Celeste II

I really hate asking the faeries for help.

But, if I want to complete this spell, then I really have no choice. The components of the essence tracking spell for Emile just won’t combine how I need them to, and I can’t figure out why. But faeries have an instinct with magic that nobody else has so, if I want the spell to work, I’m going to have to ask them.

They’re not that bad at any other time, but whenever they start talking about anything to do with magic, they make it seem like they’re better than me. Just because I wasn’t born from magic, it doesn’t mean that I’m not good at it. I’ve had to send them a note. I can’t fit in their house, what with it being a tree stump, and meeting in the village somewhere doesn’t seem like a good idea, so I’ve had to invite them into my home.  

You have to be careful with faeries, they’re natural tricksters. Foli and Luva help protect the village from outsiders; they’ve set illusion spells around the perimeter of the village, and who knows what else. But they could turn their trickery on me in a second. Any perceived slight and I’m done for; faeries do not have the temperament to think through the meaning behind words, they take everything literally. Perhaps their tiny bodies leave no room for reasoning?

A soft knock at the door, they’re here. I open it to reveal the two of them hovering at shoulder height. They’ve bought their child with them too.

“Come through, there’s milk and honey in the kitchen. Anything for the little one?”

Foli shook his head.

“He will be fine, he just ate before we came. He is still getting used to new places, so we decided to be safe.”

“And what should I call him?”

“Ellu will do finely.”

Another half name. Names have power of course, especially to those who can use magic. You can find out all sorts of things about a person if you only have their true name. I’ve done it a few times. It’s a useful blackmail tool, to know everything there is to know about a person, what drives them, what their wishes are, weaknesses to exploit. A true name can be incorporated into a spell, or curse, and the holder of the name can be made to do anything.

The faeries tend to use half names; most faerie names are too long, that trying to use them is almost not worth the effort anyway. I once met a faerie called Leaf Of The Highest Tree Blowing In The Wind, so while names do have power, it’s almost not worth the effort to get that kind of power over a faerie, almost. It goes both ways though; Celeste is not my true name. I will most likely never tell anyone my true name, that level of trust is hard to come by. I have been called Celeste my entire life, I’m quite fine to never hear my true name spoken aloud by another.

“So, what is it you need assistance with?”

Luva’s melodic voice cuts through my musings, and I take the three of them through to my lab.