AN: Thank you for the reviews everyone! I see someone caught the nod to Wes/gavel in the last chapter; I am most pleased. Someone was laughing at Emma being a giant. Well I warned you there would be strange, cracky relationships; there are also bizarre things like Emma being a giant and Shelby being a gnome ;)
Disclaimer: I don't own much, especially not Glee or Ella Enchanted
When we arrived at Emma and William's new home, Wesley said his goodbyes. Emma begged him to stay but he told her that he had brought me to find my mother and about the ogres he needed to return to.
"Ooh ogres!" she exclaimed with a shudder, "They're so very messy. They never wash. Their nails are always caked with…" she trailed off. "It's my wedding day; we shouldn't talk about such unpleasant things."
Emma insisted on giving him food for his journey, and when he left, his horse was weighed down by a chicken wing the size of my torso and an enormous slice of potato.
"I'll tell the prince I've left you in large, caring hands," Wesley said to me as he departed, grasping my hand and nodding at a beaming Emma.
Emma introduced me to her husband to be, William, who smiled down at me and welcomed me with enthusiasm.
"The young lad is here to find his mother," Emma informed him.
"Lady Susan of Frell," I clarified. I noticed that William pulled a face at Mother's name but his friendly smile slipped quickly back in place, though it seemed a little strained.
"So this is Lady Sue's son," he stated pointlessly, and then sighed. "I'll go find her and tell her you are here."
"Please don't," I requested quickly, "I…want to surprise her."
William seemed ready to accept whatever explanation I could give him if it meant he did not need to seek out Mother. I wasn't surprised that she had failed to make friends with the giant, but I did wonder at what she had done specifically to antagonize him.
"Of course! I love surprises. Well, Kurt, please join us in the barn, where the ceremony will be taking place." The couple showed me out to the barn and urged me to go inside, informing me that they needed to wait until the marriage ceremony began to enter the building. I slipped in, hoping to go unnoticed, and surveyed the room. It was full of all kinds of folk; many giants were of course in attendance, towering over everyone else, their knees generally level with my face. But there were also gnomes, humans, and a few elves. Carol had told me that most faeries looked just as humans did, but Terri would stand out in a crowd because she chose to. I hoped that she was actually in attendance and that I would be able to tell somehow who she was. I passed underneath a bench that held three giants and found a smaller seat next to a young gnome.
As a quartet of singers began to hum a sweet little melody, the audience turned en masse to face the back of the room. Will and Emma stood hand in hand, beaming at their guests. Will was dressed in a wool vest (it seemed to me an odd choice, but I knew little of giant fashion trends) and had applied a liberal amount of oils to tame the curls on his head. Emma looked radiant, covered in hundreds of yards of white lace that flowed to her feet and skimmed the ground. She ducked her head demurely under the gauze of her veil and I wondered how a woman who stood as tall as a house could look like a baby deer.
The bride held a burlap sack in her hands, and the groom a hoe. As they made their way down the aisle, William dug a trench in the ground, and Emma sprinkled seeds into it from her sack. Then they retraced their steps and knelt in the dirt, working together to cover the seeds with the loose earth. I cringed for Emma's dress, but when she stood, it was miraculously spotless. They went to the start of the aisle once more, this time holding a watering can between them and sprinkling the ground as they proceeded to the front of the room. When they reached the front, the crowd burst into cheers and joyful tears. They exclaimed how beautiful the bride was, and how charming the groom, and how happy they would be always, and how they would have many healthy children. Emma and Will merely grinned at the assembled group and waited for the noise to die down before continuing the ceremony.
As I watched the rest of the ceremony, a pantomime of their anticipated lives together from the wedding day to their deaths, I marveled at the sweetness and simplicity of it. It seemed so out of reach for someone like me. I thought back to Tina and Michael, who held each other close, and danced and laughed together by the light of the fire, and again wondered if I could ever experience those things. I slumped a little in my seat as Emma and William clasped hands and circled the room slowly, my heart aching at the impossibility of ever holding hands with someone I loved. Blaine's face flashed in my mind's eye, and I shook my head slightly to ward off unhelpful thoughts. It would do no good to think of such things.
