This is very different from anything I've done in the past. It's rather angsty, as a whole, just for some heads' up. It's basically a four-part series of oneshots. I don't really know how else to describe it. I got the idea for putting Fairy Tales to "Scarborough Fair" and this is what happened. Each of the herbs that are repeated in the chorus of the song have different meanings, and it's those meanings I've based my oneshots on.
Parsley: bitterness.
Sage: strength. (children when barren)
Rosemary: faithfulness, love, remembrance.
Thyme: courage, discovering true love.
This first chapter is a sort of prelude. The real thing starts in Chapter Two.
Special thanks to Yugao, my beta, who's helping me with the series.
Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
"Why, yes. Yes, I 'em. Why d'you ask?"
The man looked nervous, shifting his eyes warily about, as if he was expecting more people to join the destitute man pulling on his sleeve.
"Remember me to one who lives there," the man whispered, not letting go of the man's worn jacket sleeve. "She was once a true love of mine."
"A'right, sure, what's 'er name?" the other man said cautiously.
"You'll know her when you see her. She's the most beautiful thing in the world. Her smile is more radiant than the stars, her hair softer than silk, deeper chestnut than chocolate, and her eyes are greener than the meadows in the spring. You'll know her."
"Sure, sure, a'right," the other man said, slipping out of his grip. "I'll let 'er know."
"Wait," the man said, clutching at his sleeve again. "Tell her – tell her to make me a cambric shirt, without any seams or needlework, and then she can be my love again. And give her this."
He dug in his tattered pocket for a moment, then pulled out a slightly crumpled handkerchief with something rolled up inside.
"I will," the other man said, snatching the bundle and hurrying away before the lunatic could say anything else.
"A cambric shirt without seams or needlework," he muttered. "What nons'nse. He's touched, or's had too much to drink. P'raps both."
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.
