A Pinch of Moonlight

  ***

  Madryn was in a dark mood when she arrived home. Her mother interpreted this as tiredness and suggested she ‘go and have a lie down.’ Ordinarily this would have irked Madryn, but the chance to spend time alone and make sense of recent experiences was what she needed right now. So many worries chased around her mind. She had almost forgotten her anger at the way Lady Esmet had treated her, and her shame at being seen out of doors half-clothed, let alone the discomfort she’d endured in the human world. She was more shamed now by the way she’d treated Blackbird.

  His blood was on her sash. She’d been proud of that the previous day; proud of her part in upholding the natural justice of Annwn. Her bloodied sash was the only thing she wore which wasn’t immaculate – marking her out as an active member of Light of Truth. And she’d spat in his face when he was bound to the whipping post. Did he remember that? If had, she was sure he wouldn’t have been so civilised towards her. Civilised – she brooded on the odd choice of word. What would happen if he found out she had abused him?

  Madryn had no intention of befriending any fairies - even Lady Pefryn was an incomprehensible creature. Nor was she taken with the uncouth human. But, she really, really wanted to see as many realms as possible, and she realized this would mean dealing with all sorts of what she would have to consider ‘people’. Her brief stay in Terra had brought home that humans found her as ridiculous as she found them, and that they were no respecters of elfish place. To survive in Terra, she would have to pass as human. She hoped they weren’t all as uncivilized as Demali.

  And First Citizen Tefyn… she had considered him weak, and far too liberal with the fairies. She had believed the best way to deal with troublesome fairies was ruthless punishment. Strong discipline would eventually force the most wilful fairy to knuckle down and accept authority. But that day’s experiences had challenged that belief. Fairies were starting to fight back, and many – like Blackbird – would never be subdued. Tefyn was walking a difficult path to keep peace in Annwn, trying to provide for the fairies as well as the elves of his realm. Fairies, she realized, did not consider themselves inferior to elves – and were as firm in their beliefs as people like her mother were in theirs.

  The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to go to the celebration. Her mother had denied her permission, but First Citizen Tefyn had promised to honour her, or rather, that fairy had promised on Tefyn’s behalf. She couldn’t tell her mother about that of course – there was no way she could tell her mother she’d been speaking to a fairy, let alone that fairy.

  But, an honour would go a long way to compensate for her recent humiliations, and besides, she had a feeling history would be made that night. How could she tell her grandchildren she’d missed it because her mother hadn’t let her go? Not if she wanted to be an adventurer.

  Slowly, she formed a plan. She rejected any silly ideas of disguising herself, or sneaking out of the window. That fairy had been right. If she was going to be an adventurer, she needed to be more assertive. She would ask again for permission, and if it was denied, she would find a way to go, and face the consequences on her return.