Chapter 9

“It is really me, William.” Evera squeezed his hands, reassuring her statements. “Please, do not ignore this. Do not ignore me.” Her cheeks were blood red in the firelight and the cold air was now soothing instead of irritating. He had remained withdrawn and still for longer than she had thought. Such a shock did not come upon a person, least of all on a poor, lowly and lonely man such as William.

Evera ran her fingers through his hair and trailed them to cup his cheek. She tapped his face lightly and tried raising his eyes to hers.

“Please, William,” begged Evera. “Please wake up. In the name of all good and Godly wake up.” She dried her tears for the silly things could not help here.

Evera held William in an awkward but calming embrace. Her arms wrapped around her friend and she silently waited for his mind to return to the present.

This strange discovery --added with fatigue, soreness, loss of sleep, and racing emotions-- raged inside William’s mind. Suddenly, he felt pressure against his torso. It would have been easy to mistake it for a strong wind, but this was comforting instead of abrasive; light yet strong.

William shook his senses awake and Evera pulled herself from the hug. He looked into her forest green eyes as a smiled spread upon her face. Her eyes were watered and red, her hair was a mess, and her breath was still in rasps. He grabbed her and threw his arms around her, holding her with a fervor that ran alongside his need for air. He was holding the girl… No, the woman that his young heart had belonged to.

“Evera, has fate given me another chance?” William held her face, proving this was no trick. The eyes were the color of budding leaves on a sun filled spring afternoon, her skin was as pale, maybe even more so now, reminding him of a moonlit winter’s night, her hair the color of rutted bark. Why he had not seen the resemblance he could not say, but what mattered now was not on how or why she was here. It only matter beyond all other things of not letting this woman, of whom he will think of from now to the rest of eternity, go and leave for another long stretch in time.

“Let us talk no more tonight, we need our rest.” Evera took hold of the silver-chained necklace secretly and held it in her palm.

“I will not be able to for my dreams are ensnaring me as I am awake.”

“Please, I have been awake and tired for hours. Let me rest. We will speak of this in lighter hours.” Her eyes grew heavier with each moment until she could no longer focus her vision.

William saw it pained her to keep talking. He laid her down near enough to the fire to keep warm.

“Until you awaken, Evera.” The boy brushed her hair behind her ear, letting the light of the flames dance on her cheek. As she drifted to sleep, he soothed her with a lullaby he had not uttered since his day of youth.

William sat against a tree and watched over his weary companion. He was overjoyed he had found the girl he fell in love with all those years ago. He became peaceful and his anger that had built in his soul from his life without her started to dissolve.

Eventually, the man’s mind drifted into slumber as well, with his fantasy being softer than he could remember. Life for him could now be happy.

The young Fae had fallen into a dream-filled slumber, with nightmares and love crashing together with waves of madness like that of the untamable sea. All the while she held on to the necklace, squeezing the charm with urgency, even in sleep.

The morning hours faded and transformed into the dancing winds and cloudless skies as the young Fae awoke. She wanted to slip back into her nighttime fantasies where she dreamed of living within the trees and dancing in the rivers. She laughed with the rain and frolicked in the ferns and in those few hours of whimsical imaginations, she had felt a peace she never felt in the reality that lay before her during those damnable daylight hours.

William was leaning against a gnarled tree, asleep. His position would give him much stiffness in his neck the moment he awoke. Evera raised herself up to rest on her elbows, letting her hair droop over her right eye. She brushed her tangled and shabby hair back over her ear with little success, for her curls behaved as if they would not stand for being pulled back; they would rather stay loose and unruly. She abandoned the need to fix her hair as the weight of what had happened the night before set back in.

William was in possession of the Raven Necklace which belonged to her court’s highest ranking member; A member so powerful, he was one of the few old enough and wise enough to be able to  resist Lucifer’s bewitching. Elish was one of the Four and he, along with Taneisha, Orlaith, and Slone, made the High Assembly. The only Powers that held command over theirs was Lucifer himself and above him, God.

