Shelby’s eyes rolled out, assuming a blankness that showed that she was lost in thought. It was as if she was in a room, but her mind was aeons away.
In there, Shelby glanced around the grand hall that she would recognize anywhere, with thinly veiled boredom, flanked by guards, before letting her eyes land on the Fae sitting in a makeshift wheelchair and not on the throne. This looked normal and odd as well.
It was as if she could reach out and touch the Fae, which did not make sense.
"...And you will learn respect in this court. You stand before the blood of kings ...before the one true ruler of the Faeland ...."
Shelby’s eyes squinted in the present, but her thoughts were chaotic, and it felt as if she was right in the throne room.
’Isn’t Syla already gone? Why am I seeing this?’
But as she thought this, she was sucked back into whatever she was seeing:
She squinted at him, cocked her head, and then, with complete disregard for decorum, interrupted:
"Oh, spare the dull wordsy. If you’re the one true ruler, why aren’t you sitting on the throne?"
The hall went awkwardly still.
"I an..."—she gestured loosely with her bound hands—"is it a dical issue? Or just maybe the throne’s power is too much for your spine? Or you just find that chair... a bit too authoritative?"
A few stifled chuckles bubbled from the guards. Sitting a few steps away with that unreadable look he always wore when watching her, Prince Simon raised one amused brow. He did not stand up for his father, unsurprisingly.
Gasps rippled through the court at her audacity, but Shelby was feeling very superior in that mont... in fact, she enjoyed the way Syla’s jaw twitched and narrowed his eyes. "You dare mock ?"
Shelby watched herself in her mind’s eye gave an exaggerated shrug. "Oh, no, I wouldn’t dare. I just thought soone who talks that much would at least look the part."
The Simon in her mind could not hold it anymore and then coughed. Or maybe it was a laugh. She couldn’t tell. But it earned her a glare from the Fae still very much not sitting on the throne.
"You’ll regret that."
"I regret not packing popcorn, for this shitshow!" she muttered, earning another suppressed snort from sowhere behind her.
"A penny for your thoughts?"
Shelby stood still, almost like a statue. It was evident that she was deep in her mind and not aware of her surroundings. The delicate winged creatures fluttered around her with shimring silks and glistening threads.
Their hands ... tiny and precise .... fastened intricate clasps, smoothed a beautiful fabric over her shoulders, and laced her corset with almost reverent grace. The garnts glowed faintly, almost as if stitched with light itself, yet she barely registered any of it.
Her mind was still adrift ... caught sowhere between mories and fears, between dreams of what had happened and mashed with what could have happened. It was a pull she didn’t fully understand. The awe of it all from the novelty of being dressed by Fae attendants should have further marvelled her but Shelby was lost in all of that.
Ian watched her intently, knowing exactly what was going on in her mind. He was surprised that she was still thinking of the father and son royals, who had already been dealt with. But then again, maybe she wished that there was sothing else she could have done when Syla and Simon were around.
Ian sighed, when she did not hear his soft, teasing question.
Ian waved his hand at the winged creatures, and they disappeared imdiately.
Shelby remained in that state until she felt the warmth of his fingers, gentle and grounding, sliding along her arm and coming to rest at the small of her back.
She blinked, as though waking from sleep.
His touch was subtle, but it shattered the fog in her head. She turned slightly, eting his grey eyes and that intense gaze, and the rush of the present .... of him ... ca crashing in.
"You were miles away," he murmured, voice low, eyes soft.
She nodded faintly. "I... I didn’t an to be."
"I know." His thumb traced a slow, reassuring circle against her back. "But you’re here now."
And with those words, the air shifted. Ian deliberately did not say anything about Shelby’s line of thought. She was safe and that was all he cared about, no matter how weird her thoughts were.
For Shelby, she shook her head, clearing those absurd thoughts for none of it compared to him. Not the magic. Not the beauty. Nothing.
He had co for her, and their bond grew tough and unshakable. Whatever Syla and his had been were of no use then. She realized that she was ruining their mont by thinking of such useless things.
She turned, nestling into his arms,
"Will you not be eting the elders? ... I an, you know... about...."
