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It was a cool summer night in Nod-Krai. The rocky shore of Paha island was dark, save for the glow of a single blue lantern, bobbing slightly with each of its owner's steps.
Flins tilted his head to stare up at the sky. It was just past midnight, by his estimation. The Wild Hunt activity had been relatively low tonight, though he knew better than to let his guard down.
He glanced back towards the looming shadow of Piramida in the distance. Hopefully Sigurd had finally gone to bed for the night. Flins could respect the man's passion and determination, but he suspected the other would run himself into an early grave, as Nikita often warned him.
Two good men. Flins wondered how long he would have the privilege of their company.
He adjusted his hold on his lantern, then began to stride off down the beach. He would check the Tideseal stones one more time, then return to the cemetery-
He stopped as a sharp prickling hovered at the edge of his awareness.
A Fae had entered Nod-Krai.
He turned in the direction of the sensation with a frown, stifling his own energy out of habit. South, Lempo Island? They were making no effort to disguise themself, or selves. And why would they, since it was common belief no Fae resided on these islands?
It was not necessarily cause for alarm. Nod-Krai was, after all, a place of travelers passing through. So long as they caused no harm, Flins cared not if they were Fae or human.
Still…it was unusual, especially at this hour. Best that he check.
By the time he caught up with them, they had made it to Nasha Town. They were moving quickly, then, but here they had stopped. Flins stood upon one of the higher rooftops and swept his gaze over the stillness of the night.
He spotted two figures, standing on a balcony to a house he knew was not theirs. They didn't appear to have sensed him, as they had made no effort to hide themselves.
His body flowed into his lantern, floating downwards to the landing before reforming behind them. His feet landed soundlessly on the metal flooring, but he allowed his lantern to clink as it swung, just enough of a sound to alert them.
They spun around, eyes wide in surprise. It was a man and a woman, both Fae, though he couldn't place what kind, specifically. They both wore long robes and ushankas, covering most of their body.
For a brief moment, their expression betrayed that they mistook him for a human ratnik. A brief moment, where they thought they might be able to bluff their way through.
Then, their eyes fell on the lantern in his hand, the blue flame burning bright.
No introductions were needed. They both fell into a deep bow.
"Lord of this Land," the man spoke down to the ground. "We beg forgiveness for our intrusion into your territory. We…We did not know this area was another's domain."
Flins did not bother trying to correct them. If he tried to explain that while he was not the area's "Lord," he was indeed the only Fae in the area and considered himself responsible for the people and land, he would be met with abject confusion at best, and a perceived opportunity for mischief at worst. So for the moment, he interpreted it as any Lightkeeper would, that he was a guardian of this land.
"It is not your presence I take issue with," he informed then. He kept his tone calm, not hostile, but stern. "Stand up straight, and state your business here."
Hesitantly, the two straightened up again, and Flins' eyes fell on the wrapped bundle in the woman's arms. A baby, a human baby, fast asleep.
Flins' eyebrows crept upwards, and he looked past them, through the half-open window. There, another child slumbered in a crib, appearing more or less the same age.
Flins looked back to the couple with a sharp frown. They avoided his eyes.
He had thought the Fae practice of swapping human children with their own had long fallen out of fashion. Perhaps, that was not so much the case.
"That-" He gestured to the baby in the woman's arms. "-is not yours."
The woman in response clutched the bundle tighter to herself, turning away as if to shield it from him. At the same time she looked up at him with pleading eyes.
"Please, Lord-"
"You needn't call me that," he said. The woman stopped, and her expression twisted in a way that indicated her searching for an alternative. "If you must, you may refer to me as 'Lightkeeper.'" She nodded.
"It's for our child's sake. She…She cannot grow up among the Fae. We seek only to provide her with a better life."
The answer struck Flins as strangely fitting for Nod-Krai, for wasn't that what so many here desired? The people who came to Nod-Krai more often than not did so because they could not have stayed where they were, they came in the hope of a better life for them and their kin.
Still…
"And what of the human child?" He gestured to the bundle in her arms. "Consigned to the life of an exotic pet, flaunted about until the novelty wears off, you grow weary, and cast them away?"
"No!" The woman shook her head. "Please, Light Keeper-" Flins felt a slight prickle at the way she said it, different than how a typical resident of Nod-Krai would. "This child, she has an affliction that cannot be treated by humans, but we can."
She held the child out to him. His eyes narrowed as he scrutinized her. He did sense an imbalance of elemental energy within her.
"…And you will treat her?" He asked. She nodded, pulling the child back again.
"Yes, Light Keeper. I swear, we will do all in our power to care for her as our own."
"We swear," the man agreed.
It was an oath, and there was power to it. Flins considered himself adept at spotting duplicity, and these two seemed earnest in what they had told him.
The situation was getting…complicated. He was starting to regret coming to investigate at all.
"Please, Light Keeper," the man drew his hand to his chest, his face beseeching. "We beg you to allow this. We will give you anything we can provide in exchange."
The offer caught Flins off-guard. Were the Fae of today really so foolish? Flins could have easily demanded everything they had and their lives as well as the life of their child as recompense and they would be bound to honor it. Did they have him pegged as someone too kind to take advantage of such an offer?
