( -- ✮ " ❛ a song of avalon ❜ " // daifuku + faerieh0ng

[FAERIEH0NG]

one x one between daifuku and faerieh0ng

[FAERIEH0NG]

— emrys larkin
— seelie court royal guardsman, hailing from the court of spring
— twenty-four years old
— five foot eleven with a lithe, slender build
— several inhuman qualities separate him from mortals; his ears taper into delicate points and he takes on an otherworldly glow in the sunlight, as well as carrying himself with a degree of grace unobserved in a human
— typical fae attributes allow him to move without making a sound and gift him with the ability to convince anyone to do anything
— however, like the rest of his kind, he is wholly unable to tell a lie
— not that he would; emrys likes to consider himself the honest sort
— raised amongst the spring court, he is in possession of a gentle disposition and an appreciation of peace
— he is very fond of the arts and has a significant love for painting and ballroom dancing
— while many of his kind enjoy their extended youth by lounging about in the woods, however, emrys took on the role of a royal guard as soon as he was able
— though he was brought up to resist conflict, a part of him longed to find a purpose in the act of protection; whether that protection was for the spring court's royal line or for a single insignificant being, there was little difference in importance to him
— hailing from a common fae family, he grew up in the presence of a handful of mortal children and became sympathetic towards them as a result
— he does not share in the same sentiments that many of the fae do in regards to mortals, rather honoring them in the same way that he would another fae
— despite this, he will not deny that sometimes the vast differences between the fair folk and mortals are hard to ignore
— he still feels a bit guilty about nearly dancing another child to death when he was young, simply forgetting they were human
— though he has always been particularly kind in comparison to other fae, that does not omit him from having the somewhat vengeful nature of his brethren
— he does not take kindly to insults or lies, and though he is not quick to lay a curse upon someone, he will nonetheless

[daifuku]

─ aurelia fiala, princess from the lucerna kingdom
─ third in line to the throne, has twin older brothers and a younger sister
─ twenty-two years old, born april thirteenth, making her an aries
─ five foot four with a slim frame, sporting fair skin, long black hair and upturned
dark brown eyes
─ was brought up to obsess over her appearance and reputation, since the royal
family is supposed to be nothing but the picture of perfection
─ as such, she was never allowed to express any sort of weakness or negativity,
and has curated the flawless image of a compliant, gentle and elegant princess,
always lending a hand to those in need, even at her own cost
─ it isn't in her true nature to be so submissive to others; she has opinions and
aspirations that she's dying to make known, but that spirit and motivation has long
been defeated. she accepts whatever is decided for her, though not without a
growing sense of resentment
─ she's good at hiding her feelings, but not dealing with them. she hates confiding
in others since she's scared they'll use what she says against her
─ she's extremely well-educated, her parents having hired nothing but the best
tutors in the kingdom for their children
─ however, behind the scenes, the royal family is an utter mess. the twins are at
each others' throat day by day, as the older twin doesn't want to rule but doesn't
want to let the younger twin rule either. and the youngest daughter, to the kingdom,
doesn't exist, as she's too sickly to leave her room. the king and queen both blame
each other for this fact, barely interacting outside of fabricated displays of affection
for the public. much to her disdain, aurelia usually plays peacekeeper for everyone
─ while she is extremely grateful for the luxuries she grew up with, she can't help
but feel resentful. she's never felt like her life was her own to live
─ there aren't many things that she truly enjoys anymore. as a kid, she loved
singing and playing the lyre; it was a private hobby and emotional outlet. but, she
was always forced to show off with complex, fancy pieces that she never
resonated with, and that eventually sapped the fun out of it
─ and now she's been betrothed to a fae prince in the name of some sort of treaty
between the humans and fae (no one told her any details, of course)
─ she doesn't know what she truly wants in life. she jumps from obsession to
obsession without really knowing why, and nothing feels fulfilling

[FAERIEH0NG]

