The morning air was cold against his exposed skin, he cursed once again that his wings were too small to carry him, meaning that he was cursed to walk through the city. He was almost sure that there would be no humans about the woods at this point in the day. If he was careful, he could slip back to his place in less than an hour concealed entirely by the trees. Jehovah still felt strange leaving her as he did. But still, the revelation of what his court had done to her family was weighing on him. What else had been a lie? He knew that the Seelie court was far from sunshine and rainbows that the human legends would have you believe but to engage in the slaughter of an entire family and sabotage a child to prevent a marriage; slaughtering another monarch who had done nothing to warrant such a fate. He felt sick to his stomach.
He made it home with no human sightings except for one close call with a dogwalker but he had managed to dive into a bush to escape being seen. Pushing open the door, Dronolas came running over – actually dressed for once. "Jehovah!" He gushed, clearly alarmed but Jay was too preoccupied with his own sense of betrayal. Dronolas wavered, "What happened to you?" Jay knew that he was still half naked but he didn't care.
"Dron, we've been lied to our entire lives," He said to him not meeting his eyes.
"Jay, you don't understand," He flustered ignoring him. "'Lix is here," He hissed under his breath as though though he didn't want her to hear him. Now that got his attention. Snapping back into reality, he turned to face his ajar bedroom door where the queen was undoubtedly waiting for him.
Jehovah inhaled and pushed past his friend, placing his hand on the door to push it a little further open to enter, closing it behind him. In Elixibur's eyes, Dronolas was not high ranking enough to know of their conversations but he told him afterwards anyway.
There she stood, in all her majesty. Elixibur was a pretty woman of nineteen. She had a young face which always donned way too much blush to look natural. Her skin was as white as paper and her lips as red as blood. Her golden hair fell down her back in pretty crinkles decorated by the odd flower. The queen had a petite figure with a miniscule waist and small breasts – to Jehovah, she looked like a child. That was one reason that he had been drawn to Leana, she most certainly looked like a woman.
She turned to him, causing him to gulp and stiffen. Beaming, she galloped over and encased him in a hug, like a child who hadn't seen her father in months. "Jehovah! I'm so glad you're okay," Elixibur gushed.
You killed an innocent family. At least that's what he was thinking. Of course, it was most likely Elixibur's mother who had given the order. Thank god the bitch was killed soon after. And to think, he broke a sweat trying to protect that beast of a woman. Either way, Lix regarded the Unseelie with the same bitterness that her mother had also. She would have done the same. When she let go of his shoulders, she began to trace her incompetently long nail across his bare shoulder flirtatiously, her eyes taking in every inch of his exposed torso. "I was worried," She pouted. Obviously, she was referring to the fight but Jehovah had bigger problems than reporting back to her.
"He got away," His voice wavered when he said 'he' deciding in the end to keep Leana's gender a secret. "I lost," The woman pouted again.
"Oh," She hushed. "Never mind, that bastard will get what's coming to him soon enough," That made him tense all over. She got something alright, though it wasn't unwelcome; or at least he hoped so. Inexperience was definitely something that he cursed. Realising that he wasn't listening at all, she changed her approach. "I want you to come home!" She yelped. Jehovah gasped and even stepped back. He couldn't leave Leana, not now! He might never see her again if he went home!
"I, ugh, haven't finished what I came her to do!" Which was to gather information on the humans. Elixibur scowled. "I must stay here!" He begged, his eyes shining like a new puppy. The queen was furious.
"Well, Dronolas will be returning in two weeks, you must come with him," She was beyond asking. "Work hard soldier," She finished as she headed to the door as Jehovah slumped down on the bed, running his shaking hands through his tousled, still unbrushed, hair. Dronolas was standing in the door watching him freak out, his breathing ragged and sweat building on the back of his neck by the second. "What happened to you, man?" He asked, leaning against the door casually. Jay stood, storming over and grabbing him by the collar of his shirt.
"Nydale Payne never murdered Olenna and her daughter!" He cried, tears welling in his bloodshot eyes.
"Nydale Payne? Why him all of a sudden?" The man asked confused. They hadn't spoken of the massacre of Olenna and her child in years.
"She's his daughter," Instantly, Dronolas knew whom he was referring to. The man shuffled out of Jehovah's grip who collapsed onto the bed once again.
"She's just full of surprises, this flame of yours," He hummed almost to himself, folding his arms in thought as Jehovah desperately tried to calm himself.
"Everything they said was a lie, Dron," He began once he had once again gained control of his breathing. "Deploma Dondarion didn't murder his mother, we did," Dronolas was gobsmacked. "We sent guards to assault her just because she was engaged to the prince!" he was speechless from horror. Frightened to even think about it. Turning his head away, unable to look his friend in the eye, he sighed.
"How old was she?" He asked. Jehovah hadn't comprehended just how young Leana would have been when the men attacked her. A breath caught in his throat when he made the realisation.
