If a human army like that were to show up in Imelenora, Ellisar would be forced to meet it. Ellisar’s army isn’t large, but it’s some very old, very skilled Fey warriors who have had centuries to train. We don’t just fight with weapons.

  We use magic, too, and it’s a devastating combination for the magic-less. Depending on where they showed up, they might not get far. We live in a place where even the plants are predators, and the predators are diabolical. Thorn worms, tree octopuses, Mirrors, Mimics, and Echoes are all waiting to trap the unwary.

  Instead of facing humans directly, we orchestrate from behind the scenes so that the human kingdoms attack each other. Our kings have been doing this for millennia with the human kingdoms.

  We keep them at odds with each other. Given the vast differences in our life spans, it's not so hard to do. We make sure that they don’t trust each other. It’s a game that they’ll never be able to win since they already lost it a thousand years before this group of humans was even born.

  All these machinations serve one purpose. It keeps them in their place until we’re ready to retake our former territories. No one knows what happened, but the Fey seem to have had a considerable population drop in our distant past.

  Before that, we occupied these lands that the human kingdoms call their own. We were there when humans were still bashing each other over the head with rocks and thigh bones. Everything they know of civilization, they learned from us, when they still worshipped us as gods. We kept them subservient for a very long time until we turned on each other. With the Fey out of the way, the human kingdoms rose.

  They don’t know it’s Fey that they fear, but they fear us. If you look at how these human religions draw their monsters and their demons, they’re drawing Fey in hunter mode. The extra knuckles with long claws, the wide jaws with double rows of teeth, the slitted pupils, and the slightly hunched stance from the extra muscles all show up in their artwork.

  This is why we don’t often shift around humans. They’re not wrong to fear us. Even if the human kingdoms all banded together, I don’t know that they could defeat us. We’re faster than humans. I can run fast enough that a human might not even register my passing.

  That’s a speed I can keep up for a few days, longer if I can get a bit of food and rest. We’re also stronger than humans. When I fought the bandits, I threw them around like a toddler in a tantrum, tossing toys. We hear better than humans. I can hear your heartbeat at twenty paces.

  We have our noses, too. I can smell emotions. I can see your body heat, and I can see in the dark unless it's a deep cave with no light at all. On top of all that, we have magic. Some of us are stronger than others, but nearly all of us have magic. Magic responds to will.

  It takes a lot of training to have what we call a well-formed intent. I have to know, down to my bones, what I want my magic to do before it will do it. It sounds simple, but in practice, it’s far from simple. All doubt, all fear, all distractions must be purged from your mind.

  You must clearly and decisively order the magic to do what you want before it will perform. Some things are easier than others. My headdress of roses and strawberries was easy because I wove a headdress of roses and strawberries before I used magic to turn the flowers and berries into metal and gemstones.

  For most of us, we start training as soon as magic begins to manifest. That’s typically when we’re still toddlers. If we don’t, we end up summoning something that devours us. Parents usually realize our magic is manifesting when our cribs are soaked, scorched, or overpopulated.

  Most younglings summon harmless creatures, like starfish, house cats, or finches. Occasionally, one will summon something perilous like an Echo, a snow cat, or a clicker beetle. If they’re lucky, they survive that, but many who do this do not.

  I suspect that summoning creatures is due to our affinity for all of nature. All Fey have an affinity for nature, and our magic lets us talk to most things. Hive minds, like those of bees and ants, are complex because intelligence is spread throughout the hive.

  You have to fracture your own consciousness to interact with that, and it always leaves me with a pounding headache. Other things, like frogs, are so simple that they can only understand the most basic things. Rangers, at least, I can understand. More complex animals, like horses or dogs, are the easiest to interact with.

  More complex animals at least understand the basic concepts of speech, identity, and often trade. The only time this is more complex is if you try to take them over instead. To take over a dog, you have to become the dog and operate its body. Running on four paws, sniffing everything, begging for treats, and looking for belly rubs.

  It’s easy to forget that you’re not really a dog. The danger in that is that if you do forget, you might not be able to separate yourself enough to return. Plants are often tricky because they’re even simpler than frogs. I don’t know how druids manage. I think I’d lose my sanity.

  Ellisar’s standing army is somewhere north of ten thousand Fey warriors. The veterans from the border wars number between ten and twenty thousand. There’s also a pool of retirees, which, when you’re damn near immortal, means probably another ten thousand who served long enough to become bored.

  With Ellisar’s standing army, combined with the recall of veterans and retirees, I doubt there’s a human kingdom that could stand against us. At a guess, it would be somewhere between thirty and fifty thousand Fey warriors.

