“I don’t feel safe,” she whispered to Lief.
He chuckled. “Don’t worry. These humans can’t do anything to harm you.”
She wasn’t sure if she believed him. The man who had winked at her had arms the size of tree trunks, and his face was covered with scraggly hair. She shuddered. The faster they walked through the village, the better.
But that wasn’t Lief’s intention. He stopped by a peddler’s cart filled with vegetables. The man had a large gut and wore a tattered hat, but it wasn’t his physical shape that made her look twice at him. As they approached him, she paid close attention to his skin—his face, especially. There was no light. She blinked. She had heard humans didn’t possess the same kind of light as elves and sprites and fairies, but she didn’t know it would be so apparent. She looked around, focusing on the faces swirling around her. They seemed so dull. Was she missing something?
The peddler began to speak, but Serina couldn’t understand him. Her mind twisted for a moment, like a rag wringing out water. Then she recalled learning the humans spoke many different, simple languages, all of which she would be able to understand. As her mind translated what he said, she had no doubt she would be able to speak to him if needed. It was no wonder the language barrier had never been brought up by Lief or anyone else. There was no barrier.
“Ah, yes, I remember her,” the peddler said in response to Lief’s inquiries when she turned her attention back to the cart. “She burned up Faireth’s garden five days ago when Faireth tried to stop her. The growers haven’t been able to restore anything yet, but they keep trying. The fire was too intense.”
“Thank you for your information,” Lief said with a gentle bow of his head. “Might I speak with this Faireth?”
The peddler slid his attention to Serina, studying her carefully before he answered. He seemed very interested in her eyes, and she let him look because she wanted to hear more.
“Faireth lives on the outskirts of town.” He pointed west, frowning as he looked her and Lief over again. “I shouldn’t be telling you any of this—you are strangers. This fire-woman was a stranger too.”
Serina leaned forward and clutched the edge of the cart. Her knuckles brushed against crisp lettuce leaves. “She’s my sister,” she said, trying to hide the fear in her voice. “I need to find her so I can protect her. She is a danger to herself and others, and only I can stop her.” She winced at how terrible she made Aeline sound.
The peddler folded his arms and leaned across his cart so his nose was close to hers. She smelled something tart on his breath, like elderberries. At least it wasn’t that terrible meat smell. “Then tell me what you are,” he said with a hiss in his voice. “We are not blind, you know. Your sister is different, as are you and your friend. She came with soft-spoken words, her eyes filled with fire. We thought she was a high grower, like Genevieve, but when we tried to tell the growers about her, she brought fire to destroy the forest and some of our gardens. Then she left in a whirlwind of flames. If you plan on doing any such thing, I promise you we will not stand back and watch. We will kill you first... somehow.”
Serina looked down at the lettuce. It was bright green and felt cool against her skin. How many of these humans’ crops had Aeline destroyed? It seemed so unlike her, but as Serina thought back on her life with Aeline, she remembered the darkness in her eyes. It had always been there. It had misguided her.
“I can assure you, kind sir,” Lief said as he placed a hand gently on Serina’s arm, “we have no intention of harming you or anything that belongs to you. We want to help.”
The peddler looked into Serina’s eyes once again, and when she looked deeply into his, her body stiffened as something snapped into place between them. She knew he believed Lief’s words. It was as if a portion of his thoughts were visible to her, like a hazy aura drifting around him, thick with words and emotions. She shook her head in disbelief and let go of the cart. If this was anything like what Verath could do, it was intoxicating... and frightening. She didn’t want to know his thoughts. She stumbled away from Lief, who turned to look at her. Confusion filled his face.
“Serina, are you all right?”
“I-I’m...” She gained control of her senses and concentrated enough to make the peddler’s aura disappear. He smiled and shrugged, completely unaware that she had seen into his mind.
