Chapter 95
After the customary rousing chorus of cheers had subsided.
The queen's court fell back into formation as she mounted her sedan chair and with a fanfare of trumpets, a beating of drums and ringing cries of "Make way for the queen, Make way for the queen!"
They resumed their grand processional, leaving the four of them standing there looking slightly goggle eyed as the cacophonic processional disappeared from view.
A throat was cleared and Roger glanced at the source of the sound.
Standing there was the older gentleman they'd seen earlier and he was smiling at them.
"I have not seen either a wood elf or a frost giant in many a long year. All this time I thought they had followed the high elves across the sea, to the western lands beyond the edge of the world." He said as he gazed at them, his deep set eyes twinkling in merriment.
"An' ye ur?" Asked Freya.
The old man chuckled softly and replied, "Please forgive an old man for his ramblings, it has been a very, very long time since I have seen any of the fair folk."
Roger was about to ask him what he meant when Warren said cheerfully, "Well guys, I've got a booth to manage. If you're going to stay for after faire, come by my booth and I'll vouch for you if the beefeaters don't already know who you guys are!"
He grinned at them and strode off to his booth, pausing only briefly to play with Astrid's velvety ears before stepping inside his booth once more.
Seeing how Warren had not reacted to the old man's presence, Roger asked him bluntly, "Who, are you and are we the only ones who can see or hear you here?"
The old man smiled, "My name?" he murmured, "My name..." he began "I have been called by many names over the years, no, make that centuries, many centuries." he looked around at the rest of the faire goers, some dressed in garb, others in fantasy costumes while many others wore modern street clothing. All of them out for a day of enjoying a festive atmosphere in a fantasy setting.
He said softly, "Only those who have the 'sight' can see me as I am, if I so desire." Turning his gaze back onto Roger, he said, "I have heard tell on the winds of a house near the shores of the western continent, the new land. A house where mortals and fae coexist in harmony, a house that has hosted the Lady of the night herself and is watched over by giant guardian wolves and spriggans."
There was a brief interruption when an ariel swooped down and landed on his shoulder to whisper in his ear.
The old man smiled and muttered something to the ariel, whereupon the androgynous ariel turned and stuck its tongue out at Dena before taking off in a flurry of wings.
Dena's face reddened and she spluttered, "Wa 'at wee brat ay an ariel, it stuck its tongue oot at me!"
The old man chuckled softly and said quietly, "It would seem Eurus doesn't like you little one, why would that be?"
Dena folded her arms over her well rounded bosom and replied, "Mayhaps it is because Ah tauld a gaggle ay ariels tae behae themselves an' nae tae prank a wee sprite ridin' oan a yoong girl's head."
"Ah, I see. The east wind has traveled with me for many a long year and sees and hears many things. Doubtless it heard of your admonishing some of its kin and only heard what they wanted it to hear. Not to worry, I will tell it your side of the story when next I see it."
Dena smiled at the old man and replied, "Thenk ye, Ah 'preciate 'at!"
He smiled and replied, "You are very welcome little one."
He looked at Roger first, then he looked up at Freya and finally he looked down at Dena.
He smiled and said, "It was a great pleasure meeting you all on this day. It was most auspicious..."
He smiled again and seemed to fade from view as a gentle breeze toyed with the leaves on the trees and gathered up a few dry leaves before playfully whirling them away into the sky and out of sight.
Roger blinked a couple of times, then stirred himself.
Had he been seeing things, had that been a dream or was that old man really some sort of a wizard?
He glanced at his two companions, they too had many questions begging for answers.
Finally he spoke, "You guys saw the same things I did, didn't you?"
Dena replied in her piccolo of a voice, "Did ye mean th' auld wizard oanly we coods see an' hear?"
Freya only nodded in agreement with Dena's remark and he smiled and said, "Good to hear that I wasn't the only one involved in this."
"Whit did he want?" Asked Freya.
