He hardly had to look down to know where he was going as he made his way down the steep mountain trail. He had memorized the trail on the way up, so now he could focus on the task at hand.
The Seer's voice rose in his mind. "You will find her just below the clouds."
But Arius didn't pick up his speed. If the Seer said she would be there, she would be there, and with only one trail coming and going from the Seer's mountain top cavern, there was no way he was going to miss her.
Now, Arius was approaching the line of clouds that would lead him to his destiny. The Seer's cavern sat at the highest point of this particular mountain, so high that the peak was hidden in the clouds from below. Once one climbed high enough, they would break through the clouds and see the peak with nothing but blue sky for miles. Below the clouds, the trail would begin to wind back into the vast forest. Everything would seem darker; nothing like the bright light that seemed almost permanent above the cloud line.
And she will be there, Arius thought, and his heart began to race as the clouds swallowed him. For a moment, he was surrounded, and while the clouds looked soft enough to touch, he felt nothing. If he stopped where he was, she would probably run straight into him, but he didn't want to frighten her, not too much, so he kept walking.
Now below the cloud line, Arius took in the trail as it wound around large boulders and the sparse trees that fought for their lives as their roots tried to find sustenance in the rocky soil.
And there she was, just as the Seer said she would be.
She was so focused on keeping her footing that she didn't see him approach.
"Lost?" Arius asked, causing the woman to startle. A hand flew to her mouth as she gasped, and Arius bit back a laugh.
Humans, he thought with a sneer. So easy to frighten.
The woman flushed red with embarrassment and she ducked her head before slowly lowering her hand to her chest as she tried to calm her rapid heartbeat. She was sure there wouldn't be another living soul this high up the mountain.
"Sorry," Arius said as a small smile crept across his lips. "You must not have seen me with your eyes set on the ground."
Her head snapped up, her black ringlets bouncing as she did so. She was ready to scold the young man for being so rude before she took in his inky black eyes and needle-like teeth.
Her green eyes widened as she took in the creature. "W-What are you?" the woman asked as she tried to position herself near a large boulder.
As if that boulder would offer any sort of protection against me, Arius thought and sniggered.
"What? Don't you know a faerie when you see one?" His tone was mocking.
"You're no faerie," the woman stated with a shake of her head, although she sounded unsure.
Arius said nothing, only lifted his black hair to reveal pale, pointed ears that all the fey possessed. The woman paled and Arius saw her fingers grip at the boulder for support.
Her reaction was typical. Most humans never got to see his kind and lived to tell the tale. The faeries he was sure she was used to seeing were the faeries of the Seelie Court. They were far easier to look at, there was no denying that. It wasn't uncommon for the Seelie Folk to mingle with the humans. Some even went so far as to live among them.
The thought made Arius sick. Despite his hatred for the Seelie faeries, the Folk were far superior to the mortal men and woman that they shared the land with, and they would do well to remember that.
"I have something you want," Arius said without preamble, as he scolded himself to stop wasting time and to just get on with it. The pouch that hung on his belt rested against his leg, feeling heavier now that the woman was here in front of him. She was so important, and she had no clue.
There was a sparkle in the woman's eyes that was undeniable, but it was soon replaced with wariness. "How do you know I'm seeking something?"
"You're Niraya, Queen of Stormvale, are you not?" Arius arched an eyebrow. The woman's eyes grew wide in surprise, and he knew that he had caught her off guard. She nodded slowly. "Then I have something you want."
"Are you the Seer?" she asked, taking a tentative step from behind the rock.
Arius grinned, and even though Niraya's steps faltered when he did so, she didn't retreat back behind the rock. Without taking his eyes off the woman, he untied the parcel at his waist and held it up for her to see.
"I am not," he admitted, and he watched her face fall. "But I have what you want all the same. Believe me when I say that I'm doing you a great service by not letting you travel any farther. The Seer is an ancient faerie and does not take well to humans stumbling in unannounced, especially when they're looking for favors. She'd probably kill you before you had a chance to catch your breath."
Niraya blanched, unsure of what to say.
"You know why I'm here," she finally said, although it sounded more like a question.
Arius nodded.
"You wish to seek revenge on Queen Gessane," he stated simply, and he watched the woman's eyes grow wide. "You want to take something of hers because she took something of yours."
The Seer had told Arius everything before he left the cavern. The matter was complicated, but nothing that a little intervention from the Folk couldn't fix.
Niraya was in love with Gessane's husband ,Tholan, king of the neighboring kingdom of Tremdaya and had been since she was young and just starting to bloom into a woman. Tholan and Niraya had spent many seasons together as Niraya came from a noble family from the East. They had been instantly drawn together, and had started meeting in the late of night almost immediately.
Tholan, young and handsome and heir to the throne, was quick to whisper promises of marriage and children, something Niraya couldn't get enough of.
But then, as fate would have it, Tholan fell in love with someone else. And she wasn't just an ordinary mortal woman. She was a faerie. And not just any faerie; she was the princess of the Seelie Court, and one day to be its queen.
Tholan had been out for a ride one day in the forest during the early summer when his horse became spooked and took off, quickly leaving the trail and any familiar territory behind. Eventually, Tholan regained control of his horse, but they were still hopelessly lost.
