Chapter 2
“Purpose, Rest and Play”
Dead little nymphs were laid out in rows. Lord Shay gestured, “Milady, these thirty-nine were slain by the greater nymph and these thirteen by the lesser.”
Lady Maudra wore a black, sleeveless robe and stood a full head-and-shoulders taller than her naked, circumcised, lesser fay disciple, the wizard Lord Shay. She told him, “The book was taken, thus, these guards perished for nought.”
“Milady, I have sent scouts to find the thieves.”
Maudra laughed. “Thieves? It is their book. Have you sent word to the Lady of Assassins?”
“Yes, milady. I apologized and assured her that the loss was my failure alone, for I am charged to command your guard.”
Maudra snuggled the little he-sprite. She whispered into his pointed, elfin ear, “Your loyalty becomes you but not the blame. You shall not bear the burden of failure.” She told him aloud, “It is I who command you, thus the guard. The failure is mine alone.”
“But, milady...”
“Shay, do you doubt me?”
The little fellow bowed, “No, milady.”
The towering nymph gestured at the rows of littler nymph bodies, “Rid my estate of these lifeless things.”
“Yes, milady.”
A fay with ashen skin and long, straight, lustrous black hair sat cross-legged, his eyes closed and his fingers locked. He was Lord Vellizar the Gray Elf, Minister of the Eye and Ear. He felt a warm, soft yet strong presence enter his quiet room. “Aylith.”
“Milord.”
Vellizar opened his pale blue eyes and beheld Dame Aylith the High Elf kneeling and bowing before him. He invited her, “Sit with me.” The nymph did so. He told her, “Your success was not without bloodshed.”
“No, milord.”
“Sad for you that your hands are the death of your own kind. It is a pity that wisdom gives you little comfort.”
“Milord, they were lesser fays merely obeying the command of their greater.”
“Yes. If a greater fay means harm, then so too shall the little ones who follow her.” Lord Vellizar leaned forward and took Aylith’s hands. “Peace be with you.”
“Thank you, milord.”
The he-fay caressed the nymph’s hands. He told her, “Though you may never know the secrets the book holds, I wish you to know that you have denied the enemy a great prize.”
“Milord, Twaylee was with me. I would surely have failed without her.”
Vellizar chuckled. “Though willful and reckless, she has her ways.”
“She did well, milord!”
“Of that, I have no doubt. Save that her pride would swell, I would tell her so.”
“Milord, shall I commend her for you?”
“Yes.”
“As you wish, milord.”
Vellizar laughed. “Sweetness born of love is joyous to behold. Your warmth, Dame Aylith, is your virtue. Fight for it. Go now, and return to me nine days hence.”
Aylith stood and bowed, “Milord.”
“Aylith.” The nymph waited. “Though you shed the blood of elves, know that it is to save the lives of we who mean no harm. Dame Aylith, protector of all, I thank you. Peace be with you.”
“Bless you, milord.” With that, Dame Aylith took her leave.
Relzu was a gray sprite, a wizard, an analyst and a scribe for the Eye and Ear. He was reading, noting and comparing when... he jolted from being tickled! Twaylee was behind him, giggling. She teased, “You never hear me.”
“I am not a spy. I need not be so wary as you.”
“Yes, you should, or else a Dark Assassin may intrude and kill you.”
“No Dark Assassin has ever violated this fortress.”
“Not yet.”
“Twaylee!” the little high elfin nymph, Neena, greeted.
Relzu reached out and snatched Twaylee... but she squirmed loose! She waved her finger, shook her head and told him, “Only if I let you.”
“Let me and perhaps you shall be a mother.”
Twaylee gasped.
“Relzu!” Neena scolded. “Would you ever say such a thing before Lady Zandora?”
“Lady Zandora is not with us.”
“That is not cause to snatch Twaylee from me!”
The gray elf hugged the two blond nymphs together and told them, “I would rather have both of you.”
