Sue-Anne's view

I was told stories about the fae by my Grandmother Eliza, who had heard it from her Grandmother Susan. My grandmother then gave me 2 stories to read saying that it these stories were written by someone who had heard Grandmother Susan's stories and had decided to write them down. I did not believe it at first, why would I? It was all too fantastical to me – just a story nothing else. I was wrong though, not that I knew it then. I was blissfully unaware of the truth.

My name is Sue-Anne, my name was in honor in part of that great, great Grandmother (I think I got the number of greats right, but I am unsure) She was alive roughly 200 years ago. We were horse breeders, and our horses were known for their longevity and gentle natures. We always kept the first borne male and females of every breeding pair, or if a pair was formed in childhood.

I was unsure the reasoning behind this, but these horses were unusual. They seemed to only ever pick one horse to breed with like we would as humans. It was why the breed had almost died out. No-one had picked up on this until G. G. grandmother Susan was found with her horse and foal.

That foal was the start of the resurrection of the breed as GG grandmother Susan bought all the breed-able age and brought them to her remote farm. Her sons and daughters made a special effort to follow her ways, odd though they were. I swear though that we followed the Jewish God, but I was not sure, I could only go by what was passed on by my grandmother, and the stories passed down through her.

I wondered what Aine was like as a Goddess, I mean our world was pretty atheistic, so belief in any God or Goddess was seen as weird in itself. Here was I with a choice of 2 very real Gods to my family. I decided I would leave it for another day, and just thank both for whatever came my way.

Anyway, as I was saying, my name is Sue-Anne, and by some luck I was still a Torbrok. It was lucky that every generation from Susan first born child was male, and every first-born child inherited the farm. What was strange about this was none of the first borne males wanted to do anything else, they all only wanted to manage the farm. I know this was a traditional view, and everywhere else it seemed not to be upheld. Numerous farms around us were sold due to the family not wanting to take on the legacy of farm ownership and management.

Our family had bought most of the farms and with the numerous dividends paid for their land to be separate from the local governing bodies so that we no longer had to pay rates, or land tax or insurance. We were independent of everything. If we needed money, we sold our horses that had not found a mate, but it was always the horses choice.

People thought us pretty odd, like we were a cult or something. I guess it was arguable that we were, after all we did follow the God of Gods way as best, we could.

Most of our family was living on the land we bought and we married whomever was brought our way. My grandmother herself had come from America for a Scottish adventure, but instead ended up in Ireland looking at the horses we were breeding. She wanted to buy one to take back with her to her family's land. It seemed the sort of horse she was chasing, one that was loyal to whomever took it. She did not have a front fence on her place, so she needed animals that would not roam.

Upon meeting Grandfather, she was entranced. Grandfather even more so. I have never seen partners more doting than my family. I wanted that in my husband, but I had not met anyone I wanted. Every male I had met were garbage in nature.

Let me tell you why.

We lived near the small village called Enniskerry Village. All of us went to school there, some went on to university via scholarships, as paying by cash was out. If we wanted to buy or sell, we had to have a chip in our arm. Our family did not want this chip and were averse to having it. So, we were set up to be completely independent. We planted, grew, harvested, stored and canned our own fruit and vegetables.

Sorry, I got distracted there, I was meaning to tell you why I thought men were garbage, wasn't I?

I was 15 when I begged my parents to let me enter the KILMACANOGUE SHOW cross country riding section. I believed in my horse Kell, he was a handsome pure black Eriskay pony, for some reason he only ever photographed grey, he was not a show pony at all but he was an awesome horse for cross country competitions. Most people would write him off as no competition as he was smaller than most of the horses that competed. In fact, he was usually half the size of those that competed. Most people preferred to ride thoroughbreds for this event until they saw what Kell would do.

My parents, were hesitant to start with, but I wore them down with my pleas.

"Fine, you can enter, if they allow money to be transferred via internet banking and not the chip," my father suddenly gave in. I do not know why, but we were allowed to enter. They accepted my money without needing that chip.

So come the day of the cross-country, I was up early washing, brushing and feeding Kell. His coat sparkled like vantablack or black diamonds. I loosely braided his flowing mane and tail in a continental braid. It was not very practical but I felt it enhanced his beauty 10-fold.

