Fic: The Teind on All Hallows' Eve (1/3)

[jedisapphire]

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's Note: This story is a little exploration of how to turn a fairytale into a Supernatural story - and I promise it's not as bad as that makes it sound. I picked a Scottish folktale to play with. I'm not going to name it here, to avoid spoiling the story, but you might guess from the title and summary.

My thanks, as always, to nygirl7of9, who is by now used to all kinds of insanity in her inbox and doesn't balk even when said insanity takes up over nine thousand words.

Have fun, and happy Halloween!

Summary: Sam Winchester has been taken by the fairies and pressed into service in the elf guard. It's up to Dean to save him before something very bad happens. Vague spoilers to S5/S6 if you really squint.

The Teind on All Hallows' Eve

Sam ran the last few steps to the line of elven guardsmen. He was just in time. Barely had he taken his place in line than the horns sang to announce the entrance of the queen.

Along with the other guards, Sam dropped to one knee as Queen Mab passed. He was very near the throne, with only his friend Adair standing between him and the silver steps that led to it, so he saw the miniscule frown on Queen Mab's face as she took her seat. Black Annis, as always, stood behind the throne, her face shadowed by the hood of her cloak.

The queen's page stepped forward as the guards rose to their feet again. His purple eyes gleamed, gossamer wings fluttering to carry him a few feet into the air - but not above the throne, because nobody was permitted to stand higher than the queen.

"Mab, Queen of Fairies," announced the page.

The crowd responded by cheering. Sam hefted his lance, though he knew nobody would try to break through the line. He also knew that there was no real joy in the cheering. There was an edge of fear to it, as though everyone was desperate to prove their loyalty to the Unseelie court. It had been like this for days, although Sam had no idea why.

Queen Mab raised her sceptre for silence. It was immediate, and that, too, was laced with an undercurrent of fear.

"My subjects." Her voice was like a bell. "As you know, All Hallows' Eve approaches. This is the seventh year."

A shiver passed over the gathering. Sam wanted to ask Adair why - Adair had been a member of the Queen's Guard far longer than Sam had, and knew all kinds of things Sam didn't - but there would be trouble if he spoke to anyone while on duty, so he kept his hands on his lance and his eyes on the Queen.

She said nothing more about All Hallows' Eve. Instead, she nodded to the page, who gestured to somebody standing out of Sam's sight.

Two guardsmen walked up to the throne, dragging someone between them. Sam saw with horrified fascination that it was a human. There had been no human taken since Sam himself had been turned into one of the Unseelie, so he had never seen one before. Well… no, that wasn't strictly true. He must have seen humans when he had lived as one, but Sam couldn't remember his life before the Queen's guard.

That was part of the spell, and Sam understood that it was necessary, because otherwise all the Elves would be longing for the mortal lives they'd left behind. But sometimes he felt a pang, as though he'd lost something irreplaceable.

The human was a woman. She was practically fainting with fear. Sam almost felt sorry for her.

He bowed his head and gripped his lance.

"Please," the woman begged, as the guards threw her to the ground at the foot of the steps. "Please, please, let me go! Let me go. I won't tell anyone about you, I promise I won't."

"Of course you won't," agreed the Queen. "You will say nothing to anyone. You will have no opportunity."

"Please! Please, I have a child - a daughter. She needs me! You can't take me away from her! Please, whatever kidnapping cult you're running I'll keep your secrets -"

"Kidnapping cult?" demanded Queen Mab, getting to her feet. Her wings were flared out, black and silver in the moonlight. "Do I look like a mortal to you, girl?"

"Please," whimpered the woman.

"Answer me!" snapped Queen Mab. Her eyes glowed like coals. "Do I look like a mortal?"

"No, please, I don't know! I don't know!"

Queen Mab sat down again. "Take her away. Put her in a cell until I have time to deal with her."

The guards hauled the woman to her feet and dragged her out. Sam could hear her screaming as she was taken away.

