In the Land of Fae ♔ (gxg)

12. babysitting

The days were beginning to drag on for the fae.

All she would do was pace her little tower amongst the trees, circling around the windows of the cabin and using her keen eyesight and hearing to detect any ice fae near. She had seen a few at the corner of the woods, but they were only commoners searching for food. She tried her best to stay far away from the Ice Kingdom and everywhere its cruel, frozen tentacles reached, but she had witnessed the pain that Eira was inflicting even on her own race of fae.

Even in the Ice Kingdom there was an hierarchy outside the one that Al and her group were thrown in. Every ice fae lived in the ice castle, yet there were the class of poor who lived in mud and were on the brink of starving, a middle class who worked every hour of their days to bring luxury items to the Queen, then there were the soldiers who beat every other fae around because their egos were so inflated to be the Queen's army. Then there was Eira, sitting on her throne at the very top of the castle and passively committing murder every day.

The fact that Alastair and her people were the only fae besides ice fae left petrified her to her very core. That was why she paced around her watchtower everyday, searching for signs of danger or threat or attack. Nowadays, her black and red-glazed feathers on her wings were always stiffened, always tense and on alert. Her muscles were beginning to ache from remaining so constantly rigid. She never slept, and she could feel it start to get to her.

Having the human girl around gave her a little entertainment, at least. It had been years since she met a human who was so inquisitive and independent as Nyx—in fact, she had never met a human girl like her. Alastair took after Nyx's father in the way that she liked to mingle in the human world only a little bit, even though the majority of them were pathetic little rats to her.

Nikolaus had been Alastair's best friend. Al's father had led Nikolaus' father's army when he was King, and Al followed in his footsteps by leading Nikolaus' army when he was given the crown. But never was there a sense of superiority or inferiority with them—that's how Nikolaus was with everyone. He was kind and just, viewing every creature that walked the planet as an equal to him. Alastair had always wondered if he was too kind for his own good, and perhaps she was right. He was dead now, and she was using his young daughter to blackmail the evil bitch who killed him.

"Al."

The fae's head snapped around to the doorway which she had not even heard open, and there stood Caspian who looked both amused and concerned to see the way in which he had frightened her with his presence. The fae had been so deep in her thoughts that she had dissociated to another realm.

"You need sleep," he immediately pointed out, focusing on the dark circles underneath her red eyes.

"No," she growled, turning back around to stare out the window at the same treetops she had memorized the past several weeks. "Did you come all the way up here and interrupt me just to mother me?"

She heard him chuckle behind her. "No, actually. I came here to let you know that Catori and I are about to go hunting. We won't be back until morn."

Al chewed her plump lower lip between her teeth. "Make sure to get some fish while you're out. I'm tired of all the ham and bacon we've been eating, even if wild hogs are plentiful in supply." She pursed her lips and raised her chin, her hands that were folded behind her back softly trembling. She couldn't remember the last time she had eaten anything besides a leftover strip of bacon or a piece of celery as her meal for the day.

Caspian's watchful eyes noticed the way her fingertips trembled against her palms. A concerned look flashed over his face, only because Al wasn't looking at him and would have turned him into ash if she saw any hint of pity in his eyes. "Aerwyn and Abitha have offered to take watch for tonight," he blurted, clenching his teeth and preparing to use his water to extinguish any flames the fae might throw at him.