6.

"Are we there yet?" I groaned, trudging my feet through the muddy undergrowth.

"No!" The fae men shouted, neither of them surmounting the power to turn and face me.

Lucius had healed quickly once Alvar had applied the same ointment onto his wounds that had healed my neck. Within an hour, he sprung up and was ready to take off into the trees. Neither of them said much to me as we travelled quickly along the trail, busy wrapped up in their argument about the Gryphon. But I knew we were closer to the centre of their civilisation. If I stared long enough into the trees, I could see little wisps of colours, wings, and horned creatures darting after one another. As we got closer to our destination, I could see the creatures all around us, but never close enough that I could identify exactly what they looked like. The idea of them didn't scare me anymore, the Gryphon, as scary as it looked, did not attack me and had shown Alvar mercy. Unless they gave me a reason too distrust them, I had begun to hope that I would stay for a week or more to gather information and then return it to my parents. They would be so proud, and more than that they would finally receive the relief of certainty; that all their research was correct and all they had to do was look into our backyard. And finally they would realise that there were more important things in this world than their research, such as their children.

A splash of colour fluttered in front of my eyes. Large butterfly wings flapped hastily in front of me as my eyes adjusted to its close proximity. It was no butterfly; it was a creature of the fae. Beautiful blue wings opened to reveal a tiny cat like body, with pointed grey ears and black whiskers as long as its wings. I stared in amazement and lifted a curled finger towards it. It flinched backwards, but I kept my hand steady. After a moment, it sniffed my finger and then sneezed. Its eyes widened and I giggled. It reminded me of Eclipse and my sister and home. I frowned and withdrew my hand from the creature, my stomach churning. It did not fly away and instead fluttered closer to my face, its tiny paws stretching out to touch my nose.

"Don't kill it!" Alvar shouted, appearing suddenly to shove me to the ground, away from the creature.

"I had no desire to kill it!" I exclaimed with a shriek, pushing myself off the ground.

"Oh, really?" Lucius too appeared, hands on hips, with eyebrows raised.

"I have a desire to kill you!" I snapped at Lucius, my fists clenching at my sides.

The little creature hovered in my peripheral vision, blue glistening in and out of the light. It seemed frightened by the scene of violence and landed delicately on my shoulder. I sighed, suddenly feeling a rush relief and comfort as Alvar stopped Lucius from storming towards me.

"You really feel no desire to kill it?" Alvar asked, eyebrows drawn together as he gazed at the creature nuzzling my neck.

"No. Why would I?" I threw my hands into the air in a mixed atmosphere of confusion and anger.

"It is a Periwinkle. One of the few fey that can travel into the shadow plane and back again. It can heighten mortal's darkest tendencies..."

"Shadow plane?" I was genuinely confused and lifted a hand to my brow. My brain was combusting with all the information it had begun to process in such a little amount of time. Any more and I would have surely slipped into a coma.

"Seriously? That's the thing you picked up out of that sentence? Not even a little concerned about your 'tendencies'." Lucius looked flabbergasted, finger quoting with crazed, wild eyes.

"There is a lot we have yet to explain to you." Alvar sighed, scratching the back of his neck. His cape was cast aside, and the hem of his shirt lifted to reveal a muscled lower stomach, shining sliver in the sun. My eyes cast down, embarrassed at my itching curiosity to discover the source of his scars. "But for now I think we should begin with you handing us the Periwinkle."

"What?" My lip curled and my hand rose upwards to my shoulder where the creature sat on its hind legs. "But it is harmless?"

"Quite the opposite, in fact. It can lead to extreme complications in the company of mortals." Alvar stepped forwards and I stepped backwards.

"Well it has done nothing so far. In fact, I think I quite like the idea of a new Periwinkle friend." The creature's tiny tongue licked my neck, tickling me.

