I turned around.
Two fae held weapons at my face. One was a male, the other a female. They were...unlike anything I had ever seen before.
Curiosity stopped me from killing them, and I marvelled at their clothes. They wore what seemed to be fabrics made out of leaves, and other plants. The female clutched a dagger adorned with berries, most likely poisoned ones, and the male held a bow and arrow, pointed at my heart.
Nightblood. He had a nightblood arrow.
Those had been gone for centuries. All the fae had tried and failed to find, and even make some, but none succeeded. And here stood two faeries who had them. Who possibly had a whole room of them.
Nightblood arrows were the only type of wood that could harm the fae, and possibly even kill them.
My voice was icy. "Who are you?"
Fae who dwelt in the Forest? They were probably insane.
The female had a feathery voice. "What is it to you?"
The male eyed me, suspicion clear in his features. He held a protective stance, his body subtly shifting to cover the female.
Mates. They were mates.
I shrugged, trying to hide my curiosity. "Just wondering, that's all."
The female turned to the male, staring into his eyes. It seemed that they were having a conversation. Through their minds alone.
I had never seen anything like that before. It was an astonishing thing to watch, a wonder, a miracle. Yet, anything was possible with the fae.
"What are you? Summer, Spring, Autumn, or...Winter?"
I sucked in a breath, but not in panic. The brief hesitance when the female spoke was short, but obvious. "Do you have something against the Winter Lands?"
The male shook his head. "No. Just answer us."
I could sense the half-truth, feel it in the air as he spoke those words. And I knew that if I told them the truth, they would kill me.
"I'm going to the Spring Lands." Not a lie, yet I wasn't going to specify.
"Oh? Are you? What for?"
I gave them a crooked smile laced with innocence. "Nothing much. Visiting someone."
The half-truths came out smoothly, as if I believed them myself.
Many thought the fae couldn't lie, and that was true. But what they didn't know, was that all a faerie had to do was move around the question. Answer with part of the truth, but not the whole truth.
Both of them sensed that I wouldn't reveal anything else, so the female said, "I scent someone else. Your companion? Or a trespasser?"
"My travel partner. Don't harm him." The truth. Storm was only coming with me to travel. Maybe more.
"Wouldn't dream of it."
I held back a scoff. Wouldn't dream of it.
"Can I go, now? My...partner will worry."
They exchanged a glance, and seemed to be communicating within their minds, again.
"You will come with us. Our...chief will want to meet you. And your...travel partner, of course."
I raised my brow. "Chief?"
The male's voice was annoyed. "Not a chief. It's just that there's no other way to call her."
"Not a queen?"
The male bared his teeth, his sharp canines gleaming. "We're all equal."
"Are you? Your chief sends you out here to do what? Hunt? Risk your lives? Interesting. Equal...what a word."
This time, it was the female who snarled. "Don't disrespect Migdalia, you piece of filth."
I stopped breathing. "What did you say?"
"Don't. Disrespect. Migdalia."
"Migdalia is...alive?"
The male smirked. "Of course. Did you expect a fighter like her to die so early?"
"You never know."
He glared. "Lead us to your little camp. We're bringing you to the Forest fae."