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“She was beautiful and full of joy. She was fair to her people and wasn’t the typical princess who locked herself up in her castle, reveling in her riches. She gave away most of her jewels to keep her people fed, and spent a lot of time in the town. Everyone loved her. But she fell in love with the Prince of Winter. He wasn’t like the other dark fae. He didn’t allow the opinions of others to cloud his duty to his people. They were never able to be married and kept her pregnancy a secret in fear of being targeted. Wartime is hardly the time to announce a child of such intense lineage,” he looks wistful as he speaks of them. Of all the fae I’ve met, Allwyn seems the most reluctant to let go of Faerie.
“Thank you. I was told by my grandmother, who raised me, that she died in childbirth. She would never tell me anything about her, just gave me an old photo of her.” My chest aches and a tear runs down my cheek. The pain is fresh, like I’ve just lost her again, even though we’ve never met. It feels ridiculous, but I can't stop it. Allwyn hands me a tissue, not saying anything else. He’s probably afraid I’ll start crying harder, he doesn’t strike me as the emotional type.
“She may have died in childbirth, but I doubt your grandmother is actually related to you. Can you describe her?” Allwyn looks curious and for a moment I worry he’s about to tell me even more of my life is a lie.
Describing people is not my strong suit, so I grab my phone that Jacob has sitting near the bed. We didn’t take many, but I have one photo of me and my grandmother from my high school graduation.
“It’s an old photo, but this is her. She was a very strict woman, but she took care of me," I say as I turn my phone so he can see the photo. His eyebrows wrinkle as he concentrates on the picture. He’s actually kind of adorable when he concentrates. Though his personality isn’t my usual cup of tea.
“She seems familiar, but she’s not the queen of any court,” he states. ‘No shit’ rests on the tip of my tongue but I hold it back, I can’t wrap my head around the fact he thinks I’m this prodigal daughter.
“Why do you think I’m their child? Especially if nobody knows what happened to the prince and princess? Also, if I am fae, then why was I human until now?” None of this made sense and was starting to freak me out, though the pulling sensation is annoying me more at the moment, than anything else. Apparently sitting was the wrong choice. Stupid man just had to try to shoot Allwyn.
“I know, because I knew them. Now that I can see your true face, I see both of them in you. It’s unmistakable. As for your magic and appearance, it was an extremely powerful binding spell. I’m unsure how it could last all of these years outside of Faerie, unless your grandmother is responsible and is also a glamoured fae.” he studies my face with an intensity that makes me squirm.
“My true face? What does that mean?” I turn to Jacob, because he’s the one who actually knows me and won’t try and soothe me.
“You’re hot now, Bells. Here.” He laughs as he hands over a small mirror. The moment I lock eyes on my reflection, I gasp. My skin was always pale , but now even more so and it has an iridescence that almost shimmers in the light. My face looks similar to before, but there are a few differences. My cheekbones are more defined now, taking away my innocent, cute look, my eyes are now a turquoise with the bits of purple in them instead of plain pale blue. The signature pointed ears of the fae are mine as well now, which actually has me biting back a squeal. I’d always loved that about fae.
The most insane change is my hair. Instead of the blonde I had before, it’s now a silvery white and at least five inches longer than before.
Altogether I have an almost ethereal look now. It’s both startling and breathtaking.
“What the hell?” I turn to Jacob, my mouth hanging open like a fish.
“Girl, I told you, hot," Jacob replies with a shrug. “You look like a goddess or something. The hair has to be my favorite part though.” He reaches out and tugs on a white wave.
“Well this is going to take some getting used to. Can someone get a healer though? I can’t stand this tugging in my stomach anymore," I whine. Now that I’m not distracted, it’s starting to get worse. With the battle and the current mindfuck, I don’t have the energy for this too.
“I’ll go fetch the healer," Andras offers, slipping from the room. His words are so much more proper now that he thinks I’m their queen, and I hate it. A few moments later he returns with an older fae man. He examines my wound and frowns up at me.
“It’s almost completely healed, that’s remarkable. Though with its location it should have nothing to do with your stomach. It could possibly be a side effect of your binding breaking apart. I think if you get more rest, it should get better,” he guesses, the lack of confidence not instilling much in me. “Here’s a stomach relief blend I have.” He hands me a small bottle, the size of a shot glass, and indicates for me to drink it all. It smells like the inside of a spice cabinet and I have to hold my breath to swallow it down and gag. It’s worse than I anticipated and I have to stop myself from being rude about it. Jacob, of course just laughs at me, wiping tears from his eyes as he hands me a bottle of water.
I drink down over half of the bottle before the taste is finally gone. Needing to shift my body, I try to lay back down, but Allwyn walks over and gently readjusts my body, like I’m light as a feather.
“Where’s Sam?” I ask Jacob, noticing that Sam’s usual clutter isn't here either. I’d just assumed he was in their bedroom working or something. He takes a shaky breath before shaking his head, words failing him. My heart falls. Who breaks up with their long term boyfriend while his best friend lays in bed with a gunshot wound? “I’m so sorry," I whisper
as I reach for his hand. He shrugs it off and hands over Dormouse, who’s done being patient. He’s been scratching at his cage the entire time we were talking and it’s not reached the point of looking pathetic.
“It’s okay buddy, I’m fine," I say as I look into his little cage. He runs to the edge, staring at me. He doesn’t act as crazy now that he’s so close. When I open the top to reach in to pet him, Jacob makes a sound of protest, hopping onto a chair like he’s not a grown ass man.
“You aren’t taking that creature out in here!” He yelps as I roll my eyes and reach for Dormy. He runs up to my hand and nuzzles my palm. I bring him up to my chest and he snuggles right in, like this is our thing. For some reason he brings me comfort, his little warm body making my anxiety calm.
“Look, he’s harmless and happy," I announce with a sleepy smile.
“If he goes missing, you’re searching this place top to bottom for him,” he says through clenched teeth. I blow him a kiss and he rolls his eyes not bothering to fight me today. That’s a sure sign that I nearly died. As my eyes drift closed I see a hint of a smile on his face.
“Don’t run off on me, Dormouse. I like having you around," I murmur as I stroke his back before slipping into a dreamless sleep.
Chapter 7
“Hello?” I call softly as I walk through Jacob’s apartment. The apartment was completely silent when I woke up, apparently well enough now that they all left me home alone. I’d almost gotten used to the hovering so now it’s almost lonely in here. The first thing I notice is Dormy still sleeping, though now he’s nestled in my hair. At least he didn’t poop all over me while he was getting more comfortable.
The longer I wander around his empty apartment, the crazier I start to feel. It’s impossible to go from being a busy college student who works and studies, to just sitting around. Especially when it’s not even my apartment I’m stuck in.
Maybe if I can put up a glamour again, I won’t be so noticeable.
At this point I don’t even care about the ears being seen, it’s more the silvery, white hair and weird skin that would draw attention. They haven’t exactly told me what powers I might have, but maybe I can do something about all this? Figuring it’s worth a shot, I go to the mirror in the living room and focus on changing my appearance.