The last time Emrys had interacted in close proximity with a mortal, he was thirteen years old.
He had been given deliberate orders to leave them alone lest he find himself in a dangerous situation he could not get out of, but they piqued his curiosity, and that was a most difficult thing to extinguish in the case of a faerie child. His contact with them had been severed three years prior at the age of ten once he invited a mortal girl to a dance that she could not escape from, coming quite close to killing her in the process. The girl's family had been furious, and even his own seemed quite grief-stricken at the occurrence; he was forbidden from speaking or playing with mortals from that day forward, and he found himself very quickly short of any friends. Therefore, when he found a human child lost in the woods three years later, how could he have possibly been expected to merely ignore them? It was his hope that he could find a companion in them. He offered them faerie fruit to be friendly; he did not understand then that the taste of faerie fruit drove mortals mad in their desire for more. It was beyond him as to why the child began to eat the bark off of trees in their state of delirium, and it certainly puzzled him when they collapsed from exhaustion after only a few minutes of play. When his mother found him standing over the child's body in wait for them to wake up, he did not understand why she had become so angry, just as he did not understand that he was never the one in danger in such situations, but rather the one who was dangerous.
Eleven years later, it was Emrys's belief that mortals were made of glass; perhaps that was why he had been called to serve as the guard for a mortal princess, arranged to marry the youngest prince of the Spring Court.

Foxglove was a boisterous, haughty fae prince who loved his wine and his entourage of escorts far more than he loved anything else in his life. Emrys could recall several nights in which the prince had come stumbling forth from the woods, his face reddened by alcohol and his clothes unkempt. It often earned him a place on the other end of one of the Queen's disapproving glares, but it had never seemed to bother him, like he was quite content acting as the family disappointment. Emrys had not been charged to look after him, but the presence of the prince was a hard thing to escape. When he was not around, there was always a lingering worry as to what he was doing; on the other hand, when he was around, he went to great lengths to make himself known and acknowledged.
Of course, that had been before a night of drunken revelry that had led to the prince killing one of his courtiers.
It was not on purpose; at least, everyone hoped to believe that it was not on purpose. The prince had been severely inebriated when he stole the sword from one of his personal guards, beginning to swing it in an arc and claim that he merely wanted to duel someone all in the name of good fun. One thing led to another quite quickly, and before anyone could stop it, the blade had been plunged through the stomach of a courtier and they bled to their death quite soon after. The prince was hidden away for quite some time following the incident, not permitted to mingle with the rest of the Spring Court until the killing was mostly forgotten. It was then that a marriage was arranged for him, a marriage to a mortal girl from a mortal kingdom, an engagement often considered a humiliation among the fae. It was then that Emrys had swiftly been called to serve as the personal guard of the mortal princess, and he had answered it at once. It would have grieved him to know that she had ended up with a guard who shared the common sentiments towards her kind ─ she deserved to be protected in the same way as everyone else.

Emrys stood with Foxglove in the throne room of the Spring Court palace, the sun beaming through stained glass windows and casting an array of vibrant colors onto the floor. The princess was sure to be arriving at any moment to introduce herself to her betrothed and find herself a place within the palace, and Emrys would then swear his fealty to her. He would be the one to act as her shadow throughout all her days, offering the protection of his body from the moment she woke up in the morning to the hour in which she went to sleep. He could not help the racing of his heart at the prospect. To be the personal guard of a monarch was a position most coveted among the gentry, as with it came honor and respect. He held his helmet beneath his arm, the other hand finding a resting place on the hilt of his sword, belted to his waist.
"A mortal bride," Foxglove sighed, breaking the silence. He found a seat in his father's throne and lounged leisurely back, eyes raising to the ceiling. "How times have begun to change here, Em."

[daifuku]

x
Contrary to what the kingdom's maps would say, there wasn't a clear line between where Lucerna ended and faerie land started. Aurelia gazed out the window of her carriage, noting as the foliage became more and more overgrown, vines snaking around each other like they were captured in some intense dance. It could have been her imagination, but almost everything had a pale glow to it, shimmering lights dancing in the periphery of her vision.

The carriage suddenly jerked to a stop, accompanied by set of sharp whinnies and disgruntled snorts. With a hand on the wall for balance, she poked her head out the window to see what was going on. A set of gnarled thistles blocked the road, with an opening just large enough for a single person to crawl through. "Just one second, Princess! We'll have these cleared right this moment." Ruben, the carriage driver, called out. He leapt down from the driving seat, drawing a carving knife. Together, he and the knight Marissa chopped through the thick branches ─ only for them to grow right back in an instant.

