Chapter 1

Walking to my current home, I pass a human compound. Humans have become a rarity. Between the millions of lives lost during the wolf and vampire war, which is still going on, and the vampires picking them off for a snack, there just were hardly any left.

I loved humans. Being an Fae caused us to want to play, it was in our blood, but only crossing paths with violent supernatural beings I rarely got to be myself. On that note, I decided that I was stopping. It was a temptation that even I could not resist. Besides, I still need food because those pesky wolves made me drop everything I risked my life for. Such a waste of time and more importantly energy.

Once again, the perks of being Fae were making themselves known. We had the ability to conceal ourselves from human eyes. I suppose you could say that we had the ability to turn invisible, but only to humans. Letting myself be visible, I made my way to the market. Picking up some bread, some meat, and cheese I make my way over to pay, all the while thinking to myself about that myth that we couldn’t touch bread. I laughed out loud at the thought; of course we could pick up bread. As shocking as it sounds, we could even eat and digest it. Sometimes I wonder where these myths started; I just liked to chalk it up to very vivid imaginations.

I’m about to walk up to the cashier when I spy exactly what I was looking for, there on the ground sat several small rocks. They were the perfect size for what I needed them to do. I pick up them up, and, using my magic, I made them appear to be coins. Fae gold never ceases to save my broke ass. Walking up to shop owner, I hand him the coins and grab my bags, swiftly walking away.

Wait for it.

In three . . . two . . . one . . .

Right on cue the shop owner yells, “Hey! Get back here! You can’t pay with these!”

I, of course, keep walking. I’m almost out of the compound when I see a boy of around thirteen curled in a ball on the ground. He is so skinny that I can see just about every bone he has. I may like to play tricks on humans, but I still love them. There is absolutely no way that I can leave the boy without aiding him.

I pull out the first thing I wrap my fingers around and hand it to him. He thanks me after he takes the cheese. I desperately attempt to ignore it and walk away; I really do. I know he doesn’t know I’m Fae, but I just can’t let it go. Being raised as an Imperial it was drilled into me that it is very unacceptable. It’s a good thing it was me and not an older Fae because they would’ve been extremely angry.

I pop up beside him making him jump.

“You know, you should never thank an Fae. By saying thank you, it’s basically saying you’ll forget the good deed I bestowed upon you. If you want to “thank” me, do something that will guarantee me you’ll remember. Not all Fae are as nice as me, and I just thought I’d give you fair warning. For future references and such.” I stand up with a grin knowing that I just did my good deed of the day.

He just looks at me bewildered for a second before he starts laughing. I fail to see the humor in this, and I let him know.

“You honestly think you’re a fairy? Fairies aren’t real.”

Now that gets to me.

“Do you not believe in werewolves and vampires?” At the nod of his head I continue. “Then why is it so hard to believe that Fae are real? And please do not call me a fairy again. It’s a vile and offensive word. The proper terminology is Fae.”

Glancing away from him, something shiny grabs my attention. On the ground behind him is a beautiful piece of jewelry. It’s a simple necklace, golden chain with a tiny gold lily. It immediately catches my eye, and I know I want it. After all, it is in the Fae’s nature to steal small trinkets.

Now what’s the easiest way to get it, I think while rubbing my chin.

An amazing plan starts forming in my mind. Acting like I’m walking away, I pretend to trip and fall on the ground, conveniently landing within arm’s reach of the necklace. I quickly grab it, stuff it into my pocket, and jump up. Crossing my fingers, I hope he won’t notice it’s missing until I’m long gone.

If he asks me if I stole it I cannot lie, one of the downfalls to being Fae. Though I may not be able to lie, I can talk my way out of almost anything. It’s something we’re famous for, confusing people with our words.

Thankfully, I catch a break, and he doesn’t notice. Not wanting to take any chances though, I swiftly walk away and leave before he really has the chance to say anything.

Exhausted, I decide that I’ve had enough fun for the day. Walking towards the gate, I make my way out of their compound and into the surrounding forest. I shouldn’t have too much of a walk ahead of me, but I can feel the fatigue begin to wear in. All the events from today are slowly but surely catching up to me. My body is beyond ready for a break.

Currently, I reside in this tiny abandoned cottage in the middle of nowhere. It’s just a cozy six hundred square foot, one room, and what I call my temporary home. The whole house can be seen from the front doorway, from the kitchenette on the left to the pull out couch with the tiny TV on the right. The bathroom, if you can really even call it that, is just a toilet, sink, and stand up shower. It’s so crowded in there that when you sit on the toilet your knees are under the sink. It’s a far cry from the Seelie Court mansion I grew up in, but I’m flexible and don’t mind.

The downfall to living in the middle of nowhere is the lack of food. Hence the reason I broke into the royal mansion to steal some. It was sheer luck the humans had chosen to camp out directly on my route home.

