Chapter 94

Anita came bustling in and breathlessly exclaimed, "The queen is going to stop by here during her morning processional!"

Her eyes glittered as she held her hands together over her modest bosom in supplication, "Please, tell me you'll be presentable by then!"

She did a slight double take and said, "Dena, you're here? I wasn't expecting to see you here, of all places."

Dena smiled at her and replied, "When Roger tauld me abit th' renfairy whit watched o'er April last nicht, Ah decided Ah wished tae see thes faire Ah've heard sae much ay."

Anita rolled her eyes and said, "Don't you care if people see you here? At home, you'll disappear in a heartbeat when strangers come around. It was months before Warren finally saw you and he's practically fae himself!"

Dena smirked and replied, "Haur, it doesnae matter if Ah amm seen. Thes is a fantasy faire is it nae? Fowks who see me wull 'hink Ah'm a part ay th' faire an' nae tae taken seriously."

Anita looked over at Roger who was standing there with his trademark crooked grin in place, she exclaimed, "Do something with her!"

He laughed and replied, "What do you suggest? Haven't you noticed how many sprites there are around here? They're attracted to the feelings and desires of the people here, faire folk and their guests all wishing to have a fantasy experience in real life. Frankly, I'm surprised Titania herself hasn't made an appearance, can you imagine how that would go over?"

He smiled, "Dena has already given folks here a real life fantasy experience, one that will be fondly remembered, even if it seems like it was only a beautiful dream."

"Why hasn't Freya given people that 'fantasy experience' then?"

Roger shrugged and replied, "Freya is still being seen as an extraordinarily tall girl, she hasn't reached full growth yet. Jotuns don't seem to be so fantastic to normies as they'll picture giants as being taller than trees and capable of carrying off houses and such."

He smiled at Dena, "Dena here IS a fantasy come to life, a doll sized person of striking beauty, a tiny elf or a pixie. Most of the people here took her to be a doll I was carrying, had any of them really looked at her, they would've seen her talking to me. The royal court saw and heard her talking, whether or not they really accepted her as being a 'neighbor', remains to be seen."

Roger spotted Maribel in her renfairy attire meandering along, seemingly oblivious to the normies around her.

He smiled at the sight of the wild sprite sitting quite comfortably in the ivy circlet she wore on her head.

Momentarily, his eyes met the sprite's and he winked at her, she flushed and her wings vibrated in her surprise at being seen.

Maribel's eyes widened briefly at the fleeting sensation of vibrating insect wings she felt emanating from her ivy circlet.

Turning towards Anita, he asked, "Is that adder stone stone of yours handy?"

"It sure is!" She replied and moments later, it was in her hand, "Here you are!"

"Hand it to Warren, could you?"

Anita did as she was told and a few moments later, Warren was chuckling as he beheld the clustered sprites curled up on Astrid's furry form.

"It appears that Astrid has acquired some hitchikers!" he said before looking at the renfairy as she slowly approached.

He paused, then said, "Isn't she the renfairy little April was with last night?"

"Yes, she is and it seems she made a new friend."

"So I see...I wonder if she knows?"

Roger said softly, "I have a feeling she does now."

"How so?"

"I made eye contact with that sprite and winked at her, she got a little flustered and vibrated her wings a bit. I think Maribel felt it as her eyes got wider for a moment, but she is in character and she'll stay that way until close of faire this afternoon."

Warren continued peering through the adder stone and muttered, "Is it me, or am I seeing larger versions of sprites?"

Roger glanced in the direction he indicated and saw several ariels perching on a nearby tree while watching the faire goers below them.

"No, they are not sprites, those are ariels."

Warren glanced at him, "What's the difference?"

"Well, size for one. Ariels are about as large as a crow while sprites rarely get larger than a mocking bird and have insectlike wings. An ariel's wings are more like a bird's wing, with feathers that molt and fall out as they wear." he paused, "They're also pranksters, prone to dropping twigs and little pebbles on people."

Roger grinned, "They'll also steal your french fries if you leave them out where they can get at them. Most people will think it was birds that took them, when sometimes it was an ariel that took them."

"Ah... Will they become a problem?"

Roger shrugged, "It's hard to say, if they know that someone can see them, they'll likely behave themselves and if they know that the Lady of the night might learn of their mischief, they'll make themselves scarce. It all depends really."

