Fairy Gold

It takes time to find a fae, even for a Jay! There aren’t many fae in the world and they like to hide real good – maybe like a vacation, but I’m not sure. I go looking, and slipping into and through places, following bindings and finally finally the closest one hiding in the echo of a binding, disguised really small in a secret place inside a hill.

“Hi!”

The fae’s voice is a whisper of power, so soft I’m not sure anyone else would even notice the binding. “What?”

“I said hi, because that’s what friends do.” I crouch down to the earth; the huge rock the fae is inside is way deep but I can bind my voice into rock as easily as eating pie. “My name’s Jay!”

“You are not fae. I do not know what you are; why are you here?”

I explain like an explaining machine, how Charlie and I are doing favours for the fae in helping made sure the tons of bindings they have with monsters and Outsiders are all working ands we get money for it and I kind of broke my tablet and need money.

The fae feels about in my head to figure out some of the words and its silence is deep and shocked. “I am the Great Betrayer, bound as deep as fae could bind for my crimes and I will not be released even if the universe itself should fail and you have found me in order to get money?”

“Oh! The fae bound you into the rock? I wasn’t sure, because it doesn’t feel like a fae binding at all.”

“The fae have changed over millions of years,” the fae says dryly. “You should seek another, and do not tell them you know where I am or they will destroy you and all you care about.”

I blink; the fae doesn’t use power in their voice, but some kind of truth like Honcho does. “But we’re friends!”

“Friends?”

“Well, we’re all talking and you must be lots of kinds of lonely so that makes us friends, right?” Sometimes even fae are kind of slow!

“My solitude is part of my punishment. I did a terrible thing long ago out of arrogance and greed. You have it in you to do such things as well, if you could find me.”

“Charlie and Honcho would get really mad if I did bad stuff.”

“And they could stop you?” the fae asks.

“Honcho is really scary.”

“I see. I must return to my silence; do not disturb the wards about me again. Were I to get free, this world might not survive it.”

I scratch my head at that. “You don’t want to be free?”

“The price I would have to pay would be too high. You cannot see, Outsider – I imagine there are prices you would not pay in order to be able to see again.”

“Oh. Okay,” and I let go of talking to the hidden rock and stretch and go looking for another fae; I’m still not sure where I was even talking to or how I found it, but I think it might involve what Charlie calls quantum and I am pretty happy because I did make a friend even if we’re not friends yet. And I bind myself up good so I don’t think too hard about the fae’s voice and why it seemed familiar because sometimes forgetting is even more important than a new tablet.

Sometimes forgetting things is all that helps hold bindings together, which is all weird kinds of true but makes sense anyway.