He sat there on a tree branch just outside my window, looking at me with those yellow glow-in-the-dark eyes of his. A little green orb by his shoulder flittered to me, revealing itself to be a small fairy with pixie wings and a face like his.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, beckoning with his fingers, coated in leaves, for the fairy to return. "This is Ava, she's - well, she's one of mine."
I blinked up at him, "She's your kid?"
"What? Oh stars no, I mean that she's one of my people." He said, shifting my suitcase to the side of the branch.
"So she's a fairy too?" I sniffled, still trying to get rid of the last of my tears as I opened the window. "That's… alright, um why don't you come in?"
"Don't mind if I do," he grunted, shuffling to get his massive frame through the open window. "Sorry, I think I underestimated how big I -"
"Here, let me -" I began, wrapping my arms around him to help pull him through.
"Oh, you don't need to - "
"It's alright, you just need to wiggle -"
"You're pulling too hard, I'm going to fall on top of -"
And I suppose he was correct, that I pulled a bit too hard and suddenly his towering body was headed straight for me. Thankfully, my reflexes were quick enough so that I was able to swivel away, but not before catching him in my arms. After all, I wasn't going to let him fall after bringing my suitcase to me.
"Oh," he said, staring up at me. "Am I not heavy?"
"Not really," I said, pulling him up. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm - you're pretty strong, aren't you?"
"I used to do a lot of heavy lifting is all," I lied, brushing off his shoulders once he stood upright again.
He stared at me for a long while, looking at me with those yellow eyes of his. Suddenly, I was worried if he had caught me in my lie. Thoughts of where I slipped up began to race through my mind, if a face muscle had twitched, if my eyes had wandered too much, or if my shoulders had gone rigid -
"Sorry," he blinked, looking away. "Was I staring?"
His fairy friend made a snickering noise.
"Sort of?" I said, cursing the way my voice rose by an octave. "Is there something on my face?"
"No, no nothing is on your face, I was just -" he was interrupted by Ava pulling at his hair, the green leaves and purple flowers spilling from his head to the floor as she did so. "Alright! Alright, I know, stop pulling - I'll tell her!"
My body froze at that moment, bracing for whatever he had to say to truly reveal who I was. However, instead of feeling my heart drop to my stomach - it fluttered instead.
"You're very pretty." he mumbled.
I blinked, "What?"
"I said you're pretty!" he gestured awkwardly to me, "I can see your face better without your alchemist's hood on. You're very beautiful, is what I mean to say but - oh. Oh, I've just realized that I don't think you know my name, and somehow you know Ava's."
There I stood, wondering why in the world this giant Faerie made of grass and flowers could make my heart flutter just by calling me beautiful.
"My name is Keith," he cleared his throat, bowing his head and placing his leafen hand on his chest. "I am the representative of the Fae, my job is to protect the community of Fae in Sunglint."
I cocked my head to the side, "Protection? Why would they need protection?"
Although his face was devoid of any other feature besides his eyes, I could see him raising his brow bone at my question.
"You must have lived in a place that was very tolerant of them, haven't you?"
"No, we've never had them." I paused, "At least personally I've never seen any, I've only ever read about them in books."
"Your kingdom had… books? On us?" Keith looked surprised, Ava even more so with the way she lurched over his shoulder. Her bright yellow eyes gleamed in surprise and delight, so much so that I could not help a smile curl on my lips.
"Yes, they were my favorite as a young girl actually. I've always wanted to live amongst faeries when I was younger, your world has always seemed so… fantastical compared to mine." I said, holding out a finger for Ava to wrap her small dark green hands around.
"Truly?" Keith asked, his gaze fixated to that physical connection between Ava and I. "So that's why you looked at me like that, back at the garden?"
"Yes," I said, eyes flicking up to meet his. "Like something out of a dream. Really, it was a pleasure to meet you."
Yellow eyes narrowed, searching mine for a lie. For something to give, I don't think he could comprehend my fascination with faeries. I had lied many times to him that night, but this was the first time he had ever tried to look beyond my words. For a while, we held each other's gaze for I had nothing to hide.
My words were the truth.
"My name -" I began, breaking the silence. "My name is Lavy, but that's just a nickname. Everyone calls me that, but my real name is Leviathan."
For a moment, Keith's eyes flickered - pupils dilating from slits into a full circle. Confirming my earlier suspicions.
"It's a pleasure but," he faltered. "Lavy if you've read about us you know that giving your true name isn't something to be taken lightly. You should know that by giving your true name, you are giving me power over you."
"I know," I said. "But it's the least I could do, for making my childhood dream come true. See? Two faeries in my room - well, temporary room. And you've delivered my things for me, really. It's alright."
He exchanged a look with Ava, the two of them rendered speechless. All I could do was smile, a knowing gleam in my eyes.
"It's a test anyways," I shrugged, picking my suitcase up and bringing it to the other side of the room. "If you were faeries who had ill intent, you would have ordered me to do something bad by now. But you didn't, so it's nice to know you're good people."
I had to lie again, you see. Making my childhood dream come true and delivering my things, both were things I greatly appreciated. However nothing brought me more joy than knowing the man who stood before me, well, I had his name too. Keith was King Raguna, living a double life as both the first king of Sun-Glint and a protector of the fae. As much as he had power over me now, so did I over him.