If I could groan, I would. My eyes slowly flickered open as I sat up. My throat still hurt but not as much as it did earlier but there was a sort of raw feeling, like I had a cold or fever. Of course it would explain as to why I felt so cold. A cup of tea was held in front of me. I followed the arm to seeing a man with horns-deer antlers really-with golden honey colored skin, black sclera and purple irises.

It was a little unnerving to see no pupils. The ears were pointed, was he an elf? I’ve seen centaurs, pixies, I have conversations and music lessons with a Nokken, what else, unicorns? His hair was super pale-a yellow-white, and really long. My mind flashed to one of my favorite shows before I came here. His skin wasn’t purple or had glowing tattoos. I took the cup, signing I appreciate the thought.

“Of course.” He signed back. I tapped my ears twice then made a slicing motion over my mouth, signaling I could hear but could not speak. I breathed in the familiar scent of herbs, rooibos? With a fruit of some kind.

“You won’t have to worry about poison or put under a spell.” His voice was nice, I definitely could listen to him talk, if only I could talk again I would be asking him to narrate a book. I looked up. “Sorry.” I managed while holding the cup to enjoy it's warmth.

The strange elf smiled. “Please drink, it will help your throat.” I sipped it, tasting the richness of honey. It soothed the raw feeling I had immensely.

“What happened?” I signed out.

“I found you passed out in an alleyway, it’s only been a few hours since then but my physician states you have a cursed object lodged in your throat and was worried it had affected your hearing.” I touched the area, the throat and ears were connected after all. And the nose, I thumbed mine out of curiosity. “I know about the curse, it has only affected my voice, but what object could be there?” I sipped my tea again.

“Undoubtedly the piece that is stuck there belongs to a magical creature and one still very much alive so, both of you are suffering.” My heart ached at the thought of some creature suffering because of some false blight someone had against me.

I had only arrived about a year ago! And I only stayed at the farm until last Autumn, how could I get enemies so quickly?

The tea rippled from my breath. “You can’t breathe it in, it’s a liquid, not air.” My eyes snapped at him. “Rude.” I signed, moving the cup to the side to sign. He laughed, a warm and rich sound. Huh, I thought elves were supposed to be delicate and airy, this elf while tall, was muscular and broad, reminding me of a weightlifter. Wait, was that racist? Or would it be considered speciest?

“Is everything all right?” I realized I had drank all the tea. He poured more for me. “Oh, just…I always thought elves were thin and slender.”  His eyes rolled as he snorted, leaning back, his chest puffing out a bit like the rooster does when it’s able to give me pebbles.

“Those are the Seelie kingdoms, you undoubtedly saw them when they paraded around earlier. The Unseelie kingdoms and the Unbound fae are more like me.” He padded his chest and I noticed the amount of shadow under his chest.

He has-stop! Be polite, do not sexualize this person. He is a person, with thoughts and feelings and a partner…possibly. I tried to think of other things to distract me and set the cup down after a bit, half of it gone already. I really need to up my game when it came to keeping hydrated. I took another look around the room and saw the shadows seemed a bit longer.

“So, am I free to go?” He looked up from the book he was reading-wait, when did he get that?-at the soft clink. “Let me get my physician.” He stood, heading off to a door. I took the time to look around, seeing it was done in warm golden tones of autumn and the silk curtains over the posts were a warm plum color. I touched it, wondering just what kind of physician’s office looked so warm and homey? There was even a fireplace with some chairs that looked really tempting. The wooden furniture was dark and heavily polished to a shine. I saw a mirror and looked, blanching at how my flyaways were heavily noticed. I looked at the pillow and saw many of the petals and leaves, dried and almost blackened and quickly swept them into a pile onto the stand beside the cup. I turned, placing my feet on the ground, feeling the soft plush carpet under my feet. I did notice my corset was loosened when I moved and quickly tugged the strings back in place, hiding them from noticable view.

