The Quicksilver Faire (11 page)

"Usually some of the dark fae, maybe a troll sorcerer. If there is a specialty familiar, Maemtri is the one to see." Salaca leaned his elbows against a counter. He seemed bored.

Fala opened the door and gestured toward the bustle outdoors. "Now that we've seen the familiar shop we need to move along. Good luck with any potential clients."

"I will see you at the masquerade tonight," Maemtri said and her eyes held Fala's. Keelie watched as a glance, like a secret, passed between them.

She wondered what that had been about as she and Sean stepped out onto the porch.

"What's next?" Keelie asked. The shop had been interesting, but she wanted to get her mission over with.

Fala turned around and smiled wickedly at her. "You're just going to have to wait and see, but our next stop is going to be educational for Lord Sean."

He and Salaca laughed.

Sean and Keelie exchanged a glance, and she saw a hint of worry in his eyes. She turned away quickly, but she was sure he'd seen it mirrored on her own face. Those two could not be up to anything good.

Keelie didn't know how far the Timekeeper's protection of them extended. From what she'd heard, the fae could find a loophole in any rule and exploit it. She didn't like the sound of the fairies' laughter, and she could tell that Fala and Salaca loved to create problems. Given the apprehension in her companions' faces, it was clear that everyone knew they had to keep their guard up.

Led by the tall fae, the group merged into the flow of odd-looking foot traffic, passing shops that catered to the Other Realm's inhabitants. They stopped at a blacksmith's shop, where a hot fire burned brightly in the forge. Three shirtless fae worked inside, not a drop of sweat on them despite the heat, although their red-tinged skin shone as they hammered on a sword. The loud clanging of metal on metal echoed around them. It wasn't a sword of iron and steel these fairies forged-it was quicksilver, the metal glowing as if it were alive and was being formed into a living being.

Sean stepped forward, the siren song of the weapon calling to him. Keelie saw the sword weave its magic upon him.

Fala leaned close to him, his voice a whisper. "Elf, I can hear your warrior heart calling out to the sword. You want it. I will give it to you."

The fairy reached for another sword, which was hanging from a display. He held the blade up and it erupted into flames. Within the flames appeared the alluring outline of a woman, wearing nothing but the flickering fire. She stared at Sean as if she really saw him.

Sean's eyes were glued to the flaming woman's and he drew closer to the sword. "There are legends about swords such as this. My grandfather told me stories about them when I was a boy, and Elianard spoke of it in Lore Class."

Keelie grabbed Sean's wrist as he reached out to take the sword. "Think, Sean. There will be a price. There is always a price when a fairy offers you a gift." She turned to Fala. "Tell him. Fairies speak true, that's what my Grandmother Jo always said."

Fala winked at her, unperturbed. "The price, Lord Sean, is that you freely give up the part of your heart that belongs to Keliel."

The sword flamed once again, and the flaming woman appeared. This time, she tossed her hair back and winked seductively at Sean over her shoulder. When she looked at Keelie, her eyes turned into slits.

"No sword is worth that price." Sean glowered at Fala. "How dare you even think I would trade my heart for a sword."

Fala returned the weapon to its scabbard, the flames snuffing as the sword entered the sheath. "Ho hum. Don't you get tired of being so honorable? Don't you want to let loose and have some fun?"

Salaca pointed at the sword that was being forged. "Put that one on hold for me. I'll be back for it."

One of the blacksmiths nodded and went back to his work.

"I've never seen anything like this. Are these living swords, or do spirits inhabit them?" Elia watched as one of the display swords' flaming edges produced another beautiful figure.

"The swords live. The quicksilver is mined near the volcano, and it has deep magical properties," one of the swordsmiths said.

Elia was still staring at the swords as Keelie dragged Sean away from the seductive weapons to the next openaired shop. She was surprised to find that the proprietor was a dwarf.

