The Witching Hour

As I arrived at the Curling Bramble, I found that the sitting arrangements for “biguns” were full. Not a big surprise as the place was quite popular when the festival was going. However, it wasn’t a big deal either as I approached the barrier meant to separate the sitting areas for big and small and stepped through. The moment I did, I immediately shrunk down to the size of a pixie.

For first timers, this would be an unknown, but for someone like me who’d been taking part in the festival since before it was something more than just a small celebration among Nettledale’s inhabitants, it was pretty obvious. After all, I made the spells that created these barriers. As I sat down, one of the waitresses flitted over to me.

“Oh. Ms. Morgana how delightful to see you.” The small red glowing pixie gave me a cheery wave. “The usual, I take it?” I gave her a single nod. “That would be great, Petal, thank you. Oh, and why don’t you also bring a cup of whatever Lilly’s favorite is? She should be joining me in a few minutes. After that, please let us have some privacy. We’ll be discussing presents.” Petal whipped out a small leaf and began etching something on it using magic. “One Rosehip Tea for you and a Chamomile Tea for Lilly, gotcha! Anything else?”

Something else? Sure why not? “Some of those delightful sunflower biscuits you serve here wouldn’t go awry to tie me over until the banquet tonight.” She scribbled it down. “That will be fourteen Plankets.” I nodded as I pulled out several small wooden tokens. “Let’s see fourteen… here, fourteen for the food and drink and another four as a tip.” Petal pulled the eighteen tokens into the pocket of her apron and with a quick grin flew off to fetch my order.

“That’s rather generous of you.” I turned towards the voice. “It’s not like those Plankets were doing me any good in the pouch otherwise, since I usually only spend them during the festival, anyway. Besides, the tip wasn’t that big.” I waved towards the stool across the table so that Lilly could take a seat.

She flew over and gently landed on the stool in a sitting position. A few moments later, Petal returned with our tea and a tray full of small biscuits. “Here’s your order. Now, just a moment while I enact a privacy spell.” A circle of magic runes appeared around the table. “There you are. Enjoy yourselves.” She flew out of the circle, which would deafen all sounds from without and within. And also warped vision into the circle, preventing anyone from reading our lips.

I looked at the circle. “Huh, Petal actually mastered it. I would congratulate her, but there’s no way she can hear me through this thing.” Lilly took a sip of her tea and picked up a biscuit to nibble on. “Well, you are a better teacher than you think. Besides, Petal has a penchant for magic. So even though the spell is outside your usual forte of hexes and curses, she learned it with a bit of practice on her own once you gave her those pointers last year.” That was indeed a pleasant surprise.

“Indeed, now for the main reason I asked you to come here, aside from doing Nettle a favor and get you out of the conversation with the Treants, I know how dreadful that can be.” I could see Lilly shudder. “It’s not that bad, really. But their voices are rather… grating.” An understatement and a half. The sound of splintering wood made into a voice wasn’t the nicest to listen to for extended periods. Add in that they were slow talkers, with a penchant for tangents, and things got even worse.

“Well, either way, I take it Nettle doesn’t suspect a thing?” Lilly shook her head. “She seemed a bit confused at first, but I don’t think she’s noticed, nor suspected anything, no.” Nice. “Great, then we’re good to go tonight, then?” She gave me a cheerful smile. “Indeed, we are. It’ll be so nice to see her expression.” We spent the next few minutes just relaxing and making small talk while we finished our tea and biscuits. “Well, Ms. Morgana, this has been nice, but I should probably get back to greeting the guests with Nettle. It won’t do to slack off and leave her high and dry. Have a fantastic day, and see you tonight!”

As she left the circle, I dismissed it with a hand wave and finished the last of my tea. When she noticed, Petal flitted over and took the cups and tray. “As always, Ms. Morgana, I hope it was to your liking.” I rose from my seat and stretched. “It was delicious, Petal. My compliments to your brewing and Bramble’s cooking, once again. And I look forward to my next visit. See you later.” I waved goodbye and turned to leave. Once I reached the size marker, I waited until there was enough space, stepped out, and immediately returned to my original size.