"Lady of the night?"

"One of the titles for Titania, the queen of old Albion, or Faery."

"Okaaay, anything else I need to know about them?"

"They have been known to lure humans with the sight into Faery with empty promises of wonderful things awaiting them. I would advise caution when dealing with an ariel."

"Ah"

Roger noticed that they were looking at the tiny sprite perched in Maribel's ivy circlet and nudging each other.

A prank was in the making.

He said, "Excuse me, I'll be right back!"

He picked up Dena, saying, "I need you for a few moments..."And placed her on his shoulders.

Stepping outside with Dena in place, he stepped close to the diminutive renfairy and motioned to get their attention.

At this point Dena noticed the ariels and muttered, "Those ariels best be behavin' themselves if they ken whit's guid fer them!"

Dena cried out, "Min' yer manners, Ah'm watchin' ye!" her voice was pitched so that it was little more than a squeak to passersby.

The ariels then realized that Roger had a wood wife with him and she was on to them.

With a flapping of wings they took off, muttering amongst themselves, a wood wife was watching them and pissing off a wood wife, was not a good idea.

Without breaking character, Maribel paused momentarily as if she was looking into the distance and Roger surreptitiously dropped a morsel of chocolate into the ivy circlet she was wearing, where the tiny sprite could find it.

Maribel resumed her otherworldly trek around the faire grounds and Roger stepped back inside Warren's booth.

"Prank prevented!" He declared as he gently lifted Dena off his shoulders and set her back down on the straw bale.

Dena turned around and said, "Who is 'at lassie actin' as if she's nae aw thaur?"

Roger smiled at her and replied, "That, my dear, is the renfairy I was speaking of last night, she kept an eye on April for me."

He grinned, "At this very moment, she has a sprite riding in her ivy circlet and that was the reason why I took you outside so you could see the ariels. They were planning on pranking her and I used the threat of your displeasure to thwart their schemes."

Dena looked at him, tilted her head slightly and said coyly "An' haur Ah thooght ye wanted tae hauld me in yer arms..."

Warren burst out laughing and said, "I think you need to show Lady Dena more of the faire, perhaps take in one of shows? Anyway, scoot! I've got a booth to manage."

Resuming their trek once more, Roger stopped at an ale stand where he purchased drinks for the three of them. Or rather, he bought a tankard of ale and a tankard of lemonade, then carefully poured a small portion of his ale into a tiny glass tankard he'd brought for Dena's use.

They made for quite the trio, a human man, a young frost giantess and less apparently, a two foot tall wood wife, out for a visit to the faire.

They briefly stopped at the 'Den of Iniquity' where they watched the self proclaimed men's 'drinking group with a singing problem' up on stage.

They spotted Freya immediately because of her size and the leader declared, "We happen to know that you, Lady Freya are underage. Are you here with an irresponsible adult?"

Roger raised his hand and the leader grinned, "Fie on thee sir, bringing an innocent lass where she could be corrupted by louts and drunkards like us!"

Freya laughed and retorted, "Ah've heard worse in skale! An' Ah heard yoor singin' last nicht efter hours. Ye cannae scaur me nane!"

The leader grinned, "Challenge accepted, m'lady!"

And they resumed their show, to Dena's great delight.

Following their show, Roger stopped at the merchandise table and bought several of their music CD's to take home with him.

While the girl was totaling up his purchases she commented, "That's an amazing doll you have there, she looks so real I could swear she's alive!"

Dena spoke up suddenly, "An' whit makes ye hink Ah'm a doll?"

The girl's eyes got very large and she numbly handed Roger his change along with his CD's.

Roger quickly thanked her, then strode away before the girl could recover her wits.

He quietly chided Dena, "Like it or not, you do look like a doll to most people"

"Okay" muttered Dena.

To reassure her, he gently squeezed her pretty legs and said,"Like you yourself said, folks who see you here will think you're a part of the faire and not to be taken seriously, remember?"

"Aye, Ah dae remember."

"Still buds?"

"Ay coorse, we're buds 'til th' end."

Continuing their stroll they soon encountered 'Robber's Roost' where a show calling itself "Beat the Hourglass!" was playing.

