Fae Fantasy Short Story: The Maiden and the Dark Fairy

About this story:

When MaryBeth wanders too far into the enchanted woods, she crosses the invisible boundary claimed by a dark fairy prince — a creature of beauty, danger, and ancient desire. One night in his shimmering bower changes her forever, but life returns to normal… until the prince cannot forget her either. As MaryBeth faces a secret growing inside her and the fairy prince wrestles with a longing he cannot name, their worlds collide once more. “The Maiden and the Fairy Prince” is a fae fantasy short story woven from dark fairy‑tale magic, forbidden romance, and the mythic pull between the human world and the realm of the fae.

 

“Don't wander too far."

MaryBeth turned back and waived to her mother, who stood on the porch drying her hands on her apron. "Just the edge of the woods, where the best mushrooms are."

"Make sure you're back before dusk," her mother warned. "Those woods are dangerous in the dark."

"I promise," MaryBeth replied.

She crossed the field of waiving grass that grew as tall as her chest. She stopped to pick wildflowers and herbs and placed them in her basket. The herbs would season the mushrooms for their dinner and in a stew. The flowers would brighten their dining table and bedroom dressers. Soon the woods reared, dark and quiet in front of her. MaryBeth had heard all the tales of the creatures that could find her in the woods. Bears and wolves and even fairies. So far, the scariest thing she had seen were the inquisitive squirrels who chattered at her from the branches. 

This day would be different. 

Marybeth wandered farther than usual, searching for mushrooms until, without realizing it, she passed the invisible line where she could no longer see past the trees to the meadow and home. A line that alerted the master of this domain. Marybeth realized that she was having a harder time seeing under the brush, where the mushrooms hid. The flicker of a lightning bug flashed before her face.

"Oh no!" she thought. "I'm late."

The sun was on its way down and the woods were almost dark, but Marybeth knew her way in this world and she set off towards the field. She ignored the fairy-lit paths that led enticingly into the woods. She knew that following those would not lead her home. More lights blinked in the air around her.

"This way," their songs said. MaryBeth ignored them as well. 

Ahead of her a shadow coalesced, as if the shade of the trees became solid. Soon a stranger stood before her and MaryBeth could not ignore him. Tall, with dark hair and coal black eyes, like doorways to the night. His pale skin shone in the fading light, a sharp jawline, and a half-formed smile. His dark cloak shimmered with threads of silver and gold. His boots seemed to grow out of the forest floor. A circlet of twined branches rested on his head.

"You are far from home," the dark fairy said. For fairy he was. His bright wings glinted behind him.

MaryBeth didn't stop walking. "Not so far," She replied, pointing beyond the fairy. "It is just through there. Across the field. My parents are waiting."

When she pulled abreast of him, the fairy took her by the arm, stopping her. His thumb caressed her upper arm, and goosebumps sprang up, spreading across her shoulder and neck like frostbite.

"Would you like to see my castle?" he asked. 

MaryBeth looked into his eyes, no longer black pits in the dark, but bright and shining with promises of delights she couldn't name but which pulled at her very core. 

"Yes," she replied.

The smile that graced the fairies face was part jubilation, part conquest, part love. Marybeth saw the part that was love and forgot the rest.

The fairy took her by the hand and led her deeper into the forest. Her basket dropped from nerveless fingers. When she saw that they were heading down a path lit by fairy lights, she shuddered but didn't pull away. Soon they were climbing a wooden stairway which twined around a huge tree. A filigree of vines twined to her right, a living balustrade. More fairy lights twinkled from the leaves. When MaryBeth looked closer she saw small fairies, teeny tiny creatures, with green gossamer wings which shone with a cool, green light. MaryBeth looked at the dark fairy with shining eyes. Her laughter echoed the sound of the night birds and the frogs, singing in the dark.

At a landing, the dark fairy led her off the stairs. The prince's castle spread through the bower of the forest. He showed her dining rooms where the tables marched away until she couldn't see the end of the room. A kitchen where an oven spread heat into the spring night, her hand on his arm just as warm. Balconies that looked out over forest glades filled with dancing creatures that Marybeth couldn't name and secret gardens with pools of still water, the moon reflected in the surface as if caught in the depths. She stood close beside him, her head on his shoulder, a tear trickling from her eyes onto his skin, raising goosebumps on him. He wiped it away with a gruff hand.

