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Chapter 66 - Fae
🕑 Added 2025-12-17 14:50:46 +0000 UTCBeneath the Mountains of the Moon
“She says that we are intruding on their sacred lands and to leave immediately,” Leaf explained while the bows were still pointed at them.
The leader of the all-female group was beautiful. Silver hair and eyes, pale but smooth skin, except for the calluses on her hands, a heart-shaped face, and dressed in leather.
They reminded him of a certain family in looks.
Robert looked at the Underdwellers as if they were speaking out of their asses. “That is dumb; we could just as well tell everyone their location and put them in danger. Anyway, tell them I’m here to learn the Echo.”
The Fae lites frowned, which made Robert suspicious.
Leaf relayed his words, and the young—at least by the looks—Underdweller’s wings fluttered. “She is the daughter of the Matriarch and says that there is a great price for it.”
“Is there any way that I can magically learn their tongue? This is getting cumbersome," he said, watching the reactions of the Faes. There were narrowed eyes and frowns, which made Robert sure.
The Underdwellers could understand him.
“They can speak the tongue of men; they just choose not to,” Leaf confirmed, raising more questions.
Like, how did they know the tongue of men if they were living under these mountains for thousands of years?
“Huh, neat. How do I convince them otherwise?”
With a little back and forth, he had his answer: “Caerindra wants you to surrender your weapons.”
So her name was Caerindra. “Alright,” Robert lowered his hammer and put his sword on top of it, chuckling while the Faes struggled to move his hammer.
Amateurs.
Once the weapons were in their midst, Caerindra took off, circling around Robert, looking down on him, “Quite bold of you to leave yourself armless.”
Robert turned left to face Carindra, and the Fae flew back instinctively while the bows were drawn again. “I could fight naked with my bare hands and still win.”
“You wish to learn the Echo, yes? Then there will be a price.” Her arrogant smirk was gone, and they could finally get to the matter.
“Name it.”
“I desire your firstborn.”
What surprised Robert wasn’t the demand itself, but the clicheness of it. “My… firstborn? Not that I am refusing, but why?” because he was not going to refuse for one simple reason.
“Does it matter to you?”
“I am just curious as to what purpose having a human could serve to you.”
“That concerns us alone.”
“So, once you have my firstborn, you teach me this Echo?” then he would teach it to a corps of engineers.
“Indeed, but you do not have the magic to learn it. If you want, it will have to be someone who has,” well, at least that’s one thing he didn’t have to deal with.
“Doable.”
“You’re giving her your firstborn? What the fuck?!” Sandor hissed, causing Robert to chuckle, “Sandor, watch and learn.”
“Do we agree then?” The Fae held her glowing hand out, and Robert took it.
“We do.”
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Robert whistled as he saw the Coven of the Underdwellers, or Fae, as he learned their name now.
That had come out of nowhere.
It was something straight out of a fantasy. The previous areas they had encountered looked tiny compared to the town, where at least several thousand lived.
Pillars of white, smooth stone that seemed to be fused together reinforced the ceiling that was covered in crystals, which changed color depending on the time, according to the Fae.
Plants and trees, no doubt of magical origin, feeding on the light of the crystals, were created to keep the air clean.
Everything he saw convinced them that these Underdwellers had more magic in their pinky than the whole of Westeros save Asgard.
The entire place was illuminated to be clear as day, with a clear river flowing through the middle. The houses were from the same white stone and mostly the same size, but there was a palace ahead, and they were heading there.
Many eyes were drawn to them, as the people were seeing humans and a Child of the Forest for the first time in thousands of years.
Along the road, Robert and Caerindra discussed the terms of the bargain, but issues quickly arose, and they were taken straight to the matriarch.
“Mother, this man refuses to honor our deal,” Caerindra complained to her mother, and Robert, who had half a dozen spears pointed at his neck, didn’t even bat an eye.
“On the contrary, I am perfectly ready to carry out my part.” It was the Fae who was refusing to carry out the deal, in fact.
The matriarch of the coven, a more mature version of her daughter with grey eyes rather than the silver of Caerindra, glared at Robert. “What exactly is the problem?”
“She wanted my firstborn to teach my men the Echo. I am ready to give it to her.” Robert raised his hands in “what can you do.”
