Trousers are Breeches

We all need to look in the dark side of our nature - that's where all the energy is, the passion. People are afraid of that because it holds the pieces of us we're busy denying.

- Sue Grafton.

XII

The first news that Aliki got in the morning was that Adel and Alarick had left last night.

Aliki sighed in frustration as she asked her advisor to continue.

The second was that her aunt Maia, was coming today visit her.

Aliki's eyes widened and the advisor then gave her the little piece of note her carrier bird had brought back from the Queen.

Aliki, this is all a misunderstanding.

Come to the Castle at once and bring the girl with you.

I need to see her in person.

Aliki gasped. Knowing what this was all about. The demon had said her name was Zelda Holland.

But Aliki didn't tell the queen.

It felt like the hunch she had was right.

Aliki asked a servant to fetch Cordellia immediately but it looked like the servant didn't know what immediately meant.

She had bathed, gone to court and had breakfast but there was no sign of Cordellia or the servant.

Aliki was a bit offended then realized that the servant probably had much work to do and forgot.

She made a mental list of the things she had to do today and squeezed in a chance to go check up on the servants and find a way to reduce their workload.

They were living creatures like her too.

She decided to go find Cordellia herself. However, Alysha was sleeping but there was no sign of Cordellia. Lela was also sleeping and no sign of Cordellia there too.

She asked around with a detailed description of Cordellia but nobody had seen her.

Cordellia on the other hand, had woken up on the first hour of dawn.

She woke Alan up too and sent him off to his post, after all, he was only a night guard.

Alan was sure this time that Cordellia didn't mind his eyes. She didn't make any rude or insensitive comment and she had felt comfortable enough to sleep beside him.

Alan flushed, he had never been intimate with a female before.

Cordellia smiled to herself. Then she realized something. It was still too early for anyone to be up at this time.

She walked past some of the night guards who were knocked out by the wall, snoring away the rodents.

She tiptoed past the guards who looked like fae as they had better sense of hearing.

Cordellia thought about Alan, he seemed different.

He had a strong aura and she added him into the few she couldn't see inside their mind.

Cordellia decided to leave the castle and explore the city.

The only idea she had of the Georgian era was the ones portrayed in movies.

It was fascinating to walk through the city and not worry about the bustling noise of the modern city of the human world.

Nobody was awake as the sun hadn't fully risen.

Cordellia hummed as she explored. She walked through almost every corner and bend the city had.

The streets began to get cleaner and she noticed the houses had larger spaces between them.

This much he the wealthy people street.

It was exhilarating. Unfortunately for one poor soul, she found them climbing out of someone's compound with a few jewelry bulging out from their pockets.

The house was a huge one and based on the structure, Cordellia understood the family was extremely rich.

Cordellia didn't scold the person, instead she dragged the person to a corner and stared at them straight in the eyes.

The person had covered their mouth and nose with a scarf but Cordellia immediately recognized them.

*It's not what it looks like!" The person tried to explain.

" Human by day, thief by dusk. Interesting. " Cordellia smiled. but it was a subtle mocking smile.

" What are you even doing here? "The person hissed, annoyed that they had been caught.

Cordellia replied with laughter before getting herself and spoke " Well, Robin hood, why are you borrowing stuff? "

Her tone might have been teasing but she was genuinely worried.

" I need the cash okay? I can't survive here, I'm an outcast and I can't survive in the human world again. I'm getting too poor. "

Cordellia smiled softly and the woman sighed.

" You're not gonna rat me out are ya." She asked with raised eyebrows, strands of fiery red hair peeking out of the scarf.

"Nope" Cordellia replied, unbothered by the fact that the woman was committing a crime.

"Great! I'm not gonna question how ya got here either." The lady cheered.

"Stacy, please stop talking like that. It's weird." Cordellia patted Stacy's shoulder and walked away, winking when someone screamed.

"I guess that's my cue to haul *ss then! See ya around Delli!" Stacy ran and Cordellia watched till she went out of sight.

Cordellia somehow knew that Stacy was a goblin but didn't want to comment on it. After all, she didn't cause any trouble.

Okay, she didn't cause too much trouble.

Cordellia took her time to explore some more, memorizing the different places in the city but she'd only gone halfway and by then, the city had become busy.