At the very top of the bower, he led her into his bedroom. From the ceiling, vines hung down, heavy with lily white flowers filling the room with the scent of lavender and jasmine. The bed was a brocade tent piled high with silken sheets and pillows. The fairy pulled her into his embrace. His laughing eyes sparkled as he stroked her hair. He hadn't spoken a word since inviting her to his castle and yet, MaryBeth had fallen in love with him. She knew from the forest tales that she would never see the fairy after this night and so, she chose to give herself fully to whatever happened.

It is glorious! And private, so we shall not speak of what passes between the maiden and the fairy upon those silken sheets.

In the morning, MaryBeth awoke to the sound of birdsong. She opened her eyes to find two bluejays chittering at each other on the balcony, the tops of the forest trees just visible from where she lay.

"It's time."

During the night, she had learned the many versions of his voice. That morning there were no goosebumps or shivers, only inevitability. She threw aside the sheets and stooped to gather her clothes. He watched from the doorway as she dressed, his eyes once more pools of mystery. She wanted so badly to stroke his cheek and kiss those soft lips, but she knew it could not be. Instead, she followed as he led her back through his wooden castle, down the winding stairs, through the woods, no longer lit by fairies, until they reached the edge of the forest. 

From somewhere within his cloak he produced her basket, still full of mushrooms, herbs, and flowers.

"Thank you," she said, bowing her head. She meant more than just the returning of the basket. She set off, but he took her by the arm.

"Is that all? No tears, no recriminations?"

She raised her chin and met his gaze. "Would that do any good?"

"Not one bit," he replied with a smile.

He watched as she strode across the field. He stood longer than was necessary, listening to the cries of her mother when MaryBeth returned. Finally, he turned and made his way back to his kingdom. She wasn't the first maiden to grace his sheets, and she certainly wouldn't be the last.

Marybeth's mother cried out at the sight of her daughter and engulfed the young woman in her embrace.

"Where have you been?" she asked. "Your father and brothers are out looking for you as we speak."

"I'm sorry, Mother. I strayed too far in the forest and got lost in the dark."

Her mother held her at arms length. "Did you follow the fairy paths?"

"Of course not, Mother. As soon as I realized that I couldn't see my way home, I sat against a tree and waited for the sun."

Just then, her father and brothers appeared at the edge of the forest, far from where the dark fairy had left her. MaryBeth could still see the exact spot where he had last stood. 

"Your father and the boys will be hungry after hunting for you. Get in the kitchen and put those mushrooms to good use."

Marybeth nodded and set to cooking. She listened as her mother explained what had happened. The boys set off to start the business of the day with promises to call them as soon as breakfast was ready. Her father entered the house and checked in on MaryBeth.

"No worse for wear?" her father asked from the doorway.

MaryBeth just shook her head.

"And you didn't meet up with anything dangerous in the night?" 

MaryBeth shook her head again. "Nothing more than a curious fox," she replied. She wondered what the fairy would think, described as a fox. Marybeth smiled to herself.

And with that, the maiden’s life went back to normal. But in the quiet of her bed, MaryBeth would look out the window at the dark shadow of the forest bathed in the light of the moon and revisit the memory of the dark fairy so she might never forget him.

 

The fairy went back to his kingdom. He expected to easily put the girl from his mind. He joins the riotous garden parties filled with wine tasting of summer storms, and laughter that sliced through nights glittering with spilled starlight. Music that thrummed through blood and bone and dancers who moved as if bewitched were the prince's bailiwick. He thrived in the chaos, adored and feared in equal measure. Tables groaned under his impossible feasts and the dancing continued to dawn.

He could not get the maiden out of his mind.

After the final revelers left and the sun began to peek from the horizon, the prince fell into his brocade bed. A travelling itch made its way across his skin, popping up every time he thought he might finally fall asleep. The birds sang too loudly. A cricket chirped from somewhere in a corner of his room. The sheets were too scratchy. There weren't enough pillows.

This went on for longer than you can imagine. (The prince was very stubborn.) His parties became increasingly lavish, lasting for days, until finally even the hardiest of the partiers couldn't take it anymore. 

"We need sleep!" they cried, leaving the tables full and the wine undrunk.

Twitching, the fairy took a walk, hoping the sight of his magnificent kingdom would quiet his mind. He followed the path that led away from her the maidens land on purpose and yet somehow his feet, or the forest, led him to the edge of the field, her house visible in the distance, smoke rising from the chimney. Would she be in the kitchen? He wondered. Don't be ridiculous, he growled to himself. What difference if she cooked, cleaned, or shat? She was just a lowly human.