“By mating with me,” Caerindra spat out, and the matriarch waved her hand to the guards, an idea forming in her mind as to what was happening.
Robert wrapped an arm around the young Fae’s waist, bending her backwards while interlocking fingers with the other hand, winking, “You said you wanted to have my firstborn, not that I should hand my firstborn to you. The way I see it, you could not resist my charms and were just looking for an excuse to get me into bed. I understand; no woman can resist me, no matter the race.”
Offended by the insinuation, Caerindra pushed Robert off, flying to the other side of the room with a flushed face, though whether that was from anger or because she was flustered, he didn’t know.
Sandor coughed, “Except for that woman from Iraq.”
“Shut up, Sandor,” Robert ordered, kicking the man in his shin.
The Matriarch, Aelthiriel, considered the situation, her eyes closed in concentration, before rendering her verdict, “Daughter, I hate to admit it, but he is correct. In your haste, you did not word the bargain carefully.”
In her desire to be the one to make a bargain with a human for the first time in thousands of years, her daughter Caerindra did not think the whole matter through and underestimated the man before them.
“But Mother…” She whined, but the matriarch raised her hand, silencing the girl.
“I will not hear it. Either you will wed this man, or you will carry the curse of breaking a bargain.”
Robert intervened to offer an alternative, “You know what, no need to be so hasty. Let’s make a new bargain. She agrees to teach my men the Echo, and we agree to break the first bargain without anyone getting cursed.”
That way, she would not have to wed him, a big loss for her, but whatever, and Robert would still get the secrets of making dragonstone.
Perhaps he would make something different with, like, different colored versions of dragonstone.
“That is possible as well. Will you carry out your bargain, daughter, or be made into a fool?” Aelthiriel spoke, leaving Caerindra with two undesirable choices, one less so than the other.
“I…ugh…very well.”
They were dismissed, except for Leaf, whom the matriarch wished to speak to in private, as they had not had any contact for thousands of years.
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“This man, he is dangerous,” the matriarch commented, gesturing for the Child of the Forest to take a seat.
They had much to speak of.
“Indeed, Lady Aelthiriel. He has slain a great demon roosting in the ruins of Valyria and, later, an ancient kraken. It is thanks to him that our mother tree has bloomed once more.” Her words shook the Underdweller, but most of all, it was the part concerning their past.
“Wait, wait, what was that about Valyria?”
“Oh, I have much to tell you.”
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“Fascinating,” to hear that Valyria, their greatest shame, had been destroyed, was invigorating.
To hear the deeds of the man in their coven and know how dangerous he was, less so.
“So you live under his command?” men had warred against their kind for centuries, driving them out, burning their sacred woods, and yet, the Children were now living in the city of a man to escape from the Night King and the Others.
“In peace, as a part of his city, as well as with the giants.”
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Sandor was sniggering in the corner of the house they were given, while Leaf, who had returned after spending time with the matriarch, had come to congratulate him.
The ceiling had a chandelier of blue crystals for light; the dark, wooden furnishings were covered in fine tanned leather.
“I shall admit, you did not disappoint. Tricking the daughter of their matriarch is impressive, though; she obviously underestimated you.” It was the first bargain in thousands of years, and the girl had abandoned caution to be the one to gain something from it.
Robert’s smirk was cocky, but Leaf knew it was well earned. “I know, I know, I am great.”
“I thought you had lost your mind,” Sandor grunted between his fits of laughter.
“Ye of little faith.”
“So, what did the Fae matriarch tell you?” Robert was still curious as to how exactly the Fae were called the Fae and why, because he was sure as hell George did not go beyond naming them Underdwellers.
“They are wary of you after hearing your deeds.” It was quite a natural response to Robert’s death-defying acts of valor.
“All in a day's work.”
“Still, I would advise against antagonizing them.” The daughter of the matriarch was angry, even though the fault mostly lay with her.
“It’s just a bit of fun, nothing more. I am not going to spit on their hospitality.” The Fae were quite respectful as hosts, if skittish and unwilling to speak with him.
“Why do you think she wanted my firstborn?” If it was for something like, say, using a child for magic, or something equally disgusting, he was going to wipe them all out.
They did give his hammer and sword back after all.
“To introduce fresh blood to their people.” The answer wasn’t what he expected, but
“They can mate with humans?” Robert grinned, which could mean he would be free to seduce one of them.
