The Fae are a collective of small magical beings. In ancient times past, they watched over all nature, looking after animals and plants, occasionally blessing humans with their grace. But after a secret war more than 100 years ago that resulted in deaths on both sides, the fae have retreated to Faeland, living peacefully. Their existence faded to myths in the humans' minds, while for the fae, humans were said to be greedy, selfish, lowly beings to be avoided. 

A young human named Gloria had just returned home to Postwick Town for her semester break. While she was out in the hills, she wandered into the ruins of an old castle, where she came across a small sculpture of a wolf-like creature covered in steel wires.  The two men in suits standing guard assured her that it was an art installation. 

Gloria felt uneasy at the pained expression on the wolf's face, especially since her pet raven Corvisquire seemed extraordinarily distressed at the sight of it. She returned to the castle ruins at night and carefully freed the wolf from its restraints. To her amazement, the wolf began to move. But then they heard the 'artists' returning, and in desperation, the wolf leapt onto Gloria's chest and emitted a bright burst of light.

When Gloria awoke, she found herself in an unfamiliar forest, 6 inches tall. While she was freaking out, not knowing how to get home or how to return to her original size, she was found by a passing fairy named Bede, foster son to the Fairy King and Queen. Bede was pissed that a human had somehow entered Faeland. He insulted her and attempted to drive her out, but the moment he touched her, he sensed a fae soul in her, and he was astounded. 

Gloria didn't trust Bede, so she didn't tell him anything about the wolf. Bede captured Gloria and brought her back to the Fairy Court. But King Rose was completely dismissive of Bede's claims, saying that Gloria was just a regular human. Queen Oleana ordered Bede to throw Gloria out of Faeland. 

Bede was deflated, but after Gloria raised a semi-sympathetic eyebrow at him, he brought her to Lady Opal, one of the oldest and most respected fairies in the land. She immediately sensed the Fae Wolf Zamazenta in Gloria, and after hearing her story, she deduced that Zamazenta had used the last of his powers to bring Gloria to Faeland. He now resided within Gloria's heart. 

In order to restore Zamazenta, Gloria had to find Zacian, the other Fae Wolf, in the Slumbering Weald where the two wolves normally reside. Opal ordered Bede to accompany her and keep her safe, for Faeland was home also to all the less benign creatures that wouldn't hesitate to attack a human. Opal also gave Gloria a pendant that helped her to draw on a little bit of Zamazenta's power inside her, in case she needed to protect herself (or smack Bede). 

Thus begins the adventures of Gloria and the Fairy Prince Bede as they journey through Faeland, making curry, meeting selkies, fighting trolls, and uncovering nefarious human schemes. In between saving Zamazenta and trying not to get eaten by cockatrices or bespelled by goblins, the two go from unlikely allies to friends, to maybe a hint of something... more. 

Not exactly true, but it’s just snarky enough to cover his tracks; besides, she’s always rather chatty in the literature course they share, so no doubt she’d recount her entire time at this tacky fair in excruciating detail while he’s trying to take notes.

And he absolutely wouldn’t look forward to it – not to the way her Postwick accent gets stronger when she’s excited, or how her eyes flicker from him to the front of the lecture hall, trying to split her attention until she nearly goes cross-eyed.

“Well come on, you’re the local,” she laughs, looping her arm around his and ignoring his noise of indignant protest at the gesture, leading them further into the square, “Show me everything I need to see!”

It occurs to him, after he’s showing her the best booth for fairy floss and they’ve taken a seat to watch the local band on stage play a lively folk song, that she could’ve asked a myriad of other people to come with her today.

Bede might keep to himself, scoff at the idea of socializing with other students who are no doubt a boring waste of his time, but Gloria very much doesn’t. Though she arrived in Ballonlea without knowing a single person, she’s quickly made a name for herself amongst students. They even ran into two girls she knew in line for the candy floss, and she’d easily breezed into a conversation about their seminar, and how their day was, and some rugby game he didn’t watch. If he didn’t know any better, he might think that she’s friends with every single person at their uni.

But she asked him to go with her to the fair. Him, the boy she sits next to in their morning lecture who never has a kind word to say about anyone or anything, and who even told her that he hated this stupid traditional celebration and refused to go.

He thinks it might be a sign that she’s a bit too dull to take a hint.

But then he’s the one who went and showed up, let her hang off his arm and chatter off his ear with little more than a frown.

Maybe he’s the stupid one.

She holds the fairy floss up to his face, breaking his train of thought as she tilts her head. An impish spark alights her eyes, and she plucks another piece of pink fluff for herself. “It nearly matches your hair.”

“Hardly.” His sneer only brings out another chuckle from her as she pulls the fairy floss closer to her chest but keeps it tilted towards him.

“Want some?”

