I Get Answers

   "My…father. That man, had…” my tongue had difficulty forming the word. “sex. With the woman who claims to be my mother.”
 “Correct.”
 “Look, I’ve had a pretty open mind about this whole thing. I’ve come with you, believed that I was a faerie and everything I knew was total bullshit. But I don’t really think this is real. No, scratch that. I think this is very real. But it’s some sort of a set up. A weird plan to get something from me. Little girl desperately seeking loving mommy and daddy kind of thing. And I don’t know what you want from me, but this isn’t the way to get it.”
   “Melody, do you really think that we would do that? Dye your skin blue, get your eyes fixed, transport you here using very rare powder, just to get something from you? You don’t have anything, Mel.”
    Damn, that nickname again. Like people can’t just suck it up and say all three syllables.
   “Whatever. You said I could have answers, and I want them. Now, cough it up.”
   He looked down at me. I saw his face for the first time, realizing I never looked at him. Dry, brown hair, dirty olive eyes, and sharp teeth sticking out of his sneer. He had green skin, and his fingernails look like claws. Saliva slid down my throat. Suddenly, I didn’t feel so tough. I felt like a weak little girl in way over her head.
    “Fine,” the man hissed. “Let’s go.”
     He lead me to a small corner, and lifted one of the stones to reveal  stairs leading into darkness. He told me to follow him. I took one look back at the happy scene of faeries and laughter. Then I started walking towards the darkness.


   “So,” he began, lighting a nearby candle, “What do you need to know?”
    I drummed my fingers on the wood table in front of me. “A lot of things. Like, why where my wings cut off?”
    He sighed.
    “Your mother and father were fighting. Harshly. There was talk of a war, but thankfully, that idea was put out fast.”
     “What do you mean by a war?”
     “Well, your mother, is a queen.”
      Am I supposed to be shocked? Because by now, nothing fazes me.
     “Queen of what?”
     “Queen of the Crescent Court.”
      "And that is....?"
      "The 'good' court apparently," he rolled his eyes. "No offense, but I think your mother is quite delusional, thinking that she's in the right here."
      "I don't disagree there. But why the sarcasm on good? And what does the good court make this court seem like?"
       "You ask the right questions. Our spies told us that something shady is going on there."
       "Wait, does them being the 'good' court make my father and his people the bad guys?"
        "Yes. They think we're bad because whenever a faerie in our court commits a crime, we harvest them and drink their blood."
         My stomach does a flip flop. So that wasn't wine.
        "I have to agree with them. That is bad. Why drink faerie blood?" I ask.
        "It has the power to extend your lifespan."
        "Wait, don't faeries have like, immortality?"
        "Not really. We have a longer life than most mortals, yes. But we don't live forever."
         Crap. I was really hoping to be immortal. It would be cool, and it would look good on a resume.
       "What do you mean by shady?" I ask, going back to his earlier statement.
       "Well, and I can't confirm this, but-" he looked around quickly. "I think they might be having human slaves."
        "And that is worse than drinking faerie blood, how?"
        "Slavery on humans was banned back in the 1800s. We saw how human's stopped doing it to other humans, so we didn't do it either. Humans can't be better than us, can they?"
         Way to go, Civil War. You also stopped humans from being enslaved by blood drinking faeries, as well.
          "Okay, let's go back again. You said my parents cut off my wings because of a war. How would cutting off my wings help?"
          "They got a divorce. They both wanted you. They knew that if one of them had you, the other court would declare a war."
          "Whoa. They would declare a war over me?"
          "Not for you, exactly. Just for your right as a heir. See, your parents needed to have child. So they set out looking for a mate. When they had intercourse, they didn't know the other was a king/queen."
            Ew.
           "So, they cut off my wings, why?"
            "If neither of them could have you, nobody could. They sent you off into the human world. Cut off your wings to make you seem more human. Did a spell to erase any faerie you had."
            "So why did they suddenly want me back?"
            "Because they realized that they still needed an heir. You were the best choice, so now your parents are fighting behind the curtains to get you."
            "Why is your skin green?" I ask, looking at his appearance.
            "The color skin of a faerie, decides what rank they are in court. Blue is a sign of royalty, green is the next rank down, and red is the lowest."
             "Okay...but why do you have claws?"
             "They're just my fingernails extra sharp and extra long."
             "Okay, thanks. One last question."
             "Shoot."
             "What's your name?"
             "Luthor. I'm one of your father's closest friends."
             I nodded. Now...
              "Hey, Luthor? Can I step out for a bit? I need to absorb this. I'll be back though."
              "Of course. When you get back, I can take you to your father, and this will all be over."
              I shoved my chair away from the table, and walked back up to the main room. People were still laughing and drinking. I got a queasy feeling when I saw their glasses. I quickly found a door to the outside. It was beautiful. A little stream, flowers and wisping trees, fireflies and frogs everywhere.  Like it came out of a fairytale storybook. Now all I had to do was get out of here, and back to my own human land. I searched for a sign that said 'Exit' or a yellow brick road that led to San Francisco. I blindly reached through a bush to see if there was a magical portal or something. I felt something different, and I heard a voice.
              "Ow!" it said. It sounded male. And human.
             "Hello?" I said. "Anyone in that bush? A monster?"
             The leaves rustled, and a human boy tumbled out of the bushes, landing by my feet. Cuts were all over his face. His brown hair was matted and had twigs in it. His lip was cut. He was wearing a black t-shirt and black pants. He should've worn green.
               "Whoa, are you okay?" I asked, bending down to help him up. He grumbled something incoherent and got to his feet, brushing off the dirt from his pants. He looked up at me, and I could see his gray eyes better. He flashed a smile and stuck out his hand.
                 "Hi, I'm Aaron. I'm supposed to take you to your mother."
 
