A Fey Harvest

by Sumida, Amy

  “Is this about the size of one of them, do you think?” I waved my hand over the depression in the quartz.

  He looked startled by the question, then leaned over to look closely at the indentation. “No,” he said with surprise, “that's much too small to have been a brownie. Whatever was thrown into the quartz, it wasn't my missing fey.”

  “Okay, well here's the next obvious question,” I looked up at him and then gave a glance at the other royalty. “What would fit in there?”

  They all peered at the hole, looked at each other, and gave it some serious thought.

  “Too big for pixies,” Arach started.

  “Too small for a selkie,” King Guirmean added.

  “Possibly a fachan could fit,” Queen Breana looked to her husband, who nodded in agreement.

  “Okay, a fachan,” I looked at Arach. “I'm not familiar with those.”

  “They are about that big,” Arach pointed to the hole which was a bout two feet long and one foot across. “They have one leg, one arm, one toe, one finger, and one eye. Their body is covered in hair and feathers, including a mane of feathers that will ruffle up before they attack.”

  “They can attack with only one leg and one arm?” I blinked wide eyes at him.

  “They defend themselves quite well, actually,” King Fionn answered. “When you are so limited, you do what you must to survive. They also carry a big club.”

  “Hop softly and carry a big stick,” I nodded and huffed a laugh.

  “They are spiteful creatures,” Queen Breana said softly. “The only members of the House of Air unable to fly, a punishment leveled upon them years ago for some horror one of their ancestors did.”

  “Could they be angry enough to murder other fey?” I asked.

  “Are you sure they're dead?” Queen Aalish asked with large, sad eyes.

  “I'm sorry,” I said gently, “but Faerie has told me she felt them die.”

  “Oh,” she looked away as her husband put his arm around her.

  “Fachan are vicious enough to do this,” Breana got back to my question. “Though I can't imagine why they'd take out their anger on brownies.”

  “Are there any other fey around this size?” I pushed forward.

  “A trow maybe,” King Cahal stared at the hole as he continued to comfort his wife. “Or a fir darrig, and both are angry fellows usually. Boggarts wouldn't fit, they're the size of brownies but I'd sooner expect this kind of treachery from a boggart than any of the others.”

  “Cause they're brownies gone bad,” someone in the non-royal part of the crowd murmured but they quieted when King Cahal looked up angrily.

  “Okay,” I nodded, “that's a good start. Anyone else?”

  “I can't think of any water fey who would fit into that hole and be able to be this far from our sea for any length of time,” King Guirmean added. “I'm sorry.”

  “No, that's good,” I looked thoughtfully at the blood spotting the crystal, “we can rule out the water fey then. I need a handkerchief please.”

  Arach handed me one and I used it to wipe up a sample of the blood. I sniffed it but it was unfamiliar, I'd never smelled it before. I held it out to Arach.

  “Could you determine which type of fey this blood belongs to?” I asked him.

  “Not with blood, no,” he took the handkerchief and sniffed anyway. “Blood is too specific, I would only recognize it if I'd scented the blood before. I could tell you by scent of the body, which type of fey it was but not with blood. I'd have to taste it to discover more about the fey and I'm loathe to do that after what we've just witnessed here. There could be dark magic left in it.”

  “And there's no other scent here,” I said grimly. “It's as if it's been taken along with the fey.”

  “Quartz stores magic,” Queen Aalish lifted her head again. “I believe that's why the dark magic was still within it. I think the quartz pulled it down, trying to absorb it. It's why this place is so sacred to us earth fey, inside this crystal lies millenniums of fey magic. To stand here is to become a part of that magic, to feel connected with it, and now the heart of my kingdom has been wounded and the magic feels wrong.”

  “Wounds heal, my love,” King Cahal stroked his Queen's hair as she leaned into him once more. “The quartz will repair herself.”

  “The quartz stores magic,” I murmured, my brain trying to work something through. “Could that magic be tapped into? Could the brownies have called upon it to defend them only to have their opponents magic prove stronger?”

