The Autumn Fairy of Ages

by Brittany Fichter

  Katy slowly touched every gown in the wardrobe. They formed a rainbow of silk, lace, and gauzy nothingness that felt as though she were touching a breeze. So many colors. Just like the fairies.

  The gowns gave her enough courage to clear her throat. “I…I have a question.”

  “I’m sure you have many.” Donella smiled and led her over to her vanity, where she pulled out a drawer of jewelry even more colorful than the clothes in the wardrobe. Katy was so dazzled she nearly forgot her question.

  “You were asking?”

  Katy paused. The question on her lips was one she’d dreamed of asking from the moment they’d been invited to the summit. She was rather sure she knew the answer. But there was no other way to know. “Do I…Do I have a family? Grandparents, I mean. Or sisters or brothers? Cousins? Aunts?”

  Donella’s smile disappeared. “I’m afraid not. We did search for someone who might know where your parents took you after you disappeared.” She gave Katy a wan smile. “I’m afraid we weren’t able to locate anyone who even knew who your parents were. It’s not that unusual. Some clans are so small they only contain a few families, and many of the clans choose to remain hidden for as many years as they can between contact with others.”

  Katy took a deep breath. She hadn’t expected anything more. And yet, she had hoped…

  “But you’re not alone.” A cool hand rested on her shoulder. Katy looked up to see Donella looking at her, her gaze gentle. “The fae is your family.” She squeezed Katy’s hand. “And we’re not about to let our daughter fade away again.”

  Katy tried to smile, but it was hard. She felt as though she’d always known deep down. And yet… She cleared her throat and decided to move onto another question before she had too much time to dwell on what would never be. “What…what do the marks on our foreheads and arms mean? I mean, why are they different colors?” She felt her face flush even as she asked the question.

  “They indicate our seasons,” Donella answered gently.

  Katy was grateful for the kind answer. It must seem so ridiculous to the older fairy. But how else was she to know if she didn’t ask? Katy bit her lip self-consciously. She remembered the blue swirls on Tearlach, but he had never told her just what they meant.

  Oh well. She was simply behind. As always.

  “Spring fairies like me have red.” Donella pulled out a pair of sparkling azure tear-shaped stones and held them up to Katy’s ears so she could see them in the mirror. “Winter fairies have brown, and summer fairies have blue.” She tilted her head and studied Katy for a moment. “I have to say, I’ve always been curious to see what color an autumn fairy would have. I never thought it would be green, but now that I see you, it’s lovely.

  “Thank you.” Katy blushed a bit as she turned back to the wardrobe. Sighing, she pulled the blue dress out. Always another question. Never enough answers.

  “Would you like to try it on?” Donella asked from behind her.

  “Oh, yes!” Katy couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face. She felt as giddy as a little girl as Donella helped her out of her old dress and into her new one. The fabric was light, almost like wearing lace, and it stretched wide enough to move her wings through without tearing. Once her wings were through, it shrunk again, closing up any holes over her back. Katy gaped as she watched the gown form perfectly to her frame in the mirror. She couldn’t help smiling. “Peter will like this one. Blue is his favorite color.”

  Donella’s voice had a smile in it as she helped lace up the back of Katy’s dress. “I’m guessing that would have something to do with it being the color of your eyes.”

  Katy blushed, but for once, it wasn’t uncomfortably. “What do our seasons have to do with our gifts?” she asked, trying to think of another topic of conversation that didn’t have to do with her love life. Remembering Donella’s insinuation from earlier made her cheeks heat all over again.

  Donella paused for a moment to roll the curtain back from the window wall. Then she picked up a teacup from a silver platter in the corner that Katy had somehow missed. After she’d poured the tea and stirred in the cream, she spoke again.

  “Every fairy has at least one gift. Sometimes two or three. It’s rather…” She pursed her lips. “I suppose you could compare our gifts to the talents of man. This one is better at pottery than that one, who is better at cooking or building than the next. We can all do other gifts to a point, just as a human who is gifted in fishing might attempt to make a pastry by following directions. But our gifts are given specially to us so that we may fill specific roles in our clans and do what we’re good at for others.” She glanced up at Katy. “It’s one of the reasons sharing gifts is such an emphasized portion of welcoming a new fairy. Doing so indicates to everyone else that the gift is not given to one alone, but to fae-kind as a whole, and the fairy means to share freely of what he has been given.”

  Katy sighed.

  “Don’t fret.” Donella said, her eyes softening. “You have just arrived, and the chancel has decided to grant you another chance. And when that chance does eventually come, I’m sure you’ll make the right choice.”

  6

  A Mistake

  Before leaving, Donella assured Katy that Malachi had been instructed to give Peter directions to the feast so they could find it together. She only needed to meet him at the end of the hall where they had parted ways. In the meantime, Donella had sent up a little servant girl of the most enthusiastic kind.

  “Well, your bath is drawn,” the fairy girl, who was probably only ten or eleven years in age, announced with a grin. “The water here is wonderful! You can heat it without fire!” She looked around. “Is there anything else I can do?”

  Katy gave her a tired smile. “I will be well, thank you. Go get some food for yourself.”

