My eyelid twitched as I stared at the television sitting only a few feet away from the end of my bed, and I scowled at the pictures that moved across the screen. The dumb entertainment presented to me was killing off brain cells by the thousands, and I glanced down at the remote to tap the ‘channel up’ button with my thumb.
‘Still not used to human entertainment, Linne?’ Rolling my eye to glare at Muss’ shimmering form, I pursed my lips tightly and rolled the remote in my palm.
“No. I do not like it…it’s stupid.” My complaint wasn’t anything Muss hadn’t heard before, and he ducked his head in acknowledgment. His beak glimmered translucently in the early morning sun that streamed through the window, and I found even that better than what was on the box in front of me. “I do not understand how humans can like it.”
‘Maybe they like it because it’s stupid.’ Muss’ deep voice echoed around in my skull, and he blinked all five eyes simultaneously at me. Cocking his head, he hopped across my bed with no worry that his claws would catch on the soft, silk blanket beneath. ‘Aren’t you supposed to go to work today? The human Chad will be angry if you’re late.’
“I am.” Reaching to stroke his feathers with my fingertips, goosebumps washed up my arm when my hand went right through him. “I miss your physical form. Your feathers are so soft.”
‘I cannot stay for long, Linne. I just came to let you know that the Court has reached a stalemate. Bareiijnr is not happy.’ Blinking slowly, I exhaled slowly through my nose and stretched out my legs as my mind turned to the place that used to be my home. Betrayal seared through my chest, twisting my face with a grimace, and my wings ruffled as I bristled silently.
“Bareiijnr can crawl into a pit and dissolve. He does not deserve to be at Court – deciding the fates of the Unseelie that do not want another war.” Disgust dribbled from my tongue, and I slid off my bed to stretch my arms above my head in the need to do something. “If I ever see him again, I will kill him and take his wings.”
‘I see your despair has yet to chip away at your anger. That is all I have to report. I will keep Bareiijnr under my watch.’ Twisting to watch Muss shimmer into obscurity, I frowned deeply at the thoughtful tone he left behind to linger in my skull. Flexing my fingers, my nails scraped against my palms before I strode out of my room on stiff strides.
My new, quaint home couldn’t compare to the apartments I’d lived in back in my own realm, but what little I had managed to bring with me helped. Magic slithered along the walls to reflect the sunlight, and I traced the rivers with my fingers on my way to the living room. Still bare of furnishings, the wide space was instead occupied by various tools and fabrics I’d been experimenting with. The human realm – for all its terrible choices of entertainment – was very good about acquiring fine things.
For months, I’d been trying to find the best way to sheath my wings in something both comfortable and easily accessible. Even as my body changed to suit the sparse amount of magic in this realm, so had my wings.
This was just another humiliation to add to the pile that burdened my shoulders.
Stroking my newest prototype, I licked my lips as I stared at the culmination of my trial and error. The straps had thickened and become curved over time to suit my shoulders, and their weave had simplified to just four crisscrossing braids. Picking up the light harness, I shoved my hand into the thin sheaths that would hold my wings as a frown dragged at my mouth.
The protective layer of canvas I’d initially used had been replaced with something called polyester, and a comfortable layer of silk now lined the inner cavity. Even with all this work, the harness was still uncomfortable to wear, but I knew that wouldn’t go away. Wings, even the pitiful miniatures mine had become, weren’t meant to be covered.
“It will have to do.” Grumbling to myself, I carefully slid my arms through the harness to fasten the buckle under my bust. Oh so gently, I eased my wings into the sheaths and clasped the buckle against the middle of my spine. My feathers rustled as discomfort skittered just under my skin, and I pulled at the strap tenderly before heaving a sigh.
It was better than before, at least. Now, the fastenings didn’t chafe my sensitive flesh and leave me burning. But it was still a far cry from the comfortable, elegant, long backless dresses I wore in the Unseelie realm.
Snatching my keys off my work bench, I emerged from my house to be assaulted by the harsh rays of the sun. Locking up with robotic movements, my steady hands moved to tug at my shirt as it bunched up under my harness. I had minimalized as much as I could, but this problem never went away, and sourness pooled beneath my tongue.