"Yes, but—"

"But nothing. It stays until it wishes to go." I crossed my arms, daring the men to challenge me. Neither did so; Lucius in his might stormed off again into the trees and Alvar clenched his jaw. I felt a strange need to protect this creature, as I knew deep down it meant no harm. I felt no different than I had in the morning; my darkest tendencies seemed to be in place.

"Come, my lady. There are things I need to explain before we reach our destination." He nodded to the path and swept a gloved hand outwards, gesturing for me to follow beside him.

I raised a brow at his tone, back to the formalities he had used when we had first met. For a moment I considered what his mother would have been like, believing she must have been very kind to raise a son with such manners. But then I shook my head, and reminded myself not to get too attached to the people who had taken me from my mundane world into some place frightening and wonderful. As much as I enjoyed the feeling of the little creature on my shoulder, I knew these people did not care about me and I had people waiting at home who did.

"So there are a few basic court etiquette's that you need to be aware of once we reach the city." I nodded, crunching through the undergrowth. "First, we follow a hierarchy of sorts. It's not like the human ones. We have a king and a duchess, who oversee the First Plane, which is the realms and wellbeing of the fae. They are respected highly as they are strong leaders who have kept us out of sight for many years. The celebration you are being brought in for is the two hundred year anniversary of the King's rule—"

"Two hundred!" I exclaimed, my steps faltering. I had assumed their advanced medicine meant less disease, but it never occurred to me that they lived abnormally long lives. "How long does your kind live for?"

"We can die anywhere from birth to a thousand years living. I am sorry but I will not go into these details right now, they are not important for you to know." Alvar shoved his hands in the pockets of his cape and tucked his chin inwards. He looked no older than twenty-five, but I could not fathom how old he truly was. Perhaps he was fifty; perhaps he was over a hundred; perhaps he was older than my great grandparents. That thought was scarier than the jaws of the gryphon.

"When we arrive you will greet the duchess, a simple bow and a complete aversion of eyes is an absolute necessity to your survival. She is known to be quite ruthless to those who do not respect her. You will perform for the King when the celebration begins a day from now, and again, do not look his bride or his majesty in the eyes. They may ask you to perform again, and if they do so you must smile and say 'I gladly accept your most humble offer, your majesty'. Any less and they will consider that you have rejected their offer and you will probably be killed."

I swallowed a hard lump in my throat. These people sounded unkind, relentless and merciless. I reached for my necklace and sighed, I knew I would have to follow whatever orders were given to me in order to go home.

"You may be asked to perform for the private dinners which occur over the next two weeks, and may even be asked to perform at the fey parties. Pick songs that have emotion, like the one you performed at your school. The King prefers songs with a unique string that lean more towards contemporary style, which is why we picked you."

His remark made me smile. I would have no shortage of songs to pick from.

"I think you should perform that song you did at your school on the first night. I think the King will quite like it, and you, and hopefully he will request to have you perform again."

"So I should want to perform for the next few weeks here? Shouldn't I, I don't know, flunk the song and then go on my merry way?" I said sarcastically, making walking motions with my fingers.

"No! Don't ever suggest that again." Alvar stopped me in my tracks to stare directly into my eyes. His midnight eyes glistened from under his mop of hair, curled perfectly into ringlets around his face. "You will be safe here as long as you are performing. Those requested by the king are held temporarily in the highest regard. You will be untouchable. If you 'flunk' as you say, the duchess may punish you for embarrassing the crown-or worse-she may send you mad. It is court etiquette that the performers, if they have satisfied the King, will return home safely the week following the celebration. In the time you are here, I and others like me can protect you."

I wanted to both laugh and cry at the disaster of a situation I had found myself amongst, but the deepness of his eyes and the concern they carried wiped any sense of humour from my conscious. It was no time for jokes or half-truths; this man was telling the cold truth. Either I performed my best and won the heart of their royalty, or I was killed or sent home mad.

