Of Gods and Fae (8 page)

"As you wish, my Lord," she replied, handing me
the now empty bottle. She popped the last morsel of food into her mouth and
once again began to shrink and fade from normal view.

As I was heading back to the inn, I saw the quiet Fae named
Karl that had retrieved Siegfried's boar come out of the stable. He crossed in
front of me, stopped, looked directly at me and then motioned back at the
stable with his eyes before continuing on to what must have been a service door
on the side of the building. Caught off guard by the gesture I none the less
changed direction and walked over to the stable doors.

Handion was inside scooping oats, or some similar grain,
into a feed tray by one of the stalls. He looked up as I crossed into the
stable.

"I wonder," he said, holding out the now empty
bucket in front of me. "Can you lend a hand?"

"Of course," I said as I reached out for it.

He picked up another bucket by his feet and gestured for me
to follow him, stopping in front of a group of barrels. Taking off the lid he
scooped grain into both the pails and then walked over to another stall.

"You can tell a lot about someone by the company he
keeps, wouldn’t you say?" he said as he filled the trough with the grain.

"I suppose you can," I answered, now alert to
something out of the ordinary happening.

"Take your dogs for example," he continued. "Now,
Sophie I know, and a fine judge of character she is. And your hound, Karalos is
it?"

I nodded in agreement but said nothing, noting that he had
used Charlie's formal name.

"He is from a mighty line. Originally bred in the
forests of Arcadia, I believe. No finer hunting dogs exist, or at least so I am
told. Here, let me show you something," he said, taking an apple from the
pocket of the apron he wore and handing it to me.

As I took the apple, a horse's head, black as the darkest
night, appeared from the shadow of the stall that he stood in front of. With a
snort that could have awakened the dead, it moved towards me, sniffing for the
apple as Handion opened the stall's door. As it came forward I held the apple
up in front of its mouth.

Instead of taking it, the animal reared up on two legs and
whinnied, then came out of the stall completely and I could see its wings as
they spread out. As it came back down it folded its front legs, as if bowing to
me, then stood back up, snorted again, and softly took the apple from my hand.
Handion gave the great beast another one and gently led it back to its stall.

"Let me introduce you to Althaea. She is a Pterippus. A
descendant of the great winged horse, Pegasus. It is said that when Zeus placed
Pegasus upon the heavens to rest, a single feather fell to the ground. What is
not generally known, is that from that feather, seven
Pterippi
sprung forth. Three black,
three white, and one of dappled coat."

"A beautiful creature," I said, walking back up to
the stall to stroke the large horses head. "I had no idea that they
existed."

"Few do, as there are still only seven, and seldom are
they seen. Even in the Fae lands they prefer to remain hidden. Althaea, unlike
her siblings, occasionally likes to dine on my fine hay, and, of course, feast
on the apples. Isn’t that right, girl?" he asked, before turning back to
me. "The Epimeliads have a grove nearby and always leave a bushel or two
when they know she is nearby," he replied.

The large horse whinnied again and Handion pulled two more
from his apron, handing them to her. "What kind of inn would I be running
if I did not know what my guests needed?" he added with a laugh, patting
the horse.

"To be sure." There was something familiar about
this conversation. It almost reminded me of something Bernd had said in our
last meeting. But where was all this leading? Just because I sensed no threat
didn’t mean that none was involved. So I decided to get right to the point, or at
least, what I thought the point was, character references notwithstanding. "Handion,
since you brought it up, what is it that you think I might need? Since I
suppose I can call myself a guest as well."

"A guest? Of course you are a guest. Why else would we
be having this conversation? Come, there is one more thing I must show you,"
he said as he walked over to me and took me by the shoulder, turning and leading
me to the back of the stable looking over same field I had come from.

"Did you know that the forest that is home to the Dryads
here is the oldest in all of the Fae realms?"

"No," I answered. "I hadn’t realized that."
Had he somehow heard my conversation with Sendy?

