Betrayal

In the years I have spent at various courts in my life, I have seen my fair share of betrayal, and to be entirely truthful, I have done a bit of my own. The one that sticks out in my mind more than any other was my betrayal of a former paramour. A’fore you think that I suffer from a guilty conscience and the voice of this man haunts me eén now, let me assure you that this is definitely not the case.

Prince Itet was a dark, handsome man. That he was ambitious was an understatement. He was arrogant beyond most human and Fae definitions of it, and because of his penchant for treachery and abuse of magic at the continuous expense of others, he gained power. Itet’s ambition was to rule and to cast out all remnants of humanity from the Earth.

I was, at the time, confidante to King Nuada, and those of us on the Fortunate Isle, had always professed autonomy and neutrality. Nuada knew better. His wisdom had earned my trust. For him I put myself within the path of Itet, who took to me as an ant does to sugar. In spite of my being half human, Itet overlooked this shortcoming. I had other qualities that overcame what he called my “polluted blood”.

For months Itet shared my bed, and in time, he in turn shared his secrets with me – until at last he reached the point of what he calculated to be his final coup against Nuada. Itet would take Bea’nacht and Nuada would be defeated, leaving Itet to reign. All of humanity’s extermination would begin and the Earth would be cleansed of the stain. Everything had been laid out on the vellum which Itet would entrust to me to give to his agents in the Highlands. I pretended not to imagine what my fate would be if Itet succeeded.

“You see that I would be a greater ruler than even Nuada, don’t you Faelyn?” his hands clung to a hank of my hair and pulled my head back to reveal my throat.

“Aye, I see what sort of ruler you would be,” I said looking up at him. My smile hid the revulsion and hatred that I felt.

“You will see that this gets to the proper person.”

“Aye,” I said, “I will see that it gets to the appropriate place, Highness.”

He released me and I gave him a look that promised much more upon my return. I turned to the draught that my servant had brought and offered the chalice to him myself.

“Drink this tonic, Itet. You will sleep the night and when you awaken all will be set to rights.”

He offered it to me first and I took the smallest sip to let him know that it was not poison. When he saw that I did not fall over dead, at last he acquiesced to my request. Within minutes he was asleep. I covered him with a damask coverlet and made my way into the night. I will note that not one lie escaped my lips that night. I wonder if the art of betrayal is made even more so when no deceptive words are spoken, but in fact the assumption lies within the mind of the hearer.

The next morning Prince Itet was awakened to the point of several drawn swords against his throat and body. He was bound and blindfolded and dragged before the throne of King Nuada, the Seelie Uniter, spewwing and screaming and vowing revenge . Nuada’s wizened head nodded and the blindfold was removed, Itet was shoved down onto the flagstones, his nose landing just inches from my own foot as I sat on a low seat of honour next to the King on his right-hand side. It took every ounce of control that I could muster not to kick that handsome, arrogant and foolish face.

“Halfling whore!” Itet spat, his arms still behind him and he struggled to try regain footing, “You betray even your own Unseelie blood by allying yourself with Nuada! Where is your honour, bitch? I should have known your human treachery would have come to this!”

“Aye,” I said, “You should have known. But it was you who broke the peace, and it was you who forgot what honour was.”

Itet’s face blanched and then turned red with rage. Before he could lunge toward me the guards grabbed and subdued him again. I looked at Nuada who nodded. The guards took Itet away, kicking and screaming every Fae and Human profanity that he could.

That evening Itet’s head hung on the city gates. As I rode past the gates toward the Highlands, I blew Itet one last kiss.

Muse: Fanny Fae
Fandom: Original Character / Folklore /Mythology
Word Count: 786
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