"Yeah," I said, sucking in my bottom lip, "okay. I'll be good. I'll do as you say." If my words were of any comfort, he didn't show it. He simply nodded and stepped away from me, straightening out his coat. It was only then I realised it no longer rippled with steam, it hadn't since we had crossed into the trees, and that I trusted him. "But—"

His head shot upwards, his eyes clouding over with concern once more.

"If what you say is true; that I will be under protection, I want you to be the one protecting me. Not some other strange fae man like Lucius." I shivered speaking his name, gazing into the trees ahead of us that he had disappeared into.

Alvar cocked his head, a single ringlet falling away from his forehead, revealing the tip of his silver scar. His eyes seemed to darken, as if his pupils had swallowed his iris whole, and his breath raised his shoulders high. His lips curled at the tips, ever so slightly, but enough for me to see he was happy with my words, or at least they amused him.

"Of course, my lady." He bowed before me and I laughed, shoving his shoulder as his grin widened in his stance. "Ey! Hands of the silk!" He winked at me, brushing off the imaginary dirt my hand had put on his cape.

We stood for a moment, both grinning as I rolled my eyes and chuckled. A part of me wanted to reach forwards and trace his scar with my fingertips. My hands tingled in anticipation and I clenched my fists to keep myself from the temptation. Alvar cleared his throat and we awkwardly continued walking.

"So what else do I need to know? You know, to keep me from trouble?" I tucked my hair behind my ear, a blush creeping onto my cheeks. I wanted to slap myself, and the Periwinkle was snickering in my ear and poking the flush that appeared on my neck.

"Um." He cleared his throat again, scratching his neck. "Oh right! After the King and duchess, there are the soldiers, like Lucius and I. there are also some fey you would consider 'Elites'; friends of the crown or counsellors and advisors. The only right we hold that others do not is the right to speak directly to the king and even sometimes to speak out of line. Every other fey is an equal, as there is no money in our world, only contributors to society. That is something very important. It means that you cannot kill any fey, even what may seem but a fly may be a complex organism. This crime is punishable by your own death, to even the scales. You see, when a fey is killed unjustly, it disturbs the natural order of things and the land balance tips. Too much darkness can create a link to what we call the Shadow Plane, the realm of the darkest sprits of both men and fae."

"Okay..." I trailed off, trying to understand. "So what is this Shadow Plane and why is it bad?"

"That is a story for another time." Alvar sighed, leaving me to drown in my confusion. "It is not for you to know. I should only be telling you the basics of everything. When you return home, you cannot have too much information about us."

I laughed at his excuse.

"I know the way to your pretty kingdom, Alvar! Isn't that plenty info?"

Now it was his turn to laugh.

"Look behind you."

I frowned, but did as he said. My lips parted in shock. The path had disappeared. With each step we took, grass and vines covered the rocks and stones that led us to our destination. There was no way I could find this place again, even if I tried.

"If you go home and begin telling these stories, people will think you have gone insane. If you lead them to the woods, they will find no path, no trace of Lucius or myself. One thing I can tell you, Lyra; the earth is on our side." He placed his hand on the small of my back, pulling me back onto the path and towards the kingdom of his people.

"So," Alvar's voice pulled me back from the depths of my mind, a few hours later, "there are a few other things I should explain that may make this transition easier."

We had almost caught up to Lucius who was whistling a song unknown to me whilst gliding under branches and jumping over rocks. The Periwinkle had migrated into my hair, its wings retracting into its body as it clawed amongst my mess of curls.

My eyes drooped; I was beginning to tire. It had been hours of walking with no rest, no food and no water. It seemed to me that the men forgot I was human, mortal.

"Like what?" I said, my lips parched.

"You will be staying in the castle while you are with us. There are guest quarters in one of the underground floors. You will be served meals three times a day. You wont be allowed to leave these quarters either unless called upon or accompanied by a white guard."

"White guard?" I asked quietly, wishing for water.

"Yes. There are different levels of soldiers. White is the highest."

"Of course it is." My voice was laced with sarcasm and a hint of malice, but I fell to the ground before they could make a lasting impact. 

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xx Charli