A gnawing pin poked him in the back of his mind. He couldn't leave the girl on the floor. She wouldn't be of any use in the future if a bear or a pack of wolves ate her. With a sigh, he materialized a long, sage silk robe from his personal bathing chambers back at his court; back in Ta'Faer, the continent in the Mystical. He suspended it in the air, letting it float for the time being. He lifted both his arms and stood in a 'T' position with his palms facing the starry sky, and then he condensed water from the atmosphere. The air became humid and warm once again, and his hands glowed like rays from the sun. His hair levitated and whipped around with the hurricane winds. Water accumulated over the child, suspended in the air in droplets.
"Your kind does not take kindly to my type of magic, but bear with it, child."
The water droplets attached to each other, creating a globe of water that glowed cerulean blue. He lowered his hands in her direction, and the globe followed his command. It washed over the girl and lifted her off the ground. The globe engulfed her for a few seconds, and she flailed due the lack of oxygen. Her hair burned a bright red and the water boiled. The globe became an opaque brown. He aggressively lowered his hands, the palms facing the ground, and the dirty water splashed into the ground. Snow Drops bloomed where the water seeped into the ground.
He reached for the robe, and the child floated into his arms. He awkwardly stuck the girl's limp arms into the robe's sleeves. She stirred from her deep slumber, and her eyelids flutter. Her beautiful green eyes hid behind long orange eyelashes. Luckily, she did not awake. He could see the soft glow of her skin, like the faintest star in the sky, very unlike his radiance. Her hair was wet, but the red curls still had a slight bounce to them. He reached over and swaddled her. She was cradled in his arms, and he stepped outside the mushroom circle.
His glowing skin muted, his ears shrunk, and his wings retreated and disappeared into his back. The flower crown dispersed into glittering dust, and his tunic warped into clothes that were appropriate for a middle-class merchant. He looked human; however, the veil did not extend to the child. She still looked too mystical.
"We can't have that." He placed his hand on her cheek, and her hair turned a boring shade of chestnut brown, her ears shrunk and rounded, and the glow of her skin disappeared. He made sure that when she awoke, her eyes would be dimmed into a swamp green. It was like her Fae blood had vanished and all that remained was her humanity.
The High Fae looked at the vastness in front of him. A thicket of trees spread behind, and a blanket of snow rested ahead. He had an ongoing commitment back at his castle and had no time to spare to drop the child off at Viceton, a human village a few miles from where they were. He stared at her and felt nothing. There was no tinge of kindness or mercy. He didn't see a living Fae. He saw a means to an end. If his experiments back home were to go awry, he planned to come back for her, even if she was tainted with her human half.
"Lilith." He called out to the nothingness.
A soft breeze that smelled of lemon blew past him, and a royal-blue woman with black irises covering the entirety of her eyes, straight black hair, long extended ears, a flat nose, and wearing a thin fabric that exposed everything but her sexual characteristics, appeared out of thin air. The magic circle behind him glowed again.
Lilith knelt on one knee, placed her hand on her chest, and bowed her head. Her ebony hair draped her face, goosebumps rose on her skin, and she shivered violently. She wasn't used to the drop in temperature, nonetheless, she kept her composure.
"I am here, Your Highness."
"Obviously," he replied impatiently, "Take this child to Viceton. Stay with her until I call for you to bring her to our realm. You are to make sure she does not die… but you are not to interfere in her suffering. I need her to be miserable. This is an order."
Lilith snapped her head up and finally noticed the little girl in her master's arms. Her face contorted. "My king… she's just a human. They breed like rats, so there's many. Why focus your energy onto this one? You are too high in stature to bother wi- Ack!" Lilith grunted. There was an invisible weight pressing her down into the ground. She felt her throat filling with water and managed to cough it out. "My lord! I'm sorry!" She cried.
"I did not ask for your opinion, pixie." He spat. "If you wish to keep your heart beating, you will do as you're told and remember your oath." He released his magic, sweat rolling down his forehead because he has almost reached his limit. She slumped down, rubbing her chest in small circles as she calmed her hyperventilating.
"You are so merciful, my king." She stood up, still trying to level out her breathing, and extended both arms. She was insolent for questioning the High King's demand. "I'll take the child now." Lilith sniffled; her tears frozen in fractals under her eyes. "The woman back in the dungeon is causing a ruckus and has burned many servants. You should return."
He nodded his head and grinned widely. "I wonder how she'll react when I tell her that I've discovered her filthy, halfling child." He whispered, only loud enough for him to hear. "She's a halfling." He gently placed the girl in Lilith's arms and walked back into the mushroom circle. The mushrooms glowed brighter than before. His wings expanded back out, fully spread and lifted. He illuminated gold again, and his beautiful hair rolled down to his waist. Then, without a single word or a glance back, he vanished along with the mushroom circle.
There was no way for Lilith to return now unless he returned for her. Portals to the Mystical were rare and forever moving. Her master left her in a realm where their kind were despised. Where, if they didn't have their guard up, a human could kill them or capture them with iron weapons. Her chest hurt as if mourning the loss of a loved one. Her bottom lip trembled, and she hatefully squeezed the girl tighter. Frustration overcame her and she dropped to her knees, looked up at the sky to keep the tears from falling, and screamed profanities into the wind. There was no care for the child sleeping.
Why did a halfling little bitch have the privilege to wear the High King's robe? A sneer plated on Lilith's face. Why was she given the annoying task to chaperone? Regardless of it being an order by her king, she felt useless.
Sighing, the blue pixie held the child on her hip, and with her free hand, she drew the veiling symbol with her finger. In the air, a purple rhombus with a dragon's eye appeared. It floated down to her and was absorbed between her breasts. Lilith's skin rippled and became a warm beige color. Her irises shrunk, exposing white. She kept her beautiful almond-shaped slant. Still dressed in the thin fabric, she pulled the robe off the girl, and slipped it on. Her heart felt slightly more at ease as she sniffed it and could smell her king.
She then wrapped the child inside with her, holding her close to her chest, and with her frozen bare feet, walked in the opposite direction of the forest atop the hill. With no idea where to go, she wandered aimlessly in hopes she would reach their destination.