It was already late in the night when we returned to our respective quarters. I was currently on Chloe's bed and she laid on my chest.

 

"You have gathered quite the menagerie of sups," I remarked. She nodded and nudged deeper against me.

 

Though, I didn't get close and personal with all of them. I knew that every single one of them was unordinary. Even among the supernatural population.

 

"Yes, they are all unique. I didn't gather them per se. You can say that I chanced upon them."

 

"Oh? Can I have the stories of these encounters?"

 

"You are curious? Well, I suppose I could narrate one to you." She made herself even more comfortable before continuing.

 

"Which story shall I pick? Let start with Eric's story since you met him first." Chloe tapped her finger on her chin before deciding to speak about her meeting with Prince Eric.

 

"Eric, as you know, is a faerie prince. Although the position in itself is that of high prestige and majesty, it isn't an unassailable one. After all, there are at least hundreds of princes and much more princesses.

The vast amount of them would have made for quite a bloody succession rite. That is if the current king hadn't decided to pass on his throne to Eric. Naturally, this sparked discontent among his brothers and sisters.

Eric's father is, after all, the faerie king who reigned the longest. Nothing indicated that he would suddenly decide to abdicate a couple of years ago.

Still, the words of a king were absolute. So, they could only begrudgingly accept."

 

"Pause." I interrupted. "I heard that Eric was banished because he slept with numerous women? Among them, was the wife of another faery king. He was exiled because his father wasn't strong enough to defend him. At least, Stella told me as such when I met him. From what you are telling me now, I sense that things aren't so simple."

 

"So this is what he's been telling people...." Chloe affected a wry expression.

 

"You meant to say none of it is true?" I asked shocked.

 

"Not exactly, it's not lies per se. Fae can't lie. He just manipulated perception by being selective. Fae folks are aces at this."

 

"As I was saying, his father is one of the kings of faerie who had the longest reign out of the 6 current ones. Naturally, for that to be possible, he can't be weak. Nobody knows his real strength. Even with his strength unknown, while he reigned, none of the other kings dare to challenge him.

If he had been present when Eric was trialed and sentenced to exile things would have turned differently. Somehow he was held back somewhere dealing with unknown matters.

Eric misled Stella about the reason why he was exiled. That doesn't mean that what he told her about his dissolute nature being the cause was not the truth. It's just a part of it. His brethren just used this excuse to exile him.

They said that they couldn't defend themselves against the potential wrath of a fae king.

Most likely, the fact that a woman promised to another faerie king ended in his bed was also part of the scheme.

You see, Eric is unique even among faerie royalty. Not only was he born with perfect mastery over the light element, but he also possessed another power that frightened every fae. He could manipulate and feed off the emotions of living beings.

The two power separately weren't frightening. It was the fact that by feeding on emotions, his other power was growing stronger without any apparent limit. The two power had developed a synergic relationship.

It can be expected that he would have reached the higher spectrum of power in faerie in a couple of centuries, maybe the pinnacle below the gods. For the other kings, his brothers, his sisters, and other shadowy powers, it was a frightening perspective.

As such, he was framed and summarily exiled."

 

"I don't understand something. Aren't the other kings incredibly powerful themselves? Surely someone would have thought to just kill him right? What is the point of this elaborate scheme?"

 

"You don't understand faerie. On the faerie plane, every single being is undying by the decree of Nik, the god of time. The only way to kill an individual is to banish him to another plane. Such as ours for example." She explained patiently while absently drawing concentric circles on my chest with her hand.

 

"I see... Still, if that is the case why the shady trial? and subsequent condemnation? They could have simply lured him on our plane."

 

"This is due to the importance of 'banishment'. A fae that is banished loses his metaphorical connection to faerie. You can see it as being orphaned. Only then can they be killed. If they simply lured him here they could certainly have killed him but as long as someone brings his body, ashes, or even a particle of his being back to faerie, he would resurrect."

 

"This is insane. What a cheated race. I guess having a god look over your well-being is pretty sweet." I exclaimed.

 

"I don't think you are in the position to say this." Chloe chuckled with amusement.

 

"Yeah, you're right." I, the absurd guy who never stayed dead couldn't judge them.

 

"So, I venture you came upon him while he was running from the hounds?"

 

"Indeed. He was running from the hounds as you say. This lasted until they crossed into our territory. The commotion raised by the battle that followed would have alerted humans had we not acted promptly. Prince Eric was powerful, far more powerful than he is at the moment. The past me couldn't compare."

 

I was only mildly shocked by this. After all, I had postulated something similar only a few hours ago. I gestured for her to go on.

 

"But the backlash of his severed connection to faerie weakened him severely. Royals have the strongest connection to faerie among fae kin. As such, he was hit harder than an average fae would have been. Because of this, he was steadily losing to his pursuers. If I didn't intervene he would most likely be dead."

 

I would have liked to see the facetious Eric in his golden days.

 

"In any case, he was so grateful at first that he proposed to me. For him, this was the greatest expression of his gratitude."

 

I coughed out of surprise and my face darkened momentarily.

 

*The shameless bastard.

 

"I said no and the rest as they say is history. He started working for me to pay back his debt. One idiosyncrasy of their kind is the obsession with debt, real or perceived."

 

"I see...They didn't send others after him? And his father didn't come back to look for him?"

 

"No, and no. I don't know if his father ever came back from where he disappeared. As for the fae, they are indeed powerful but antagonizing both our Crimson family and Clarisse in this plane isn't a wise move for anyone."

 

"Clarisse? our resident demigoddess?" I asked surprised. "How is she involved in this?"

 

"Well, she sympathized with Eric as a fellow evicted." Chloe looked awkward.

 

"Ah. Yes, she was also banished from faerie. Still baffling by the way." I nodded in understanding.

 

"To conclude, they weren't ready to fight with one of the most powerful vampire families AND a demigoddess on top of that. So, they could only run their tail hidden behind their legs." She said schadenfreude thick in her voice.

 

"You seem particularly pleased by that, I mean beyond managing to save a friend."

 

"Well, I once went to faerie in a diplomatic mission to meet one of their kings. Let just say that I found their royals to be deeply unpleasing during the two centuries I spent there." She explained.

 

"WAIT back up, I thought you were in your earlier twenties?"

 

"I am, in faerie time pass differently."

 

"I see... spooky."

 

"Yeah, that's an acceptable term for the experience I went through there." She said grimaçing.

 

I sensed a juicy story but I let it go for now.

 

*Tomorrow, we battle. We need to rest. Well...

 

"So, are we sleeping right away or...." I drew the end of my words while looking at her body suggestively.

 

Her eyes lit up a bright red and let just say that we spent another two hours awake.