  “Stronger than the quartz?” King Cian inhaled sharply. “The brownies could have called on the magic, they are earth fey and so are already connected to it, but it would be up to the quartz itself to decide whether to give of its power.”

  “Let's say that the quartz decided to help the brownies,” I urged, “what would it take to defeat the stone, to crack it like this?”

  “Something beyond the capabilities of any fey I know of,” King Cian said firmly before dropping his voice to a whisper, “even I.”

  “What if multiple fey pooled their magic together?” I stood up finally.

  “No, not possible,” the High King's words were certain but his tone wasn't.

  “Okay,” I shot Arach a look, deciding to let it slide. No sense in pushing someone to a conclusion that may be wrong in the first place. “So we have a hole the size of either a fachan, a trow, or a fir darrig. We have the blood of an unknown fey but most likely the assailant, and we have witnessed a strange magic depart the scene of the crime. This has been more helpful than I was expecting.”

  “You think this is helpful?” High Queen Meara raised a ruby red eyebrow.

  “Sure,” I shrugged. “All we have to do is get a blood sample from every fachan, trow, and fir darrig in Faerie and compare them to the one we have here,” I gestured to the hanky Arach still held.

  “That's not as simple as you make it sound,” Arach rolled his eyes.

  “Okay,” I shrugged. “I guess you could just see if any of those three types of fey are missing too. We can use the blood to verify the culprit once we narrow it down.”

  “Now that,” King Cian said with a grin, “is a much better plan.

  Chapter Six

  The Earth royalty politely invited us to return with them to Castle Crith Fuinn for dinner. Everyone accepted the offer and we all headed back the way we'd come, towards the castle entrance.

  Right before we reached the Guardian trees, we turned left down a side path and followed the Earth royalty's carriage up to a mountain into which a pair of massive doors were set. We were let off in front of the doors and then our horses were led to the side, where the coaches were lined up. The mountain soared above us, covered in thick foliage which twitched with animal life. The entrance was set back into it, vines and ferns hanging down around the edges.

  I stared up the immense length of the doors, admiring the detailed carvings of what I assumed were earth fey frolicking amid unusual plant life. Each door appeared to have been made from a single piece of wood, a feat only possible in Faerie where the trees were large enough to accommodate. The wood shone like glass around the carvings, smooth all the way to the edge, where it met the mountain. There were no visible hinges and I had no idea how they were attached or how we'd get them open.

  Giant fey with dark skin came forward out of the shadows of the mountain with an ambling gait. They had heavily muscled bodies and wide faces with large tusks curving out of their mouths. Their clothes looked plain but well made, their boots big enough to squish a phooka. They opened the heavy doors with ease but they squinted and hid from the sunlight as they did so. When the doors were fully open, they stood aside and the Earth royalty led the way into the castle. Arach took my arm as we followed them in, and our red caps tromped in behind us.

  We walked down a dark tunnel, roughly carved from the mountain and very similar to the cave entrances at Castle Aithinne. There were fey orbs every few feet but it still wasn't enough to relieve
the gloom and my eyes couldn't help but be drawn to the shadows warily. The floor had a slight angle to it and I got the impression we were headed further underground. Side tunnels branched off from the main one and the huge doormen headed down one of them while we continued on.

  “What type of fey were those?” I whispered to Arach.

  “Trolls, they prefer the dark so they probably won't be joining the feast. Plus they like to eat children.”

  “What?”

  “I'm joking,” he grinned. “Relax, Vervain.”

  “It looks pretty dark to me.”

  “We're not there yet,” he rubbed my hand comfortingly.

  I did notice the light begin to brighten the further we went in, until finally the tunnel opened up to a large dining hall. It was as bright as day in the room, due in part to the mass amount of fey orbs hovering around the high ceiling but also there were a large amount of flowering plants, which encrusted both walls and ceiling, that were glowing brightly. They didn't have much of a scent, which I guess was a good thing for a dining chamber, but they did seem to be releasing a fair amount of fresh air, keeping the underground room from feeling stuffy.

