His stormy eyes were the colour of polished silver peered out through the leaves of the oak tree. The object of his scrutiny was an attractive young female. At the moment the wind was playing with her dark blue hair. Her gold eyes lit up as she laughed at something that the tall male next to her said. As the male put his hand around her slender waist he flapped his wings and took off. No one below even noticed the movement that took place above them.

"Lets have lilac’s around us as we take our vows. They’re so much more alive then dowdy old roses." Chloe’s gold eyes flashed as the wind fluttered through her blue hair.

"Shall we surround ourselves with a moat of fire as well?" Kenyan said with a joking sarcasm while putting an arm around his future wives waist.

Chloe laughed and turned to face him. "No silly, that would burn the lilac’s!" she stretched her iridescent sea green wings, flapped them lightly to hover above the ground. She grabbed his hands and pulled him along gently. Their wings shimmered in the wind as she brought him to the area in her yard where they were building the wedding arch. Landing lightly before it she lead him though her vision.

"Look, we can wind some bunches through the lattice work here, and maybe a few baskets around the platform." Her face lit up as she led him around showing him her dream. Kenyan just lifted her up and gave her a light kiss.

" If you want lilac’s then we can have lilac’s. The only thing I’ll even see that day is you. Nothing else could compare to you in beauty." Kenyan tipped his head back to look at the sky. "Well I better be headed off to work. I’ll see you tonight for dinner?" His dark eye’s looked at her expectantly.

"Yes. I’ll meet you in the cave tonight with a basket around seven." She gave him a quick kiss and said good-bye. After he had gone she went inside and started to fix herself breakfast. She had gotten up late and had to rush out the door if she had wanted to see Kenyan before dinner. As a result it was nine am and she hadn’t eaten yet. In a bowl she mixed herself a fruit salad with orange cubes, kiwi cubes, bananas cubes, and whole summer strawberries. She carefully but the bags of fruit cubes back into the small cave that served as a refrigerator. It was located above a cold underwater spring that they used for their drinking water. As she turned around to head back to the table for her salad she found herself face to face with an intruder. His pure white hair and steely silver eyes gave him a cold unfeeling look. Before she had a chance to scream or even move he clamped one hand over Chloe’s moth and used the other to grasp her waist in an iron grip.

"Scream and your dead" Derrick whispered savagely in her ear. With a flap of his wings he took off. The only signs that remained to clue a viewer into the events that had taken place were the bowl of uneaten fruit salad and a note on the table which coldly stated what had taken place.

Thirty minutes later they touched down in front of an old cottage. All around them a giant wall of hedges stretched upwards and a dome closed over their heads as they landed. Only once the dome had finished closing did he release her. To his surprise she didn’t scream, beg, plead, or even show any shock. She just stared at him with daggers of ice spitting from her eyes.

"Who are you." Her voice was as frosty as her eyes.

"My name is Derrick, but somehow I don’t think that’s what you mean." Sarcasm dripped from his voice.

"Why did you bring me here?" Her voice stayed even, not acknowledging his comment.

"When you were a little girl you father wanted to get you a special necklace. It was silver with a small opal in the shape of a heart. My father was the one who sold it to him. At the time your father did not have enough money to pay for it, so my father gave it to yours on credit. Fourteen years and your father has not and he has not attempted to pay up, though your family has obviously been doing well enough. My father figured your happiness was payment enough. Unfortunately my father had no concept of money. This cottage and grounds take money to keep up. When he died he left me with nothing but a stack of debts I could collect on. As a result I am going about collecting this last resort money to try and keep afloat." During this whole pre-rehearsed speech his face remained stone like. Even when he talked of his father there was no trace of grief on his delicately etched features.

Chloe searched the grounds with her eyes as she spoke. As far as she could see there was no means of escape. The bubble dome enclosed the entire grounds, which happened to be a giant maze anyway. Derrick noticed the direction of her gaze and spoke up.

"There’s no use trying to escape. The only entrance is at the beginning of the maze. I have a shield spell guarding the tops of the hedges to prevent fae from flying over the top to the end. And should you attempt to try to solve the maze manually I have placed a tracking spell on you to find you. I would find you in five minutes flat, that is if the booby traps don’t get you first."

"Why didn’t you just ask my father for the money?" she re-fixed her gaze on Derrick’s eyes.

"Why take chances when I know he would pay twice it’s worth for his darling daughter? And if he wouldn’t I’m sure that tall strong fiancee of yours would." Derricks eyes reflected a wicked grin.

"Is that all you care about is money?"

"Money is steady. While everything shifts and changes around you, money in your pocket never does."

"What about love?"