William and Emma lay down beside each other on the ground and closed their eyes, signifying their deaths. Then they sprang to their feet, and the guests erupted into whistles and screeches. Everyone descended upon them, and in the midst of the chaos, I spotted Mother just yards away from me. I ducked my head and scrambled out of the barn, jogging to a hole in the wall a ways from the entrance and reentering there. Giants were quickly moving the furniture about and setting up tables and tables of food. I helped myself to three peas the size of apples and a cheese puff as big as my head from one of the lower tables and teetered my way over to a section of the room designated for smaller guests such as I. I peered through the sea of legs and people, trying to keep an eye on Mother and hoping to somehow find Terri, though I didn't know what she looked like and couldn't even be sure she was present. I noted with bemusement that William and Emma seemed to have disappeared from the festivities.
I was just finishing my first bite of cheese puff when an amused, nasally voice reached my ears.
"Terri, you are absolutely ridiculous." I froze, my spine stiffening and my heart suddenly in my throat. The voice was right behind me. I waited for what seemed like an eternity for a response.
"Oh, April," a delicate, simpering voice tsked in reply, "You've had too much Elfin wine again."
"I don't know…" I turned slowly as a doubtful male voice joined in their conversation, gripping the sides of my seat as though I would fly away if I let go, "they didn't look very happy…"
The light, wispy voice turned sharp. "Well, no one asked you, Howard. As usual."
"Be nice," the first voice slurred. "What did you do to them, anyway?"
"She-"
As Terri interrupted her male companion, I finally laid eyes on her. She was beautiful, of course, perfectly willing to use magic to lend a dewy softness to her skin, a honeyed glow to her golden hair, a sparkle to her luminous, sky-blue eyes. I was struck by her alarming ability to look both soft and sweet and absolutely vicious at the same time. I sat there gaping at her, struck immobile and speechless by this chance encounter. The little squirrel stirred within the pocket inside my coat.
"I didn't do anything to them," Terri told her friends innocently, eyes wide and blinking rapidly, "It is their wedding. I gave them a wedding present. You know, I give, and I give, and I give, and nobody seems to appreciate the things I do for them!"
Terri's companions, undoubtedly faeries as well, considering the nonchalant way they addressed her, held none of her splendor. April was petite and pretty, but the lines on her face belied her true age. Howard was a strange looking man with a bulbous nose and pouting lips. He had darker skin, closer to that of Mercedes. April snorted at Terri's whining and took a sloppy gulp out of her goblet.
"Of course, of course. Well then, what present did you give them?"
"Well," Terri sniffed, wiping a stray tear away from her rosy cheek, "the groom, William, actually reminded me of someone I used to know."
"Ahhh, here we go," April nodded in understanding and offered her goblet to Terri, who accepted it and took a dainty sip before continuing.
"Yes, he reminded me of a lover of mine." Her face darkened, but it did not take away from her beauty. "My lover left me quite suddenly and I was heartbroken. So," she paused significantly. April leaned forward, reaching for her goblet again and spilling some wine as she took it back.
At the silence, Howard tried again. "So, she-"
"So!" Terri's voice rose slightly and she fixed Howard with a deadly look. "So," she continued on, her voice once again deceptively airy and sweet, "I gave the bride and groom a wonderful gift. They will never leave one another. For their whole lives, they shall never part." She clasped her hands to her chest, her eyes now dewy with emotion.
I dropped the pea in my hands in shock.
Howard looked down and shook his head silently. April stared at Terri and then downed the rest of her drink in one gulp. "That's a terrible gift!" she bellowed, slapping the table with her free hand, "No wonder the bride was sobbing!"
"She was just overcome with gratitude and joy!" Terri insisted. "They will never be without one another! What could be more romantic?"
April rolled her eyes. "Romantic. Terri, you need to think before you do things. They'll hate each other within the next fortnight! What will happen when they argue? They won't even be able to go to separate rooms to calm themselves and think things through."
"They won't argue! They're so in love…"
"What if he hums whenever he's concentrating on something and she doesn't like it? What if she likes to scrub every surface available when she's anxious and he can't stand it? Terri, they'll never get a break from one another! They'll drive each other mad." As drunk as April seemed to be, she made an excellent point, which she punctuated with a wobbly jab into Terri's arm.
