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PART IV
XXXVIII.
Moss Grove
[Moss Grove | September 1997]
Faeries aren't easy to find, especially when you're looking for them. At least that's how it feels for V as she's trekking through the Scottish Highlands with her housekeeper, Jerome Godfrey Dark, in search of a very particular circular formation of mushrooms through which to step. Mr. Dark is skeptical of the endeavor, especially considering the historic animosity between creatures such as themselves.
"Forgive me for being pessimistic, but this isn't going to go well." Dark says, squinting his black eyes in the harsh noon-day sun. His sleeves are rolled up, revealing a rich tapestry of tattoos carved into his skin.
"Focus, Dark. Now we should be nearing the spot. Keep your eyes on the ground." V is several paces ahead of him, hair tied in a tight bun atop her head, earthen-brown cape billowing in the late-summer breeze.
"You know they hate us, right?" Dark says.
"Does it matter?" V sighs, scanning the field before them.
"How long will this take?"
They enter a grove of shade trees, and after about ten more minutes of Dark stomping along behind her, she halts abruptly. "Close your eyes and take my hand." She orders, stretching her slim, delicate hand out to her companion. Begrudgingly, Dark takes it, and steps into the circle of amanita phalloides mushrooms with her. When they open their eyes, they are surrounded by lithe iridescent figures holding shields and brandishing spears.
"What catastrophe brings the likes of you to Moss Grove?" One of the faeries orders.
"No catastrophe. I understand it's…unorthodox…for devils to just drop in on faeries like this but…we're in exile and we're hoping to meet with Celeste Selwyn…"
"Is she expecting you?" Another faerie levels her spear at V.
"Well…no…" V says.
"There's peculiar magic about you." Still another says, narrowing her eyes.
"It's all very complicated, but I promise we mean you no harm." Dark chimes in, placing a hand n V's shoulder. "Hand over your wand." He whispers to V. She glowers, but reaches into the pocket of her robe and begrudgingly hands over her wand to the nearest faerie.
"This will be returned upon your departure." He says, and motions for the others to back away, clearing a path for them to proceed. "We will escort you to Celeste Selwyn's cottage. Unless, of course, you know the way?"
"We would greatly appreciate the escort. Thank you." Dark says, a little nervously, and holds his hand out to V, who takes it.
"Seems men are universally more well-received. Even here. Hmm." She mutters, scowling around at the trees which, to her unease, scowl right back, their knotty eyes unblinking.
"Isn't that why you asked me to come with you?" Dark snickers.
"No, I asked you to come with me because you're my servant." She growls, looking him sternly in the eyes. "You'll do well to remember your place, Dark."
"Yes. Of course. I didn't mean to overstep." He mutters, casting his eyes ahead to the horizon, upon which a cottage is drawing close, and a clearing, the sound of waves crashing against a craggy shoreline. "I believe we're almost there. What will you do if she doesn't consent to receive you?"
"She doesn't have a choice." V says bluntly.
"Hah. I like your style, Mrs. Riddle." Dark laughs.
"I know you do." V squeezes his hand gently before dropping it at his side and walking quickly to the head of the party, which has halted on the threshold of a squat stone cottage perched on a rocky outcropping practically hovering above the ocean. V steps up to the weathered front door and knocks three times. The door budges just a smidge, and a pair of eyes blink at V from the darkness within.
"Your presence curses this land." The voice from behind the door is thin and tired. "Be gone!"
"We are not like the others." V says, smiling kindly, and sensing Dark's presence behind her like a shadow, she thinks to herself, no, we are much, much worse. "Please, I only ask a minute of your time. The fate of the wizarding world is at stake and…"
"I do not meddle in the world of wizards." Celeste Selwyn opens the door fully to reveal herself – a stout old faery with silver hair spun from stardust, wearing a white tunic light as sunlight itself, and standing only about four feet tall, and that's being generous. "Not anymore."
"We are not wizards." V says. "But the wizarding world is in crisis, and what's about to happen there could potentially impact both our world and yours. My associate and I are in a position to correct some of the issues there…" V glances back at Dark, who smiles encouragingly. "May we come in? Just a minute of your time is all we ask. Please."