Baskets of gemstones lined the walls, not unlike a store she had seen near the Wildewood Faire. Another dwarf came in from the back. They were dressed in leather leggings and wore tool belts full of tools.

Maybe this is where she would find a suitable gift for the queen. Keelie was sure that the sword shop did not hold anything Queen Vania would want, nor did she want to surrender part of her heart for the purchase.

"Keelie Heartwood, is that you?" asked a familiar voice.

She felt a rush of joy when she saw her old friend and teacher, Sir Davey. "What are you doing here?"

"My girl, this is where I buy my inventory for the Renaissance Faires. Your father told me to keep an eye on you when you came through and to report back to him when I saw you." Sir Davey aimed a nasty glare at Fala and Salaca, who pawed carelessly through gemstones.

"Can you get a message to him? My elf phone doesn't work at all," Keelie said in a low voice. "Tell him I'm safe, that I'm going to meet the queen, and that Elia came along. Her family totally dissed her."

"I think you need some tiger's eye," Fala said nearby.

Sir Davey pulled Keelie away. "I'll let him know, but I'm not sure that I'll be able to reach him either, if you have not. Is it the trees?" His brow was furrowed with concern.

"I have no clue. The trees talk to me, so I don't think that's it."

"How about some rose quartz?" Salaca suggested. He seemed to be deliberately following them. "When you throw one at a troll, it's supposed make him want to climb a tree rather than continue the chase."

"I didn't know that." Fala raised his eyebrows. He glanced at Keelie and Sir Davey, then looked away.

"What does tiger's eye do?" Salaca asked, holding up the banded rock to the light.

"It's supposed to stop rashes." Fala grabbed three rose quartz and a tiger's eye, and handed them to a dwarf behind a table. "Put those on my tab."

The dwarf nodded, removed a leather-bound ledger from a box, and wrote in it.

Keelie would have to remember that little tidbit about how rose quartz affected trolls, if she ever had one chase her. She'd confronted a red cap and a goblin, but not a troll, and she hoped she never would.

Sir Davey walked over to Sean and Elia, who were looking in the baskets of gemstones. His caterpillar eyebrows rose when he saw Elia. "You've changed quite a bit since the last time I saw you," he said. "May I offer my belated congratulations on your marriage, and now I hear you are expecting?"

She proudly patted her rounded belly. "Yes, I am, but I'm ready to leave this place. My feet hurt." She shot Knot a frown. "And I'm still hungry."

Keelie smiled at Sir Davey. "I still need to find a gift for the queen. I'd better go." She leaned low to Sir Davey. "Tell Dad that the Timekeeper stopped time for us."

Sir Davey's eyes widened. "That is a great honor. He doesn't do that for everyone. Your father will be pleased, and I'll let him know when I get back Earthside." He surreptitiously pointed at Salaca. "That one is the queen's eyes and ears," he whispered.

"I figured."

Coyote whined by the door, and Keelie waved goodbye. After Sir Davey's booth, they passed a Poisons and Potions shop. A woman filing her claws cackled when Keelie passed by. She shivered when she saw some of the dark containers that held liquids ranging from ruby red to disgusting, pond-scum green. Janice, the herb lady at the High Mountain Ren Faire, would run as fast as her legs could take her from this place, but her daughter Raven, Keelie's friend, would love it.

Knot was waiting by the entrance. He stood upright and twirled his whiskers with his paw. Coyote lounged against a windowsill next to him, also on his hind legs.

It seemed the more time they were in Fairy, the more the two of them were changing into ... what, she didn't know. Keelie was uncomfortable with the changes.

"Why are you two standing up?" she asked.

"Meow practicing for the queen," Knot answered.

"Meow too," Coyote said, laughing.

Knot growled at him. "Yeow making fun of meow accent?"

Beside them, creatures and fairies wove in and out of the crowd, walking in and out of shops and laughing as they strolled along, singing songs.