"So where were you?" Adair asked, as they made their way back to their quarters. "That's the fourth time this week you've almost been late. You weren't watching that mortal again, were you?"

"I can't help it!" Sam said. "I didn't mean to go back, but he's…"

"He's what?" Adair opened his door, hauled Sam into his room, and shut the door firmly. "What is he, Sam? What is this mortal to you that you're willing to risk disobeying the Queen?"

Sam's wings fluttered with nervousness. "I haven't disobeyed the Queen."

"But you're thinking about it. We don't talk to mortals unless we're bringing them here to make them one of us. You know that. This isn't the time to be standing out, Sam."

"I can see that. I'm not stupid! I might not know exactly what's going on but I can see that everyone's afraid."

Adair sighed. "Sit down. There's… something I need to explain to you. You know All Hallows' Eve is coming."

"Yes. That's when humans can be turned into Elves." Just like Sam had been a year ago.

"That's when humans can be turned into Elves. But also… I don't know if you've realized it, Sam, but time is slower in the human world than it is for us. Seven times slower. Once every seven years for us, once a year for the humans, on All Hallows' Eve, the human and fairy worlds are together in time."

"So… that's a… good thing, I guess?"

"Yes and no. Every seventh All Hallows' Eve, our magic is particularly strong. You'll notice it yourself when the day comes. And every seventh All Hallows' Eve, we have to pay our teind to Hell."

"That's… like a tithe, right?"

"Yes, but we don't give them gold. They have no use for fairy gold in Hell anyway. Every seventh year we give them one fairy to drag down into damnation."

"What?"

"It's not something anyone talks about, but… That's why everyone's trying to stay on Queen Mab's good side. She'll choose one fairy to give to Hell."

"To… Hell?"

Even as he said the word, Sam had a flash of something - ice so cold it burned, so cold he longed for the excoriation of the fires he could see above him -

Sam shivered. It had felt like a memory, but it couldn't be. He had never been to Hell, never even been near it since he had been turned, and he didn't see how he could have known Hell in his mortal life.

"So you want to be careful," Adair went on, oblivious to Sam's distraction. "Be very careful, Sam. Don't do anything to attract attention. And if you have any sense, you'll stay away from mortals until after All Hallows' Eve."

Of course, despite Adair's warning, Sam found himself back in the wood. This particular section of forest held an odd affinity for him. It was where he'd been taken, and it was natural for him to be drawn to it. There was nothing wrong with that.

But there was something wrong with wanting to see the mortal.

Sam supposed the mortal had a name, but he didn't know it. Sam had seen him the first time he'd come to the wood, nearly a year after he'd been turned. He'd been wandering around as though looking for something. Sam should have been angry - he was one of the Unseelie and the wood was his. But he'd felt an odd affinity to the mortal, and had let him go unharmed.

Since then Sam had seen the mortal very nearly every day. He'd be lying if he said that hoping to see him, despite Adair's warning, wasn't part of what had brought him here.

The mortal couldn't see him, of course. That was one of the effects of time moving at different rates. Sam moved too fast for the mortal to catch more than a glimpse of movement, if that. The only way for the mortal to see him would be if Sam stepped into the human world completely, into mortal time. Many elves and fairies did it - that was how they spoke to mortals when they had to.

Or kidnapped them.

Sam watched from behind a tree as the mortal wandered around. His movements seemed slow, uncoordinated and clumsy. Sam found himself wondering if he would seem quicker in mortal time.

It couldn't hurt to find out, could it?

Feeling like he was embarking on some impossible quest, Sam stepped into mortal time. It was a weird feeling, like plunging himself in a freezing lake. Everything seemed slower. He couldn't move as fast as he wanted to.

The mortal's movements did seem quicker and more coordinated now, though of course he didn't have the agility of an elf. Sam stayed behind his tree, watching as the mortal searched for something.

