Reversing Fae

Chapter 17 

His brother.

That might be the most shocking news I've heard since returning to the fae realm.

Thinking back, I can finally understand why Klovis has been so troubled ever since his talk with Kvahein. To think that the one fairy who wants to kill you and take over your kingdom is your brother? That's insane.

"Wait. Hold on a minute." I raise a finger. "How can he be your brother if you are a Seelie and he is an Unseelie fae? How does that work?"

Klovis puts his hands on his waist and looks up in wonder. "My father, the Seelie king, was seduced by the queen of the Unseelie kingdom. That bastard has always been unfaithful to my mother." Klovis's face darkens. He never told me anything about his past or his parents. I didn't ask him about it because the Seelie palace doesn't have paintings or records of the previous rulers. It's as if they were being hidden on purpose. Grignel would also give me a stern look whenever I tried to ask him about it so I just learned to shut up. Hearing him talk for the first time and seeing his expression tells me enough that it's a topic that he loathes. "It's all thanks to him that my mother..." He pauses and lets out a deep breath. He shakes his head, a sad smile playing on his lips when he looks ahead. "Let's just say that fairies don't wed because the price is too big when your partner becomes unfaithful."

I am curious, but I am not curious enough that I want to push him to tell me something painful.

I walk to him and gently place a hand on his shoulder. When Klovis gazes down at me, I give him a smile. "Thank you for telling me this much. You don't have to say the rest."

There's a twinkle in Klovis's eyes right before he pulls me to him in an embrace. His scent fills my nose, making my heart hammer rapidly in my chest. I try to angle my head so I can look up at him, but he just stops me from moving my head.

"Let's just stay like this for a while." He speaks softly, almost begging.

I just kept quiet because I don't know how to comfort him. I have never been much of a comforter in the first place. However, hearing him sound so vulnerable causes a twinge in my chest. I closed my eyes and rested my head on his chest, hearing the rapid thump of his heart as I did.

"Okay, pause." I am not someone to break a moment so easily, but I know Klovis long enough that I can feel when he is trying to keep something from me—aside from the one he already told me. I don't know. I just feel like he is keeping something more from me. "Klovis, is there anything more that you wish to tell me?"

Klovis gulps and nervously lets out a chuckle.

Yep. He is hiding something.

Klovis raises hands to his sides and laughs lightly. "Nothing gets past you, Livia. Yes, it is true that there's still something more that I am hiding from you. But I will need time to prepare myself before I can tell you what it is."

I will admit that I want to pry him about it, but revealing that our enemy is his brother must have taken a lot of courage for him to say.

"Alright." I give up—at least for now. The tiredness in his eyes is clear. Pushing him further might stress him more than I want him to. "For now, I won't bother you. I'll go and practice my magic."

Klovis wears this worried look so I give him an assuring smile and pat his shoulder before walking away to give him—and me—some space.

***

"Are you practicing your magic?" Beor interrupts my magic rehearsal while I was busy trying to control and harness my magic. I already have a good idea of how to control then back in my own realm, but ever I have arrived in fairy, it is becoming unstable.

Before Beor arrived, I was sitting at the edge of the sap lake. The movement of the liquid surface tends to calm me down.

I get up and turn to Beor. "Yeah. I have a hard time controlling my powers since coming here. It would be nice to use them when I really need to." I notice Beor getting close so I extend a hand towards him to pet him. Beor nuzzles my hand in return, being careful not to poke me with his antlers.

"Your powers are adjusting to the environment. Give it time and your magic will stabilize." Beor tells me. When he moves back, his ears flicker. "Are you sure that it's the only thing that is bothering you?"

Somehow I think that every creature in this third realm can read my mind.

I give Beor a wan smile. "Honestly, it's more about what I can do to help Klovis, which I assume you all already know about the issue." I wasn't a hundred percent sure that he knew the secret about Klovis and Zhier's relationship, but seeing how the elk reacted, it gave me all the answers I needed. Beor flattens his ear and looks away.

Of course, how could they not know? Beor has pixies telling him what to do.

"You have my sincere apologies."

"Don't worry. It is not your secret to tell."

Despite my words, Beor still looks guilty. "I want to make it up to you, descendant of Joanah. Is there anyway for me to redeem myself?"

He looks so stubbornly dedicated that I tried testing him a bit.

"Uh...sure? Maybe you can give us a hint on how we can reverse everything."

"I apologize but I don't know the method to do that."

I smile sadly, feeling my shoulders dip. "Right. No worries. I can just try and gather that information the other way.

"Hold on. I did say that I do not know of the method. But that does that mean to say that I don't know someone who has that information."

I can feel hope spike through me and I look at Beor with unmistakable eagerness.

"You do? Who?!" I have to fight myself not to grab Beor and shake the information out of him.

Finally. Are we starting to move with our plan again?

Beor broke eye contact with me and gazed at the lake. The surface bubbles up and a form starts to emerge into a familiar form.

The black elf Grignel lay flat on the ground beside me—groaning and shifting as if waking up from a deep sleep.

"To get to the place where you can get your answer, you need an elf to get there."

"An elf? Why an elf specifically?"

"Because you would need a guide to show you where their village is."