This is something I've been working on in my spare time on my work notebook...(soooooo glad my Boss didn't go looking in it!)...and decided to post the bits I've been working on between patients when I get a chance to type them up.
Hope that you like it, bear in mind its just something that came to me at work and it was a way to pass the time if we had a cancellation LOL
Thea Part 6b will be out within the next two weeks, the first part of the following story to Corine will be out at the start of April. Most of that first chapter is written, but I have to re-read it to be able to get into it again lol.
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April 10, 1742.
Milanowas, Realm of the Fae.
The moment they have long been waiting for has at last come to pass. I have had my vision - the visage of their precious prize -- and can now see nothing but her face. Glorious eyes of vibrant green are still burnt into my mind, hair softer than the lightest feather down and the colour of the richest of mahogany flows gently about her face, wet from the rain that falls around her. I can still hear her voice, soft, timid even as she curses the rain in her quiet lilt. She speaks like none other I have ever heard and can only assume that their precious prize is not part of this time. Only the great powers that be know when she will become part of this world and I shall have to be ready to mark her when she does.
And so finally the ancient game begins again. A barbaric hunt if I am true to its nature. And I live in hope that my vision of their prize does not come to pass, for I pity the creature coveted by the Kings of the Fae.
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The rain was horrendous. Buffered by a chilled wind, it fell in sheets as Ashlynn Kenzie dodged another car splash and mounted the pavement, the blare of the frustrated driver still ringing in her ears.
"Bite me, we all have places to go, people to see." Ashlynn mumbled under her breath as she pulled the collar of her coat up around her ears and braced herself for the age old game of 'Pedestrian Chess' with the other remaining stragglers escaping from the town centre in the downpour. As one too many people side-stepped in the same direction as her, Ashlynn gave up with a frustrated groan and string of curses her Navy Uncle Jonathon would have been proud of -- Lord rest the bruit -- and ducked beneath the nearest shop awning.
It was nearly six, shops were closing their doors and pulling their shutters as last minute consumers begged to be let in to buy those last minute birthday gifts and post-Christmas special deals that would no longer be there on Monday. It was rather amusing to watch. The excuse the man at the awning next to her was almost priceless. Originally it was meant to be flowers for his mother and it had somehow transformed into a sick grandmother who's day would be "totally made" by a £1.99 bouquet of half dying carnations.
Ashlynn's bus pulled up a mere few feet away and she sighed in dismay at the sheer number of people on board and the fact there seemed to be double that and more queuing to get on. The lights inside lit up blurry images of weary parents with prams and shopping bags through the misty fog of a hundred breaths, the predictable band of teenagers occupying the elderly seats while an older man was left to support his frail wife in the aisle. Ashlynn watched as the driver crammed every passenger in the queue on before moving off and exposing her to a gust of icy air that chilled her down to her bones. With the last bus gone and the taxi rank two streets away, Ashlynn muttered a curse to the heavens and pulled her collar closer around her neck in preparation to make a run for it, only to be stopped by glorious warmth behind her.
Turning towards the blissful kiss of the heat, Ashlynn felt it in wave after wave as the frigid wind made the door sway open and closed. When a lorry tore passed and soaked her heels, she dodged inside and was rewarded with the heavenly scent of hot coffee and warmth that made her fingers and toes tingle as a little bell went off above her head.
"We're open, feel free to have a browse. I'll be out in a minute!"
Ashlynn murmured her thanks before shutting out the dismal weather behind her. Glancing at her surroundings, Ashlynn was awed. The walls were lined with black velvet; photography graced the upper part of the walls and stood out beautifully. The Tait had nothing on this. The work was simple, real people and their expressions, the simple detail of a hand or the way the light caught on a woman's face. To the right there were dozens of laminated screens hung against the wall, a blue lit display case beneath. Moving closer to inspect its contents, Ashlynn stared in wonder at the various piercings, silverwork, Celtic knots and ornate daggers.
She smiled her first genuine smile in days as she quietly took in the myriad of items around her. Moving the first of the screens she revealed sketch after sketch of intricate designs, creations that called to her and littered every available space. Colour of every variant filled some while others stayed with the basic black yet seemed to have all the more impact for it. The counter in the corner held notebooks, pages she could never imagine wanting to write on and mar such beautiful objects.
"Good lord!" Ashlynn whispered as she touched the one on the top of the glass and turned it over, the silver stamp shocking her. These were made of real silver -- none of the 'plated' rubbish -- but the real deal...and she could imagine the price being very much the 'real deal' to match!
Ashlynn moved away from the counter and the door behind it and was drawn back to the screens. Parting them idly, Ashlynn paused at one that sent chills to run rampant beneath her skin -- but for why she could not fathom.
