Strangers
Lucien paced the halls of the manor as he thought about the strange day. It had started like any other. At least, like any other day for the past forty-nine years. There truly wasn’t much to do these days except fight off any creatures that Amarantha sent their way. Truly, Lucien knew that if there was any chance of breaking the curse, sentries had to be sent out for potential sacrifice. It had to be done, and Tamlin had to be the one to make those difficult choices. That didn’t mean Lucien had to like it, though. Those were his friends being sent to their death so that Tamlin could try to convince a human woman who hated faeries so much that she would murder one in cold blood to love him. The whole situation was ridiculous and impossible. How Tamlin would even be able to stand to be in the presence of a woman like that, let alone long enough to woo her, he had no idea.
But then those four strange humans crash landed right in the middle of the dining room table. Yes, very odd indeed. Three males and one female. The smallest male had messy black hair and a scar on his forehead in the shape of a lightning bolt. The next one had silvery blond hair, disheveled from the fall, that fell to his shoulders. He was pale and had a look as if he came from a noble family. A combination of ‘good breeding’ and quality clothing. The third male was clearly older than the others, though Lucien couldn’t pretend to be a good judge of human age, but he could tell that this one wasn’t as young as the others. He had shoulder length black hair that looked as if it could use a wash, a large hooked nose, and seemed to look incredibly annoyed even while unconscious.
The human woman, though, she was interesting. She was incredibly petit compared to the rest, with freckles dusting her tanned skin and wild, untamed brown curls, like the mane of some great beast. He could tell that even though she was small in body, there was something within her that was larger than life. This girl had fire in her veins and he was curious to see how bright she burned. Was she a flickering candle or a raging forest fire?
He couldn’t help but wonder how these humans had made it here. It was so rare for a human to make it past the wall of their own volition, let alone appear in the middle of the High Lord’s home. It should have been impossible for them to get past the wards. Granted, their magic was getting weaker by the day. If someone, say Rhysand for example, were to stop by, the wards wouldn’t be able to keep him out, but they’d at least be alerted to the threat. But these were humans, for Cauldron’s sake, and they’d been none the wiser about the impending arrival!
As Lucien paced the hall, standing guard while Tamlin patrolled the border, a sudden high pitched scream pierced the night air. He didn’t hesitate to rush into the woman’s room to find whatever danger had presented itself, however, when he got through the door there was nobody else to be found. The woman was thrashing in the bed, clearly in the middle of a horrific nightmare. Just as he was about to try and wake her, three figures barged in after him, though they weren’t at all what he had expected.
The first figure was the older male. He wasn’t that much of a surprise. As soon as he made it to her bed, he pulled her into his lap and started rocking her, whispering words of comfort into her wild hair.
“It’s ok, you’re safe now.. She can’t hurt you anymore.. You’re so strong, so brave..”
On and on, and as he spoke, she began to calm and breathe easier. He noticed the tears on her face and something in his heart ached at the sight. Who was the ‘she’ that this woman was frightened of? Why had this beautiful woman needed to be so strong?
It was a moment before Lucien took notice of the other shocking figures in the room. A huge snow leopard was climbing onto the bed to lay behind the woman. As it made itself comfortable, the older man turned the woman so her back was to his chest and laid down with her, the giant cat being used as a pillow. The small white fox that had come bounding into the room as well curled up in front of the girl while she unconsciously wrapped her arms around it to hold it close. Lucien was beyond bewildered. Where had these animals come from.. Then he scented them. They were the other human males from earlier, except.. Were they not really human? They had looked it at first sight, with their rounded ears, but.. Shapeshifters. They couldn’t possibly be fully human. Demi fae, perhaps? What about the older male and the woman? Were they demi fae shapeshifters as well? He had to admit that they didn't smell entirely human.
The leopard suddenly let out a low growl which caught the older male’s attention. He locked eyes with the human, his expression just as severe as it had been while he was unconscious. Those eyes, black as the night, assessed him for several moments before he said “She can’t sleep alone.” Apparently that was all the explanation he was going to receive at the moment, so he just nodded his head once.
“Noted. I shall inform the High Lord in the morning that sleeping arrangements will need to be adjusted.”
With that, Lucien walked out of the room. The night was turning out to be just as strange as the day had been. Yes, incredibly strange indeed.