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“Those freaks of nature shouldn’t even exist.”
That was one of the first instances in Sebek’s memory that he could remember a fae looking down on him and his siblings in disgust.
His family usually got many stares from local humans in human villages, some even outwardly questioning his parent’s relationship in front of them when they were just trying to enjoy themselves on a day out.
The Fae Capital was different. They only wanted to spend some time enjoying their mother’s culture, they wondered why dad couldn’t go; now they saw why.
Sebek’s siblings were decently older than him and more versed with this kind of vitriol…They also looked more fae than he did.
The Fae gentleman, possibly his Grandfather’s age, looked at Sebek specifically and turned up his nose. His eyes and fangs may have resembled fae traits, but his ears were a dead giveaway that he was not fully one of them.
That look of disdain spoke louder than his grandfather’s usual silence in the presence of his father.
He had known for a long time there was a part of him that fae could not accept. Grandfather was grumpy, but he never turned him away. He’d leave him all sorts of treats and gifted him many books.
But still, as soon as his human father came to pick him up, his warm Grandfather suddenly felt very cold, and he knew that maybe…If he hadn’t inherited his mother’s eyes…Could Grandfather find it impossible to look at him?
Sebek tried to be strong and act as if the stranger’s disgust didn’t bother him. He acted like it didn’t bug him the entire day.
It wasn’t until he and his siblings spent the night at Grandfather’s house that he began to cry.
It wasn’t fair. He didn’t ask to be half-human.
Would everyone hate him forever?
His grandfather heard him sniffling that night and took him out to his front porch overlooking the river. There were fireflies filling the forest with little specks of light.
“What’s wrong?” Baur asked, looking down at him.
“Everyone hates me. I can never be like you, Grandpa. I’ll never be a soldier like you and Sir Lilia. The Prince probably hates me too.” He sobbed.
His Grandfather, whose physical comfort was few and far between, placed a hand on his back.
“Not everyone hates you, the Prince surely wouldn’t.” Baur told him, “If you truly want to be like me when you grow older…Then I will take you to someone who will train you, a fae who will most certainly accept you.”
Sebek looks up at him with wide, tear-filled eyes, “Sir Lilia?”
“Yes, and you’ll make a fine member of the fae army one day. They’ll be grateful to have you there.” Baur assured him.
He loved Grandfather. He could only hope he could live up to his expectations…
To his pleasant surprise, Lilia was indeed as accepting as Baur described, filled with a strange warmth for him he never expected to find in the former fierce General of the Right. Interestingly enough, Lilia had a human child around his age living with him in his humble cottage in the woods.
Together they trained, fighting with wooden swords and scaling steep rock formations.
His new sparring partner, Silver, talked about how the Prince of Briar Valley has been visiting him since he was a baby.
Jealousy began to fester in him nearly instantly. What a quaint little life this human lived…Beloved by such honorable Fae when he had grown up scorned by others. Of course, after his spiteful outbursts where he would try and fail to best Silver in mock battle, regret would creep up in him, because Silver did not deserve his ire. Silver never ventured into the towns Sebek went to…
Silver’s world felt like a dream that Sebek often fantasized about escaping to…Living deep in the woods, free from the judgment of the bustling fae and human towns.
The magic was only enhanced by his first meeting with the Prince.
He had come to the cottage and found that no one was waiting for him outside, so he knocked on the door Lilia opened it.
“Oh, Sebek! Good morning, come on in!” Lilia opened the door wider for him.
The cottage was an organized mess. Lilia brought home many souvenirs from his travels and Silver would try to find places for all of them without leaving the house too cluttered to navigate through.
“Where’s Silver?” He asks, usually at this time Silver was shambling together some breakfast to the best of his ability.
“Still fast asleep in bed. I tried waking him but it looks like we’ll be having a late start to today’s training.” Lilia explained.
If Lilia could do nothing about it, then Sebek supposed it was best to just leave him be. Sebek would chide him for it later.
