La Vie Boheme

Whoa

I'm up way way too late, but as you can see, I've been a busy little girl. Almost made it to 10,000 (which would catch me up to my quota) before my brain gave out. Our hero now has a name (well, he had one before, y'all just didn't know it), and the beginnings of a personality beyond Scary Primal Makes Women Weak in the Knees Man. A glimpse of that:

With no true king to protect it, his land had suffered, and her people along with it. They faded, some leaving for friendlier homes, some vanishing like smoke, never seen again. The lands beyond the glade were fading as well, creeping slowly beyond the borders of his country and vanishing forever. He felt the loss keenly, grieving for his dying home. His grief gave the Hunt an extra urgency, made him more likely than ever to toy with the men who lived there, to bring fear if he could not inspire worship. Tiernan sat down near the bonfire, staring into the dying flames. The Hunt that evening had been as successful as it ever was. He thought Dubric would be happy enough with the girl, if he could win her affections. Fitting, since Dubric was the first to suggest finding human brides to replace the fae women who were lost. The girl was pretty enough, but too delicate to suit Tiernan's tastes.

With a mixture of irritation and admiration, he thought back to the woman on the road who had claimed to be the girl's sister. Her beauty was a more mature one than her sister's, and for a moment he let his thoughts linger on the rich curves hinted at beneath her cloak and gown, the rich coils of warm brown hair. She'd had a fire to her that her sister, so far, seemed to lack. Tiernan smiled wryly, remembering how she'd dared claim part of his domain for her own. There would be no human bride for him, however. Just as the land needed a king, a king needed a queen, and such would only come from within his borders.