The good thing with braiding it was it was less likely to fly up and hit my eyes and thereby blinding me till my eyes cleared again. This could cause the loss of several minutes as I recovered. It would be different if I was riding barebacked, I knew I could trust him entirely then and not lose that time, but with a saddle, it was harder.

I had polished and prepared his tack the day before, I gave it another polish as a matter of course, then headed in to shower and change into the competition clothes I had bought on the internet. Surprisingly, the site allowed for banking transfer and not the usual chip requirement. While I was there, I also bought a lot of various materials so that we could make more clothes.

We could make our own material, but it was not fine like machine made material was. It was courser made from the wool of angora goats or sheep. Our sheep and goat wool were the highest quality, the very best there was, but again we could not sell it so we used it ourselves.

A building built and machinery put in especially for this. A weaving workshop was off to the side where we spent a lot of our time making the material we used for sewing. We did it usually when there was nothing else to do and we were bored. It was a great cure for boredom. Suddenly, the young ones would find other things to do that truly interested them, leaving those that truly did enjoy doing it.

I was not amongst the number of those enjoying it. I preferred to spend my time with the horses. So much so that I would often be found in Kell's stall sleeping. I do not know why but being with Kell relaxed me. I was unconcerned whenever I was with him, and he followed me everywhere like a dog.

I was often teased that he was my dog as he was there all the time. He always seemed to know when I was needing something as he would go fetch it if it were possible, if not he would go to where I would be needed and wait until I realise that was where I needed to be.

I do not know if it was coincidence or not, but he was only 1 year older than me and was with me as soon as he was aware of me, much to the annoyance of my mother. Mum never got use to our way of life but she did try as she loved father ever so much.

I have digressed again.

As I was saying, I was getting ready for the cross-country horse race, I had to go in early as our only way to get into town was to ride. As I was riding in the race in the afternoon, I wanted to go in in the morning so Kell could be rested for the race. Once I was dressed, I headed in.

It was a lovely autumn day, the sun was sparkling through the tree leaves, a gentle breeze was blowing, it was a warm breeze for Autumn, but the day itself was pleasant. Kell and I trotted along in a companionable silence. My necessities for the day in my backpack that I had fashioned.

Upon arriving onsite to the Competition, I signed us in and went to the stable allocated to us. It was the furthest away from everything. I was not really surprised as I was lucky to even be competing. I thanked the 2 Gods that we even had a stall and started to muck out the stable ready to house Kell and myself for the day.

The stable would have been fine if it was just for Kell, but as I was joining him, I wanted to be sure of what was in it, and I could not be sure unless I cleaned it for myself.

Kell just waited patiently for me while I did this. It was if he knew he could not wander about like at home. Yes, I had left him free as I knew Kell would not roam nor do anything to cause anyone trouble, but that did not explain the trouble that came my way.

I was walking back from the stable store room with a bale of fresh hay to put out on the stable floor when I was accosted by a group of young men. Oh they were handsome to be sure, but they also seemed to have an ugliness of spirit around them.

"Hello, little lady," The sexiest and tallest of the group approached me blocking my way, he leant against the corral wall nearby, "What are you doing?"

"Mucking out my stable," I said, shifting to go around him.

"I can see that, but what are you doing here?" he asked again as if I was stupid. It dawned on me then that this was the handsome oafs attempt to flirt with me.

"I am here for the cross-country event," I say trying to stifle the panic I was starting to feel, "What are you here for?"

"What a coincidence," he smiled a predatory smile, "That's what we are here for too. Isn't that right Harry and Paul?"

The other two nodded to his question.

"So pretty lady, what is your name?"

"Why should I tell you? You have not even introduced yourself?" I pointed out.

"Oh, sorry, where are my manners?" he apologized before continuing, "My name is Kevin Atkinson, and these are my buddies Harry and Paul."

"Pleased to meet you Kevin, Harry and Paul," I said, "But I really must get back to work, my arms are killing my holding this bale," and again, I tried to brush past.

"Oi, little lady, I introduced us to you, be polite and introduce yourself now,"

"I honestly do not want to, I don't want anything to do with you," I reply, and on seeing his aggrieved expression I continued, "I do not mean to be rude, or anything, but the facts of the matter are that you will not see me again, nor will you have any way of contacting me. So why do you need my name? Little lady is fine by me."

