Private Tales I robbed Tinkerbell?!

[Fraeya]

While Fraeya didn’t show as much vigor about the food, she didn’t hesitate to dig in. The roast chicken smelled divine. “Mmmm. Nice not to have to trap it and do all the work for a change.” She said between bites. Her napkin remained pointedly in her lap. And she certainly ate….politely.

With manners.

“Or maybe dreaming is what keeps you going,” she said softly, finishing off a chicken leg and going for the pile of roasted vegetables on her plate. A ship? She made no comment on that. Water terrified her. There were too many things that lurked beneath the surface.

“Maybe see what happened to my birth parents. See if I have a family left anywhere. See what kind of people they are. Be able to sleep in.”

Take a day off.

A small smile as she popped a broccoli floret in her mouth, chewed, and swallowed.

“Maybe become stronger.” She frowned and looked away.

 

[Jace]

Jace rammed another forkful of food in his mouth as she spoke. And another.

He supposed finding family was what he would have wanted to do if he had known he had any out there. Well... his father might have still been out there but he didn't want to know a man who had walked out on his girl because she was pregnant. Even if he hadn't been a massive knob, family hunting didn't sound nearly as fun as sailing the seven seas with a sword and your crew behind you.

"Stronger?!" He managed to gape at her after swallowing his food at the very least. "I don't think you need to be stronger, luv," Jace rubbed at his jaw where she had socked him one just the other day.

 

[Fraeya]

She rubbed at the back of her neck, holding up another chicken leg with her other hand, taking a bite. "Where I grew up, I was always the weakest. Physically at least." A shrug of her shoulders. "Sometimes I wish...I wish I hadn't been born human." She munched, finishing off the meat and picked up the roll, tearing small pieces off at a time to rest against her tongue.

But she knew, deep down, she'd be different then. Not as she was now. Perhaps more ruthless. Perhaps less compassionate. And those things she wouldn't trade off.

Her lips pressed together.

Why the hell was she telling him all this?

Reaching forward, she took up one of the two cups left for them along with their food. A small sniff. It smelled like lemons and something a little sweet. She took a sip.

It was refreshing and tart and she immediately liked it.

"Let's just focus on tonight and getting that book back."

 

[Jace]

Jace slurped down his drink then chased it down with more bread oozing with gravy and meat juices.

"Y'know, being human has its advantages. Take tonight for example," he paused to take another long slurp and smacked his lips together before continuing. "They're all going to underestimate you. Just like Mal did when we walked in. You're just another sweet little human who can sing real pretty. They ain't gonna suspect that you can move like an assassin or are stronger than most," he shrugged. He'd worked with dwarfs, elves, goblins and literal rats before. Humans always got overlooked but, as Petyr had told him, that made them all the more dangerous.

"Most of the time your only weakness is your own head, not believin' in yourself and shit."

Sluuuurp.

 

[Fraeya]

“Humph,” was her only response as she took another swallow of drink. A much quieter and dainty swallow. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to me fighting. Hopefully you can get in, find it, and get out. Then sneak back in so they’ll never suspect you.”

She nibbled on more of the vegetables.

“What about the others at the tannery?” She wasn’t stupid. She’d seen signs that others lived there. “Do I need to worry about them?”

 

[Jace]

Wren's face swam to the forefront of his mind.

"Naaaah..." he eyed up the leftovers on her plate, his own now completely scraped clean. "They might give my ears a boxin' but that's nuffin' for you to worry about," he grinned cockily. Hopefully the others wouldn't find out about it but if Kressa even thought for a moment he had stolen from her... it could bring trouble down on those he had come to call friends. It was a thought that made him uneasy but there was no point in dwelling on it.

He just had to make sure he didn't get caught.

His eyes flickered to the magic deck of cards and he ran his fingers over it. Hopefully one of them would come in handy.

 

[Fraeya]

Again, she found herself surprised he’d take that. To make things right. Even if it was HIS fault in the first place. She caught the drift of his eyes to her plate. She could understand hunger.