Just the thought of humans makes me think about the several little items of theirs I have accumulated over the years. I once stole a book they had written about us. I couldn’t even make it past the first chapter without collapsing in hysterics. It’s not that I believe that humans are stupid or below me; their imaginations are just so far out there. Their views on the supernatural always give me a good laugh. It’s normally so far off base that I can’t even read through a whole paragraph, but on a rare occasion you do run into those who have dealt with supers and told the truth via books, internet, etc. Of course this book was written before the war broke out and we came out to the world. Any human that has the gall to write about us now, however, I have high respect for them; they’re extremely brave. If they’re caught, then it mean it’s instant death for them. Usually, the ones that have written a book either made a deal with a Fae or end up being a mate to a super. Even then they still run the risk of being executed. Telling the world of our strengths and weaknesses is one of the highest crimes you can commit. Although we all pretty much know each species weaknesses, it is a whole other game when it's written out on paper for everybody to see.

For example, I ran across about a book written about Fae once. It showed several pictures of Fae with wings. In reality, only the King and Queen of both courts have wings, and even then their wings aren’t out all the time. The actual Fae wings are gorgeous. The color varies with each King and Queen, but they are so light in color that they are transparent. Their wings typically span from a foot or so above head to about the knees. One thing the book did get right was the fact that they are sparkly. Hardly anybody knows of this fact though because the King and Queen can hide them. It actually looks pretty painful because the wings just kind of mold with their skin. The princes and princesses, such as myself, have the potential to have wings. In order to obtain them the King and Queen have to formally denounce themselves, and pronounce said prince or princess the new ruler. My King and Queen, also known as Mom and Dad, disappeared before they could give away their title. I may never get my wings or be formerly announced as the Queen of the Seelie Court. I guess it wouldn’t really matter though considering all of the other Fae are gone as well.

The book also said we had this whole long list of weaknesses and we were these tiny beings. I admit, we do have quite a few weaknesses, but not as many they would like to think. Of course iron is our main weakness, and if you turn your clothes inside out I can’t touch you. Four leaf clovers are also a major weapon against us. For some odd reason, if you have one on your body we can’t come within five feet of you. There is a catch though, for it to work it has to be touching skin. For example, if someone has one in their pocket I can touch them, but if they’re holding it I can’t. We’re also just as tall as humans, sometimes even taller. I’m thinking they must have confused us with the sprites.

On the other hand the accurate books were, well, accurate, for lack of a better word. It had stated that we can’t lie, like to play tricks on people, and we like to steal small things. Well I guess they did also have the whole, stealing babies and switching them with changelings things right, but only the Unseelie Court did that. The idea of stealing a baby holds no appeal to me.

Oh yes, I’m forgetting the most important thing. If anybody finds out your true name they have full control of you. Thankfully only my parents and my brother know my full name. Lily is just a nickname. If somebody wanted to control you all they have to do is say “In the name of (insert your full name here) I command you . . .” and whatever they want you to do.

This can cause a lot of problems. It’s how the vampires used us to wipe each other out. The Unseelie court had united with the vampires while the Seelie Court aligned with the werewolves. We had been at a stale mate for ages before things really started picking up. I guess the vampires and the Unseelie were starting to feel threatened by us, so they met up and started doing research. Somehow they were able to find out a lot of our real names, close to three quarters of the Seelie court. Luckily, mine was not one of them. Any Fae that’s full name was revealed was commanded to either attack their own allies or take them hostage. Next thing we knew, we were at war with each other. I mean we were always at war, but this was real war.

It was during the final battle that my mom knew we were going to lose, so she told me to run and not look back. After the small glimpse I had caught of the battle I wasn’t about to argue, so that’s exactly what I did. I ran for hours with little to no thought of the people I left behind before I had to stop. Since I’m aligned with the Seelie court earth, air, light, and heat all respond to me. We also have the added benefit of communicating with animals. The Unseelie court has water, ice, and frost. I made myself a comfy spot directly under a tree, and made a little campfire to keep me warm. Again the perks of being a Seelie Fae.

When I woke, it was already dark. Nobody had come to find me yet, so I started my long hike back to the battleground. The moment I started walking back a terrible thought crossed my mind. I left my younger brother there. I seriously forgot about my brother, abandoning him in the middle of the battle. Horrified with myself I sprinted all the way back, and made it back in record time.

Once I got there, I instantly had to cover my nose. The smell of blood and death was strong in the air. There were probably about fifty bodies spread around; the rest were gone. Most of the casualties were from the Unseelie, but I couldn’t find any of the survivors. I searched for hours and came up empty.

Not one Fae remained. It’s like they just vanished.

I was at a loss; I didn’t know what to do. All I knew was that if I stayed here any longer I would break down. I knew I couldn’t do that yet; in case the enemy was still lurking around. So I did the sensible thing, and I ran.

I’ve been on the run ever since. I know the vampires are looking for me because the few that I have run into have tried to capture me. Being the dumb blood suckers they are, they slipped and told me there was a one million dollar reward for me alive, and a half million dead. I never understood why, though. Why did they want me so bad? Did they have anything to do with my missing Fae? And most importantly, are they dead or alive? Or were they just wanting to finish off the job by killing the last Fae standing?

I knew that I would never get my answers, and the attacks were beginning to come more frequently, causing me to take the offensive. I decided to throw them off their game a bit and changed my appearance, so I put a veil over myself. I went from being my natural five foot five inch, fair skinned, black hair, green eyed Fae to a tan, red hair, brown eyed human.

I’ve been trying to figure out exactly why the war between the two species started in the first place. I’ve heard a couple different theories, but one was told to me many times over.