“What if we do not want you?”
The he-fay grinned, “Then have each other to my delight.” Neena playfully slapped him. She and Twaylee kissed each other and giggled.
The three heard someone approaching! It was the tall, gray nymph Lady Zandora. She looked over Relzu’s shoulder and commented, “It appears gnomish.”
“No, milady,” Relzu dared disagree. “Gnomish riddles disguise their true meaning, making the truth untrue. The meaning here is hidden and rife with triplicity. I believe it is elfish, pretending to be gnomish.”
“Perhaps,” Lady Zandora considered, “but gnomes are wily little rascals, fond of tricks and games. It would not be beyond them to disguise their own voice as an elfin voice pretending to be gnomish. Be mindful of this.”
“Yes, milady.”
“Behold the style,” the greater fay pointed out. “The technique is elfin but the style is gnomish. It seems to be laughing at whoever is hapless enough to read it. It feels gnomish. Their race is master of technique, but technique does not inspire feeling. I believe it is gnomish.”
“Milady, perhaps you are right.”
“No,” Lady Zandora rubbed Relzu’s back. “My dear, if you must prove me right, then you are of no use to me. Discover what is there. Do not decide it beforehand.”
“Yes, milady.”
Zandora asked little Neena, “Have you sent my letter?”
“Yes, milady.”
When Lady Zandora finally left them, Relzu asked, “Did Twaylee leave?”
Neena looked about. Surprised, she told him, “I did notice, but she did!”
Twaylee went home to get her basket then went to the marketplace for food. “You must be quite fond of grapes,” a he-sprite grocer noticed.
“Yes,” Twaylee answered; “especially the green ones.”
“I prefer red, myself.”
Twaylee shrugged. She was about to leave when she remembered that Neena preferred red grapes. She told the grocer, “I will need some of your favorite.”
The grocer chuckled, “For a friend?”
Twaylee nodded. “I eat her food so it is only fair that I bring her some.”
“Twaylee!” someone hailed her.
“Lillay! Jenna!” The three nymphs rushed together and hugged and kissed.
Jenna wondered, “Where have you been?!”
“Travelling.”
“Yes, but where?”
“Wherever Aylith takes me.”
Lillay asked, “Anywhere exciting?”
Twaylee shrugged.
Jenna wondered, “Did Neena tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“I will be traveling to the Outer World!”
“I have already been there.”
“Yes, but I have not!” Twaylee shrugged. Jenna pouted.
Lillay asked, “Will you be attending?”
“Attending what?”
“The revelry six days hence.”
“Probably.”
“Please come! I will be one of the singers.”
“I will come.”
“You will?”
“Yes.”
Jenna helped herself to a plum from Twaylee’s basket. “Hey!”
“Sharing is a virtue.”
“Yes, but thievery is not!”
Jenna giggled unrepentantly.
Lillay mentioned, “Sir Brennith asked Gayl to marry him.”
“He did?”
“Yes.”
Twaylee frowned, “I hope she does not. Brennith often travels. We would miss her or
she would stay behind and pine for love.”
Jenna added, “She has yet to answer him.”
Twaylee insisted, “She should tell him ‘no!’ Our beloved Gayl need not condemn herself to heartache.”
Lillay countered, “Brennith loves her!”
“Not so much as to forsake his adventures.”
“He is a knight. Questing is his purpose.”
Jenna reminded Twaylee, “As it is for your love, Sir Thaydrin!”
Twaylee mentioned, “He has not proposed.”
“How shall you answer if he does?”
Twaylee blushed.
Lillay surmised, “Sir Thaydrin loves all nymphs. He is not one to propose matrimony.”
“Marriage,” Jenna rolled her eyes. “Love must be free if it is to be true.”
“Shameless love is not true love.”
“Really? To deny one’s yearning for another is?”
“It is the way of the greater nymphs. Is that not enough to prove it wise?”
“Most greater nymphs never marry.”
