Chapter Three

A conversation between siblings

Ever since they found out about their mother’s true nature, the triplets would be told tales about her life in the realm of the fey. As a child, she had visited members of the Seelie Court with other school children during balls and functions for wealthy affluent fey girls. These balls were grand with willow trees transforming into body harnesses and skirts being crafted by tangled tulips and roses. Drinks made from dew dripping from leaves and pure sugar cane were served on trays with roasted acorns. 

Seelie fairies loved having huge feasts and dances to party their nights away. Day by day they would party, dance, eat, socialize and then repeat until the time for school or work came. They were a jovial bunch of people who lived life as if today was their last and burned their cash as soon as it hit their pockets. It was embedded into their culture to enjoy what they do and put all of their desires into the meals they cooked and the expensive gowns they dressed in that night. 

One would wonder how they had time for running a country with all the hours they spent focusing on themselves. But despite this shallow behavior, the Seelie Faeries took the same amount of pleasure in involving themselves in the arts. Some of the greatest paintings, songs, and novels came from a creature of the fey with Seelie blood flowing through their vines. They were born to use their minds for creative endeavors and to embrace their heart's desires to have a fun time.

These tales of the Seelie were filled with wonder and made Aiden want to meet them someday. In contrast, the stories she gave that focused on the Unseelie left a hollow feeling when she moved on. It wasn’t like they were evil but the total opposite of the Seelie in their tradition and morals. They valued knowledge above all else, even if it meant sacrificing their relationships and health. Unseelie faeries took advantage of their extended lives to spend their youths on research, schooling, and advancing their society.

If you came across an Unseelie child they would know a handful of languages already and have parents putting them in hour-long courses to learn more. They had their parties and balls but instead of doing it purely for fun, it would be used to make connections for future careers and endeavors. A good chunk of the Unseelie Court had gone about colonizing unclaimed land the Seelie Court had left alone, using it to mine minerals and provide homes for their rapidly growing community.

So to learn that they would make such a strange law puzzled Aiden, of all people to want to add restrictions with contacting the human world why the Unseelie? They were one of the firsts to begin bringing changelings into the mainstream from what he had been taught.

“Mom said that the image of changelings has soured with the new Unseelie Queen taking the thrown,” Posy accepted a mug of warm tea from Avery who had returned home to see the younger girl in tears. Quickly, they had explained what was happening and she instantly started to calm everyone down with some of their mother’s healing tea. “She’s a changeling who was taken as a newborn to be raised by the last King after his wife became infertile.”

Avery coughed loudly, spitting out some of the tea she had drunk. “An infertile fairy? Is that even possible with our connection to the earth and her being well, the embodiment of the Unseelie?”

The Seelie and Unseelie Queens were chosen due to their bloodline. Every time a new heir was to be given, their blood would be drawn and tested. If it was shown to be connected directly to the earthy soil of the land of the fey, they were chosen and meant from birth to give the word more pure fey children. Their blood was the strongest and any baby they had would be worth more than anything the human world had to offer. A queen unable to have biological children was unheard of and for a changeling to take the thrown, it was something you wouldn’t even imagine happening.

“She had been cursed with infertility since her years as a princess and hit it from everyone. This led to an uproar and with her death, people have been calling the new queen an unworthy heir to the throne. A changeling is,, after all, a human who just was raised as a creature of the fey.” Posy said handing the other teenager a napkin to wipe herself off.

“And now the Unseelie Court will never have a pure-blooded heir again,” Aiden said understanding how the prideful Unseelie Faeries would lose their mind in such a situation. A law to stop this from happening again would appear reasonable in their eyes. 

“Jeez, does this mean we’ll be treated as second-class citizens when we enter the land of the fey? Since mom’s fairy parents associate with both courts we’ll be bound to encounter an Unseelie Fairy.” Avery said with a sullen look on her face.

Posy pulled at her hair, her face red with annoyance as she groaned loudly. “I don’t get how this affects us, anyway. Why do we have to lose the right to stay in the human world because the Unseelie Court is having a civil war? We aren’t a part of any court.” It looked like she was going to start crying again as she dabbed at her eyes with one of the many napkins in her lap.

“Mom could have joined the Unseelie Court without telling us. Or it could be a law that will be enforced on all fey no matter what allegiance they may have.” Both of his sisters appeared to be considering what he was saying, it was the only idea they proposed that made any sense. 

Everything was happening so fast, he didn’t blame them for being confused. So much was going on that they didn’t even know about until it was too late. He was going to demand their mother tell them everything that was happening as it sounded like she left a fair amount out. The woman didn’t do well under stress so he tried not to be too mad at her not saying more or anything sooner. This was something that was going on around her while they were safe in the human world. 

His tea had gone cold as he pushed it aside and got up from his seat to walk around the room. Aiden wanted to clear his head as it felt like it might explode from all the thoughts colliding together. One minute he would think about how this would be the perfect opportunity to look for Cassandra. He would be in the land of the fey and have access to all sorts of creations that could help find her. But another part worried about what the realm may have become due to the political unrest and if she was even there.

‘My life is a fucking mess.’ Aiden thought as he paced around the room with his hands in his hair. It was hard to remain calm but he had to be the triplet with a head on their shoulders right now. His sisters were stressed enough with caring for him and now their way of life was being thrown upside down. 

Avery was liked well enough at school though her reputation had suffered when she got into fights defending him. She got average grades and participated in track until she was suspended when attempting to punch that girl in the face for insinuating she helped him kill Cassandra. Posy on the other hand was always the social butterfly of the three who was friends with multiple groups in the school and had stellar grades, so good that when they were in middle school she took an exam to skip a grade and failed it by a few points.

They had a future, while he didn’t with the town turning against him. And going to the land of the fey permanently would change that future forever. God, he wished his mother had just told this earlier before it blew up in their faces like this. That way they could have had more time to discuss the new law and whether or not they would protest it or involve themselves in the debates some changelings took part in. Maybe, their input as the children of a changeling raised in the human world would have made a difference.