She couldn't ignore the stares she was getting by now. It must be how she was dressed. It was strange. Only the royals and rich wore clothes similar to the humans, she on the other hand, looked like a fugitive.

What was worse was the obvious tear on one of her sleeves.

She walked past a Faerie woman who suddenly dragged her son to the other side to avoid touching her.

The woman had her skin color too. The problem was how wild she looked.

The people couldn't digest it.

Why was she dressed like that?

Cordellia wanted to head back to the Castle but took a detour when she saw someone who looked suspicious.

The person had a dark cloak on and was passing through corner's ordinary minded creatures didn't pass through.

Cordellia followed the person until they reached the forest.

The person walked till they reached a tree. There, an innocent elf child was tied to a tree, all children of different creatures were tied to the tree.

The person lifted up a knife and began to chant. It was obvious what they were doing.

All in one day, Cordellia had seen both the bad and good side of this side of the barrier.

The dryad child started to cry. "Please don't kill me" dryad children were hard to spell and this one was really strong. This one had been put in a daze like the others but was still conscious enough to plea for mercy.

The person hissed and stretched out a hand. Half of the hand looked like it was burnt and had been patched on. Signs of a pure witch using dark magic.

The witch suddenly struck out a knife but it seized itself mid strike.

"Do not kill me!" The dryad child did not cry again and firmly spoke this time.

He couldn't move because of the iron placed around the ropes.

The witch shrugged and pulled her knife, proceeding to kill the other children. Halfway through she suddenly stopped and began to choke.

The child had already freed himself and had begun to attack. Cordellia knew that she should leave immediately, after all, dryad children were more dangerous than the adults.

Cordellia found her way back to the Castle but was stopped by the guards.

"Who are you?" The taller one asked.

"I'm a guest here." Cordellia calmly replied.

The guard gave her attire a once over and stifled a chuckle. He failed because the expression on his face gave him away.

"Let me pass Raj." She said and the guard looked at her in shock.

"Only my mother called me that. My mother has been dead for thirty years. Who are you?"

Cordellia rolled her eyes "I didn't ask for unnecessary details so please let me pass while I'm asking politely."

The guard had obviously started to reminisce and didn't hear her.

Cordellia pushed past him and into the castle.

The servants stared at her and Cordellia felt something was wrong.

While climbing her way to the top floor, she stopped a servant who was running down and looked like he wanted to cry.

"Hey elf! Why are people staring?" She asked after pulling him aside.

The elf boy gaped before replying.

"Your hair. It's white. You look too different to be one of us."

The boy slipped out of her grip and ran away.

Cordellia was confused until she heard a really loud.

"There you are!"

Cordellia sighed inwardly. This woman behaved like a four year old.

Cordellia turned around before Aliki gasped again.

"What happened to your hair?" Cordellia didn't know what to say, she didn't even notice it.

"I have no idea" she knew Aliki wanted something but she didn't know what. Aliki's thought were a blubbering mess.

"Where were you?" Aliki asked and Cordellia shrugged, replying with City.

"In the City?" Aliki suddenly dragged her up and threw her into a room.

"Clean her up and make her look presentable!" Aliki ordered the servants in the room and slammed the door shut.

The servants advanced and Cordellia stopped them.

" Woah woah! I can clean myself up. Just help me run the bath and the clothes. I'll do the rest. "

The servants agreed. It made their work easier.

Cordellia undressed herself. There was a full length mirror and she turned to look at her scars. The cuts on her thighs, the whip lashes on her back. All wounds were before she awakened her powers.

Cordellia stared at her feet, she still had her boots on.

She pulled out the daggers in the boots and pulled the boots off.

She immersed herself in the tub and sighed as the hot water soothed her skin.

Cleansing herself didn't take time, it never did. She dried herself with a towel and found the clothes the servants had placed.

She didn't like them, they were all dresses - Fae style.

"Do you have any trousers?" She asked the servants close to her.

When they didn't reply, Cordellia asked again "Breeches?"

They made an 'ah' sound and found her one. Cordellia smiled in contempt, it was black, just what she had in mind.

She got herself a jacket to wear over the tunic and sighed to herself. The boots were okay enough to hide her daggers in them.

Aliki appeared again and began to make arrangements for a carriage.

"Aliki where are you shipping me off to?" Cordellia asked when she couldn't hold in her curiosity.

"Ah." Aliki made a small sound. "The Queen wants to see you."

What?.