She knew it very well.
Liath wasn’t always a faery, in a sense. Yes she was born
one, a full-blooded faerie from the Unseelie Court. However, by the time of her
birth, taking changelings from the human world were still a popular practice
then, not so much now. It was unfortunate—or
fortunate, I don’t know—that Liath was one of the chosen ones to be
exchanged for a human child. Her changeling had long died, back in the Unseelie
Court. Unlike her, her changeling knew from the moment she gained memories that
she didn’t belong in the Court, that she was human. However, she showed no
desire to come back to her world. Such is the fate of the Thralls. Some call it
a gift, but Liath saw it as a curse. Most humans enter a state of enthrallment
once they step into the Fae domain. They were consumed of what they saw, of how
Fae lived, stripping them of any desire to return to their home. She saw it to
be lonely, honestly speaking.
She on the other hand, hadn’t always lived in Faerie. She
had lived seventeen human years on the other side of the veil, believing
herself to be a normal human being—though she had always been uneasy that
something was amiss. Liath wondered if she hadn’t been exchanged, if she would
feel as lonely as she was and with a desire to live a human life.
While Liath had been her real name, she had another name
while she lived with the humans. Fraulein, she was once called. It was the only
thing about that life that she could remember. The faces of the people she once
called parents as well as their name had been forgotten and the world that she
lived in had changed so much that the memories of her home had eventually
disappeared. She knew she was given to a wealthy family of stature and title.
Her real parents made it so. She was given to a family that could support her
and benefit her needs. She could vaguely remember the dresses and lights that
surrounded her life then. But it had been so long ago that when she tried to
sit down and try to remember a certain memory, even at random, it turned into
mist before she can catch it.
Her human life ended when Xaedh came to her one winter
night. It was at that point her memories began, vivid and unforgettable.
“The one born in
winter will be given away, and as the seventeenth moon completes, the
birthright that was taken will be restored once more under the same winter sky.”
Those were the words he said—words that didn’t mean to
her then. It was that same night that she was presented everything about the
Fae. Her parents were there too, their faces were the only blurry thing against
the vividness of that memory. She couldn’t see their reactions, their
expressions. She didnt know whether they were happy to be rid of her or if they were sad to see her go. She could only remember them releasing their hold on her, telling
her that they understand that her fate wasn’t
to stay in the human world.
They gave her the name Liath—her birth name.
“They will be
compensated.” Xaedh had said then. She would later find out that after she
was brought back to Faerie, her human parents were given an immense wealth as payment
for their service as well as their silence. Her changeling, the real Fraulein,
was given back to her parents, but she had heard gossips that the girl
eventually lost her mind in desire to return to Faerie. She wasn’t sure what
happened then—if she was taken back or not. It was rumored that Fraulein's parents, her parents, were surprised to find out they had a real daughter, making Liath wonder whether they were thralled to forget about their daughter in order for Liath to take her place. That night was the last time that
she ever saw her human parents. But it was also then the loneliness began,
whether she was aware of it or not. It didn’t make sense to her how she could
be lonely when she didn’t remember her human life.
It didn’t change the fact however, that just like
Fraulein was to Faerie, she had an
attachment to the human world that she didn’t understand, and while some Fae in
the Unseelie court knew of it, none of them spoke it out loud. Somehow, it still
made Liath feel incomplete.
TBC.
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