“You could wait for him if you’d like,” Lilia offered, but Sebek felt declined.
“I’d prefer to use this time to brush up on my training.” Sebek requested.
Lilia chuckled and ruffled up his hair, ruining the shape he had slicked it back into, “My boy, you are a marvel student. Be sure to take breaks!”
“Yes, sir!” He exclaimed and hurried back out the door to practice.
He swung his wooden sword around as he ran in the woods, practicing his slashes and stabs on the trees and stray Cattails by the riverside. The nature of Briar land was his audience, and in every blade of grass, he saw a person- human and fae, that he yearned to impress.
Because surely he’d find his place in this world if he became a respectable knight they could look up to, and he in turn would protect them.
A voice he had never heard before appeared before him, “You’re training hard as usual.”
He looked up and saw the elusive prince, with distinctive black horns and long dark hair, wearing an ebony cloak that made him appear like a beautiful shadow. Right in front of him, that’s where the Prince stood.
Had the Prince come to visit Lilia’s cottage and he just happened upon him? What were the odds! Sebek nervously brushed up his hair to look more presentable and straightened his posture.
Prince Malleus was showing himself to him, not just Lilia or Silver who he was practically family with. Sebek, the half-fae, the ‘freak of nature’ that shouldn’t exist. His deep emerald eyes looked right into him, like he could so easily ignore his ancestry.
Their pupils were shaped the same, after all.
“Yes, your Highness,” Sebek replies with all the decorum he could muster out of his little body, he just hoped it was enough as to not offend the Prince.
“Lilia spoke highly of your efforts. Do keep up the good work.” Malleus encouraged and reached a hand out above his head.
His words were sweet, but was the Prince trying to smite him? Did he do something wrong? Should he not have looked at the Prince in the eyes??
Malleus took his hand back, “Oh, do you not enjoy head pats? My apologies, I’m too used to Silver’s laxness.”
“N-No! I…” Sebek stumbled over his words, and a certain shame began to creep up on him, “I don’t think you should touch my head.”
“Why not?” Malleus asks, now leaning closer to his height. The Prince was lowering himself to Sebek’s level, as if sensing his unease and wanting to amend it.
“I may not be entirely human, but I’m not entirely fae either. I’m only half.” Sebek feebly argued.
He put up a show in front of Silver and Lilia, but he couldn’t hide from the Prince…To declare himself a fae in front of the future King of Briar Valley would just be deplorable.
Malleus didn’t seem phased by how strange and unusual his existence was, and continued to speak to him the way an older brother would.
“There’s nothing wrong with being half-fae.” Malleus said with such confidence, Sebek was almost convinced on the spot.
“There’s not?” He asks.
“Not at all. You are a good student to Lilia, aren't you? You’re Silver’s friend as well.” Malleus told him, “You train diligently and care deeply about those closest to you. To me, you sound like you will grow into a fine young man.”
All of those things were true, weren’t they? If the Prince of Briar Valley, the greatest fae in all of existence, could view Sebek as someone good who deserved to live, then…Maybe he did.
“Thank you, your Highness!” Sebek exclaimed in a loud and gracious voice, Malleus chuckled at his volume, reminding him of how Baur acted in Malleus’s own youth, most likely.
“You’re my vassal, aren’t you? Then I am your liege. You may address me in whatever way you choose.” Malleus encouraged, “So long as it isn’t Mal, I’m certainly glad Silver has reached the age where he can pronounce his words better.”
“Yes, my Liege!” Sebek said with an equally enthused shout.
Malleus reached his hand out and this time, Sebek did not shy away from the praise and the head pats he craved. After his hair was sufficiently ruffled, Malleus stood up and beckoned him with a hand.
“I’m going to visit Lilia and Silver, care to join me?”
He did, and he decided then and there that he’d follow Malleus anywhere. The kindness he was shown was unlike anything he ever experienced. When it was Malleus’s time to take up the mantle as King, Sebek felt as though the entire world would be a better place.
So he trained and trained to become a knight who could protect such a kind King.