“My lady, you’re up!” I turned at the sudden voice, seeing a person had appeared, wearing a set of robes that reminded me of a priest’s outfit. He had glasses though, round with thin metal frames. “Hello.” I signed. The elf from earlier appeared, shadowing the edge of the bed. I offered him a pleasant smile.

“Let me look at your throat.” It was odd having someone be so calm when investigating the spell circle. The Nokken was really rough. “Thankfully, the flowers that seem to have grown attached to you deflected some of the harsher aspects of the spell being activated and seem to actively be ripping it apart, but, there could be lasting damage.” A peek in the mirror showed several that had already faded but had new buds growing. Lilies were signs of purity, they could be purifying the spell.

“What lasting damage?” I asked, he looked nervous as he fiddled with his hands, such a humanlike behavior from an immortal being! “You would probably never be able to speak even if the curse was able to be fully removed, magic no matter the intentions, has a price.” I lowered my hands, thinking for a bit and chewed my lip to soothe my anxious brain.

“Did anything happen to you before his lordship found you?” the physician asked, changing the subject. I jerked my head up, looking at the elf at the foot of the bed. Was he royalty? He grinned a boyish smile and I looked at the physician, signing what I did before I fainted. He tapped his chin, looking thoughtful.

“The art box didn’t have anything that triggered the spell, which means it’s a spell that can be triggered over a distance if it came into contact with you at any point in time.” He shuddered. “Worst kind of spell-work, someone really has a hatred of you, had it done when you were most likely a newborn.” I hadn’t chanced on the fact this could not be my body. I looked so similar I thought the thinness was malnutrition and I found myself looking back to normal with just more tanned skin like my dad's after living with Gretchen and her family. I even had my hip dips!

“I woke up in a forest, about a year ago. Unless someone cast this spell before I woke up, I have no idea who I angered.”

“A forest?” I nodded. The elf royal stepped closer. “About twenty years ago, the princess of the Northern Empire was said to be stolen away and no one has found her.” I fought the urge to roll my eyes. “I’m not the princess, I just look Northern by coincidence.”

“I think not. The North has always been ruled by a line of general queens. The previous queen had two sons before her daughter. The younger son is a bit of a lazy ass but the oldest is…” The elf royal trailed off with a shrug, how surprisingly human-like of him.

“How do you know this?” There was a shared look between the elf royal and his apparent physician, did elves even get sick?

“We did trade with them until about...I want to say three hundred years ago? Apologies, when you're as old as me, memories tend to get muddled for a bit." He seemed genuine in his wording. "But, recently, there has been notice of Northen guardsmen patrolling the towns down south here and girls bareing certain features go missing. So many girls have taken to lightening their hair as light as possible and hiding any blemishes on them because often times, girls with similar traits to yours go missing.” My mind flashed to the guardsmen who came to the stall, Gretchen and Hans’ mysterious cousin that went missing. “Do they have any symbols they wear?” I asked with a slight tremble in my hands.

“A multi-pointed star, the North is thought to be ruled by the stars.” That sounded interesting from an archaeological standpoint-wait focus, you dumbass! I shook my hands to reorganize my thoughts.

“I saw some guardsmen earlier, they had made an order for some medicine and were picking it up. The leader had a seven-pointed star on his shoulder pad.”

“A captain, the more points in the design, the higher status they have, the ruler has thirteen. You must be careful returning home.” I took a peek outside the closest window, it was almost night-time, Gretchen must be going nuts trying to find me. I stood, feeling a slight tremor in my legs. “You still need something to neutralize the spell.” The physician stated, hands slipping into their pockets. There was a crack and snap from the elf royal before I saw a piece of horn had been broken off, the end of which was held in his palm as he grinned at us.

I gaped at him, if I could make any noise at all, it would probably be a croaking sound by the fact he just casually mutilated himself. I cringed slightly, looking at the bit of antler.