The Virgin and the Fae

A/N: Thanks again for reviews! They only take a second to write but are a huge encouragement for me! Information about the unicorns will be coming soon, I just don't want to tip my hand too early :)

The Fae appeared within seconds afterwards. Charlotte wasn’t sure, but there seemed to be more of them than the past two days combined. They all appeared highly agitated, talking rapidly amongst one another while openly pointing at Charlotte.

Charlotte felt hot waves of embarrassment at her nakedness and drew her knees up to her chest, covering her breasts. With her arms wrapped about her legs at the ankles, Charlotte felt mildly relieved to know that she had successfully covered her most private parts at least. If they wanted to stare, let them stare at her back.

“My lord,” one of the Fae males spoke at last. Charlotte recognized him with a lurch as one of the men who’d killed that woman. Fisting, she’d heard it called and the idea had always seemed so frightening but foreign. It was something immature high school boys joked about, not something actually done. At least, God, at least not like that. The pain of that woman, the damage and the bleeding….Charlotte instructively tightened her thighs further together.

Garrick nodded, granting the man permission to speak.

“My lord, you know, no doubt, our fears concerning the human’s virginity. But I feel that we have lost sight of her performance yesterday in the caverns. I mean no disrespect, but she broke through your magic and Locke’s. Perhaps she is even more of a danger than we believe.”

Garrick nodded, before speaking.

“Averill, we have encountered strong humans before. This one is an impressive human, but nothing more than that. Though she may have too strong a will to be controlled through such simple magics, she can be easily controlled physically. She is still a human. No doubt, you, who have taken so many humans, know intimately how feeble they can be.” Garrick’s last sentence contained a hint of reproach. He too must remember the woman of yesterday, Charlotte thought.

Averill sensed the reproach as well and bristled.

“Simple magics? My lord, she threw off a magic that most Fae women could not.”

“Her mind is much stronger than most Fae women.” Garrick’s comment was met with chuckles on the part of several of the men. Given most of the Fae women of the court, it took little to believe even a human might have a stronger mind.

“But my lord—“

“No, Averill, that is enough. Return to your home, you are no longer required here.”

Averill was now out of favor, it seemed, and none of the other Fae wished to curry such displeasure. Garrick was one of the most powerful Fae leaders. If he believed this human posed no danger—or at least was unwilling to hear an argument to the contrary—they were unprepared to challenge him. Garrick had been right; no one would turn against him. Many would continue gossiping quietly about unicorns, but no one would dare speak openly of the danger the human posed after seeing Averill’s dismissal.

Olin might have, but the elder Fae was off consulting the elders. Though he was considered to be a wise scholar among Garrick’s kingdom, his dependency on the counsel of the elders and the stars brought him much ridicule. Most other Fae had long since accepted that the stars held no answers that could be divined and that the elders who pretended to read them were nothing but charlatans. But Olin was of another generation, not that of Garrick’s but not that of the elders either. He believed the stories of the virgin and her unicorns.

Charlotte felt her leg falling asleep and moved it, trying to wake it up without moving it from its shielding position.

“Stop fidgeting,” Locke hissed, crouching down behind her.

“I can’t help it, my leg hurts.”

“Then fix it.”

“That’s why I’m fidgeting.”

“Can’t you fix it without fidgeting?”

In part from mild hysteria and in part because of the absurdity of their conversation given the situation, Charlotte laughed. It was a welcome moment of levity in what was otherwise a disquieting situation.

Charlotte knew the instant after she’d begun to laugh that it was a mistake. Every eye in the room turned to her, taking in her relaxed radiance.

The Fae—both men and women—suddenly understood why Garrick wanted this human so badly. Without the pinched, drawn look she’d had the day before, Charlotte’s face looked inviting, with an innocent playfulness, even happiness, that danced about her eyes and the corners of her mouth. Most of the Fae there had never heard a human laugh in person before—after all, none of their pets had much cause for amusement—but the sound was like that summer—warm and fleeting. When the laugh stopped, there was no one in the room who did not feel its loss.

“Oh! Please, make her laugh again,” one of the women asked softly. “It was so beautiful.”

“Perhaps another time,” Garrick responded, glaring murderously at both Charlotte and Locke. “But for now, I believe that my human must learn the price of her disobedience.” The Fae looked around, almost reluctant to leave the girl with Garrick, each wishing that they could take her back with them and force her to continue laughing just for them. “Leave us,” Garrick ordered.

A few bowed, but for the most part the Fae simply disappeared. Charlotte thought she could detect a faint shimmer in the air as they transposed.