“You two aren’t like her at all... with that anger about her. I believe you.” He pointed west again. “Faireth is a retired grower. She rarely comes into town, so you should find her home. She talked the most with your sister,” he said to Serina. “She might be able to give you more information.”
Faireth’s cottage was easy to find. From where she stood, Serina could see no sign of anything having been burned. Vines and flowers covered the outer walls, even creeping over some of the windows.
“What a charming place,” Serina said, smiling. “It reminds me of my mother—so much color and growth.” Instead of her heart sinking at the thought of her mother, it beat with a surge of consolation.
“I sense she is a kind woman,” Lief said, and Serina stared at him.
“How can you sense that?”
“Just as you sensed the peddler’s mind.”
She started. “How did you—”
“Don’t worry. You’ll learn to master such a skill with the humans. Most of their minds are weak, and that enables you to penetrate them. You won’t be able to sense Faireth, though. She’s a fairy, and that will take more practice.”
“What!”
Just then, an aged, beautiful woman opened the door and stepped into the sunlight. She was thin and elegant, like a lily. Her golden hair was almost white, similar to Verath’s and the sprites’, falling in loose curls down her back. Her face, creased with wrinkles, was not as elegant, but she was still beautiful, with youthful eyes that reminded Serina of frost.
“Welcome,” she said in a willowy voice. “You are here to ask about Aeline.”
“Correct,” Lief answered, dipping his head in a polite bow. “May we speak with you inside?”
“Of course.” She lifted her arm to guide them inside. “Your sprites are also welcome,” she said, glancing at a nearby tree branch where the sprites had landed in their bird forms. They beat their wings and flew into the cottage behind Lief and Serina. “All of you may stay as long as you like.”
Once inside, Serina marveled at the strange beauty surrounding them. There was glass everywhere. Prisms hanging in the windows refracted the sunlight shining through. Rainbows glistened on every surface, spread across the rich rugs and polished wood in the room. Not only were there prisms, but other glass collected and gave off light as well. There were large vases and small trinkets, smooth and shiny and radiant. Jars and glasses. Tiny boxes and crystal animals.
“This is incredible,” Orla, now in her sprite form, exclaimed as she flew to a glass turned upside down on a small table. Sitting lightly on the edge, she watched the other two sprites sit on similar objects.
“You must love light,” Innocence said in a serious voice.
Faireth stood in the middle of the room and clasped her hands. “Yes,” she answered with a quiet reverence. “I collect glass to remind me of my home, but the light I create here is nothing compared to the brilliance in Lisadar. It is closest right before the sun sets in the winter. The sun shines through that window and catches everything.” She pointed to a window on the west side of the room.
“I’m sorry you miss it,” Serina said, finally realizing how much a fairy might long for home once they had decided to come to the human realm—or were thrown here as punishment. She looked up at Faireth, afraid to ask the question.
As if reading her mind, Faireth turned to her and said, “I chose to come.”
Serina squinted. She had felt Verath’s presence in her mind when he had entered her thoughts, but so far she did not feel violated as she had felt then, and she knew the peddler had not felt her in his head, either. She wanted to believ
e Faireth was not entering her thoughts, but how could she be certain?
Noticing that Faireth was smiling at her, she took a step backward.
“I am not seeing your mind, dear child.” She reached out a delicate hand in a gesture of peace. “It is simply that I have met many fairies here in the human realm who have been unaware of my story. It is common courtesy for me to tell you that I willingly came here to the human realm. If I had been sent here by the elders, stripped of my magic as punishment, I would not be living so pleasantly. I still have control over my element— earth—but I don’t use it much anymore. I am content to live out the rest of my life here, just as many other fairies have done before me.”
Serina was tempted to ask why, but kept her mouth closed. She knew why. It had to do with darkness and love and balance. It had to do with the humans and their frailty, but she also knew it wasn’t a common thing for someone like herself, so young, to even begin to understand such a backward concept.
Faireth smiled once again. “I will never look into your mind unless it is a mutual decision. Agreed?”
