“How am I supposed to know? Ask your lover to bring you back.” Rhylan waved his arms around to show that he grew tired of my hesitation and questions.
I paused, debating whether to return the vial or keep it. My hands remained clenched around it, holding it tightly and I took a moment to analyse it. It was small and its contents looked dark and dry.
“All I'm saying is,” Rhylan drew back my attention as he opened the car door, “if he can do all of this for you,” he paused to point at the gardenia-snowed surroundings, “the least you can do is go to that party and surprise him. What’s he going to do? Hug you too tightly? Spread your legs and eat you at the grand table of the faeries? Maybe you’ll get a chance to see how kinky you truly are,” he winked and disappeared inside the car, driving away in the next second and leaving me on the outside porch, with magic tea in my hand and a decision to make.
But I had already made it. If Ansgar was willing to claim a symbol of myself for life, the least I could do was show up and stop wasting time. Time that we had already lost, time that we may not have too much of. I had only a month remaining of this visit, before I would probably be escorted out by force if I refused to leave, so I was not willing to risk even another second away from the man I loved.
Selfishly, I did not want to waste any more pages from the story of our life together, so I sprinted to the wardrobe in search of something suitable for the party. If I was to go to a fairy-tale celebration, I might as well dress the part.
I was never more grateful for my mother’s insistence to look good and prepare for any situation as I grabbed the ornate silk box underneath the cabinet drawer where I had stored it after my arrival. The always elegant Elsa Odstar had forced her daughter to pack an evening gown should any encounter or invitation with the royal family happen. And here I was, getting ready to meet a prince.
I curled my hair and pulled a few strands together in some kind of elegant hairdo youtube suggested, while I bathed myself in perfume and lotion, aiming to smell good enough to eat. After about half an hour, I looked in the mirror with pride. The dress was a strapless light green A-line cut made of georgette sink with Swarovski crystals that ended up with a Paris chiffon finish. A beautiful designer piece that had been exclusively made two years back for the Milano fashion show. I adorned myself with diamond earrings and an emerald bracelet, combining the radiance of the dress between the two colours of the precious stones.
Pleased with the way I looked, I made my way back into the kitchen to prepare the dreaded tea which already rested in the teapot, awaiting boiling water. When I’d opened the vial, I almost vomited from the disgusting smell emanating from the root and decided to place it in the pot and cover any trace of that awful scent until I was ready to face it.
I boiled water and poured it over the small black root, holding my breath until steams started spiralling out of the liquor. The dark root, which looked like it had been burnt and preserved into the small flask, spread out its colour across the mug, creating a black, disgusting-looking substance that smelled so bad I wanted be sick all over my dress.
I did not know how much I needed to drink and I was aware that this might very well be ending up with me in an emergency room with food poisoning, but the hope pushed stronger than my hesitation. I pressed my lips onto the cup and drank big sips, all the while holding Ansgar’s shirt, the one he had left on the bed, tightly to my chest.
Rhylan said I’d go to sleep and wake up near the person I wanted to see, but what happened turned more violent. As soon as the first sips reached my stomach, uncontrollable pain flushed through my body,making me fall onto the floor and contort with pain, my muscles convulsing with murderous pulsations. I spent minutes in agony, barely able to breathe, my mouth foaming until blissfully, everything turned dark around me and I faded away.
That was such a stupid thing to do. That first thought came to mind as I slowly pushed myself back to consciousness. I tried to prompt my torso up from the wooden floor, but when my palm reached the ground, grass prickled my fingers. I felt around and I opened my eyes, recovering from the pain and was shocked to find myself in a forest. Had it worked?
I stood slowly, supported by a tree bark. I saw people appearing all around me and walking towards a crowd. Men, all of them dressed the same as Ansgar, with the same model of flax pants and shirts. Oh my god, it had worked. I was in the faelands.
I searched for my composure, trying to look casual amongst the people that appeared through that forest. Finding courage, I walked towards one of them and started speaking.
“Excuse me, would you be able to tell me where I can find Prince Ansgar?” I forced my voice to seem cheery, relaxed. The tall man with ginger hair just looked at me, sizing me up and down and huffed, then blatantly ignored my question and turned towards the crowd.
Well, thank you for the warm welcome, homeboy, I sneered sarcastically and went onto another man that appeared just to my right side, a few trees away.
“Excuse me,” I hurried my step to reach him, “Would you know where Prince Ansgar is please?”
He scanned me in disgust, sizing me up and down and replied dryly, “Is there anything you wacky females won’t do to get him? Leave the poor male be!” he reprimanded and strode away, hurrying his steps farther from me.
Something felt very wrong, this had been the worst idea in the world! Not only that, but no one was willing to help me find Ansgar and I couldn't really tell them why I wanted to see him without causing a scene. I was now trapped in this place with no way to go back home. Stupid, stupid idea! I heaved while bouncing my leg up and down into the dark soil when a hand abruptly seized my left arm.
“What in the name of all the goddesses are you doing here?”
I turned towards the man who pulled at me with anger, ready to slap him, but as soon as I saw his beautiful dark face, I wanted to hug him instead. Relief flowed over me as I gazed upon Vikram’s angry face.
“I just need to talk to Ansgar real quick,” I announced, not wanting to tell his brother everything that happened since we’d last seen each other.
He raised his eyebrows, scanning me with a look that clearly declared his need to know everything.
“There’s history of fae mated with humans, I can prove it. So I came to see Ansgar and to tell him that I love him and I will fight for this, if he still wants me. And seeing how he chose my favourite flower as his mark, I think he does.”
Vikram’s frown deepened so I added, “Plus I'm stuck here, I need Ansgar to take me back home.”
“How did you even get here?” he asked through his teeth, his grip sure to leave a bruise on my arm.
“I drank this horrible tea, it made me sick and I woke up here. And I asked people to help me find Ansgar but they all look at me like I'm some kind of crazy,” I explained.
“You think?” he growled.
“Nobody is supposed to know I'm human,” I replied below my breath. “That was the whole point of this. Not to draw attention. And everybody speaks English here?” I enquired with both shock and relief.
“And showing up in a wedding dress is casual for you?” Vikram sized me up and down, same as the other man had done.
