The wind blows calmly around her. Soft voices can be heard in the distance, but she worries not, for mother nature's barriers are hardly disrespected by mere mortals. She meditates, sitting below her willow tree as her maidens flit around her.

    "Mistress?" A shy voice peels through your thoughts.
    "Yes my darling, how can I help?" The voice comes from Sylvia, one of your personal fairy maidens.
    "Two humans have walked across the border. They seem to be headed this way. What are your orders?" The fae guardians surrounding me are immediately alert, scanning every inch of the grounds for the intruders.
    Humans are past the border? That cannot be right. Only those gifted by celestia themselves can freely traverse through a faerie's land.
    "Question them. If they are aggressive, we will attack, but if they are passive then bring them to me. No mere human should be traversing the lands of the fae." Questions flit through my head as Sylvia nods and flies away.

A few minutes later, two humans come into view, guided by a swarm of maidens, garden fairies, and soldiers.

    "Mistress, here they come!" One of my guardians reports. I quickly look over, making out two figures in the distance. They seem confused, following the fairies in fascination and looking around wildly. Eventually, they reach me and the fairies scatter as I stand.
    From their faces, I can tell they are not aware of our little world hidden underneath their noses.
    "Welcome ladies, how shall I address you?" The white-haired one regains her composure first.
    "I am Ningguang and this is Beidou, we are citizens of Liyue." Beidou quickly regains her composure as well, eyeing me up and down.
    "Well then, Ningguang and Beidou, I suppose you must have no clue that you have stumbled upon faerie territory, do you?" Their shocked faces tell me all I need to know, and they share a glance.
    "No, we had no idea. I am very sorry we disturbed you, we mean no harm!" Beidou replies.
    "I can tell. It is okay, we will not hurt you. However, this is quite a peculiar circumstance. Most humans cannot simply pass the barrier without either passing out or being in extreme pain, and neither of you seem to be in pain.
    From what I know, there are only two solutions. Either both of you have been blessed by Morax, or Celestia sees us fit to be mated. As Morax has never mentioned you two and you seem to have no knowledge of the fae, I must presume it is the latter."
    They share another glance, both shocked at my words. It's not every day you get told that you are likely mated to a fae because celestia decided it should happen. Honestly, I would be shocked if it was me standing there.
    "I'm sorry, but you must be mistaken. Me and Beidou are already in a monogamous relationship." Ningguang responds, clearly afraid of what I will do.
    "So be it then. If we are truly mates, Celestia will make you drawn back to me no matter what you decide. If we aren't, then I wouldn't bother coming back. I do not take very kindly to those who trespass more than once." I signal my fairies and they lead the two away, their energy fading as they draw towards the border.
    I wasn't going to tell them, but I already knew that we were mates. Unbeknownst to them, they carried my fae marking. Only fairies can see it, and I knew who they were the instant I saw it. I knew they would come crawling back, but for now I would have to suppress my pain and wait.

Thank you all for reading! If people end up liking this, I will write a part two, but honestly I don't know how people are going to feel about it yet! Blessed be to all of you! Happy 4th of July if you celebrate!

Originally published: July 2023