We sat across the table from one another, just staring. At least ten minutes passed before anyone spoke. Honestly, I just didn't know what to say but I could tell that Julie had a lot of questions.
"Why is no one speaking?" Lattie finally asked. "Is this a normal way to behave in human custom?" She had been impatiently looking back and forth at us the whole time.
"No Lattie, it's just the way people behave when they’re in shock or don't know what to say," I answered her, not taking my eyes off of Julie.
"Oh, well I can solve that problem. Why don't you start Avery? Ask Julie what you are thinking. Ask her what she is," Lattie chirped. Sometimes her social skills weren’t the best.
"Ave, I’m sorry that I kept this from you. But, I thought that if no one knew, then it would be easier or something," Julie explained.
It came out all at once. "When, how, why? Do your parents know? Are they…" I was vomiting words now. She held up a hand to signal me to stop.
"I'll tell you everything starting from the beginning, but you have to listen first and judge later," she demanded. I just nodded and sipped on my coffee, remembering Celadine’s soft words of advice.
"My parents are not my real parents. But, I wasn't exactly adopted either. I'm a fairy, and sometimes when fey children are born they can be sick or dying. I was one of those babies. My fey parents swapped me with a human infant so they could have a healthy child. They put glamor on me to appear as if I were a rosy pink baby and left me in the cradle in her room. My human parents were not supposed to ever know the difference and I would die from what seemed like natural causes. No one would be the wiser," she explained. Her eyes were far away like she was picturing everything as she said it.
"How do you know this?" I asked her. Surely she couldn’t really remember being that young.
"Well, I don't know for sure, but I’ve been researching this almost my whole life. That’s what fairies do. It explains everything. Mom and Dad did have a newborn child before I came into the mix, and I was sick when I was a baby," she continued. "But they wouldn't give up on me. They had been trying for years to have a baby with a lot of failed attempts. When they finally managed to have one, my Mom nearly died in childbirth and the doctors told her she could never have babies again.
So, when I became sick, they did everything in their power to make me better. Dad had the best doctors in the country looking at me. But nothing worked. I had a terrible cough, ear infections, the whole works. I was ill for well over a year when my Mom finally went to extreme measures. She found this witch doctor guy and had him come to the house. After examining me, he told them that I was allergic to metal and that I needed lots of plants in the house to cleanse the air." She laughed at that part.
"He knew what I was of course, but he didn't tell them in fear that they wouldn't want me anymore. Mom and Dad got rid of almost all of the metal objects in the house and filled it with plants and flowers, my nursery looked like a greenhouse."
"That’s why you had to have the apartment this way," I realized, looking around at all of the plants that nearly filled the apartment. "So, your parents, they still don't know?" I asked.
"Oh, no, they know now. Remember that summer when we were twelve?" she asked me.
"Yeah, the only summer we ever spent apart. You went to camp." But, as I said it, I realized that it was obviously a lie.
"I was in the back yard one day, lying in the sun when I dropped my glamor somehow. I didn't even know until my Mom looked out the window and saw me. She started screaming and ran out to get me. At first, she was freaked out, but Dad calmed her down. They sat with me in the living room, just staring at me and whispering to each other. They decided to call that witch doctor again to see if he could help. And he did. They sent me away with him for the summer and he taught me to control my glamor and to even change it to how I wanted it to look. He was a fairy, of course, a troll actually. He’d been banished from Faerie and lived as a solitary fey here in the Iron World, disguised as a medicine doctor. He treated humans and fairies alike and he was the only fairy I’ve ever known, until now." She smiled and looked at Lattie.
"Wow. So, that explains how when you came back from camp it was like you had matured years over just one summer," I pointed out. "You just made yourself look like that?"
Julie nodded.
"You say he disguises himself as a medicine doctor?" Lattie asked.
"Yeah, but I don't know where he is now. He may not even be alive anymore for all I know," Julie replied.
Lattie smiled a big smile. "No, I think he is very much alive."
"What do you mean?" I asked. "Do you know a troll who lives in the Iron World as a doctor?"
"Yes, I do. And so do you," she said, matter-of-factly. "He saved your life last night."
"Oliver, the same troll that saved me last night, saved Julie when she was a baby?" I looked at Julie and she shrugged her shoulders.
"This is a strange coincidence," I thought out loud. "But it explains how he knew CPR. I mean, that can't be something that fairies usually know, right?" I asked.
"It's true; fairies don't need to know things like that," Julie confirmed. "But back on the topic of us. Avery, are you totally freaked out by this? I'll move out if you think it will be a problem."
"God, no, Jules, this is your apartment. If anyone moves out it will be me," I insisted. Her face fell when I talked about moving out. "But, I’m not going to. You're still the same Julie that I have known and loved my entire life. So now I know you're a fairy, big deal. Besides, it's not like I am new to this," I said and looked at Lattie. She smiled and beamed proudly from the upside down cup that she sat on.
"Yeah, about that," Julie replied. "I can't believe that you have been housing a sprite and didn't even tell me! She's adorable."
"Thanks!" Lattie chirped.
This was all so strange, but it felt better than the morning. I could deal with this. At least now I didn’t have to hide Lattie.
"So, can you do any magic?" I asked
Julie blushed and snapped her fingers. Suddenly, my coffee began to twirl and rise up from my cup in front of my face like a tiny tornado. I watched in amazement as it swirled in the air before me, creating whimsical swishes until it poured itself back into my mug.
I stared into my coffee cup, not believing what I just saw. I could feel Julie’s unsure eyes watching me and waiting for my reaction.
"That is so cool!" I cried. "What else can you do?"
The three of us laughed and sat at the table for a few hours after that, just talking about magic and sipping coffee. I couldn't help but realize how bizarre my life really had become since I’d moved to the city. I had an impossible dream job and boss, my new roommate was a sugar-addicted sprite and my best friend had been revealed as an orphan fairy. Moving to the city, I’d thought that school, a new home, and surroundings would be hard to adjust to and that I would miss my simple little life in the country. But it was the furthest thing from my mind. That’s okay now. Everyone leaves home eventually, but not everyone can say they know real life mythical creatures.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
UNVEILING
Iron & Wine Page 23