  The girl was quite persistent, however, and Katy had to try several more times to finally convince the girl that she would survive for a full hour on her own, but eventually, she was successful.

  Unfortunately, she forgot about the laces on the dress she’d tried on, and it took her a good ten minutes before she was able to extricate herself from its silky blue folds. And as she worked, her mind began to spin Donella’s words around over and over again like a typhoon, and by the time she actually lowered herself in the bath, she was in such a tizzy that she had no desire to ever get out again. Unfortunately, she was not allowed such a luxury, for no more than three minutes after she’d gotten in, a knock sounded at her door.

  For the first time in a long time, Katy was tempted to use her gift to make the door just uncomfortable enough to the touch to keep any more unwanted knocks away.

  “Katy!” Peter’s muffled voice came through the keyhole. “Are you alone?”

  Katy sat up so fast water splashed over the side, and she slipped and nearly fell under the water. Then she slipped twice more on the stone floor as she got out and attempted to find some sort of drying cloth.

  “You’re not supposed to be here!” she hissed as loudly as she dared while she continued her frantic search. “Only women are allowed in this hall!”

  “Then come out before someone finds me!”

  Katy briefly fantasized the door magically opening so she could throw one of her new stiff pillows at his head, but she finally found a drying cloth and managed to get dry enough to pull the blue gown back on.

  “What are you doing?” she called through the door. “I’m meeting you in an hour.”

  “What’s taking so long?”

  “I’m trying to get my dress laced up, and you’re not helping!”

  “I could if we were married.”

  Katy’s cheeks burned as she tried not to think about how much she would have liked that. Instead, she called back, “Don’t you have anything better to do?”

  “Malachi spent a ridiculous amount of time dressing me up like a fop. He’s currently getting supper, so I’d like to get out of here before he returns!”

  Finally, several minut
es later, after she’d clumsily gotten the gown laced up and then maneuvered herself inside of it before tightening the strings to the best of her ability, she opened the door.

  Peter was standing on the threshold. “That took long enough.” He put a hand on the top of the door frame and leaned in toward her.

  She scowled. “You’ll never know the pains that are women’s fashion.”

  “Like I said, if we were married by now, this wouldn’t be a problem. You would have had help.”

  “If you just did as you were told for once this wouldn’t be a problem either.”

  “Well, now you’re just being contrary.”

  She glared up at him, trying to ignore the way his new clothes fit his figure. Apparently, Donella hadn’t commissioned clothes for just her. He looked quite dashing in the new black cloak that spanned the width of his shoulders, both of which were capped by a circle of gold with a braid that ran all the way to his stiff collar. The knee-high black boots made him look even taller than usual, and the green from his family’s royal crest sewn into the material on his chest made his eyes take on the green of the sea before a storm. Really, she would have liked to gawk at him a good deal longer, but he would use that to his advantage if he knew. So she folded her arms, too, and focused on his face with a defiant look. “Our situation here isn’t ideal, if you haven’t noticed. And in an hour, we’ll have to sit at a table with people who disapprove of my choices and your ancestors, and I really, really would have liked a nice hot bath to prepare for it.” Then she glanced down and saw a lumpy roll of cloth in his arms. “What is that?”

  “How about we don’t go to supper?”

  She blinked at him. “What?”

  He reached down and touched her face, sending a wave of affection that came dangerously close to ruining her conviction. “What they did in there was unfair. You’ve only just arrived.” His voice dropped, and he tapped her on the nose. “I had Tomas pack some food in my trunk before we got here.”

  “Why?”

  “In case they tried to poison us. But that’s not the point. What I’m saying is that you need some fresh air before we start all over again with that tree ceremony tomorrow morning.” He leaned in another inch, his steady gaze sending her heart into an uneven rhythm. “Let’s spend this evening outside, then you’ll be refreshed and ready for tomorrow.”

  Katy hesitated. What he was suggesting actually sounded divine. She suddenly wanted nothing more than to spend a quiet evening with her best friend, away from etiquette, expectations, and crowds of spectators, human and fae alike. But Donella had said they were expected.

  “Look,” Peter said, “Donella said tonight would be mostly for old friends catching up. Why not let them catch up, and they can begin whatever they want to do with us tomorrow morning.” He held up the bag.

  Katy couldn’t help the smile that rose to her lips. Finally, she nodded. “Alright.”

  Before she could blink, he had grabbed her hand and was dragging her back down the hall. She barely had time to even shut the door behind her.

  “Where are we going?” she whispered, but he held his finger up to his lips for silence. And though Katy had wanted to keep the rules, particularly in this majestic palace with its fine traditions and orderly mandates, she felt a familiar thrill rise in her chest as he dragged her down several sets of spiral staircases, around corners, and through empty hallways.

  A stern looking fairy passed them once, only his eyes moving when he saw them. Peter slowed them to a walk and stood erectly, pulling his hand free of her grasp. Katy followed suit, walking slowly as if they were just heading down to the feast…Hopefully that was the direction they were going. But as soon as he was gone, Peter grabbed her hand again and dashed around the next corner, and Katy couldn’t suppress a giggle. Soon they were both stifling laughter as they continued their escape, and Katy felt lighter than she had all day.

