Through the Fire (Daughter of Fire, #1)(39)
The bedroom they’d allocated to me was spacious but very sparsely furnished. Aside from the bed, there was only a single chest of drawers that was suddenly filled with a random selection of T-shirts and jeans the day after I’d arrived. Aiden assured me that if I was staying, I could decorate my room however I liked, but I didn’t really know if I was going to remain with them. Even if I was, I had no idea where to start decorating a room. Even when it had been Dad and me, I’d never had a room long enough to worry about filling it with meaningless items. The only constant I’d had in any of my bedrooms was the photo of my parents, but it had perished in the fire that had taken my father’s life.
Despite offering protection and a life I couldn’t have anywhere else, the fae only had one requirement for me to fulfill to stay in the court. I had to keep up a steady diet of enchanted food so that I could remain on the ethereal plane. It wasn’t a particularly challenging task considering that everything served in court was enchanted, and it all tasted absolutely divine. It was certainly the best food I’d ever had a constant supply of and, at least temporarily, had the effect of immediately enhancing one’s mood.
Aiden spent his free time teaching me about their customs and their ranks. He explained about the two different types of fae courts in the world: the Seelies and the Unseelies. All he would really say about the latter was that they were bad news—to be avoided at all costs.
I soon learned that Aiden was a blue fairy, a protector of all things fae and other, who was used to wandering about in the human world—even if he never truly blended in. He explained the other ranks to me as well. The green, healing fairies who, among their other duties, helped repair the damage caused by the Unseelies. The yellow fairies who taught the fledglings. The pink were the artistic ones who created the buildings and the food. Lastly, there was the purple, ruling fae. The queen—the leader of his people. It was the one rank determined by lineage and could only be attained after spending time in another calling.
During my first week, Aiden gave me multiple tours of the premises. We passed through the different sections as he demonstrated the more fantastical elements of fae living. He showed me the creative wing, where clusters of pink fairies fashioned illusions of buildings and clothing before crafting the items in a range of materials and colors. Scattered all around those rooms were miniature, gossamer versions of classic architecture, all created in a perfect replication by fae magic.
“Did they copy all of these for inspiration?” I asked, running my fingers along the top of a pink, crystalline copy of the Eiffel Tower.
Aiden snorted. “Sometimes you make it astonishingly clear that you were raised by humans.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“These were not copied, they are the original plans.”
“There is no way the Eiffel Tower was built by the fae,” I said.
“Maybe not built by, but it was certainly designed by us . . . in a roundabout way.”
“What’s that mean?”
“Never you mind,” he said secretively before leading me to the next section he wanted to show me.
He escorted me through the healing wings, which were huge expansive corridors filled with large, private rooms. A shy young healer whom Aiden introduced as Willow led us into one of them. She explained that the rooms were used for the treatment of humans and others who had been injured by fae magic. Whenever Aiden spoke, she seemed to hang on his every word and would then giggle madly whenever he said anything even remotely amusing.
“You have heard stories about humans being abducted by aliens?” Aiden asked me. “Generally, those are people who’ve wandered into the middle of a fae battle and awoken here or in similar places in other courts.”
The young healer tittered in response to his statement, and I smiled at the expression on her face. I remembered what it was like to be young and have a crush.
Clay.
His name was ever-present in my mind, but I could usually keep it contained.
Sometimes, in moments like this, he crashed through all of the barriers that I’d tried to establish with such force that I couldn’t stop the memories from wreaking havoc on my emotions. Despite the tranquil atmosphere around me and the laughter of Willow and Aiden, I couldn’t smile anymore. Instead, I wanted to crawl into a darkened hole to escape the pervading presence of the damage I’d caused on so many lives. I wrapped my arms around myself and tried to force unwanted tears from my eyes.
As if Aiden had been able to sense my melancholy, he led me through to classrooms filled with unnaturally beautiful fae children who giggled and danced around me. The floral scent that seemed to accompany the fae was stronger here than anywhere else. Their bright, rainbow-streaked wings fluttered with excitement at the new creature in their midst, and my emotions were automatically bolstered by their enthusiasm. Aiden explained that the children—fledglings he called them—were young fairies that had yet to choose a name or be assigned a ranking color.
Twice a year all fledglings who’d reached the age of sixteen participated in a ceremony where they chose their own name before entering into a cocoon-like room where their true nature would be assessed. When they emerged, their rainbow wings were stripped away until only one color remained, which would then signify their place within the community. It was both a somber occasion and a celebration. For the day of their naming, the ten or so fledglings were the most important fairies in the court. I was lucky enough to be able to attend one of the ceremonies a little over two weeks into my stay at the court.