Exiled to the streets

She’d spotted her pet finish talking to the boy and make her way over to her, excusing herself from the young lord who was talking to her, Sofia walked along a less populated route “Now, What have you learned?” She wouldn’t have come back so soon if she hadn’t something to say and she was quite curious now that she’d spotted the new pet and the kings court pet had both vanished from the main room where court was being held. Listening carefully when she was spoken to, it didn’t take her long to decide that she wanted to go poke the King who incidentally was the closest thing she had to a friend at court. Dismissing and rewarding Sarah with a gentle brush of fingers over her shoulder and wandered over to where the king was, collecting a drink along the way and leant against the balcony sipping it debating on how subtle she wanted to be. Musing over it she spoke “I see Hrolfs new pet is in hot demand, I don’t think I’ve ever seen your boy make a beeline for someone other than the ambassador” as always she was dressed rather simply for court, preferring simple elegance over some of the overly jewel encrusted nobles. Even now she wasn’t that fussed on silver and so usually was seen in a simple delicate gold necklace with some sort of pendant, well aware that her Sae would be going to find Will and the blue eyed boy to over hear what Will wished to say to him.

Finding a room that was a little more private and away from everyone else at court, William opened the door and gestured for the pet to get inside, shutting the door firmly behind him when he followed. With that he started interrogating him intending to find out everything about him, at the beginning the boy was submissive enough but after a while he seemed to decide that enough was enough and his entire demeanour changed. Going from quiet and polite to carrying himself like a faerie would and gave faerie answers that were difficult to tell if they were the whole truth or only part of the truth, treating Will like he was an equal Connor found the challenge of playing with the other pet something fresh and enjoyable especially once he realized that it was irritating Will but the other pet couldn’t do anything about it. Ending up leaning against the window after opening it to look out over the various gardens, with a very faerie like smirk on his face, he watched with some enjoyment when William appeared to get sick of it and left with a snort of disgust.

Irritated, the stray heartbeat of someone listening outside the door was enough for him to quietly walk to the door and opened it suddenly, recognizing Sae he yanked her into the room and closed the door once again leaning against it watching her with an usually cold look glittering in his green eyes. “Ah the downside of court Con that you have yet to learn, there are always snakes looking to overhear so they can run back to their master trembling like an excited bitch wanting a touch or a caress for their work” it wasn’t often that he grew ticked enough to speak his mind, Connor listened quite intently looking perfectly relaxed with his hands in his pockets as if they were discussing something quite unrelated. Canny enough to realize that the situation held a potential bonus he walked forward and took Sae’s hand in his gently drawing her away from the irate ginger. “Surely you’re being too harsh, we are all here to serve our faeries, I recall you cuddling into your King before we went to have our private chat” speaking smoothly he didn’t flick a glance at the girl just yet more intent on sorting the situation out. He wasn’t sure if Will was about to drag the poor girl out to the king infront of everyone, and it would be of use to have someone like her owing him a favour, he wasn’t quite sure why being at court and doing this sort of thing felt so natural but he went with it “I’m sure you have a good explanation for being there right, Sae?” Flicking her a look finally when he finished speaking as silent encouragement to say the right thing he was relieved when she did, meeting Wills gaze calmly he waited until the ginger turned and left slamming the door behind him. “Shall we go then?” He drew Sae along with him until they were near enough to court where he let go of her hand and flicked her a v brief smile before rentering the room as if nothing had happened.


Not pulling away when he tugged her closer and rested his head on her shoulder, Sofia shook her head a little “he’s very possessive of you, a common pet trait amongst noble faeries pets it seems” when he questioned her she leaned her head against his contentedly quite fond of him and aware he was fond of her as well. “Hrolfs pet is quite interesting, rather confident until other’s speak to him and then coming across poorly trained perhaps due to some sort of anxiety, very convincing like he has had much practice at hiding himself in plain sight” it was admittedly fascinating to the point where she wanted to interact with him to see what she could see going on while speaking with him. Her gaze briefly flicked to Katherine who was standing towards the raised dias where the throne sat speaking with a couple of courtiers, Sofia blinked as for the briefest moment the princess's face changed from cool calm and collected to one of almost surprise before she was back to her usual self, wondering what was going on in order for that to happen, Sofia knew better than to pry into the twins affairs, Atrel would perhaps tell her later but for now she stayed where she was.


