#fey fluff

Reincarnated Love: Part Six

(For context, this episode is slightly ahead of Orc Slave. The timelines will sync up soon!)

“So, when do I get to meet her?” the Duchess asked as Dianthus was flitting around her office, humming to himself as he tidied up her workspace.

“We’re still figuring things out,” he explained, but his smile didn’t falter.

The Duchess chuckled, shaking her head as she went back to looking over the Dukedom’s financial accounts. “Well, invite her to the party.”

​His wings flittered quickly as he whirled around. “You’d let me invite her?”

She shrugged, flipping a page. “I trust your judgement. If you say she’s alright to let in, and obviously you do since you gave her a token, then invite her. There will be plenty of non nobles as well, so she won’t have to worry about feeling out of place.”

Dianthus flew over to her, hugging her tightly. “You’re my favorite human ever!- I mean, besides her.”

Duchess rolled her eyes, a small smirk on her face. “You know you’re a brat, don’t you? I feel like your mother sometimes instead of your employer.”

Dianthus couldn’t help but mirror her smirk, his too wide mouth stretching his face. He knew she was right. Teasing her about her love affair with her Orc slave, hiding her things occasionally, trying to trick her and playing pranks- it was in his Fey nature. However, he knew that she knew that he considered her his family, which meant he would do anything for her. They just had a sibling like relationship.

It never occurred to him that his relationship with the Duchess would make you insecure.

When you got the official invite to the party, especially seeing how soon it was, your stomach twisted into knots. There was no time to save up for a nice dress. No time to order one anyway. No one could complete a dress in less than a week.

However, the idea of being able to mingle with not only nobility, but some of the highest levels of academics in the Kingdom made you feel like you had to go. Dianthus knew what he was doing when he mentioned the University of Magic’s Dean would be there, along with several of his Professors, including the head of his Dragonology department. Of course you had to go. At least you had a few semi-formal dresses from events you were forced to go to in the past.

After rummaging through your things, you found a small jewel that you were looking for. Part of a dragon’s hoard. The nail scratches and intentional markings were fascinating, so you knew you had to bring it to ask and talk about. Hopefully you wouldn’t isolate your (hopefully) future peers by bringing something like this up at an event like this.

***

Everything was set up for you to get ready for the party at the Duchess’s “miniature manor”. Part of you was disappointed that Dianthus couldn’t come help you get ready, he’d been so busy helping the Duchess prepare for the party. It made sense. She was his boss. Of course they spent a lot of time together. However, he had at least sent a carriage for you (that you demanded proof of the Duchess’s approval when he told you, terrified you’d cause an upset and he thrown out), so he was still thinking about you. Right?

Everything was so confusing with Dianthus, him still seeing you as one of your alleged past lives, but he was kind, funny, smart, loyal, and so beautiful. You’d never thought you could describe a man as beautiful, but you understood after seeing him why people get tricked into the Fairy Realm.

As you climbed into the carriage, sitting down and smoothing out your puffy forest green dress. It had taken you weeks to dye it when you first got the cloth- gathering all the necessary plants and pigments to since you couldn’t pay for proper pigments or pre dyed cloth. You hoped it would still be suited for the event.

Images of rich nobility dressed in reds and purples made your stomach clench. The academics looking over your dress color, something even a low classed peasant could get their hands on with enough dedication and patience, and not even listening to you speak, or answering your questions.

Your nervousness was making your hands shake. When you came in, handing the tall Minotaur Butler the invitation with your name, you suddenly felt very small. The Minotaur looked down at you, his ears flicking back slightly before he lifted the envelope up to read your name.

“Now announcing, Miss Y/N, a… personal guest of the Duchess,” he said, his low, deep voice resonating through the hall.

Several eyes turned to you, and while it took a moment, you found Dianthus in that group. The descent down the stairs seemed take years, but when Dianthus came to you, everything else melted away. Then the jewel, heavy in your pocket, was forgotten. As the night moved on, however, the joy you felt seeing Dianthus first was fading. He kept having to slip off to attend to the Duchess. Despite yourself, jealousy churned your stomach. She laughed with him, and touched him so casually you felt like you’d upend your lunch.

You sat by yourself, tucked in a corner away as Dianthus adjusted the necklace around the Duchess’s neck, whispering something to him that made the Fey’s face nearly split in half from smiling. He must have feelings for her. He had to… after all, what would a Fey want with someone as plain as you, when there was a Duchess at his fingertips?

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When the knight invited you inside, you couldn’t help but side eye the Orc that was standing a bit further off from them. His thick brows were pulled down in a glare, with his large arms folded over his barrel like chest. He could crush you in his bare hands if he wanted.