Still, his feet pushed him to the very edge of the field, just inside the last of the trees. He could not cross the bright field in the day. The sun rode the sky as he watched the house. The men came and went, going about some business he fairy prince couldn't deduct, but he wasn't really watching. His eyes focused on the house. His heart beat double time when a woman stood on the front stoop, shaking out a rug. When he realized the woman was not the maiden, but her mother, his disappointment caused the shadows to darken within his kingdom.

The prince stood the whole day until the sun settled behind the trees and the shadows lengthened. Now was the time. He glided across the field, staying in the pockets of darkness. Once across he watched silently from all the shadowy places as she went about her chores, cooking for her family, cleaning up after the four men she lived with.

Those pigs! The fairy seethed. They treated the maiden as a slave, not the daughter and sister she was. 'They don't even see her!' he railed as she glided through the rooms of the house, invisible to her family. For her part, she kept a quiet smile on her face, never complaining at what life threw at her. The fairy watched her for three days, staying in the dark places, until he realized that she was fine without him. In his experience, maidens withered away when he discarded them. Something about MaryBeth going about her daily activities, her eyes shining with laughter as she spoke with her family, shook the fairy to his core. 

"I'll show her!" he seethed.

He made his plans and the next time MaryBeth went into the woods to search for mushrooms he was ready.

MaryBeth had been putting off going back to the forest. Her mother was afraid for her and her father reprimanded her repeatedly, but she was the only one capable of finding the best mushrooms. She would have to go. She carried her basket and kept her eyes averted from the looming trees. She would just go to the edge, no further, she promised herself. 

The mushrooms were elusive and without realizing it, her feet carried her step by searching step, into the trees. When MaryBeth felt the pine needles crunch beneath her feet she looked up with a start, but the field was just there, a few feet away. She was fine. The next time she looked up, a second row of trees stood between her and the field, but it was still there. Still visible with the sun still hours from setting.

The next time she looked up, her heart stuttered to see the field only a small bright blur. She checked her basket, which was full. She could go.

Then, she heard the musical sound of his voice.

MaryBeth turned slowly as if the air had turned to sludge. In the darker part of the forest, she saw him walking arm in arm with another maiden. MaryBeth didn't recognize the girl, but she only had eyes for the fairy. His cloak trailing behind him, streaks of silver and gold shining in the shadow. His supple boots seeming to grow out of the ground, even as he walked. The air around him shimmered so that, even at this distance, she could see his laughing face and shining eyes. 

She turned and made her way back to the field, back to her home. Her heart was sore, but she spoke harshly to herself.

"You didn't really think you were the first, did you?" she hissed. "You aren't the last either." 

A smaller, kinder voice piped up. "At least he's happy."

Yes. Yes! thought MaryBeth. And the new maiden, what a night she was to have! MaryBeth chose happiness for the new couple, ignoring her fear for the new maiden when he discarded her as well.

MaryBeth went back to her life, but her heart was sore. She tried revisiting the memory of her own night with the fairy, but it no longer shimmered as it once had. Instead of goosebumps when she remembered his face, tears sprang to her eyes. Best to forget it ever happened.

A few days later, MaryBeth's mother came to her while she worked in the side garden, pulling weeds.

"We must talk," she said. "Walk with me."

MaryBeth brushed her hands on her apron and followed her mother. They set off in silence away from the forest. 

"Have you started your monthly cycle?" asked her mother abruptly.

MaryBeth stopped walking in surprise, but her mother continued, so she ran to catch up. 

"Well?" asked her mother.

"No, I haven't," MaryBeth replied. "I would have told you, as always."

"Then you are late."

MaryBeth nodded slowly. She had never been late in her life.

"Is it possible that you are with child?" Her mother stared straight ahead as she asked this.

"No, mother. I have not been with a man. I could not be with child."

Her mother stopped and searched MaryBeth's face. Finally satisfied, she nodded. "Other girls are late and don't get babies. Let us hope this is the same." And with that she turned and left MaryBeth standing in the field. When she turned back to the house all she could see was the forest standing darkly beyond her house.

She went about her chores as if she and her mother had spoken of nothing more than their plans for dinner. Inside her head was whirling with questions. Was it possible? Could she be with child? There were tales of half-human half-fairy creatures, but those were from spells. Nothing suggested that fairies and humans could beget a child.

