Jonathan stormed home, furious that his idiot of a friend had disturbed his first chance to actually get Leah to like him. Practically kicking down the door, he took in the scene of his room. An empty bottle of vodka had been knocked over and now lay on his coffee table which was covered in crumbs, presumably the remnants of the crisps that once filled his now empty bowl on the table. On his couch was his closest friend and companion Dronolas Tabor; a pixie with light green skin and deep jade coloured dreadlocks that were currently sprawling all over the arm of his couch. As he stared at his friend's sleeping form on his couch amongst the mess he had made, he realised that no matter what Dronolas did, he could never stay mad at him. With a deep sigh, Jonathan closed the door and made his way to the kitchen in his small open-plan apartment. He took a glass, filling it with water from the tap. Whilst he did this, he looked back at his sleeping and presumably drunk friend and shook his head. Once the glass was full enough, he flicked off the water and stood behind the couch, casually pouring the water over the pixie's head.
Dronolas began to flail his arms as he tossed and turned on the couch, eventually falling to the ground. Jehovah placed the glass on the coffee table and sat on the chair as he watched his friend clutch the side of the table and pull his wet body off the ground. "You're an asshole, Jay. You know that," Dronolas scolded as he took a seat on the opposite end of the couch where the water had mostly avoided. 'Jay' was a name that everyone other than his queen seemed to use. She seemed to prefer the much longer and much more official 'Jehovah'.
"What are you doing here, Dron?" He asked as he picked up the small bottle of glamour that Dronolas had left on the table and taking a sip. The second that the bottle was placed back on the table, Jehovah's hair turned from the black of his glamour to his natural mossy green. His eyes, the same shade as his hair, changed only minutely as he managed to keep his natural colour, even if their bright vibrant look had to be dulled slightly. Dronolas removed his shirt and began wringing the thing out right onto Jay's floor. "Thank you just do that right on my carpet," He commented, placing his hand over his head.
"Oh stop whining," Dronolas laughed as he pulled the shirt back over his head as he began to fan his wings, drying them also. Jehovah watched him hopefully as his face softened. He had always been jealous of Dron's wings. Contrary to human folklore, not all fey could fly. Wings were genetic just as much as hair or eye colour was. Some fey were born with wings too small to catch air and lift them off of the ground; Jehovah was one of these fey. In his childhood, there had been a few jokes between him and his friends that the few of them with wings too small to fly also didn't have much going on downstairs. Much like shoe size and humans, it was nothing but a myth. Jehovah was living proof of that; he was doing alright at least in that department. Dronolas' wings were nothing spectacular, they were a light lime green with snaking patterns of the veins that provided them with blood flow but in Jehovah's eyes, any working wings were worthy of his envy. His own were beautiful of course! His father, Dimetre Seral, had been a beautiful man in every regard and Jehovah's wings weren't so small to look out of place; he was simply too heavy to lift. Shaking his head and masking his jealousy he stood and made his way to the fridge for a beer. Human beer seemed to have much more of an appeal to him than fey wine. That stuff was always way too bitter for his taste.
"I came to see how that date with the human went!" Dron called standing and beaming at him. Jay rolled his eyes and opened the bottle in his hand, casting the cap into the bin beside the kitchen cabinet reminding him that she wasn't just 'some human'. Dron rolled his eyes and jumped over the couch, landing with a bounce as Jay made his way back to the chair. "I know," He laughed, mockingly placing his hands over his heart and pouting at his dear friend. "She's like no human you've ever seen!" He teased. Jay thought about scolding him but he frankly was too exhausted from the days events to care. He just sipped his beer and rolled his eyes. "My young boss has finally found his balls," Now that did earn him a glare but he wasn't exactly wrong. Jay was younger than Dronolas by three years and when he was first appointed The White Knight, the men had taken him to a tavern to celebrate. Obviously, a high-ranking knight had attracted a lot of female attention. One woman he remembered clearly. She was a nymph, species he did not know. Her skin was a light orange that complimented her fiery long hair, she was beautiful. At first, Jehovah in his drunken state was smitten with her, so much so that he even allowed her to take him upstairs, much to the enjoyment of his friends. Initially, in his drunken state, he followed her up and even allowed the poor girl to strip to nothing before him. However, after seeing the girl stood before him, all that he could think of was what if he got her pregnant?
Jehovah himself was the bastard of a lord named Dimetre and had suffered socially for it even though his mother assured him that his father loved him very much and had even made plans to wed his mother, Cassandra, and bring them into court life. Unfortunately, the lords life was cut short when Jehovah was only a baby. He wouldn't wish the shame of the word bastard on another child.
