“That was the worst movie ever,” Kevin groaned as he and Seluna stepped out of the theater and into the gentle rain. “I can't believe I let you talk me into that.”
Seluna glanced down at her slightly shorter boyfriend with a bemused smile. He was taller than average. She, however, felt like a giant. She’d always wanted to be less noticeable, which was why she dyed her hair brown rather than leave it her natural witch’s pink. A fact which drove her parents crazy, as the witches had spent years trying to make dying one’s hair popular so that those with fairy blood could keep their natural hair color.
“If you remember you were the one who wanted to see it,” Seluna reminded him. “You showed me the trailers over and over again, and all I could think was that it looked ridiculous.”
“It was ridiculous,” Kevin laughed. “I showed it to you the trailers as an ironic joke.”
“Really?” Seluna asked with surprise. “We need to work on our communication, because I didn't get that at all.”
“Seriously? I laughed through the whole trailer.”
“And I thought it was supposed to be one of those comedies I didn't get,” Seluna laughed.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see about half a dozen fairies trailing her, but it was easy enough to ignore them. They might be nosy friends, but their curiosity was understandable. Kevin was her first boyfriend and she was keeping him a secret from her parents. They'd absolutely forbidden her to date any normal human, as according to them it would be too dangerous for the human to get pulled into the “hidden world” even though it wasn’t really hidden anymore. Hell, human nations were now making treaties with fairy and elven kingdoms, negotiating deals with the old gods, and more. Yet so many members of the hidden world still tried to slink back into the darkness, as if two billion refugees who’d escaped a magical apocalypse on a parallel earth to settle in new city states in the Midwest and around the world. Or news about vampires and other stalkers didn’t keep reminding people that everything had changed. To be fair even ordinary people might acknowledge that everything had changed but they still tried to go about their lives as if nothing had. It drove Seluna crazy that her parents especially seemed to be firmly wedged in the nothing is different camp. She supposed after being alive for a few hundred years change was hard, but still.
Seluna had been excited by the new world. She’d never wanted to date anyone magical. Magic, in her experience, made most people power hungry and Seluna wasn't interested in dealing with that drama. Far easier in her opinion to date someone who couldn't see her world, and so wouldn’t try to take advantage of her to gain power. Someone like Kevin, who was interested in sharing memories, no matter how ridiculous.
“So you wanted to come here to be nice to me?” Kevin asked with surprise.
“Yeah, and because I was hoping to get some insight into how your crazy mind works, but now I think I'm just more confused,” Seluna shook her head. “Seriously, who makes their girlfriend watch a trailer for a movie they hate over and over again as a joke? Couldn't you just hide around a corner and yell boo when I walk past?”
“Doesn't that seem a little immature to you?”
“Yes, but at least I'd have the pleasure of getting away with slapping you. At this point I just feel whelmed,” Seluna sighed over dramatically.
“Whelmed? Like overwhelmed?” Kevin asked uncertainly.
“No like whelmed. You know, just sort of blah,” Seluna explained. “That movie was awful.”
Seluna stopped in her tracks as she caught sight of one of the fairy queens basking in a cool, damp lawn in the form of a toad. She'd always gotten along well enough with the various fairy lords. Which is to say that other than the fairy king she worked for, they more or less ignored her, and she bowed to them when she passed. But the thought of bowing and paying her respects to what Kevin would only think was a toad caused her face to flush with embarrassment.
“Who uses terms like whelmed? Kevin shook his head, but Seluna wasn't listening, her eyes were still focused on the fat warty fairy queen. She thought for a moment about just walking past, not acknowledging her. But just for a moment. Once a human king had failed to send her an invitation to the celebration of his daughter's birth and the Fairy Queen had cursed the child with death out of vengeful spite, so Seluna doubted she'd put up with a peasant snubbing her so obviously. Realizing that she had to just get it over with she closed her eyes tight as if she were about to pull off an overly sticky bandage and bowed.
“Your Highness, you look especially lovely this evening.”
The Fairy Queen didn't respond, or even really acknowledge her. They never did, but with the formalities over Seluna tried to hurry past, her face even redder than before.
“I don't know,” Kevin laughed. “She does look like she needs a bit of acne cream, and a lot of wart remover.”
Seluna stopped in horror. Kevin had thought it was a joke. Of course he'd thought it was a joke. Dear lords how stupid could she be?
“He didn't mean it,” she called to the furious looking toad, her voice cracking as she started to cry. “Please, please, he's just a mortal, he doesn't know, he doesn't know.”
Her parents warning came unbidden to her mind as she threw herself on the ground, begging the fairy queen to forgive Kevin's slight; “You'll unintentionally kill any mortal you get close to,” she heard them saying over and over again.
Everything had been going so well.
“Please,” Seluna sobbed.
But the fairy queen didn't care, she'd been offended. She gave three quick hops and then vanished in splash of glowing dust, leaving behind a growing ring of mushrooms.
Seluna saw Kevin’s eyes widen like a deer caught in the headlights as he watched the impossible happen before them for what was likely the first time in his life.
“Um, what just happened?” he asked nervously.
“Come on,” Seluna grabbed his hand and started pulling him along.
He stood stunned for a moment, so she pulled harder.
“Run!” She commanded, her scream cracking into a sob.
At last he bolted along with her.
“What’s going on?” He called through the rain, as Seluna continued to pull him along.
“She was the fairy queen,” Seluna sobbed. “I mean a real fairy queen,” Selunas voice started coming out in deep, long breaths as she ran faster. “And she's pissed. We have to get you somewhere safe. My House perhaps,” She choked back her tears and managed to run even faster.
Next Chapter
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