“Yes. Nor shall they lay with a male until they do.”
“How stifling!”
Twaylee thought of Aylith and wondered if she would ever marry. Was she lonely? Did she long for a life like that of her married friend, Lady Aggitha? If she married, would she ever quest again? Twaylee hoped Aylith would never marry.
Sprites were busy picking apples and dropping them to others who placed them gently into baskets. They were the workers of the orchard and the willing wards of Lord Franklin and Lady Aggitha.
“Aylith!” a little nymph in a tree waved. A tall nymph on a white horse was riding onto the grounds. Aylith waved back and smiled. The little worker told one below, “Tell our lord and lady that Dame Aylith is here.”
The addressed nodded and ran off to do so.
Lady Aggitha was already waiting on the steps of the manor as Dame Aylith approached. The hostess asked, “Little Twaylee did not come with you?”
“No.” Aylith dismounted and handed her reigns to an awaiting little he-fay. “Thank you,” she told him. She told Aggitha, “She wished to dally with her friends in the city.”
“Please hug her and kiss her for me and tell her she that she is always welcome.”
Aylith chuckled, “She knows she is welcome, but I shall tell her.”
“Come inside,” Aggitha invited. “I have sent word to Franklin of your visit. He shall soon be back.”
“Where is Franklin?”
“Tending the needs of our little workers.” Aggitha cuddled Aylith and kissed her, “I am so happy you have returned. I fear for you whenever you are away.”
“You need not fear for me.”
“But I do!”
“Why?”
“Because I do not know the nature of your travels.”
“Aggitha, I tell you.”
“You go as a peacemaker to the dwarves... when they are at war with the dark elves. You visit the Isle of Peace to meet a friend whose name you never mention. You travel abroad, even to the Outer World yet there is nought of true adventure to tell? You tell me all yet tell me nothing. Your secrecy bodes of danger!”
“Aggitha...”
“Aylith, you need never tell me. For all your secrecy, I do trust you.”
“All that I do is for the common good.”
“Of that I have no doubt.” Aggitha kissed Aylith’s cheek and told her, “I simply wish you to know that you are loved. I am so happy you have returned.”
For the rest of the week, Twaylee chatted, giggled and played with many friends, male and female. As for Aylith, she spoke, laughed and walked with Aggitha, Franklin and their lesser nymph stewardess, Haydee. Both companions enjoyed themselves and the company they kept, yet they often thought of each other. “Marriage?” Aylith chuckled when Aggitha asked her about suitors. “I doubt Twaylee would approve of my marrying anyone, especially if she fancied him herself.” The nymphs and Franklin laughed.
“Aylith likes to dance slowly,” Twaylee remembered.
“Greater fays do,” Neena told her.
“Greater he-fays come to our festivities.”
“Yes, they do so, but not to dance.” The two little nymphs giggled.
Aylith stood alone on a balcony, staring down at the apple orchard and the sprites who gathered from it. “Breakfast is waiting,” Franklin’s voice told from behind.
“You did not send Haydee or a pixy to tell me?”
Franklin joined her on the balcony. “Obviously, I did not.”
“You and Aggitha have a wonderful estate.”
“The wonder is those who dwell here. You have Twaylee. You need not an orchard... nor a mansion.” Franklin rubbed Aylith’s back. “We love your visits. When you are gone, even our workers long for your return.”
“They are delightful.”
“Yes. That is why Aggitha and I love them so.”
“Franklin...” He waited for her. Aylith finally told him, “I come here to remind myself of my purpose. The way of the Eye and Ear is not easy for me.”
“I know. Your Lord Vellizar also knows. He tells me he is saddened that wisdom gives you little comfort.”
“What else does he tell you?”
“He is my friend. We speak as friends, not as spies. The ways of the Eye and Ear are not for me to know.”
“Franklin, that is not what I meant. Does he doubt me... ever?”
Franklin laughed. “Ask him yourself and he shall answer you.”