Kat admittedly was growing tired of the repetitiveness of people at court, glancing away from the men talking to her, she saw the face of someone she knew was dead, it was enough for her polite look to fall for the briefest second and a pain so sharp she wanted to hug herself until it went away. Ignoring the urge she took a long deep breath and excused herself from the courtiers, taking the long way around until she was closer to the man she now saw was a pet, he returned to Hrolf the rather simple but charming farmer. How was this possible? Could faeries really be reborn as humans? Evidently she needed to do some research, what were the odds that Conrad would be reborn or at least have a spitting image look-alike occur and then by some miracle wind up here. Aware her brother would have felt the pain she avoided looking over at Atrel, she needed to go speak with her mother, thankfully her parents were visiting at the moment so the princess left the room heading for the gardens where the pair of them read neither of them that keen on court now they had stepped down. Finding them she wasn’t aware of how pale she looked, but wouldn’t have been surprised after all she had practically seen a ghost.

Accepting the hand she sat down when tugged and immediately hugged her mother wanting some sort of comfort, she’d always been closer with her mother than she had been with her father, he’d always seemed so distant and uninterested in her that she’d long stopped trying to get his approval and attention. Rather pleased it was just Titania she didn’t say anything for a few moments until she’d managed to gather her self a little, “There's a new pet in court, he looks just like Conrad, identical to him” true there were some subtle differences in the way he carried himself but the physical appearance was so similar that she couldn’t help but believe that he somehow had come back. That believe brought so many complex emotions she felt like she was about to be sick, while she’d done her best to be pleased for her brother when he’d fallen in love with Conrad, a very small part of her self couldn’t help but hate that he’d found somebody so quickly, she’d just had to watch him be happy and do her best to squash the bitter voice that whispered although at night it grew so much louder. It’d been worse when Conrad had died and Atrel had been affected to the point where he’d shut his memories away, Conrad had been someone she’d spent a fair amount of time around although she wouldn’t have called them friends, but having to act like he’d never existed had been both a blessing and a curse. Stubborn as a mule she’d always kept these thoughts and feelings to herself, they wouldn’t have done anyone any good to bring them up, it was far better that they remained private even if her jaw ached from holding everything back. Occasionally there was an overly abrupt faerie at court that would ask her about not finding a partner, to which she always insisted that she didn’t need anybody, she had her work, her family, why bother complicate the matter with someone who would just  be a hindrance. Years of repeating it meant she was rather convincing of it now to the point where sometimes when she said it she believed it, there wasn’t something wrong with her, she didn’t need someone to be whole she was whole on her own, and anybody at court couldn’t be trusted as they were only interested in her rank than anything else. God she hated moments like this, it was so pathetic, and self-pitying which she couldn’t stand, it was so selfish, she was so selfish and pathetic and worthless, upset and happy that it seemed her brother’s lover had come back from the dead.


Agreeing with him when he mentioned that it wasn’t entirely bad in most cases, quite content with the fact that her pet was very much so of her as well, it’d made it much easier to get her child into a home that would raise it and then send it back when it was old enough to be put to work. After Sae had had the baby, Sofie had been inundated with requests to purchase Sarah as a broodmare, all of which had been turned down without a second thought, something had obviously happened from the glint in Atrels pet when he returned and the look on Sarahs face. Deciding that for now the best thing to do was to head back to their quarters, she wanted to talk to Sae in private and find out exactly what had gone on, things could get complicated if she had made an enemy of Will as the beautiful man was of a higher rank than some faeries at court. “Oh I intend to keep an eye on him” and Sarah was going to be the one who would help her do so “I’ll see you later love”. Cheekily touching a hand to his cheek briefly knowing fully well she was one of a handful that could get away with such an action, it was fun to spark rumors amongst the gathered nobles when they saw or overheard them talk to one another. With that she headed back to her quarters, getting out of the dress and winding up in cargo pants and a black singlet top perched on her desk with her legs hanging over the edge “What happened darling girl? You look unsettled” offering a hand out to her pet, Sofia waited patiently to be filled in on what had happened.