"So, it's going to be like this is it?" He answered with a predatory sneer on his face, "This is fine by me Little Lady!" and he snatched the hay bale off me and threw it to his mates, took me by my shoulders and forced a kiss on me. It made me sick to my stomach.

"There is more where that came from," he sneered as he pushed me towards an empty stall. I could only imagine what was going to happen, so I screamed out in fear, "Help! Someone! HELP!" but there was no-one to help except the sudden sound of hooves thundering towards us.

The next thing I knew a horse's head was between us, and Kevin's grip was released by the horse putting his head under his arms and lifting upwards. Once the grip was separated the horse effectively put himself between me and the 3 young men. It was then I realized it was Kell.

"Thank you Kell," I whispered my thanks.

"What the hell?" Kevin spluttered, "What is with this horse? How can I be with you if this horse is in the way?"

"Let me be clear," I said as Kell moved out of the way, so I could look directly at the perpetrators eyes, "I want nothing to do with you. I would rather be married to this horse then ever be with you!"

"So that is what you want?" he asked, "You could have been rolling in riches, being my girlfriend, but you choose a horse?"

"You never asked me to be your girlfriend," I pointed out, and seeing his expression I continued, "Even if you had, my answer would be the same – NO WAY IN HELL! And yes, I would choose that horse every time over you!"

Kevin went to reach for me but again Kell intervened, stopping him from doing so.

"Well then," he sneered, "You can have your wish – You are marrying that horse today!"

"WHAT?!" I exclaimed, "That is impossible! No one can marry an animal!"

"I do not think you know who I am, little lady. If I say you are marrying that horse, you are marrying that horse!" He looked at me, clearly deranged by his whole rejection, "Do not worry, I will arrange everything for your marriage after the cross-country event."

It was then I was filled with dread. Perhaps he could get us married, but then I could not marry anyone else, could I? And what were we going to do about children? I wanted children one day and there was no way I was going to be able to if I was married to a horse.

But seriously, What???

Surely this was a joke?

Surely it was impossible...It's impossible right?

I dismissed the thought, but it seemed Kell was all for the idea as he pulled me into a horsey hug and nuzzled my neck as if to say, "I am glad you have chosen to marry me."

I pushed him away with a laugh and picked up the discarded haybale and walked to the corral that we were allocated. I spread out the hay, lay down my sleeping blanket and fell asleep. Kell positioned himself inside and shut the corral door.

Sometime later I heard Kevin say, through my half-awake self, "Oh look the princess is sleeping... Let's take her now while her guard is down."

They opened the corral door and Kell would not let them past.

"Shit you bastard of a horse!" I heard one say.

"Well go!" I could have heard Kell say in a human voice.

I awoke properly then and saw to my surprise 3 grown men scrambling out of my corral on their backsides, fear etched into their faces, "What sort of horse is this?" they screamed.

"Since you ask so nicely," I replied calmly, bringing their wide frightened eyes back to me, "He is a purebred Eriskay stallion."

"That horse is the devil! See you at your wedding," and with that parting comment they were gone.

Kell turned back to me, I could have sworn he had a look of utter satisfaction that he had succeeded in chasing the men off, and he then nuzzled the top of my head as if to say, "Don't worry, I will always look after you."

I sat stunned for a little bit before it registered on me the time. It was mere moments till the race and I had not got Kell ready. I scrambled into action, Kell helping me as best a horse could. He put on his own blankets and tried to help with the saddle, but in the end, I had to finish off the placing and fastening of said saddle. We finished off with placing his bridle and reins on, and I walked him to the yard where I hoped on and went to the start line to sign in.

At the start line I saw Kevin and his cronies on their thoroughbred horses. They nodded to me an evil smile. I worried for a moment then, but then I remembered who I was on – Kell. There was no way they could keep up with Kell over the entirety of the race. Kell was built for travelling long difficult distances, and looking at their horses, I would say they were only built for short bursts of speed and alright jumpers.

We lined up and the gun went off. Kell and I stayed put, letting the others run themselves out early. It was a tendency of everyone to go all out initially and fade in the middle and then go hard the last kilometer. I had no intention of riding that way. I intended to ride the whole race one speed – Kell's.

For Kell to race his own race we waited until everyone was out of sight before heading off ourselves. It earned us quite a few concerned glances and a few rude comments, "Should have stayed at home girl if that is how you are going to race!"