Freya stopped and stared for a few moments before saying, "Ah ken those twa frae last nicht. Let's bide an' watch their shaw!"

Finding some empty space on one of the long benches, Roger and Freya settled down to watch the comedic acrobats perform.

It wasn't long before Freya was spotted by the comedic duo.

At eight feet tall, even sitting down, she loomed over everyone there.

The duo with a great deal of exaggeration, began winking and nudging each other until finally one of them cried out, "For our next performance we require a tall woman to assist us, the taller the better, in fact the tallest would be best!"

He leered at the audience, "We promise to behave ourselves..."

Several tall women looked around to see if anyone else was willing to step up and before long, a number of people were looking at Freya expectantly.

Roger nudged her and muttered, "You're on, kiddo!"

Freya rose to her feet and stood for all to see, a Jotun maiden towering over all of them.

She smiled shyly and said, "Wull Ah dae?"

The speaker grinned broadly and said, "Yes, you certainly will...Do."

As she stepped up onto the stage to stand next to him, the speaker told a brief story.

"Lords and Ladies, good gentles, please allow me to bore you with a brief tale of discovery."

He loudly cleared his throat with much hemming and hawing.

"It was a dark and stormy night.." He began.

To which his partner groaned loudly and cried, "Not THAT tale of discovery, THIS, tale of discovery!"

The partner took a wide stance, "And there I was, and there she was..."

The first speaker cried, "They don't want to hear your sordid fantasies about new ways of self abuse!"

The partner looked aghast, "They don't?!"

"No, they don't...And neither do I!"

At this point Freya asked, "Wa am Ah up haur again?"

The first speaker grinned at her then said to the audience, "I met this lovely young lady last night and decided to woo her, but how do I woo such a towering beauty as she? I needed an assistant!"

He clapped a hand on his partner's shoulder, "Partner!" he cried, "I require your assistance!"

His partner, looking slightly skeptical of his motives asked, "What, pray tell, sort of assistance do you require?"

The first speaker declared, "I require you to get down on thy hands and knees and brace yourself!"

His partner gawked and cried in dismay, "Here? Now, while there's an audience?"

The first speaker replied, "Yes, now get down to it. We are burning daylight here!"

His partner shrugged and began unbuckling his belt and loosening his trousers.

"And what, pray tell, are you doing?"

"Why, I am getting ready, of course!"

"Ready? Ready for what?"

"Well, you know... THAT!"

"Never you mind about... THAT! Just get into position!"

His partner tightened his trousers back up and rebuckled his belt while he fumed, looked at the hour glass and looked heavenward for relief.

Freya meanwhile stood there quietly until she too, looked at the hour glass then commented, "Ah huvnae got aw day, when is thes wooin' Ah hear tell ay gonnae tak' place?"

Roger was chuckling during all this, he knew they were making it up on the fly and Freya was being a good sport about it.

The audience seemed to be enjoying the show and their laughter only encouraged the comedic duo.

Having restored his trousers to their usual position, the partner with much mumbling and muttering got down on his hands and knees and braced himself.

The speaker bowed to the audience and said cheerfully, "Don't try this at home folks, we're highly trained professionals!"

The kneeling partner grumbled, "'Tis easy for you to say, you're not th' one on his hands and knees!"

The speaker stuck a dynamic pose and cried, "For queen and country!"

He stepped up onto his partner's back who then groaned and said hoarsely, "I'm puttin' you on a diet!"

The speaker turned to Freya and taking her hand in his, said, "Oh beauteous maiden, fairest in all our shire. Where have you been all my life?"

The kneeling partner cried, "That's it? That's the best you can come up with after putting me through all this?"

He arched his back and bucked the speaker off before standing up himself and barking, "Here, I, Will the piper's son, will show you how it's done!"

He looked at the audience, jerked a thumb at the speaker and said, "Amateurs, they'll do it every time!"

He pointed at the floor and declared, "Varlet! Assume the position!"

The speaker began hemming and hawing and muttering, "But I never get on my knees..."

At that moment, the sand ran out in the large hourglass and a bell was rung.

There was brief moment of fanfare from the trumpeters and the speaker announced, "Annnd that, Lords and ladies, good gentles, concludes our show. Feel free to leave a small gratuity with one of our helpers on your way out. Annd, thank you for coming!"