If William was ever to be found out of his ownership of the Raven Necklace, he would be sentenced to a cruel Fae death, or worse. There are worse punishments than death, especially in the Unseelie Court. Especially unto a mere human. Evera shook her head of the thought.

The young man’s face was still holding the contentment it had the previous night, even in sleep. She wished she could gently rouse him and talk of their lives without each other. She longed to hear the stories of how humans changed from the people she knew, into who they are now. Her yearning made it all the harder to string her bow and quiver upon her shoulder and depart. She must for if he woke, he would not allow her to act upon her commands to bring home the necklace he thought to be his own.

William awoke from a dream infused with such reality, he was not sure of his being awake at all. It had been a good dream of love and laughter with the woman who used to be always a step out of his reach. His mind had given her a face of elegance and strength which, until he was awake, he was unsure of whose it belonged to.

Ferns protruded from the ground everywhere, enveloping the couple who lay together, casting shadows of jagged stripes over their bodies. Life had slowed down yet sped on faster. In the next moment, they were riding horses, and then climbing trees, and in another breath, they were running through the shallows of a river. Life was joyous and the girl was his to claim for eternity.

William smiled and closed his eyes, lingering in the moments his mind had created for his entertainment before they vanished from his thoughts. Sitting up and kneaded out the stiff muscles in his neck, he turned toward the fire and blinked. His eyes were still getting used to the light when he noticed something, or rather, the lack of something. His eyes scanned the trees as the realization hit him. His companion, his friend, his childhood sweetheart... was gone.

Silent tears fell down the blood flushed cheeks as the bare footed girl walked back to her homelands. This was it; the last few days of freedom in the ancient woodland. As soon as she descended into Unseelie territory, she would stay there with her green-eyed kin and only leave during Ownah, the welcoming festival for the new young Fae.

She had enjoyed her Ownah year. It was dancing, singing, finding new wonders she never thought existed, laughing and frivolity in extravagance. She ate and drank food she had never heard of, though they tasted of familiarity and bittersweet fruits. Fireflies decorated the night and the fires that lit the festivities burned with light lavenders and blues instead of the normal oranges and reds. It was a memory one would never forget, which is why Ownah was celebrated so lavishly.

The pain of learning where she would live after her initiation festival was almost as devastating as leaving her potentially loving life behind forever. The caves of Morag were dimly lit and closed off. Most Unseelie loved their dug out rooms with snaking roots which clung to the ceilings and walls. The little grey fire that never ended gave them comfort and relaxation while they slept on their beds of decaying shrubbery and animal hide blankets. With every new dawn, most Green Eyes loved waking to run through the caves, letting echoes bounce back to them and fighting for the freshest of the food prepared. Evera, however, was not most Unseelie Fae.

The unusual girl enjoyed peace and quiet, not ringing yells and sarcastic cackles of her unreserved classmates. Though her own fighting skills were better than average and she delighted in hand-to-hand combat, she did not take pride in the brawls and hostility that most watched in pleasurable entertainment. Simply declared, she was a strange creature amongst the unruly lot of Fae. Unseelies were known for their extremities in desires and Evera was the outcast.

The young woman wiped her damp cheeks with the back of her hand which held the Raven Necklace; the blue-green stone seemed to pulse as she did. Evera stretched her tingling shoulders and the odd sensation left as quickly as it appeared. The prickling was soon forgotten for Evera heard the fast approaching footsteps.

“Evera!” William’s voice rang through the trees. Branches and grass rustled behind her. The young Fae wanted to shout for him to stop following but she marched on, her chin level to the ground.

“Evera ru--” William’s voice was cut off. She exhaled a regretful sigh as she turned to face the inevitable conversation. Standing there, in the middle of ten other muscular men, William was held fast. Unsure of her footing, Evera ran opposite the troupe and collided with the man she could easily see was the leader of the vile crowd.

“’Ello, poppet. You’ll be comin’ wif us now.”