Roger shrugged and replied, "I have the feeling he was merely introducing himself to let us know he exists. He never did give his name nor did he ask for our names, although by his remarks, he is familiar with us and our house."
"Whit noo?" asked Dena.
"I have no idea, the ball's in his court and I presume he will contact us again when the time is right."
He shrugged and said cheerfully, "For now there is nothing we can do about our encounter and all this talking has made me thirsty and as they would have said back in the day, 'let us away to a tavern near, for we thirst and ale sounds very good right about now!"
Freya grumped and muttered, "Fer yoo maybe, but Ah'm oanly four an' ten an' th' law says nae ale fur me doon haur."
Roger chuckled, "Sorry about that my dear. For now, you'll have to put up with lemonade, at least until after faire closes and the rules get set aside."
Without further ado, they hied themselves to the nearest ale standard and placed their orders.
Roger's order was cheerfully filled without any problems and so was Freya's order, when it came to Dena's order, they hit a snag.
The proprietress eyed the tiny glass tankard and said, "And what is this? Some sort of a joke?"
"'Tis nae joke, 'at's me tankard an' Ah want it filled wi' ale, if ye please!" Piped up a piccolo of a voice from below.
The proprietress looked askance at both Roger and Freya, then she leaned over the counter, her generous bosom threatening to spill out of her bodice.
Looking down she saw Dena's tiny form looking up at her, a lovely smile on her pretty face.
The woman gaped and blurted out, "My god, you're an elf!"
She looked back up at Roger and said, "Please tell me you see her too!"
He grinned and replied, "Of course I see her, I brought her here..."
She frowned and said, "I'm gonna need to see some I.D. On her, I have no way of telling how old she is, state law, you know."
"Seriously, you're gonna pull that here, of all places?"
She crossed her fleshy arms over her rather operatic bosom and said stoutly, "Yes, I am!"
"Whit's gang oan, whaurs me ale?" came the squeak of Dena's voice from below.
Roger glanced down and said, "It seems there is a question about your age and how to prove it."
"Whit daes me age hae tae dae wi' oniething?"
Roger sighed and said, "State law says you have to be over 21 years of age to purchase alcoholic beverages and without any proof of identity, we have no way of proving you're over 21."
"Whit th' hell?" came the squeak of outrage from below.
Roger didn't even have time to roll his eyes before Dena had hopped up onto the ale stand's counter, her eyes blazing.
"Uh, oh, she's pissed!" thought Roger just before Dena cried, "21 years ay age? Ah huvnae bin 21 in centuries ye silly bint, Ah'm a stoatin' grandmother mony times o'er! Coods Ah be a bairn an' be built loch thes? Noo, dae Ah gets me ale ur nae?"
The woman was about to reply when a masculine voice said, "What seems to be the trouble here?"
Roger glanced over and saw officer Tovar dressed as a beefeater rapidly approaching, there was a brief flash of recognition and Roger said cheerfully, "Officer Tovar, small world isn't it?"
Officer Tovar grinned and replied, "It's corporal Tovar now, I've moved up in the world since I last saw you."
At a glance he took in the scenario, Dena was standing up on the counter, her face reddened in her anger. The proprietress was standing behind the counter, her face equally reddened.
Roger and Freya were mostly bystanders at this point and not part of the problem.
Corporal Tovar having glanced at the situation asked, "So what seems to be the problem here?"
When both Dena and the woman began talking at once, he held up his hands and exclaimed, "Woah! Slow down...One at a time, please."
They fell silent and he gestured at the woman first, "You first, and be civil about it, please."
The woman drew breath, expanding her impressive bustline almost out of her bodice.
"I can't sell her any ale because she has no form of I.D. And I have no way of knowing how old she is..." the woman glanced at Dena's curvy self and said pointedly, "I've seen way too many overripe teenagers to be fooled by her bust size, I need proof of age."
Corporal Tovar nodded and he turned to Dena with a smile. "Okay Dena, what is your side of the story?"