Sam wondered what he could have lost. A ring, maybe? In all the stories told around fairy fires on full moon nights, humans needed lost trinkets, usually rings. Sam wasn't sure why but he had a feeling they were symbolic.

He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice the mortal turning. By the time he did, it was too late. He'd been spotted.

"No!" Sam gasped, scrambling back. This was bad, so bad. Adair had told him all about what happened to elves and fairies when they were spotted by humans. Rowan stakes and death, or chains and slavery. "No!"

"Sam?" said the human.

No. No no no. The mortal couldn't know his name. Mortals weren't supposed to know elves' names. Names were power.

"Stay away!" Sam said as the mortal came towards him.

The man stopped, looking hurt. Sam felt bad about it until he remembered that the man had probably been intending to kill Sam or enslave him.

"Hey, it's just me," said the man. "What's the matter? Do you know how worried I've been?"

Sam slipped back into fairy time and fled.

"You did what?" Adair demanded. "Have you lost your mind, Sam?"

"I know, I know I shouldn't have done it -"

"You think? This is exactly why I told you to stay away from him! Mortals are dangerous, Sam. Do you know what it's like to die pierced by rowan? I saw it happen once. It's agonizing and slow."

"I'm sorry," Sam said.

"What does he look like?" Adair asked abruptly. "This mortal who almost managed to kill you?"

"He didn't -" At Adair's expression, Sam sighed and said, "Tall, for a human. I don't know. He looked like a mortal. It's not like I've seen that many others to compare him with. Why does it matter?"

"It just does. I… The wood we took you from, it's a dangerous place. We've taken people from there before, so it tends to attract men who make it their business to hunt us. Nobody you see there is your friend, Sam. They'll kill you as soon as they look at you."

"You were part of the group that took me?" Sam hadn't known that, and it made him feel betrayed.

"Yes, I was. And aren't you happier now, Sam? You're one of the Unseelie. You have power no mortal ever could."

"I know, but…"

"But what?"

"I feel like I miss something," Sam confessed. "Something from before I was turned."

"That's your imagination. It's normal for newly-turned elves to wonder about the mortal life they left behind. That's why we erase their memories. Nothing good comes of dwelling on the past. Whatever was in your life before you were one of us is gone. You're a Queen's guard now, and a member of the Unseelie court. This is your future, Sam."

"I know."

"Now come on," Adair said, getting to his feet. "There's going to be storytelling tonight. I heard some of the Corrigan will be there. You always like their stories. Come and enjoy yourself, drink some wine, and stay away from mortals."

Sam intended to heed Adair's warning. He really did. But something about the mortal drew him. He told himself he only wanted to find out how the man found out his name. That was the only reason he went back to the wood a few days later.

The mortal was there again. His searching was more frantic this time.

Sam didn't give himself time to think. He stepped into mortal time a few yards away from the man, ready to jump back at once if there was any sign of iron or rowan.

The man saw him at once.

"Sam." He paused, making an obvious effort to contain himself. "Can I come closer?"

"Your weapons."

The man looked at the rowan stake in his hand. "You want me to lose this? Fine." He dropped it. Then he pulled a large knife from his clothes and dropped that as well. "Now can I come closer?"

Sam nodded.

The man kept both his hands up, moving forward slowly like Sam was a skittish animal. When he was a few feet away, he stopped.

"Who are you?" Sam asked. "And how do you know my name?"

The man stared at him. "Don't you know me?"

"How would I? I've…" Sam paused. He'd been about to say he'd never seen the man before, but that would be a lie. He'd seen him several times. The man just didn't know it. "I've never spoken to you before."

"Oh. OK, then, introductions. I'm Dean Winchester." The mortal held out his hand. "And you are…?"

"Sam," said Sam. "I'm a member of the Queen's guard."

"The queen?"

"Queen Mab. Our queen. The fairy queen."

"Oh." Dean glanced down at his outstretched hand. "You know, those of us who aren't members of the Queen's guard shake hands when we're introduced."

