Category: Fantasy Publisher: Mischievous Muse Press
Type: Fiction
Copyright: May 1, 2013
A fantasy novel written by Cat Spydell, The Fairies of Feyllan recounts the trials of two opposing fairy tribes as magic, mystery, deceit, uprising, and calamity threaten the once-peaceful existence of the fae in 1920s England.
Excerpt
Chapter One
The world of the faerie exists, alongside the world of humankind. It can be best seen in a dew droplet at the first sign of dawn, or at sunset as the green flash brightens the darkening sky . . . in a crystal viewed with eyes crossed, and in the shining steady drip of an icicle in winter light. It is the Kingdom of Feyllan, the faerie realm, and very few who have glimpsed it, have remained unchanged.
Long ago the fae, or fairy-kind, and mankind knew each other, as humans were often rewarded with visits from the faerie folk in exchange for their offerings of bowls of cow’s milk and honey (a faerie favorite), or plantings of orange nasturtium and lavender flowers, or small offerings of baubles and beads, bits of cloth, and dried herbs. But the machine of mankind roared, the great time of industry pushed the Fae from their simple rural homes, and the diminutive creatures became reclusive, displaced folk, angry at the loutish designs of human beings.
None of that mattered on this bright crisp morning to Varia, however. She flew from branch to branch, looking for the perfect round pink berry from a peppertree. Seeing one she liked, her small hands grasped the crinkly orb. She closed her eyes and tapped into the Devic energy of the pepper. She could picture the origins of the tree, and in her mind a wellspring of information flooded in: she could visualize the tree’s seed, a non-native dropped by a bird; the seed had felt comfortable and warm in the sun, and the summer rains came, and the tree began to grow, and soon it matured, and its few offspring flourished, and it stood here, unknown to the world, a rare tree from a different continent far from its forest of relatives, untouched by human recognition. Varia opened her eyes, she had always liked the tree’s story. She mentally asked the sumac to spare her the berry and upon receiving its consent, she pulled hard, flying backwards a bit as the pink peppercorn came free.
“Watch it!” her brother, Ezia, called from beneath her, his luminous green and blue wings slowing as he hovered aside to avoid her crashing into him. Flying in a V pattern beneath them were his comrades, who disappeared into a neighboring grove of pines.
“Why don’t you get the peppercorns, then?” Varia asked in a miffed tone.
Ezia smirked. “Because it’s your job, not mine. Your Devas have guided you to the foreign tree grove, and mine bring me to the honey-filled hives. I have other more important things to do.”
“Oh yes, I forgot, you are the bee master, I beg your pardon, your highness.” Ezia was one of Erendome’s honey gatherers, and he spent an inordinate amount of time consoling the bees as the faerie folk collected their honey. Each faerie in the kingdom had a job of sorts, a speciality that they performed best, and it was a great honor to be the one chosen by the Devic spirits to become a master.
“It is an important chore,” sniffed Ezia. “One sting can kill, you know.”
“I know,” Varia sighed. He is so vain about his skill with the bees, I’ll never get him to stop talking about it if I don’t change the subject, she thought. “Did you hear that the Wilhvyre FlightSoldiers are rumoured to have found an EarthSeeker colony in Birkendore?” she asked. It was old news to her, she was sure he’d heard it by now, but it would stop him from boasting about bee taming for awhile. Varia sat on a thin branch, straddling it as she rested her blue, green, and violet-colored wings, tucking them neatly behind her. Ezia sat beside her, his wings spread, for he was on the alert.
“No!” he said, his eyes the color of the pepper tree leaves, now scanning the horizon for signs of trouble. “Is it true? There have been no EarthSeekers in these parts in our lifetimes, I believed them to be but legend!”
Varia was surprised he hadn’t yet heard the talk. “I believe they exist, and have heard that they were seen near the mushroom pits, living in one of their dank horrible tunnels at the base of an ancient oak there. It is said to be a large colony, several families, all of their royal line.”