“Here,” she pushed it toward him. “I’m done. Wouldn’t want it to go to waste.” There was a rustle in the rose bushes behind them. Then another. Fraeya twisted in her seat, eyes narrowing.

“I’ll be right back.” She slid from her seat and stood fluidly. Her steps nearly silent on the dirt and grass as she wandered to the small park behind them.

 

[Jace]

Jace didn't need to be offered twice. Hesitation resulted in William or Varo snatching it out from under his nose and finishing off themselves. Instead he pulled the plate in close so he could defend the contents if needed to and began ploughing his way through the contents with a muffled 'take your time' in between shovelling.

Like most growing lads, Jace was actually entirely hollow. This allowed for him to eat almost triple his own weight in food with room to spare for dessert which as all sane people recognised was dealt with by a completely separate stomach altogether.

Once he was done he pushed back the chair with a sigh and glanced over to the park where Fraeya still hadn't emerged. With a sigh he got to his feet and ambled over to find her.

 

[Fraeya]

Fraeya stood with her hands perched firmly on her hips. Feet planted a tad wider than shoulder distance apart. She was looking downward in the tiny clearing just behind those rose bushes. And talking to what looked like a bunch of small, moss covered boulders all in that clearing. And oddly, they seemed to all circle and radiate out from where she stood.

“….and then that bogut wasn’t MY fault and no, NO, this is not like the last time. What did I tell you about sticking your noses where they don’t belong? What if someone else saw you? I don’t need to hear your stories again, so don’t even bother and I’m perfectly capable of handling myself.”

One hand raised and pressed against her forehead. “And what do you even mean he’s good looking for a human?”

 

[Jace]

Alliria was a weird place.

As the melting pot of cultures from two different continents and with a shambolic semblance of governance it was always going to be. Jace had seen some shit in his time here. Everything from blacksmiths making custom shoes for centaurs that resembled human fashion to dragons visiting the dentist. Yet, every day he seemed to think he had found something so strange nothing else could top it... something else happened. Like a woman talking to a heap of rocks.

"Are you... are you talin' to the rocks?"

Even in Alliria talking to inanimate objects was a sign of being one marble short.

 

[Fraeya]

Fraeya whirled around. The rocks remained still as stones. “Did anyone ever tell you you have footsteps like a wraith’s?” He was a thief so it shouldnt have surprised her. Still. While didn't have fae hearing, she had better hearing than the average human.

Fingers fell from her forehead to the back of her neck. “I uh…was just talking…”

One of the moss covered rocks wobbled then turned around. “To us,” it rumbled, its voice sounding like crackling boulders falling down gorges. Then all those rocks wobbled and turned, their little black eyes focused on Jace. Fraeya’s blonde brows lifted in surprise.

The rock trolls never revealed themselves to anyone else before. If Jace started screaming Fraeya was prepared to tackle him to the ground with a hand over his mouth.

 

[Jace]

The scream caught in his throat, which was a good thing for it would have probably been the girliest sounding noise he had ever and would ever make. His eyes did, however, bulge and threaten to tear themselves out of his skull at the sight. Of course he had heard of them before. Every child grew up with fairytales - goblins, brownies, leprechauns - but nobody believed they were real.

"To..." his voice was a much higher pitch than he intended and he coughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "To... to you," he stuttered. "Right. Cool. Cool cool cool," Jace was not the brightest but the little cogs were working overtime now. Connecting the dots. The powerful beings Fraeya had said he had stolen from, strange ways of travelling only they could use... Suddenly every fairytale he had ever heard was rushing back.

"Oh my god, I robbed Tinkerbell?!"

 

[Fraeya]

She’d stepped her way in front of him. “Tinker…what?” As his eyes bulged and the color of his face shifted to different shades she gripped the outsides of both his arms tightly. She recognized shock. And he was deep in it.

“Hey.”

Light green eyes searched his own.

“HEY. Stay with me. Are you going to be okay? Do you…want to sit down?”

At least he hadn’t screamed. But his voice was higher pitched than hers now. “This is King Bromm.” She didn't release Jace but she glanced over her shoulder.