"Why should you?" he laughed. "You are on the
outskirts of this realm and these trees here are certainly not that old. But
just a few leagues further inward lies the ancient home of the Dryad, and the
Goddess Demeter." He walked to a window at the back of the stable and pushed
open the shutters, spreading his arms. He used them to gesture at the world
around him as he turned from side to side.

"No, no, closed it all is now and so it has been since
The
Fall
. But before, oh…before. You should have seen the worlds of those
times. Magnificent…wonderful…and open to all. Travel between the worlds was as
simple as wishing to be there. But alas,
The Fall
occurred, and with it,
the war. Much has changed since then, and with those changes, much sadness has
entered the worlds of the Fae." He became silent for a moment before turning
back to address me.

"Imagine," he said pointing beyond the field.
"If you were to walk but a few leagues in that direction. You would
stumble across a small poppy field, and beyond that, just across the spring
that still flows, two large oaks. Then, as now, the gate remains hidden. But in
those times that was the very spot that Demeter used when she wished to leave
her Temple in secret. It is the trees. Their branches are intertwined and so form
a hidden tunnel that runs the distance from her poppy fields to the Temple
following the old stream.

"But, of course, that part of the forest is ill kept
and overgrown and who knows what dangers exist there these days. So I cannot
say if the way is even passable, but it makes for interesting history. Does it
not?"

"Why are you telling me all this?" I asked. He had
to know who I was or why tell me about this apparently unguarded entrance to
the Temple. Suddenly I felt a nudge against my back and I took a few steps,
almost going for my sword. My hand was on its hilt as I turned, and luckily, I
caught myself before I pulled it out when I realized it was Althaea, the winged
horse, that stood behind me.

"Why not?" he asked. "Did I not say that you
can tell much about someone by the company he keeps?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with what you just
told me?"

"Perhaps I did not tell you everything about the P
terippi
," he
replied, smiling as he walked back up to the horse and patted its muzzle. "They
bow to no one, save the Gods themselves." Without another word he walked out
of the stable, leaving me alone with the great winged horse.

I was speechless.

Althaea came closer and nudged me again. She bowed her head
and stomped her front hooves a few times. Suddenly I felt a warmth emanate from
the sword I carried in the small of my back, the sword once wielded by both
Cronus and later, Zeus himself. With it, words formed in my mind as the great
horse turned back to follow in the direction Handion had gone.

"Worry not while you are under this roof for this Elf
is a competent host. As for when your journey continues, if you need us, we
will come."

****

The room was still busy as I walked back in. Eyeing
Siegfried at the bar, I wandered over and took a place next to him. "So
what do you hear?" I asked.

"Absolutely nothing," he answered, taking a long
drink from a tankard he had sitting in front of him. "Merely talk of
travels and, believe it or not, the weather. I have heard nothing that should
concern us."

"Good, let's stay the night then. Handion," I
called, the Elf now back behind the bar filling mugs from a tap. "Do you
have a couple rooms available?"

"Aye, two rooms it is," he yelled back over the
din, treating me like any other patron. A moment later he slid over and placed
a mug in front of me. "Just let me know when you are ready."

"You wish to stay here?" Siegfried asked.

"At least for tonight."

I scanned the room looking for Diantha as I took a long
drink, considering what had just happened. Had an Elf actually just handed me
the keys to the kingdom of the Dryad? But why… and how had he known who I was?
Perhaps Althaea was the reason? But then how did she know I would be coming
here? There were just too many questions with no real answers.

"Hey, where are the girls?"

"Over there," he indicated by raising his mug
towards the far side of the room. "Talking to the Oread and the Pegaeae."

I turned to look at where he pointed. I could now see
Diantha and Gerda sitting at the table with three other Fae, one female and two
males. Then I remembered something.