That evening: A chatting, giggling and laughing crowd had gathered to make merry. Nearly a hundred lesser he-fays flirted with the twice as many lesser nymphs. Juices and snacks were easy to find. Flutes and fiddles played, singers sang and all were welcome to dance. A few greater he-fays mingled among the littler elves, joking with the males and flirting with the females. Twaylee searched among the faces of those who towered over those of the crowd. “Thaydrin has not returned,” Jenna told her.
“I know.”
“Then why do you seek him?”
“Should I find a handsomer face then I shall not bother awaiting his return.”
Jenna laughed. “Twaylee, you are wiser than I believed you to be.”
Neena asked Lillay, “Are you soon to sing?”
“I do not know.”
“Find out!”
Aylith, Franklin and Aggitha had finished supper and went out for a walk. The hostess complimented her guest, “You have seen so much of the world.”
“There is yet more to see.”
“Yes. Does Avalon bore you now?”
“No! Wheresoever I go, I long to return to Avalon.”
“My adventurous Aylith favors this gentle isle?”
“Yes. The serenity of this place is the very joy it.”
“Yet the wanderlust is strong within you.” Aggitha squeezed Aylith’s hand and told her, “Blessed be the bold and restless, for they inspire the timid.”
“Aggitha, you are not timid.”
“I am when I wish to be.” The nymphs giggled.
Franklin told them, “Whether bold or timid, both of you are silly.”
Aggitha hugged her husband and kissed him.
Lillay sang and danced for all to see and hear, then returned to her friends. “Well?” she hoped for their praise.
Twaylee remarked, “You were one of nine.”
“Yes. I was with my chorus.”
“I could not discern your voice.”
Lillay huffed.
Neena praised, “You were beautiful, Lillay; you, your dancing and your singing.”
“Thank you.”
Twaylee remarked, “One voice is lost among nine.”
“No!” Neena disagreed. “Eight lovely voices are soured by one that is not.”
“Yes, and nine lovely voices are only as lovely as eight among them.”
Lillay swatted Twaylee. “Is there nothing to your liking?”
“Your dancing was the best of your chorus. I delighted in watching you.”
“Thank you. Perhaps I shall forgive you for your deafness.”
The lovely voice of Waythu, a sprite known for his singing, called out, “Hear me, all you revelers! Gather around me, all who frolic! Join those dancing that all shall dance... together!” All but the greater he-fays answered Waythu’s call. Frolicsome songs and dance were the fancy of little elves. It was the delight of those greater to listen and watch. Waythu gestured for the crowd to walk around him and his musicians,
“Tread in circle,
around me go.
Not yet fast.
For now,
just stroll.
Warm to dance
in gentle stride.
Yearning swells
when denied.
A little faster,
make your walk.
Heed my words,
as I talk.
Clap, clap,
as you circle round.
Skip, skip,
across the ground.
Please now walk
at a hectic pace.
Now run around me,
as if in race!
Around and around,
as fast as you may.
Around and around,
dance for play.
Hop, hop,
up and down.
Skip, skip,
around and around.
Jump, jump,
up and down,
into the air,
upon the ground.
Walk, walk,
go now slow.
Look at me
and say ‘hello!’”
The revelers shouted, “Hello!”
“Tap, tap
another’s back.
Swat their butt.
Now turn back!
Run, run
as fast as you may,
around and around,
to get away!
Skip, skip,
to slow down.
Hop, hop,
up and down.
Jump, jump
as high as you may.
Kick midair
and stay that way!”
The revelers laughed.
“Around and around,
just for fun.
Not yet tired?
Run, run, run!
Skip, skip,
around and around.
Jump and kick.
Now turn around!
Skip, skip,
again and again,
around and around,
‘tis not the end!”
Twaylee and her friends danced, laughed and cheered until eventually settling to eat, drink, giggle and flirt. The many elves kissed and played until all had wandered home or elsewhere.