Alchemy of Love

The Rules

At my declaration, he took a step back from me. I didn’t back down and didn’t give him a chance to respond. “As long as I’m in this house you will not kill anyone else. If you still insist on killing me in the end, that’s a different matter. But no more killing for the sake of it. Unless something attacks you first, there will be no more wanton killing.”

He snorted at me as he crossed his arms. I didn’t care, I wouldn’t change my mind. “How do you think you can tell me what to do? I’m in control of you, not the other way around. And,” he paused as his eyes scanned the room. He took in the flawless desk, the library with all the books back to their proper order and even the clean kitchen. “Did you do all this?”

I nodded. “I was not sure where you vanished to, and I wanted to surprise you when you returned with a clean house.” I deliberately kept my eyes away from the corner where his former love had spent her time. I had not been foolish enough to touch even an inch of that sacred space. I might not have looked that way but Simon inspected it all the same.

“Why?” he demanded as he turned and gave me his full attention again. “No matter what you do, what tricks you stoop to I will sacrifice you for my April. Don’t even think for a minute that by cleaning my house that I’ll ever change my mind.”

I shrugged at him. “You’ve already told me that. It won’t stop me from doing what I feel needs to be done. I don’t know what your problem with me or my people is, but I’m going to get to the bottom of it before I die. When you kill me you’ll understand what it is to take the life of someone like you, and not someone inferior to you.”

Simon grunted. His eyes fell from mine as he looked at my work once more. Good, I would win him over but I wasn’t going to be sneaky about it. He already thought the worst of my people, I would prove him wrong. “Fine, Nicon, as long as you don’t try to escape your fate, I’ll agree to this venture of yours. I still believe you wouldn’t have gone through with taking your own life.”

I nodded. “That’s because you don’t know me yet, Simon. But you will.” I pushed my braid out of my way as I turned my back to him and went back to my cleaning. “When I’m finished here you can discuss with me this plan of yours to catch the unicorn. But you will not mistreat it, you’ll gather your dust and let it go.”

“Let it go?” the frown in his voice was evident. “But if anything happens I will need more and catching one is not easy.”

“It will be with me,” I replied as I stared at his bookshelves. “Magical beings trust each other. I will help you only if you let it go afterward. If anything goes wrong I will just help you again.”

Simon moved behind me and from the corner of my eye, I watched as he approached. “All of these conditions of yours are making me feel like you’re the one in charge instead of me, Fairy.”

“Nicon,” I corrected once more as I turned to him. “I’m giving you a choice, Simon.” His eyes wandered to the bruise on my cheek and he winced. Good, I wanted him to feel responsibility. “You want to save someone you love, and I understand that desire. I’ll help you with this plan and go along with all of it as long as you listen to my conditions so no one else has to suffer except for myself.”

He shook his head as he stared at me. “I’ve never met a fairy like you before, Nicon.”

“Have you ever met a fairy, Simon?” I questioned as I tilted my head. I already knew the answer of course but I wanted to hear it from his lips.

“Yes.”

I frowned. “When?”

Simon took his time answering. Once more his eyes met mine and the shame that had formed there had been erased. Now his eyes were like hard marbles. He pointed to where his beloved had slept. “April met a fairy, and it cursed her. She got sick after it and no matter what I tried I could not rescue her. Your people are why she’s dead, and you people will be the answer to bringing her back.”

“Cursed her?” My brows furrowed as I tried to reason it out. “We don’t have the powers to curse.”

“You’re calling me a liar?” Simon demanded his voice soft now. I sensed the danger but wouldn’t be cowed by it.

“No, Simon, I’m not. It just would be equivalent to you telling me that a human caused someone else to fly. It doesn’t seem plausible, I will help you track down this culprit of yours, however.”

His clenched fist fell open as his jaw went slack. “What?” he whispered.

“I will help you find whatever did that to her, fairy or not.”

He swallowed as tears shimmered in his eyes. “It will change nothing,” he whispered.

I nodded. “I know, but I’ll still do it. Now, tell me the plans for the unicorn. I’m curious about what you were going to attempt.”

“I was going to go to the woods, deeper than where I met you. And entice it with special sweet treats.” He turned away from me and rummaged through a drawer until he pulled out some pastel pink cubes. “These.”

He handed me one and I studied it from all angles. My tongue flickered out at the grainy substance and my eyes widened. Swirls of varying sweetness washed over my tongue in a pattern that left me dizzy. Every time one flavor washed over me another started the process all over again. Cakes, cookies, candies of all sorts, I had eaten a lot of sweets in my life but nothing that compared to this. “Wow,” I whispered. And that had only been a lick! Imagine if I had put the entire thing in my mouth. I resisted the urge to pop it inside, I would be in a sugar coma if I did that.

“You like it?” his amused voice and self-satisfied smirk broke me out of my trance.

“I do, but this won’t work for a unicorn,” I smirked at him and that smile of his faded. “Unicorns don’t care about treats, they’re not fairies. You need a pure soul to attract them, and since I’m not letting you kidnap a child, I will have to do.”

“A fairy, pure?” he demanded.

“You’ve got a lot to learn about fairies, Simon. But come, let’s go get your dust.” I walked over to him and held my hand out. He stared at it for a moment before wrapping his own around mine. His warmth startled me but contact was important for my plan. “If you don’t mind then, I’ll lead the way.” I smiled at him over my shoulder and with a little tug led him out of the cottage.