Aurelia huffed to herself, allowing herself an eyeroll since she was out of sight. She gathered up her belongings, the few of which were neatly packed into a messenger bag, and stepped out of the door. "The forest is as honest as the fae, it seems. I think it isn't thrilled at the idea of inviting three humans in," she explained to Ruben and Marissa with a dry laugh. "This isn't too far from the Court of Spring. I'll be fine on my own." The two nodded, bidding her farewell with deep bows. She dipped her head in respect, smiled bravely, and wriggled her way through the undergrowth, grasping fistfuls of her dress to both hide her shaking hands and avoid the fabric snagging on stray twigs.

As soon as she stepped back on the path, her way forward was clear. The Court of Spring was an otherworldly sight, towering over her elegantly, but almost menacingly as well. Fae hustled and bustled around, occupied with their own responsibilities, but not enough to miss the human girl in their vicinity, along with her slightly disheveled state. She drew many stares, most of which were not of the good type, and she returned the gestures with a curtsy. "My name is Aurelia Fiala of the Kingdom of Lucerna," she spoke smoothly, masking the hammering of her pulse in her throat. "Would anyone be so kind as to direct me to the throne room?" As expected, she received little to no response. The few reactions she did get were nothing but snickers and hushed whispers. Eventually, some guards came around to guide her, but not without dreadfully bored expressions on their faces. They moved swiftly, with zero regard for whether she was keeping up or not.

As she walked, Aurelia fiddled with the strap of her bag. There were layers to her nerves. The simplest was anticipating the lack of respect she was sure to receive. Then, there was the fact that she was here on behalf of the kingdom and its king, queen and people. She may have felt discarded by her parents, out of her siblings, she was the obvious choice to trust as a representative of Lucerna ─ she could find a small spark of pride in that. The final cherry on top drew her back eleven or so years ago, to the last time she ever saw one of the fae. She often found herself replaying the day over and over in some sort of sick torturous ritual. She could never forget that faerie, the one that had vanished from her life without trace, breaking hearts, trust and people alike in the process.

Of course, in a cruel twist of fate, that same faerie now stood in front of her very eyes.

Aurellia froze in her tracks. He had grown up, but he was unmistakably still... Em. His name was on the tip of her tongue, but she buried it with a cough, wrenching her eyes away from him and towards the faerie on the throne. She noted with distaste his arrogant attitude that reminded her of her brothers, but her true attention was still focused on the periphery of her vision, and it took every ounce of her focus to keep her gaze facing straight ahead. "Princess Aurelia, from Lucerna," she introduced herself, once again settling into a deep curtsy. "Thank you for welcoming me into the Court of Spring. It's so nice to finally make your acquaintance."

[FAERIEH0NG]

"Mortals have been here for a long time, Fox," Emrys quietly reminded him, all formalities such as using a title tossed to the wayside. Humans often resided at the borders and the far corners of their realm, but they were there nonetheless. While many of them wandered past the boundaries of their lands by accident, there were some who intentionally sought out counsel from the Fae. They were immortal beings, believed to be wise beyond their years. Each time Emrys looked down at the prince, lounging upon his father's throne with his nose wrinkled distastefully, he remembered just how incorrect that sentiment was. Immortal, perhaps. Wise, not always.
At once, the prince's eyes widened. Whether or not the shock was genuine, Emrys could not say. Foxglove turned his head to look up at him, a smile playing on his face. "Have they now?" He arched an eyebrow. "That is strange indeed. I cannot say I've ever seen one. One that was not a servant, anyway. Imagine my surprise upon being told that there are such a thing as mortal princesses. Mortal nobility! It seems they are catching up to us, marrying us. Soon they will be hunting us for sport, do you not think?" He smirked, leaning further back in the seat that he had made for himself upon the throne that was not his. Emrys elected not to grace such an absurd statement with an answer. Instead, he looked away, straightening his back and retaining his posture. It was his inward, unvoiced hope that the mortal princess would not be as quite as insufferable as her betrothed; Foxglove was someone that he found he could only tolerate in doses, as he managed to speak much without ever truly saying anything.
At that moment, there finally began to be some bustle within the corridor leading towards the throne room. Emrys moved to take his helmet in his hands and place it over his head, but the princess and a pair of faerie guards to act as her escorts entered before he was able. He paused, studying her features; it was then that he froze, for he knew when she faltered at the very same moment that a jolt of recognition ran through the both of them.

