Heart of Fey and Fire - Chapter 4 - Into the Fey Woods

Brittany

Our walk through the forest was weird. Weird, and short. Like, one second we were walking through woods, and then two seconds later the trees were parting to make way for a mansion. A mansion so big I definitely should have seen some sign of it, forest or no! I mean, there was smoke rising from a chimney and everything - was I just that oblivious?

‘Yes, but also I didn’t notice it either, so… I’m calling bullshit fae shenanigans.’

“Were you hiding this place from us?” I accused our… guide? Alessendra. 

She laughed. “Hiding it? No. It simply wasn’t there before - or rather, it was here, and we were there and now we’re all here… if that makes any sense?”

It didn’t. Or at least it shouldn’t have. But somehow it did? Like… we’d been somewhere else, and then we were here, so… “Teleportation?”

“Hmmm… Not exactly, but close. The fey woods have a way of taking you where you want to be. Or sometimes where you need to be. But never anywhere you’d never be, so it usually ends up fine.”

‘...I think she’s lost her marbles.’

I shook my head, though. “No, I think I get it! The forest took us here because here is where we wanted to be, right?”

“Or where you needed to be, perhaps. At the very least, the woods didn’t seem to see fit to free you from my grasp - a lucky stroke for the both of us, don’t you think?”

‘I’m not so sure about that…’

“It’s the three of us,” I reminded Alessendra, ignoring Brianna’s complaints. “There’s two of us in here, remember?”

“Hmmm… And yet only one of you is of import to me,” Alessendra replied, before letting out a sigh. “But very well. If you insist upon treating the beast as an equal-”

“Her name’s Brianna, actually. And mine’s Brittany. But, again, you can just call us Princess if you don’t know who’s fronting.”

“...You’re rather hard to rile up, aren’t you?” Alessendra noted. “Unlike the dragon girl you’re sharing a body with. I can practically feel the anger and fire boiling within her. Not that she could do anything to me if she tried.”

“And you’re very rude. And also obviously trying to get a rise from her, for some reason, which I really don’t appreciate, but see no reason to personally give in to.”

“My, to think I’d be seen through so quickly… And here I hoped you’d come to realize that a dragon is but a lowly beast compared to the magical magnificence that is us fey.”

“She’s as much a part of me as my own heart,” I explained, frowning. “Calling her a beast is calling me one. Sorta. Kinda. Maybe.”

“You don’t seem entirely sure, yourself,” Alessendra noted.

“It’s complicated, alright? It’s like… it’s like she’s me, but she’s also her own person? So she’s part of me, but she’s also a complete individual distinct from me. And the same for me to her. I’m Britany and she’s Brianna but we’re both Princess.”

“Now who’s being confusing?” Alessendra asked, shaking her head. “But very well. I’ll take you at your word, and try to treat her like an equal. Who knows? It might be entertaining to treat a beast like a princess…”

‘I really don’t like her,’ Brianna muttered.

“Yeah, well… I’m not entirely too thrilled with her either at the moment, but she’s got more of an idea of what’s going on with us than we do, at least in regards to our magic…”

“You do realize I can hear at least half your conversation, don’t you?”

“I do,” I confirmed. “And I’m trusting you to ignore it. Like a good host? With manners? Who doesn’t just refer to a princess as a beast constantly for no good reason.”

“Ah, so you’re hoping that I’ll act like someone else entirely, just because I’m your host?” Alessendra asked, laughing. “I see. Politeness… a chafing restriction at the best of times, but I suppose I’ll try.”

“I’m hoping you’ll start behaving like a decent human… or I guess fey being, and stop treating me like some sort of monstrosity. Aren’t dragons intelligent, anyways?”

“They are,” Alessendra confirmed. “And yet they still have such monstrous instincts. I wonder - are you an exception, Brianna? Or have your instincts simply not manifested yet?”

Brianna shrugged. “Hell if I know. I wasn’t even a hundred percent sure we had fey magic. Nobody back home ever commented on it - or the dragon sort…”

“I doubt those of the mortal realm could possibly tell,” Alessendra replied. “Though if anyone could, it would be the elves - some say they’re a distant cousin of ours, you know? Descended from insane fey who decided to live as mortals and take human lovers.”

“Just because they made choices you can’t understand doesn’t make them insane,” I pointed out, frowning.

“No?” Alessendra tilted her head a little, frowning back. “Well, maybe not. Maybe yes. Who can say?”

“Anyone can say! You’re just… really rude, and don’t like anything that doesn’t work in a way you understand.”

“Is that so?” Alessendra asked. “...I suppose it might be. But you’re missing an element of my personality.”

“And what’s that?” Brianna asked, cautiously.

“The fact that I go absolutely bonkers over anything that catches my interest. And you, my dears, have managed just that!”

“Then maybe try being polite to us so that we’ll actually stick around?” 

“Perhaps I will. Or perhaps I won’t. I wonder where you’ll go if I say no?”

“To die in the forest, I guess?” I suggested. “I mean, that’s basically the other option as you put it, but like… We already risked our lives on a crazy potion just to get away from one fate worse than death, so we’ll do it again if we have to.”

“...Noted,” Alessendra replied, with an uncharacteristic seriousness to her voice. “I’ll have to be careful how hard I push, if I don’t want to lose my new favorite fey.”

“Favorite fey?” I asked, cautiously. “What makes us - or I guess me - your favorite?”

“Well, how interesting you are, of course! Unique - bound in a semi-mortal form, and living in the same head as a dragon… I’d thought I’d seen everything this world had to offer during my time on it, and yet you’ve managed to show me something entirely new. It’s quite wonderful.”

