6: The Rabid Fox

The cook had not been expecting us, our luncheon not at a time she was prepared for. All the same, she bought out trays of bread, fruit, and cheese. She was a pale green creature whose beauty was barely marred by two thick tusks jutted from her lips. I knew I was staring and dropped my eyes when she did the same to me. She didn’t say anything to me, though, and returned to the kitchen after bringing out the beautifully arranged boards of food. I greedily ate, not knowing how long I had been unconscious. I was ravenous.

“A healthy appetite leads to healing, so please, eat as much as possible,” Nelo told me, smiling. I knew she was being sincere, but all the same, I slowed my pace. The dining room we sat in was just as marvelous as the rest of the estate. Gilded walls sparkled in the chandelier’s light, pixies changing and relighting the hundreds of candles as needed. Tapestries, which had scenes moving within, hung in heavy drapes all along the walls. The wooden table was longer than my entire cottage at home. Everything scaled a bit larger than human size. The chair was made for someone the size of the king I had punched, not a puny mortal such as myself. The scale kept me feeling off-kilter in this environment- everything here felt wrong. Nelo picked a bit at a pile of grapes but was not hungry. I looked up again at the pixies, flying in a tizzy over our heads. I swear I caught a few giving me dirty looks.

“Are you stated?” She questioned. I could tell she was antsy.

“Sure, thank you,” I said, even though I could have eaten more. I had always had a healthy appetite, and since the days had blurred together since I arrived here, I wasn’t sure when the last real meal I had was. I was sticking with this polite and ignorant character I had chosen to become to protect myself.

“Great—Let’s do some introductions!” She clasped over both my hands and whirled me up from the table. “So obviously, this is the dining room, it’s a bit prettier at night, but you’ll find that out later.” She gestured vaguely before pulling me back into the grand foyer. “This is the estate, Summer, and the land we’re part of is called Aidor.” The excited fae female pulled me over to a tapestry that hung opposite the foyer’s large hearth. A map was woven into the fabric and laid out like a compass. Nelo circled her hands wide, encompassing everything on the tapestry. “So this, this is Aidor.” One of her scarred fingertips pointed to a sun emblem near the top of the tapestry. “This is Summer, where we are, ruled by King Orthus.” Dragging her finger down to the right, opposite of summer, she told me, “Spring is here; their emblem is a spring leaf.” She reached her hand up again, to the left side of summer where a red-brown leaf emblem lay, “Autumn is here.” Finally, towards the bottom, a white moon. “This is winter.” She sounded less than happy with the last court but didn’t choose to elaborate further. My eyes drifted to the area between the lands Nelo had shown me. There dead center of everything was an enormous mountain shape.

“What about this?” I asked her. She frowned and spoke as she turned and started walking away from me- I tailed her to hear her response.

“That land belongs to the demons. We don’t bother with them much, and they don’t bother us.” Nelo pulled open one of the french glass doors to the rear of the foyer- it opened onto the most beautiful garden I had ever seen. Sandy-colored pea gravel lined several paths, snaking between the rose bushes filled with pink and orange blooms. I put my hand on the frame of the door, blinking rapidly. The flora of this place looked as though it was pulsing with energy. The flowers pulsed, and the leaves grew slightly before retracting again. Vines that went up trellises seemed to quake.

“Are the plants, Nelo—are they breathing?” I gasped as I tried to take in the bizarre sight. The fae looked over at me, perplexed.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, in Aylesbury— I mean the mortal realm, plants are still—Why are these moving?”

“Hmmph. I didn’t know.” She craned her neck towards a rosebud, “Seems strange that something alive shouldn’t move, doesn’t it?” Nelo poked one of the petals, and the flower turned slightly from her. “Maybe Orthus knows? I’ve never left Aidor, so I’m not sure.”

Everything here was so strange, beautiful but bizarre. She plucked the orange rose from its bush. My eyes widened.

“Won’t that hurt them if they’re alive?” Nelo gave me a puzzled smile.

“It’s a flower, a plant.” She wrinkled her nose and said as if I was a small child. I nodded and walked forward, embarrassed.

I got it, breathing but not sentient. I was glad not to worry about accidentally stepping on a plant and causing it some offense. These were just slightly more mobile versions of my rose bushes. Nelo caught up and wrapped her hand in the crook of my elbow, turning me to the left of the path. The weather here was perfect; I closed my eyes and let the sun radiate on my face. The heat felt marvelous. That is until the vibrating started to happen again. I tasted the magics’ ether-like scent in my mouth.

“Stop.” It was the only word I could get out before being swept back into my memories.

Trapped again in my own body— but at least this was the body I held now. I stood as heat blasted my face. It was not from the sun’s warmth in Summer but an oil-lamp shattering into the hearth of the cottages’ kitchen. My mother stood, in front of my father, holding the scythe. Her hand pressed onto his chest as though she had just stepped in front of him. She blocked him from the beast. I looked at my father’s face, terrified of the creature that stood before them. Everything felt as though it was in slow motion. Like before, I remained a passenger, unable to move.

The beast roared at my mother, setting her jaw and puffing out her chest. She stood there and took the brunt of his hot breath. She didn’t look at me; she didn’t turn her head.

“Ruuuuun!” She screamed, the memory still slow, drawing out the word unnaturally. My heart left my body, trying desperately to reach out to my parents. Trying to will my form between the beast and my family. The body I was in turned and ran, too slow, too heavy. I was almost relieved to feel that cracking magic return when the white flashed and brought me back to the breathing gardens. I was on my knees, clutching Nelo’s skirt.

“Visions again?” She asked, pulling my hands up to help me stand again.

“Yes. Bad ones.” It was all I could muster. Nelo draped her arm over my shoulders, and we continued down the path.

