I'm sobbing so hard I don't hear him re-enter until I feel the pressure next to me in the bed and I freeze, eyes shut. A softer uncallused hand caresses my cheek, and the sudden contrast makes my eyes fly open.
"Aéd heard your call child and sent me to retrieve you. Do you wish to come with me?" Her face has an olive complexion and bright blue eyes against jet black hair. I nod because I don't trust my voice and anything is better than here.
"I need to hear you say the words child, 'yes, I would like to be brought to King Aéd under the mountain'" the fae repeats again looking me directly in the eyes. I nod and try to compose myself.
"Y-yes, I would li-ke to b-be br-brought to King Aéd under the mountain." My voice is hoarse. Within seconds I've been cut free, my naked form scooped into her arms and then we're leaping from my second story window out into the night.
I can faintly hear Petyr screaming and breaking things as I dose off to sleep against the chest of the fae warrior taking me to a place my mother had once supposedly spent a millennia, to the realm of King Aéd.
----
I'm wearing a new night gown and my mother's necklace when I wake up in the large plush room. My hair is wet, brushed and pulled back into a bun so I must've been asleep for a while. I only vaguely remembered ladies maids washing me while I cried.
I feel weak. Like the tears had taken more from me than I could know. This whole day had. When I stand, my legs feel shaky but I force myself upright using the side table to steady myself on my feet.
It's utterly silent down here. No intrusive thoughts, just total silence. The silence frightens me more than the noise, the noise I was used to, but I push back thoughts of danger. The fae had rescued me, I owed them an open mind and a debt of gratitude. I had promised them a debt for my rescue. I owed them a debt. I sigh.
The thought was terrifying. To owe the fae was to be enslaved by the fae but perhaps their relations with my mother may help me now. Their king had said she'd spent a millennia under the hill, she wouldn't have stayed somewhere so long if she hadn't wanted to be there. I kick off the slippers I'd woken up in and let the cool stone under my toes ground me before I make my way to the door.
To my surprise, it's not locked and when I push it open — the thoughts flood in, loud, intrusive, all-encompassing. This room had been enchanted to give me silence. Another unanticipated kindness. The halls were empty, lanterns hanging from the ceiling and fireflies fluttering around aimlessly in the dark — but the flurry of gathered people nearby was loud.
It's her daughter, the seers daughter. He allowed her back.
Will she be joining us too, I wonder.
Will she stay. Am I safe at court.
Does she have her parents gifts I wonder.
They're all about me. About my family. Following the sounds in my head I make my way down the hall into a bright open room, it looks like the throne room. Instead of rock above, it opens to a beautiful dark sky. Either magic or it was truly night.
A hush spreads through the room as the first fae notices me. The king, on his throne, was speaking animatedly with a short stout man but he stops when he notices the silence. That smile from the cave spreads again across his face.
"Siv, welcome to my home under the hill." He bellows with enthusiasm, standing up and walking towards me. He takes my arm and pulls me out of the crowd, "come child, we have much to discuss."
The hall seems brighter.