Guilty Pleasures
She doesn't do it very often; perhaps once every other month. When the curiosity and need become nearly unbearable, she prepares. She takes no lovers that night, no pets; even Eamon, her consort, is told to find his own bed. She does this often, so as not to arouse suspicion. When she is alone, she slips out into the dark hallways, and then out of the Sithean itself. The Sithean has a mind of its own, but she has been a Queen for many centuries, and has a little command over the doorway in and out of the Faerie Mound. Royalty does have privileges after all.
Sometimes, the Black Coach awaits her, but sometimes she must walk. It's a little galling, but she doesn't want to draw attention to herself. This secret is hers alone, and she'd punish any who saw her. She pulls her Glamour around her, dulling the shine of her skin and eyes, becoming nothing more than a mortal woman. Lovely, but Mortal nonetheless.
The hospital reception area is quiet, and the shadows help to camouflage her movements. It's after visiting hours, but she makes it across the room, and into the elevator unmolested. She's never been caught, in all the years she's done this. She dimly remembers standing outside wooden huts, and creeping along stone hallways. Then, as now, she was as silent as the darkness that gave her power.
Her destination is not as quiet or dark, as the patients here keep their own timetables, but that too helps to hide her. Her glamour warps itself, and now she is a nurse, able to move around with impunity. No one gives her a second look, as she stops in front of the glass to stare.
Babies. Row upon row of mortal infants. Some sleep, some scream, and some simply stare out at her as if they know who and what Andais is. She gazes hungrily at what she cannot have anymore, at what some mortals throw away like garbage. Children are precious to the Sidhe, and it rankles that the mortals outbreed them.
A movement out of the corner of her eye, and Andais turns to see a family in the hallway. Father, Grandmother, and Grandfather, and a new Mother, still glowing with life, a tiny pink bundle in her arms. They're so wrapped up in the child they don't notice Andais until she's standing right beside the new mother.
The woman looks anxious until Andais smiles.
"Congratulations."
"Thank you." A smile, sweet, and brilliant with new love.
"She's lovely." Andais reaches out slowly, and touches the small plump fist curled up on the blanket.
Once upon a time, she would have blurred the sight and mind of the mortals, and when they came to, she and the child would have been gone. Tales of the Fae stealing children were grounded in fact, after all. Once upon a time.
Now, she simply smiles down at the one thing she can no longer have, and as the mortals shift nervously, she lays a hand on the child's head.
"May she grow tall, straight of limb, and well-favored." There were other Blessings, more specific ones, about incredible beauty or finding one's True Love, but she was Unseelie, and those types of blessings tended to turn out badly in the end, even unintentionally. This Blessing was as neutral as she could make it without losing effectiveness entirely.
She is gone then, before any of the Mortals realize it. Later, home and in bed alone, she sits and stares at the open laptop in front of her. Guilty pleasures? she types out. That implies there are things I feel guilty for. An evasion, because some things are too painful to tell.
Queen Andais
Fandom: The Merry Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton
Word Count: 625
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Sometimes, the Black Coach awaits her, but sometimes she must walk. It's a little galling, but she doesn't want to draw attention to herself. This secret is hers alone, and she'd punish any who saw her. She pulls her Glamour around her, dulling the shine of her skin and eyes, becoming nothing more than a mortal woman. Lovely, but Mortal nonetheless.
The hospital reception area is quiet, and the shadows help to camouflage her movements. It's after visiting hours, but she makes it across the room, and into the elevator unmolested. She's never been caught, in all the years she's done this. She dimly remembers standing outside wooden huts, and creeping along stone hallways. Then, as now, she was as silent as the darkness that gave her power.
Her destination is not as quiet or dark, as the patients here keep their own timetables, but that too helps to hide her. Her glamour warps itself, and now she is a nurse, able to move around with impunity. No one gives her a second look, as she stops in front of the glass to stare.
Babies. Row upon row of mortal infants. Some sleep, some scream, and some simply stare out at her as if they know who and what Andais is. She gazes hungrily at what she cannot have anymore, at what some mortals throw away like garbage. Children are precious to the Sidhe, and it rankles that the mortals outbreed them.
A movement out of the corner of her eye, and Andais turns to see a family in the hallway. Father, Grandmother, and Grandfather, and a new Mother, still glowing with life, a tiny pink bundle in her arms. They're so wrapped up in the child they don't notice Andais until she's standing right beside the new mother.
The woman looks anxious until Andais smiles.
"Congratulations."
"Thank you." A smile, sweet, and brilliant with new love.
"She's lovely." Andais reaches out slowly, and touches the small plump fist curled up on the blanket.
Once upon a time, she would have blurred the sight and mind of the mortals, and when they came to, she and the child would have been gone. Tales of the Fae stealing children were grounded in fact, after all. Once upon a time.
Now, she simply smiles down at the one thing she can no longer have, and as the mortals shift nervously, she lays a hand on the child's head.
"May she grow tall, straight of limb, and well-favored." There were other Blessings, more specific ones, about incredible beauty or finding one's True Love, but she was Unseelie, and those types of blessings tended to turn out badly in the end, even unintentionally. This Blessing was as neutral as she could make it without losing effectiveness entirely.
She is gone then, before any of the Mortals realize it. Later, home and in bed alone, she sits and stares at the open laptop in front of her. Guilty pleasures? she types out. That implies there are things I feel guilty for. An evasion, because some things are too painful to tell.
Queen Andais
Fandom: The Merry Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton
Word Count: 625
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