"What about it?"

"Love is steady. And it’s a hell of a lot more satisfying then money."

A deep, cold laugh emanated from Derrick’s throat. "Love is steady? That’s the biggest load of dragon fly shit I’ve heard in years. Love is the most fickle changing force on earth. As soon as you think you have her down she changes her spots and hurts you. The only thing as shifty as love is politics"

Chloe lapsed into silence . Derrick turned and headed into the cottage leaving Chloe to her own devices. Wandering around aimlessly she began to notice little things. In the back of the cottage she found a small but neat garden. A small swing hung from the willow tree. Around in the front was a carefully crafted bumble bee house. None of these warm things coincided with the cold image that she had bee shown thus far. A loud growl came from her stomach about that time. Looking up at the sky she saw that it was eleven o’clock. As she debated with herself over weather or not to go in and find food she felt a presence behind her. She spun around, her defenses shooting up, only to find no one was there. Instead she found a table of food. There was a bowl of soup, some bread, and some fruit cubes. Sitting down at the table she started to eat. The soup was a creamy mushroom soup. The bread was a rich wheat with honey spread on it. ‘What kind of a man can be so cold and warm at the same time’ she wondered. After she finished eating she decided to go for a walk in the maze to try and pass time. She had no illusions of trying to escape, knowing full well that if she got too far that Derrick would come and escort her back in due time.

Derrick watched her from the upper level window of the cottage. When he noticed her looking at the time he brought her out some food, realizing that he had interrupted her breakfast this morning. Now as she headed out into the maze he decided to follow her. The maze was designed to keep intruders out, and was lined with booby traps. He certainly didn’t want his merchandise devalued before delivery.

"Chloe, I’m home. How was your day honey?" Chloe’s father Erick walked into his house. Talking as he hung up his bag he hardly realized that she wasn’t there. "Chloe honey, what do we have for lunch." Erick headed for the kitchen. When he realized that he hadn’t received an answer he stopped. The first thing that caught his eye was the note on the table.

Erick,

You had a debt that needed repayment. I now

have repayment in fae form. I would be willing to

accept an equal trade of money for the girl, if you

so desire. Otherwise consider you debt repaid.

Derrick (The late Jon the jeweler’s son)

Anger built up inside of Erick until he threw the table with the note and salad across the room.

As Chloe turned the corner of the hedge she noticed a noise to her right. The faint babbling of a brook could be heard above the hedges. She started to fly up to get a better look and promptly bumped her head. ‘Derrick and his damn shield spell’ she thought to herself. She started to head towards the sound on foot. Though Derrick followed her at a distance he didn’t realize where she was headed until it was almost too late.

The brook stretched before Chloe, shinning and brilliant as any she had ever seen. Stretching across it was a series of stones that invited her to cross. Just as she was about to jump she felt a familiar iron grip around her waist.

"Ah, ah, ah little girl. I don’t think so." Derrick set her back on the ground and turned her to face him. "What do you think you’re doing?"

"As if it was any of your business, I was going for a walk in the maze. It’s not as if there are a lot of things for me to do around here." She tossed her hair over her shoulder in indignation.

"Well if I were you I’d stay out of the maze. You were about to jump into acid."

"What?"

Instead of speaking Derrick broke a stick from the hedge and threw it in the water. As it hit the surface he was rewarded with a loud hissing and bubbling. "Now if you would be so kind as to allow me, I’ll bring you back to the house for dinner." He said standing up at his full wiry 10 inches.

Chloe straitened herself up, stretching her 8 inches as high as they would go to make herself seem intimidating. "And if I say no?" Her golden eyes gleamed with defiance.

Without a word he grabbed her waist and flew up over the maze and back too the house.

As soon as they landed Chloe started trying to get out of his grip. Unfortunately she was no match physically for him. The more she struggled the tighter his grip got.

"Trying to go somewhere?" he asked mockingly. A second later his mocking tone turned into a tone of pain as she clocked him one in the balls. He promptly let go.

"I don’t know what you were trying to prove there with that macho display of male chauvinism, but if you ever try that again I will make sure that you never have kids." She glared at him from under her tousled hair.

Derrick didn’t respond. He was too busy nursing his wounded area and ego. Chloe stormed around behind the house and sat on the swing. All of the grief and humiliation that had build up over the past few hours came pouring out. For about 15 minutes she sat there crying softly within the hiding foliage of the garden. About five minutes into her cry Derrick came around back intending to give her a piece of his mind until he saw her. Her slender back was hunched over and her face was streaked with tears. She just looked so damned vulnerable and innocent that he didn’t have the heart to yell at her. She looked so different with the spark gone out of her. After watching her for a few seconds he headed into the house.

