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Salt of Solidarity had noticed several strange things about Elder Faerie.
The faerie king, unlike most faerie, keeps his wings tucked down and at his sides. Salt of Solidarity had only seen them in their true glory twice, and the few times that Elder Faerie had let him touch them.
And even then… Elder Faerie had been rigid. Tense. Scared.
It had taken a while for Elder Faerie to relax into the touch, and even then, he seemed so… surprised when he had started purring.
Even when Salt of Solidarity had touched his wings during future encounters, the faerie king was always rigid for several moments before calming down slowly.
Salt of Solidarity wasn’t stupid. He wasn’t oblivious. And contrary to belief, he was usually rather good at reading people.
He could tell that the faerie king was scared for some reason. But he couldn’t figure out why.
Part of him wanted to ask the faerie king, another part of him thought it was too personal.
Salt of Solidarity had tried asking a couple of the knights that Elder Faerie was close to, Silverbell and Mercurial Knight.
Only for the anxious knight to shriek in horror when Salt of Solidarity had explained that he had touched Elder Faerie’s wings. And Mercurial Knight had looked like he was debating impaling the virtue then and there.
In fact Salt of Solidarity was rather sure the knight would have if Elder Faerie hadn’t walked into the room at that moment.
Salt of Solidarity was becoming more and more concerned as time went on.
Had Elder Faerie felt forced into letting Salt of Solidarity touch his wings? Had Salt of Solidarity accidentally hurt him the first time? Had he accidentally made his friend uncomfortable? Had he actually violated Elder Faerie’s comfort and trust?
~*-----------*~
“Have I made you uncomfortable, my friend?” Salt of Solidarity suddenly asked, looking over at his friend.
The two were sitting on one of the benches in the faerie palace gardens, having taken a break from walking after almost two hours of just enjoying each other’s presence.
Elder Faerie jolted slightly at the sudden question, his head whipping around to look at the virtue. “Why would you think that?” Elder Faerie asked, concerned.
“You just… you always seem so tense whenever I touch your wings, or even just ask to. I thought… perhaps you feel forced into this, as I am a virtue, or you didn’t want to upset me.” Salt of Solidarity explained, trying to keep his voice soft.
Elder Faerie looked away, almost seeming guilty, and the way he reached up to touch the base of his wings broke Salt of Solidarity’s heart. “I understand if you do not wish to tell me… however, if I have truly done something wrong, I can only ask that you tell me how to fix it. I do not wish for you to be afraid of me.” Salt of Solidarity said honestly.
Elder Faerie opted to stare at the ground, rather than look up at his friend. “It… It is nothing that you have done.” Elder Faerie said softly.
Salt of Solidarity felt a rush of relief, causing him to let out a soft sigh. Then confusion.
If he truly had done nothing wrong, then why was Elder Faerie so scared? Some might say that Elder Faerie wasn’t scared, just hesitant due to how personal touching a faerie’s wings is meant to be. But Salt of Solidarity knew his friend. And he could tell when Elder Faerie was afraid.
It didn’t happen often, but it had happened before. And the most startling part was that of all the times he’d seen Elder Faerie afraid, it was never for himself. The few times the faerie king had been afraid was because one of his subjects was badly hurt, or Salt of Solidarity himself was injured.
It was so strange and concerning to see Elder Faerie afraid for himself.
“Then… why are you afraid?” Salt of Solidarity asked.
“I am not afraid.” Elder Faerie lied.
Salt of Solidarity stared at him blankly and reached out to gently touch the faerie king’s wings. As expected, Elder Faerie froze, his body going rigid and his wings trembling in fear. Salt of Solidarity quickly pulled his hand away, guilty, but his point proven.
“You are afraid.” Salt of Solidarity said simply.
“You-!” Elder Faerie sputtered out, surprised and seemingly mad about Salt of Solidarity touching his wings so casually just to prove a point. Before his expression shifted to one more akin to defeat as he sighed. “You’re right… I am afraid…” Elder Faerie said hesitantly.