A sudden increase in weight on top of my hat alerted me to Winter’s arrival. “Having fun?” there was a bit of a shuffling above. “I’m enjoying myself a lot. So far, I have watched some of the festival games and the first half of an archery contest, which I will return to in a bit, once their break is over, so I thought I’d get some tasty food to tide me over to tonight’s festivities.” Ah, so that’s why she was back. “Here you go, Winter.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small tied-up bundle of Plankets I prepared in advance. “Enjoy yourself and don’t spend it all in one place.”

“I won’t Mother, there are too many tasty things here for that.” I could feel Winter shift on top of my hat as she reached out and took the bundle with her beak. A moment later, the weight on my hat disappeared, and I could see Winter soar away across the crowd.

The reminder of the morning and most of the afternoon passed in a relaxing fashion as I wandered the festival, enjoying the atmosphere and the sights. However, as the sun was setting, something collided with my back. “Hellooo Morganaaaaa!” I looked over my shoulder, and while I couldn’t get a good look at whomever was hugging me, I could guess well enough from the behavior and voice. “Hello to you too, Miva. How are things over at Moon Rest Coven?” I looked down at the Changeling as, today, she, hugged me. “Oh, we’re doing great. The rest of the coven is around here somewhere, too. We took the day off from coven business to attend, and boy am I glad we did, this place is spectacular.”

As with most Changelings, Miva’s skin and hair were completely white, and her eyes were jet black orbs with a white iris. A singular tusk was sticking out of her pale grey lower lip, suggesting a mixed parentage. Whether that was the case, was impossible to say, since Miva could shapeshift. What I knew was that she always grew that tusk upon taking a changeling form, regardless of gender.

I was honestly surprised Nettle let the coven in, given several of their members were human. Then again, they were also not the types to be interested in harming pixies, and they were friends of mine. Miva looked around. “Sorry kiddo, Midnight is wandering the festival on her own, so you will have to keep looking for your partner in crime.” Miva let out a deep sigh. “Aw, well, guess I gotta keep looking, then. See you later!” Miva ran off into the crowd.

A few minutes later, the ringing of horns could be heard across the clearing. It could only mean one thing, Erydhe and Ilmahir just arrived. I could already see people casting curious glances toward the northern edge of the clearing. If they were lucky, they would get away from that experience with a just a sense of disorientation.

I made my way towards the commotion. As an honorary member of their court, I would be expected to greet them, and making them angry wouldn’t really benefit anyone. It took about a minute to cross the grounds, and by that point I could see the two greeting the different dignitaries from around the region.

As I stepped out of the crowd, I could finally get a good look at the two. Erydhe was as always a cascade of different colors, as flowers of all shapes and sizes and colors grew from her beautiful long hair. A stark contrast to her snow-white skin and the pools of inky darkness that were her eyes. As the ruler of the local winter court, she was calm, cold, and calculating. If she smiled, it was always a sign that you should take great care, as she was getting annoyed, or worse, angry. Nothing good happened to those that stoked her ire. She was dressed in an elegant, form-hugging dress that seemed, at a glance, to be made from green leaves, likely chosen by her husband, as the two usually chose each other’s clothes when they were joining festivals and the like.

Now and then, the flowers that grew from her hair would wilt and drop a seed onto the ground. The seeds would be carried away by one of her innumerable fairy servants. Those fae seeds would bloom when grown in Fae courts or lands untouched by cultivation. Inside that bloom would be a newborn fairy or pixie, depending on where it was planted. If the seed was cultivated at a Fae court, it would bloom into a fairy. If it grew in the wild, it would become a pixie.

To her immediate left was her husband, Ilmahir, practically his wife’s polar opposite. Warm, kind, outspoken and unearthly charismatic. Anyone who didn’t know better would easily be charmed by him without him even doing anything. If I weren’t so keen on mythology and fantasy novels in my previous life, I too might have been eating out of the palm of his hand. As it was, I shrugged off the charm with relative ease. I could already see several people, both men and women, that showed the telltale sign of being charmed though, as they looked at him with a longing expression. Good thing it would wear off quickly.