Inside he put on some cornmeal chowder and sat down in a chair. This girl was starting to get under his skin. One minute she infuriated him to the point where he wanted to throttle her, the next she made him feel like protecting her. He had to resist the urge to go and wipe the tears off of those ivory cheeks where they had no right to be. Derrick gave himself a stern mental shake and headed over to stir the soup. After he tasted it to make sure that it was just right he headed out to go get Chloe. He found her asleep, head resting against the rope. She even had a small smile upon her lips. He debated over whether or not to wake her for dinner or not. In the end though he didn’t have the heart to wake her. Gently he lifted her off the swing and carried her into the guest room. Unconsciously she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her head into the crook of his shoulder. Caught off guard he quickly put her in the bed and neglecting to pull the covers around her left as fast as he could. As he passed though the doorway he heard her give a contented little sigh. Thoroughly shaken he headed down to eat his soup.

Derrick woke early the next morning as he usually did. Poured his ritual cup of warmed nectar and headed out to watch the sunrise. After this tradition was completed he check on Chloe and started breakfast. She awoke a few minutes later to the smell of oatmeal and toast cooking. Realizing that she had no fresh clothes to change into she just washed her face and headed downstairs. By the time she got there the table had been set with honey, molasses and fruit cubes to go into the oatmeal which he was spooning out.

"Well good morning firefly. It’s about time you got up. I was about to go in there and throw cold water on your face." Derrick said with a good natured wink. Chloe not seeing the wink set up her defenses.

"And what if your merchandise got a cold. How much would it be devalued?"

"Well seeing as I don’t want you to be devalued I should probably feed you to eh? Come on over and eat." He said motioning towards the table.

Without saying a word she headed over and took a chair at the small wooden table. Positioning herself on the opposite side of the table she kept a close eye on Derrick though the whole meal. Derrick meanwhile sat there laughing on the inside the whole time though he somehow managed to keep a somber exterior. After she finished Chloe took her dishes to the spring outside to wash them. It was there that she let her defenses down. Her shoulder became a little less rounded and she took on a more relaxed posture. ‘How can this be happening’ she thought to herself. ‘How can I like the man who kidnapped me. Who took me from everything I know and brought me to this elves hole.’ But at the same time she thought of his face. How a smile on those delicate features could make her pulse race. How his voice could melt her soul. ‘No’ she gave herself a stern mental shake. ‘It’s not true. I can’t have feelings for him.’ Yet her heart said otherwise. Suddenly she felt a presence behind her. A small smile creeped into her heart as she put her defenses back online and turned around ready for battle. Just as quickly though her defenses plummeted and she let a small gasp of surprise escape her lips.

"Kenyan!" she exclaimed before slipping into a brief faint.

Derrick had been inside sitting down, trying to sort out his own feelings. He had been lost in the middle of a thought when he heard Chloe’s scream outside. Unable to make out what she had said he assumed it was an animal of some sort. Grabbing his blow-tube he armed it with a poison dart and ran out. It was then he saw the tall dark fae in his garden with Chloe in his arms. He started storming over towards the pair until he came close enough to hear their conversation.

"Kenyan, your being unreasonable."

"Unreasonable, the guy kidnapped you!"

"He had a reason."

"I don’t care why, he took you away from me."

"But…"

"No, no buts. This guy stole you away from your life, from me, and your defending him!"

"IT’S NOT LIKE THAT. He’s treated me well since I’ve been here…"

"Is that why your ding is domestic work for him." Kenyan sneered.

Finally Derrick could take it no more. Without thinking he loaded the poison dart into the tube and sunk it into Kenyan’s neck. Within the space of a few seconds Kenyans face registered shock, pain, fear, and finally sadness as he looked at Chloe. Peace settled on his face for a few brief moments before he turned to dust.

"No!!" Chloe cried as she struggled to hold him. It was too late though. By the time she had enough of a hold to try and do anything it was over. Unable to think she just ran. As far and as fast as she could. Tears streamed down her face as she entered the maze. Branches tore at her drawing blood at some point, but it only mixed with her tears in the dirt. In her grief she never even noticed the hedges changing from a healthy green to the black of death. A few seconds later she collapsed. Tears still pouring from her eyes she died alone in a gas trap.

As soon as she had taken off he ran after her. But she was too far ahead and had grief fueling her pace. After a few seconds he felt her stop, then her presence disappeared. A single tear slid from the silver eye, now shiny with grief of his own. His mind devoid of rational thought he walked into the acid stream, feeling the relief as his mind shut down from pain as his flesh was burned from his body.