Aurelia. She was older, but he knew at once that it was her. Her face was one that he could not possibly mistake for another. She had been a most intimate childhood friend, someone he shared secrets and played in streams with, someone who once had braided dandelions into his hair and then giggled when they would not stay. She had been a mortal princess, and he a common faerie child of the gentry, but when they were young, they observed very little difference between themselves. He had thought her to be unspeakably beautiful, far more fair than the other faerie children who danced with him around mushroom rings. However, as fate would have it, they could not ignore the vast differences between one another for long; when he brought her younger sister to dance in a faerie grove, he had very nearly killed her. He simply lost track of time in his childlike forgetfulness, believing that the red in her face was merely a playful glow and her loss of breath was from laughter. He did not know that he had her there for hours, not until she collapsed at his feet. He could not forget the faces of the girl's parents upon discovering them, the fury and the grief. He could not forget Aurelia's face, her eyes filled with tears as she thought her sister to be dead at his hands. He did not understand that he was the cause of her tears at the time, the cause of the girl's collapse.
He had never seen her again, and yet suddenly there she was, far more beautiful than she had been before.
His helmet fell from his hands to the floor with a resonating thud and he flinched, finally brought back down to reality.

Foxglove rose languidly from the throne, his catlike green eyes flitting over Aurelia in a brief once-over. His lips turned up in a smile that Emrys could not discern the meaning of, and he reached out to take her hand in his own and bring it to his lips for a feathery kiss to her knuckles.
"Aurelia," He purred, releasing her hand once more. He placed his hands behind his back, head lifted higher than before, as if he had suddenly decided to present himself like royalty after laying across the throne like a cat in the sun. "A fair name for a much fairer bride. The Spring Court is most pleased to host you. I am Foxglove Bellemore, and I do hope your journey here was not an arduous one." He looked her over once more, then turned his eyes upon Emrys. "She is beautiful, is she not?"
Emrys swallowed, nodding wordlessly.
"Aurelia," Foxglove continued, regarding Emrys once more. "It pleases me to introduce you to your personal guard, Emrys Larkin. I chose him for you myself... only the finest for my bride."
There was a thinly-veiled insult in the statement, a suggestion that no mortal bride could possibly last a day in Fae lands without the constant protection of a far-superior faerie, but Emrys found himself unable to make much sense of anything. He watched as Foxglove's eyes shifted back and forth between them, and a sense of realization slowly dawned on the prince's face.
"Do you two know one another?"
Emrys could not lie, so instead, he said nothing. He bent at the waist into a bow, eyes shifting to the floor.

[daifuku]

x
A chill ran down her spine as Foxglove tugged her forward by the hand, brushing his lips across her skin. She drew her hand back as soon she could without it seeming rude, resisting the urge to wipe her knuckles on her dress. "You flatter me, Foxglove. I can hardly compete with someone like yourself." She smiled coyly, hiding her mouth behind her hand in a show of embarrassment. "It's truly the highest honour for me to be here." Her eyes flitted to the floor as if flustered, and she wondered if she was laying it on too thick. "The journey was quite alright, thank you. I hope you both haven't been waiting long."

Her words were as empty as his ─ Aurelia knew at once that they were both only playing their parts. Normally, this knowledge gave her the upper hand. In human courts, it meant that people's behaviour was practiced, measured and predictable, like actors reading a script. In this instance however, she felt fear creep into the edges of her mind. Whereas misdeeds between human to human were met with judgement, disapproval and shunning, there was no telling what a faerie might get away with. It finally occurred to her that she was completely alone in a foreign land, filled with creatures who thought themselves superior to her, and in many ways, were superior to her. As she very well knew, even the gentlest of fae could be dangerous, and Foxglove didn't seem remotely like the gentle type. She felt small, like prey under a predator's gaze, like a rabbit to a fox. The situation was very much out of her control, and before she knew it, the spotlight was back on precisely what she was trying to avoid.