In the brief moment of silence that followed, Freya's voice could be heard asking, "Sae, when is thes wooin' gang tae start?"

Continuing on, they spotted a meat pie stand where Roger ordered a couple of steak and mushroom pies and Freya ordered three shepherd's pies, Dena took a bit longer to order and she finally chose a spinach and feta cheese pie.

The couple working the pie stand tried very hard not to stare at Dena's tiny form as she sat on Roger's shoulder and pondered her choices.

When the pies were delivered, the proprietress handed over the bag with an apology, "I'm sorry we don't have any forks in your size M'lady."

Dena smiled at the goggle eyed woman and replied, "'Tis nae warries, Ah brooght me ain!" For emphasis she patted her holding bag.

An ale stand nearby happily sold them refills on their drinks and Helen Larsen, the tavern wench on duty cheerfully filled Dena's tiny glass tankard for her.

Helen smiled at the adorable wood elf and said cheerfully, "What a pleasant surprise seeing you here. Are you enjoying our faire?"

Dena grinned at Anita's mother and replied, "Ah loch it haur verra much, 'tis quite interestin'."

Helen chuckled and remarked, "I'm glad you like it. Anita and I work this faire every year, have been since she was in grade school."

She glanced around, "Have you seen her today?"

Roger commented, "Last we saw her, she was attempting to make Warren 'presentable' for the queen's visit later today."

Helen chuckled and remarked, "They've become quite close. He's like the father figure she never had, a real good influence on her, he is."

She smiled, "Are you staying for after close of faire tonight?"

Roger smiled, "I have a feeling we will be, Dena wants to meet Maribel, the renfairy who watched over April last night."

Helen laughed and said to Dena, "Don't be too hard on her, she took very good care of April, from what I've heard."

Dena merely smiled, "Ah'll be nice tae 'er."

They quickly found a table where they laid out the food and drink they had bought

There was a brief moment where both Dena and Freya placed their palms together, closed their eyes and said, "Itadakimasu!" before taking up their utensils.

Dena sat cross legged on the table while she noshed on her spinach and feta cheese pie and sipped at her ale.

Roger and Freya quickly demolished their own meat pies and were sipping at their drinks while Dena continued eating.

Finally, she set down her tiny fork and belched.

At her size, it sounded almost like a tree frog's chirrup and was not at all offensive, in fact Roger laughed and said, "Sorry honey, you're still too adorable to be offensive."

Dena merely stuck out her tongue at him, not wishing to dignify his comment with a response.

"So how do you like the faire, so far? Mind you, we've only seen a bit more than half of it, there's still the 'living history' portions of it to be seen."

Dena smiled and remarked, "Ah loch it hui uv a much, Ah huvnae hud thes much fin in a lang time!"

Looking at the scanty remains of her spinach and feta cheese pie, he asked, "What about the food and the drink? You seemed to have enjoyed that pie and the ale you got."

Dena belched another chirrup and replied, "Th' scran isnae up tae Silky's standards an' th' ale is middlin' guid. Ah still ate an' drenk it didnae Ah?"

Roger chuckled and remarked, "True that, and to be fair, Silky has spoiled us with her cooking, I'll not deny that and we do have Old Harald's ales to compare against the offerings of the ale stands here."

They disposed of their trash and continued on their way towards the living history portion of the faire.

The route they chose led them past Warren's booth and as they approached it they saw the Royal Court and a crowd of the curious, had assembled right outside his door.

Drawing near they could see the queen playing with Astrid's velvety ears as she chatted with Warren and Anita.

Lord Thistle spotted the trio aproaching and beckoned for them to make haste in their approach, then he turned and whispered in the queen's ear.

The queen smiled at them and beckoned for them to enter her impromptu court.

Roger took a moment to set Dena on her feet and they entered the royal court together.

Approaching as close as was proper, Freya and Dena executed perfect curtsies while Roger did a courtly bow.

"Your Highness, had we known our presence was required, we would have been here before your arrival." He said quietly.

The queen smiled and replied, "You have arrived exactly at the right moment!"

Roger smiled as he spotted a gentleman dressed as a famous wizard, who then nodded at him.

The wizard had spotted Dena standing between him and Freya.

Nearby was a couple of renfairies who feigned disinterest in the affairs of mortals while struggling not to stare at Dena, who really was an immortal.

