There are actually two secrets being revealed here. I wrote bits of this in roleplay already, but this is part of the redesign for personal work. Also, the first written bit of this story AND the first time I’ve posted to @idareyoutowrite. Hopefully I did it right. Crit is more than welcome, and sorry for the cold in media res start.

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Once, when he was younger, Aiden had clung to the tallest tree in the forest to watch as the dark thunderheads of a huge summer storm rolled in. The air had crackled with energy, and he had thrilled in it, until lightning struck mere feet from him, two trees over, sending him scrambling down into the lower branches.

The electricity that crackled between them as Lizzy leaned in close to him, eyelids heavy and lips parted, just slightly, blew away the tension of that storm, made it seem as calm as a spring shower. He felt as though everything were caught in his throat as he looked down at her, so close, so dangerously close. It was easy to imagine he could see her heart throbbing against the inside of her chest. She was so frail, so delicate, and yet when he met her eyes, he found steel like he’d never seen before. She frightened him in a way he couldn’t put to words. Everything disappeared around him as he gave in to the urge to feel the softness of her skin. The sky above melted to a dark blur, the forest, usually so full of life and distraction, now could have been empty and silent for all Aiden could tell.

They moved together, and she pressed her lips to his even as he palmed her cheek, pulling her in closer to him. Against her lips he murmured her name, letting his fingers trail back into her hair to pull her closer. She felt incredible.

And then she was gone.

He couldn’t process where she’d gone, because he was too busy trying to process what had hit him in the chest. Too late he realized he was aloft, and then he struck a tree. All the air was knocked from his lungs and he slumped, gasping, for long moments.

When his vision straightened, he saw them ahead, and slow realization began to dawn at the edges of his awareness. He fought off the rising horror, clambering to his feet and swiftly dropping into a bow, attempting to show due deference to the Night Court’s queen.

Mab seemed to float, the gown draped around her shoulders bleeding out to pure darkness at her feet. She loomed almost seven feet off the ground, dark eyes narrowed at the kneeling rebel and pale skin nearly glowing in the night. Her fist was curled around a delicate silver chain, held up by her shoulder, and from it dangled Lizzy.

Beside the billowing form of the Night Queen Lizzy seemed smaller than ever, face bright with exertion as she scrabbled at the thin chain that had suddenly appeared. It wrapped around her neck twice and burrowed under her skin at her breastbone, leaving her feet trailing inches above the ground. She struggled to take weak, thin breaths. Mab paid her no mind, her ire focused solely on Aiden.

“Foolish child. You’ve been playing with my things.”

Mother of the moon. Aiden stared hard at the ground, feeling the sweat bead on his forehead. “I didn’t mean to, my lady. I swear I did not know you had laid claim to her. I am not particularly power–”

“SILENCE.”

The whole world seemed to quiet at her command, and Aiden swallowed hard. The light shifted, and Aiden knew that she was now just before him. A glance told him she’d dragged Lizzy forward too, though now the delicate blonde was slumped on the ground beside them, held up only by the chain and relieved only by Mab’s changed posture. Her eyes stared blankly, barely open, into the distance, as if she were drugged, or hypnotized. Her chest heaved for air Her gaze never lifted to meet his.

“You touch my property, you hide your face…what sort of fae am I to take you for?” Mab demanded.

Aiden felt Mab’s fingers curl on his chin. He knew, in a moment of desperate terror, exactly what the Morrigan would do. In that fractured moment, his wide eyes pled for mercy, his lips incapable of forming the words. Mab laughed coldly.

The collar clamped around Aiden’s neck with a click that echoed around them. The glamour was ripped away, and she shivered, then screamed, as still-healing wounds were torn open. Her features suddenly softened, her body seeming to shrink and shift. Individually each change was so small, but without the glamour there was no questioning that Aiden was a woman.

Her scream had subsided, but her face was still twisted with pain when Mab forced her to look up. Tremors slid down her spine even as she sought to quell them, trying still to remain strong in the face of a superior foe.

“Mmm…such a plain face. No wonder you hide it. No more, though. I do hope your more…masculine identity is not too important to your actions in the mortal realm.” Mab’s smile suggested she knew exactly how important it was.

“Now then. My sweet Elizabeth. Such a mess, is she not?” There was a hunger in the Morrigan’s eyes when she looked at Lizzy that tied Aiden’s stomach into knots. “And I’ve such plans for her…”

Mab’s grin widened. “And you shall see to it they come to fruition with little Lizzy intact. Protect my property, young one, until I call on you to bring her to me.”

Protect Lizzy. Mab might as well order her to tame a waterfall, or chain down the moon, or fly to heaven. But what could she do? She nodded slowly, careful not to make accidental eye contact. “And if I do…you’ll remove this collar?”

“Penitents don’t ask questions, my pet.”

Mab was fading away from reality. There must be a gate to the Faerie here, some still rational part of her mind noted. The chain faded with her, but left behind a knot of scar tissue above Lizzy’s heart. When the chain was no longer corporeal, the blonde slumped, and Aiden dove forward, catching her. She let out a low, pained groan of her own. Though the Morrigan was gone, Aiden had no doubt she was still watching them. Though she tried to restrain herself, Aiden was at her limit. She let out a chuckle which quickly morphed into a sob, her shoulders shaking once before she got it under control.

As she rose she took stock of where her wounds were worst, then carefully lifted up Lizzy in her arms. Despite her apparent consciousness, she wouldn’t respond to anything, green eyes refusing to focus. She was light enough that it would be a while before her weight bothered Aiden. But it would be longer before they arrived anywhere safe. Hopefully Lizzy would come around, but she wasn’t holding her breath.

It was going to be a long walk to town.