  Peter had never been a disobedient child when they were little, and he had always striven desperately to please his father. But he was strangely skilled at navigating around rules he found useless and coming out unscathed on the other side.

  Finally, after descending what felt like a million stairs, and getting lost enough times to realize they were definitely missing supper, they came to a small door that Peter had to duck under to get through. This portion of the palace seemed to have less glass than most of the others. As soon as they were through, Katy knew exactly why Peter had brought her here.

  A half-ring of weeping willows surrounded a little patch of grass, its edges coming right up to touch the palace walls. The tree branches and leaves were outlined with the orange light of sunset, and a little brook gurgled through the center of the clearing. Flowers of every shade and color dripped from the trees and covered large patches of grass. About a dozen boulders sat in a circle, each the perfect size to serve as a seat. But best of all, the thick, drooping branches hid the entire little paradise from the countless glass walls and windows above.

  “How did you find this?” Katy ran out to the center and turned slowly in a circle.

  Peter crossed his arms and smirked. “A wizard cannot reveal his secrets.”

  Katy stopped gawking just enough to give him a look.

  “Fine then. I asked Malachi where one might find enough privacy to blow my nose without everyone else seeing it.” He held up the lumpy bag and grinned. “Shall we eat?” He opened it and glanced inside, the grin sliding from his face. “I probably shouldn’t have run with this, though. Hopefully, you don’t mind corn on your cheese?”

  Laughing, Katy ran back and threw her arms around his waist. In a second, the bag was on the ground, and his muscled arms were wrapped around her in return. She breathed easily for the first time that day as she leaned into his strong chest and inhaled his familiar scent of pine and leather. He stroked her hair.

  “Thank you,” she whispered into his chest, “for today. I didn’t think they would ask me to do that.” She took a deep shuddery breath. “This morning feels like a lifetime ago.” Between their late arrival, the carriage ride to the palace, the mind-numbing session, Donella’s warnings, and the introduction to her room, it was hard to believe just that morning that Gertrude had fussed at her for walking out into the sun without her parasol.

  “They’re sure pretty high and mighty for leaving an entire isle to its doom,” Peter growled. The way his deep voice reverberated through his chest made her smile and snuggle closer. “Especially when everyone seems to be incapable of being seen with someone from the other race.”

  She sighed. “You didn’t even want to be here. And after today, I’m not sure I want to be here.”

  “You seemed excited when we landed.”

  “Oh, I was! I mean, I am.” She frowned slightly. “But that session…”

  “That wasn’t fair to you.” His arms tightened around her shoulders and back. “They shouldn’t have asked you to do that.” He paused. “I wish you’d given them what they asked for, though. Any damage you did would have served them right.”

  Katy shook her head. “There were too many. Someone would have gotten hurt.” She snuggled tighter, wishing she could stay there forever.

  “What else is wrong?”

  She sighed. Of course Peter would notice. He always noticed. “I don’t have a family.”

  He paused. And when he spoke, she could hear the confusion in his voice. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean I asked if I had any family left. But no one even knows who my family was.” Her voice trembled. “I don’t mean to sound ungrateful to your father. I just wondered if—”

  “I know what you mean. And I’m sorry.” His voice was gentle, and he ran a finger down the side of her cheek.

  Katy closed her eyes and simply focused on how his chest felt as it rose and fell steadily with each breath. Whatever she had expected from this journey, this beginning certainly wasn’t it.

  They stood that way for a long time. Finally, he leaned back and tipping her
chin up to look him in the eyes.

  “Do you want to go home?”

  She blinked up at him. “You mean…leave?”

  He nodded. “We don’t have to be here. No one is compelling us or threatening war.” He brushed her hair out of her eyes. “Just say the word, and we’ll go.”

  Katy’s heart swelled, and she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. Then she pulled him down until his lips met hers. Warmth rushed from his lips into her shoulders and arms and chest. She closed her eyes and basked in the gentleness that radiated from the man she loved more than life.

  “Even if it means not getting to kneel at the tree?” she breathed, remembering how his eyes had lit up during the chant with the swords.

  He pulled his lips from her mouth and rested them against forehead. “Woman,” he said, his mouth still touching her skin, “I will follow you wherever you go. All you have to say is the word.”

  Katy grinned and stretched up on the tips of her toes once more. Just as his lips brushed hers again, however, someone snorted.

  “Do you think this is a game?”

  Katy and Peter turned to see Prince Karel standing in the door. His thick, black eyebrows were pulled together, and his dark eyes glittered as he glared at them each in turn.

  “Your people are starving and you miss an important diplomatic dinner with the only people who can help you.” He snorted. “All so you can sneak off into the bushes like common rabble?”

  Katy’s face and shoulders burned as his words sank in, but Peter was not so easily intimidated.

  “It’s not your choice or business what my bride and I choose to do with our time,” he snapped, stepping in front of Katy.

  “But she’s not your bride,” Karel sneered. “Not yet. And whether you like it or not, we have rules here for a reason. And we meet together for a reason.”

  “You’re not my king.” Peter smirked.