"...and to my grandniece Elizabeth, I give my trunk filled with old books."
The words from grandaunt Sarah's will echoes in Lizzie's head, as she looked at the old, large trunk in front of her. She'd had it brought to her flat from grandaunt Sarah's attic. Sarah knew she loved books. Lizzie couldn't wait to see what treasures the trunk contained. She knelt by the trunk and opened the lid. The books were neatly stacked inside. She immediately spotted an old book of fairytales, which she remembered grandaunt Sarah reading to her when she was little. She took it out and leafed through the pages, looking at the gorgeous illustrations. Putting it aside, she began to take each book out of the trunk. There were several illustrated books about fairytales and myths. She'd enjoy reading these.
At the bottom of the trunk there was an unmarked black book, bound in leather. Lizzie opened it to the title page, and discovered that it was written in runes. She leafed through the book and it was all written in runes. There were several illustrations of sigils in the book. "What kind of book is this?" she wondered. Taking the book with her, she got up and sat down at her desk, and googled "runes" on her laptop. She found several runesets, but the runes in the book looked like Norse runes. She printed out a sheet with the Elder Futhark and the Younger Futhark. Then she began to try and translate the headings on the pages in the book. She discovered that it was the Elder Futhark used, but the language was English. On the title page it said: "Sarah Blacklaw's Grimoire". It was a spellbook! Grandaunt Sarah had been a witch? The book did look handwritten, so it must be Sarah's personal spells.
The book had several spells. One that Lizzie found interesting was "How to lessen menstrual cramps". She'd definitely try this one! The last spell in the book was "How to summon a faerie lover". Wow, really? Did it work? It had to be cast on a moon dark night, at midnight. It required a circle of salt, and nine black candles. There was a sigil that had to be painted in the middle of the circle, and nine drops of blood had to be mixed into the paint, which had to be black. This sounded like black magic to Lizzie, but the spell said "faerie" and not "demon".
What kind of faerie would respond to a spell like this? The spell even mentioned the faerie by name: "Aethelred Jalnariel". So, it was to summon a specific faerie. Where had Sarah found the spell in the first place? Was this why she had remained single her entire life? Who would have thought, grandaunt Sarah had had a secret lover!
Lizzie translated and carefully read the introduction to the book "How to prepare for casting spells". The instructions mentioned drinking mugwort tea to "open the magical channels" and how to prepare the tea. Could she do the summoning spell? Did she have any magical powers? She had never had any encounters with the paranormal. Well, it was worth a try, wasn't it? Lizzie had had two boyfriends when she was in her mid-twenties, but both relationships had ended when she wasn't interested in having sex. She had tried it with her both of her boyfriends, but she had found the experience rather boring. The foreplay was interesting, but the intercourse was just dull. She had given up on dating and having boyfriends after that, and now she was thirtyfour. It wasn't that she didn't have any libido; she often masturbated, but she couldn't get any satisfaction from mortal men. Maybe an otherworldy lover could be the answer?
She began to prepare for the summoning spell. She ordered mugwort from a herbalist shop on the internet, and bought candles, paint and salt. She also bought a large, white sheet for her circle, since she couldn't just paint on the floor.
Finally it was the night of the dark of the moon. It was also that other time of the month, so Lizzie was already feeling horny. The instructions to the summoning spell said she had to purify her body by bathing in a bath with mugwort. She only had a shower, but she made a satchel to tie around the shower head, and put some of the herbs in it. She hoped that this was sufficient. She took a long shower and washed herself with rose scented soap. Then she washed her short hair with rose scented shampoo. She shaved her legs and armpits and put on some Tuscan rose perfume.
She looked at herself in the mirror. She was still slim and had nice, small and firm breasts. Her hair was short and dyed a bright orange, while her pubic hair was a dark blond. She wished she had been a little taller, but other than that she really liked her body.
