked over to
the doorway, pulling back the sheer curtain, gesturing for
her to leave.
Airi stood from the hammock quickly and walked to
the doorway. But before she made her way through it, she
paused. “What has happened to you?” she asked without
looking at her future husband. “What has happened to
the Edyn I used to know?”
But Edyn did not speak. Instead, he watched as Airi
walked out onto the balcony, and spread her wings. As
she turned around to take one final look at him, Edyn
closed the curtain, and walked back over to the hammock
on the opposite side of the room.
His eyes glowed like the firefly lanterns in the darkened room. And even though most of the room was hidden in the shadows, he could see everything as clearly as
if the sun were illuminating the entire space.
“Why?” he said aloud, turning to look out of the window.
Why do I feel like this? It is forbidden! She is a human!
But she cannot be. She heard everything. She knows.
Edyn turned around quickly and looked at the mess on
his floor. He knew what he needed⎯ it was just a matter
of finding it. Without hesitation, he ran to the pile on the
floor and began fumbling through it. Within seconds, his
hands felt the familiar feeling of the leather spine. He
pulled on the large book, lifting it effortlessly out from
under the remaining items on the floor.
Edyn held the book open in the air easily with one
hand, though it must have weighed nearly twenty pounds
⎯ his inhuman strength made things look too easy at
times. And as he suspended the book as he paced around
the room, he skimmed through the pages hurriedly, reading the language only one of his own kind could read.
After a few minutes of flipping through the old, slightly
yellowing paper, Edyn landed on a page, and sat down on
the hammock. He read the page over and over, until the
words were permanently burned into the back of his
brain.
As Edyn turned and looked out of his window, he could
see the faint light of the sunrise poking its way through
the canopy of the trees high above him. Edyn quickly set
the book on the floor and ran to the covered doorway of
his room.
Once outside on the open terrace, Edyn opened the
pair of burgundy wings that had been neatly tucked behind his back and hurriedly made his way to the highest
point of the tallest tree, where he continued to watch the
sunrise⎯ as he did every morning⎯ without any interruption.