Fae Blood

By Hannah Carter

“Do you know what color fae blood is? 

Green, my son, naught but green—

So go now forth and slay their queen.

But beware, for she seeks her mate,

And only death can stop this fate.

For if she steals one of your kin,

Take her life to give the changeling back his.”

“I don’t like that story. It’s too scary.” Tommy curled up in his blanket, only his eyes and the tip of his nose visible from inside his cocoon.

Jan closed the picture book and left it behind on her chair before she padded closer to their bed. “But it used to be your favorite, Tommy. Why don’t you like it now?”

Tommy glanced away. “Because. I just don’t.”

“Fair enough.” She sat down on the edge of the bed, brushed a kiss against his baby-soft skin, and lingered there. “But it’s okay, you know. No fae will ever hurt you. I promise. I’ll keep you safe.”

A few tears trickled out of Tommy’s eyes as he shook his head. He pulled his makeshift hood closer around him and sniveled. “Why didn’t the fae leave a changeling in Dad’s place when they killed him?”

Jan furrowed her brow. “Well…” She reached for his dark hair so that she could stroke it.

“Why?!”

Jan started. “Shh! Don’t wake Mom. I just got her to rest.”

“Is she going to die, too?” Tommy’s dark eyes flashed with a fire that turned Jan’s stomach. “’Cause of the fae poison?”

Jan pursed her lips and reached to hug him—only to feel something hard beneath his blanket. She jerked back and pulled the covers away.

He clutched an iron dagger in his hands.

“Tommy!” She slapped her hands over her mouth as she twisted out of bed. The door remained fastened, and no whimpers sifted through the wall from the other bedroom. Jan dropped her voice down to a forced whisper. “What do you think you’re doing? What if you rolled over on this in your sleep? You could have killed yourself!”

“I have to protect us from the fae, just like Dad used to!”

Jan took a deep breath and forced her shoulders to relax. “Love, Dad did not sleep with his knife in his bed. He’d impale himself if he did. Please put it down. You can protect us from the fae well enough if it’s on the floor.”

Visions of her little brother, eviscerated in his white phoenix pajamas, danced around in her head. They didn’t recede until Tommy held the dagger over the edge of the bed. He slowly lifted each finger, one by one, until it slid down the crack between their bed and the wall and clattered to the hardwood floor.

“There. But you don’t have to protect us from the fae, you know. I told you. They can’t hurt you.” Jan settled back onto the bed next to him and ran her fingernails up his pale arm.

He shivered but otherwise didn’t move, although a few more tears slipped out of his eyes.

She brushed her lips against the salty droplets. “Why are you crying? If you cry, it makes me want to cry.”

“Because.” He sniffled and ran his arm underneath his nose. Since she’d just reprimanded him for almost accidentally murdering himself, she decided to let bad manners slide this once. “Do you think if we killed the Fae Queen, Dad would come back, and Mom would get better? Like in the story?”

Jan brushed another kiss against his freckled cheek. He still smelled like the lavender soap from bath time. Her heart pounded, pumping out fierce emotion with every thud. “Your dad wasn’t replaced by a changeling. It was his job to fight the fae, and they killed him. They poisoned Mom because she’s a hunter, too. Defeating the Fae Queen wouldn’t save them. They’re not changelings like in the story.”

Tommy turned on his side and slipped his hands underneath his pillow as he snuggled up next to Jan. She propped her head up with one arm and traced a pattern across his forehead and down his nose with her other hand.

His face crumpled a little bit. “Do you think… if I could kill the Fae Queen… it would save you?”

“Save m—”

Jan choked on the rest of her words. She couldn’t even screech and had no time to raise her hands up to defend herself. She could only stare, eyes wide, mouth agape, fury frozen in the back of her throat.

Tommy yanked his hands out from underneath his pillow to reveal the twin blade to the one he’d dropped earlier. He plunged it into her abdomen once—wrenched it out—stabbed her again—

Jan shrieked and writhed. Green blood gushed from her stomach. She snapped her teeth at him, which turned pointier as her glamour faltered.

“Give me back my sister!” Tommy screamed. “Give Jan back!”

He drove the iron into her chest, so far in that it pinned her to the bed. She clawed at the weapon as the world began to fade just a little bit; Tommy’s beautiful, enraged face blurred.

Jan cackled and choked on the emerald liquid bubbling up from her throat. “You know I’ll just be back, love.” Blood dribbled down her cheek. The pillows and sheets turned green. “You’re mine… You can’t kill the Fae Queen so easily.”

“I said, give me back my sister.”

He shoved the weapon down to the hilt.

The front door burst open. “Tommy?”

Tommy’s smile seemed to glow in the fading light.

“So beautiful,” the Fae Queen whispered.

“Jan! You came back!”

Do you know what color fae blood is? 

Green, my son, naught but green—

So go now forth and slay their queen.

But beware, for she seeks her mate,

And only death can stop this fate.

For if she steals one of your kin,

Take her life to give the changeling back his.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hannah Carter is just a girl who loves to dream and write, and still wakes up every day hoping this will be the day she figures out she’s secretly a mermaid. She currently has two published novellas, Amir and the Moon and Seashells. She has had over a dozen devotionals published in various magazines. She also won a competition with her short story “Lara.”

---

More Stories | Author Website | Instagram