by Nancy Gaskin
Story teller
“This tale is a sorry one but one that needs telling to teach and to learn lessons we have yet to learn. So to begin, ahh yes to begin. But where did it all begin?..........
When the mists of the great forest still covered most of the land and the Gods still walked the sacred sites. The fae and humans lived and worked side by side, where nymph’s still helped fishermen bring home the evening meal and gifts were left at sacred trees to give thanks for materials freely given to build shelters for men and animals. It was a time when festivals and celebrations were open and welcoming to all, man and fae alike. The birth of a child was marked by ceremonies and feasting, especially if the birth was that of a fae child. The fae do not reach maturity until they reach their three hundred and twenty first birthdays and are called sweetlings, then they become younglings, even then they may not be able to have a child until they find their life partners during their prime.
Because the fae live for over a thousand years, they mature at a much slower rate and are still young children until they reach one hundred and fifty and even then are still too immature to be fertile which happens during the ‘Calling’ ceremony during their three hundred and twenty first birth year. This is also when the fae of fertile age find their life partners.” The story teller stopped and sipped from his tulip goblet and slowly looked around the entire fae gathering, lingering here and there. Clearing his throat, he placed the goblet carefully on the delicate daisy table and continued.
“Now where was I? Oh yes, yes the fae life cycle. I did digress but for a reason. For all you sweeting’s and younglings to know and understand that to be fae, patience and understanding are the foundation stones of our realm. Humans mature much faster, as if a blink of an eye, they pass into the Summerlands at an age we fae would see as mere infants or sweetlings” chuckling “after all passing from this plane at a mere age of 70 is young, a baby…..don’t you think?” Looking around with bright twinkling eyes the ancient story teller saw many heads nodding in agreement “so with that out of the way, let me begin……. As the mists of the great forest lifted so did the number of humans who had taken to building villages and towns. They bred like rabbits” turning to Dagmar “No offence meant sweetling! The fae moved further into the forests to keep a respectable distance between human and fae settlements, not out of rudeness but politeness. We saw that the humans needed more space than us because their ever increasing numbers.”
“The humans went about their business, ploughing fertile land and building more villages and towns. Disputes erupted and with that so did fighting and bloodshed and eventually wars broke out with brother fighting and killing brother. This the fae could not stand to witness because we had many friends among the humans as well as much love. So with heavy heart the fae removed themselves from the human realm and moved further into the ancient forests and began to create a shield which would separate the two realms forever, in this way the fae hoped to keep their people safe and out of harm’s way.”
“Now don’t get me wrong there times when some of the fae would travel to the human realm to visit old friends and make some new ones, but in general we did not spend much time with each other any longer. The humans began to forget the Gods and Goddesses, to forget that the trees have ancient souls and wisdom and possibly the home of a tree sprite or tree people, none of which can ever be replaced when the tree is cut down.” Looking at the sea of faces the story teller could see many faces glistening with tears as they remember sad times and lost friends. “We began to shun humans and their cruel ways and by doing this we dammed ourselves. How you ask did we do that? Some of us fell in love with humans and had to hide and sneak to either watch them in their daily lives or give up everything and spend those few short years that humans live with them as husband or wife. This is where things have become a bit sticky because some of us actually had children. Children of mixed races is not heard of but it was mainly among the fae but some human women gave birth to half fae children and some fae women fell pregnant to human men. Now having a half fae child in the human world is not too bad BUT to have one in the fae realm could never be due to their short life span…..admittedly much longer than humans but still extremely short for fae kind. A faery princess fell deeply in love with an elfish prince, but due to family alliances they were doomed to never be able to life-partner. They ended up running away to the human realm wearing their faery rings they created glamour to hide their true features and adjusted their height to be that of humans. Living for many years as a farmer and his wife they were content with each other. After many years of living in peace and solitude the faery announced to her prince that she was expecting their child. They were very excited and began plans for the cradle and all the lovely clothing for the babe. The king of the Elves had discovered where they were hiding and sent warrior elves to the human realm to take a message and hopefully bring the prince back, what they found was much unexpected. Having fae sight they could see through the glamour cast by the faery rings, in the cabin near the edge of a lake where the fae couple lived, they found a very heavily pregnant faery struggling to stand with the huge weight of her massive belly. The warriors respectfully asked where their prince was and she informed them her husband was hunting and would be back by sunset. They settled to await his arrival, as night fell and the prince had not returned three of the warriors went out to search for him whilst the other three waited at the cabin.” Stopping to take a sip from his goblet Saeldur looked across to where Lillianna was seated and nodded his head slightly in acknowledgement.
