There were only ten of them, but their arrival obviously meant a great deal to Gerdar Tanle. Enneiros and Alissara also acted very deferentially. I began to suspect that this might be much more important than their numbers would indicate.
They looked like elves, to me. Their leader, Naevys, was tall and thin, dark-haired and bushy browed. He was not particularly handsome, unlike Rhigen, the only fey I'd ever met. If Naevys was using a glamour to conceal his true features, he'd chosen a very modest appearance for himself.
Gerdar Tanle greeted him very warmly. They bowed to each other, standing several feet apart. Rhigen had told me that a fey would not shake hands with a human, for fear of the touch of our rings.
I exchanged bows with him as well. Then Glasha did the same. Naevys smiled for the first time.
- "I am pleased to meet you, beautiful spirit." he said. "And I would have words with you, anon. But I have come to meet your man, if you will allow it."
- "We are honoured that you've come." said Glasha. "You don't need my permission."
- "Yet I ask it."
- "Then I grant it, gladly."
Naevys bowed to her again. "Will you walk with us, Lord Tauma?" he asked.
- "Us?"
- "Rhigen will accompany me."
Two fey, and me. No - I didn't suspect treachery. The fey had natural magic. Had they wished to harm me, they could have done so from a distance, or from ambush. There was something else going on here.
I didn't want to offend the fey, yet I suspected that we were joined in some kind of formal dance. There were rules that I didn't know. But I risked a guess.
- "May I bring a companion, as well?" I asked.
- "Of course." said Naevys. He didn't appear to be the least bit put out.
- "May I bring Saska Tanle?"
Both Naevys and Rhigen nodded. Naevys seemed moderately pleased.
My new wife had learned of the fey from her mother. She had great respect for them. But she also sensed that there was something new at play, here. She took my hand, and we followed Rhigen and Naevys.
Glasha's father led us to the spot where he'd practiced magic with me.
Saska knew that I could perform magic. I'd told her about my studies in Elmina, with Durgulel - how long ago that seemed, already. She also knew that Glasha could time-walk, and that Rhigen had taught us both.
- "May I ask a favour, Lord Tauma?" said Naevys.
Beware of the fey. Never make a bargain with them. I knew these sayings. But I also knew Glasha, and Rhigen. Would he have led me here in order to put me in harm's way? And if I didn't like what Naevys asked, I was still at liberty to refuse, wasn't I?
- "Go ahead."
- "Rhigen told me what you did, with the stone on the stump. May I ask if you would do it again, so that I might see?"
- "Is this a test?" I asked. I'd had enough of those with my father.
- "No." said Naevys. "Rhigen told me what you did. I believe him. But I would like to see it for myself. Call it curiosity. That is why I ask it as a favour."
I couldn't see a problem with his request. I consulted with Saska, holding her close, and whispering in her ear.
- "
Should I do this
?"
- "
It seems important to them. Is it dangerous for you
?"
That was good enough for me. Saska and I were attuned.
Rhigen placed another stone on the very same tree stump. I began gathering the aether, as both Naevys and Saska watched.
My wife was wide-eyed, at first. But I had Naevys' rapt attention, as well - and I hadn't done anything yet. At that point, the fey spoke.
- "I have no doubt, Lord Tauma, that you could punch or kick that stone from the stump. I can see it. May I ask, though - could you lift the stone up, and drop it a few feet away?"
It didn't seem like much to ask. Perhaps Naevys didn't want me to damage any of the trees nearby. All I had to do was re-shape the aether, so that I wasn't imagining a boot, a fist, or a club. For some reason, the image of a spatula popped into my head. Then I thought of a fishing net.
I shaped the aether into a spatula, and slid it under the stone, as if I was cooking an egg. Then I changed the spatula into a fishing net, so that I could lift the stone without tipping or spilling it off. Somehow, I thought that if the stone simply toppled off the stump, the fey would not be particularly impressed.
The fishing net worked perfectly. I lifted the stone off the stump, carried it a few paces away, and then dropped it on the ground.
Saska beamed at me. She actually clapped her hands once, and then put them behind her back. I couldn't read Rhigen's expression, but Naevys smiled.
- "Thank you, Lord Tauma." he said. "It was very kind of you to grant my favour, however small. May I offer you a small favour in return?"
Interesting. The fey did not like to be beholden - even the littlest bit.
- "Certainly. May I ask why you came to Souglad, Lord Naevys?"
I was guessing again. It was the deference paid to him by Rhigen, by Gerdar Tanle, and by the elves that made me wonder.
Who was he?
- "That is a very significant question, which I cannot answer today. May I offer a smaller favour - one more in keeping with what you just did for us?"
- "What did you have in mind?"
Naevys smiled again. "Would you like to see what the fey truly look like?"
He had me. My curiosity was boundless. I didn't even know what Glasha's father looked like. I was sure that Saska would want to see, too.
- "If ... if that would be a fair exchange." I said.
- "I think it is." said Naevys. "Rhigen?" he asked.
- "As you see fit." said Glasha's father. There it was again - that deference. Who
was
Naevys?
I felt a slight stirring of the aether, and Naevys seemed to blur and transform before me. His hair wasn't dark; it was blacker than pitch, and it moved of its own volition. Naevys had no bushy eyebrows, either.
His skin was almost translucent. His face was thinner than I would have thought possible; it was all sharp edges, narrow and angular. His eyes were unfathomable pools, ancient and wicked.
I had to look away. But then I saw Rhigen, without his protective glamour. He was built like a stone pillar, with skin the texture of rough tree bark from a mature poplar. His face, though, was the most shocking: Rhigen looked like a knotted tree trunk with eyes.
Naevys hadn't repaid a favour with a favour. It was a test, followed by another test. Could I perform his magic trick? And then could we bear to look at them, as they truly were?
Or was it a gesture, on their part? A show of trust, to let us see their true natures? I reached out for Saska's hand, and drew her to me.
- "
Is this a test
?" I asked her.
- "Yes." she said. "And no. I don't know why they've done this, Tauma. But they've just bared their true selves. It's ... it could be a sign of trust."
- "Your Lady speaks true." said Naevys, even as he re-asserted his glamour and resumed the shape of a dark-haired elf.
- "Let's re-join the others." said Rhigen.