“No. It’s pure sugar that rots your teeth.”

“Good.” She pops another piece in her mouth, waggles her eyebrows as she crosses one leg over the other. “Maybe then all my teeth will fall out and I can finally get those dentures I’ve been eyeing.”

He can’t help it; the one-note bark of a laugh is out before he can contain it, because it’s not quite a joke but it’s incredibly her. It may have only been a few weeks since they’ve started talking, but of at least one thing Bede is absolutely sure.

“You’re an odd girl.”

“And you’re an odd boy,” she counters smoothly with a half-smile, finishing off her candy floss and standing to toss the paper stick into a nearby bin.

It’s something he’s heard often growing up, something that’s crawled under his skin and makes him itch. There’s a reason he’s taken to being by himself, to proving to everyone that he’s above them rather than just outside, on the fringes of society no matter what he’s tried. Kids in primary school would always screw up their faces, call him odd if they caught him talking to plants, or how quickly he got upset.

Gloria, though, says it like it’s a good thing, like it might be badge to wear with pride rather than a nasty old scar to cover up.

She turns to face him once more, hands clasped behind her back as she shifts her weight. “Now c’mon, you’re not getting out of this without playing at least one game.”

He’s already up and leading her towards that section of the fair when he mutters, “You know they’re all scams, right?”

“That’s half the fun.”

There’s no logical argument to be made there, so he literally can’t argue with that, and instead settles on scanning the booths they pass. A gaggle of other first years passes them, waving at Gloria, and as she stops to chat with them, he takes the opportunity to pick out the least humiliating game he can. It’s not exactly easy, with all the bright colors and flashy gimmicks, but something simple and without a crowd in the corner catches his eye.

Gloria raises a brow when he leads her to it. “Horseshoe pitching?”

“It’s the only one you have even a chance of winning.” His tone is supposed to be haughty, but it brushes up against sincerity for just a second, just long enough that she gives him a curious look and he curses himself in his head, turning to instead face the woman running the game and handing off a few notes as Gloria accepts two iron horseshoes.

She stands behind the marked line, lines her arm up with the little pole sticking out of the dirt, gives a horseshoe a few experimental swings, and then she releases, sending it sailing through the air.

It lands a few centimeters short and to the right, and she doesn’t even need to look to know that Bede’s smirking at her, seconds away from an ‘I told you so.’ With a pout, she holds out the other horseshoe to him. “Show the village girl how it’s done.”

He rolls his eyes, but accepts the horseshoe anyway, their fingers brushing together and his skin feels electric for a moment.

And then it feels electric for several moments, like something’s tingling and sparking and heating up. He ignores it, chalks it up to the fact that the metal’s been warming up in the sun (despite the fact that Ballonlea hasn’t seen a properly sunny day in five years).

As he lines himself up, his right hand only grows warmer, and then it’s really burning, his skin prickling where it touches the horseshoe. He gives it a few slow swings, set on ignoring the odd sensation, but then it’s molten and melting him and he hears a sizzle, then his own scream as he drops the horseshoe onto the ground and grabs his own hand.

“Bede? You all right, mate?”

There’s sweat forming between his brows, and his stomach is turning as he looks at Gloria, but there’s three of her and they’re fuzzy around the edges. He opens his mouth to say something, closes it, opens it again, but no sound comes out. There’s something lodged in his throat, and his legs are shaking so badly that he thinks he might fall.

Sound is muffled – not some, but all, like his head is underwater, and he can’t make out the words that Gloria is saying. He feels her hands on his shoulders, gently leading him away from the square and towards the side of a building, some store he can’t recognize right now.

“Just deep breaths, okay?” He nods, feeling his body slide down and his head fall back against the wall. His heart beats against his ribcage so hard he thinks the bones might splinter, and his hand is still burning. The world is spinning, so he closes his eyes, tries to find some sort of grounding and finds it in Gloria’s voice as she leans down in front of him. “Do you need me to get someone? Talk to me, Bede. Look at me, please, I don’t know what’s going on.”

He opens his eyes, and it’s like he’s seeing the world for the first time.

There are traces of something silvery in the air, and colors are more vibrant, more plentiful somehow. His gaze shifts and then focuses to the right of Gloria’s cheek. A thin gauze of spring green surrounds her like a halo, pulsing and alive in a way that makes sense but he can’t quite explain. When he looks right in front of him, into her eyes, he can see spots of ivy and amber hidden amongst deep brown.

Her mouth falls open, and her hands fly to her purse, digging around blindly as she refuses to look away, swallowing a lump in her throat as she tries to find the words. “B-Bede, your eyes, they’re...”

She opens the front-facing camera on her phone, holding it up to his face.

His eyes, once blue, are now a vibrant purple, with a thin rim of silver surrounding his pupil.