He grinned and said, "Cute outfit, by the way!"
Dena smiled and said, "Ah asked fer a refill oan me tankard, an she said nae 'caus Ah hae nae I.D. Tae prove me age."
She grinned and added, "Ye look guid in red, by th' by."
The woman making note of their semi flirtatious exchange remarked, "I take it you two know each other?"
Corporal Tovar smiled and replied, "Yes, we do. When I was a rookie I patrolled the neighborhood where Dena lives and became acquainted with her and her giant wolf companion."
He glanced at Freya and remarked, "You've grown quite a bit since I saw you last, are you in high school yet?"
"Ah'm enterin' high skale in th' fall." replied the young giantess.
"So I can sell her the ale she requested, then?"
Corporal Tovar shrugged and replied, "I don't see why not. Dena's a wood wife and likely older than any three of us here, from what I've read."
The woman smiled, and said, "That's all I needed to hear!"
She took up Dena's little glass tankard and cheerfully filled it right up.
Handing the foaming tankard to Dena she said, "Sorry for the misunderstanding, but rules is rules and I gotta obey them, if I want to stay in this business."
Dena smiled at the woman and replied, "'Tis nae problem, Ah ken abit rules, Ah hear abit them frae a certain someone ay me acquaintance, aw th' time."
She pointedly glanced at Roger as she finished her remark and Roger wisely ignored the bait.
With everything smoothed over, corporal Tovar said, "Welp, duty calls and I must away, enjoy the rest of your day, m'lord, ladies, madam...Cheers!"
He gave a cheery salute and moved off into the crowd.
Shortly after that, they were visiting the living history portion of the faire and had stopped by the bakery on display there, they watched two of the bakers carefully measuring their ingredients in a large wooden bowl, two more were kneading a mound of fresh dough, while the last two were extracting freshly baked breads and rolls from their large brick oven.
While the oven doors were still open, newly risen loaves and rolls were inserted into the hot oven and the heavy doors secured.
A portly gentleman approached the long counter acting as a barrier between the bakers and the visitors.
"Good day m'lord" he began, then he tugged on his forelock and dipped his head towards Freya slightly, "m'lady".
When he realized Dena was not a highly realistic doll, he cleared his throat and said hastily, "M'ladies!"
Peering at Dena he murmured, "'Tis a wonder, I've heard tell of wood elves living up at Wolf Hills near the Karloff Library, I ne'er expected to see one down here, wait'll I tell Warren about you."
Dena smiled and said cheerfully, "If yoo're speakin' ay Warren Johnson, he kens Ah'm haur awreddy an' he war thaur at uir citizenship ceremony."
For emphasis, she held up her medallion for him to see.
He grinned and bowed towards her, "Welcome to our community Lady Dena." He noticed the similar medallion on Freya's chest and said, "Welcome, to both of you!"
Roger smiled and said, "We didn't see your bakery here when we came through here yesterday, when did you set everything up?"
Smiling at them the man said, "We would have been here yesterday, only our conveyance experienced difficulties and we were delayed until late yestereve. We started setting up after faire closing and only started baking in th' wee hours of th' morning."
He smiled.
"Do you have any questions about our bakery?"
Roger grinned and said, "My only real question is, how did you set everything up so quickly and still have time to bake that wonderful bread I'm smelling?"
The head baker patted his ample tummy and said, "In my past life, I was an Army mess sergeant. When I decided to build this booth, I used my experience and knowledge to design a portable bakery. We towed it in here and had everything set up in about three hours."
He grinned, "The bread you smell was dough we brought with us to get started...Would you like a roll or two?"
At that remark, Dena perked up and said, "Ah woods loch a roll, Ah loove fresh baked rolls!"
The man smiled, "For you m'lady, 'Twould be an honor!"
He selected a roll and sliced it down the middle, then he opened it up and stepped over to a covered vessel where he took out a honey dripper and drizzled warm honey along the length of the roll.
