“Oh, Mother knows everything,” said Kalen, picking up a pebble. “She is a very old fae, after all.”
“Is she?” I mused as we followed the forest path. “She doesn’t look very old to me.”
Kalen laughed. “No, she doesn’t. But Mother is actually three hundred and ninety-three summers old.”
My mouth fell open. Penelope didn’t look a day over forty.
“Our race ages very slowly,” Kalen explained. “She will only start looking old when she has completed a thousand summers. She is one of the elders of the village, but her magic is still strong and she is a gifted healer. Many have come to her for help over the years. Once she even helped your granduncle when he was injured in the woods not far from here.”
It seemed to me that we had been walking for quite a while when I could suddenly hear voices and noises quite clearly in the quiet forest. We came to a large clearing, and the delightful sight that lay ahead left me spellbound.
The forest was alive, radiant and subtly lit by small, shining lanterns hanging from the towering trees. Balls of fae light floated around us, held aloft by tiny illuminations that fluttered excitedly inside the glass balls. I stopped to investigate one of the lights. “Wow! These look like fireflies.”
“Not fireflies,” said Kalen, looking over my shoulder. “Fire-pixies.”
I stared at the tiny pixies buzzing around inside the ball of light. “Are they okay in there?”
“Don’t worry. They are not trapped, they can leave whenever they want. It’s just a job.”
I smiled to myself; this world was slowly becoming much more interesting and not all that bad. It was strange how in this part of the forest everyone seemed to be awake for the market. Birds chirped high above us, and little forest animals poked their heads out of the bushes just in time for me to see them before they disappeared again into the dense undergrowth.
We wandered through the beautifully decorated stalls and multicolored tents that had sprung up all over the place. Some were nestled between the tall trees, while others were haphazardly placed around the edge of the clearing, forming a slightly wonky circle.
Fae of all sizes, shapes, and colors wandered around, having a marvelous time. There were dryads, naiads, brownies, and little pixies with wings who flitted about the place in groups, laughing and eating at the food stalls, which were selling everything from fruit-filled cream puffs to sugar-coated squares of fresh marzipan.
We followed a winding path and came to a stall draped in a rich teal fabric, which was manned by a small, pointy-nosed fae with a bushy beard and long ears. Kalen identified him as a gnome. He was selling some strangely colored liquid in glass bottles and was haggling unashamedly about prices with two old ladies. “I cannot give it to you for that price, madame,” the little gnome said. “Siren tears are not an easy ingredient to find, you know. Maybe I could interest you in a pearl from a mermaid’s tail?”
Kalen chuckled as we left them to work it out. “Mr. Fitzbean always has this problem. He keeps items that are so rare he can never get a buyer rich enough to pay the asking price. He should go sell in the markets in Brandor. That’s where all the real traders go. Although some of the larger towns have shops that sell magical ingredients for potions, the secret markets are the only place you can find some of the really rare items.”
“Are there really sirens and mermaids in Avalonia?” I whispered.
“Of course,” Kalen answered as we walked through the market. “They live mainly in the Stardust Sea and prefer the warmer waters south of Elfi. But they are rarely seen and not very friendly.”
I was absolutely fascinated with this world. There was so much to see and even more to learn. I followed Kalen, who had just entered a green tent with a sign outside that read: “Buy a plant for your home and garden.” That sounded quite ordinary, but I was interested to see what was inside anyway. I thought about buying a plant for Kalen’s mom as a gift—she had helped me a great deal, after all—but I remembered I didn’t have any money.
The tent was not what I expected at all. The inside was bewitched to look like a large greenhouse; like the forest, it was much larger inside than it appeared from the outside. Bright moonlight shone through the glass ceiling, and rows of plants and flowers lined the sides of the tent.
I walked through the rows of plants, looking at the labels that were written next to them. There were strawberry plants in a small tray, growing wonderful, juicy strawberries, each one of which had a dollop of cream on top. The sign near it said: “Grow your own strawberries and cream.”
“Try one,” said Kalen. “No one is watching.”
I couldn’t resist; I loved strawberries and cream. I popped the whole strawberry into my mouth. It was delicious and the cream was thick, fresh, and sweet. It was wonderful.
“Lovely, yes?” said Kalen.
I nodded, since my mouth was full.
“Ms. Herbchild is wonderful at growing things. These strawberry plants with cream are one of her new inventions, but you can only grow them on trays inside the house, or the gnomes lick off all the cream.”
I made a face at the thought of eating a strawberry that had been licked by a gnome.
A small lady with mousy-brown hair and fae ears came over. “I see you like my new plants.” She gave Kalen a pat on his back. “Kalen, it’s marvelous to see you again.”
Kalen grinned at her. He seemed to know everybody