Ian smiled again at her, but did not respond for so reason.
Shelby sighed,
"Ok.... Will you at least not even try to find his remains? Will you just leave like that?"
Ian did not need to ask of whom Shelby talked of, but he just smiled against her and held her tighter. The thing was that Shelby was unsure of the specifics of how she had co to the Fae-land, and she was not sure if they could co back if they left, so to her they needed to tie all lose ends at least before they left, but apart their shared dream, Ian was being a bit tight-lipped.
The only thing that Shelby was sure of was that Ian had a way to get them out and they were about to. For that, she was ecstatic as she missed her kids and family.
"There are so things that cannot be left halfway when started, but everything has its own ti ..."
H said, kissing the top of Shelby’s hair.
Shelby would have been surprised to know that the Fae elders and old folks were also discussing this very thing and like her, they had no answers. Though, they had a little more control over this than did she. Like Shelby, they also had no chance to get an answer from Ian on what they felt was the most important question.
"Bu-"
Shelby dropped whatever they had been about to say, her breath catching in her throat. A strange sensation blood low in her belly. It was a soft, almost imperceptible flutter at first, then a firr nudge from within. Her hand instinctively moved to her stomach, slipping between them, eyes widening as she gasped.
"What is it?" Ian asked quickly, concern sharpening his voice as he stepped back to examine Shelby.
Still silent, she reached for his hand and guided it to her belly, right over the spot. Just as his palm settled, the baby kicked again. This ti more decisively, as though it knew it was being acknowledged.
His eyes t hers in stunned wonder.
"I... I just felt that" he whispered.
Shelby nodded, still awed. "But it doesn’t make sense. I’ve only known of this pregnancy for a few days,, and I have also been here a few days at least, that’s what it should be. But with the ti slip between realms..."
She trailed off, her eyes unfocused as a mix of awe and worry settled over her features. She rembered that Ian had said that she had been gone for months!
"Do you think..." she started slowly, "is it because the baby is... like you?... I an like the beings here?
He stared at her, his thumb gently brushing over her skin. "It might be more than that," he said quietly, rembering Mr Monroe. Though Shelby appeared to be human, she was not and even if she was, she carried her father’s genes, so even Ian was unsure of their baby’s potential.
He made up his mind, ’We have to leave to get my Elfin a proper checkup,’ but just then, "I t your father..." they all stated simultaneously and mirrored each other’s reaction of surprise!
"You did?"
"You did?"
Ian almost took it in its literal form, as did Shelby. They both stared in shock, but then,
"Let’s talk all about it on our way."
Ian leaned down and carried Shelby bride-style.
"Ian! Put down!"
He only chuckled and kissed her sweetly. It was slow, deep, and grounding. The kind of kiss that silenced all.. She lted into it, letting the strange flutter of life inside her be eclipsed for just a mont by the warmth of him.
But sothing had shifted when Ian finally lifted his head, his lips lingering a heartbeat longer against hers. The light had changed.
Shelby blinked and suddenly noticed the soft rustling of leaves, the scent of water and of the outside.
She pulled back slightly, her brows furrowed in confusion. "Wait..."
They were no longer in the chamber, but by a lake.
Still holding her, he took a step forward. The weird coloured sky reflected off the still water, and the trees bowed around them like quiet sentinels. Fireflies hovered lazily in the air, casting a dim golden shimr.
Shelby was already used to the teleportation, but what amazed her was that Ian stepped into the water directly. Her eyes widened, ut Ian was quick, barely giving her ti to ask anything.
Then Shelby noticed everything going dark; however, the skies changed colour to the clear blue she was used to from birth. But before the implication of that could register, Ian suddenly said,
Oh, they finally figured it out?" He chuckled, making Shelby confused,
’Who figured what? What was going on? And wher-’
But Ian just continued muttering,
"I an that Abode thing was hard nut to crack as it was islands away, but I still expected better from that shrew Mush couple.... Tsk, tsk, tsk."
He shook his head as if he were greatly disappointed,
Shelby stared wide-eyed at him, piecing the fact that Brianna’s na was Mush, but she still did not understand what was happening. However, it would be later that she would understand the hidden aning.
*********
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