They waited for his verdict in silence. He looked in their faces and saw…hope, yes, and fear. But most of all…resignation. There was a weariness in their eyes that only came from having seen far too much. They knew what they offered, and they knew what he could do, what he could demand. Yet here they stood, in a strange land guarded by an unknown Fae, prepared to leave their child behind, and face what consequences came, all for the gamble that she may live a better life.
Not foolish. Perhaps…desperate.
"The life of a Changeling is not blissful," he informed them. "She will struggle, she will know she is different but not know why. Others will know she is different, and it will not always be taken gracefully."
"We know," the man said. For a moment his face twisted in grief before he quickly looked away. "Please, Light Keeper, it is the only way that she may have some happiness in her life."
Flins stifled a grimace. He did not ask what reason drove them to separate themselves from their child, to travel all the way to Nod-Krai, and risk the ire of the people there with their secret trade. In truth, he did not want to know. There was a reason he did not seek to return to the society of his kind.
But that did not change the fact that he now found himself in a very difficult situation.
To steal a child was no small injustice, even in Nod-Krai. And yet, if what they said was true, this child would not live long without care. These two…they did not call to Flins' mind the confident, self-assured nobles of the past, seeking games and exotic novelty. Rather, they looked far more like the many other families he had seen enter Nod-Krai: Weary, desperate, clinging to faint slivers of hope that they may provide something more for their children.
Flins tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and took a deep sigh. Then, he faced them again.
"I would have two conditions," he announced. They both perked up, eyes wide and alert. He raised one finger. "The first, is that should this human family come seeking their birth child, you must relinquish her."
The woman's throat worked, but she nodded.
"We will."
"Second, the changeling. If she- or rather, when she discovers the truth of her origins, I will not attempt to misdirect her." He looked back to the window, where the child slept on. "I will not tell her the truth, but I will not lie to her, either."
"We understand," the man murmured down to the ground.
"With these in mind…" Flins continued. His words came reluctantly, but they came. "…While I do not have the right to give you permission to take this child…I will not intervene."
"Thank you," the woman whispered. She held the baby closer to herself. "As we promised, she will be well taken care of. I swear it." Flins nodded.
"Then I will take you at your word."
It seemed that they had decided he may be more of the benevolent type. More hope was beginning to shine through in their faces.
"If…If I may, Light Keeper," the man began. Flins looked to him, and he stiffened, but Flins nodded that he go on. "You…You are correct. She will struggle here, and we cannot be there to help her. But you…you know this place, and are accustomed to living among humans, are you not?"
"You wish for me to watch over her," Flins finished. The man bowed his head.
"If, If it pleases you, sir. N-Not to raise her. It would be best if she stayed away from our kind, but…should she be met with danger…"
He led off. Flins set his mouth in a thin line.
"You are asking me to not only look the other way as you trade a family's child for your own, to not tell anyone of this, but to also guard this child from harm, while keeping my distance?"
The couple shrunk down. "…Our offer still stands," the man mumbled. "Whatever we can give…"
"There is nothing I want from you," he stated. The man went silent. Flins looked back to the window. The child within slept peacefully, blithe and unknowing.
He faced the parents again.
"I make this oath not as a Fae, but as a Lightkeeper." Flins drew his hand to his chest. "So long as she is within Nod-Krai, I will endeavor to keep her from harm."
He could tell they were not wholly sure what that meant, but they both sagged in relief.
"Thank you," the woman whispered. "Thank you, Light Keeper. Please, if there is anything we can do-"
"I demand nothing of you," he answered firmly. "Save the conditions I laid out before."
"Of course," the man nodded quickly. "We will honor them."
"Very well," Flins said. "Then, did you have other business here?"
The two of them looked at each other. Hesitance was clear on both their faces. The man looked longingly back at the child sleeping in the window, while the woman bit her lip and kept her gaze on the ground, perhaps to avoid the temptation.
Flins gave them a moment of time; he was not so cruel. However…
"…The human child," Flins reminded them. His tone was just a little gentler. "She should not be out in the cold night air for too long. Humans are more susceptible so such things."
"O-Oh…" The woman wrapped the blanket a little closer around the baby. "Yes, of course. We will…go."
The two of them removed their hats, revealing a pair of wings sticking out from their hair. Flins stepped back to give them more room to take off. The two of them shuffled to the side of the balcony, but the man hesitated. He looked back to Flins, and his hands clenched with trepidation.
Flins inclined his head towards him.
"…Yes?"
"May we visit her?" He blurted out. "N-Not too often, and we will cause no trouble to anyone here. Just…to see her." Flins paused, then gave a slow nod.
"You may."
The man swallowed, then nodded.
"Thank you, Light Keeper."
Then, they were gone, quickly swallowed by the night. Flins once more turned his attention back to the sleeping form in the house.
Poor child. What awaited her back in the north, that her parents were willing to leave her under the power of an unknown Fae? What would await her, when this human family realized she was not truly their child? The fallout to that may very well be one of the dangers he would have to save her from, in the future.
But a Lightkeeper's duties extended beyond just the Wild Hunt. They endeavored to bring safety and protection to the people of Nod-Kris, whatever form that took.
He waved a hand, and the window shut silently. Best to make sure she didn't catch her death of cold, the first night of her new life.