THE STUBBORN PRINCE
Sharad sat across from where Manav now stood, his legs drawn up on the couch in front of him and his arms wrapped around them protectively as he listened to the story the Fae told. It was hard for Manav to speak of, his bond holding tightly as to what he could and could not say, and so he spoke carefully, desperately wanting the young Prince to believe him. The whole of the Faerie Realm was at stake, and rested on Manav's success this night.
"So," Sharad began softly, his eyebrow quirking in an unmistakable sign of disbelief. "You're trying to tell me that nineteen years ago, you brought me to the home where I grew up and left me there? You, who looks like you're my age anyway. Oh, and you put a spell on me so I could live unharmed in this realm'. And then on top of that, you want me to believe that you're some sort of Elf dude and I'm your prince? Do you think I'm stupid?"
Very possibly so, but Manav refrained from saying his immediate reaction, instead allowing his mind to sift through the truths he was allowed to tell. There weren't that many, unfortunately, but he would make good use of the ones he could. "I am much older than I look, young Prince," he began, voice soft as he nodded in Sharad's direction, ignoring the other's huff of irritation at what he obviously considered the Fae's lie. "But we're not Elves, they died out centuries ago. I am from the Mahagyaan Court, a messenger from Badi Pari, the Queen. You're the Prince, and you need to come back with me."
Sharad shifted uneasily on the couch, his eyes showing that he desperately wanted to believe that he had a mother, but he shook his head anyway. "No, I don't need to go anywhere with you," he decided, lifting his cell phone from where he'd been fiddling with it in his lap. "You need to leave, now, or I will call the police." His square jaw was firm, his mind made up, but it was of no matter.
Manav smiled then, the action taking Sharad by surprise, and then before the young Prince could react, the Fae twisted the shadows around himself and stepped through them, moving in a split second from one side of the room to the other. Sharad's hand slowly dropped back to his lap as he stared in amazement at the obvious magic in front of him, and Manav dropped a shallow bow that ended with a flourish just because he felt like it. "Prince," he said softly, and Sharad's mouth snapped shut as he focused sharply on the Fae's face. "Do you not feel the pain that this city causes you? The ache in your bones even past the barrier I placed on you?"
"It's arthritis," he responded by rote, his words quiet and almost a question as if he was desperately hanging on to his last belief of being human. Manav shook his head slowly, and Sharad's eyes only widened.
"It's the iron of the Mortal Realm... my spells cannot protect you from the deadly reach of it forever. And salt? You cannot consume nor even touch pure salt, how do you explain that one?" he asked softly, and the Prince's eyes were as big as saucers now.
"An allergy..." he all but whispered and this time when Manav shook his head, Sharad focused once again on the tall Fae. "Then what?" he asked, his voice stronger now, and Manav knew he had him. He had to fight away the smile that threatened, Badi pari's voice in his mind. Tread carefully here...
"We Fae are unable to touch such things; iron and salt are the human race's only weapon against us. We have a natural weakness to them, but I cast a protection over you when I brought you to this realm, one that would not allow those to kill you. It wears away now, the years taking their toll on my magic, and in one year's time it will be gone completely and you will be weakened by this realm... or killed by it.
Silence reigned for several minutes, Manav nervous by the amount of time that this had already taken, but then Sharad suddenly nodded. "And if I don't like it? Can I come back here?" he asked, and Manav knew he'd won.
"If you don't like it," he said, his tone brokering agreement though he left off the last bit, and in his mind he finished it. If you don't like it, it won't matter. You'll never leave the Fae again.
Sharad let out a sigh, looking around his meager apartment, then stood and moved for the bedroom. "I suppose I will get my things, then," he said, one hand closing over his laptop as he passed, but Manav's voice stopped him.
"You cannot use those human things in our realm," he said softly, smiling an encouraging smile, and after a moment of hesitation - curse humans and their attachment to material things - Sharad sighed and set the computer down. Manav stepped up next to him before he could change his mind, and with a gentle grasp on his elbow, led him to the door.