Serina nodded.
“That’s something you would have learned much later in your training,” Lief said, standing next to her.
She turned to him, her shoulders tensing. “Which makes me wonder,” she said in a low voice as her fingernails curled into her palms, “how you know things like that when we are the same age. As far as I know, male fairies are trained at the same rate as females. How much more do you know? What aren’t you telling me?”
Lief’s expression twisted into something Serina could only describe as sadness. His blue eyes blinked three times before he opened his mouth to answer, but Faireth stepped between them before any words came out.
“You two must be very tired,” she said, wrapping an arm around each of them. “Let’s go to the kitchen. I have lemonade—a drink you probably haven’t tasted, Serina. It’s lovely.”
Faireth did everything she could to make Serina feel comfortable. She didn’t overlook Lief or the sprites, either. Days passed. The small group ate tarts and breads and roasted vegetables—the last picked from Faireth’s garden before Aeline had set it on fire. The sprites left tiny footprints in the flour from Faireth’s baking, their bubbly giggles tinkling through the cottage. Serina’s stomach was content, but she was not. She fidgeted with her hands and kept her boots tightly laced at all times. She was itching to leave and find Aeline, but Lief seemed in no hurry, and Faireth wasn’t helping.
“I think it’s time you bathed,” she said to Serina the third evening as they sat before a small fire. “Dirt gathers more quickly here than it does in Lisadar.”
Lief looked up from his plate of food. He was always eating here, it seemed. His stomach seemed endless, and it upset Serina to think they were emptying Faireth’s limited food supply. She wondered if it was possible for him to feed from the earth and refill the pantry.
“Don’t worry about gathering water with your magic to fill your bath,” Faireth said to Serina with a wave of her hand as she stood up from her chair. “I’ll go fetch it myself from the well.”
“No, I will do that,” Lief answered quickly, and stood fast enough to cross the room and gently pushed Faireth back down. He glanced at Serina and smiled. “You can heat the water, right?”
“Yes,” she said with a sigh. “Will we be leaving in the morning?”
“If you like,” he said, and walked out of the room.
“I will miss it here,” Orla said. She and her companions sat on the fireplace mantel amid a menagerie of glass trinkets, their thin legs dangling in the air.
Serina sighed. “Of course we’ll miss it here. It’s comfortable here. You’re the essence of loveliness, Faireth. You remind me of Lisadar in so many ways, but I must find my sister. Is there nothing more you can tell me about her?”
Faireth leaned back in her chair. Her gown was a misty blue, but it seemed earthy and threadbare. She was always so calm and light, like one of her rainbows on the wall. It was no wonder she and Lief had stayed here so long, Serina realized— so they could soak her in, like a balm on an unseen wound. Was this how the humans felt around fairies? Serina had heard stories of fairies attaching themselves to certain humans as a sort of caregiver, bestowing ethereal gifts, which must have seemed like pure magic to a human. It was magic, of course, but to fairies magic always made perfect, logical sense. To a human, she imagined, such powers were unexplainable.
“I can share more with you now,” Faireth said, closing her eyes. “Your sister is a brilliant point of light in the darkness. She is confused and hurt. I only wanted to help her, but her anger is too strong for her to control in this realm. She is unprepared for the intensity of this world, as are you, Serina.” She opened her eyes.
Serina sensed a sort of longing drifting from Faireth. “You want to enter my mind, don’t you?” she asked.
Faireth nodded. “It will help you understand. If we maintain eye contact, it will be easier.”
Serina looked away and cleared her throat. “I don’t know how I feel about this. Until recently, I didn’t know fairies could read minds. It’s all so new to me.”
“I understand, but if at any time you feel uncomfortable, just say so and we’ll stop.”