The queen nodded at her page who stepped forward, unrolled an elaborate scroll and began to speak in a clear, ringing voice.

"Hear ye, hear ye!

By royal decree and public proclamation it is hereby declared before our Lord God, Elizabeth, our gracious Queen and the good people of Canterbury Shire.

That on this day, the twenty first of July in the year of our Lord, Fifteen Eighty.

That Master Warren Johnson be named Librarian Royal to Her Majesty's court and be henceforth known as Sir Warren, Keeper of the Royal Library!"

At that, Warren, dressed in a white robe, knelt in place with his head bowed and uncovered before his queen.

The queen placed a medallion around his neck then stepped back before taking Lord Thistle's proffered sword and lightly tapping him on each shoulder.

Raising the sword once more she cried, "Rise, Sir Warren, keeper of the Royal Library!"

As Warren rose to his feet, he bowed to the queen and stepped back before putting his hat back on and walking to where Roger and company stood watching.

Roger was about to offer his congratulations when he heard...

"Roger Tate, of Wolf Hills manor, come forth to receive thy reward!"

Feeling a bit confused, Roger stepped forward and bowed.

While he was in that position, two pages approached and quickly slipped a white robe over his garb before escorting him before the queen.

Like Warren did before him, he knelt and bowed his bare head before the queen.

The leather lunged page from before unrolled a beautifully written scroll and cried

"Hear ye! Hear ye!

By royal decree and public proclamation it is hereby declared before our Lord God, Elizabeth, our gracious Queen and the good people of Canterbury Shire.

That on this day, the twenty first of July in the year of our Lord, Fifteen Eighty.

That Master Roger Tate of Wolf Hills Manor be granted knighthood as a token of our realm's and our queen's gratitude for his service to our beloved realm.

Henceforth he shall be known as Sir Roger, of Wolf Hills manor."

The queen placed a medallion around his neck then stepped back before taking Lord Thistle's proffered sword and lightly tapping him on each shoulder.

In her clear voice, the queen declared, "Rise, Sir Roger, knight of the realm. Go with our love and our gratitude!"

Like Warren before him, Roger rose to his feet and bowed to the queen before he stepped back, covered his head and returned to his place alongside Freya.

By now, a sizeable crowd had gathered and murmurings could be heard, "Lookit the size of that girl, she's gotta be eight feet tall!"

"She goes to my kid's school, she's pretty nice."

"Never mind her, lookit the little girl, you think she's real?'

"Is she an elf?"

The page cleared his throat and cried once more.

"Hear ye! Hear ye!

Will Lady Freya Sigurdsdottir and Lady Dena Greenwood please step forward!"

Roger and Warren stifled grins as the two named women glanced at each other and stepped forward.

Whispers of "Oh, my, gawd! She is, real!" went rippling through the crowd as they realized that Dena was no doll, she was indeed, real.

The two standing side by side really made for quite the contrast in size as Freya towered over Dena by six feet at least.

The page began.

"Hear ye! Hear ye!

By royal decree and public proclamation it is hereby declared before our Lord God, Elizabeth, our gracious Queen and the good people of Canterbury Shire.

That on this day, the twenty first of July in the year of our Lord, Fifteen Eighty.

That Lady Freya Sigurdsdottir and Lady Dena Greenwood of Wolf Hills Manor be granted the rank of Lady of the realm, and shall henceforth, be granted the rights privileges, and protections given to that rank and entitlements."

Without being told, Freya knelt before the queen and bowed her head.

With a warm smile, the queen placed a beribboned medallion around her neck.

Stepping over to Dena, the queen this time, knelt before the tiny wood elf and placed a scaled down beribboned medallion around her neck.

Rising to her feet, the queen stepped back and in her clear, ringing voice declared, "It is my greatest pleasure to confer ladyship and full citizenship upon the two who really and truly, put the fantasy into our faire on this day!"

She smiled and cried, "Please welcome Lady Freya of Jotunheim and Lady Dena of the Green Woods, into our family!"

A great cry of "Huzzah! God save the Queen!" went up and Roger muttered to Warren, "I think we've been upstaged!"

Warren merely shrugged and muttered back, "Will anyone here remember seeing Dena today?"

"I have no idea, we'll find out soon enough won't we?"