Sam hesitated. Physical contact with mortals was banned, unless you were planning on bringing them to the Unseelie court to be turned. But Dean was looking at him with such hope in his eyes that he couldn't resist taking the offered hand.

Pleasant warmth bled into Sam's cool skin.

"You're cold," Dean said in some surprise.

"No, you're hot. Mortals run hot."

"Mortals, huh? And what are you then?"

"I'm an elf," Sam said, wondering why Dean was asking when he'd obviously known the answer. Why else would he have been carrying a rowan wand in a fairy wood? "All the Queen's guard are elves."

"Really? Do you have pointy ears?"

Sam flushed. "That's not a nice question." And then he realized what he was doing, standing here, touching a mortal, breaking Queen Mab's law with just a month and a half to go before All Hallows' Eve. "I have to go."

"What? Wait, no, I'm sorry I asked about your ears. I didn't realize they were a sensitive subject."

"I have to go." Sam pulled his hand away. "You don't understand. Time works differently for us. I'll be late. I can't be late."

"Well, then, will you come back when you're free? I'll wait here."

"Yes," Sam found himself saying, despite all his intentions to the contrary.

And so the next day Sam came back to find that Dean had pitched himself a tent.

"I know you guys won't like it if I kill any of your animals," he said as soon as he saw Sam. "So I've got plenty of canned food."

Sam shrugged. "You shouldn't be in a fairy wood at all. It's dangerous."

"So far, you're the only fairy I've seen, and you don't seem too dangerous." Dean smiled. "I'm not here to hurt anyone, all right? I just want to find out more about you. Here, I've even brought you an offering." He held up a flask. "Fairies like milk, right? That's what all the lore said."

Sam took it, opened it, sniffed it, and sipped at it cautiously. When it tasted just like normal milk, he nodded. "Yes, we like milk."

"So have I earned some points with that? Maybe some answers?"

"I… yeah, sure, I guess so."

"Awesome. So how does it work? Were you born an elf?"

"Wow, you don't start small, do you?"

Dean shrugged. "I'm guessing I don't have very long before you have to go. I don't have time to start small."

"Oh… I suppose that's fair. No, I wasn't born an elf. I was a mortal, but I was taken and turned."

"So what about… before? When you were a mortal? You remember anything?"

"Black Annis wipes your memories. She's Queen Mab's… enforcer, I guess you could call her. She's the one who casts the final spell that turns people and… She… Well, she doesn't usually let anyone remember. She thinks it's a weakness."

"So you don't remember anything?"

Sam remembered his flash of cold and pain and shuddered, putting down the flask. "Why do you care?"

"If I tell you the truth, will you promise not to kill me?"

"I… I suppose so."

"I lost someone, all right? Someone very important to me. I want to know if there's any hope."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"So… is there any hope?"

"I've never heard of anyone being turned back into a mortal. Queen Mab…" Sam lowered his voice. "Queen Mab doesn't give up her servants easily."

"Do you think she'd be willing to bargain?"

"Don't try it. Don't bargain with the queen. She's clever. No mortal ever makes a bargain with the fairy queen without living to regret it."

Dean grunted. "That would be a first."

"I have to go." Sam had said too much. Far too much. If the queen ever heard…

"When will you be back?"

"I can't come back. I shouldn't be talking to you. I don't know why I did it at all." Sam thrust the half-empty flask at Dean. "Thank you for the milk."

"Wait." Dean caught at Sam's hand. "Please. I swear to you, I won't tell anyone and I will never try to hurt you. Just tell me when you can come back and stay for a while."

Sam bit his lip.

"Tonight," he said at last. "After guard duty and dinner. Nobody will notice if I slip out for a few hours."

"So in my time that's…"

Sam did some mental calculations. "One hour for you. I'll be back in an hour."

"And you can stay longer than ten minutes?"

"I can stay longer."

Part II