"Go home, you clearly cannot race!"

"Leave them alone, they will surprise you!" another said.

"Yeah? Want to bet on it?"

"Sure! And if they win you will..." I did not hear the rest as Kell decided then to move.

We left at a gait between a canter and a gallop, it was a gait unique to the breed, one that I was wholly familiar with, I had been riding Kell as long as I could remember. I vaguely remember feeling that he had spoken to me to ride him as I was his partner now. I was only 5 at the time so I do not know if that memory was true or not, all I knew was when I did ride him, I never felt so free, safe and loved as when I was atop his back.

It was about halfway through the race that we caught up with the rear of the pack. The horses there looking clearly fatigued, as we breezed past them. We were about 2/3rds our way past all the competitors before we saw a change in the horses being ridded.

I patted Kell and said to him, "So Kell, from here on out are the well trained and exercised horses, do you think you will catch them all?"

I earnt myself a snort of derision from him, so I smiled to myself. Kell would win and win easily.

We finally caught up to the front of the pack with about 10 more kilometers to go. The front of the pack consisted of Kevin and his cronies. They were a little more difficult to pass as they were working together to block our paths. Not to mention they were whipping their horses to go faster.

This went on for 5 kilometers before I noted their horses were starting to foam from the mouth with exhaustion.

"Slow down!" I yelled at them, "You will kill your horses at this speed! Please stop! Kell is use to this speed. Your mounts are not! Please, do not kill them because of me!"

They laughed at me and ignored my warning. 2 kilometers before the finish line their horses dropped down dead. It was as I had said, they could not continue at the speed Kell and I were racing. It took a special breed to do the long-distance like we did, their horses were not that breed. They were supposed to ease off in the middle of the race, and they had not as I had come along then with Kell.

I finished the race hoped off and sent Kell back to get the 3 men. Kell did as I asked.

"Woah! Where is your horse going?" the race official asked as Kell left in a gallop saddle and mat removed for weigh in.

"He has gone to get the 3 men who killed their horses racing us," I replied.

"What? He can do that?" he asked in surprise.

"Yes, providing they get on him. They might not as he had a go at them this morning for trying to hurt me," I explained.

"I see," nodded the official, but clearly, he did not see, he was just saying he saw.

I weighed in; my weight was over what I was given by the bookies.

"Did you tamper with your weights?" the official measuring me asked.

"No, why would I?" I replied, "I have nothing to gain by putting more on, but those 3 that I sent my horse to get do. They seem pretty influential."

The official scrutinized me to see if I showed any sign of lying, but I wasn't so he just nodded. Kell arrived then with 3 disgruntled figures aboard him.

"Get me off this horse!" Kevin yelled at someone, not knowing that Kell had released the grip Kelpies were known for in the fae. It only worked occasionally here, and only with those that had descended from Kai. The other descendants did not have this ability. Kell was a direct descendant of the horse called Kai and his daughter known as Queen Kailoe (the name was supposed to be Keiloe but GGG Susan changed the spelling)

Technically, I guess, this made Kell a prince, but we won't go into that. I did not want to think of that as it honestly was strange how wild animals would come up to Kell and seemingly have a discussion with him before leaving again.

Someone pulled the 3 off, with little difficulty, to the surprise of the 3 men on him. I smiled they clearly had not realized that Kell had released them already, not wanting the oafs on his back any more than necessary.

Kevin stopped up with me after a brief scene with an attendant offering him water and he pushed him away in anger, "Leave me alone!" he snapped.

When he got to me, he said, "You and your horse deserve each other, you red eyed freak!" and he waved at a woman. That woman came up to me with 2 others and pulled me away protesting.

It was the oddest sensation, I sincerely felt powerless as these women directed me to a room and immediately began to strip me. "What are you doing?" I demanded, trying to stop them removing my clothes.

"Getting you ready for your wedding," the attendant said, "It is on Master Kevin's orders. Come now stop this nonsense! We have a job to do and you are hindering it. Master Kevin said that you agreed already."

"Who am I supposedly marrying?" I ask her.

"He said you wanted to marry your horse instead of him," she advised me, "So he is kindly arranging it for you. You do realize you will not be able to marry anyone else in this world now? Master Kevin has seen to that."