  It might even be enough to topple all the human kingdoms, if that’s what we decided to do. We have better weapons, more skill, and magic. We Fey are apex predators, particularly when we shift entirely into hunting mode.

  I’m small for Fey, but I’m still strong enough to snap necks, break backs, and disembowel humans with nothing more than my claws. Those bandits found that out the hard way. The humans are allowed to hold those lands because we’d rather get them back cultivated and productive, preferably with humans still doing the cultivating.

  When our numbers have recovered enough, we’ll cast a long shadow over these human kingdoms once again. The Fey kingdoms don’t often war against each other. Ellisar’s is the most powerful, but there are a few other Fey courts still left. They’re not as large or as powerful as Ellisar’s.

  We are Hloir? Aralli?, in the Old tongue. Many of the smaller courts merged into ours. Some of the others have treaties or alliances with Ellisar. A couple are independent, but they’re bitter about Hloir? Aralli?'s success, so it’s often dangerous to visit unless in large numbers.

  We take their gold and other trade goods, like their daughters. Most of the human kingdoms don’t respect women. Simply being female means you’re automatically less-than.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  It’s not as bad as what they do to magic users in most places, but in others, it's often a close second. Once the girls are here, they’ve got rights. It’s one of the first things we teach them. They can marry, if they want. They can divorce if they’re not happy. They can learn skills and earn income. Centis, Kenric’s kingdom, isn’t unusual in keeping its females illiterate.

  Educating them is challenging because most of them lack even the most rudimentary education. Their religions have told them so many falsehoods. Many hold strange beliefs that require work to counteract, but very few decide to return to their homeland.

  If they go back, no one knows what their fathers or brothers might sell them for next time, or who they might be sold to as a bride, or worse. If they want to marry, many Fey males are willing to pursue and cherish them. No male wants to be abandoned because he’s been mistreating his hard-won female. Males want to keep their females happy and will go to great lengths to make sure they are.

  The level of respect for females is vastly different. No Fey male would think of not listening to a female. He may disagree, but he will at least listen. It’s certainly a far cry from one of Kenric’s fellow trade delegates literally patting me on the head and telling me not to fret because frowning isn’t pretty.

  I am told that Kenric will have to pay for everything in Centis because I am not allowed to make purchases. None of the women here can read or write. They can’t even sign their own names. None of them has investments, income, or even any property.

  In contrast, I am my parents’ heir. If anything happens, the family home, family fortune, and many other things will pass to me. It’s quite a considerable amount, all told. My father has been one of Ellisar’s ministers for most of my life.

  He’s invested wisely, and the family fortune is recovering after my parents nearly beggared themselves to buy my armor. I have my own investments along with my pension after being discharged from the border wars. I can create most anything I want with magic, so there’s not really much for me to spend money on.

  When I was living in Imelenora, I lived with my parents, so my living expenses were minimal, which meant I invested most of my money. I am reasonably wealthy in my own right. Money that allowed me to do largely as I pleased, which was fortunate since work for a feral Fey would have been difficult to come by.

  That’s why I agreed to run the protection teams for the trade delegation. It was one offer I was willing to accept. There were brothels and a few others who sought to employ the feral ones. I found none of those offers appealing.

  I do not doubt that if I had objected to Kenric, my parents would have sent him packing. I didn’t because Kenric would be splendid even if he were a Fey male. He’s doubly gorgeous for a human, but most of these humans aren't.

  Many of those who reek of arousal around me are paunchy, balding, and elderly. Yes, I know that at seven hundred and forty-six that I’m older, but they look as if they could be my great-grandfather. It’s a bit disturbing. Kenric says that they don’t know that I can smell their emotions. I find this odd since I know that Kenric can smell when I’m aroused.

  Kenric seems to be exceptional, for a human, in many ways. The physical differences are a bit more than just the ears, though that’s one of the more obvious ones. There are things that he can’t consume that don’t bother me at all.

  I can live on grass if I must, but Kenric cannot. Compared to the human males I’ve seen here, Fey males are glorious and magnificent. These women would swoon over Nieven or Ruvaen. They might even swoon over my gobshite cousin, Joryth, at least until he opened his mouth.

  Fey males are taller, better-looking, and, after a few centuries, likely far more skilled at both seduction and even more sensual pursuits than most human males.

  It’s no surprise that Ellisar hates sending Fey males to the human courts. A Fey male, with no emotional attachments, would be busy bedding half the female population for leagues around. Having seen these human males myself,

  I doubt that a Fey male would need to do much of the pursuing. If anything, these human females would likely be pursuing him relentlessly. I doubt he’d accomplish everything Ellisar sent him here to carry out. I can only imagine how many half-Fey children would appear in Imelenora, seeking entry and wanting to find their father.