The Prince was stiff in his grasp for a moment, but the desperate longing to know his rightful place shone in his eyes when he looked at the tall Fae man, and soon he relaxed and went along willingly.
"Why can't you just teleport me?" Sharad asked as they made their way down the stairs, the iron frame of the building making Manav feel like he was inside of his own coffin. He forced away the trepidation and placed a thin smile onto his face, though he was pretty sure it looked more like a grimace, and shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Prince," he said, truly apologetic this time, "I cannot move both of us through shadows. It is my Gift and mine alone, so we will have to make our way into the Fae by way of a Path."
"A Path? What's that? Is there one here in Mumbai ?" Sharad asked, and Manav shook his head. Oh but how he wished there was!
"No, there is one outside of the city, though. The Fairy Paths are ancient, the gateways into the Fae Realm, and cannot be built upon, though humans have of course tried. They try to destroy anything that is pure," he said bitterly as they strode quickly through the small ground floor, and he shoved his shoulder into the door at the entrance of the building, pulling Sharad out onto the sidewalk behind him. The old man was still there but now slept, and so the two Fae made their way through the silent city on foot, unnoticed by the sleeping mortals.
Sharad was quiet, as if unsure really of what to say, but Manav found the silence comfortable. He could sense badi pari's mind in the back of his own, her eyes on his every move, and he rubbed his fingers on his thighs as the feel of iron finally began to fade.
The closer they got to the edges of the city, the more the pain retreated and yet the more nervous he became. Out here... beyond the mortal city, beyond the iron traps, there would be Fae to challenge him for the Prince. The Enemy would certainly send someone to try and take Sharad from him, and he could not afford to let that happen.
A sudden surge of power from behind them made both Fae stumble, Sharad falling to his knees while Manav's supernatural strength kept him on his feet. He turned in amazement, though, looking back at the city to see a glowing golden beacon rising into the night. "What in the world is that?" Sharad gasped from beside him, and Manav found his mouth suddenly dry, Badi pari silent in his mind in her own shock. "Manav?"
"... Power. We need to get to that before any other Fae do," Manav finally said, reaching out to grab Sharad 's hand tightly into his own and lurching forward into a run, back into the cursed mortal city. That much power could be one thing and one thing only: a mortal Mage in distress. He'd never seen such an amount of power from a mortal before, and though part of him was almost afraid of what he would find, he knew he had to reach that Mage. He ignored the protests of the Prince beside him, simply kept his grip on the other's hand and practically dragged him through the streets; they had to get to that Mage before anyone else, before the Enemy . That power would be so helpful in the battles to come...
He could feel Badi pari urging him on, pushing him to go faster and get to that power to claim it for her. If he failed she would be angry, and her anger... He doubled his efforts and heard Sharad's shouted protest, but ignored it and continued to pull the boy along at a breakneck speed. "Stop, stop!" Sharad gasped, pulling back against Manav with all of his weight and forcing the tall Fae to finally stop and look to him.
"Leave me here, I'll follow, but obviously you can get there first!" he said, his dark eyes wide, his sides heaving at the attempt to catch his breath, and Manav felt torn. Leave the Prince? He was the key to their whole war... but that much power from one single Mage could turn the tide even if the Daoine claimed the Prince away from the Unseelie. Unsure, he turned his queries inward, to his Queen.
Majesty? What to do? he pleaded, and her answer came back sharp and angry, pain lancing through his mind with her retort. Leave the Prince and get that Mage, you fool! He nodded in acceptance to Sharad and abruptly dropped his hand, the Prince dropping down to his knees as Manav wrapped the shadows around himself, preparing to move to wherever that Mage was.
He had to reach them before the Enemy, or all could be lost before it even began.
Mage refers to a magician or a learned person
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Indian Mythology
Chakravarti Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan
Shiv Shakti
Anupamaa