"Pegaeae... Pegaeae? Wait a minute, aren’t those
Naiads?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact they are the Nymphs of
springs, and the Oreads are Fae of mountain valleys," Siegfried answered. "These
three came in together. Gerda met the Oread at the bar and was soon flirting
with him. Diantha joined her later. They moved to a table before you came in.
Why? What are you thinking?"

"I'm not sure, but it's nothing that can't wait. What
about the dogs?"

"They followed another hound out the side door. One
known to Sophie and the Elf."

"Ok, I'll check on them in a bit. For now, just play
the part of a tourist. Have some fun. I'll call you when I need you."

I didn't have a chance to say anything to Siegfried about my
recent meeting. Even though I sensed no danger from anyone in the room there
were just too many ears. Especially since at least one Fae, the Elf, had to
know what I was. Assuming he was telling the truth, and the winged horse seemed
to confirm that he was, our presence had not set off any alarms. Well, at least
not from our enemies. If I told him now he would start preparing immediately,
so perhaps it was better to let it wait. Besides, a little break would do him
some good. I think that for all his accomplishments on the human worlds, he
missed being in Fae lands.

Of course, I still had to consider what was happening.
First, Handion and the winged horse. Then the directions to the gate, and now Nymphs
of the streams. Interesting when you consider we apparently have to cross one
to reach the entrance. That was one helluva coincidence. Once again, I was just
gonna have to play the cards I was dealt and hope they were as good as they
looked.

I finished my mug and walked over to where Diantha and Gerda
were sitting. Kneeling between the two I let them know that we had rooms and to
just keep their ears open. Diantha made introductions and after a few minutes
of idle chit-chat, I excused myself to go check on the dogs. As I stood up,
Diantha leaned over and touched my shoulder.

"This Spring Faerie seems fascinated by you," she
whispered in my ear as she gestured at the blonde, fair skinned Fae at the
table. "Perhaps you should spend some time with her."

I eyed her curiously as she stood up.

"We shall return shortly," she said to the group
and started walking me to the side door, pointing. "Charlie went this way,"
she said in a loud voice.

I let her lead me to the doorway.

"She has been watching you since you came back in. I
cannot tell if she is enamored with you or if it is something else. Still, I
have seen nothing that concerns me and neither has Gerda."

I twisted my head to glance back at the table and saw the
nymph avert her eyes from my gaze. "What do you recommend?"

"Personally," she said with a grin. "Since I
sense no evil about her I'd say you should bed her and learn what you can."

"I'm not sure that's helpful."

"I am being serious, my Lord," she responded. "These
are Fae, they are not… prudish… as mortals are. Just look around, sex is a
normal custom here, as you would see if you would just open your eyes."

This is an example where I have problems thinking like a
Fae. As a human male, I like sex as much as anyone. As a human male in my
fifty's, it's not as important as it used to be. But I wasn't a human male, and
since the Fae side of me had been released, I didn't feel like I was in my
fifty's either. Diantha's comment reminded me of one Charlie had also recently
made, so I took another look around the room. This time, I saw things
differently.

I still tend to think like a human so it's easy for me to
forget that sex is a big part of Fae culture. Hell, to them, sex is the
equivalent of dinner on a first date. They even use it to forge agreements, as
I learned when I formed an alliance with the Nereid. Now that's not to say that
everybody jumps in the sack with each other five minutes after a meet and
greet. But it does mean that if you're interested, there's no harm in asking
another Fae if they are as well.

I can see why the Greeks revered them. Damn near every Fae
I'd ever seen was young and beautiful, at least when in their Fae persona, and
that included the males. Ok, maybe not everyone, but for the most part it was a
pretty common trait, at least among the Nymphs. You didn’t even have to worry
about disease, now that part of magic has its benefits. And jealousy? Where
else are you gonna find the woman you slept with last night recommending that
you bed the Fae knockout sitting next to her?

Of course, sex was part of what got the old God's in
trouble. Always screwing someone else's lover when it wasn't appropriate and
doing it by using magic to trick the other person. Leave it to them to not
understand the word no. It's no wonder they're all gone now.