Feasts and Flowers

The room was too warm and far too loud. Arianette felt as if the press of bodies were closing in on her, threatening to crush and trample her. She was a creature of the forest. She hadn't been raised in halls like this and the cramped pressure of all these people with their prying eyes and booming voices filled her with anxiety. Her heart felt as if it were fluttering too fast in her chest and she felt like it was a struggle just to breathe. Heat rose in her cheeks as stars began to sparkle in her field of vision. She glanced around desperately. Both Lorna and Varik were out of reach and earshot, having been waylaid by a merman with a forked turquoise beard and bright silvery scaled arms. 

Guest of honor or not, Arianette had to get out of the smoky cramped hall before she blacked out. She could feel the dark panic rising up in her, threatening to crack wide open and overtake her. She darted into the shadows beneath the silver wall sconces, making her way towards the nearest exit. 

"Excuse me, pardon me, I'm sorry." She mumbled as she shoved past partygoers without looking at them, keeping her eyes downcast and trying to maintain steady breathing. The more polite Fae tossed curious glances in her direction, others stared openly at her as if she were some alien thing. This only intensified the panic that felt like it was choking her.

Finally, she reached the door in the back of the hall and burst through it, slamming it closed behind her. She sunk down to her knees, eyes closed, inhaling and exhaling deeply.

As she knelt, head tipped back, she got the strange sensation that she was not alone. The hairs on her neck stood up and her skin began to tingle. She could sense the soft swell of magic riding the air. 

She opened her eyes and found him standing there before her. 

Braedin. 

"Enjoying the gardens?" He asked casually, squatting down to her eye level. 

Arianette blinked at him. She glanced around, taking in the garden that surrounded her for the first time. It was full of bioluminescent flowers glowing in iridescent shades of yellow, pink, and blue. 

"I've never seen anything like them." She breathed. She reached out to touch a nearby flower, running her finger along a trumpeted violet bloom, a glowing  lily the size of her fist. It was firm and velvety and seems to somehow gravitate to her touch. 

"Shouldn't you be at the feast? Aren't you the guest of honor?" Braedin asked, studying her.

"Shouldn't you be?" Arianette countered. Braedin let out a burst of laughter. 

"Touché." He said. "I'll let you in on a secret. I'm not really a fan of these big brouhahas." He winked at Arianette.

"Me neither." She declared, relieved. It seemed unlikely that Braedin was here to haul her back into the feast. "What is this place?" Arianette asked, getting to her feet. 

"It is called the night garden." Braedin explained. It really was a wonder, and it felt good to be near growing things again. Arianette had not realized just how much she had missed her trips to the Greenwood in the past few days until now. 

"This one," he said, plucking a beautiful pale blue blossom "is called the Skye Lily. It grows only in the Skye Court and is our official flower. May I?" He asked. Arianette nodded and he tucked the bloom behind her ear. The petals tickled her cheek lightly and she stifled a giggle. She reached out to touch another flower, this one a scarlet bud. At the brush of her thumb it burst into bloom, unfurling into a kaleidoscope blossom of scarlet and gold. Arianette clapped her hands together delighted. 

"They are so beautiful." She said.  This time she did not try to hold back her laughter, she let it fall like rain as several other flowers unfurled their petals before her very eyes. 

"Not so beautiful as you, though, lady Arianette. The flowers try to compete with your beauty, but you remain the loveliest bloom of all." If someone else had said it, it might've come out as phony or mocking. When Braedin said it, it just made her blush prettily. 

"You're… wings…  are beautiful too." She stammered, meaning to trade a compliment for a compliment, certain that she sounded quite the fool. Braedin stretched one muscular wing towards her, an invitation to stroke the tawny feathers. She reached out and very gently ran her fingers over the sleek down. This close he smelled earthy and spicy, like sandalwood and cloves with an underlying sweetness... honeycomb or sweetbark sap.

"What manner of bird do they come from?" Arianette managed to ask. Her palms began to sweat again.  Braedin tossed her a smile so boyish that it caused a little flutter in her chest.

"No mere bird, lady Arianette. My wings are of the hippogryph." Braedin said proudly.

"Hippogryph?" Arianette asked.

"It is a creature of myth and legend. A fae beast with the wings and head of a raptor, the body of a bull, the size of a man. In my father's day they often flew beside us into battle.  Once they were plentiful in the high peaks of the Skye Court, but now… the aeries are empty. The beasts have flown." He gestured futilely. 

Arianette tried to picture a sky full of creatures, half bird and half beast with beautiful banded wings like Braedin's.  It was a majestic image. And now they were all gone. Gone where? She wondered. Where would creatures who had called these mountains home for centuries go… and why? Thinking about it made Arianette uneasy. There must be something amiss in these lands indeed, though she had seen no sign of it yet. 

"And Varik's wings? What fanciful creature do they come from?" She asked trying to change the subject. Braedin's expression only darkened.

"There is no other creature with wings like Varik's." Braedin admitted grudgingly. "While we are both High Fae, he is a Lord. The princes of our people need not share their wings with lesser beasts." Jealousy...Arianette detected it in his tone.

"Well, I do not even have wings." She laughed awkwardly, trying to make light of the whole conversation. Braedin stared at her strangely, searchingly. 

"Are you sure?" He asked, arching a golden eyebrow. Before she could ask what he meant by that, Braedin spread his golden wings and launched himself into the air, leaving her standing alone in the garden.

She stood there for a long while, breathing in the earthy living scent of the gardens, trying to slow her racing heart.