You swallowed hard before scampering off after the knight that said he’d take you to the Duchess’ office which is where Dianthus tended to spend his time when he wasn’t otherwise occupied. The night before, he had mentioned being friends with and working for a Duchess, but the idea of having to meet a noble just to see the Fey again was daunting.

When you were brought into the study, you sat across from the empty desk. The knight muttered something about how the Duchess would be there soon and that her “little fey pet” should be there. Before you could respond, the knight left.

You fidgeted with your hands, staring at the pendant Dianthus had given you the night before. You were starting to feel stupid. Why would a Fey like him be interested in someone like you?

Just as you stood up, the door behind you opened, and Dianthus came fluttering in. His dragon fly like wings were fluttering behind him, letting him glide a few inches off the floor as he darted over to you, a wide smile stretching is too wide mouth even more across his face.

“Y/N!” he exclaimed as he wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you against him and slightly into the air as well.

“H-Hi Dianthus,” you murmured, your face flushing bright red. “I just stopped by to see you…”

“I’m so glad you did,” he said, his eyes practically glowing as he spun you around. “I missed you so much. I thought you’d never want to see me again.”

“You missed me?” you repeated with shock lacing your tone. “I stormed out…”

“I know, I know, but you’re here now, right?” he spun you around, holding you even tighter to his lean body before peppering the top of your head and forehead with kisses. “Goddess, it feels so good to hold you again. It’s been centuries.”

A blush started to color your cheeks again at his words. He really did think you were his love reincarnated. A stunning Fey like him wanted a plain, academic human like you. It was flattering but also astounding. Never in your life would you have imagined his interest. Or of anyone like him.

“You’re so soft,” he mumbled against your hair, running one hand down your waist and hips while using the other to keep you secure against him so you don’t fall. “And smell so good.”

A nervous giggle escaped your lips as he finally settled you both on the floor, that too wide grin painted on his too wide mouth still firmly planted on his face. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you,” you finally admitted.

Gwragedd Annwn

This one is heavily inspired by the traditional Welsh folktale (which is why I did something different and tried to write it in that style) "The Fairy Wife". The Wife might not be about a Gwragedd Annwn (but might be!) but there are a lot of similarities so :)

Gen! Reader x Fem! Gwragedd Annwn

When you met Carys, you fell in love instantly. She was swimming in a river, her long silvery hair trailing behind her in the water. Her milky skin seemed to reflect the moonlight that illuminated her slender body. If truth be told, you felt like kid of a pervert, staring there watching her swim. Her bare body slicing through the water with a fluid motion that made her almost look apart of it.

After a few moments, you cleared your throat, “h-hi. Sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt you, but I was looking for the campsite and I think I got lost.”

The woman turned to look at you over her shoulder, her face mostly obscured by her hair, but you could see her brilliantly white smile. “It’s down the path to the left… but why don’t you join me for a swim first?”

And that was it. You were madly in love with her. Your lips on hers, your hands wandering her skin, whispering your oath of eternal love all on the first night. You knew that you couldn’t go home without her.

“Marry me,” you grabbed her hands as she sat on the edge of the river when dawn finally drifted up over the horizon.

She laughed, looking up at you with her shining blue eyes. “Marry you? I told you what I was.”

“I know,” you said as you interlaced your fingers with hers. “So, tell your father. I’ll wait. I love you. I want to be with you.”

Her eyes wandered over your face, trying to fidget ay sign of deception or uncertainty, but there was none. “Alright,” she finally said. “Come back at dusk, and I will have my father with me. He will give us his blessing and condition.”

Later that evening, you came back to the river, looking for your beloved. In a mist, she and her father, a tall, slender man with untrusting eyes, appeared before you.

“I have heard that you wish to wed my daughter,” said the Fey. You nodded. “Then there are two conditions before I will give my blessing. Firstly, you must promise to love her all of your life.”

“I will,” you promised, glancing over at Carys.

Her father nodded. “Secondly, if iron is to ever touch her skin, she will no longer be your wife, and will revert to the land of her birth among her family and people.”

After you agreed to his terms, it was a whirlwind. In only a week, she had moved in with you, and gotten married. The town was captivated by the stunning beauty who started every day by swimming in the local river. The water seemed clearer, and species long gone had begun to return. Her very presence seemed to brighten the waters.

And you took great care in covering every piece of iron you could not remove, from rivets to hinges, with cloth and plaster so they might never graze your wife’s skin, and the two of you were happy.

A little different but wanted to try something different! Let me know what you think.