Watching both Will and Sae return to their faeries who were standing next to each other, he didn’t draw any more attention to himself than he already had, going to stand at Hrolf’s side deliberately appearing aware of only what his faerie was doing when everything around him was being noted down to be gone over later. For once he felt thankful that he had endured what he had, it meant that he had been able to come here and was well equipped to survive, with one pet already owing him he was waiting for ripe opportunities to collect more debts. He would ask Hrolf questions on the way home back to the farm about who several of the faeries were, glancing up he blinked realizing the princess that had been talking to some men had vanished, kicking himself for not noticing such movement he made a mental note to pay more attention. Soon enough they were on the way home and he spent most of it questioning things that he’d noticed, very tired by the time they got home, his chores it seemed were not over yet as Hrolf instructed him to go look after Lilli while he went out for a ride with Jon to check some of the fences. Coming across them inside Connor gave the pair of them a tired smile and leaned against the bench not bothering to change out of his court clothes while Hrolf went straight to his room and came back in his comfortable farm clothes, ruffling Connors hair just to tease him and greeting Lilli and Jon rather jovially “Hello you two, have a good day?" Listening to the little girl eagerly chatter away about what she and her father had gotten up to that day once she was finished Hrolf continued his train of thought "Jon after dinner I need your help riding out to check a few fences in a paddock we’re going to put the sheep in too” it was also an excuse to get him one on one and make sure everything was going well, just grinning when his stomach rumbled signalling how hungry he was and laughing when he heard Connors start up almost as if in response.

Leaning into the hug, Katherine was quiet “he belongs to Lord Hrolf, the faerie that was exiled for a year. I don’t know if Atrel has seen him or not, there's no flies on him, the boys at court so I would say so” things were going to be painful for everyone involved. She’d always doubted that hiding what had happened had been the best thing for her brother, but it had made things easier for herself so she’d gone along with it. She was so selfish, feeling a stab of self-hatred spear her, Kat pulled back a little from her mother to watch her conflicted  “What are we going to do? Tell him?” that would be something dicey “Or wait until he comes looking for answers?” waiting until he came looking for answers meant he could investigate the pet on his own for a bit instead of having his entire world shattered and then potentially rejecting the boy. The fact that Conrad now belonged to Hrolf wasn’t something she was too worried about when her brother wanted something he usually got it through wits or cunning, if he really liked the pet then he would wind up with him one way or another. Hrolf was on thin ice still the smart thing to do would be to hand Conrad over to her brother when he asked for him, but the farmer was different from those at court, he showed no interest in sucking up to anyone and did his own thing regardless of how others viewed him for it, for that she had to admire him slightly. That had never been a path for herself, but what was the point of ruminating over that? So she dragged her attention back to the problem at hand, not her pathetic self invested ruminating.


Once her pet was at her feet, Sofia reached down and undid Sarahs pale blonde hair from the style it’d been in for court and started to brush her fingers through it listening quietly “how interesting, how on earth would a pet who Hrolf has had for six months in the faerie world be that good already at his age. Sae my darling I want you to strike up a friendship with him so that we might learn some more about him.” There was no such thing as too much information, the fact that her king and occasionally rumoured lover was interested in the blue-eyed kid only made her all the nosier. Her well-trained pet was the best way to find out information from him, she was a clever girl and Sofie was genuinely fond of her, realizing that Sarah had gone quiet Sofia's hand continued to brush through the girl's hair waiting to hear whatever it was that Sae was anxious about telling her. Connecting the dots fairly quickly when she was told that Sae had guessed that someone had heard her heartbeat, the farmer's pet didn’t have the modifications for super hearing so it must be the king's court pet Will that she was talking about. Musing over it, her hand that was brushing through the soft hair stopped, it explained the glint in Will's eyes when he’d stalked back from wherever he’d gone with Con, “hm that is troublesome, you will need to apologise to him to take the heat out of his dislike. Next time take greater care to not be caught Sae, it only complicates matters” her tone became a little sterner when she warned Sarah to be caught again, what she liked about her pet was that she was so sensitive to reward and pressure that the girl would only need the slightly warning tone to take a lesson from what had happened and to take more care next time.


It seemed that Jon so invested in making dinner that he hadn’t heard him, setting the piece of cake down on the plate he called out a little louder “Jon?” the man had been a bit quieter recently, was he displeased that Connor had been getting more attention as he’d needed to prepare the boy for court? He wasn’t sure but now that Connor had been for the first time he could give the boy homework to work on and he could spend more of his attention on Jon, when again it seemed that his words had flown right over Jon's head he spoke calmly “Jonathan.” Now that he had the older pets attention he continued “After dinner, I’ll need your help on a quick fence check, it’ll go quicker with two of us” and it was an excuse to talk to Jon one on one and make sure everything was going good, he also had an idea for a new job for the pet that’d make his day hopefully. So far Jon hadn’t really had any concrete jobs apart from helping out on general farm jobs and looking after Lilli and con, that was about to change, once he had a response he picked up the cake and kept eating, Connor although not the biggest fan of honey cake was eating a slice as well never one to turn down food. After dinner, Hrolf headed outside to pull his horse out of the stables and started tacking up soon swinging into the saddle and looking over his property with a contented look on his face, he truly loved it out here the air was fresh and he could just be himself without having to worry about how others were perceiving him even if it seemed that he didn’t care either way.

