Reversing Fae

Chapter 16

 Jamaya looks like she is having the time of her life in her new domain. In my eyes, she looks like a woman from the human realm having the time of her life.

I feel like I just turned her domain into a paradise at this point. A paradise where one would want nothing more than to lay down and relax. Truth be told, I feel like I want to lay down on the white sand and rest as well. I must have accidentally set a magic in here for that.

I shake my head and head towards Jamaya. The mermaid is lying with her back to the sand and simply enjoying basking in the sun. Klovis joins me and we both stand over Jamaya.

As we loom over her, the mermaid cracks an eye open to look at us when our shadow blocks the sun for her.

"Yes?" She says drowsily.

"Jamaya, isn't there something that you should be telling us?" Klovis takes the initiative to speak to get us back on track with our agenda.

The mermaid blinks, like she has just woken up from a nap. Then, all of a sudden, she quickly sits up and repeatedly apologizes.

"I am so sorry! It completely slipped off my mind." She says.

"That's alright. Just continue what you were about to say regarding Zhier."

"Right." Jamaya changes her position so she is in a better sitting position. Klovis and I sit in front of her as per her gesture. The air turns sour as Jamaya starts to recall what she remembers. "Your highnesses, it seems like Prince Zhier has gone mad. The time that you were gone, the fake Seelie prince spoke of your name over and over. He wishes to return and hunt you down in the human realm, but it seems like a much more powerful force is stopping him." For some reason, I thought about Kvahein behind why Zhier could not come to the human realm. Just the thought of it makes me hate my ancestors less. "His mother tried to reason with him and even attempted to wed him with other faes." Jamaya shakes her head grimly. "He did not like that."

Silence follow afterward so Klovis decides to guess what happens. "He killed his mother for opposing, didn't he?"

Jamaya nods silently. "I didn't see him killing his mother, but he was bragging about it to me and even threatening that I would be next if I don't tell him what he wants."

Klovis shifts his stance, eyeing Jamaya before he guesses. "He wants the location of the secret realm and how to enter it, right?"

"I didn't tell him!" Jamaya is quick on defending herself and shaking her hands in front of her. "He never really got the opportunity to ask me himself. He was busy looking for ways to get to the human realm for a while." Klovis looks at me, knowing that I am the reason that Zhier wants to go to the human realm. "In a way, I was just lucky that he was preoccupied or I would have ended up losing a limb too."

I was being quiet, but that isn't because I have nothing to say. It's because something was bothering me. I noticed it before, but Klovis seems to have this strange expression on his face whenever Zhier's name is mentioned. And I happen to recall that it all started after he talked to Kvahein.

"He must be stopped." Klovis speaks.

"Stop as in killing him?" I can't help but test him out.

Klovis was actually quick to negate me. "What!? No!" He says, and then his face scrunches up. "That's...not exactly my plan."

And there it is. That torn expression again. There is going to be a time when I will have to ask him about that. But not now. There's still something that I want to ask of Jamaya.

I turn to the mermaid. "What would Zhier want in here anyway?"

"He wants two things. The mirror and the tree producing the golden sap."

"What would he want with the sap?" Klovis questions. "I can understand if he wants the mirror, but why the sap?"

Jamaya looks at Klovis with hesitation, but when her gaze falls on me and she sees me waiting for her reply, she finally answers. "It's because the sap is the only way to fully destroy the magic in the mirror."

Upon hearing this, Klovis and I look at each other. From the horror in both of our gazes, it seems like we have the same idea. As the mirror is the only thing that's keeping the realm in reverse, Zhier plans to destroy it.

"He is planning on keeping the realm permanent as it is. Klovis?" I call out to him when he seems to be in a daze.

"Yes?" There's a long pause before he answers me. His gaze seems so unfocused that it is starting to worry me.

"If I may speak," Jamaya interrupts us. I notice that the look in her eyes changes. Any hint of her previous demeanor is now gone. There's something so scary about her expression that I can almost imagine what she's been through the entire time that she was held captive by Zhier. "I suggest that we kill him. We kill the fake Seelie prince."

I fall short of words. When I made that suggestion to Klovis, I wasn't serious. I was merely testing him, but when Jamaya said it, I don't think that she was anything but serious.

When it comes to taking a life, even from someone like Zhier, I have nothing to offer because that is against my morals. To take a life is something that I never thought of doing as a human. How the fae folks handle it is something that I will leave entirely up to them.

My body nervously shakes when I look up just to look at Klovis, already expecting him to agree with Jamaya.

"No." Klovis's answer surprises me. I admit that I did not see that sort of response coming, especially the look on his face when saying it. His brows furrow worriedly. It looks like he is torn about something.

Before I can open my mouth to speak to him about it, Jamaya once again speaks, "Why not?" Jamaya sounds like she is questioning him—her tone becoming angry. "I don't get it. Didn't he and his family take a lot from you and your people!? Shouldn't you seek revenge and—"

"I said NO!"

Jamaya and I are surprised by the sudden intensity of his voice. We both stare at Klovis. He doesn't seem angry, but his expression displays something that concerns me. Before I can fully read his face, he turns back and starts walking the other way and away from us.

"Excuse me," I tell Jamaya before running after Klovis.

"Klovis, wait!" I yell at him after we pass through the door that would take us to Beor's realm. He must have heard me following him because I notice that he is slowing down his pace. I quicken my pace and manage to overtake him. Klovis stops but didn't look at me even as I am standing before him. "Hey. What's really going on?"

The distant look in Klovis's eyes returns. "I don't know how or where to start." His voice almost sounds like he is breaking, making me feel a knot in my chest.

"Klovis..." I whisper his name while grabbing his arm. "You can start how you want to."

Klovis shakes his head. "It's crazy that it is ridiculous, Livia."

"Try me." I challenge him.

Klovis looks at me and studies me long and hard. He must have figured that I might be the only living creature inside the fae realm that he can confide in. After taking in several deep breaths to compose himself, he looks at me in the eyes before uttering the words that would have made me doubt him if it weren't for the fact that he is a fairy.

"It's Zhier. He's my brother."

~*~*~*~END OF CHAPTER~*~*~*~