Work Text:
Continuation from last years AU-gust prompt Fairies.
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Day 10 - Exiled
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A small but very angry growl draws your attention away from your Thyme plants. Leaning back, you groan at the soreness in your lower back and knees. It's getting harder and harder to kneel in your garden these days. With the back of your hand you wipe the sweat from your brow before asking, "What is it Twitch?"
With a flick of her sparkly wings, a tiny, pink kitchen fairy darts into view. Twitch has become your near constant companion, leaving the safety of your cottage kitchen to cling to your hair and hover over your shoulder. She chitters excitedly, tiny pigtails bouncing and arms waving before pointing at something in the trees beyond your garden fence. She puffs herself up and growls again, which coming from a fairy the length of your hand is adorable.
You follow her gaze past your stone fence and up an old oak tree to find a large majestic hawk sitting on a branch high above you. It's a beautiful specimen, it's brown feathers glinting bronze in the sunlight and it's sharp eyes peering down..... at..... you?
"No, can't be." You mutter to yourself. Maybe it's eyeing one of your horde of moss kittens. You look around your garden but all dozen or so fluffy green cat sprites are no where to be seen. The top of your stone fence, always full of sleepy kittens sunning themselves is empty and no one is chasing the butterflies around your lavender plants. A flicker of movement catches your eye and you spot them. Several little mossy faces peer out from your cherry tree. Looks like they spotted the hawk before you did and took cover. A distant, angry yowl and you spot Gwen halfway up the tree. Her green face blends in with the leaves but her bright yellow eyes give her away. She glances down at you before turning her attention back to the large bird of prey and hissing.
You look back up at the hawk. Yeah, it still looks like it's watching you.... and now it has company.
There's a magpie sitting on the same branch, just a few inches away from the much larger hawk.
"Strange." You say, squinting up at the odd pair. You wouldn't imagine hawks and magpies would get along.
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"Mother."
"Son."
The Queen of the Seelie Court glances over at her youngest son. Even in the guise of a magpie, she can see that he is doing well. His magical aura is strong and the luster of his feathers reflects his overall health. He is calmer as well, holding himself less stiffly and, dare she say it, seems content.
She ruffles her bronze feathers and settles a bit lower on the branch under her talons, relaxing slightly in the presence of family. But even among family, Fae are careful with names.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit, Mother?" Trickster asks carefully, "It's not everyday that the Queen of the Seelie visits a lowly exile."
The Queen sighs, "Darling Son...."
"No, no!" Trickster twitches his long tail feathers, "If word got out that the Queen of the Forest had lowered herself to speaking to an outcast such as myself, why.... the scandal...."
"Dearest!" The Queen says with force, silencing her son. She sighs again before speaking calmly, "I'm here for several reasons. First, to reassure myself that you are well. I know that you were injured during your flight from your father's lands."
Trickster puffs out his chest and spreads his wings, "As you can see, Mother, I am fully healed. Due in no small part to the mortal woman you were staring at when I arrived."
The Queen glances down at the garden below, "Yes, I'll speak about her in a moment." She ruffles her wings and looks at her son, "Second, I'm here to inform you that your brother has been exiled as well."
There is a moment of silence before Trickster bursts into avian laughter. His loud caws echo across the modest cottage and into the fields beyond. The cherry tree shudders as over a dozen hidden moss kittens startle making the branches shake. Twitch lets out a squeak before diving down the front of your dress, lodging herself between your breasts and shaking like a leaf. You glare up at the birds overhead before shaking your head and going back to your gardening.
"Exiled?" Trickster guffaws, "The Great AllFather, King of the Seelie Court, Ruler of the Forest.... has exiled the Crown Prince and Heir? Has banished all three of his children? How utterly delightful!"
The Queen waits patiently until her son's laughter calms to soft chuckles, "If you are finished? Your brother started a war with the Giants of the North." The Queen rolls her eyes as Trickster bursts into more laughter, "Really? Calm yourself!"
"I find it hard to do so, Mother." Trickster gasps for breath, "It's just so wonderfully just that Father finds himself without an heir. After everything he's done to my siblings and I."
