Belonging

Music danced on the breeze, carried through the flowers and the trees all throughout the mystical grove at the edge of the forest, lifted by the air and the sound found its way to the ears of a moonlit child. Her closed eyes widened, her amethyst glow, bright under the night moon, reflecting the stars. The petite crimson-haired child let out a bell-like laugh as she followed the sound, wandering further away from her small cottage home. Her ivory gown fluttered in the breeze, the silken ribbons like wings as she made her way across the dark green grass, the full moon completely illuminating her path until she reached the edge of the tree line. The smell of dewdrops and pine, strong. The small girl pushed forward, not daunted by the dark forest ahead, for she was not afraid. The fairy song filling her soul gave her a sort of whimsical courage. Too young to care for the warnings of the fae, she was drawn to their sweet melody.

The girl grew ever closer to the source of the enchanting music and soon she came to a clearing of which she could peek through between the trees and in the center of the open patch, she became enthralled with the sight of the dancing fairies before her. A flurry of flower petal colors twirling as they danced joyfully, and beyond the swaying, enchanting figures was the source of that haunting melody. A man who was somehow still just a boy, trodded in steps of his own as he played a magical flute which created an array of melodies. A music more vast in sound than flowers were in color. The music called to the girl as she watched the silver-haired boy who was not quite a man, the way his ivory skin glistened like stars and his shimmering translucent powder wings fell behind him like a cascading silky waterfall cape. It didn’t take long before his golden amber cat-like eyes met her amethyst gaze. His eyes twinkled with a sort of mischief and his petal pink lips pulled to a gentle yet devious smile as he continued to play his flute. The melody of the song shifted, now somehow directly meant for her ears, and this pulled the girl from her hiding spot.

Pulled by the enchanting song, the young girl found herself dancing with the fae. The dancing fairies circled her and the boy as she twirled to his song which was meant for her. The joy of the magical moment lasted an eternity as she danced merrily to the boy’s song. When the song was over, the boy bowed gracefully to the young girl, holding her small hand. His silver spider thread hair fell to his face as he bowed then shifted back into place as if by magic as he stood up straight, and when he spoke, his voice seemed all more enchanting than the music had been.

“Young and fair lady child, a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, I am, in most humble of graces, the Fairy King.” cooed the boy in a soft and harmonious tone.

The girl stared at him in awe as he spoke. He was much older than her yet somehow her same age. He was both young and old, and his soft but sharp features intrigued her. She giggled and curtseyed clumsily before looking at him.

“Are you really the fairy king?” she asked in a curious chime.

“But of course, for I do not lie of my status, I speak true. Do tell, fair lady child, what is your name?”

The girl looked at the boy, still in awe of his ethereal beauty, but she shook her head, remembering the tales often told to her. “Papa says, if I ever meet the fae, to not give them my name, because a name means power and vulnerability.”

“Cheeky little one, how smart you are. Your papa is right, for when you give the fae your name, you belong to them. Though surely a whimsical and beautiful child such as yourself must have an equally beautiful name to match. Won’t you tell me, fair lass?”

The girl giggled and shook her head and the boy grinned. He admired her moon kissed skin and crimson hair, but none more than her rose kissed lips and amethyst crystalline eyes that shimmered with curiosity and wonder that burned for adventure. She was no more than six but she was so brave and fearless, and even more, her beauty matched his own. For one so agelessly immortal, he’d never seen such a curious specimen of a child, never been so mystified by a mere human. Still, she refused.

“Very well fair one. Perhaps I may have your name another day, but now we must take our leave, for our fun has come to an end this night.” the Fairy King said with a teasing sigh of disappointment before bowing once more, and the girl pouted.

“Will you come back?” she asked curiously in her innocent melodic voice.

The Fairy King looked to her with surprise. She truly was fearless, for most would hope to never encounter the fey again, should they escape, but he had no intention of taking the girl. He couldn’t without her name. But he was determined.

“For you, fair lady child, I will return. I will return every night and together we shall dance to merry music and joy, till I have your name.”

“Really? You’ll come back?”

“As I said before, I speak true. Now then, the sun approaches and we must leave. I ask but one thing of you, small one, if not your name you will give, my request is that you sleep.”

The girl looked at the timeless being before her. She found his request strange until she became suddenly tired as dawn peeked through the trees, for she had danced the night away to the Fairy King’s music. She tried to fight off the sudden exhaustion but it was winning. She swayed on her small feet and the boy pulled her gently by her fragile hand. In his arms, she closed her eyes and drifted to sleep, soundly with memories of the Fairy King’s song tucked in her mind.

For many more nights, the girl found herself back in the clearing of the forest where she danced with the fae and played with her newest and dearest friend, the Fairy King. Many more a night, he continued to ask for her name as years went by and each time she denied him the answer he continued to seek. Every time he asked, she reminded him she had been warned that if she gave him her name, she would belong to him and the rest of the fae, and with every reminder, he acknowledged this statement to be true. Should she give him her name, she would be his for the taking. That was his greatest desire, to know her name and sweep her away into the night to keep her purity and beauty for his own. Her greatest desire was to be free yet to belong among these ethereal and whimsical creatures. How she felt so true to herself as she danced with the fae and shared their music every night for the next few years. With every year the older she grew, the more beautiful she became, and the more the Fairy King yearned to have her for himself. However, as the years passed, the more she too, found herself wanting. The Fairy King seemed to grow with her yet still he stayed the same. He was always much older than she, yet also always the same age as her. This mystified her to her core, and she found herself wanting to trace his features with her moon kissed fingers.