"But my gift has nothing to do with humming or cleaning," Terri answered with a dismissive wave of her hand, "My gift is about love. It is all they need, and they have so much of it, and will always share it, because they will never part."
"You come visit them in a year," April insisted belligerently, "and then you'll see what love is!"
"All the giants are going to elope, from now on," Howard mumbled. Terri ignored him.
"Fine! I will! I'll return in a year and then you'll see – what are you gawking at? I mean you, boy!" Terri whirled around to glare right at me.
My breath caught in my throat. I gawked stupidly at the faerie who had cursed me, unable to say a word. I noticed vaguely that the squirrel was shaking within the confines of my coat; perhaps Terri's suddenly loud voice had scared it.
"He's probably another receiver of one of your 'gifts,'" Howard said morosely, eying me with pity, "Please don't turn this one into some sort of animal, Terri. You can't know that they lead peaceful, contented lives."
"Shut up, Howard!" Terri snapped, her eyes still fixed on me as I stood there, willing my mouth to start working.
"Why don't you answer me, little boy?" She hissed at me impatiently. "Answer me!"
The order prompted me to speak, but I wanted to be cautious. I spoke to her in Ayorthian, the language of Mercedes's people. Hours spent learning from both Mercedes and Language Mistress had made me quite fluent.
"I am sorry, Lady. I do not understand Kyrrian."
Terri's expression softened and her voice became simpering and sweet once more. "There, there, precious. I asked you why you were staring at me."
I opted for the easiest explanation, and the one most likely to curry her favor. "You are so beautiful."
"How darling! What is your name?"
"K-Christopher."
"Well, sweet Christopher, beauty is not important. The only thing that matters is love. Do you understand me?" Terri's eyes grew misty at her proclamation. I fought not to roll mine.
"Yes, Lady. I apologize for staring."
"There's no need to be sorry, Christopher. You did nothing wrong. You couldn't help yourself," Terri preened, effectively contradicting her previous words, "And you may call me Terri. My friends don't wish for you to know this, but I am a faerie."
"Truly? That is why you are so stunning."
"Yes," Terri confirmed, not bothering at this point to hide her arrogance, "and my friends -"
"Are shop keepers!" April cut in loudly, suddenly, stumbling in a little circle as she came forward and pinched my nose. "Honk! Just shopkeepers, little boy; nothing more, nothing less! We sell…" she paused, a leering grin spreading across her face, and tried to focus her gaze on my face.
"Sheets," Howard mumbled, "Sheets and…things."
"Wait!" April screeched out, now staring at my chest, "what's moving around in your jacket?"
The squirrel was now trembling violently. "Oh, it's just my squirrel. I found it during my travels. But I wanted to-"
"A squirrel, eh?" April fixed me with a beady stare before sliding her eyes over to Terri, who looked mildly intrigued as well. "Let's see it!"
"Oh no," I heard Howard mutter.
Filled with inexplicable foreboding, I heeded April's order and pulled the poor thing out from my pocket. It scrambled desperately in my hands, squeaking in pain and fear. Terri moved April out of the way and bent to peer closely at it.
"Oh my!" She let out a tinkling laugh. "I recognize you! Has it been three years already?" She paused. "Four years! Well, I suppose it's time."
I looked at her in bewilderment as she slid a delicate wand from her sleeves and pointed it at the squirrel.
"What are you-?"
But suddenly, there was a large mass in my hands, and it startled me so much that I dropped it, though its weight would have prevented me from holding it much longer in any case.
I stared down at the sight before me. In place of the little squirrel Blaine and I had rescued lay a boy with floppy brown hair, his face contorted with pain and covered with sweat, and his leg bent at an awkward angle. I quickly recovered from my shock and averted my eyes from his naked form, shrugging out of my coat and laying it over him to preserve his modesty.
Terri smiled down at the terrified boy. "Hello again, Arthur."
A cliffy of sorts! So we've finally met Terri…what do you think of her? Does everybody recognize April (pretty easy) and Howard (maybe a little more obscure) from the show? Who do you think Arthur is?
Next Chapter: Kurt presents his request to Terri and is quite pleased with the result. He also learns more about Arthur, returns home, and gains a romantic prospect.