“Why?” Salt of Solidarity asked, trying to understand. If he had not done something to cause this fear in Elder Faerie, what had?
“Are you sure you want to know…?” Elder Faerie asked, glancing up at the virtue to gauge his reaction.
Salt of Solidarity didn’t hesitate to nod. “Yes. I wish to know so I may help you and avoid making you uncomfortable in the future.” Salt of Solidarity said.
Elder Faerie sighed and looked away. “You… recall how protective Mercurial Knight and Silverbell were of me when you and me first became friends, yes?” Elder Faerie asked, choosing to stare at the grass rather than the virtue beside him.
“Yes. I thought several times that they might actually kill me if I looked at you wrong.” Salt of Solidarity recalled, rather fond of the memories now.
“That… that wasn’t only because you were an outsider.” Elder Faerie said, causing Salt of Solidarity to tense slightly.
Had something happened with an outsider previously that he didn’t know about? Salt of Solidarity was able to recall that the faeries were weary of outsiders for many reasons. Had one done something to Elder Faerie specifically?
“There was one outsider that, similar to you, I had grown quite close to… it was long ago, at least two hundred years ago… I… I had thought that he was kind-hearted…” Elder Faerie started to hesitantly explain.
“But they weren’t?” Salt of Solidarity asked.
A part of him already knew the answer, given the circumstances that brought upon this conversation. And he dreaded the idea that he was right.
Elder faerie nodded.
“What happened…?” Salt of Solidarity asked hesitantly.
Elder Faerie took a deep breath before he spoke. “I had once allowed him to touch my wings… Thankfully there were some knights around at the time because he…” Elder Faerie trailed off, squeezing his eyes closed momentarily to keep tears at bay.
Salt of Solidarity tensed in horror. Had this man done something to Elder Faerie’s wings? That would explain why Elder Faerie hid his wings. Why Elder Faerie was scared of them being touched, even by one such as Salt of Solidarity.
“What… What did he do…?” Salt of Solidarity asked hesitantly. A part of him didn’t want to know. Wanted to just leave it at ‘the man did something awful that caused Elder Faerie’s aversion to his wings being touched’. Stay in blissful unawareness.
But he couldn’t. Salt of Solidarity meant what he said about wanting to help Elder Faerie. He would best be able to do that if he knew what that man had done.
“How much do you want to know…?” Elder Faerie asked, looking back up to meet the virtue’s gaze through the helmet.
That question cause Salt of Solidarity to hesitate. He wanted to know enough to comfort and help Elder Faerie, as well as avoid making the faerie king uncomfortable again. However, he didn’t know if he could handle too many details. Especially depending on what happened.
“There’s no need to be specific… but I need to know at least generally what he did.” Salt of Solidarity said.
Elder Faerie nodded slightly, taking another deep breath to calm and compose himself, before continuing. “At first… he was gentle… not as gentle as you, but it didn’t hurt…” Elder Faerie started, having to pause to calm himself again. “But after a moment or two his touch became rough… and he-…” Elder Faerie paused, blinking rapidly to rid himself of the tears in his eyes. “He yanked…”
Salt of Solidarity froze, his body going rigid in horror. As someone who knew how sensitive and fragile faerie wings were, he knew (at least vaguely) how painful that could have been. How could someone do that after Elder Faerie had trusted them with such a vital and fragile part of himself?
Elder Faerie took a deep breath again, readying himself to continue. “I swear I saw stars from the pain… he had yanked again, harder, and I actually shrieked from pain…” Elder Faerie said sadly, staring at the ground.
Salt of Solidarity felt his heart break at that. Elder Faerie had never been sensitive to pain. Salt of Solidarity had seen the faerie king get stabbed in the leg and he merely let out a low grunt of pain.
To hear that something had hurt him badly enough to make the king shriek devastated the virtue. How could someone do that? How dare that insolent fool hurt his king?