Listening to her mothers advice, Katherine just nodded quietly, tired and conflicted, giving her mother a quick hug and kissing her cheek Katherine bade her farewell and headed back to her rooms, not wanting any kind of tea or anything to eat. Instead she took a couple of pain killers to help with the headache she was starting to get and sat down with a glass of water that she drained, tucking her legs underneath her and settling down on the couch the princess sighed softly remembering everything that had happened between her brother and Conrad, how did it even happen that faeries could be reborn as humans? What were the chances of them finding each other again? What did that mean for her and her own fortune, was she just doomed to watch history repeat itself? She wasn’t sure, but there was nothing she could do but speculate.


Sick of this stupid ship he’d made up his mind that he was never going on one ever again, leaning against the railings trying not to be sick he saw out of the corner of his eye that the boss was bothering Lori again. He was slowly trying to pin her into a corner where she couldn’t get away from him, pushing himself off of the railing Seth shakily made his way over and wound up nearly knocking the boss man over “Hey has anybody got something sugary, I think I have low blood sugars” slurring his words half on purpose he reached out and leaned against the wall looking very pale and shaky. Thankfully his wings didn’t take much energy to keep folded and hidden away, less energy than keeping them flared and out in the open, looking like he was about to keel over he pretty much felt like he was about to do so. It was a good way to get Lori away from the creep without appearing to be aware of what was going on, beads of sweat were perfectly obvious on his paler than usual face.


Tacking up his own horse, Hrolf was soon mounted and waiting for the other man, once they were finally riding Hrolf replied “The far north fence, I thought I’d better get you one on one to explain things to you a bit more” falling silent for a few minutes puzzling over how best to word it “Other faerie wise, while other faeries are around us you need to act like a very polite servant essentially, speak politely when spoken to, take them to me if they arrive on the farm or put them in the house with some food and drink while I’m found if that makes sense to you.” Holding onto the reins with one hand he guided his mare with his weight and feet while chatting away finding the ride rather relaxing after the day at court “Con handled himself well at court so he’s become my court pet” which he was quite sure would make Jon happy. Like himself Jon wasn’t the type to enjoy the amount of bullshit that happened at court “You’ve been doing really well otherwise, taking care of me and the other two ragamuffins, and your cooking is phenomenal.” Shutting up for a couple more minutes as he formulated his final words “I’ve been thinking of a way to reward you and thank you, so I’ve decided that I’d like you to start help me with training the dogs” it was the biggest personal thing he could think of to reward him, sure giving lilli things was a reward but he didn’t want to use lilli to control him. He wanted Jon to do his work because he wanted to, he was aware of how fond of the dogs Jon was and so allowing him the ability to work with them, it was a job that Hrolf was very protective of as he also liked working with the dogs and they were what brought in the most money as well trained loyal dogs were quite sought after by most faerie noble families.

He had the wobbly sense of satisfaction at the frustrated look on the mans face, following the human girl nearly falling over several times once they had entered her room he sat down as quickly as he could before his feet could collapse from underneath him. Accepting the honey he got stuck into it, not bothering to answer until he had gone through the entire pot and it was licked as clean as he could “I will be thanks to you” leaning back into his seat he sighed and closed his eyes feeling the sugar starting to push his sugar levels back up again “I’m just prone to low blood sugars” he didn’t feel like playing any games and announcing he was a faerie, it was still too soon for it to be believable that he would trust her with that knowledge. He wanted more honey but knew he didn’t specifically need anymore, settling down a bit more he made himself open his eyes and smile at her “Thank you, Lori” he closed his eyes and sighed appearing to relax as the sugar did its work.


