Caffeine Challenge #24
“This is a battleground. I’m caught in the crossfire. My words are weaponry. And I’m waiting patiently. You win the battle now. But I will return the fire. ‘Cause I’d crawl on broken glass. To be the one who laughs last”
She remembered the stories, in the courts. Humans - always so fearful of what they didn’t understand. At least they understood their place, understood that the fair folk were their betters, that they were to be treated with respect. Nenthyris didn’t understand the fascination with humans. They were barely able to form words, from what she had heard. Stumbling, slobbering, stupid - but if they were all of those things, then why was it that so many fae were so - so captivated by them?
She knew fae that spent years in the human realms, toying with them, playing mind games and pulling tricks. What was the fun in messing with a creature that barely had enough awareness to give itself a name? Nenthyris was all for a little fun, but eventually it just seemed pointless. She could get more entertainment from another fae - how complex a mind game could a human even play?
But, eventually, her curiosity got the better of her. She took leave of the courts, of political machinations and riddle-rhymes and subtle insults wrapped in flowery words. She enjoyed it, yes, or she should have. But it had all become so boring, so repetitive, so tiresome. Routine. And humans, well, maybe they wouldn’t be quite as uninteresting as she had come to believe.
She hadn’t been in the human realms for long when she met her. Long dark hair, loosely bound near the end, tan skin, and golden eyes that looked at her with open curiosity. She wasn’t the first human Nenthyris had met by this point, no - she had played with some others, but so far no one had been any challenge at all. It was just as she thought - fae that wasted all their time manipulating humans were just as boring as the fae she had left behind in the courts.
At the very least, this one was something new. She was different from the other humans she had encountered so far - in appearance and demeanor both. This woman did not have to say a single word, but she had already caught her attention.
Though intrigued, Nenthyris doubted that this human could be very different from the others. The way she held herself boasted confidence, yes - but foolhardiness as well, surely. This human would be like the rest - undoubtedly she would give Nenthyris her name, or ask for a trade, or follow her dumbly back to the faewoods. It was inevitable, and there was no doubt in her mind that this woman would be just like the rest.
Nenthyris allowed the woman to approach her. Her sly grin blossomed into a welcoming smile, and she stepped forwards as well.
“Greetings, traveler,” Nenthyris began, voice sickly sweet and filled with a shallow warmth. “It has been some time since I have seen one of your kind come to visit this place. I would know who it is that has come to spend time with me. Give me your name?”
Nenthyris outstretched one hand, tendrils of fae magic invisibly curling over her fingers and wrist. It was a simple ploy, but one that most humans fell for. This would be easy.
Except it wasn’t.
Instead of handing off her name as others foolishly had before her, the woman smiled. She adjusted the bag across her chest, and from it retrieved a loaf of bread, wrapped carefully in parchment to preserve its freshness. Then she turned back to Nenthyris, a cheerful light dancing in her eyes and the meal outstretched towards her.
“I can’t give you my name, because it is not mine to give. It was given to me by my mother, as a gift, and gifts given should be kept. But I can tell you that most call me Sarithsi, and you may call me by it as well. I can also tell you that bread is best eaten when you are not alone. Would you care to join me?”
Nenthyris was unable to keep the smile held in place on her lips, instead it drooped, slowly, like a wilting flower, as she stared incredulously at the bread, and then at the woman offering it. Sarithsi. Magic retreated back from her fingers, delicately winding its way back into her core, and Nenthyris carefully lowered her arm.
For the first time, Nenthyris was speechless.
When Nenthyris did not respond, Sarithsi shrugged her shoulders and tossed her bag down on the grass, before settling beside it with a soft thud. She began carefully unwrapping the bread, and as she did Nenthyris caught the scent of pumpkin and spices. She hadn’t eaten anything, in the human realms. She didn’t see a point to it. But for the first time, she was tempted.
As the woman unknowingly taunted the fae with the delicious smells coming from her bread, Sarithsi spoke up again, this time glancing at her from the corner of her eye with a mischievous grin.
“It’s fine if you don’t want to join me, even a shy stranger standing ominously over me is better than eating alone.”
Nenthyris fought off the urge to scowl, before gathering herself once again and making a bit of a hasty decision. But now this human was a challenge, or so she told herself, and so she would see it through.
“No, I will join you…Sarithsi.” Nenthyris settled down across from her with an intentionally eerie grace, trying to unnerve the woman, but Sarithsi didn’t seem to mind. Instead, she tore the loaf of bread in two, and without prompting, handed the larger half to the fae.
