The Wayward Fae

Riley and Avery

Two months earlier:

Avery walked behind Riley, they'd been going for days, she was tired and hungry and angry. Riley had promised her they'd be back home by the next day, but ever since they left Termonn they'd walked farther and farther away from home. Avery knew Riley was scared of the upcoming wedding, but to run away, because they were running away, Avery knew that now. It was insane. They were born in Termonn, they grew up there, neither of them had ever left, not even when Riley's mom, the Queen, had gone outside Termonn's shield, did they go with, and then there were guards, lots of them. Now all Riley, the princess had, was her, and yeah she was a great fighter, but if more than thirty beings tried to attack them, they were screwed, because Riley was good too, but not that good. 

Riley spun around a huge grin on her face as they made it out of a clearing onto a stretch of sand that leads to a lake. Feeling a grin spread on her face too, Avery ran with Riley to get a drink of the cool water. They splashed each other, glad of the cool water on their sweaty skin. Avery wiped the water from her face and looked around. She wondered where they were, and if there were any villages nearby, where they could get food. She really was starving.

Riley walked up to Avery and put her arms around her. "Thank you for coming with me." 

"If I'd known it would be this long, I'd have packed more food." Avery moaned. But smiled and squeezed Riley in turn. She'd never really paid much attention to the royalty that Riley was, they were best friends, and they were like sisters. No title would come between them. 

"Look." Riley pointed to a puff of smoke that rose out of the trees every now and again. 

"You think they have food to spare?" Avery asked hopefully.

"I don't know, but how do we know it's safe?" Riley asked, suddenly wary. 

"I really don't care at this point, Riles, I'm starving." 

"Okay, let's go have a look." 

"No, I will, I'll come to get you if it's safe." 

"No, you won't," Riley said and pushed Avery. "We go together. And let's keep the whole princess thing to ourselves." 

"Oh that's a given, we don't need them taking you hostage." Avery agreed. They turned and made their way toward the smoke and trees. They were halfway to the trees when someone stepped out and stood staring at them. The woman's long black hair was blowing in the breeze, her yellow eyes were staring straight at them. "Just stay close okay?" Avery said and lifted a hand in greeting, she hoped that who, or whatever the woman was, she was friendly. She looked like a warrior, strong and fast. Avery really didn't want to go up against her. 

The woman walked closer, stalked was a better word for it. Avery kept Riley behind her, and an eye on the woman. The woman stopped about ten paces from them, she held up her hand, to indicate they had to stop too. Avery stopped and looked at the woman, waiting.

"Who are you?" Her voice was quiet, her whole demeanor made Avery nervous. 

"I'm Avery, this is Riley, we've been traveling from Termonn." 

"You're Fae?" 

"Yes," Avery answered carefully. "Who are you?" 

"I'm Amy." That was all the woman said. 

"We were hoping for some food and drink, we've been walking for days," Avery said.

"Where are you going?"

"Nowhere in particular. We just wanted to see what was beyond our shield." Riley said, finally stepping out from behind Avery and looking at the woman, Amy.

"Look, I can't let you go around here on your own, you're in Silver Moon territory now." 

"Do you mean Amber stays here?" Avery watched as Amy went back to high alert.

"Yes." 

"Our Queen helped them fight. We're not in enemy territory." Riley sighed in relief. 

"Come on, I'll show you to the coffee house, Diane will know better what to do with you," Amy said, she eyed the woman who'd been hiding, she was built like a runner, her lithe body toned to perfection, her eyes were the color of the sky just before the sunset, orange, red, yellow all mixed into a soft swirl of colors. Her red hair was pulled back in a ponytail, when lose it would probably just reach her shoulder. The other woman was a little shorter but was built like a fighter, her eyes the color of the lake on a clear day, all shades of blue, her hair much the same as Mya's, blue and black, and she was clearly very protective of Riley.

"Is there somewhere to get a place to sleep?" 

"Diane will take care of you," Amy answered and kept walking. Avery looked at Riley and shrugged. She guessed that their best hope now was that this woman was not a lying murderer. They walked only for a short while before they walked into a clearing. A building, Avery guessed, the coffee house, sat at one end tables, benches, huge rocks, and a play area was set up all around it. Two kids came running at them at full speed. Amy stepped in their path and they laughed as they veered off and kept running. Avery watched as the girl leaped into the air and shifted into a baby wolf, the boy leaped too but landed still human on his butt. He laughed and got up running after his friend, now a wolf. 

"What the..." Riley began. Amy looked over her shoulder. 

"That would be our princess, of some sort, anyway, she's Addi, Amber, and Sam's daughter." 

"Wait, she's two? She looks way older." Riley said staring at the kids.

"We age differently." She shrugged. "Your Queen is more than a thousand years old, and she doesn't look a day over twenty-five." 

"Touche," Riley said. They walked up to the door of the building, Amy pulled it open and the noise from outside died down, as Riley stepped inside and the door slid silently closed behind them. Inside it was cool, soft music was playing, and everyone sat quietly talking in hushed tones. As they walked to the counter she could feel eyes on them, she assumed everyone knew they were newcomers.

"Hey, Diane," Amy said to the woman behind the counter. "I found these two wandering by the lake, they say they're from Termonn, figured I'd bring them here. They say they want food and drink." 

"Well, then you're at the right place." Diane smiled at them. "Go get Jane." She said to Amy, who nodded and left. "What can I get you two?" Diane gestured for them to sit again.

"We don't have any money, I guess we didn't think through leaving home as we did," Riley said. "If we could have a glass of water, that would be great." 

"Nonsense. Anything you don't eat?" She asked and handed each of them a Pepsi. They opened it eagerly and took long sips.

"No, ma'am," Riley said. "Anything you can spare." 

"Oh no, no ma'am, please, Diane." She smiled again and went to the kitchen to order them each a burger.

Twenty minutes later as they were finishing off their meal, Amy appeared beside their table with another woman. "This is Jane, she's head of security around here." 

"I'm Avery, this is Riley." Avery stood and held out her hand. Jane frowned but took it. 

"When you're done, meet me at the counter, we'll go see the alpha," Jane told them and walked to Diane, dismissing them. 

"Okay," Avery said. 

"It's going to take some getting used to being treated like a nobody," Riley said and bit into a fry.

"Well, your highness, I'll keep reminding you that you ran away from a whole kingdom of your own." Avery smiled at her as she finished off her burger.

Sam watched them leave her office. They smelled like trouble. 

"Stop scrunching your nose like that, they just need a safe place to sleep. It sounds like they had quite a few days." Amber wrapped her arms around Sam. 

"I don't like strangers," Sam growled.

"I know, but they need a safe place, especially being fae." 

"Do I let Riana know that some of her kind are here?" 

"No, I don't think you have to do that. Let's keep an eye on them." 

"Okay." Sam turned and pushed Amber up against the wall. "Any trouble they cause is on you." She said as she kissed Amber furiously. Amber met her kiss with her own fervor.