Presenting this sweet treat to Dena, he said, "For your eating pleasure, m'lady!"
Dena clapped her hands in delight and graciously accepted his offering, "Ah thenk ye kind sir, may yoor breads be uncommonly good frae noo oan out!"
He smiled and said, "That is high praise indeed! I thank you m'lady of the green woods."
Turning his attention to Freya, he quickly turned out a honey drizzled, freshly baked roll for her as well.
Turning his attention to Roger he said, "And for you?"
"Butter will be fine, if you have any?" replied Roger.
He grinned, "It just so happens I do have butter, fresh from our dairy as a matter of fact!"
The man quickly administered a generous dollop of sweet butter to the roll, then handed it to Roger with a smile.
Roger thanked him and took a bite, the combination of the fresh hot roll and the sweet creamy butter was wonderful and after he swallowed his first taste he asked, "Where did you get this butter? It's delicious!"
The man grinned and replied, "From our dairy, my wife and I own Oak View Dairy, perhaps you've heard of it?"
Roger started laughing and after a moment or two, he said, "Heard of it? We buy our milk and heavy cream from you guys. Talk about a small world!"
Roger grinned and extended his hand, "Roger Tate, a pleasure to make your acquaintance!"
The man grinned and shook his hand, "Tom Thornhill, the pleasure's all mine!"
Dena at that point piped up, "Silky looves yoor heavy cream, Roger gives 'er some e'ery day an' she always smiles while she sips it."
Tom chuckled and remarked, "I should hope so, our heavy cream is practically butter, it's so rich. We make our own butter from it as a matter of fact."
Roger chuckled and commented, "Well Silky is certainly a fan of your heavy cream, we always keep a couple of bottles on hand, just for her."
Tom grinned and remarked, "Silky is always welcome to drink as much heavy cream as she wants, we'll make more!"
Roger chuckled and replied, "Oh, she will, that, you can count on!"
Roger grinned at Tom and said, "Well, we've taken up enough of your time. It was a pleasure meeting you today!"
They grinned at each other and shook hands in parting.
They had returned to Warren's booth and Roger was sitting inside while watching the faire goers parading by.
Dena and Freya had gone off in search of nibblies, while Roger visited with Warren.
For the moment, Warren was seated on one of the straw bales and sipping at his tankard.
"Russian Imperial Stout?" Asked Roger after sipping at his tankard full of Guinness.
"Nay, just Guinness, I ran out of the bottles I brought with me from home."
Warren grinned, "Too many thirsty travelers stopping by to wet their whistles."
Roger smiled, "Well, you are a generous host and no visitors go away thirsty, not if you can help it!"
Warren shrugged, "I like to share, what can I say?"
Out of the corner of his eye Roger saw Maribel, the tiny renfairy sit down beside Astrid, Warren's giant wolf companion.
While staying in character, she toyed with Astrid's velvety ears, completely unaware that she herself, had a tiny sprite sitting in the ivy circlet she wore on her head.
Reaching into his holding pouch, Roger took out the adder stone he had borrowed from Anita earlier that day.
He leaned over and murmured, "Don't be too obvious, but take a look through this at Astrid and Maribel outside."
Warren took the stone and raised it to his eye for a few moments.
Chuckling, he handed it back to Roger and said, "Astrid's bundle of sprites I'm not surprised at, our wolvies seem to be sprite magnets from what I've heard and seen."
He smiled, "Maribel would be ecstatic if she knew she had a passenger."
Roger smiled and muttered, "Yes, it would be very hard for her to remain in character!"
Warren chuckled and remarked, "That's why they invented after faire closing parties!"
He looked at Roger, "You're staying aren't you?"
Roger laughed and replied, "I have to, Dena would never forgive me if we didn't stay at least a little while."
Jerking a thumb at Maribel he said softly, "Dena wants to meet her and if I want to have any peace at home, it behooves me to let them meet!"
Warren grinned, "And if you know what's good for you, you'll make it happen!"