She put on her usual black and simple underwear. She didn't own any dresses, so she decided to put on a red and black plaid skirt that reached to mid-thigh. She put on a sleeveless, black top, and red and black striped over the knee stockings. Should she put her hair up in their usual spikes, or should she leave it slicked back? She decided to spike it up, like she usually did.
She made herself some mugwort tea. The tea was supposed to work for half an hour before she began the spell. She took the large, white sheet and cut a circle out of it. The instructions for the spell described how large the circle had to be. She moved away the furniture in the living room; her bedroom was too small for the circle. She put the cloth circle on the floor and fetched the black paint and a brush. Sitting down, she used a diabetes lancet, pricked her finger and dripped nine drops of blood into the flask of paint. She had the grimoire open beside her so she could look at the sigil she had to paint. Then she poured a salt circle around the cloth circle and placed the nine black candles around it, which she lit. She sat back on her heels and decided to meditate for the rest of the time it would take the mugwort tea to work. Focusing on her breath, she began to inhale and exhale slowly and deeply. She cleared her mind of all thoughts and focused on her intent, to summon a faerie lover to have fantastic sex with. If he had lived for some centuries, he might have the skills to make her feel something during sex, instead of being bored. She had never come during sex with her boyfriends, and had had to finish herself off with her own hand.
Finally it was time to cast the spell. She lit the nine candles, then pricked another finger; the instructions said to touch the sigil with a bloodied finger during the incantation. She had learned the incantation by heart, and chanted it in a strong, commanding voice. She felt a strong tingle rise through her body as she chanted, and the tingling sensation went down through her arm and into her hand and out of her finger. The sigil flashed silver, and the flames of the candles flared. A silvery orb appeared in the air over the sigil and expanded until it filled the circle and was about eight feet tall. A tall shadow appeared in the silvery light and the light faded away. In front of her stood a figure in a long, black coat with a hood. The figure was about seven feet tall. The coat flared out from the waist and was rather wide at the bottom. The spell had worked! She couldn't wait to see this mysterious figure.
"You aren't Sarah," the figure, no, Aethelred, said. His voice was dark and melodious.
"No, I'm her grandniece Elizabeth."
"Where is Sarah?"
"I'm sorry, "Lizzie said, "but she recently died of a heart attack."
"It grieves me to hear that, " the faerie said, "she was my favourite mortal."
He pulled down the hood of his coat and Lizzie gasped. He was the most beautiful man she had ever seen. He had blood red eyes, but they suited his very pale skin and long, black hair. His hair was waist length and looked thick and luxurious. He had very fine features, slanted eyes, a straight, narrow nose, a pointed chin and a mouth with red lips. Through his hair, the points of his ears poked up.
"What do you want of me?" Aethelred asked.
"Uhm, well, I inherited grandaunt Sarah's spellbook, and it had a spell in it that said "How to summon a faerie lover..."
Aethered laughed. "So, you want me as a lover, just like your grandaunt."
"Well, yes. You see sex with mortal men gives me nothing, but I thought maybe an otherworldly man might be different..."
"Oh, I am different indeed!" Aethelred said, "I can give you pleasure beyond your wildest dreams, should you choose to accept me and my bargain."
"Oh, there's a bargain?" Lizzzie asked.
"There is always a bargain between the fae and mortals."
"So, what is the bargain?"
"I will give you pleasure and in return you will allow me to feed off your life force," Aethelred explained.
"Whoa, my life force? Won't that shorten my lifespan?"
"Oh, nothing so sinister. Your life force is renewable, you just have to eat and drink and sleep."
"Oh, ok, that's not so bad."
"The question then is if you are able to accept me as I am," Aethelred said.
"What do you mean? You're beautiful!"
"You haven't seen all of me, yet..."
"Then show me," Lizzie said.
Aethelred unbuttoned his coat and let it slide to the floor. Lizzie let out a shriek and scurried backwards. From the waist up he was stunningly beautiful, from his waist down was a mass of thick, black, oily looking tentacles.
"Wh-what kind of faerie are you!" she exclaimed.
