Faerie Flight

by

IrishCreme

Aria flew as fast as her wings could carry her, but the terror pulsing through her lithe body slowed her. She looked behind to judge the closeness of her pursuer only to feel his clammy hand on her shoulder, bringing her to a
complete stop. "I have you now!" he exclaimed with delight, grabbing her wrists tightly. Aria struggled against him, but she was no match for his brute strength. It was a wonder she got as far as she did before capture. The
disheartened faerie relinquished her flight and submitted to her captor.

"I am Aria," she said softly, tears trickling from her large, unearthly grey eyes.

The man was touched by her tears and softened, relaxing his grasp on her arms. "I am Brian Kilkinney. Are you truly a faerie?"

Aria nodded, still unable to look her seizer in the face. Brian lifted her chin with an index finger and caught her attention with his bright, emerald-green eyes. "I will not harm you," he said smoothly, and Aria believed him. His
alluring eyes, sincere, handsome face and sweet lilting voice made her believe him.

She quickly regained her composure and pride. "I am yours for as long as you never lay a hand upon me. Once you have struck me, I return to the lands from whence I came. This do you understand?"

Brian nodded, a warming smile painting his young face. "I will never lay a hand upon you, Aria, and will always love you."

"Love?" Aria laughed ruefully. Her wings had already disappeared, and her skin was darkening from its alabaster-white to a healthy human pink. At least my hair and eyes won't change, she thought. "What know you of love? I have been torn from my love by your selfish hands. If that is love, I want no part of it!"

Brian lowered his head in shame. He indeed had been selfish when he chased Aria. He thought nothing of the consequences of capturing a faerie, only of her long, sunflower curls and angelic face, of how beautiful she was. And even now as guilt riddled his being, Brian could not allow her to return for Aria had stolen a piece of him with those haunting slate-grey eyes.

"I cannot expect you to understand how I feel and I certainly don't expect you to feel the same way about me, but I can make you happy, Aria," Brian began, a wishful grin on his face. "And I can give you a good home--"

"A good home I had," the faerie interrupted angrily. "And a family. Now you I have." The statement was simple, but potently powerful. "Shall we go, Brian Kilkinney? I am ready now for my new life."

Aria waited silently for Brian to lead the way, and when he finally did, she spoke not a word for the entirety of the journey, despite his constant inquiries. Upon arriving in the small village of Lathe, word spread quickly that Brian
the Blacksmith had gone to the bigger village of Ulmster to find a bride, and he had brought her back that day. Townspeople couldn't pull their eyes away from Aria for they had never seen such a beautiful woman. Some
thought she was royalty, while others (mostly the elders) swore she was fae.

Brian had been correct when he said he could provide Aria a good home, for he was the richest man in town. His blacksmithing was famed far beyond that county, and people would come from afar to seek his talents. Brian owned a large two-story cottage at the edge of the forest that separated Lathe from a great river. Aria surveyed her new home with slight pleasure, for faeries didn't live in such regal establishments anymore. At least not those faeries who didn't belong to the Tuatha De Danaan.

Brian and Aria were married within the week. They made a stunning couple, both with blonde hair and fine features. Most townspeople, though, still couldn't reconcile Aria's strange eyes. For no matter her mood, she seemed to be staring right through you, boring a hole into your soul. Aria took to her human life and played the part of a blacksmith's wife well. She even befriended some women in the village and gossiped with them at market. And after their twin children were born, a boy called Nathan and a girl named Madigan, Brian felt that life for him was complete with Aria and their son and daughter. But things can change in the blink of an eye, as they did for Brian.

"Are you happy here with me, Aria?" Brian asked one day after the twins had gone to bed.

"Yes, Brian. I am happy." She did not look up from her needlework.

"Have I been a good husband and father?"

Aria nodded. "Yes, you have."

"Then why can you not say you love me?"

She raised her eyes to meet his and answered, "Because I do not love you. That you knew from the start. My heart belonged to another before you even existed."

"And what of our children? Do you not love Nathan and Madigan because I am their father?" Brian was angry. He had done everything in his power to make Aria happy and to give her all the things she wanted and needed. And
now, after ten years, she still did not love him.

"I love Nathan and Madigan more than my own life, and they are the only reason I have not tried to run away." Aria put down her embroidery and stood from her rocking chair, pacing before Brian. "I am fae, Brian, and although look human I do, I still have the faerie spirit. I cannot live like this forever. I miss the faerie ring. I miss my friends and family--"

"And what of your friends and family here, Aria?" Brian stood as well and loomed over his wife. "Do you owe nothing to us?"

"Owe you?" Aria growled. "I cook and clean for you, I lay with you and bear you two children, and I owe you? I owe you nothing!"

"You ungrateful--" Brian raised his arm and swung quickly, the back of his hand connecting severely with Aria's cheek. Her eyes widened in pain and horror, and he immediately regretted his rash action. "Oh, Aria, I am so
sorry. I didn't mean--"

But his words fell short as he watched Aria change. Her skin paled quickly, matching the color of the moonlight outside, and the two iridescent wings that she had lost a decade ago had returned and beat rapidly, suspending her several inches above the floor. "You promised you would never harm me…"

Those words rang in Brian's ears, and he helplessly watched Aria magically open the front door and float outside. She levitated before the door for a few moments, a look of utter disappointment saddening her lovely, unaged face, before she was enveloped by bright lavender light. The luminescence surrounded the house, and Brian could feel magic everywhere, the undeniable presence of faeries. Small voices giggled and sang around him and kissing tickled his cheeks, but he could still see nothing. And suddenly, everything was gone. The light. The voices. Aria. Only the stirrings of the forest creatures were his company now…and his five-year-old children.

Brian rushed upstairs. All he wanted to do now was hold Nathan and Madigan. How do I tell them their mother is gone? He wondered. He shook his head. Nathan and Madigan would be the ones to suffer most. He slowly
pushed open their bedroom door, not wanting to startle their precious little blonde heads at this late hour. But Brian was the startled one. Nathan and Madigan were gone!

Brian sank to his knees and cried. He now realized that the voices he had heard earlier were those of his children. Aria had taken the twins with her, back to the Land of Fae. She had left him with nothing. His whole life had
revolved around Aria, Nathan and Madigan, and now they were all gone. Troubled thoughts flooded into Brian's mind: Why wasn't I satisfied? We were happy. Why did I have to spoil that? And in God's name, why did I hit
her?

How long Brian mourned in that room, no one is sure exactly. Long enough to ruin his thriving business and destroy the kinship he had built with the community. And no one is sure what exactly happened to Aria and her
twins either, but surely her faerie spirit runs free.



To catch a faerie hath two sides

Undying beauty and restless sighs

Beware that thou ne'er lay a hand

Sweet faerie thoust ne'er see again

Trust that which ye hold most dear

Sweet faerie will take too, I fear

So if a faerie thou dost spy

Capture not, let sweet faerie fly

*Please email comments or questions to IrishCreme tatertot@neosoft.com