Tousled black hair, glittering eyes, sharp angled features that could cut a diamond ─ it really was him. The same Emrys who wove her a crown of flowers, then laughed when she cried as they wilted. The one who gave her a metal hairpin a year later, threading the silvery aster into her hair for her eleventh birthday. The one whose gift she couldn't bear to part ways with, and that now lay at the bottom of her bag, threatening to burn a hole straight through with its presence. The one who had been her best friend since... well, the beginning. She couldn't recall a memory from her childhood that he wasn't in, whether in physical form or simply haunting the back of her mind.

So if all that was true, how could he stand there so quietly, without even sparing her anything more than a quick glance? Now that she could, she stared at him with full intensity, seconds slowing into what seemed like eternities. Had he gotten taller? His shoulders certainly seemed wider, and even as he hung his head, eyes glued to the floor, she had to lift her chin to look at his face. His features were carved of stone, effortlessly flawless and painfully unreadable. What was he thinking? How could he nod and call her beautiful so casually, especially since he knew that she knew he couldn't tell a lie? She ran a hand through her hair, untucking enough strands to cover up her ears, just in case it was obvious they were burning.

There was no way he forgot about her, right? Perhaps it would have been better if he had ─ if they both had, for that matter. Aurelia stiffened at Foxglove's question, weighing her options. It would be idiotic of her to try and deceive a faerie, but to answer honestly felt equally as ill-advised. She wanted nothing more than to scream and shout at Emrys' feet, to beg him for answers eleven years overdue, to both embrace and slap him at the same time. She almost laughed, thinking of the kinds of questions that might bring up. So in spite of the swirling storm inside her head, she willed her face into submission, donning a calm, yet curious expression. She pretended to tilt her head at Emrys thoughtfully. "No, I don't believe we've met," she replied dismissively, accompanying the boldfaced lie with a casual shrug of her shoulders. A wave of nausea washed over her at her own hypocrisy, and she wondered if Emrys could see how she truly felt. He had always been good at that when they were kids. Digging her fingernails into the skin of her palms to ground herself, she continued as if her stomach wasn't twisted into knots. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Emrys Larkin. I hope I won't be too much trouble for you."

[FAERIEH0NG]

Emrys wanted more than anything to remain neutral in the faces of Foxglove and Aurelia. He was a knight; it was his duty to deny his emotions and carry out what he must in the name of loyal servitude, unmarred by any form of partiality. It was the very reason that his eyes remained trained on the floor of the throne room rather than upon the gaze of the mortal monarch before him, as he knew that even the slightest glance at her would betray the steely facade he attempted to don. How could he look at her and manage to simply surpass all of the vivid, colorful memories he carried with him that had her face at the forefront? He was not capable of ignoring the feelings that rushed back to him all at once in one overpowering wave, such feelings that he thought had withered with time but merely were lying dormant until he saw her again. He did not think he would see her again ─ over ten years of someone's absence would naturally foster such a belief. She had become a painful memory, and he found himself wholly unprepared to have that memory within arm's reach again. He felt the weight of Aurelia's eyes fixed upon him, and he fought against every instinct that screamed at him to look up, to smile at her.
She did not remember him. She said it herself, lightly shrugging with a pleasant smile upon her pretty face. For the Fae to live such long lives, they were cursed with near-perfect memories. There was not a single thing Emrys could have forgotten about her ─ not the curve of her smile, nor the way she carried herself. He took in a deep breath and swallowed roughly, willing himself to stand and not falter beneath the knowledge that she no longer knew him. Finally, he lifted his head and met her eyes, forcing a strained smile onto his face.
"Of course not, my lady," He replied, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Well," Foxglove continued, and Emrys started, forgetting that the prince was still present. "Now that we have all become quite acquainted with one another, I believe that Emrys must make his vow and then I shall take my leave. Pardon me, Aurelia ─ I must soon have the servants arrange your room. Emrys would be happy to show you around the Court in the meantime, I am certain." His eyes flitted between them, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