She continued her nightly dances for many years, a constant game of cat and mouse between her and the Fairy King. When once she turned sixteen, by moon fall, the Fairy King approached her again. He no longer wanted her name, no-no. He wanted not but rather instead, he needed her name. He had watched her grow from this small and petite little bud, turning into a full-figured and blooming rose of a young woman. Her simple sheer girlish gowns had turned to skirts and tight bodices which complimented her new thick curves, her bust now full and her childish lips now plump. How he wanted to taste her innocence and feel the silken cascade of her crimson curls. He stood before her, with but little time left to the night, poised and ready to play their game once more, but to his surprise, before he could ask, she spoke before him with a question of her own.

“Each night we have spent together and I’ve seen you grow as I, yet you never age, and I am in awe. Each night you have let me sleep and carried me home but now I must ask…” she spoke calmly, her voice more pure and alluring than ever before.

How he enjoyed that sound. He looked at her, she was no naive yet cautious child anymore. “What is it you seek, dearest fair lady?”

Her amethyst eyes met his shimmering golden gaze and she spoke without hesitation or reserve. “May I touch you so I may memorize your features by touch, not by sight?”

Caught off guard by her odd request, he looked at her with a curious tilt of his head, his silver hair shifting to the side. “An odd request my dear, why do you wish such a thing when you may see me every night?”

“I fear the day I will no longer hear your song, the day my father may send me to be with another, and that day I will no longer be your playmate here among the trees seen only by the moon. I will be away to another, and I want nothing more than to know you by feeling.”

Her words were true and he felt it in his unaging heart. He had yearned for her touch but never thought she’d ask, and mischievous as he was, he couldn’t pass up such an opportunity. He would make her a deal, one he knew she wouldn’t take, it was, after all, their own little game which they had played for so many years. Though the thought of her belonging to another drove him mad, his insides burning. He’d not known her name but she belonged to him in spirit. He knew the customs of humans, as cruel as that of the fae, but for one he’d grown with, so free and wild as his own kin, to see the sincerity in that violet abyss was wrenching in a much-unexpected way. His petal-soft lips pulled into a daring smirk, his cat eyes glinting in the last remains of moonlight as he spoke in his sylph sharp tongue.

“Ah yes, your request is amusing, though fair lady maid, it comes with a price. One you never shall willingly pay. What say you, my moonlight grace?”

“My name…” she whispered softly.

“True, yes, little rose. Will you grant this request of mine in exchange for your own desires?”

“You, Fairy King, are known as a devil, to take those who would give your kind their name. Should I do so, I’d belong to you, unfree and trapped.”

His lips curled to a dangerous grin. Was their game drawing to a close? All it would take was a little coaxing, but she would never give in. All these years, nothing would drive her to do such a thing.

“My darling dearest, my ray of magic moon, have you not spent these past many years, dancing with the devil in splendid shimmering moonlight among stars?”

The girl turned her gaze up and for the first time, she had a smile of her own which showed her true daring nature, the one so hidden that he craved so desperately to free, and she spoke once more. “Many nights I have danced with you and your kin and many nights more I would wish to do so. But the cost of my freedom is on the line.”

“A fair point, but dear maid… Is your freedom not already on the line, promised to another?”

She looked down in a pout, she was truly unhappy to remember her future circumstances. Was she still not so willing to give her dearest friend her name? They’d grown together, played together, and danced together. He already knew all of her secrets, she was sure she knew most of his. After all, there wasn’t a thing he could hide from her.

“I could run away, have my freedom for myself.”

“Perhaps, but then your touch will be left baren of my memory. Alas, our time comes to an end, and yet again we must take our leave before morning light. Shall I see you again fair lady maid, I do so hope. I bid you farewell and to sleep.”

At his words, her body grew limp and her eyes dragged shut from her familiar tiredness. She wanted to stay awake, to dance but a while longer, to speak with his highness true. She did not belong to him yet, but in her heart, he belonged to her. She fought the sleep for as long as she could, struggling to remain conscious. She reached up gently, her moonlit fingers grazing his ivory skin. He gasped lightly at her touch and he smirked.

“Cheeky little wisp you are, you’ve stolen a touch. I bid you again, sleep little rose.”

She cherished the feeling of his skin, her fingertips trailing along his velvet-soft lips. Slipping fast from her conscious state, she breathed on her last conscious breath, a word which to him was sweeter than honey, more pure than silver, more clear than diamond, and far more dear to him than any of the stars in the sky.

He held her close as she fell asleep, a grin on his lips as he spoke softly. “And you, my little rose, my dearest sweet Araceli, now belong to me.”

Here and now with his final words he placed a hungry kiss upon her rose flushed lips, moon kissed and now fae touched, his desires met and she belonged to him, but a heartbreaking reality to pass, this would be their final meeting for a time which would feel like eternity to both, her memories nothing more than dreams less they should meet again in futures time. Though he knew she belonged to him, and have her he would in two years’ time, for his desires had been fulfilled and so had hers. She’d given up her name, but in return, she would remember him by touch as she so desired. Though she would not remember her past to be reality, it was enough to keep her happy till their next meeting.

Carefully, the Fairy King took his fair moonlit maiden home and laid her to rest. She belonged to him, and in time, he would too, belong to her.