With his horse exhausted and sweating and with no idea where to go, Tholan guided his steed through the trees until they came upon a small pond. As he led his horse to the water's edge to drink, his eyes landed on the naked form of a woman as she bathed.
Flustered and embarrassed, Tholan attempted to lead his horse away without being discovered, but his steed was stubborn and whinnied in protest, ultimately giving them away.
He had expected the woman to scream at him, to call him a lecher, but she did no such thing. She simply peeked over her shoulder, blushed a rosy pink, and smiled shyly at him over her shoulder.
And the rest is history.
At first, Gessane's father had forbade them from seeing each other, claiming that falling in love with a human would only complicate Gessane's place in both kingdoms and would only break her heart in the end when she outlived him, the laws of time never applying to her.
Somewhere along the way though, Gessane was able to sway her father, claiming that by marrying the young mortal prince that it would solidify the peace treaty that was rocky at best between the mortals and the Folk.
And it seemed to be working, at least for now.
"What I have in this bag will solve your little… problem," Arius said, turning serious. "But there is a price."
"I'm willing to pay it," she blurted as hope swelled in her chest.
Arius tsked and withdrew the bag slightly. "So eager… Tell me, your majesty, have you ever bargained with a faerie before?" When she didn't answer, Arius shook his head. "No, I didn't think so. Well, be grateful that I'm not feeling overly cruel today."
Niraya swallowed a hard lump in her throat and nodded, feeling like a child that had been scolded for getting dirty.
"What are they?" Niraya asked, finding her voice again.
"Winter's Claw. Berries that are poisonous even to the the Fair Folk, so I'm sure you can only imagine what it might do to a human." Arius' eyes glimmered. "Or a human child."
Niraya nodded, a twitch of a smile beginning to form on her lips.
"One berry will be enough, but the more the child consumes, the more destructive the effects." Then, as if what he held in his hands was nothing more than a bag of dirt, he tossed the bag at Niraya. She fumbled for a moment, but didn't drop the bag. Without another word, Arius began to make his way past her, a smug smile on his face.
Niraya stood stunned, looking at the bag in her hands.
"Wait!"
"Yes?" Arius said, humoring her, irritation lacing his voice. He wished she would just let him leave. She had what she came for, and he wasn't one for small talk.
"What about the price?"
"You said you were willing to pay it, did you not?" Arius tilted his head, and Niraya nodded, her stomach turning in on itself. "Then that's all I need to know."
"What about your loyalty to Gessane? She's to be your queen one day."
Arius pinched the bridge of his nose and let his head fall back, and Niraya gripped the bag tightly in her hands, afraid that the faerie would change his mind and take away her chance for revenge once and for all.
"Gessane is royalty in the Seelie Court," Arius explained slowly in a monotonous tone. "I do not belong to the Seelie Court." Niraya opened her mouth, but he held up a hand to silence her. "I do not belong to the Seelie Court and therefore, I am not loyal to their monarchs.
"Things are going to change, your majesty," he declared, a twinge of a smile pulling at the corner of his lips. "Both for you and for the Folk, and it all starts with those berries finding their way past the lips of Gessane's child. Believe me, your majesty, you are not the only one who wishes to watch Gessane crumble."
Niraya's smile grew, the pride pulsing beneath her skin making her glow, and Arius couldn't help but smile back. She was so clueless as to how much change was actually going to occur that it was almost comical.
Gessane would fall first. Then her kingdom. And then, once the Unseelie had reclaimed the Seelie throne, the mortal race.
~
Niraya pulled herself up into her saddle, the pouch that the faerie had given her feeling heavy in the traveling pack that was slung over her shoulder.
When she turned to look at the mountain one last time, she felt as though someone was watching her and she wondered if the faerie was somewhere nearby.
The black horses' heavy hooves kicked up dirt as it shifted uncomfortably, unable to stay still in the quiet forest. His ears flicked forward as he strained to listen for any threats that could be hidden in the trees.
The forest had not been welcoming on the way in, and the further Niraya had ventured in, the more threatening the forest had become. Trees seemed to move their roots and branches to trip her horse, and more than once she had lost control of her panicked steed. The horse had nearly gotten them lost, but Niraya had forced herself to remain calm. If they had stayed lost, there's no doubt she would have been killed by the wild Folk that tended to reside in the dark forest.
Whenever she found her way back to the trail, the air would seem to disappear and Niraya would find herself gasping, her lungs burning. Then, just when she was about to lose consciousness, the air would return, and she could swear she heard snickers from the trees and shrubs.
It was undeniable that she was being watched, but Niraya never let herself look into the trees too long. If she ignored the Folk, she hoped they would grow bored and leave her alone, and to her delight, they had.
But now she had to make her way out of the forest, and the sun was falling fast.
Determined not to waste anymore sunlight, she clicked her tongue and dug her heels into the horse's side. Her steed reacted and quickly took off at a gallop.
They would make it out of the forest alive, and she would take care of the task at hand.
And things will finally begin change, she thought.
And as the trees blurred past, Niraya knew that she would gladly pay any price the Winter's Claw would cost.