In The Moonlight

"This is all your fault!" Nicholas yelled, trying to contain his rage. 

"My fault?" Briar asked back, her face heating up. She didn’t like fighting with anyone. Let alone Nicholas. 

"Yeah, yours!"

"What did I do?"

"You needed that darn library book, could you not have survived without it?" Nicholas asked angrily. Why she had needed anything in the library he didn’t know. 

"No! Nicholas, I have been waiting for that book for three months, the last one left me on a cliffhanger. Do you understand? I need answers. Now we may be locked in here, but hey, we have all these books to ourselves and there is no time limit." And with that Briar pranced off, her long strawberry blonde hair flowing out behind her. She sat down and leaned against a bookshelf. Nicholas scuffed his feet. He didn't like reading. He looked around himself. What could he do for the next... who knew how long they would be here?! He slumped his shoulders and walked over to Briar. Her nose was stuck in her book and her face looked torn. She was probably in the middle of a plot twist, Nicholas thought. Briar looked up, noticing Nicholas watching her. 

“It’s so darn good,” Briar said her face flushing with emotion. 

“Why don’t we do something else?” Nicholas whined. He hated libraries. He rolled his eyes and sighed pointedly.

“Like what? We are in a library,” She gestured to the room around her. Nicholas shrugged and sat down next to her. 

“Look over there.” 

Briar finished reading her sentence and lifted her head from her book. She made a point of looking to where he was pointing. A large spiral staircase with books lining the sides seemed to glow in the moonlight coming in through the windows. It was made of wood and the floorboard seemed silver in the dark night. Flowers hung in sconces around the room. The only light was a warm glow coming from a few fake candles lighting the stairs. It looked magical. Briar didn’t want to look away. Nicholas looked at her. She looked so at home here. Like she belonged here. 

“Why don’t we explore?” He asked her, holding his hand out. Briar hesitated for a moment then took his hand and stood up. She shut her book and clutched it under her arm. Her hair tumbled down over her shoulders. Her green eye caught the light and Nicholas was transfixed by her. Her skin seemed to glow. Her hair seemed golden. He stood, staring at her. She was so beautiful. The moonlight made her seem ethereal. He shook his head and walked over to the staircase. His cheeks were blushing slightly. He reached the staircase and let Briar up first. She smiled at him and walked up. her back looked like wings were on it. Nicholas reached out a hand and touched them. His hand felt them. They felt like droplets of cobwebs. Soft, silky string. Entwined in small patterns on her back. It was beautiful.

“Bri,”

“Yeah?”

“Do you know about this?” He asked. Briar turned. Her face turned into awe.

“Are t-t-those wings?”

“Um, I’m pretty sure they are,”

“That is so cool,” 

“Yeah,”

“Wait turn around,”

“Bri, I don’t read, I won’t have wings,” 

“Just do it and let yourself be a kid for one second will you?” She said stubbornly. That was one of the things he loved about her. She never gave up. Not ever. Nicholas turned, sighing as he did so. He felt Briar’s hands trace his back, looking for any sign of wings. She giggled as she kept tracing his back. Nicholas could get used to this feeling. Briar’s laughter became louder as she kept going.

“What?” He asked, turning to see if anything was there. 

“You are going to LOVE this,” Briar kept giggling.

“What is it Bri?” Nicholas asked, getting more worried.

“Don’t worry Nic, it’s just slightly elf looking ears.”

“WHAT?!” Nicholas turned his face bright red.

“Ha! Fooled you!” 

“Bri!” Nicholas yelled, but he was too busy laughing to be mad. Bri broke down into tears and soon enough they both were in full hysterics. Briar’s wings twitched and she sat up. Her earlier expression was gone. 

“What is it?” Nicholas asked.

“I can feel something in the air.”

“That sounds weird, what do you mean?” Nicholas was not known for being subtle.

“I don’t know, come with me.”

“Um, okay,” Nicholas got up and followed Briar. She walked down the staircase and whizzed around a corner. She gasped as she rounded the bookcase.

A tiny ring of books was set up in a circle. Small figures were flying about them and music could be heard. It looked tranquil. So peaceful. Briar reached down and sat on the floor. Nicholas followed her. 

“Hello there,” Briar said, reaching out her hand to the fairies. They laughed and the elves joined in. The naughty pixies were set on reading every book. It was so perfect.

“You are the ones the elders told us about,” a small fairy with short dark green hair and light blue skin said.

“What do you mean?”

“The elders told us of this day, they said you would come in a throne of green and gold.”

Briar looked down. Her shirt was glinting gold in the light. Nicholas’ shirt was green.

“But who are we?”

“You are the fairy king and queen.”

“Oh,” Briar was taken aback. So was Nicholas.

“You must have us confused, we can’t be-”

“So what do we do exactly?” Briar asked, cutting Nicholas off. 

“You rule over us, you give us laws, like any other king and queen.”

“Well if I’m king then-” He leant in and kissed Briar on the lips. She looked shocked for a moment then she kissed back. Neither of them pulled away.

“I’ve wanted to do that for so long,” Nicholas said, his voice still a bit hoarse from it. Briar simply blushed and looked at the ground. A smile twitched at the sides of her mouth.

“Me too,” She mumbled in barely a whisper. Nicholas had heard it though.  And that was all that mattered.