“How did this news escape me?” Ezia wanted to know. Their father was the king of their realm, although of late such titles were unnecessary. Since their move to Feyllan’s Ashenthorne region many generations before, life had remained peaceful, and human-free. There was little job for a king to do, other than make sure that their homes and the majestic palace, high in the Whitebeam treetops, were well-stocked and comfortable, and that the faeries who lived under his kingship were all getting along. There were few threats, aside from wild beasts. Humans had been spotted occasionally, mostly from the nearby villages, though the nearest human dwelling was almost a half a day’s flight away, and abandoned now. The only trespassing humans sighted were simple farm folk, the kind the fae had once befriended before autos, machines, and destruction of the earth had soured their relationship. Except for occasional wandering lost sheep with a concerned herder following along behind, few humans had ever been seen. But a colony of the EarthSeeker faeries living less than a day’s flight away? This was news.
“Perhaps your brain has been too addled by the buzzing of bees to pay attention to what is being said at the palace,” Varia teased. She hoped that mentioning Erendome castle would veer Ezia’s mind from the EarthSeekers, but it had the opposite effect.
“What does Rumedah say of these EarthSeekers setting up their home just outside the boundary of Ashenthorne?” Ezia asked.
“Rumedah?” Varia asked, thinking of the elderly sage who counseled their father. “He loves only peace and his communion with trees. He is old and addled, and no longer bothers himself with the politics of the faerie world.”
“He should be more alert, if our safety is at stake,” Ezia grumbled. “Those dirty earth dwellers so close by! Makes my skin crawl.”
“Have you ever seen an EarthSeeker?” Varia asked, knowing already the answer was no.
“Of course not! They are vile folk, who have no right to call themselves faerie. No self-respecting Alawe AirWalker would want to say they’d met an EarthSeeker, if such monsters even exist!” Ezia was riled up, Varia could see. She looked into his small face; though larger than hers, of course. He was a tall faerie, nine inches to her six,* his height from the ancient line on her deceased mother’s side. Father was only seven inches tall, and Ezia was proud to tower over the king. Now Ezia lifted his chin, his luminous blue-tinged skin glowing as he raged
within.
“Ezia, we do not yet understand the ways of these EarthSeekers, if they are there or not. Don’t be so quick to react! They could be allies, wanting peace and community. We do not yet know what to expect.”
Ezia plucked a leaf from the peppertree without even asking its Deva, or spirit guardian, for permission. Varia was rather shocked when he threw it. She watched the golden-green teardrop shape whirl to the ground.
“I know what I know, Sister. Do not be fooled by their beauty that I have heard about! They are worm-like abominations to the faerie realm!” Ezia hovered, unable to sit in his anger. “And I will alert Father and the kingdom and suggest we patrol our perimeters. We should eliminate them before they take over all of the Ashenthorne realm!”
Varia realized that she would prefer Ezia’s boasting to his anger. She placed her long fingers on his wrist to calm him, sending him a thoughtwave of peace. Ezia wrenched his arm away.
“Do not try to tame me like some common butterfly, Sister!
*Note: The measurement of inches does not exist in Feyllan but has been translated here for human understanding. In Feyllan, Ezia stands 3 stems
tall, and each stem equals about 3 inches.
I am not some beast who needs to be managed.” He glared at Varia as he took flight, and before she could protest, he was gone like a hummingbird on the horizon.
Varia panicked. Now what? Ezia had been trained as a Wilhvyre FlightSoldier for the royal house’s militia; he and all the faeries in their second-hundredth seasons were ready for a battle that had never come. Had she just caused one by alerting her hot-headed brother of the newcomers to their kingdom? She was only trying to make small talk; it was just a rumor after all. But what if there were truth in it? What would the young princeling do? With a determination that she had rarely seen in her young life, Varia made a bold decision. She would fly to the EarthSeeker kingdom in Birkendore, and if they truly existed, she would spy on them and see what the faeries were like. If they were a peaceful people, she could come back home and let her brother and the rest of the Wilhvyre FlightSoldiers, and especially her father, King Dreya, know that all was well, and the two tribes could live side by side without war or strife. She dropped the peppercorn, apologizing to the tree for wasting it, and flew as fast as she could toward the mushroom pits where it was rumored the EarthSeekers dwelled.
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