  The plants adorning the ceiling hung at different levels, some growing long enough to almost brush the top of Arach's head. It gave the room an overgrown look but also a feminine one, as most of the plants were flowering. I craned my neck, looking up to get the full effect of all those blossoms dangling over me. It was beautiful.

  The floor was polished citrine, adding a warmth to the white glow of the flowers, and making the place seem cozier. The tables were carved rock, so heavy looking that I was certain they had never been moved, but the seats were more lightweight. They were an assortment of several styles but all were plush and upholstered in green fabric. The tables were set in a row going across the room like a cafeteria, with one table set above the rest on a dais, facing out.

  Arach led me to the head table, where the rest of the royalty were sitting. The Earth royals sat in the center, the High King and Queen sitting to the right and left of them, Queens on one side, Kings on the other. Arach and I sat together a little down from the Queens. King Guirmean sat next to Arach on the end and the Air royals sat on the other side of the table with the Kings.

  There were openings on either side of the hall, which I'm sure were corridors leading to the rest of the castle, but there were also openings high up on the walls which I'd occasionally see a fey peep out of before either climbing down a vine into the hall or just climbing the wall over to another hole and disappearing back inside.

  “This is very pretty,” I watched a little pixie woman climb down one of the hanging vines, wave merrily to me(to which I waved back) and then climb back up the vine with a big grin. “What was that about?”

  “The pixies of all elements talk with one another,” Arach smiled up at the departing pixie. “Our Fire pixies must have told the Earth about you, about how you treat them with respect.”

  “Huh,” I searched the ceiling and saw other pixies hiding amongst the foliage, several waved when I caught their eye. I waved back with a big smile. “Cool.”

  “I don't know how cool Queen Aalish thinks it is,” Arach nodded over to the Earth Queen, who was staring at the pixies with a little irritated frown.

  “They're not hurting anyone,” I sat back as something drifted down from the ceiling to fall into my lap. “What's this then?”

  I heard a high-pitched giggling coming from above me and looked up to see a bunch of pixies staring down at me, evidently waiting to see my reaction. I picked up the gift, it was a small box made out of some large nut, attached to a piece of white fabric that had served as a sort of parachute. I opened the box and inhaled sharply.

  Nestled in a bit of moss was a pair of earrings. I picked one up by its gold hook, and held it before me. Dangling off the hook was a fire opal carved into the shape of a flame. It was about two inches long and had a sort of tear drop shape, wider and fuller at the bottom and then tapering up to several tendrils at the top. It glowed and sparked, brilliant reds and golds flashing from inside the stone.

  “It's gorgeous,” I whispered.

  “Lovely,” Queen Meara, beside me, leaned over and admired it before looking up at the pixies speculatively. “I never knew they had such talent.”

  “They probably stole it,” Queen Aalish frowned over at the gift and I heard an angry twittering above me.

  “I'm a guest here,” I said slowly as I glanced at the Earth Queen, “and these are your fey, so I'll not argue with your statement but I will say that if these pixies are anything like my own, they are not thieves, having more honor in them than you'd think such small bodies could contain.”

  The twittering around the ceiling stopped as soon as I had started speaking and when I looked up, I saw them all staring intently at me. I gave them a smile and a wink, then put the earring very deliberately into my ear.

  “Thank you,” I called up to them as I put the second one on, “for the beautiful gift. You are welcome in the Kingdom of Fire.”

  A hush fell over the assemblage and I heard Arach give a little chuckle. The fey stared first at me and then at the Earth royals, waiting for some kind of reaction. I had the distinct impression that I'd done something highly unusual. And maybe bad.

  “You give an invitation to pixies before you grant one to the ruling sidhe of Earth?” Queen Aalish shot at me.

  “Aalish,” her King put a hand on her arm but she shook it off.

  “You dare to insult the House of Earth while you accept our hospitality?” Aalish glared over at me.