He wouldn’t have thought to call it like a butler but he supposed if that was the term that suited Jon then he would roll with it, “Answer them politely and vaguely, most that come here will have enough manners to know how things work.” Yawning and rubbing his eyes he urged his horse forward a little “Its not a reward just for doing farm work Jon, it’s a reward from me to you, to thank you for everything, you like the dogs and are good with them.” He wanted to make him happy, to give him a job that he enjoyed, but that all felt rather tangled up on the inside, his hand holding onto the reins tightened. He knew what he felt and over time the feeling had gotten stronger and it was getting irritating to ignore but Jon wouldn’t be interested. He had his daughter and was still in love with his wife, making himself relax he took a long deep breath and looked out over the land that he loved so much.

Feeling the sugar do its work he relaxed some more “No I ran out, it’s been a bit of a vicious cycle with puking and going low” speaking quietly still, the Faerie nodded his agreement about how much longer they were stuck on this blasted boat. “I am going to be the first one on land, fuck boats” he didn’t often curse but had enough animosity towards the stupid ship he’d been stuck on for so long that he felt it was a suitable time to use it. It didn’t help that Martin didn’t get seasick in the slightest and had been practically crowing about him being so fine and Seth being as sick as a dog, grumbling to himself a brief moment thinking about it all. Yanking himself back to the present he queried “How is your training going? You might be ready for him to start teaching you more” he remembered that she’d been quite fascinated by the silks, it’d take a lot of work for her to prove to Martin that she had what it takes, it wouldn’t do anything if he put pressure on Martin aside from making the feisty man dig his heels in.


It’d been a few months since they had last been at court, and Connor was privately quite excited to go back, he was really interested in the ‘con’ so to speak that went on there. It was fascinating how everyone there interacted with one another, faerie to faerie, pet to pet, faerie to pet, sticking close to Hrolf however he settled back into the ‘mask’ of being the perfect pet, he’d had plenty of time to study up and get better at being that perfect pet. After a little while, he wandered towards some of the windows and peered through them watching the garden quietly, hearing footsteps he turned and smiled at the owner of those steps “Hello again Will” it’d be quite fun running rings around him and making the other pet owe him. There was no point playing the new pet anymore, listening as the redhead explained shortly that the king wanted him, Connor nodded and excused himself, going to Hrolf first and affirming that it was alright with him before going to where Will had explained that the king was. He wanted to maintain eye contact but knew he could not, no matter how comfortable he felt at court he was still a pet, flicking his gaze down he spoke clearly “Your Majesty, You asked for me?” giving a perfect bow for the situation he straightened up and carefully observed the floor.

The offer was kind and made him smile genuinely, it was different than the one that the crowds got when they flocked to the circus, it was quieter and gentler “Thank you Lori, I’d greatly appreciate that, it’d make life on this cursed barrel a lot easier” listening as she continued to speak explaining how she was never certain what Martin was thinking or saying “Oh trust me, You’d know if he wasn’t happy with how you were doing, he’s very outspoken like that. He’s mentioned in passing to me that he believes you have some natural talent, which I expect is why you still have a job working with him along with your desire to work hard. I’m inclined to agree with him after watching you practice with him recently” he actually meant it too, although he was often quite genuine with Lori this was one of the few times where there were no barriers between them. The ship pitched beneath them and he abandoned his bed to sit on the floor looking more relieved at the more stable ground beneath him which was as stable as it was going to get on this blasted ship, colour was returning to his face rather nicely now and he was starting to appear himself again although the lack of walls between them remained.


Will nodded and left vanishing off to go complain to the female faerie that he’d become close with, once the redhead was gone, Connor breathed a quiet sigh to himself. Knowing better than to deny a king he nodded and started to walk in step, carefully holding himself in check, what he felt didn’t matter he had to remember his place, in a way it was easy to do all that as he’d been doing it all of his life. “It’s a definite improvement your grace, clear skies and fresh air are rather refreshing” and he wasn’t stuck in a city with his parents and their cult of a church. He didn’t really understand why the king was so interested in him and he really didn’t understand why he felt so comfortable in his presence, it was dangerous, he couldn’t afford to make a slip-up and wind Hrolf in hot water through his mistakes. Hrolf and Jon had essentially saved his life, what would have happened to him if he hadn’t found them, in all fairness he didn’t really remember how he had found them it was all a blur like he hadn’t been quite in control of himself and he’d been moving on nerve impulses only like someone else had been in control. Realizing that it’d be a good idea to give him some more information Con spoke once more “I come from the city, I hadn’t been out of the city in… quite some time” remembering a few things that were best left forgotten and unspoken the teenager fell silent looking out over the gardens as that was prettier than staring at the ground being all subservient.

