village. It’s not far.
“Why do you ask?” he voiced his curiosity.
“I thought I might go get a skin or a flask or a gourd or something so that we could take some of this water back to the city with us, for tonight,” she answered, in a gentler tone.
“Why? What are you doing tonight?” Kestrel asked, as he lifted the last sprite from the water.
Alicia looked at him, then looked away again hastily. “Oh, I just meant if our feet are tired from too much walking, or just for anything that might happen; nothing in particular,” she replied, but her words had a cadence of dishonesty to them, and Kestrel decided that whatever she planned to do, it was none of his business if she didn’t want to share it.
Before he could say anything further, Dewberry’s friend Reasion awoke. The blue sprite sat up and looked around with a slightly dazed look on her face. Reasion had a more androgynous figure than Dewberry, and cheeks that were merry little apples in shape, giving her a perpetual happy expression. Without a word of comment, Reasion flew through the air to retrieve a pile of clothes.
He woke Dewberry next.
“I feel wonderful!” she said with emphasis on each word, letting the sounds explode out of her mouth with delight. She stood and looked at her pile of clothes on the far side of the pool of water, then rose and flew through the air to where they were, and dressed herself.
Sensing that the time at the spring was coming to an end, Kestrel swam lazily across the pool of water and grabbed his own clothes, then carried them above his head as he waded back to where Alicia sat. He dressed as the other sprites and imps began to awaken, and within a half hour the whole group was dressed.
“Dewberry,” Kestrel called as the whole group prepared for the end of the outing, “is there some way to carry some of this water back to our city?”
“Let me go get a skin for you,” Dewberry’s brother spoke suddenly, and he popped out of existence.
“I feel better than I’ve felt in months,” one of the imps said. “We’ll have to come back and do this again sometime! Kestrel, will you keep an eye on us again?”
“I would be delighted!” Kestrel grinned at the thought.
“Just remember, he’s my elf first, so you need my permission to use him,” Dewberry said possessively, floating over to wrap her arms around one of Kestrel’s arms. “Except you of course, Reasion,” she smiled at her friend.
It suddenly occurred to Kestrel that he hadn’t heard Reasion say a word, and wasn’t even sure if the sprite was a male or female. “Dewberry,” he said quietly, “is Reasion a boy or a girl?”
Dewberry drifted over to lean upon his shoulder. “Reasion is neither. My friend is the sweetest and truest of all the sprites, but a unique individual in many ways. Reasion has no gender, and has no voice. In fact, although I call Reasion ‘her’ in my own mind, and maybe aloud from time to time, there’s no truth to that.
“We don’t even know Reasion’s mother,” Dewberry added. “She was left as a baby in a basket at the gate to the palace, and my father of all people chose to adopt the baby as a resident of the palace, a playmate who has grown up with me.”
Her brother returned just then with the skin, a smaller skin than the elves typically used. “I think it will hold enough,” Alicia said as she examined it. “We don’t even know for sure if this will do any good for us away from the spring.” She took it to the edge of the water and plunged it in, pressing the air out and pulling it open to draw in the healing liquid, then plugged it closed.
After that the sprites and imps arranged themselves in circles around the elves, and transported them back to the bleak apartment in Center Trunk.
“This was great fun,” Jonson told Kestrel as they returned and ended their traveling embrace.
“I don’t know why we don’t get along with the elves better, and do more things with them,” his sister spoke up in agreement.
“Perhaps because we’re at war with them from time to time at the edge of the swamp,” her other brother suggested, “where the bad elf Chandel tries to hunt our people for sport.”
“No, this works for all of us because there’s something special about Kestrel,” Dewberry interrupted them. “He has the grace of the gods upon him. I trust him. And if he trusts another elf,” she looked over at Alicia, “I’ll trust that elf too. Like that other maiden you were with last time I saw you, the one with light hair. I could tell she was trustworthy,” she said to Kestrel.
“Thank you Dewberry. This was a good way to use one of my three favors! It worked out well for everyone,” he said.
“Oh, this doesn’t even count as a favor. You ended up doing as much for all of us as we did for you,” she responded carelessly. “You just call me again when you need me.”
“I suppose we have to go back to court and get teased now,” she sighed soulfully, turning to the other members of her posse.
“Let’s go to the western mountains instead,” her brother suggested. “I haven’t been there in ages.”
“Do you remember what happened the last time you were there?” Dewberry responded.
“Oh I know, but they’ve surely forgotten that by now, and besides, I feel so good from the spring water I’m sure I’ll be better behaved!” And with that promise he blinked away, and so did the others, one by one, leaving Alicia and Kestrel alone in the apartment just a moment later.
Phew!” Alicia said as she leaned back against the wall. “Who will ever believe this?”
“Alicia, please don’t tell anyone about this,” Kestrel asked earnestly. “Most folks won’t believe it, and Colonel Silvan wouldn’t want more stories about me and sprites circulating around the city, I’m sure.”
Alicia stood straight as she pushed away from the wall, and she walked over to Kestrel. She looked directly in his eyes, and he thought he detected a warmth and kindness that he hadn’t seen her exhibit at any prior time during the day. “I won’t do anything to hurt you Kestrel, don’t worry. Your little blue amoretto was right in saying there’s something trustworthy about you.”
That seemed to break some barrier between the two of them, and they enjoyed the rest of the day, full of banter and pleasure in one another’s company. They went on to see the palace, and walked all the way around the perimeter of the grounds, viewing the towers and the trees from multiple angles.
After that it was very late in the afternoon, and they agreed that they both were famished, having missed lunch, so they stopped at a cafe and ate ravenously. Alicia insisted that Kestrel try a variety of local ales, to sample the flavor of different brews, and she began to lead him from tavern to tavern during the early evening, though she seemed to drink very little herself.
Somehow the conversation seemed to focus on Lucretia and Cheryl. “They were both such good people; Lucretia was gorgeous too, and somehow that’s something I associate with people who have a high opinion of themselves. I never would have expected her to talk to me the way she did after she saw Dewberry,” Kestrel told Alicia as he drank his third ale. “Then she talked, and she was full of questions, and I learned she was such a good person really, someone who just wanted to taste more of life, and see excitement.”
“Was she prettier than Cheryl?” Alicia asked.
In his state of growing inebriation, Kestrel pondered his answer as though his life depended on the answer he gave. “Lucretia was glamorous pretty; Cheryl is warm and friendly pretty,” he intoned solemnly. “No man wouldn’t say Cheryl isn’t pretty, but they’d all appreciate Lucretia more on first glance.”
“What about me? Would you say I’m pretty?” Alicia asked as he sipped more ale.
He sputtered in his mug, then wiped his face on his sleeve.
“I’ll take that as a polite no,” Alicia said laughingly.
“You? You’re very pretty, in an exotic way,” Kestrel answered. “Most men aren’t going to forget those eyes of your once they’ve seen them,” he said, then laughed as she coyly batted her lashes.
“You’re not just saying that because you’ve seen every square inch of my skin there is to see, and had your hands on a fair amount of it too?” she asked with a wicked sparkle in her eyes.
“No, heavens no!” he protested. “Although that may have helped some, for a little while,” he added after consideration.
“No, when I first saw you with that big, impressive uniform, and that hair thing, I didn’t think you were drop dead gorgeous, but even then you were nice to look at,” he explained. “And now, wow!” he looked into her eyes. “You’re something special! Every elf here is jealous that I’ve got you here at our table all to myself, I’m sure,” he said valiantly.