In the silence that followed, Emrys felt his stomach twist. He had to swear his fealty to Aurelia. Among the Fae, vows were highly important things ─ though made up of mere words, a faerie was bound to their vow, especially a knight. To fail meant to break it, and that often ended in exile or swift death. He knew that Foxglove would have to bear witness, as the binding nature of their word had made it custom that it was considered cruel to bind a faerie by their word without someone else to know about it should they need to find a way to free them from it. He would need no freeing from Aurelia. He only wished that the prince was not near.
His hands shook imperceptibly as he slid his sword from its place at his waist and pressed its point to the cold floor of the throne room. He met Aurelia's eyes and did not tear his gaze away from hers as he sank to his knees before her, staring up at her with hands clasped so tightly around the hilt of the blade that his knuckles had begun to turn white.
"My lady," He murmured. "Aurelia of Lucerna... I bind myself to you. From this moment forward, I... I offer you the protection of my body and the sharp edge of my blade. So long as I am charged to look after you, I vow that no harm will come to you. Should this blade ever turn against you in betrayal, may... may you plunge it into my heart and rid me of my life."
A tremoring breath left him as he slowly rose again. Foxglove then began to slink away from them, hands placed behind his back once more. "This is where I regretfully leave you, but know that my family and I will be expecting to host you for a welcome dinner. It will be a small affair... certainly no fuss. Your knight will have no need to accompany you, as you will find you are under the watchful eye of the Spring Court." He smiled, pointed canines on full display. "I will have your bedchamber arranged for you as soon as you seek it."
With that, the prince promptly left, and Emrys found himself at the edge of childhood wonder and adult heartache; alone with Aurelia.

[daifuku]

x
Nine-year-old Aurelia held her sobbing sister in her arms, stroking the girl's hair. "It's not fair!" Brielle bawled, squeezing her older sister's arm like a vice. "Sylvie took my doll behind my back, and look what she did, Lia!" Aurelia took the porcelain toy from her sister, examining the crack across the doll's face. "She didn't even say sorry! Why should I still be friends with her? How does mom expect me to forgip her?" Brielle's cries got louder and louder with each word.

Aurelia cast a tense glance at her door, double-checking that it was closed. She clapped her hands around Brielle's face and forced her younger sister to look her in the eyes. "It's forgive, Ellie," she corrected. "And sometimes, mom asks us to do things that seem hard in the moment, but those things get easier with time, you know?" She patted both Brielle's cheeks gently, before picking up the broken doll. "See, look at little Anne ─ she's still smiling, right? If Anne can smile like this, you can do the same. We'll both be strong like Anne, okay?"

Brielle took one look at the doll, buried her head in Aurelia's shoulder, and continued wailing even more intensely. Aurelia sighed, giving up on what was clearly a losing battle. She sat quietly, waiting for her sister to calm down, but found she couldn't take her eyes off the doll in her hand. It looked strange in a way that she couldn't quite place. Creepy, almost.

Four years later, as her family gathered around Brielle's bed, waiting to see if the sleeping girl would live, the doll was just as unsettling, sitting there on Brielle's nightstand. Its smile felt more like a grin, like it was mocking them all.


✮

Now, that doll's expression was once again back to haunt her. She could see it everywhere she looked ─ both in Foxglove's knowing smirk, and in her very own reflection. She stared at her distorted face in Emrys' sword, wondering if it was really herself. She certainly wouldn't be capable of the pleasant, serene look it had, especially not as Emrys pledged his life away to it. She took in each of the knight's words with almost a sense of horror, but her mirrored image remained the same. "Thank you, Emrys," the reflection said, its smile reaching its eyes in a way that even Aurelia thought was real. "And thank you more, Foxglove. I understand you must be busy. I look forward to seeing you and everyone else at dinner."

As Foxglove sidled away and her reflection was hidden away with a sheathed sword, she felt reality come crashing down. All of a sudden, she was acutely aware of the tension in her clenched jaw, the weakness of her trembling limbs, and the stabbing ache in her chest. She fought for air as if she had survived drowning, taking deep, shaky breaths to slow her racing heartbeat.

The quiet that ensued felt like centuries. She opened and closed her mouth multiple times, not quite knowing what to say. She didn't know where to start with the questions and thoughts that sprinted laps around her mind. There were many times in her life where she wished for ignorant bliss, and here she was, presented with that very option. She couldn't forget, no, but she could choose to act like she had, and that might as well mean she had, right? She could choose ignorance, even if it hurt, because it'd get easier with time, right? She could play pretend for a little bit longer, even if it led to a little bit more, and more, and even more, right?