"So, the jerk really was serious..." I mused saddened by the words. I had wanted kids; it just did not look possible now. I stopped resisting their ministrations, allowing them to complete dressing me for my farce of a wedding.

Once I was dressed, I was ushered to an outdoor chapel nearby. Kell was there waiting, someone had dressed him in a tux along his neck as if he indeed was a man. I smiled, disbelieving the situation the situation I had gotten myself into.

I went through the ceremony in a daze, coming to at the end when the priest or who ever it was said, "I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride." Where upon Kell gently leaned forward and kissed me on my mouth. I could have sworn it was a human kiss, not a horse kiss in that moment. But that was impossible... right?

Kevin smirked at me as he handed me our marriage certificate, "Now you cannot marry anyone you horse loving weirdo!"

"I would rather marry him then you, you sadist!" I shot back.

"Well, congratulations, Sue-Anne Torbrok, you have!" he jeered, "Get going now, before things get nasty."

"But my trophy..." I objected; I wanted my winnings.

"Do not worry, princess, the winnings will be forwarded to your residence. No one wants you around now." I looked around me, indeed it did seem to be true, hostility was brewing around me.

"Ok, you win," I deflated a little and led Kell out of the chapel and hopped on him and headed home. I did not bother retrieving any of my clothes or tack. It was an expensive loss; one I would never make again.

I arrived home sitting sidesaddle without the saddle as the dress did not allow for any other way to sit on Kell, I was relieved as we rode along, I could feel him fixing me to stay put and with the strange events that had happened. I was relieved for his touch.

My Grandmother Eliza came out to meet us, as she had been looking out for me from the kitchen window, "Sue- girl," she spoke with concern in her voice, "Where is your saddle and clothes that you went off with this morning? And why are you dressed in wedding clothes?"

I fell off Kell as his magic released and into her arms, the floodgates opened on my eyes as I wailed, "Grandma! I was forced to marry Kell or be raped. I chose to marry Kell!"

"Shhh! Shhh, darling," Grandma comforted me, "It is not as bad as you think. You could have done worse then marry Kell. He is a handsome Kelpie after all."

"Are you still on about that?" I questioned her through my hiccoughs and sniffles.

"Yes, dear, because it is true. My grandmother Sue said it was true! I tried every possible means to test her story for lies and it was consistent at every turn," I buried my head into her chest and drew comfort from her hug as she continued, "This land might have recovered enough magic as Grandma Sue and Grandpa Leander carefully planted trees in circles to attract magic. That is why there are 7 circles of different trees planted around our central lake. You know the the alder, ash, apple, aspen, birch, blackthorn, elder, gorse, hawthorn, hazel, heather, holly, ivy, mistletoe, oak, reed, rowan, Scots pine, vine, willow, and yew trees.

It is also why it is important to keep those circles healthy. I know our other land is not included in the land Grandma and Grandpa bought, but it probably is just as well we have the other land to have the industries, we need without interfering with the magic pooling in the center of that lake."

"You really believe this don't you grandma?" I asked her.

She nodded with a smile. "Hopefully you will see Kell in his human form, he has devoted his life to you you know. If what grandma Susan said was true, by fae law, you were already married, long before this ever happened."

"Fae law? Do you really think that is the case?" I questioned her.

"Yes, but we chose to follow the person called Gee and the God of Gods, so it may not affect us. I do not know. But regardless, Kell is a beautiful partner, even if nothing ever happens." She released me from her hug and kissed my forehead, "Come on in now, and tell your parents the good news!"

"Yeah, like telling them is a good idea," I muttered, as I was certain my parents did not believe in grandma's stories.

Upon telling them they told me my home was now the mill, where Kell and I spent most our time. I was forced to move my bed and belongings out there.

That night under the full moon, I felt Kell move and go into the pond water. I followed him, dressed only in my knickers and shirt and looked to where Kell was looking. A circle of moonlight hit the water and the water looked like a pale blue like fairies were dancing in a circle in the middle of that pond.

Kell looked at me briefly, and I could have sworn I heard him say, "Hop on Princess Sue-Anne, tonight we travel."

So, I did, I hopped on.

Never in a million years did I expect to end up in the fae, but that is where I assumed we arrived. 

🍀A/N Please vote if you enjoyed this chapter. If you see any errors please let me know as this is unedited. Also apologies for the change in font , I do not know why that happened nor do I know how to fix it. 🍀