“This is Jace. Which I’m sure you already know with your spies.” Her eyes rolled and it might seem to Jace that she was flippantly addressing royalty.

Because she was.

Bromm was like a father to her. Even if he had some crazy beliefs in some ancient prophecy. Which involved her. He and the Kingdom of the little folk. But that was Queen Isabella and her partner Queen Gem. An entirely different story. They were a much shyer group and would most likely not reveal themselves to Jace.

“The one the Erlking will flay alive if the book is not recovered.” Fraeya didn’t respond to that, her attention sweeping back to Jace.

 

[Jace]

"Erl...king...?" Jace squeaked.

He thought he might be sick. Or faint. The Erlking was an even more popular faerie in the stories than Tinkerbell, and far, far worse. Tinkerbell was a sassy little thing who just had a terrible streak of jealousy. But the Erlking? From the songs he had heard he was likely to peel the skin from his flesh whilst he was still alive, pin it and take his time in admiring his entrails - then removing them. That was who he had stolen from?

And that was one of the better options.

"I'm going to be sick," he announced and tried to feebly wrestle free of Fraeya's grip to go throw up in the bushes.

 

[Fraeya]

She was glad Bromm said something since she was bound not to. She released him and stepped back, not really wanting his vomit all over her clothes. Fraeya was surprised the young thief even recognized the name. Many chose to forget about the fae. Especially mortals.

"Well that could've gone better," she whispered and sat next to the rock troll with a small, jeweled necklace around his throat. Bromm nudged her with his shoulder.

"It will be alright," the rocky-voice was lowered. "We can protect you." Her head half-turned to him. "The Erlking is too strong. Even if you could, you wouldn't be able to for long and I wouldn't let you."

Fraeya was not about to have anyone die for her.

"Let's just...give this plan a shot. I think we can get it back before he knows," her voice was quiet and did not sound as convinced as she wished it would.

"Harumm," King Bromm only said before rolling away with the rest of his brethren while Jace was probably puking his guts out.

 

[Jace]

It was an awful shame that he had wasted his first proper meal in weeks, he thought grimly to himself as he leant his head against the tree and tried to breathe in through his nose and out through his mouth. He reached for the skin at his hip and washed his mouth out with the water, spitting it out on the floor a moment later.

This was bad.

Very, very bad.

"I'm fucked. We're fucked," he muttered to himself and rubbed his face. There was suddenly a lot more pressure to ensure the job went smoothly.

 

[Fraeya]

With a sigh, she rolled back to her feet and followed the sounds of spitting. Fingers perched lightly on her hips as she looked down on him.

"We're not fucked. Not yet anyway unless you want to go up to that woman in the tight dress we saw earlier." A shake of her head. She almost bit out about how next time he'd think twice about stealing something. But she kept the words in. Barely. It wouldn't help things now.

"Let's go. Back to the tannery. Change and finalize our plan. Come on, you're not alone." She offered him her hand to help him up. Nose crinkling slightly at the smell and realizing the smell wouldn't improve for where they were going.

 

[Jace]

Jace let him hurl her up in a daze. Faeries were real. Faeries! What else was bloody real? The boogeyman? Big foot? On the one hand he wanted to laugh hysterically but on the other he felt like throwing up again.

"How... how did you end up with faeries? You're human, right?" He looked at her oddly as they walked back through the crowd, though they might as well have not been there for all the attention Jace paid them. "Your singing... is that... is that a fae gift? Are you a slave?" He had so many questions and he wasn't asking any of the ones he should be to survive this.

Fucking Tinkerbell, man!

 

[Fraeya]

"Shh, not all these questions in the open," she didn't release his hand as she practically dragged him back to that tannery. And it wasn't until they were back inside with the door firmly shut behind them that she did finally release her hold on his wrist.

"Okay," she finally breathed and perched on the lip of one of the tables, arms crossing beneath her chest as she gave the thief and quiet and assessing look. "There can be spies in animal form almost anywhere. So best to answer your questions inside. Even in a city like this...any court could have a representative nearby."