“Let’s find Orthus— See if he can help.” The path started descending a hill, blocked to the right by a large stone wall. I wondered what might lay on the other side of it. We finally arrived at a large circular patch of dirt flanked by benches on either side. Nelo sat me down on one and joined me. Snapping from the daze brought on by the terrible vision, I took in my surroundings.

The large circle of dirt appeared to be a sparring ring. Racks of gleaming weapons glinted in the sunlight. Swords, spears, and maces are neatly lined up, ready to be used. The ring was edged in white chalk powder, a stark contrast to the black earth it rested upon. Two fae males are in the circle’s center, both in golden armor. They did not notice our approach. One I recognized, King Orthus, brought a thickly bladed sword heavily onto his opponent. He roared a battle cry down as his opponent dodged; the sword hit the dirt with a dull thud. The motion jostled his white silken hair in reaction to the force he had used. His opponent was dressed in the same golden armor; a sun emblem embossed onto the metal on his chest. Neither wore a helmet, but both were covered from the neck down in protective pieces. The armor was already full of dents and blemished. The King’s opponent was visually his opposite as well. Where Orthus skin was like that of a pale moon, this Fae male’s skin was a deep coffee color. His form, similar to the King’s, maybe only slightly larger in his body's frame, was more thickly muscled. His hair was auburn, three thick braids hanging down his back that led up to a tighter crop at the crown of his head. The tightly coiled curls standing proudly. I noticed his squared jaw covered in a short beard as he spoke.

“You’re rusty, Orthus. You’re rusty, and I’m better than you anyway.” He joked and winked at the king. His form moved deftly around his next striking blow, metal thudding again with the dirt. “Maybe if you spent more time training instead of brooding, a feral human girl wouldn’t be able to break your nose.” The fae laughed at his own joke with intensity as Orthus scowled— The king raised the weapon above his head again to strike. Nelo coughed, and they both shot their heads towards us. Orthus cleared his throat and dropped his sword to the side. He walked over to the racks of weapons. The king’s back was to us as he removed some of the pieces of metal that protected his arms. His opponent, however, sauntered over to us. He was uncomfortably close to me. The fae male placed his hands on the hilt of his sword, the tip of which was resting on the ground, nearly touching my toe. He leaned in close, eyes narrowed, and surveyed me with a sly smile. The fae male scoffed, standing and turning back towards Orthus.

Illustration by Ana Kajaia

“I thought you said she looked like a rabid fox?” He questioned the King, who didn’t turn towards us. The fae male then made his way to the rack, removing some of the more cumbersome bits of his armor. “Maybe Penelo-peeee,” he emphasized the last part of her name jokingly, “Has had too much fun playing with this human doll of hers.” Nelo scoffed before he continued. “You could at least put her in something a bit more revealing; she doesn’t appear to have a bad shape under that sack.” He pointed towards my body with the tip of his sword before placing it back onto the rack next to the other weapons. “I, for one, would be interested to see what’s underneath.” He shot me a disgustingly charming smile. My stomach flipped in fear.

“Vasileios, shut up,” Nelo said, exasperated. “First thing, this human has a name.” She lifted her chin in defiance to the fae male in front of us. “Her name is Cordelia.” She emphasized every syllable of my name as if offended on my behalf and sneered. “Maybe you should watch how you speak to her; she might also break your nose.” Nelo let a smile cross her lips as they fae she called Vasileios frowned. He opened his mouth to let out what I’m sure would have been another snide remark, but the king cut him off, finally turning around.

“Vas, some of us here don’t know your all hot air,” he looked at me directly and with authority. “Let’s not scare our guest with nonsense.” The pale king made his way to me and offered me his hand to stand. I placed my palm into his- It was bigger than the entirety of my hand.

“I’m sorry—about hitting you. Are you all right?” As soon as my apology left my lips, I heard Vas cackle with delight. Orthus sighed and raised me to stand. My head was in line with his chest; god, he was huge.

“I’m fine. You were scared and trying to defend yourself. I promise you it was nothing.” He led me away from the ring and back up the hill. “Could we talk?” He asked. I looked back at Nelo, the only person I had an inkling of trust in, searching for approval. She nodded and waved us away with a flick of her fingers. As the king and I, hand in hand, walked up the path, I could hear the two faes bickering behind me. Orthus moved onward, unbothered by the catty exchange of words behind us. “Cordelia, I need to know a few things about how you got here.” My stomach dropped. Stick to the plan. I reminded myself.

“I—I lost much of my memory; everything is so garbled. I don’t remember my journey here.” I told him. He nodded as though that was to be expected.

“Have you been having visions then?” I looked at him; my face was grim. “They will fade, eventually. We’re not supposed to travel between our realms, you know. The visions are a side effect of slipping the veil.” He turned towards me and tapped my sternum with his long finger. “What of your cloak? How did you acquire that?” I recoiled slightly from his touch, and he quickly put his hand back down to his side, realizing that it was not a welcome gesture.

“I don’t know. I don’t think I knew it was there?” He nodded at my reply.

“I think your cloak helped you get here; you must have sacrificed its protection for your transportation. It’s not easy to get into our realm at all, let alone into the lands of my estate.” I nodded. I didn’t have to feign ignorance on this subject. I had zero clues as to how I had managed any of this.

“I just want to go home,” I told him and dropped my chin to my chest. He said nothing but sighed softly.

“Can I show you something?” Orthus looked expectantly towards me.

“Yes... I mean, yes, your highness.” He snorted at my reply.

“Orthus is fine, you’re not a summer subject or of this land- I don’t expect feildty.”

“Yes...Orthus, thank you.” He seemed an unwilling King, I thought to myself; it’s not that I frequented Royalty in my world. Just a feeling I got from him.

“Follow me.” He said as we walked back towards the house.