“Left at the light…” Muttering the directions to my place of work, I took in the pretty scenery around me through narrowed eyes. There was no ethereal glimmer – no beautiful hue to the air that shimmered in the light – but the human realm wasn’t without its attractiveness. After so long, I could appreciate the harsh greens and bright colors slathered on houses and businesses; such things just didn’t exist in the faery realm. Blues and purples in the sky were replaced with yellows and whites, and even the trees were smattered with colored birds and critters.
Pausing my trek at the end of the block, I glanced around for any cars before stepping carefully onto the vivid, white lines along the asphalt. My leg tensed at the memory of being crushed under the hulk of car steel and rubber tyres, and I reached to rub my outer thigh absently.
That accident when I was first hurled into this realm had started a chain reaction that I was powerless to stop. I’d developed a scar – an ugly, discolored patch of flesh that would forever remind me of that day.
And with that scar came other changes deep within my body.
Reaching the other side of the street safely, I released a breath of relief and forced the unnerving thoughts away. For all my magics, I couldn’t revert what had happened to me without going back to my mother – realm. There wasn’t enough wild magic in the human realm to allow me to get back on my own, and Muss had reported several times that no one was going to help me from the other side.
I was alone here, and somehow, I was proud of what I’d made for myself. My job now wasn’t glamourous, or even remotely as dangerous, but I’d gotten it all by myself. The human Chad had hired me not because of my magic talents, but because of my own merit. He, at least, liked me for who I was.
Then again, the human Chad had no idea about my magic or my wings, and our relationship was built on a mountain of lies. He couldn’t see my feathered appendages – couldn’t sense the magic coursing through them – couldn’t tell when I was using magic.
Because humans are primitive and stupid… just like their entertainment.
“Morning, Linne.” Living only a few blocks from my work had benefits, and I plastered a semi-genuine smile on my face. The human Chad was always early, and I wandered through the short, dense maze of bagged dirt and stones and other things he sold here. His clothes were already dirty, and sweat caused his forehead and neck to glisten in the baking sun on its way below his shirt.
According to the women that worked here, he was very handsome with his muscles and kindness, but to me, he was just the human – Chad.
“Good morning.” Pausing a good few feet away, I watched Chad haul a bag of small, beige rocks onto a flatbed attached to a cart. Clapping and rubbing the dust and dirt from his hands, he straightened to turn his attention to me and smile.
“We got a big order to fill, so why don’t you go grab a pair of gloves and help me load the bed.” Nodding silently, I made my way past him and into the warehouse that smelled of nothing but dirt and earth. Tall stacks of pots leaned against the wall, and the walkway to the offices was lined in yet more pots filled with flowers. Water streamed along the concrete in shallow rivers, and my boots left footprints behind me.
The human Chad and I were usually the first to arrive at work, and we spent a good amount of time just working in companionable silence. He was as close to a friend as I had, and I’d learned a lot from him over the past eight months.
Ducking under an archway, I turned a sharp left to make my way to the line of lockers on the far wall. The old, squeaky metal had lost its paint long ago, and I hooked my finger under the worn mechanism to pull open the thin barrier with my name on it. I took out my gear.
“Hey – good – uh – can you finish doing this while I go get the other pallet?” The human Chad asked. Nodding as I worked my gloves onto my fingers, I rolled my jaw as the human Chad jogged off. Grabbing the topmost bag off the pile, my body strained to carry the heavy mix of fertilized soil, and my harness creaked slightly under the pressure against my chest.
My wings twitched in their sheaths, and the familiar tingling sensation of magic coursed through my veins. The bag suddenly became lighter, and I furrowed my brows in concentration as I adjusted my grip on the plastic.
This was not an ability I thought would help me in the human world in this way, but I was beyond grateful I had the opportunity to practice. Bags so heavy weren’t something my body could handle by itself, so magic was necessary for me to succeed at this job.
Even if it was cheating.