      

 

Author's Note

GASP! A longer chapter.

Reviews

[Arizona Sky]

awesome! one question...
before you said blue, green and purple skin and here you said blue, green and red...
which one is it?
and the whole human slave coming to get her (supposing that's what he is) is perrrty kewl.
i really love this book and not in a kind of haha we're equal way, reminds me alot of my writing! we are the same age and all...
i love the plot of this book so far, very intriguing. can't wait for the next chapter. :)

[roarke]

ok, this is going to be a long one. lol.
don't get a swelled head or anything, but I put you in the category of a Carl Hiaasen and Eoin Colfer. This book has a "Dead Like Me" feel to it. So for me you are hitting on all cylinders.

I'll start by saying this. You write FAR better than I do.

I think the first chapter is the most important for me and I have trouble two ways with it. The first chapter sets the whole book up for me. If it doesn't go right, then the whole thing doesn't go right. Sometimes if its a great FC, then the following chapters don't measure up. The way I have to address this is through many drafts.

I like your first chapter, but I think its the weakest one so far. It does need some work on continuity and narrative organization; but that's about all.

The book like all of your stories flows very well. The next tricky part is balancing the "hip" girl with the "serious" girl. Both moods are strong, but one can over shadow the other and confuse your reader.

Your short stories are very strong. Writing a longer piece, a novella or book is more difficult because you have a larger scope to work with and fill. Try writing each chapter like its one of your short stories. As you re-write, flesh-out the chapters gradually, a word here, a sentence there, etc.

I have to make an outline for longer pieces because I get caught up in the flow and then don't have a good continuity to the middle and usually never get to the end.... yeah, I'm like that. lol.

Again, if I was a publisher I'd be giving you an advance for this book. You are a very good writer, but keep doing the hard work and you will eventually be a GREAT writer.

[Bella-Marie]

Excellent book, I've just read the whole thing. I would love to read some more. Keep going!!!

[Daydreamer54]

Wow, great info here and it should develope the plot nicely! I wonder if Aaorn is going to b herr love intrest...and why send a human to take her to her mother? Hm...