‘Am I the only one who’s getting creeped out?’

“Nope,” I replied. “You’re not.”

Alessendra shot me a look, but didn’t say anything in response this time. Instead, she walked up to the door, which swung inward as she walked, perfectly timed so that she wouldn’t have to break stride.

“That door’s totally going to slam in our faces, isn’t it?” I accused Alessendra, giving her a dirty look.

She laughed. “Well, not now it won’t. It’s no fun if you’re expecting it.”

“Uh-huh,” I muttered, not believing her in the slightest. To my surprise, though, it really did stay open - until we’d walked inside, at which point it closed so loudly we practically jumped out of our skin.

“Maids!” Alessendra called out. “My guests here - there’s two, no matter what your eyes may say on the matter - are in need of a little help. Bathe them, dress them, and ready them for dinner.”

“We can take care of ourselves,” Brianna said, before I could. “We don’t need servants to do it for us.”

“Oh? Then you know where the bath is?” Alessendra questioned. “Where the soap is, how to draw the water, and where to find clean clothes, or where to go after you’ve eaten?”

Neither of us had a response to that. 

Alessendra laughed. “Then I suggest you let my maids do their jobs - but if it helps to avoid overwhelming you, then I suppose I can limit it to one maid for the time being. Let’s go with… Anna.”

“Anna?” Brianna asked, cautiously.

“Anna!” Alessendra replied gleefully, clapping her hands. A moment later a woman appeared before us. She was blonde, much like us, and dressed in a maid outfit straight from our fantasies - black, way too short skirt, and an impractical amount of cleavage. She also looked to be around the same age as us. And, judging by the shape of her ears…

“She’s human?” I asked.

“Yes. My most prized possession,” Alessendra replied. “Would you like her to be your personal maid?”

“Your… possession!?” Brianna demanded, before I could. “You can’t just own someone!”

“No? She wandered into our woods, without invitation, you know. Would have died in them, too, had I not scooped her up. Do I not have the right to claim her service as a result?”

“No!” I said, firmly. “You don’t!”

“...What an odd pair you two are,” Alessendra murmured, shaking her head. “But very well. If you feel so strongly about it, you can have her. You’re more interesting anyways.”

“I don’t want to have her, I want her to be free!”

“Then free her,” Alessendra replied, with a shrug. “After she’s finished showing you around the place. It’s not like she has anywhere to go, in any case.”

“That’s… you…”

“Anyways, I’m a bit peckish, so I’m going to go ahead and eat without you,” Alessendra declared. “Do join me once you’re ready, though. I’ll likely be eating for quite a while.”

I glared at Alessendra, my knuckles turning white as I clenched my fist. “Why did you have to be the first fey we came across?” Why couldn’t it be someone nicer?

“You’re lucky it was me,”she replied. “Most of the others would be far meaner - and much less generous. I did just give you my most prized possession, after all.”

I didn’t reply. I just glared. Not that Alessendra even seemed to notice as she turned away and walked towards what I assumed to be the dining room.

“Um… Mistress…es?” the maid - Anna - asked. “I’m… um…. To help you bathe…”

“We don’t need help bathing,” Brianna said, giving her a firm look. “But we’ll take the help with showing us around. And I promise you’ll be free as soon as we… well, figure out how to get you out of here…”

“It’s no problem, really,” Anna said. “Belonging to Master Alessendra, I mean - she’s quite nice to me… for the most part… Better than my parents were, at least.”

“She enslaved you,” I pointed out.

“And my parents threw me into the woods to die, because they had too many mouths to feed. And because I wasn’t very useful at home… Mistress Alessendra healed my eyes. She takes care of me. And all I have to do is take care of her…”

“Until she gets bored of you, and passes you along to the first princess who catches her eye,” Brianna remarked.

“That’s…  I mean, you seem nice… and… maybe it was her way of letting me go? Since you seem to want to do that…”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re way too understanding of people who don’t deserve it?” I asked, shaking my head. “But whatever. You’re our responsibility now, so we’ll figure out how to set you free in the mortal realm later… Maybe get you a job somewhere? It can’t be that hard to find a place for a pretty girl. If nothing else, some man or another might-”

“N-no!” Anna squeaked out. “I-I mean… um… I’ll do anything to serve you, Mistress, so… please. Don’t give me over to… a… a…”

“We won’t,” Brianna promised, firmly. “Sorry, Brittany spoke without thinking. Which is dumb, considering we’re running from the exact same thing.”

“Yeah, what she said.” I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling awkward now. “Sorry. I guess the whole medieval living thing has been getting to me more than I realized… Kinda started taking it for granted that it’s what most women around here seem brainwashed into actually wanting for themselves.”

“R-right,” Anna murmured, studying the floor. “Um… So… about the bath?”

“Right! Lead the way.”

~~~
Author's Notes Woo! Chapter 4! Now I can release chapter 2 to the public... yay?

I uh. Wasn't really expecting Anna to be a thing. But then we got there, and Alessendra was calling for a maid, and... Well, one thing led to another? And now I guess the girls have taken it onto themselves to free a slave. OH WELL. Better than keeping her as one? (Which yeah, no, they won't be doing. Even if she ends up traveling alongside them it's going to be with the knowledge that she's free to go. Though this may or may not lead to some complicated social interactions as they struggle with the fact that she perceives them as having authority over her, no matter what they say.

Anyway, we'll see where it goes!)

Next up is... probably Naughty Magic? But probably not tonight. (Like, no guarantees, it could be, but we're pretty exhausted after two chapters and don't wanna burn ourselves out.)