[Dishonored: fae AU] Iron & Gold: 2. An Offer (emsider) 2/4*

[onewhoturns]

A/N Oct 2018: Here comes some more of the fae au! My AO3 and FFnet and a preview on ko-fi for 2-3. Comments, likes, and reblogs are all massively appreciated!

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Story Title: Iron & Gold
Chapter Title: An Offer
Chapter Part: 2/4
Story Part: 6/?
Pairing: Emily/Outsider (emsider)
Word count: 1491
Rating: PG (higher rating later chapters)
Summary: Ever since she was a child Emily had been cautioned: beware the fae. She’d heard the typical warnings – faerie rings, wishing wells, mysterious lights in the darkness. But they were just cautionary tales... [A Dishonored fae AU]
start here (prelude), previously (2-1), next part (2-3)

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He never spoke, she observed distantly as they walked just slightly faster than meandering, her escort seeming to know exactly where he was going. His face was expressive, smile small and disconcertingly polite, but he made no attempt to speak a word. She couldn’t drag her eyes away from him. The moon turned his hair a rich blue black even as it bleached every creamy fold and glittering flower of her dress white. Her breath was calmer than it probably should have been, watching how his fingers just barely supported her hand, a delicate whisper of skin on skin that felt effervescent.

It took her a moment to realize they’d slowed, but when she finally looked away from him she blinked in surprise. She’d walked this maze hundreds of times. She knew the perfect path to the center, and it wasn’t the way they’d gone. They’d taken a roundabout circuit on the outer edges, just avoiding dead ends, but where they stood now should’ve been the end of the line. They’d need to backtrack and take a left if they wanted to get on a path that might reach the center. This should have been a dead end. But it wasn’t.

“This- this wasn’t here before.” Her voice was a low, fascinated murmur as she dropped his hand to examine the edges of the greenery, wondering if they might be jagged or sharp -- but it was as though they’d been trained and pruned like the rest of the maze. As though it had been this way all along. But now there was an exit to the lawn that Emily was almost positive hadn’t been there the last time she’d entered the maze.

As before, her voice made him grin wide enough to show teeth. “You’re sure?"

Had it been added in the last two months? She supposed it was possible. Still, she frowned her confusion. “I…” Her voice trailed off as she walked through the space where there should have been hedge, releasing the grip holding her cloak tight around her so she might trace the other side of the bush with questing fingers. “I thought I was,” she admitted, glancing down the wall of greenery. The rest looked almost accurate. Only… how much further had they gone? The maze had never been so close to the tree line before. Now it felt like it stretched well into the lawn. Turning to face the forest, Emily hissed as a finger caught on a thorn-like protrusion in the hedgerow, grabbing her hand to watch the tiny drop well black in the moonlight before she quickly popped it into her mouth. The salt in her blood sharpened her mind, and suspicion began to nibble at her. She turned her back to the woods, staring at the man who still watched her with open curiosity. She felt silly, a finger in her mouth, and quickly removed it, tucking it into her pocket and wincing as salt stung at the wound.

“You’re… You…” How exactly was one supposed to address a faerie? She quickly dipped a small curtsey, not knowing what else to do. “I-” She was at a loss for words. They appreciated honesty, right? All her father’s warnings were swimming in her head and all that came to mind was that she shouldn’t have even gotten to this point. You’re a faerie, she wanted to accuse him, but what good would that do? It wasn’t like he didn’t know.

Before she could think of another word, she felt his hand brushing down her forearm until he took her injured hand in his. She felt heat rising to her cheeks, and focused on keeping her head clear, avoiding the stare she could feel burning into her as he pressed his lips first to the tip of her injured finger, and then to her palm. A tiny chill ran through her hand even as the rest of her heated rapidly, the small pinprick fading away in an instant, the skin closing as though no wound had ever existed there. Emily was thoroughly shaken. Seeing secondhand results of faerie magic was one thing, but feeling it -- she shivered. “Thank you.” The words were out of her mouth before she remembered not to thank the fae.

His hand tightened on hers, and she thought she might’ve seen a spark in his eye. “I’ve done you a service, then. You will do me one as well.”

It was a far kinder response than she’d expected - she’d heard stories of fae cursing humans that thought they might dismiss a kind deed with mere words.  “I didn’t mean-” He was pulling her with him now, putting her back to the maze as he lead her-- how had the tree line come so close? It was like they stepped straight from the hedge maze into the shade of the forest, but that wasn’t possible. “I mean, I am grateful, but-”

“You blush.” His observation only made her cheeks redder, and she slipped her free hand into a pocket to touch the rowan berries as she glanced back the way they had come. Now it seemed the maze was far off again. Though they’d just left, it must be several yards away now. “No one has done such a thing for you before?”

Her mind buzzed, trying to sort out what precisely was happening. She didn’t want to offend him. She’d admitted he’d helped her, and now she had to repay him in kind. A question or two seemed fair payment. And then she’d need to either excuse herself or find some way to get him to bring her home. “Magic?” She was distracted, watching the trees, looking for landmarks that could help her find her way back if need be. “No.”

“Not the magic.”

When she glanced at him, there was the slightest touch of mischief on his lips. His fingertips brushed over her hand, thumb pressing in the spot his lips had touched a moment before. “...Oh.” She felt silly and quickly looked back to the trees, trying to walk slower, purposefully stumbling so she might have more time to watch her surroundings. “No,” she admitted, glad to have something to look at besides those eyes. She tripped over her words, her usual eloquence hard to come by when being asked of such topics -- especially while she was trying to keep track of their path, as winding and indirect as it was. “I mean, on the cheek. On the back of the hand. But not-” She faltered, quickly stopping herself. She needed to think like a fae. The least amount of information she could give him that still remained truthful. “Ah- ...Well, no.”

“Nowhere else?”

Again, warmth rushed through her body in a wave. “That’s not-” She only met his gaze for a second - his smile too soft, too beguiling. “I don’t see how that’s relevant.” Her tone was clipped and she tugged at his hold, pulling them up short, the sudden stop slipping her cloak from one shoulder. “Where are we going?” she demanded.

“You like magic.”

She pursed her lips. Did he ever answer a question straight out? For all the fae couldn’t lie, they could certainly prevaricate better than most humans. Emily frowned. She’d give him one more question, then insist her debt was paid. He wasn’t pulling her on anymore, and she took the moment of rest to grind a slippered toe against the soft earth, watching the ground. “...Well...” Her annoyance was tempered with a touch of embarrassment. “...I mean, of course I do.” She hoped she didn’t sound guilty. Her father wouldn’t be happy to hear her admit to such a thing. But, really- “Doesn’t everyone?”

“Would you like to be able to perform it yourself?”

Her head snapped up. Was he joking? This must be some kind of trick. “You mean…” If he was serious… Something in her chest fluttered like a moth, the possibilities flitting through her head impossibly fast. Her words came out in a whisper. “You mean I could do magic?” The question hung in the air with the soft chirp and croak of nighttime creatures.

He let go of her. It wasn’t like he needed to keep her there, not when he’d just presented such a prize. She wasn’t about to run. “I could grant you some power, yes.”

Emily took a deep breath, cranking her mind to life. This wasn’t a gift. Fae didn’t give gifts. They made bargains. Nothing worth having comes free. But would it be worth having? Truly? She leveled her eyes at him. “...What’s the catch?”

“There will be a price, of course.”

She flexed her jaw for a moment. Nodded. “Of course.”

“Nothing too dire,” he assured her, his voice lilting. It was like she could feel him draping the calm over her. She wanted to trust him. And the fact that he could make her think that made her uneasy. “A kiss.”