Part 3
Harrod was returning to town after some business in a nearby village had kept him overnight. No harm he supposed, James wasn’t due back for another week from Tel Hazan, and he had a feeling everything would be okay. While he was thinking what he should make for breakfast, he noticed a small winged creature fluttering about at head height trying to get his attention. He couldn’t believe his eyes, fairies! He thought they were only the things of legends. He waved at them and they flew over right away.
“Hey! Hey! You’re Harrod Bearskin right?” the female one asked him.
“I suppose I am, yes. Who might you be, little lady?” Harrod answered, trying to get a good look at the two fairies. The female one had green eyes and flowing blonde hair, with flowers in a ring around her head. The male one was wearing a brown coat and had short black hair with green eyes.
“Well first off, you’re a friend of Neville Hargrave, right? I’ve been looking for you for a long time!” she answered, her tiny arms crossed. “I heard he died.”
Harrod sighed at the statement. “It seems everyone who knew him is only just finding out. Yes, he died more than 3 years ago, sadly. I’m taking care of his son now.”
The female fairy seemed pleased by this. “Great! I’m coming with you then, I’m a friend of Neville’s. My name’s Heather and this is Cricket.” she said, gesturing at the male fairy in the brown coat.
“Hello.” Cricket replied, keeping his hands in his coat pockets. “You run the Inn by the docks in town, right? The one with the weird name?”
“Yes, I’m afraid I do” Harrod said, laughing.
“I’ll meet the two of you there later. I got things to take care of first.” Cricket said, before fluttering off towards the woods.
After Cricket left, Heather appeared to be sizing up Harrod, looking him up and down. Harrod, unsure what to do, just stood still and waited for her to finish.
“Yes, I think you’ll do.” she said after a minute.
“Do for what?” he asked, unsure.
“Why, raising James of course! You think I’d let him be raised by some lout?” she declared, crossing her arms.
“And why exactly do you care?” Harrod questioned. “He certainly never mentioned you.”
Heather had a sad look on her face, and she looked away when she answered. “Because I made a promise, Harrod. That if anything ever happened to Neville, that any of his children would be protected. I’m just a fairy, I can’t raise a human boy on my own. But I can protect him.”
“Now that is something I understand, little lady.” Harrod said, removing his hat. “When I found out, I beat myself up over not finding out sooner. I fear the circumstances around Neville and Margaret’s death will never be solved, but I want to give him the best possible chance.”
Heather fluttered over to Harrod and placed a tiny hand on his head. “You’re a good man Harrod, never doubt that. Now then, let’s be off to the Inn, I want to see James.”
“Ah, about that.” Harrod said, placing his hat back on his head. “He’s currently away in Tel Hazan with Jakob and his granddaughter.”
“He’s where?” Heather asked. It’s hard to be shocked when you know exactly why he’s there, she thought.
“Something about an inheritance left in the Imperial Bank.” Harrod said with a shrug. “Seems only Jakob knew about it.”
“Oh well that’s wonderful news!” Heather responded. Good, I would have had to gut Jakob like a pig if he tried to keep it, she thought. “Well I’d still like to come with you to the Inn.”
“By all means, come along!” Harrod said with a bow. “A friend of Neville is a friend of mine.” Harrod continued his walk back to town, while Heather followed a short distance behind.
When they arrived in town, Heather’s appearance created a bit of a stir. It seems she was the first fairy everyone there had ever seen, and she had to fly higher to get away from grabbing hands. The kids were especially excited, but several adults had made a grab for her as well. This must be why nobody ever sees fairies, she thought, there’s too much attention. But then she felt something strange, like someone was trying to cast a spell on her. It was almost like instinct that she was able to block the spell, which was weird, as spells shouldn’t be able to be blocked that way. Her sight changed, and she could see the mana flowing through the air, looking around, she spotted the mage trying to do it, and redirected the spell back at him, to surprising effect, before fluttering over to him while being careful to stay out of reach.
“Did you just try to teleport me?” she yelled. “The fey are not subject to your whims!” she continued, putting to use her acting skills. “Be thankful you didn’t use something more harmful!” Heather turned and flew off, leaving the mage in a heap on the ground.
Later on, Heather snuck into the Inn through the chimney after the excitement died down. Peering around, she saw that Harrod was for the moment alone in the Inn. Deciding not to risk it, she used a voice displacement spell to tell Harrod to lock the door, and only after he did so did she emerge from the fireplace.
“I think that was quite enough excitement for one day for me!” she said, exasperated.
“You sure surprised that youngster, though.” Harrod said with a big laugh.
“He got more than he bargained for, didn’t he?” Heather replied with a smirk.
“That’s why I came along later.” Cricket said as he also emerged from the chimney. “Humans, dwarves, even elves, they all get real grabby with fairies.”
“Cricket! There you are!” Heather exclaimed.
“Well, no harm done, and you learned a good lesson on staying out of sight of crowds.” he said as he landed on the counter.
“How was I able to block that spell?” she whispered to Cricket.
“Fey specialty. Our bodies are made out of pure mana, so we choose which spells work on us.” Cricket whispered back.
“So, my 2 little friends, can I get you anything to eat? To drink? As I said to Heather earlier, James isn’t due back for a week, so you’ll be here for some time. I can arrange for some sleeping space for you in my personal bedroom, if you wish.” Harrod said, placing his hands on the counter.
“That would be lovely, thank you Harrod.” Heather replied. “You’re going to stay with me, right?”
“Yeah. Seems you’re the type that attracts trouble after all.” Cricket said with a grin.
“I have no idea what you mean!” Heather mockingly replied, before breaking into a laugh.