Chapter 2



'Kia Lizi Ayan!'
'Oh no'' I thought to myself, wincing slightly as I heard my uncle's piercing voice. I gulped in a deep breath and stepped through the kitchen doorway, smiling brightly as I waved my right hand slightly. Uncle (that's his name, that's just what we call him) is tall and has dark red hair. His eyes, when he's not wearing his contacts, are dark green with the typical violet ring. He doesn't look happy, and the spatula in his right hand as he stands at the kitchen stove looks a little more than dangerous.

'Hey Uncle, Saya, Ion'
My cousin Saya is twenty-two, with long dark red hair and kind hazel eyes (unfortunately, she didn't have the violet ring around her iris-being one of Titania's cail'n aimsire she had dark red eyes, something all the chambermaids had). She winked at me as my brother, Ion, moved towards me with a cross between a grin and a grimace. Uncle sighed and moved back to the stove to stir the pan on the stove. Ion glanced at him and then back at me. His hair, black like mine, was just long enough to fall into his eyes-the exact same shade of amber as my own. Ion Denz Ayan' My twin brother. Being the only surviving member of my immediate family and the Ard Ceann of the M'leata for Banr'on Titania (basically meaning that he's the head of the army for the Fae queen, Titania-technically she's Titania XVII- and he's only seventeen!) he not only has full parental rights over me, he has superior ranking. I myself am a Speisialta Troda' 'r an Sidhe, which is the Fae equivalent of Special Forces. Not an easy job, and from the look on Ion's face, he was about to put me on probation. Again'

Ion sighed lightly, sliding into a seat at the kitchen table and motioning for me to sit with him. I did, taking the seat next to him as he propped his chin in his hands and sighed, staring directly at me. After a moment of watching me fidget with the hem of my right sleeve, he sighed before speaking. 'Twin'. Mo mire si'r' Why did you do it this time? Last time you fought, at your old school, which you can no longer go to due to expulsion may I remind you, it was simply because a baineannach daonna hit you with a ball. A Bandia coisric (goddess bless- it's a curse word to use it in this context, which Ion should know) VOLLEYBALL, Twin! It makes me awfully doubtful that you did this in self-defense, as you told your Principal! He called. Kell, the human you beat the beannacht out of, is in the ER right now. So, you have ten seconds to tell me what the GODDESS possessed you to FIGHT a weak little daonna, a HUMAN! Explain!'

I sighed, resting my face in my hands as my eyes prickled, threatening to spill over- that would be twice in one day. Ion almost never shouted at me unless he was angry, and the fact that he was shouting in the Ancient Language (Gaelic) meant that he was past furious at me. I blinked rapidly before looking at him. 'They wanted to fight me. Should I have just been a cladhaire, a coward, and laid there, letting a man kick me bloody? Eh, Mo Iontach Dearth'ir?


Ion's name was Iontach, meaning brilliant. He knew that when I called him my 'brilliant brother' I was either mad at him or hurt. Today it was a combination of the two powerful emotions. Uncle took one look at Ion and I, sitting as we were, and sighed, waving his hand over the simmering pot on the stove with a mutter. The magiked dishes flew to the fridge, where they placed themselves on the shelves inside before the door closed of its own accord. He then stomped off to the stairs and up them swiftly. My eyes followed him before flicking back to Ion's gaze. He stared at me for so long, my eyes burned. I knew what he was doing; he was reading the part of my mind that allows the Fae to lie. Seemingly satisfied, he leaned over and pulled me into a tight hug. 'My little sister,' he murmured, referring to the fact that mom had him six and a half minuets before she had me. 'I love you' But you know that Banr'on Titania's Advisor has told her about this. We must go to Halna... To home.'

I laid my head on his shoulder with a soft sigh of repentance. The only times I ever went near my Fae home were when I needed to report in, and even then I was only there for an hour, tops. Even that, while only once a month, nearly made me cry. I hated Halna' The human world was so much better for me. And now, since Ion was gonna be going, we would have to stay for at least a month or two. 'Damn the human race and the Fae,' I thought to myself. 'At this rate, I'm gonna give up on both and just be a hermit.'

Ion heard my thought, since he's not only my twin, but a master at psionics as well. He chuckled, lifting my chin until my eyes met his own. 'Aw, come on sis.' He grinned almost sadistically, his front canine teeth glowing and abnormally sharp compared to humans. 'You'll love going home.' I groaned and shook my head slightly. Sometimes Ion could be such a pain.