<span style="font-family: 'Bad Script', 'cursive'"><span style="font-size: 15px">She couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up from her chest. She sat back against her chair, folding a slender arm across her stomach. With her other hand, she pushed her now empty plate aside and picked up her still half full glass of Fae Wine. She took a delicate sip, feeling the warmth flow through her veins like lava. Her eyes flashed to King. He was charming, protective and she had found herself begining to trust him. It had taken bloody five years, but he had intergrated himself into her life without either of them realizing it. It had just happened naturally without much effort by either of them. Once upon a time, she had been hated by virtually every Seelie and Unseelie Fae out there. She was a tri-breed, a mixture of races that should have never been mixed. Her mother had been half Human and Light Fae. The only thing she knew about her father was that he had been Dark Fae. He had left long before she had been born, perhaps shamed for fathering a child with a woman who was half Seelie. Whatever the case may be, her mother had been left to raise her alone. Then she too had disappeared, leaving Jen to fend for herself at the tender age of eight. None of the Courts had wanted to take her in. She had tried.<br/>
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Flash forward twenty years. The Courts came calling one day. Someone was poisoning important members of two great Houses with Lead; deadly to the Fae. One Seelie Fae, the other Unseelie. Though she was angry that they had wanted nothing to do with her, she decided to help them and it had nearly killed her. That was how she had first met King. She had collapsed while leaving the kingdom of the Seelie. No one had been around in the woods, or so she had thought. He found her practically face planted among the moss. The energy around him had been strong and had pulled her up from the depths of oblivion. It had wrapped around her like the comforting embrace of a lover. She had known almost instantly that he was like her in a way, both Light and Dark. She just hadn't known which side of his was more dominant than the other.<br/>
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Her thoughts were broken when Goodman woke from his drink induced oblivion. Her gaze snapped to his face. She could almost smell the desperate panic on him, but she said nothing to her other guests. Goodman had his secrets for a reason, as they all did. A smile tugged at a single corner of her lips and she gave a faint nod, standing gracefully from her chair. <br/>
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"<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#b300b3">Let me walk you to the door, at least</span>." She stated, moving towards her new-found friend with grace. She tucked her arm through his, leading the way towards the front door. "<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#b300b3">It's a shame you have to leave now. However, I understand</span>." Her voice dropped to barely above a whisper so that only he could hear her. "<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#b300b3">I can sense your anxiety. I understand better than you think</span>." To those remaining in the room, she turned to glance over her shoulder as she addressed them. "<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#b300b3">I'll be back in a moment</span>." <br/>
<br/>
Jen turned her attention back towards Goodman. With a fluid wave of her wrist, a small purple wrapped box appeared in the palm of her hand. She held it out to him with a slightly sheepish expression. "<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#b300b3">Your gift. I would open that once you're somewhere safe</span>." Beneath the black ribbon securing the package was a black and purple business card with her number elegantly written on its surface. "<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#b300b3">I hope you have a quiet evening</span>." As they reached the door, it opened silently as if an invisible hand had pulled it open. She stopped just before the doorway and turned towards him, standing on her toes and leaning up to press her lips against the corner of his mouth. </span></span>