"Fourteen," He muttered flatly. "She was fourteen," Dronolas' stance dropped. It was as if his entire body shut down at hearing the astounding figure.
"Fuck," His voice was low and shaky. It sickened him to the stomach to even think about it. Age gaps were never really an issue amongst the fey but no matter what, the participants were always over the age of sixteen. Even in Avalon, sex with a minor was a horrific offense.
Dronolas dropped to the couch, rubbing his face, trying to wrap his head around what he had just learnt. He knew that the girl was no older than eighteen right now, and he himself had served in the army for nearly six years. That event was, at most four years ago, and he was in service. "I was there, Jay," He murmured. "And I didn't even know," Dronolas was shaking now. He could have stopped it! If he had known that the army was plotting an assault of an innocent child, he would have killed every one of them. His fists curled into fists as Jay grabbed a shirt from the back of the couch, covering himself just a little but leaving the buttons undone, he didn't really have the effort to fiddle with them.
Glancing up from his waistband, he saw Dron shaking and turning almost red. Well, as red as someone with green skin can go. Sighing, he made his way over and plonked onto the couch beside him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. Dron looked up with tears welling in his eyes from anger and despair. "I can't go back, Jay. Not to that," Jay slapped his friends back and smiled reassuringly but the smile was insincere.
"No. Things are about to change, we need someone on the inside," He knew that this whole revelation would change the way that the common fey viewed both courts. If this information got out, there would be a revolution and, in their time of weakness, the Unseelie would attack and most likely win. However, Jay wasn't so sure that Unseelie rule was preferable either especially after seeing Leana's reaction to damn ball.
"Why? Where are you going to be?" Dron asked suspiciously raising his brow. Surely, he would be the man on the inside but clearly not.
Jehovah wasn't quite sure when he had made his mind up to go and infiltrate the Unseelie palace but he knew in that moment that this was what he needed to do. He had to know. "I'm going to the king's twenty-first birthday," He proclaimed casually, reclining back into his couch.
With some alarm, Dronolas jumped from his seat, staring down at his young superior. "Jay that place is suicide! What if they catch you?" Jay uninterestedly raised a brow. "That bastard will tear the flesh from your bones and eat it!" He couldn't help but think that cannibalism was a slight exaggeration, but he knew that flaying was in no way off the table. He couldn't help but think, damn, that would hurt.
Nonetheless, he couldn't morally sit by and let the woman that he had come to love over the past few months traverse that viper's nest that she fears so much alone. It wouldn't be right of him. Standing, Jehovah faced his friend with a confident smile. "Dron," He placed a steady hand on his shoulder. "I have to do this. What if she's in trouble?" Dronolas relaxed a little. He was growing up so fast. Turning, Jehovah began to pace the room. "You didn't see her face when she read that letter; she was afraid, almost. Like she knew that something bad was going to happen," Dronolas watched as the boy he had met only three years ago pondered about what he should do.
Dronolas had met Jehovah when he was sixteen years of age and first enlisted in the army. He was a handsome young boy with a good upbringing. But with no father in the picture and no mother at the palace, the nineteen-year-old pixie decided to take the child under his wing. Now, he was all grown up and he knew that he had to let him go. "Jay," he began as Jehovah turned to look at him with clam, calculating eyes. "Don't get yourself killed," He warned before he began pointing like an angry father. "Because I'm not facing your damn mother!" After a moment, the men laughed. Jehovah's mother was a beautiful faerie named Cassandra; her skin chocolate brown and her hair and eyes sunshine yellow. She was beginning to show her age now with slight wrinkles around her mouth and a few on her forehead when she scorned either of the two men for being childish but she packed one hell of a punch. Once, she had even struck Dron with the spoon for dropping her best bowl and he had surely felt it the next day. He couldn't bear to tell the woman anything awful about her only son.
Once the men had calmed, they sat back down and quietened, as if they were both plotting what to do next. "So," Dronolas began, breaking the silence. "What are you going to do?" He asked, nervous for the answer.
"It's a masquerade ball so I'll hide behind a mask. Besides, no one knows my face other than her," or at least I hope not, he added in his own head. But he kept this fear to himself as not to worry his mentor further.
"None of your masks will do, they're all golden!" Dron dismissed, standing and pondering what to do. It was true, per Seelie fashion, all of Jehovah's masquerade masks were golden. This was an issue. They knew enough about the Unseelie court to know that a golden mask would stick out like a sore thumb. It would not do.
Turning to face his young protégé, he snapped his fingers in triumph! "That phoenix one of yours!" He bellowed. "If we paint it black, you could be taken for a crow or some shit?" Jehovah raised a brow.
"How flattering," he scolded but he had to admit that it was the best shot he had. As he watched his friend poke through the cupboard for the damn mask to alter, Jehovah thought for a moment of all of the different things that he might see at the Unseelie palace but nothing could have prepared him for what he would find.