Fala and Salaca jumped into the crowd, merging with them behind a group of frog-faced men wearing pirate hats and nothing else. They left behind wet footprints. Keelie shook her head, trying to rid her mind of that image. Maybe they were looking for a shop selling pants. Keelie kept her eyes on anything but their froggie behinds.

As they passed a tattoo shop, Fala noticed that Keelie glanced into the window. "Isn't this a perfect symbol for your life, Keliel? You're always watching other people, and never feeling like you really belong because there are so many different bits of yourself. You're what part elf, fae, and human? Do you ever feel whole?"

Inwardly, Keelie flinched, but she hoped she kept her face a mask of non-reaction. "Shut up," she said. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction to see how painful his words were.

Fala laughed, as if he knew his words cut her deeply. She glanced at the clock on the tattoo shop's wall. It still read five minutes till midnight. The Timekeeper's magic had worked, but now Keelie wondered how the queen would react to the action, or if she'd even notice.

Below the clock, a dark-haired fairy was getting a tattoo. Wings as black and shiny as a raven's were folded against her back. Salaca tapped on the window, and the fairy girl turned her face to show a flowering vine tattoo twisting up the side of her face. When she turned, real flower petals dropped from her cheeks to the floor.

Fiddle music played nearby, and as they turned up the next street, Keelie saw that it was the rabbit fiddler she'd heard earlier, backlit by a whirlwind of light. The vortex. It seemed close enough to touch, but appearances were deceiving in the fairy world.

She was ready to get on with the mission, but now fear pulsed through her at the reminder that she was close to her goal. Still, her toes tapped of their own accord in time to the music and the pulse of the vortex. She wondered if the musician wove magic into his melodies.

Beautiful high voices broke into song, and she looked around for the singers who gave words to the fiddler's tune. Many danced, but no one sang.

Coyote scooted up to Keelie and wagged his tail excitedly while stomping his paws in a bad imitation of a tap dance. "Johnny 0' Hare's the best fiddler in the realm."

"Johnny O'Hare is a favorite of the queen, but he still chooses to play for the rabble." Fala sniffed.

Around them, the fae had gathered to hear the magical fiddler, but Keelie heard the creatures whispering about her behind their hands.

She's the one.

She's not what I expected.

Pushing her way to the edge of the crowd, with Sean right behind her, Keelie grabbed Elia and pulled her along. The singing grew louder, and she saw a pushcart full of potted flowers. The flowers were singing, their leaves and petals trembling as their tiny magical voices rose to join the fiddler's chorus.

Keelie stopped. "Are those for sale? That's what I want to buy for the queen."

Coyote bounded ahead before she could approach the warty-skinned salesman who manned the cart. "Allow me. You'll probably end up bargaining away your nose."

He bargained intensely with the creature behind the cart, then motioned Keelie closer. "Choose your plant and let's get out of here."

Keelie looked over the selection and finally chose a pot of red snapdragons with yellow stripes. They looked like they could stand up to a fairy queen. The little flowers sang on, even as she held the pot close to her chest. "They don't bite, do they?"

The warty salesman looked offended. "Of course not. They're singing flowers, aren't they? I left the biters at home."

"Then let's get out of here." Keelie turned to her party, all gathered close to look at the pot of singing snapdragons.

"You've finally shown some sense," Fala said. "Although I don't know why you need flowers. He should have bought the sword."

"I'm here to see your queen, to help her, so let's get on with it." Keelie stopped herself and softened her voice. "I mean, I'm anxious to attend the queen."

She faced the vortex, feeling the hum of its magic run through everything. Why hadn't she noticed that before? She'd allowed herself to be deceived. Salaca was right-she was searching for the one thing in her mixed magical heritage that would make her feel whole, but the real Keelie was turning out to be like an onion, and with each magical adventure she uncovered layers of herself. And with each layer revealed, she felt more exposed and vulnerable.

Nearby, a crowd cheered and the clang of sword on armor was followed by a great outcry, then laughter.

"The joust," Fala said. "The Green Knight must have lost his head again."