Fairy Godmother

eyebrows, strange, slightly slanted, enormous eyes, beardless as a boy's, with long midnight-black hair any woman would be proud to boast of, was not what she would have named as attractive before this moment, she understood exactly what was meant by 'Elven glamorie.' She felt powerfully drawn to him, and knew that if he had cared to, he could have had her by snapping his fingers.

But he did nothing of the sort; he merely looked deeply into her eyes, as if weighing and measuring her as his consort had done. And then, without a word, he touched her brow with a delicate forefinger.

Something passed between them, though she could not have said just what it was. A great shudder shook her, a moment of dizziness, and for a moment she heard a sound as of the rushing of great wings all about her. The hair stood up on the back of her neck, yet at the same time, she was filled with such intoxication she might have been drunk.

Then the moment passed; the Elven King smiled faintly, turned, and passed through the gate behind his consort. The light within the gate faded; the glow of the framing vines faded.

And Elena and her mentor were standing in a perfectly ordinary clearing, in the dim light filtering down through the myriad branches of the trees above them as a bird called somewhere in the middle distance.

Bella was regarding her Apprentice with a look of great thoughtfulness. 'Well,' she said at last, 'he certainly never did that with me! What happened between you?'

'I don't know,' Elena said honestly. 'I haven't the faintest idea.' She blinked as she said that; the pale glows and colors were everywhere now, and she was having to get used to the sight of magic all about her.

'Interesting.' Bella tapped her cheek with one finger, thoughtfully. 'Well, whatever it was, it's something that King Huon thinks you'll need, and we'll have to let it go at that. He's too subtle for the likes of mere mortals.' She beckoned, and smiled. 'Come along, Apprentice. We have to choose your wand.'

But as they left the clearing, Elena could not resist looking back for a moment, wondering.

'Curious, Apprentice?' Madame called over her shoulder. Elena hurried to catch up.

She wanted to ask why the Elven King had been interested in her, but she heard herself asking a different question entirely.

'Why are the Fair Folk — ' she groped for a word ' — involved?'

'Ah. Well, very long ago, all of the Godmothers were Fair Folk; that is the reason some folk call us Fairy Godmothers still. Some still are, and there is an equivalent to Wizard that you hear of very, very seldom, and that is the Elven Knight. But most Godmothers are human now,' Bella told her, as they walked back towards the cottage.

'Why?' Elena asked.

'I suspect because there are so few of the Fair Folk and so many mortals,' Bella said wryly. 'They soon discovered that if The Tradition is to be served and directed properly, they needed help. Since their very existence depends upon The Tradition, they did not have a great deal of choice, it would seem.'

She could not imagine at the moment why the existence of the Elves would depend on The Tradition, but she supposed that her reading or lessons would eventually tell her. 'So that is why the Queen has to accept an Apprentice?' she hazarded.

'Exactly.' Bella seemed pleased that she had made the connection. 'Having been the originals, they are best at judging who will be appropriate. And of course, their understanding is much deeper than ours; they can do with a touch things that require great effort from a human.'

That last only made her wonder the more, as they continued down the path. They can do with a touch....

So what had the Elven King done to her?

Chapter 6

Choosing a wand turned out to be nowhere near as complicated as Elena had thought it would be — given the complexity of nearly everything else that had happened to her from the moment Madame Bella entered her life.

It was, oddly enough, the House-Elf Lily who helped her with the task. Robin she had expected, but not Lily. After all, Lily did the tending, didn't she? So what would she have to do with the business of finding a wand?

Lily was waiting for them on the path, and smiled with satisfaction when she saw them. 'Ah, good, you have the King's Favor as well as the Queen's!' she said and looked to Madame Bella, as Elena wondered how she had known of the Elven King's odd behavior. Then, just as she wondered that, she saw it; more of the swirling color she now knew was magic, a haze, a dusting of pale silver (which must have been the Queen's mark) and pale gold (surely the King's) that drifted around her exactly like dust motes drifted in warm air. Bella didn't have that cloud about her, nor did Lily. How peculiar. I wonder if it will wear off? This business of seeing magic was going to take some getting used to.

'Is she ready for her wand?'

'No reason to put it off,' Bella replied. 'I have some things to attend to; this will take until luncheon?'

'Oh, at least; after Robin makes the wand, he wants to take her measurements for her costumes, and after this, you're going to keep her too busy to take the time for proper measuring,' Lily replied, and turned to Elena. 'Come along, Apprentice, and don't look so wary; this won't be anything like that nasty business over breakfast.'

I certainly hope not! she thought, following Lily with an apprehension that she hoped she veiled adequately.

They ended up in a little workshop where Robin already was at work, laying out lengths of perfectly straight wood on a workbench, placing longer, similar pieces of wood leaning against a wall. 'The wand,' Robin said, with immense dignity, as if he was lecturing, 'is not a thing of magic in and of itself, as most outsiders believe. It is merely the extension of the magician, a tool to help focus magic. Actually, practically any old stick will do in a pinch so long as it is made from a wood that the magician feels comfortable with.'