Hi everyone! Redbird Stormcrow here to regale you with stories from my home Cassari! This story was something my grandma told me when I was younger. 

Lily Tranelis, a half-elf bookkeeper, fell asleep on top of her book, scrolls scattered around her, after a long day of scribing. Once they made sure she was asleep, the faeries that had been watching Lily for a couple of months, appeared around her. Some of them started tidying up,  and one named Cerulean Sky placed a blanket on her so she didn’t catch a cold. One, by the name of Willowmist, braided Lily’s hair and placed a pretty ribbon at the end. Another faerie, by name of Ruby, brought Lily’s flowers that sat wilting in vials, to life with some small wisps of her flower magic.  Once everything was cleaned up and arranged, the faeries flew out of the window that Lily had left open and went and hid in the small faery houses that dotted her garden.

The next morning, Lily woke up and was a tad bit confused. There was a blanket on her shoulders, her hair was braided, and her flowers in the vials were in full bloom on the table next to her desk.  She moved the blanket and folded it up, setting it neatly in the basket on the floor and stood pondering for a few minutes, trying to figure out how her flowers were blooming, as she was sure they had been wilted the night before. 

As she was puzzling this out, she heard what sounded like wind chimes coming from the desk, then a high-pitched voice said, “Don’t think about it too hard, you might hurt yourself trying to figure this out.” 

Lily turned around to see a small fairy standing on her still open book. Her mouth opened to say something, then closed again when she realized she had no idea what to say to this small creature.  Ruby laughed again. As she stood up, she opened her wings fully so that the sunlight streaming in through the window made them sparkle and shimmer, making a kaleidoscope of different shades of red dance across the parchment.

“If you haven’t figured it out yet, I am a fairy. My name is Ruby, and I am the reason your flowers bloomed. You always work so hard, so my friends and I decided to help you out a little.” Ruby grinned at Lily and flew to the flowers, hovering over them for a few moments to check their progress. 

Lily, finally finding her voice, whispers, “Where did you come from? How do you know how hard I work? And why did you help my flowers?” These questions were the only ones she could think of to say to Ruby at the moment, as she was still too startled to fully comprehend she was talking to a fairy.  She had read about them, and a few people had told her they had seen them, but this was the first time she had any experience with them. She sunk down to the floor as she stared at Ruby.

Ruby landed on one of the vials and shook her head at Lily. “We are all over the place. My little group lives in the little garden village you set up a couple of months ago. We’ve been watching over you ever since. I am a flower fairy and I thought it would be nice for you to see the blooms when you woke.”

As Ruby and Lily sat talking, Cerulean Sky and Willowmist flew in the window they had been peeking through. Lily just stared for a moment then smiled. “This is so wonderful! I have been told about your existence and always hoped I’d see you, but I never thought I’d have a couple of you in my house!” 

“All you had to do was pay more attention to your garden, Lily.” This came from Cerulean Sky. She was the leader of their small circle and spoke a bit more direct than most of them. Lily laughed, a bit of a blush spreading across her face. 

“I am really sorry about that.  I am not what you would call a ‘green thumb’ and I’ve been so busy scribing all these scrolls…” She cuts herself off in mid-sentence. “OH! The scrolls!! I need to go get these to Yisli before noon!!” She spun around and started gathering all the scrolls she had finished up last night. The fairies watched her, trying to stay out of her way so they didn’t get hit accidentally.  

She stopped long enough to smile at them. “I hope you will be here later! I’d really love to talk to you some more! Bye now!” She threw her cloak on after stuffing the last scroll into her bag and rushed out the door.

The three fairies looked at each other and then fell back into the blanket basket giggling hysterically.

“We have GOT to teach her to have some fun and not take everything so seriously!” Ruby said through her giggles. 

Cerulean Sky finally calmed her laughing and looked around Lily’s small hovel. “We should clean up for her a bit. Doesn’t look like she has touched a mop or a dust feather in weeks!”

The other two nodded their heads in agreement. “I’ll go get the others so we can make this place nice and shiny!” exclaimed Willowmist. She flew out the window to gather up the rest of the fairies and Ruby and Cerulean Sky started sparkling up the kitchen. 

Lily ran down the dirt road that lead to the main area of her small village, Earthwich. She waves to the various merchants as she heads to the church of Rahara, the nature goddess. She got to the chapel doors just as the town clock started ringing. “Phew, just made it.” she thinks to herself as she walks in.

Yisli is standing at the front, performing her daily rituals and prayers to Rahara. She turns and nods at Lily, and turns back to the statue of Rahara, never breaking her prayer. Once she is done, she turns around to greet Lily.

“Cutting it close today Lily!” The Elven cleric laughs as Lily walks up and hands her the scrolls. “Did you run all the way here? Your hair is all frazzled!”

Lily laughs a little, a soft blush appearing across her cheeks. “I am so sorry, Lady Yisli. You would not…” She pauses a moment and thinks about it. “Well, you might believe why I’m late! I was visited by fairies!”

Yisli was looking through the scrolls as Lily was telling her why she was almost late, and almost dropping the scrolls, she gets a tighter hold on the scrolls and looks up at Lily, startled.

“You were visited by fairies?” She motions for Lily to sit on one of the benches set up. She sits with her, placing the scrolls next to her, forgotten for the moment. “Please tell me what happened and what they said.”

Lily thought Yisli was acting a bit odd, but was too excited to ponder it for long. She told Yisli about the fairies, what they did, and the conversation she had with Ruby before the others showed up. Yisli nodded as she listened then smiled.

“You must say a prayer of thanks to Rahara! You have been blessed, my child. Fairies do not just show up to anyone, and they certainly do not offer to help unless they want something. This is very special, Lily. You say your prayers. I must take these scrolls to the elders and tell them of your encounter. I shall return soon!”

I hope you enjoyed this first part and that you come back next month for the next bit! Make sure you share Fae Corps Publishing  with your friends and family! 

~Don’t forget to love each other – Brian Foster~

Fairy love and Pixie wishes,

Redbird the Faery Mystic