To Owe a Favor

Killian's POV

Where is she?

I've checked the obvious. Her room, the living room area, the kitchen. I even looped back down to the cafe. Where else would she even know?

The answer finally hit me with an urgency that sent my wings fluttering; the first place she accidentally summoned me after I gave her my mark, her parent's house.

I fly there even as the sun dips below the mountain range, darkening the path. A knot forms in my chest, if she's not there, it'll be near impossible to find her if she's outside of the kingdom.

When I arrive at the house, all the lights are off. Even from the outside, it looks barren. Lillianna's parents were removed from Fae territory within the hour of her heritage being revealed. Whether or not their items were cleared from the house was not a concern at that time.

I jiggle the handle to the front door, and it swings open easily. Besides large furniture items: a couch in front of an empty television stand and across the way a dining room table conjoined to a tiny kitchen, the house is empty.

Dust coats most of the surfaces, even the walls. Rectangular outlines are left on the wall where photos had been pulled down in a rush after living there for years. It pulls at my chest to know that so much of Lillianna's childhood was made here, and it is merely a husk of those memories now.

I want to turn for the door, but hesitate, knowing that I should check the upstairs level before leaving.

It's only when I reach the landing at the top of the stairs that I can hear the faint, muffled crying of a young woman. Having been to her room before, it's not hard to find Lillianna.

She's curled up on her bed, under a small blanket that doesn't cover her crinkled wings. Wings that couldn't grow because of her parents.

"Lillianna," I say, "You shouldn't be here."

Her cries stop with a gasping hiccup, but she merely whispers, "Go away."

I walk to the edge of her bed and sit on it. A foot away from her feet, just enough to give her distance but not enough she can run away.

"Won't you need a lift back to the kingdom?" I chuckle, even as she huffs a stubborn, 'no.' "You sure? I hardly believe you can climb the mountain that leads back up to the kingdom."

When she doesn't respond for a moment, I sigh, but then she mumbles, "Will I have to owe you a favor for the lift?"

I turn around with a confused smile on my face, seeing her hiding a smile in return. "No," pretending to sigh with regret, I offer, "But you will owe me the answer to one question."

She sits up curiously, careful not to lean back on her wings. "What?" she asks with wide eyes.

"How'd a fairy with crumbled wings get all the way down here?"

"Prince Elik wanted to show me the sunset from the bottom of the mountain ranges," she responds sheepishly.

"And left you to go to the cafe." I didn't need to pose it as a question, it's obvious by the darkness of the sky he wasn't coming back.

Another tear slips down her face, and my fingers twitch to reach back and wipe it away. But her own hand swipes it away just as fast, with a mirthless laugh, she says, "His brothers came, talking about some ball and meeting up at the cafe. He barely even asked if I'd be able to make it safely before he left."

I scowl, "Why not tell him the truth? Why walk to your parents' house?"

"I didn't want to be a bother," she cries out in anguish, "I already bother everyone else."

"That's not tru-"

"Oh save it," she grumbles, "I'm barely a fairy. I went from a human that owed you a favor, to a nuisance that can't even make a single friend. I was stupid to think the prince, the literal prince, would want to stick around me."

I open my mouth but when nothing comes out, she glares at me, saying, "What? Shocked I was trying to make friends? Yeah, guess that's why you weren't affected when Prince Elik saved me from falling and you just... disappeared."

Standing from the bed, I cross my arms over my armored chest, "How was I supposed to know you wanted to be friends? Is throwing teacups a friendly custom for barely-fairy humans?"

She turns her head away from me, toward her bedroom window. Even in the dark, I can make out the darkening tint to her face and the frown lines forming.

I'd never talked about being friends with anyone. But I'd seen them growing up, training to be a warrior while others bonded. So, I know enough to know that a friend needs a hug every once in a while. "What are you doing?" she nervously asks when I walk to the side of the bed and wrap my arms around her firmly. She wriggles in my grasp, not making anything easy about this.

"Giving you a friendly hug," I say, "As friends do."

"You're a horrible hugger," she bites back. It only makes me laugh. Her shoulders slowly relax and with a few shuddering breaths, tears start to drip onto my armor. I hadn't known she was hurting this badly. Or had wanted a friend so badly.

"You really want to be my friend?" she asks.

I pretend to think about it. Knowing that besides the warriors, I had never really been friends with a lot of Fae. "I suppose," I say, ignoring the sharp thud of my heart as the dumb organ speeds up.

"No takebacks?" she childishly says.

When I don't respond she pulls away from my grasp, and I roll my eyes, "I suppose there will be no takebacks to our friendship."

"Will you teach me how to cook? I want to learn-"

"No, you don't," I firmly respond.

"You insufferable man. You don't know that-"

"I know you almost set the kitchen on fire. I know you want to learn to cook Lona's meals. And I know that's an impossible task. So no, you don't want to learn how to cook."

"Fine, then I want to learn how to braid hair," she utters.

"Lona can help-"

"I want a friend to teach me!"

"If you'd let me finish, instead of interrupting me like a pesky human," we playfully glare at each other, "Lona can help model the braids. You can repeat them after I show you."

"Can I braid your hair?" she asks.

"Not a chance."