“The Faes, as you named them, are more magic than any other race out there, perhaps even more than the White Walkers. Our stories tell that they can have children with other races, but any that do are born Fae.” That tidbit wasn’t supplied to Robert previously, but he didn’t mind.
“Wizard!” The usual, magical, and illogical Planetos genetics were at work again.
At least the Faes were smart enough to know that the whole keeping the blood pure bullshit did the opposite.
“I have one last question: what are we eating?”
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The Faes, as a close community, ate in massive halls where the food was cooked on red, crystal stoves.
He couldn’t imagine any other race that would be able to live this deep underground without advanced technology or magic of this scale.
What interested him even more was that they were celebrating the destruction of Valyria and the dragonlords, even though they were a couple centuries late.
The reason?
It turns out, the similar features between the Fae and the Valyrians weren’t just by chance. The way Matriarch told it, her kind were neighbors to the first Valyrians, having lived on the land long before the dragonlords had learned how to tame the beasts and dabble in blood magic.
Once the Valyrians began to intrude on their land, war had sparked. Aided by their magic, the Fae had given the novice dragonlords a bloody nose, repelling their attack and slaying several of the beasts.
Seeking peace, the Valyrians had sent envoys, and eventually, peace was settled between the two, though it did not last long. The Echo of the Fae was too useful, used to build structures that resisted tear and wear better than any other, and shaped as they wished, creating grand homes for them.
The Valyrians naturally wanted to know the secrets of this magic too, and the Fae offered to teach it in return for dragons of their own. The price was too much for the Valyrians, and they had refused, only to later kidnap Fae and use their blood magic to impregnate the females.
Hence, the Valyrians developed their distinctive purple eyes, silver hair, and fair looks.
Once it had gotten out, there was war, though this time, the Valyrians were victorious, as several of the dragons had grown to colossal sizes.
Driven out of their homes, the Fae had made their way to Westeros, beyond the North, as they feared to face the treatment the Children of the Forest and the giants had.
“I don’t understand. How could there be no mentions of you in Essos then?”
“Those that knew of us faced the fury of the dragonlords so none would remember us and remind the Targaryens that they owed their fair looks to us.”
Robert had spent long enough in Essos to become somewhat knowledgeable in history. Ghis and Rhoynar were destroyed by the dragonlords, while the Dothraki were responsible for bringing down the Qaathi and the Sarnori. The rest were too far from Valyria, but perhaps records existed there.
Learning the danger of the Night King and the Others, who weren’t just legends, they sought out a safer environment and, after centuries of migrating and hiding, came across the tunnels beneath the Mountains of the Moon and the life inside there.
The Fae had found their new settlement and had spent years turning it into a home.
All that was left of them were the stories that existed in the North and their old, forgotten alliance with the Children.
“Well, as you know, the dragonlords are dead, mostly, and the remaining ones don’t have dragons anymore.”
“Dragonlords without dragons? That certainly amuses me, and I am sure it would ease the spirit of my ancestors, but what of you? You carry their blood, yet you do not see yourself as a Valyrian?”
“My grandmother was a Targaryen, and no matter my blood or family line, I am an Asgardian, nothing more, nothing less.”
“And your dragons?”
“Hey, can you imagine a better way to screw with the dragonlords than by having your own dragons?”
“I suppose so.”
Their conversation was long, as there were several matters to discuss. He was curious as to why they weren’t worried about Robert possibly exposing their location, and Aelthiriel explained that while they were cautious, her people would not strike down a person that had come to their land in peace.
If he was treacherous enough to expose them to the world, the Fae would bar the tunnels with their Kal’itel, the fused stone created by the power of their Echo.
Her daughter had agreed to the bargain, as the Fae had to keep their numbers limited, and having fresh blood would give them more leeway.
Robert had an interesting idea in mind.
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Notes: If you know that DnD comic about an adventurer making a bargain with a Fae, you know where I was inspired from.
As for calling them Fae, well, I chose to go with a familiar name rather than give them a new one.
Comments
Garreon LeFay
I knew where this was going to go when the firstborn talk happened. Pity you didn't put the whole thing
orcun demir
First hatched children maybe, not first born. Gotta love these little word plays.
Falyn Frost
I really thought they got one over Robert, since his dragons could count as his children