She held up one hand in a closed fist and slowly extended a finger for each answer she gave him to each of his questions. Thumb up. "Yes I'm still human, what you would call a changeling. Sometimes fae take babies because it's hard to have their own."

Index finger up. "The singing is mine. I wasn't lying to you when I think I got it from...my birth mother."

Then her middle finger. "And no I'm not a slave." A slight bristling of her shoulders. A sharpness in her eyes. Perhaps if she'd been taken by those in the Spring Court instead of Autumn when she'd been just a babe. Perhaps in a way, she'd been lucky...even if it placed her beneath the Erlking's rule.

"More like...an indentured servant in a way. Sit down before you fall over."

 

[Jace]

The chair groaned as Jace dropped himself into it and put his head in his hands with his elbows digging into his bony knees. It was a lot to take in. He had thought when she had first spoken of powerful people that it was some Lord or Lady from a fancy land who would bring their armies or assassins after him. Faeries was somehow much worse despite the ridiculousness of it. Faeries!

He still couldn't quite believe it

"How... How long d'you think we 'ave until they know it's missing?" A part of him wondered what exactly the book was that would anger the fae so but he thought he might be safer for not knowing.

 

[Fraeya]

She sighed. Fingers pinching the bridge of her nose. Head hing low, eyes drifting to her scuffed up boots. The floor.

“I don’t know,” she said quietly. They’d just had a hunt. Chances were time WAS on their side.

“Time is different for immortals,” she said quietly. Fingers brushing absently at the marking hidden beneath the scarf around her neck. The bargain she’d made with the Erlking.

“I think we have a few days at the very least.”

 

[Jace]

Jace ran a hand through his messy brown locks and heaved a sigh.

"Well... I suppose tha's better than nuffin'" he grimaced at his own lie: he'd never been good at the motivational speech like the Faun. He was more of a kiss your arse and pray kinda guy. The shock was beginning to wear off at the very least even if the fear of this plan going horribly wrong was now a lot higher... He rubbed his face.

"Righ', the plan then. Those trolls aren't gonna turn up are they - was that why you were talkin' to 'em?" He wasn't entirely sure if they would fit into the whole undercover... smooth operation they currently had planned.

 

[Fraeya]

Head shook, eyes lifting to meet the thief's own. She finally stood and went to the shopping bags, rustling through the packaging to take out the dress and suit Jace had swindled them. "No they..," voice trailed off. "They're almost like a family to me. They just tend to follow me around. They usually stay out of sight and do a better job THAN THAT but," shoulders shrugged. She didn't think it was worth going into the rest of the story with Jace.

At least, not right now.

He looked traumatized enough with all the new information he just had.

"They won't show up. They might be around if we need help but they won't show themselves to anyone else." She meant it when she'd been surprised that they'd shown themselves to Jace.

She walked the suit over to him, holding it up.

"The plan. We change. I sing. You search the office. And with any leprechaun's luck you'll find and get the book."

 

[Jace]

"Do you 'ave one of those?" Jace's eyes bulged at the thought. He'd once seen a picture someone had drawn of a leprechaun. They were meant to be about the size of a dwarf with red hair, a large red beard and seemed to favour the colour green. They also smoked like a tropper and smoke a little odd. At least, according to the picture he had seen.

It had been doing a jig.

He took his suit from her outstretched hand and then eyed it up again. It was much fancier than he would pick out for himself but Mal might not look at him like a piece of shit on the bottom of his shoe in it. He just hoped he could sneak about as well in the deep green jacket as he could in his usual gear.

 

[Fraeya]

“Does it look like I have one of them?” She huffed and turned, grabbing the dress. “I’m changing. Alone.” She didn’t think she needed to add that last part but she did anyway. Maybe if she had an attitude it would…take his mind off worrying so much about the price of failing tonight.

She went back to the same room from the night before and slammed the door.

they could do this…they could….

Head shook and she began yanking off her clothes, stepping into the red dress. It was more crimson in this light. Like a rose in the twilight hours. The gown dipped low in the back. And everything fit.

She rearranged the scarf over her neck carefully. It would have to do. Running her fingers down the elegant fabric, she finally stepped out.