His skin was tanned and his long flowing chestnut brown hair seemed to flow in an unnatural but warm breeze. His green eyes sparkled with merriment, and a bright smile was always present on his handsome face. He was dressed in elegant white finery for the occasion. On top of his head were two large antlers, which were growing the same flowers as those in Erydhe’s hair. An equal number of fairies were busy collecting the seeds from them as well.

“Oh, don’t mind us…” “… Just enjoy the festivities.” As always, they started and ended the sentences for each other. And since they never left each other’s side, at least not in public, having a conversation with one, caused a conversation with the other as well. As I stepped up, I saw Nettle and Lilly arrive as well, and the three of us approached the pair together.

Nettle and Lilly flew up to greet them properly first, since the two were the defacto leaders of the settlement. “Welcome to Nettledale, your Highnesses. I apologize for the lack of a proper welcome, but we were not informed about your intent to join in until after the festival was already under way.” The two gazed down at Nettle, Erydhe’s expression unreadable, and Ilmahir’s a friendly and jovial smile. “Oh, think…” “… Nothing of it. We didn’t…” "… Give proper warning. So it is…" “… Somewhat our own fault.” Nettle curtsied gently in response. “You are most kind, your Highnesses, please, have a splendid evening ahead.”

Both nettle and Lilly made themselves scarce after greeting the two, and the people who weren’t charmed, realizing who the pair were, gently, but deliberately led those who were charmed away, to not disturb the pair. The two approached me as well, and I too gave them a respectful curtsy. “Your Highnesses, I too hope you will enjoy your time here tonight.”

Erydhe stepped away from her husband’s side. “I, for one, will enjoy myself. I also heard a little rumor about a certain bottle of wine.” It was rare for the two to not speak as one, which meant this was a topic the two disagreed on… interesting. What was more surprising, however, was the expectant tone in her voice.

“I found another bottle of ARC 358, yes, It was under several bottles of lesser vintage and covered in so much dust the label was almost unreadable, and will be served later tonight for everyone interested.” A small twitch of Erydhe’s lips revealed a hint of annoyance. “I would be… most happy, if you would instead leave the bottle to us alone.” Her voice was sickly sweet, and would likely scare most people at this point. “I am afraid that’s not possible, your Highness, since I already promised Tobin that the bottle would be served to everyone tonight during the feast.”

Erydhe took a deep breath. “You promised, I see. If it wasn’t you, Lady Morgana, I would take that bottle by force.” I shrugged. “If it wasn’t me, it wouldn’t be ARC 358, but another less fabled vintage you’d be attempting to steal.” My calm reply gave Erydhe pause and caused Ilmahir to burst into laughter. “She has a point there, my beloved. Lady Morgana is quite protective of her brews and never reveals the recipe to anyone, not even her familiars. Trust me, I know.” He gave me a silent wink, clearly not approving of his wife’s attempted coercion.

That aside, however, that statement was a blatant lie, as I consulted Soot on how to go about brewing the ARC 358, as it was one of my earliest brews. I still to this day couldn’t tell what I did that made that vintage so much better than later ones, and neither could Soot.

Erydhe seemed to study her husband for a moment, before she shrugged. “I suppose it cannot be helped, but I expect the first glass, as a show of reverence, as befitting anyone from my court.” Ilmahir just shook his head in disapproval over her entitled behavior. It wasn’t the first time something like this happened. Erydhe herself knew about this character flaw of hers and usually took great pains to suppress it. The few times she couldn’t, it would be rather jarring if you didn’t know about it.

It would be best to concede the point here for everyone involved. “Of course, your Highness, the first glass of the ARC 358 tonight is yours, I promise.” That seemed to give her pause. “You didn’t need to go that far. But I appreciate the gesture. And I… I apologize for my earlier words.” She gave me a respectful nod, before she took her husband’s hand and the two walked away in silence. I watched the two go and finally allowed myself to shudder.

I might get away with giving the two some lip, but I might want to be careful with it for the reminder of the festival. With that in mind, I wandered off into the crowd again. It wasn’t long until the feast itself, but until then, I should find something to distract myself with.