Serina nodded. She was still nervous, but Faireth seemed so kind that she doubted any harm would come to her as it had with Verath. “All right,” she whispered, and locked her eyes with Faireth’s until a bright light seemed to surround them. Somewhere in the background a door opened and closed. It was Lief bringing in the water, but Serina ignored his presence, concentrating on making her way into Faireth’s mind while Faireth was entering hers. There was no way she was going to sit back and endure the one-sided mind reading again. She wanted to see if she could do it like she had done to the human without even trying. Surely, it couldn’t be that difficult.
I will let you in, Faireth said in Serina’s mind. Relax, child. You are too young to have received training, I know, but much of it should be second nature once you begin. I’ll try to keep it simple.
A click sounded in Serina’s mind. The light around her and Faireth intensified, and a presence entered her thoughts—someone kind and sweet and wise. It was Faireth, of course. Her aura was different than the peddler’s, and instead of one aura, there were two intertwined. Faireth’s was a pale yellow, while Serina’s was red, like her hair. They swirled together, a mixture of thoughts and emotions and images that Serina couldn’t keep straight at first.
Relax, Faireth repeated.
“I’m trying.” Her words came out of her mouth, and Faireth laughed aloud.
No need for your voice. When you’re grounded, I’ll share what I know about your sister.
Could I see it without you wanting me to see it? she asked through her thoughts. She wondered how difficult it would be to dig through Faireth’s mind—not that she would do such a thing without permission. Not like Verath had done.
No, I am much too strong for you, but I hope you don’t mind if I view this memory of yours—of Verath... punishing you. It’s very intense. I assume you want me to see it.
Tears welled behind her eyes. Yes, you may view it. I’d like to know what you think—there is so much about it I don’t understand. A few moments passed as her memory of the punishment replayed in her mind. It was different than simply remembering it, stronger, as if Faireth was pulling it apart a piece at a time. A surge of sadness filled Serina, not her own.
Then the two auras stopped spinning.
Faireth’s aura trembled as if she was taking a deep breath. Dear child, she said in Serina’s mind, I’m so sorry Verath frightened you the way he did. I feel your terror and frustration, but you must understand one thing. He did not wish to harm you, or even frighten you. The nature of your situation and your personality required such a punishment to make you realize that you had to tell him about your sister. She is a real danger to the human realm, and consequently to the fairy realm. The choices she mak
es here may have disastrous consequences beyond your comprehension.
Serina fought a surge of anger. Verath had enjoyed punishing her. If he had only explained to her why it was so important to know Aeline’s secret, she might have given it to him without coercion. Wouldn’t she?
Do you really believe that? Faireth asked.
She hung her head. No.
Your promise to Aeline was strong. If she discovers you have broken it, she will find it hard to bear.
She’ll never forgive me, Serina thought, and squeezed the edges of her chair. But I must face her.
Yes, you must. Perhaps this will help.
Faireth’s aura grew stronger as it opened up before Serina, and like stepping into a crowded room, she found herself surrounded by Faireth’s thoughts and emotions. She almost couldn’t breathe. Gasping, she clutched her chest and tried to lean forward, but Faireth’s eye contact kept her upright. The thoughts slowed. Finally, solid images made their way to the forefront. Glass in the cottage. Morning light and birdsong. A garden filled with flowers and fruit and butterflies. Then there was Aeline standing in front of her, so real Serina could almost touch her face and feel her rich brown hair. But this was only a memory, and Aeline was looking at Faireth, not Serina.
“Time is slower here,” Aeline said to Faireth as she began pacing back and forth in the beautiful garden. Her face was tight and angry, her eyebrows knit into a sharp V. “I’ve spent so much time with him that I will not give him up now. My mother wanted to destroy us.”
“She stopped here on her way to find you,” Faireth said. “She was guided to her own kind, and although I didn’t know about you then, I sheltered her for awhile. I never knew her in Lisadar, but it was lovely to meet her in this realm. She only wanted to help you. She loves you more than life itself.”
Bonded: Three Fairy Tales, One Bond Page 32