But the days passed and MaryBeth's cycle didn't start. Her mother wanted to know who she had been with. Her father threatened her if she didn't tell him the boy’s name. There were boys around. It was possible. Of course, none of those boys were responsible, so MaryBeth could not give him a name.

She didn't even know his name!

Her belly had begun to bulge. Just a small bump, barely noticeable in her long dresses. Since she wouldn't tell them who the father was, her father ignored it. One day, her brother teased her.

“You should be wary of what eat,” he said. “You’re getting soft around the middle.”

Their father’s roar was so loud that the whole family shut up for three days. 

Her mother spoke to her in whispers about what to expect, but MaryBeth wasn't sure that any of her information would be much help. Would her baby be normal? Would it come out with wings? If so, would they want to kill it as some sort of abomination. MaryBeth realized that she needed to plan. She would need to be far away when the baby came. 

She would need to be alone.

MaryBeth made plans to leave. She saved up provisions for a trip of several days. The nearest village is only a day’s walk, but she can't go there. The townsfolk know her family. When her father comes looking, and she knows he will, they would hand her over. Instead, she has planned to go to the city. There will be work there. She can find a place to stay where she can have her baby in peace. She is afraid of being alone when the baby comes, but it is the only way. Her only regret is that, if she dies during the birth - which happens all to often even when the woman has family around - her child will die, too.

The rest of the household is asleep when MaryBeth finishes her chores for the day. She chooses a block of cheese, and a loaf of bread freshly made that day. These are perishable items and by taking them she has decided that she will slip away that night. She quietly glides down the hallway to her room, even though the snores from the other bedrooms indicate that she could tap dance wearing a dress of bells and her family wouldn't notice. In her bedroom, she places a lamp on her dresser. Before she can pull out the bag of provisions in the bottom drawer, she freezes. Something has invaded her sanctum. 

It isn't one of her brothers. They would have called out the minute she entered the room. She turned, her arms trembling, her legs feeling of jelly. Best to get these things over quickly. She hoped her death would satisfy the creature, leaving her family unmolested. She instinctively put arms around her stomach, an ineffectual attempt to protect the child in her belly.

Shadows shivered in the corners of her room as the flame in her lamp shuddered in a sudden breeze from the open window. From the shivering shadow, MaryBeth first saw the shimmer of silver and gold picked out by the lamplight. With a gasp, she stepped forward, her instinct recognizing him before her conscious mind did. Then, she saw his boots growing out of her wooden floor. A hand raised and she recognized the fingers which looked rough but could be so gentle. Finally, his face, the strong jawline framed by the long jet-black hair, his slightly crooked nose (she remembered giggling over this minute imperfection) and his eyes.

His eyes! Her heart soared when the golden light reflected to her from the depths of those eyes. Eyes that she had never expected to see again. She held herself in check. She couldn't know why he was there. She would wait. She would let him explain it.

They stood looking at each other, each greedily taking in sight of the other. Finally, he broke the silence. "Well?" he asked gruffly.

MaryBeth opened her mouth to respond but nothing came out. 'Oh God,' she thought. 'He's here to take the baby!' Tears sprang to her eyes, and she clutched her stomach tighter. She had thought she only had her family to worry about, but now she knew better. "Please don't," she whispered aloud.

The fairy's face puckered in a frown. "Do you not wish to come with me?" he asked. There was a note of disappointment that MaryBeth had never heard before. 

She tried to decode his words, but she didn't understand them. "Go with you?" she repeated. "Why not just do it here?" She knew that she would die when he took her child. At least if he did it here, her family would know what had happened to her. 

"Here?" he asked, as if they were playing some childish game of copycat. He shook his head. "No, we cannot live here."

Again, MaryBeth struggled to with his words. "Of course you cannot live here. Princes of the fairy kingdom must live in the forest." The was obvious.

The fairy prince nodded. "Exactly." Again, they stood staring at each other. Finally, he took a step forward. "Well?" he asked again, raising his hand to her. 

Every fiber in her wanted to go with him, take his hand in hers, feel the warmth of his skin, melt into his embrace. Instead, MaryBeth took a step back. 

The fairy's gaze moved from her face to her hands. His frown deepened. "You are with child?" he asked. His gaze didn't move from her belly. Then, he looked up at her. "You are with child." A smile so bright that even in the dark corner it rivaled the sun spread across his face. The glint in his eyes sparkled as he held her gaze. "My love."

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