When she brought up the boss of the circus Sethain didn’t bother hiding his disgust at the man  “Unfortunately he does, you can always use me as an excuse to get away from him. If he gets too grabby feel free to announce that we are an item, that’d keep him more at bay” right now there wasn’t much he could do about the disgusting man that ran the circus. Seth had no interest in running the show when it came to numbers and payments, while he ran the day to day parts of the show he preferred to leave the rest to Bryan. Looking up at her once more he couldn’t help but note the changes in her from when she’d first shown up, she seemed happier and he was happy for her, even though he believed she’d been sent to keep an eye on him.  “He can escalate things if you get physically violent with him is my only warning” he would continue doing what he’d been doing from the first time she’d shown up, keep an eye on her. Going green when the ship pitched on another particularly large wave he groaned “For gods sake, are we heading into a storm or something urghh” leaning his head back against his bed, Seth seriously considered getting someone to knock him out for a few hours so he didn’t have to deal with how his insides squirmed at every movement of the ship he was stuck on.


Listening to the kings comment, he shook his head  “No not yet your grace, there is much work to be done at the farm” tucking both of his hands behind his back and linking the fingers of both hands, Connor continued walking along his face visibly brightening at the mention of the farm “Yes your grace, Lord Hrolf has been teaching me to ride and there are many chores to do” he wasn’t bothered in the slightest about hard work, it was satisfying and each morning waking up with sore muscles meant he’d pushed himself harder. Carefully tucking his true feelings away again he put on the mask he wore around those that weren’t Hrolf, Jon or Lilli, it didn’t matter that it was easy to talk to this faerie, he was still dangerous. Still, court life was something he was used to, court was a shark pool not unlike the cult he’d grown up a part of and it was very easy to play his part. In all honesty the teenager didn’t really understand why the king was taking time out of his no doubt busy day to talk to him, Hrolf was not a high noble and was disinterested in court, in the grand tapestry at court he meant nothing, he wasn’t special just a pet. Those feelings and thoughts were hidden behind the mask without Connor even needing to think about it, carefully flicking his gaze towards the king watching him from the corner of his eyes he squashed down the questions that were not important or appropriate remaining silent.

Looking absolutely horrified at the confirmation of a storm, he shoved his face into his hands with a soft moan “Oh god, I’m never going on a ship every again I swear to anyone who’s going to listen” he was a bit of a wuss when it came to pain so he didn’t get up to go find Martin and to get him to put him out of his misery. It felt like forever until the ship was finally in harbor and as promised he was the first one off of it nearly throwing himself onto the ground before he realized that people were watching, helping the others move gear from the ship onto their various vans, trucks and cars he was busily making himself a cup of tea in his camper van very happy now his feet were on solid ground once more. Spotting Lori through a window he exited the van and called out to her “Lori” she heard him it seemed as she came over to him “I’m unsure what you want to do regarding accommodation, Martin still has a space in his place, theres mine and a few others, you don’t have to tell me now things are pretty chaotic still, just let me know when you’ve made up your mind” offering a kind smile he rather happily sipped his tea and sighed “its so good to be back on land” they were likely going to drive a few miles to a camping area and would spent the night there before setting out on their tour through Europe.


Content, for now, to wander with him, Connor didn’t really pay too much attention to where they were going apart from making sure he didn’t’ trip over or run into anything, that would be embarrassing to say the least. “Yes your grace, they were rather intimidating at first however I’m used to them now and enjoy them.” Cool, calm, polite, answering the questions sent his way politely as possible without being too bland Connor's eyes widened at the sight of the strange animals, following the king he stared up at the creatures feeling like he was in a dream all of a sudden. They were like deer, big and yet they felt gentle, going closer he remained behind the king “They’re like creatures out of a dream…” he was unsure of what the rules were here so he didn’t go any closer and instead remained rooted to the spot watching the antlered animals. What were they? The name of them felt like it was on the tip of his tongue and yet he couldn’t quite make the connection and say it, wanting to interact with the one that the king had fed a piece of apple to Connor held himself back, there were rules he had to follow.