  “I meant no offense,” I looked over to Arach but he just shrugged, seeming to enjoy himself. I don't think he cared if I started a war with Earth or not. In fact, he may actually enjoy it. “I was only trying to show appreciation for the gift.”

  “They are pixies, they don't deserve your appreciation!” Her delicate beauty shifted with her anger, her yellow skin starting to turn the color of pus, her eyes like poison.

  “Oh? And why is that?” I stayed calm in the face of her hysterics, which seemed to anger her more. Little did she know that beneath the calm, I was seething over what I viewed as racism. If there was one thing I hated, it was a racist. “You realize I'm new to Faerie, why don't you explain it to me?”

  “Because they have so little magic,” she waved a hand toward the ceiling, where more pixies seemed to have manifested. “They are nothing, more pest than populace.”

  “Pests? Huh,” I took a deep breath so I wouldn't jump across the table and throttle the Queen. “If you care so little for them,” I glanced at Arach and he lifted a brow at me, then nodded, obviously wondering where I was going with this but seeming to support me either way. “Then you wouldn't mind if they came home with us.”

  Gasps filled the room and when I looked over at my King, he was barely concealing his mirth.

  “Is that okay with you?” I whispered to him.

  “Well since you just declared it,” he let out a quick bark of laughter, “I guess it's okay.”

  “Are you out of your mind?” The Earth Queen stood and glared at me, while her husband just sat gaping. “You can't steal my fey.”

  “You just said they're pests and where I come from, pests are things you get rid of,” I argued. “If they're nothing more than a nuisance to you, I want them. I think the pixies at Castle Aithinne would enjoy having their cousins with them, don't you, Arach?”

  “I'm sure they would,” he coughed to hide his laughter.

  “Cahal,” Aalish looked down at her husband, “do something.”

  “What would you have me do?” He looked at her like she was the insane one. “You just proclaimed that the pixies are unwanted. Queen Vervain is within her rights to claim them. I cannot undo what you've done.”

  “High King,” Aalish ignored Cahal and looked over to Cian. “Tell her she can't take my fey. It must be against our laws?”

  “I'm sorry, Queen Aalish,” King Cian look
ed like he wasn't really sure what was going on. “It's assumed that each fey will stay with the kingdom of their element but it's not required of them by fey law. They're not prisoners, no matter what level of magic they hold. If they choose to leave with the Fire royals, I'm afraid there's nothing you can do about it.”

  A hush rolled over the fey, like the tide coming in, deceptively peaceful but hiding an undercurrent of violence. I could see our red caps reaching for their weapons with a hopeful air about them, as tall, thin men seemed to step out of the walls, hair like twigs trailing behind them and root-like legs bringing them forward in a sort of slither. Small, ugly creatures jumped from the shoulders of the tree-men and as they jumped they seemed to swell, becoming huge even uglier creatures with misshapen faces and knobby bodies that looked like they didn't know whether they wanted to be fat or skinny. They eyed the red caps with fierce, gleeful stares, and the red caps in turn looked even more excited at their appearance.

  “What the hell are those things?” I hissed at Arach.

  “The things with roots or the things with fat knees?”

  “Fat knees?” I raised a brow at him, then looked back at the fey and nodded, yeah they had fat knees. “Yeah okay, start with the knees.”

  “Spriggans,” he said in a hushed tone, his eyes focused on them with a dangerous glint in their depths. “Those things are as ugly inside as out, don't try to do your they only need some love and understanding routine with them. They'll rob you blind and then take your heart for good measure... and not in a romantic way. The others are dryads, much less evil but very loyal to their Queen. Speaking of which,” Arach cast a glance down the table.

  Queen Aalish looked like she was about to explode, which would spray all kinds of disgusting fluids all over the dinner table, while simultaneously starting an epic battle.

  “Queen Aalish,” I decided for one more try at diplomacy, though it obviously wasn't my strong suit. “You've had a horrible day, lost four fey, and had your kingdom injured. This is not the time to war with each other. If you want to prevent the loss of even more fey, I suggest you change your attitude toward them.”