After thinking about it for a moment, he stood, handing the woman a sheet and he made his way back down to his friends. They mocked him jokingly with all sorts of grotesque comments.
"Didn't know where to put it?"
"Was she a man?"
"Nerve's got the better of you, kid?"
But Jehovah didn't mind. He knew that he had made the right choice. After recounting that embarrassing memory he pictured Leah Thompson in his mind, smiling into his drink. "You've never even told me what she looks like," Dronolas dismissed as he picked up the empty vodka bottle, standing presumably to walk to the bin. Jay smiled.
"She's beautiful," He muttered taking another sip of his drink. "She has these wonderful dark brown eyes and her hair!" He gushed leaning back in his chair, picturing her in his mind. "She has this gorgeous long brown hair and a face that's like the most perfect human face I've ever seen," Dron seated himself back into his spot on Jehovah's couch. In Jehovah's daydreaming, he had missed Dron's detour back to the couch where he paid a visit to the fridge to grab another beer but he didn't have the care to argue with him. As he cracked the bottle cap, he suggested that perhaps there was fey in her blood. "Perhaps," Jehovah murmured thoughtfully. It was entirely possible. It humoured him that some of the famous historical figures that he had read about in human history records were fey! Lady Godiva for example fell in love with a human man named Leofric who was some earl of an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in modern-day Wales if he remembered correctly. It was highly likely that there was fey blood in the young woman somewhere even if it was very faint. There hadn't been a fairy mixing with humans since the war that split the courts six hundred years ago! In fact, he was sure that he was probably the first fairy to venture here at all since then.
The silence was broken when Dronolas jumped up, placing his beer down on the table; Jehovah noticed that he did so without a coaster. He hurried to the sideboard and took a letter. "Oh!" He gasped. "I forgot to mention, the queen sent a letter!" Jehovah jumped up so fast that he spilled a little of his drink over his hand.
"Elixibur sent me a letter and you forgot?" He yelled, standing and snatching the parchment from his friend's hand. Elixibur's letters never provided Jehovah with much enjoyment. Taking a shaky breath in, he removed the seal.
Dearest Jehovah,
He gulped.
Upon a surprise request, I met with King Deploma Dondarion of the Unseelie court.
I have arranged a confrontation between yourself and his Black Knight, the winner of which will determine the future of our Realm.
2AM upon the field before the Unseelie gate. Good luck, my knight.
Elixibur.
Jehovah was far too distracted by the message of the letter than Elixibur's flirtatious tone. His hands began to tremble as his eyes skimmed over the digits on the paper. "What is it?" Dron asked, craning his neck trying to get a look at the letter over Jay's shoulder. Emotionless, Jay passed the letter carefully to his friend as he slowly sauntered to the couch and sat trying to control his emotions. Dronolas wavered as he crushed the letter in his hand. "Now, Jay," He began cautiously, mentally cursing that damn whore of a queen! "I know how you must be feeling right now, but you've read the history!" He reasoned. "That man was killed," Jay's eye twitched as he pictured the scene in his mind.
"You know how I must be feeling?" Jehovah asked, little to no emotion at all in his voice. "At least you remember your father!" He yelled, causing Dron to instantly regret his decision of commenting. Jay stood with balled fists and squinted eyes. "I don't care who wears the damn armour! I'll kill every last god damn one that they appoint," For a moment, Dronolas thought about defending him and trying to diffuse the situation but he knew the nature of Jehovah's temper well; arguing would only encourage him. Instead, he sat down on the chair after throwing the letter in the bin. "I have to win, Dron," Jehovah muttered after a while of silence.
He had calmed now and retreated back to his previous state of lack of emotion. "If I don't…" His legs began to shake. "He wins," At this acknowledgement, Dronolas himself took a sharp breath in. Deploma Dondarion was so truly awful that he sounded more like a story that parents would tell their children to scare them into behaving. Horrific stories came from the Unseelie people; stories of whores entering the palace and never returning, children being publicly executed for petty crimes, it was even said that he killed his own mother for the throne! The Unseelie king was something from nightmares, he even made the two men shake in their boots. It bewildered Jay just how Elixibur could bear to be in his presence.
"Jay," Dronolas looked up after a second long pause. He watched as Jay's eyes looked up at him filled with anger, pain and most of all fear. Before him, he couldn't help but see a child. They had first met when Jehovah joined the army at fourteen, he was so small back then. By seventeen he had impressed the queen so much, from both skills and his impeccable good looks, and was knighted. Only three years his ex-student's elder, Dronolas had been more of a father to Jay than anyone else. Dronolas inhaled slowly. "Don't die," He told him. Jehovah nodded with the remnant of a smile and exited towards the bathroom, presumably for a shower, without another word.