Returning the cheery smile he just laughed “Yeah well, I wasn’t meant to be at sea it seems, my legs were made for dry land and I seem to bounce back pretty quickly thankfully” draining the last of his tea he studied the various goings on before sighing slightly “Work calls it seems” tucking the empty tea cup and saucer back inside his camper van he headed over to where Martin was gesturing for Lori to follow. The foul tempered but beautiful man was scowling at a large crate filled with the various hoops and bars used during their performances unable to move the heavy item on his own. With their help he was able to get it up onto a truck and after that vanished supposedly to find something to eat which only made Seth shake his head a little, he was fond of Martin but it never failed to amuse him how Martin always took care of his equipment first, then himself then everyone else. “oh well. Sandwiches sound good for lunch don’t you think” most things seemed packed by now so it was acceptable to take a break, have some lunch and decide what to do next, looking over at Lori for her response he started heading back for his place already planning to stuff his sandwich with plenty of tasty things.


How he wanted to touch one, to feel what their fur felt like, to find out whether it felt like a part of him thought the animal would, soon the king was moving away and Connor had to stay with him. It wasn’t very long before he spoke up “What are they your grace if you don’t mind me asking” the older looking one that Atrel had stroked was mostly on his mind. Why was she so familiar? Why was what creature she was on the tip of his tongue, suddenly a little uncomfortable with all of the questions that he didn’t have answers to, he tacked on a fake smile and forcibly tore his gaze away from where it’d been watching the animals over his shoulder whilst they walked away. “If they don’t like hard labour, your grace, what job do they serve your grace” his voice gave away no trace of the uncertainty that he felt on the inside or how uncomfortable that uncertainty made him feel. If the king decided not to ask his questions he’d ask Hrolf on the way home, there were already several questions he intended to ask the faerie that had collared him and rescued him from the streets, several of them were about the king but most were about those deer-like creatures with their calm gentle eyes that felt all the more intelligent than the horses back home. A thought absently slipped out at the thought of home “Tess would say this is all like a fairy tale” there was a softer smile on his face the words murmured quietly, and she’d be right, the familiar pain pierced him. His precious baby sister likely thought he was dead, what were they going to do to her now they didn’t have him to focus on, would they try to force her into being the perfect heir? That was a battle he didn’t’ think they’d win, no she was far braver than he was, they’d likely just abandon her instead, his hands behind his back clenched tightly at the thought, making him wince at the pain before he hid it.

Standing with several poles thrust into the ground that held up various piece of trapeze equipment, Martin was standing tapping a foot looking highly impatient, when she showed up he circled her inspecting her before snorting “you’ve kept up with your training decently, get up there. It’s time for you to kick it up a notch” jerking his thumb up at the hoop and two bars waiting for her. He clambered up to a place to perch and watch her intently calling out instructions meant to challenge her and get her thinking. Finally as it was starting to get dark he called an end to her training and clambered down “That was decent for a beginner. You will start preforming in the shows with me” with the words of rare praise he turned and headed off towards his small rather crappy van that had become his home, he had no interest in sharing his home with anyone else, he liked being on his own he liked his space. Seth had been busy dedusting everything in his van and had gone out to speak with Bryan, returning shortly after she did, the faerie flicked her a smile “Did you wind up finding somewhere to stay?” he wasn’t arrogant to assume that she would want to and would stay with him  “I’m heading into town for dinner if you’d like to come along, I want proper food after ship food for so long” a sheepish friendly grin settled itself on his face as he spoke one of his hands rubbing the back of his head.


The king briefly explained the animals, their name and what they were used for, looking where he was going again the pet nodded everything hidden away again “Yes your grace” he didn’t really want to talk to someone he didn’t know if he could trust or not about Tess. He didn’t want her captured and winding up here, she was such a free spirit that being made a pet would kill her, himself well he’d been a pet all his life his parents pet which was why the change had been so easy to adapt to. Noticing the quick glance once they were back at the balcony he kept his mouth shut, wondering what had been the entire point of their walk together, faeries didn’t do things just for the sake of it from what he’d observed. Especially a king, but he was well aware of his own ranking and thus wasn’t about to start asking questions, catching sight of Hrolf he assessed whether or not Hrolf wanted him back just yet and deduced that he had a little more time to entertain the king that had taken a slight interest in him. Was entertain the right word? He believed so, he was a pet so just a passing curiosity and to amuse himself the King had spoken to him, he didn’t know the exact reasons but he was damned if he was going to embarrass Hrolf after everything the faerie had done for him. Will hadn’t noticed them return it seemed which amused Connor a little, for someone so possessive of their spot in the hierarchy and their faerie, the female the pet was talking to seemed to garner all of his attention.