"Dearest...."
"No. This is Father's actions coming back to haunt him!" Trickster puffs out his chest feathers, "He banished my sister for doing her job too well! He ordered her to destroy the Elves of FirstFrost and she did. If she went a bit overboard in wiping them from existence then it was his fault for not giving her clearer orders!"
The Queen remains silent, unable or unwilling to deny her youngest child's words.
"And Brother! Father raised us on stories of war and conquest, blood and victory! He filled Brother's head with the idea that one day he would take the throne and expand the Seelie Court. That it was his destiny to destroy our enemies and become a Seelie Empire! If anyone is to blame for my brother's eagerness for battle it is Father!"
Trickster closes his eyes, trying to calm the rage boiling under the surface, "And me. You may have taught me the magical arts, Mother but it was Father who encouraged me to use them for the benefit of the Court. It was he who sent me out to spy on the enemies within our own people. And when I found out that two of the Lesser Houses were conspiring to unite in marriage and rise against the Royal House, I did as Father bade me to do. I infiltrated the Houses, I set bride against groom and destroyed any chance of those families ever uniting..... and what did I get for saving Father's throne?"
"Exile..... banishment..... to never see my home, my family ever again."
The Queen says nothing because there is nothing she can say to take this pain away from her son. As queen she cannot speak ill of her husband, her king, but if she could, she would scream to the stars above the unfairness he has heaped upon her children. The silence between them lingers, long and uncomfortable until Trickster bows his head and looks to the mortal woman below.
Years of watching her son's body language no matter what body is resides in, has made the Queen keenly aware of her boy's moods. She watches in awe as the rage drains from her youngest son's body. His feathers settle, his aura calms as he watches a mere mortal go about her day working in the dirt. She turns her gaze back to the woman, curiosity peeked.
"It was not my intention to anger you, my son. I truly only wanted to see you again." The Queen says softly, "I shall leave you be but before I go, tell me one thing more.... why are you here? You have the whole world to explore. Places even I as queen have never visited and yet you choose to stay here, on a mortal farm."
Trickster twitches his tail feathers and for a moment she thinks he will not answer her before he replies, "She saved me." His voice is so quiet the wind almost steals the sound away, "She owed me, a stranger, nothing yet she brought me into her home. She fed me, clothed me, tended my injuries, healed the wounds given me by my own kin. Even after she saw the scars that mark me as Unseelie..... she did not turn me out. She cared for me when no one else would."
Despite his avian face, she can see the emotion shining in her son's eyes as he speaks, "I don't just owe her my life, Mother. I owe her my everything! My joy, my peace, my love. She's is everything to me and I will stay by her side as long as she will have me."
Down below, ignorant of the conversation happening between the two Fae above, you groan as you push yourself to your feet. Twitch chitters worriedly, sticking her little head out of the top of your dress as you grab your lower back, "I'm okay, Twitch. Really." Ignoring the strange birds, you turn towards the back door of your cottage, revealing your much changed figure. Your much rounded figure.
"Did I forget to mention you're going to be a grandmother?"
The Queen screams out her son's True Name.
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Bonus Scene!!!!
"Uh... Trickster?"
"Yes, my love?" Trickster says, stepping out the back door and into your garden. He finds you frozen in place, looking up at the trees beyond your garden wall. At your feet, Gwen the moss kitten hisses and spits, her back arched and her green mossy fur standing up. Twitch is hanging onto the back of your head, wings buzzing madly, chittering in fear and trying to bury herself into your tresses. You say nothing, too stunned for speech as you point upwards.
On a branch high above, sitting side by side and staring down at you are a massive Griffon Vulture and an equally as huge Golden Eagle.
Trickster sighs, moves confidently to your side and wraps an arm around your back, laying his hand on your waist. His other hand comes to rest on your heavily swollen belly, rubbing soothing circles across it.
"Darling Eir," Trickster sighs, using your nickname just as you use his. He lifts his hand from your pregnant belly to motion towards the gigantic birds, "Allow me to introduce you to my sister and brother."
"WHAT?"
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END