Okay- I just go on trying to convince you of this story, thank you so much for granting me feedback.
Chapter 2
Elisabeth looked out of the living room's window into the dark night.
The lone giant who collected the pixie's mail and carried it to its destination all over the country was late today- she wasn't surprised, had sometimes wondered why he bothered to come at all. No pixie send something to anybody- the whole concept of giving information to an outsider was alien to her people. But the giant came, every month. And she was waiting for him tonight.
For she needed the package gone before she changed her mind about sending it in the first place.
She eyed the box warily. Looking so innocent, a vessel of brown paper. But loaded like a bomb, ready to change her beloved daughter's life forever. Would Teresa forgive her if she learned what her mother had done?
Elisabeth sighed and sat down at the fireside, lifting her needlework to continue with her stitches. Her tiny fingers made quick work of the coarse fabric, she knew how to do this, had done it all her life, in fact. A nice, obedient little housewife. But deep inside her, she knew a spark of Teresa's curiosity, her hunger to see new things, smell new fragrances, taste nuances no pixie had ever tried before. Her girl would see what she couldn't, she would make sure of it.
She looked at the brown box. No doubts. She had to do this.
And then she heard it. The faint ringing of a tiny bell. It hung across a horse's neck. The horse of the giant who came to collect the mail.
xxMentalistxx
Cho frowned, reading the letter again and again. His back hurt slightly, he'd been sitting in this very chair for hours now, reading the papers he'd taken from the innocent brown box he'd received earlier that day. The first mail he'd ever received from a pixie- in all of the 568 years of his life.
He'd read every word of the documents, more than three times. That was, every word he had been capable of understanding...there were languages even he, the most advanced of the cardinal advisors, had never heard, and codes he couldn't begin to understand, but they were all here, cracked with ease by the hand of a master. Even Shibar, the most complicated code the Shadows, arch-enemies of all the fairies, had ever developed. Faebar's leading intellectuals had failed to decode it. But this strange pixie had.
Cho sat back, dumbfounded. He'd learned that the pixies were simple, stupid even. That most of them couldn't read, that they had no aspirations, were content to tend to their forests and gardens, not sharing their stories and history with anyone.
But this pixie had applied for the highest position the fairy world had to offer- the place closest to the king, Faebar's absolute ruler.
He took the letter again- T. Lisbon, it was signed. Tiny handwriting, unimpressive, neat. But this guy was possibly the most brilliant mind Kimball Cho had ever encountered. He couldn't help it- he needed him on his team, right here on the council.
A pixie. The king would be enthused. Cho snorted- he would most likely kill him.
Pixies were the unknown race, the people nobody had a hint about. They could be dangerous. Hell, he didn't even know how they looked. If they were able to speak fairy tongue.
But yes- this pixie was able to speak their language, he was able to write all the dialects he could imagine.
He was a genius. And he was needed here.
xxMentalistxx
"Rigsby", Cho cried out to the giant keeping watch in front of the throne room, "I need to talk to the king- now."
Rigsby squatted down.
"The master is resting", he said quietly, "he's not to be disturbed."
Cho sighed in exasperation. Giants were known to be fiercely faithful once they'd sworn their loyalty to a master. Rigsby, who was Jane's personal bodyguard, would die for the king without flinching. And he would kill Cho on the spot if he dared to misstep.
"It's important, Rigsby", he said softly, "the king would want me to wake him up if he knew my request. And I will be gentle in rousing him- I promise."
Rigsby growled, but got up reluctantly and bowed down to open the door to the king's quarters. Cho entered the throne room, nodding his thanks to the giant.
The king wasn't sleeping. He sat on his throne, in quiet conversation with Gandoli, his closest friend, messenger and personal servant. The young dwarf looked thoughtful, which was very unlike him. Dwarfs were happy, cheerful fellows in general, and Gandoli was no exception. He had lively black eyes and despite his young age already an impressive brown beard- male dwarfs had rampantly growing facial hair and all gave up on shaving eventually.
Jane looked up when Cho approached his throne.
"Cho, my friend", he said slowly, "Do you bring good news? We could use them."
His words made clear immediately that Gandoli wouldn't leave, so Cho didn't request to speak to the king alone.
"Well, your highness", he started, "I don't know how good my news are, in fact. Iā¦spent the past months reading every application for the important post we advertised. I studied awesome works, learned about brilliant people, outstanding intellectuals. But no one impressed me as much as this one."
He handed 's letter to the king.
"A pixie?", Jane chuckled, "You're kidding me, aren't you, my friend?"
"I wouldn't dare, my lord.", Cho said, bowing his head.
"Have you ever seen a pixie, Cho?", the king asked softly, "Do you know their size? The color of their skin? How they procreate? This could have four heads for all we know. He could spew fire and destroy my castle with a gush of his breath. We know nothing about this race, my friend."
"Mr. Lisbon cracked Shibar, my lord.", Cho stated calmly.
The king looked up, surprised now.
"He cracked the Shadow's most advanced code, one our experts never deciphered", Jane smiled, "in the documents he sent with his letter of application- without asking for payment in advance? Then he's as stupid as the pixies are said to be."
"Maybe he just wanted to show his courtesy", Cho said, "as some kind of gift to us. The decoding sequence will be helpful, your highness- nobody knows this better than you."
Jane stared at his friend. Yes, he knew- his vengeance depended on information. He would never find Red John without access to confidential data. Data that would most likely be encoded. The Shadows were shady, cold-hearted, afraid of light and water, breeding more killers among their population than any other race. And their government protected these killers, refusing to extradite them to the victim's peoples. If Red John was a Shadow, Jane had to gain access to their classified documents- which hadn't been possible without decoding Shibar.
Cho came closer.
"Your highness", Cho said softly, placing his hand on the king's shoulder, "the pixie applied for this post. He wants to come here. And honestly- we can't forgo his remarkable abilities."
Jane looked into Cho's eyes.
"A test.", he whispered.
"Pardon, my lord?", Cho inquired, frowning.
"Let's put this formidable pixie to a test", Jane smiled, "if he passes- he can try his hand at being my chief advisor."
"Which test?"
"We send him a message", the king mused, "telling him the date and time of his audience with me in this very room. If he can read it and shows up- he's in for probation."
"Why shouldn't he be able to read it?"
"We write the message- in Brova.", Jane chuckled when he saw Cho's face.
"That's not fair, my lord", the cardinal advisor gasped, "Brova is the most advanced code ever written. Only the fairy council has the decoding sequence- and we can read it only because we generated the code ourselves. Countless brilliant hackers have tried their hands- all failed. There's no way the pixie will be able to crack it."
"Then maybe, he's not up to the challenge after all?", the king sat down on his throne, smirking, "my decision is definite. I'll seal the message myself. If the pixie doesn't show up before my throne at the appointed date- he's out."
Cho gritted his teeth. Damn, his king could be so stubborn sometimes. But there was nothing he could do to change his mind- he'd learned that over the years.
"As you wish, my lord", he said, bowing deep, before he turned and left.
You're most possibly still not enthused about this- but I'll just continue for a while, okay? Please tell me what you think, maybe you'll get hooked later. If not- I'll write it off as an experiment, and that's okay, too.