  Many of these females already pursue Kenric, but he puts them off or foists them off on one of his companions who’s more inclined to bed them. Mostly, he pretends not to notice their attempts to get his attention, which I’m grateful for.

  I want this wedding to be over and be released so that we can return to Kenric’s holdings. With the storm that I know is coming, there is much to be done, but I can’t start on any of it until we can get there. There’s food to be grown and preserved, weapons to make and stockpile, and upgrades to his keep.

  I can’t plan what I’ll need to do until I see Kenric’s keep, but he’s said it's more geared for war than for show. I suppose I’ll see how well his ancestors knew their business. Hopefully, they knew it well. I don’t know that there will be enough time to rebuild it if that’s required. Once I see it, I can begin planning improvements.

  After all his reassurance, I’m settled now and not panicking or worried that he’ll turn into one of these other men I despise, that would gut me. “I’m sorry that I’m being an idiot. It's just that there’s nowhere here for me to speak freely to you. It all stays trapped in my head. After a while, everything starts spinning out of control, like a mad squirrel chasing its tail.”

  Kenric sits quietly for a moment, thinking and gently rocking me before he speaks again. “Víl?, let’s go back to the horse market and find us both a horse. With your talent for finding underappreciated animals, we can find two that will suit us perfectly. We’ll start riding with your honor guard. We can get out of the castle, away from this inn, and away from everyone. Just the two of us and talk. Will that help?”

  I nod and nestle into him. “That’s settled then. I hope you brought some of your riding clothes.” I didn’t, but it’s easy enough for me to magic some up in the bottom of a chest, so I nod.

  “I think I would like that, as well. All this subterfuge also wears on me.” Kenric heaves a huge sigh. “This isn’t what I had planned. I’d planned to be married to you again and already be back home. I thought we’d be busy getting you settled in by now. Instead, we’re here, playing silly games. I’m not any happier about that part of things than you are, but as long as I get you at the end, I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that happens. A few months of this foolishness are worth having an entire lifetime with you, Víl?. Wouldn’t you agree?”

  Damn that man, he always knows exactly what to say. He’s right about this much. A few months of dealing with his lecherous, foolish king are worth a lifetime with Kenric. I will need to remember this conversation when things test my patience. I sigh and snuggle against Kenric, soaking up the comfort he so readily provides.

  I will play these games and do my best to get us all through this unharmed, Kenric included. Hopefully, that’s enough.

  Soon, Rekke, the innkeeper’s wife, bustles out with platters of food and winks at me, nestled in Kenric’s lap. “A bit of pre-wedding jitters, I take it?”

  I nod cautiously. She laughs and nods. “Every woman gets them. I had them before Doustan and I were married. You wonder if you’re committing your fate to the right man. From what I’ve seen of Kenric, you’ve made a good choice. You’ll be as happy as Doustan and I are now. Just wait and see. Now, come and eat. I don’t know how you keep your figure, tiny as you are, but there’s plenty for everyone.”

  Kenric laughs again, and I do love that sound. “Come on, Víl?. You’ll have to get out of my lap. With the food here, everyone will be along in a bit. I know that this is your favorite spot, but have a little decorum.”

  Sighing, I shift to another chair, and Rekke laughs again. “Try my dumplings and tell me what you think.”

  I spear one with a fork and take a bite. It’s so good I groan, and Kenric looks at me with a raised eyebrow.

  Leaning over, he whispers, “I’ll try to make you make that noise later. I had no idea food could get you to make luscious little noises.”

  I frown slightly at him and poke him with my toes under the table. “If they’d served these at the palace, Arthion might still be here. This is delicious. She was quite distressed that the food at the palace was just as bad, if not worse, than our rooms in the palace. Had the food been this good, she might have stayed.”

  Delighted by the praise, Rekke laughs and heads back into the kitchen for more platters. Doustan and Rekke quickly realized that when no one else is around, neither Kenric nor I feels the need to stand on ceremony. We’re comfortable eating with our ‘staff,’ which makes things much easier for Doustan and Rekke.

  Some savory, shredded pancake-like dishes arrive. They’re crispy and pair well with the roast. After a day of eating cucumber and mint sandwiches, this feels like heaven. Finally, after enjoying a cinnamon roll, I decide I need a bath. Rekke goes to light the fire to heat the water.

  What's your take on the changeling stories? Let me know the comments... I'd love to hear your ideas. I might even use some of them.