When she looked up into his eyes, she knew she could no longer lie. She thought she could finally see her true self in the confusion, heartache and longing that was etched into both their faces. "Em." She broke the silence just as her knees gave out. She stumbled forward, grabbing onto Emrys for support. He was there, he was real, he was Emrys Larkin, alive and well. A tentative look of relief spread across her features, but she quickly felt nauseous with guilt; how could she still feel this way after all he had done? She thought of her sister's pale face and thinning features, and for a brief moment, her expression twisted with pain that she couldn't put into words.

Aurelia gritted her teeth, looking away. She was being stupid, letting her imagination get carried away. Abruptly, she pushed Emrys away to stand on her own. She took great pride in her ability to maintain her composure, and she wouldn't be slipping up today ─ at least, not more than she already had. Her charade of ignorance was over, but that didn't mean she had to lay everything else bare as well. She raised her gaze with a half-hearted smile. "Long time no see, right?"

[FAERIEH0NG]

Emrys had longed to be alone with Aurelia throughout the entirety of their exchange, and then once his wish was finally granted, he found that he did not know what to do with it. The silence that followed Foxglove's exit fixed his tongue to the roof of his mouth as he watched Aurelia struggle to come up with something to fill the heavy quiet. He owed her a word, a compliment, a declaration of his loyalty, anything, and yet he could come up with nothing. An apology laid on the tip of his tongue, one that had been lying in wait to be said for the length of eleven years, a goodbye that had never properly been given. The last time he'd seen her, she'd been distraught, and he had been the reason behind her grief. He was the reason her sister lay unresponsive, and he was the reason they'd ever been separated from one another in the first place. Of course, his parents had tossed around the idea of it even before the incident; perhaps they did not think he'd heard, but he was aware of far more than they knew. They'd expressed worry in hushed tones for the mortal children on the borders of the faerie realm, the ones that Emrys had become so close with. He had overheard as they stated that he was harmless for other faerie children but not for mortals, those beings so fragile in comparison to them. Of course, he did not understand then; children did not worry themselves over such things, especially not one of the Fae. He hardly understood even when Aurelia and her siblings were suddenly gone from his lives in the matter of one night. They were there, and then they were not. That was precisely the source of his failing; he had not once understood until it was far too late, and he was keen on never making such a mistake again.
The silence became too much to bear, and Emrys quietly cleared his throat, beginning to turn away in order to lead her through the corridors of the palace when his name left her lips in a soft breath. Em. A once-affectionate shortening of it, what he had told her his name was upon first meeting her due to the advice from his parents that names had power, and he was to be careful with who he gave his to. Em; he was Em for the longest time until he had whispered in her ear one night after gifting her a hairpin, a metal aster that had come with the lowering of his voice and a single word uttered quietly in between them: Emrys. He had wanted her to have it, for he did not care if she had power over him.

His eyes widened as Aurelia began to stumble forth and he quickly caught her by the arms, hoping that she could not hear how his heart raced. "Lia," He murmured, his gaze searching her face as if to memorize every detail, as if to see if it was really her after all. It seemed too good to be true, and yet he would know her even if he was rendered blind. He held her for a moment until she regained her balance and suddenly pushed away from him. He took a step back, though one arm remained outstretched towards her, fingertips itching to have her close again now that he knew she was not some sort of illusion, or a spell cast to deceive him. She smiled at him, and his breath hitched in his throat, yet he could not contain the grin that broke out across his face.
"It... it has been a long time," He said breathlessly. "Part of me thought... well." He looked down, the delicate points of his ears reddening with a blush. "It's no matter. It's only that you said you didn't... well, I simply thought..." He blinked rapidly, voice trailing off as he came to the realization on his own. She was mortal. She could lie. It was, perhaps, one of the most significant abilities that humans possessed over the Fae. Though his kind may have been masters of deception, they could not hold a candle to a plain and simple untruth uttered by a mortal.
"It is so good to see you," He finally stated, one sentence unmarred by stuttering and a lack of focus. "They did not tell me that you were the princess. Perhaps I would have... well, perhaps I would have prepared better." He managed a quiet laugh, looking down at himself and his rather inelegant clothing. The sword was the only thing to suggest that he was a knight. He found himself a bit embarrassed in front of Aurelia then, knowing that he had confided in her that it was his dream to be a knight. "I know that I don't... look it, but I am very capable of keeping you safe." Offering her a soft smile, he turned and nodded for her to follow. "Walk with me?"