Clearing his throat and hunting around and finding in his robe a large rainbow coloured cloth which he used as a handkerchief. “So they waited with a very pregnant faery helping her get the water and doing heavy lifting for her. She in turn provided them with a simple meal of bread, cheese and fruit, with hardly a word spoken. The princess wished to retire and the warriors moved outside and set up camp near the cabin. As the evening turned to night they could hear muffled sounds from the cabin, the eldest elf went to investigate and found the princess in labour. Calling to his friends for help they all found themselves assisting a princess give birth. It was a very hard and long labour that lasted all of that night and most of the next day and by the time the babe was ready to be delivered the mother and her assistants were exhausted. When the moment finally arrived it was not just one babe but two. Now this on its own is rare but to have this happen in mixed partnering is extremely rare. The labour took its toll on the princess and she was very weak. The warriors had during this time grown fond of this fragile yet strong female, swaddled the two infants and placed them in her arms. First she looked at the babe on her right and having been told this was a girl child and first born she gave the tiny head a gentle kiss and whispered her love to the babe, she then turned and did the same with the boy child on her left. Handing the babes back to the warriors she begs of them one last favour and that is to leave the girl child with her mother and father who were at that time visiting and staying in a cabin near the edge of the forest and for the boy to be given to her childless cousin to raise. Having extracted the promise she closed her eyes and left this life to walk amongst her kin in the Summerlands.”
Standing up ever so slowly the ancient faery straightened up with a small grimace on his face, took a few steps and abruptly turned around, looking straight at Dagmar. Walking towards her he looked even more intently and then just as suddenly he turned and hobbled back to his seat. Taking the goblet of the table he drains it and holds it up to be refilled, thanking the faery for doing such a wonderful job. “The warriors were left with two new born babes and promises to fulfill a dying faeries wish. So with that one took the girl child and walked to where the other two faeries were staying while visiting the human realm. To return a few hours later empty handed. By then the other three warriors returned with the sad news that they had found the prince but he was gored by a wild boar and they could do not
hing to save him, since they had no healer with them and were too far from the fae realm to get him help, made him as comfortable as they could and remained by his side until he stepped over to the Summerlands to walk with his kin. Returning to their comrades they were saddened to hear that the faery passed over during the night after birthing a babe. Not mentioning the other babe for fear of what may happen, they did mention the request of a dying mother which they informed their comrades they were planning on keeping. So, they travelled back to the realm of the fae leaving behind a halfling babe. They delivered the boy babe to the childless cousin who took him into her heart immediately.” Standing up the old story teller hobbled to the steps which led down to the ground and slowly made his way to the front row, bowing deeply to the assembled audience “and with this I bid you all a Merry Part and Merry Meet again, until the next time my feet bring me to your home, Be safe and Bright Blessings to you and yours!” Bowing deeply again he walked to stand in front of Dagmar and asked her “Did you like the tale my little youngling?” smiling down at her and waiting expectantly “Yes sir it was a most wondrous tale but I am wondering if that was the end or were there parts missing?” Smiling broadly Saeldur nodded and said with a chuckle “A very bright youngling we have here and one who listens closely, yes youngling there are still parts of this tale to be woven, when they have completed their part of the tapestry of this tale I will return and tell it to you.” Waving to all he turned and started to make his way slowly out of the butterfly gates and into the forest vanishing out of sight.