"Seen anything you like?" The deep voice asked causing Ashlynn to squeak with shock.
"Thanks Attie, I'll settle the bill at the end of the week."
Ashlynn watched quietly out the corner of her eye as the petite blonde girl came out from the door behind the counter and the owner helped her into her coat. As she turned her back to her, Ashlynn was transfixed by the artwork at her lower back, the colours almost vibrating with life as the soft candles and blue lighting reflected off the protective clear dressing. The work was exquisite and Ashlynn had to force her gaze back to the silverwork in the display counter before they noticed her staring.
"No problem Matilda, we will call it a wedding present." The man called 'Attie' said, giving her a soft kiss on the cheek.
"You're a sweetheart. Right, had better be off, Chris will be waiting for me." With a handbag placed gently on her shoulder, Ashlynn returned the girl's smile as she went out into the increasingly blustery night and shivered at the reminder of the iciness before the door shut behind her.
"So, what can I do for you?"
Ashlynn turned fully to the man and nervously tucked her wet hair behind her ears and out of her face. How on earth was she going to tell him she had only stepped in to escape the cold and not look a total fool?
"I—Um...God are you alright?" Ashlynn watched as the man significantly paled, her voice seeming to both calm and perplex the young man as he collapsed less than gracefully into his seat behind the counter. Moving forward tentatively, Ashlynn felt a shiver race through her and a very sudden need to retreat -- to run -- to hide away until the feeling had passed. As though he sensed her panic, his colour slowly seeped back into his cheeks and his hand raised in one of those 'calm' motions people seemed to use in dire situations that required control.
"No, no, nothing is wrong child. I just think the coffee is making me jittery."
His voice swept over her like a warm hug, soothing her, as though he used it only because he knew it would put her at ease. She almost felt able to laugh mentally at the fact a man who was most likely ages with her had just called her 'child'. Ashlynn was definitely putting her new moisturiser at the top of her buy-again list.
"Are you sure you're alright?"
"I'm certain. Now, is there anything I can help you with? A piercing, or..." he glanced at the laminated sheet she was still holding open and his mind laughed painfully at the irony that her subconscious would have lingered on that one. "...a tattoo perhaps?
"Me? Oh no, not me. I have a pretty big aversion to needles." Ashlynn actually blushed as she remembered the last time her doctor tried to take blood from her. Vomiting over his expensive shoes before passing out completely had been mortifying, and an experience she would rather not have again with the man in front of her. "Although, I have always wanted something this beautiful; does it have a meaning?"
More than you know, Attie thought as he pressed a little more on her will with the limited powers they had afforded him, silently persuading her to the image.
"This one in particular is quite special actually." Attie moved towards her and almost managed to fight against his task and tell her to run...but the compulsion rested strong within his veins, honed for over two centuries it had been the centre of his nightmares every night since he had seen her in his vision. "I think it would look beautiful between your shoulder blades, besides it is a totally different experience from needles you will have encountered in a clinic, and for the especially squeamish, I have a new cream that helps with any sensation during."
"It is gorgeous. It just leapt out at me as though every line was calling out to me to join with it." Ashlynn blushed wondering who on earth just gave her mind direct access straight to her mouth rather than waiting in line for editing. "Well -- um -- what I mean is..."
"It's ok, I know what you mean. I felt it when I drew it." Attie agreed as he came close enough to see just how detailed his vision had been. When he had dreamt of her he had been this close to her sweet scent, like a fresh vanilla pod mixed with the fresh rain. He had seen every single speck of gold in her green eyes and the hint of curl in her mahogany hair. He knew her soul, her small sins, her worries and joys, ands he hated what he was about to do to her. He had designed the image himself in his first incarnation over two and a half thousand years ago when the first Fae King, the Fae God, he had served created the 'Hunt'.
It was more than just a mere picture -- it was alive -- it called to the female destined to wear it and once it was complete on the prize's flesh, their hunt would begin and his life would once again be over. He had dreaded this day but not for the coming of his own end...but the coming of hers.
"Go for it." Ashlynn positively beamed as she touched the image and turned to Attie. "Do I have to make an appointment?"
"No..." Attie cleared his throat from the rapidly forming lump and replaced it with the determination and steadiness he was about to need. "I can do it now if you are free."
"Absolutely." Ashlynn felt the adrenaline course through her body as Attie reached for her hand and led her behind the counter and into a room that screamed 'comfort' as opposed to 'pain'. A sumptuous leather adjustable bed lay in the centre, his workstation to the right with everything neat as a pin. The walls were a rich chocolate, soft lighting all around with a working lamp he could pull over the bed to any area he was working on. She loved it.