"Never trust a devil.' Celeste Selwyn mutters, stepping back and allowing V and Dark to cross the threshold. "Especially one that's smiling at you." She waddles off into the kitchen where a pot of tea is starting to hiss. "You drink tea in the underworld? Or just the blood of the damned?"
"Oh, I do love a nice earl grey." Dark says, sniffing the air. Selwyn clatters two saucers down on the parlor table and sets a pot of tea before them before sitting down herself.
"I take it you haven't met a devil before." V says, picking up the cup delicately and inspecting it. Upon the china are painted small white flowers and clusters of deep purple berries. Selwyn frowns. "Well it's a first for me too – I've never had the pleasure of the company of a faery."
"That's because it's unnatural." Selwyn grumbles, swatting away Dark's hand from the teapot. "Impatient! Let it brew."
"Unnatural in what way? Against the law?" Dark asks.
"So obsessed with the law, you folk are." Selwyn stares intently at Dark. "No, there's no law against it, but there doesn't need to be one because we all know how it is. We have our territory. The wizards have theirs. You have yours. So it's been for centuries. Since the bad years we've learned to respect those boundaries, and we expect that others will do the same."
"The bad years?" V asks.
"You're young." Selwyn says. "You and your…partner wouldn't remember. But they should have taught you. Is there no formal education in the underworld? Beings so obsessed with rules and order must also value tradition and history?"
"We were both raised in exile." V says. "But I remember learning something about faeries and wizards…has it been centuries since you've seen any of them as well?"
"Yes." Selwyn growls, grabbing the teapot and splashing more of the boiling amber liquid in both of their cups. "Is that what you wanted to ask me?"
"No. No, I wanted to ask…" V prepares herself, searching for the right words. "My husband is poised to greatly alter the course of the future of the wizarding world, and I want to know whether his endeavors will be successful." Celeste Selwyn nods, looks at Dark and blinks several times. "No, not him. My husband is a wizard."
"That's strange. It's not how it should be." Sewlyn says. "You're supposed to be married to this one." She points at Dark, whose eyes grow wide in uncomfortable surprise. "He has conceived a child with another woman, your so-called husband…" Selwyn says, shaking her head.
"I didn't ask for relationship advice." V snaps, trying to block out that tidbit of information until she could properly obsess it over later. "Answer the question I asked you." Selwyn snatches V's empty teacup from her and starts to read the wet leaves scattered across the bottom.
"He will not." Selwyn says and shoves the cup into V's hand. "Your husband is doomed to fail, and you will play a role in bringing about his downfall."
"How long? When is this going to happen?" V asks, her hands starting to sweat.
"Ah…not long now. The winds are strengthening. There's been rain in the south. I saw a blackbird fly west this morning. You'd do best to be careful on your journey home." And with that, Selwyn rises abruptly from her chair and snatches Dark's cup away. "You will be escorted back to the gateway."
"Thank you for your hospitality." Dark says, smiling.
"Please get out of my home." Selwyn says sternly, flinging her arm, still holding the teacup, towards the door. V and Dark rise and walk towards the door. Just before she crosses the threshold, V looks back over her shoulder at Selwyn, who is glaring at her, standing still as stone. Just beyond her figure, in the dim background, a child shuffles out of the kitchen to peer at the visitors from behind a chair. Her dark hair is cut boyishly short, and her eyes are cold, grey, and eerily familiar.
"Who is that?" V asks quickly. But in the time she takes to blink her eyes, the child is gone.
"You must leave. Now." Selwyn summons a gust that pushes V outside and slams the door tight in her face. She turns to see Dark looking about, slightly confused.
"They're gone. What do we…where are we supposed to go?" Dark's bearings are all off, something about this place is preventing him from remembering the direction they came from. "And your wand. They're gone and they took your wand…"
"I'll get another one." V shrugs and examines the path before them. There are two other paths, one to the left, and one to the right, and they all look exactly the same. "We could pick one of these…" She muses, but that's only a one-in-three chance of success.
"What other options do we have?" Dark asks, squinting at up at the sun, which is directly above them.
"We burn down the forest." V says, smiling.
"That…is a terrible idea." Dark says, smiling wider.
A/N: Dark is loosely adapted (or "borrowed" if you will) from the character of the same name in Ray Bradbury's "Something Wicked This Way Comes," which if you haven't read yet, you absolutely MUST. It's one of my favorite books.
