In the Land of Fae ♔ (gxg)

19. nikolaus

She watched the flames flicker indecisively, wondering what willed them to bend a certain direction or not.

A coat of wolf fur, aided with the fire she sat in front of, kept her warm. She had not seen Alastair since the night before at Aerwyn's funeral. Caspian notified her that the fae had locked herself away in the tree cabin again, pacing around and keeping watch. He'd urged the girl to give the fae some space, for "fire also needs oxygen to breathe."

She'd mostly been spending her time with the earth and air fae, with Catori alongside her. The Earthling kids had not been running around causing mischief like they usually did, and Ilmari stayed huddled in his cottage in Aerwyn's room, looking sadly through his father's things while Abitha occasionally checked in on him.

Catori stepped out of her cottage and saw the girl sitting in front of the incessantly burning bonfire, her gilded hair covered by the hood of the wolf's fur coat she had lent her. She was holding a mug of tea from Abitha's teapot, steam iridescently lingering up towards her nose. She was in some sort of trance, the light from the fire illuminating her skin. She was hugging herself, leaned slightly over to keep herself warm, as her human nature made her more susceptible to the whims of nature—rather, the whims of Eira's ice.

Wrapping her knitted shawl around her colorful wings that shivered from the cold, Catori walked towards the girl. "Is it a prophecy you see in that fire?" she jested, visibly frightening the human who jumped at the sound of her voice and tore her eyes away from the fire.

Nyx watched Catori sit down on the log beside her. "Oh... no," she mumbled, taking a sip of her warm tea and swallowing gratefully.

The fae leaned over until her shoulder was touching Nyx's. "Well, if you catch sight of one, be sure to tell me." She smiled at the girl who gave a pitiful excuse for one back before leaning away and crossing her ankles.

Nyx glanced over and noticed an almost obscure bump in Catori's abdomen. "Are you excited?"

Catori somehow knew what the girl was referencing. "More than I ever have been," the fae answered with a surprisingly confident answer, her tan lips curving into a warm smile. "Although, it feels different than I had expected."

"How so?"

The fae's wings moved under her shawl, her pointy ears pressing tight against her skull as she smiled wider. "I didn't expect the instincts to kick in so quickly. Although the only thing in my womb is a collection of cells not even yet a fetus, I feel a maternal instinct in everything I do. I have never been so passionate in cooking a meal as I was tonight."

Nyx chuckled and rubbed her thumb over the rim of the mug in her soft hands. "It was the best ham I've ever tasted."

Catori nodded thankfully. "I also feel more angry." Her smile faltered only slightly. "Angry at this world, angry at the things I have to protect my child from, the things I may have to do to protect them." She placed a hand on her stomach as she, too, gazed into the fire. "But I would be angry for the rest of my life as long as I keep them from harm."

Nyx's eyes fell back to the fire, and she gulped a hard lump in her throat as she thought about her mother and father. She wondered if they felt that way when they first learned Valerie was pregnant. She wondered if they dreamed of a future with the three of them happy, safe, protected. She wondered if they ever even had the time to dream. The timeline was still hard for her to grasp.

She had no doubt that Valerie felt those instincts from the moment she was pregnant throughout Nyx's entire life. Her mother was not shy to show it in everything she did. Nyx still felt bitter for all the things she had kept secret from her, but at the same time she was grateful. She thought about Erlin, Ilmari, the Earthlings, and every other younger fae who had to grow up in war. Nyx grew up beautifully and serenely ignorant to the pain and suffering that touched every corner of this species.