It was only a story that your great-grandfather had told – meeting a beautiful Fae in the black forest after the war. His first son had died in labor, they had grieved, but had two more children. Your grandfather told the story when he had children, of the gorgeous Lady Aera, a royal Fae child whose hand had been promised to the third born, of the third born, of the third born.
Your grandfather had been the third born son, and your mother had been the third born daughter. You? You were your mothers third born. It was all just a story. Or so you thought. You’re familiar with the Black Forest, after all, your family has lived near it for more than eighty years, and you’ve been hiking and playing in it all your life. When you saw a fox make its way into the woods, you decided to follow it.
Thinking about it now, you don’t even know why. It was beautiful, certainly, but you’ve never done something like that, it was almost like something possessed you. You simply had to see where it went, and took out your phone. You have no idea how long you followed it, but now … Now you stand in a clearing that you’ve never been to before, and see the fox chasing a rabbit, pure as snow, into the woods.
“I have waited a long time to meet you.”
The voice is ethereal, unnatural, and intoxicating. As you turn, you see before you a beautiful woman – hair like autumn leaves, eyes like rubies, a crown of flowers on her head, and a black dress of finest silk. Then you see the wings. It was just a story.
“You have grown up to be quite beautiful.”
It was just a story right?
“My name is Lady Aera, and you are to be my spouse.”
Right?