Nenthyris grabbed it on reflex, and then immediately cursed her own foolishness. What was she doing? Sharing food with a human on the ground in the middle of a forest? Accepting things thrust into her hands before first thinking through the ramifications, like some kind of…some kind of…
Nenthyris physically sagged a bit, staring down at her bread. She could have no debts, not even over something as insignificant as bread. She would have to give her something. Had she been outwitted so easily, so quickly?
Feeling almost physically pained, Nenthyris managed to choke out her next words.
“What would you like in return for this…meal?”
Sarithsi had her mouth full, but shook her head back and forth, and used her free hand to wave away Nenthyris’ words. Once she had swallowed, she smiled once again at Nenthyris, eyes shining.
“Nothing at all! I already told you, bread is best eaten when you aren’t alone. It’s a gift! Besides, I’ve also found bread to be one of the best ways to make new friends.”
Nenthyris knew that she probably looked like a fool, staring at the human as she was. Friends. This human, this woman, this Sarithsi, met a fae in the woods, and instead of allowing her name to be stolen, or even waiting for the next trick, had the opportunity for a boon from a fae, denied it, and offered friendship in the same breath.
And, looking into this Sarithsi’s eyes, she felt something odd seem to twang in her chest. She couldn’t identify the feeling. It wasn’t something familiar to her, so instead she turned to something that was. That one she let grow, let bubble up through her lungs and her throat and all the while this human woman just sat and ate her bread and acted like she had done nothing at all. Acted like she had not said anything so absolutely ridiculous, so absurd, so mocking and impossible-
Abruptly, Nenthyris stood up. She was infuriated.
“Do you not know what I am?” She demanded. The woman, Sarithsi, remained on the ground, wide-eyed, startled perhaps, but not scared. Not intimidated, like Nenthyris wanted her to be. Her aura was practically lashing the air around her, but still, Sarithsi remained confident. The lack of fear made Nenthyris boil.
“Do you not know what this is?” She hissed. Those golden eyes remained uncomprehending - and unafraid. “This!” Nenthyris said, angrily waving at the space between the two of them, and lacing her voice with as much venom as she could muster. “This, this is a battleground. My words are my weapons and you - you!”
But no words would come. Nenthyris threw her hands up in the air with a wordless shriek of frustration. No words would come. This human had barely spoken three sentences and yet - and yet!
And yet she had stolen the words from a fae. Every single thing she said was not how humans were supposed to act, supposed to be, and she had made a fool of Nenthyris a thousand times over already, outsmarted, outwitted, outmatched.
Finally, after a long, breathless moment, Nenthyris once again found her voice.
“I am a Fae.” She said, bringing her eyes back down from the sky, but choosing to glare at the bread and the grass and the woman’s sandals rather than her eyes. “I deceive, and I trick, and play games and take things like names, - but you have not allowed me to do any of these things. You gave me a gift, and I…”
The bubbling, boiling anger drained from her swiftly, but left behind that original twanging feeling in her chest. She continued to stare at the bread, now half crumbled, in the grass. She had crushed it and thrown it on the ground when she stood. She hadn’t realized. She felt like a fool.
And then, there was a hand on her shoulder. And Nenthyris looked up.
“I didn’t know what you were. But I didn’t think it mattered.” In her hands, Sarithsi held a piece of her half of the loaf, still uneaten. Nenthyris looked at the bread, and then back at the face of the human that had so quickly confounded her.
“But,” Sarithsi said, that same eager smile on her lips, “I do think I would like to know who you are. You have already explained what fae are, and what they do. What do you do? Who are you?”
Nenthyris spent a long moment, studying those eyes. She thought carefully, considered the way Sarithsi’s smile curved gently, and genuinely, and wondered about gifts and friendship instead words that were poised like weapons, and the willingness to do anything to be the one who got the last laugh.
Delicately, the fae took the bread from Sarithsi’s outstretched hand. She took a moment, cleared her throat, and then she met Sarithsi’s eyes once again.
“I…am Nenthyris. I think that I, would like to…get to know you, too. As a…friend?”
That time when Sarithsi smiled, Nenthyris had one that was just as blinding to match.
—
I know I went waaaaaaaaay over the time limit! But I was on a roll, and also I type and think veeeeery slowly lol. This is my first time doing a challenge, it was super fun! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! :DDD
Edit: I ALSO POSTED IT WRONG THE FIRST TIME WHOOPS HERE WE GO