Elder Faerie, oblivious to his friend’s inner turmoil, continued. “Thankfully, some of knights, Mercurial Knight and Silverbell, were nearby. I don’t remember much but they must have heard me and rushed to my aid. I vaguely recall Mercurial Knight ripping him away from me, and hearing Silverbell try to comfort me…”
Salt of Solidarity softened at the mention of the two knights. He’d noticed that those two specifically, as well as Sugarfly, had always seemed closer to the king. He supposed this was one of the reasons why.
Mercurial Knight and Silverbell’s horror upon hearing that Salt of Solidarity had touched Elder Faerie’s wings made a little too much sense now. They were worried that he had hurt their king…
“Were… Were your wings okay?” Salt of Solidarity asked hesitantly.
He knew logically that Elder Faerie’s wings clearly hadn’t been permanently damaged as he could fly just fine now. However, that didn’t mean that there hadn’t been any short-lived injuries. He wanted to know just how badly that betrayer had hurt his king.
“They were badly bruised… I had to stay off them and not move them too much for about four weeks before they healed enough for me to fly again… and there was usually a dull throbbing in them… but thankfully there was no lasting injuries.” Elder Faerie explained, seemingly calmer now that the recounting of the most traumatizing part of the explanation was over.
“I hadn’t usually relied on my wings much before then, but that was when and why I started keeping that down unless completely necessary.” Elder Faerie explained.
Four weeks…
Barely anything in comparison to a normal cookie’s lifetime. Nothing to a faerie’s lifetime due to how long they lived. And certainly nothing in comparison to how long Elder Faerie had lived.
But wings were vital to faeries…
Those four weeks, despite being short in the face of a faerie’s lifespan, must have been hell for Elder Faerie.
And it was all because of that dirty, disgusting, traitor.
But Salt of Solidarity forced himself to push his rage aside. Not only was the man likely dead, seeing as how Elder Faerie had said it was two hundred years ago, but Elder Faerie needed reassurance.
“I… I am so sorry that happened to you…” Salt of Solidarity said softly. He meant every word.
Elder Faerie took a deep breath, lowering both his hands to rest in his lap as he stared at the ground. “Thank you… but it was not your fault… I hope you understand that.” Elder Faerie said gently.
“I understand, but that does not mean I do not wish that I could have been there to help.” Salt of Solidarity said.
Elder Faerie smiled softly, the beautiful sight calming Salt of Solidarity down significantly. “Thank you… and I know that you would never do something like that… you’re too kind and genuine to have the heart to even think about it…” Elder Faerie said softly. “I just… every time my wings are touched I feel the lingering fear that it could happen again…”
Salt of Solidarity nodded. “I understand. And I would never betray you in such a way. But I understand if you don’t want me to ask to touch your wings again.” Salt of Solidarity said genuinely. As much as he enjoyed feeling the faerie king’s wings under his hands, he’d never force him into something that scared him.
Elder Faerie’s head snapped to look at him, surprised. “No!” Elder Faerie exclaimed, surprising both of them, before composing himself. “While I thank you deeply for being willing to stop asking to touch my wings… I quite enjoy when you touch them… you’re so gentle… I just need time to get used to it again.”
Salt of Solidarity felt himself blush under his helmet, yet he nodded anyway. “I understand.” Salt of Solidarity said calmly and understandingly.
Elder Faerie shifted closer to him, one of his wings twitching closer to the virtue, the silent request clear.
Salt of Solidarity found himself smiling, the sight hidden by his ever-present helmet, as he reached out.
His gloved hand made gentle contact with Elder Faerie’s wings, who sighed softly at the feeling.
Unlike before, Elder Faerie quickly relaxed into the touch as he started purring.
That traitor should consider himself lucky that he died before Salt of Solidarity could get his hands on him. No one hurt his king without consequence.
Salt of Solidarity sighed softly and let the rage leave his body slowly as he pet the faerie king’s wings. The same king who’s flight could have been taken from him like a pinned butterfly.
But Elder Faerie was still free, free to roam the skies and the ground as he pleased.
And Salt of Solidarity would ensure it stayed that way.