The Stable Boy and the Faerie Prince

Sept 2nd

If you're familiar with older faerie lore myths you know of the darker twisted side of the Tuatha De Danann and their baby-snatching, trickery, even bloodthirsty and sometimes human flesh hungry tendencies. Certainly not the lovely glossy image Disney fairytales have painted over the last 50 or so years...

They could be cruel and were often strictly hierarchical with titles and power playing heavily into their ways... hence the reason firstborns were favored for baby-snatching. They were also cruel to their own sometimes, waging war against other fae races and houses or royal families.

That said,

I was a Faerie Prince and unfortunately I was in love with a human. My kin didn't approve much of our union so we ran away together. I went to the tavern where he worked as a stable boy and found him tending the horses. I had to be really sneaky because the last thing we wanted was for the more rowdy drunk patrons to find us--let alone me, a fae or "demon of the night"--conspiring.

The human I was so taken with was probably in his early twenties, wiry, and had shoulder-length brown hair that was tied back in a messy ponytail. Of course he was dirty from a hard day's work but it was his smell that I remember most vividly; horses and hay. I think his name was Daniel or something similar sounding.
(An aside: Growing up I spent at lot of time on a farm with horses and cows and that particular smell has always brought back fond memories. Most folks seem to find it repulsive but I love it.)

He was surprised to see me prowling around in the shadows and was very worried. He kept asking why I was here, if I was insane, and why him. I kept telling him that I had come to take him away because I was madly in love with him and no horde of faeries nor army of men could keep me from him. He called me an idiot so I promptly grinned, pulling him into my arms and kissing him fiercely.

We ran away into the dark. I felt like someone was following us and to my horror discovered we were being chased by some trooping faeries. I dragged him into an abandoned cabin (which, now that I think about it, looked a lot like my old house in Oregon) and bolted the door. It began to storm outside and we soon discovered the roof had leaks. I went around putting protective wards on the doors and windows to hide us from them.

When that was done, we sat in the middle of the floor where it was mostly dry and just held each other in the dark, afraid to move or make a sound. Off in the distance, we could hear the villagers shouting and we saw them coming over the hill carrying torches... coming to get us apparently... and on the other side, a bunch of faerie soldiers sent to capture me and presumably kill him.

Daniel turned to me suddenly and it was a very 'forth wall breaking' moment, "You should probably wake up now. It's about to get bloody."

It sank in that I was dreaming and then I was back in the waking world like that. *snaps* Poor Daniel though. I kinda felt bad about leaving him there.