Faerie Sight

a teenaged girl cursed with the "Faerie Site" ends up matching wits with some members of the Daoine Sidhe

Faerie Sight

by Judith A. Espedal

The nervous customer threaded her way past food vendors and merchant tables to the small white tent of the Street Fair's psychic reader. She was young and thin, with dark eyes, spiked purple hair and tattooed snakes that crawled up thin arms. Gold earrings adorned her earlobes and pierced nose. She smiled shyly in response to Diana's "May I help you" smile, but her thoughts were in turmoil.

I must be crazy - going to a psychic. But then I am crazy. Everyone says so. Her advice can't be worse than the psycho-crap the shrinks give me.

"How much for a reading?"

Diana usually charged $20.00 but the girl looked somehow needy.

"$10.00 - the special street fair price."

"OK -So what do I do?"

"You sit down in that chair and relax while I deal out the cards. What's your name?" Diana asked as she shuffled her Tarot deck.

"Tanya - with an 'a'."

"Let's see what the cards will tell us about you, Tanya with an 'a'."

As she studied the cards she had just laid out, Diana frowned. They spoke of poor health and even a possible early death.

"Is there someone tall, dark, and handsome in my future?" Tanya asked.

What should Diana say? She didn't want to rob the girl of hope and she didn't want to lie. She studied the girl's thin arms and face.

"I'm afraid I see no boyfriend in the immediate future. What I do see is health problems. I think you need to change your diet."

"I'm already vegan. What else can I give up?"

"It's not a matter of giving something up. You need to eat healthier. Take this card; it's from my friend, Bonnie Walsh, who owns Healthy Living, a health food store near here. See her. She can help you become a healthy vegan."

"That's it! My psychic reading is 'Go see a health food nut'," Tanya complained, but she took the card.

"Tell you what. Since you don't like the reading it's on the house. But do see Bonnie; it's important that you do."

The too-thin girl nodded unenthusiastically and left.

Diana sighed.

I must perform a healing ritual for Miss Tanya. But if she's as self-destructive as I think she is it may do no good.

On the first Monday after the fair, a dreary grumbly day in July, Tanya Swift sat at the kitchenette table staring at the little bearded men. The men wore green coats and red hats. They were marching from the Danann estate to the arched gate in the stone wall surrounding the mansion to the left of the Danann one.

I guess the little men aren't troubled by pouring rain and thunder.

A mostly uneaten breakfast of whole wheat toast, fresh fruit, and fresh-squeezed vegetable juice sat in front of the waif-like girl. Her rosy boa, Pink Lady, was coiled about her narrow shoulders licking with a forked tongue at her earrings. The unhappiness and fear in her dark eyes spoke of more serious problems than mere rebelliousness.

The Swift home was the only one on Cherry Lane located near the street and not surrounded by some kind of fence or wall. Loretta and Thomas Swift thought the privacy precautions their wealthy neighbors took resulted in claustrophobic living rather than security. Large picture windows on the front of their wood and stone house allowed them to see whatever passed by on the suburban road, like the little trooping men. Sometimes Tanya wished she couldn't see the road outside. This was one of those times.

"Eat your breakfast, dear," Tanya's petite mother said as she walked into the kitchenette. Her well coifed blonde hair was beginning to show its dark roots. Her expression was one of concern and worry.

"I'm not very hungry, Mom".

She said nothing about the little trooping men in their bright clothes. She knew her mother could not see them If she mentioned them they would drag her to yet another psychiatrist. The last one had pumped her so full of drugs she couldn't concentrate on her school work and her grades had plummeted. There were two joys in Tanya's bleak life. One was her pet reptiles - the rosy boa, an iguana, and turtles. The other was her pride in the fact that when anorexia and psychotic episodes did not interfere she got pretty good grades at school, especially in science.

Do NOT want to be pumped full of drugs again. They don't even keep me from seeing things that aren't there.

"If you don't eat Dr. Hendricks will have to put you back in the hospital and stick IVs in you again," her mother pleaded.

That route could also lead to a psychiatrist's office. Tanya picked up a ripe pear and nibbled at it.

"I don't know what I'm going to do with you, Tanya."

Her mother came over and gave her daughter a hug. They both glanced out the rain-splattered window. A moving truck pulled into the arched gate on the other side of the street. Tanya saw the little men scatter into the ivy vines that climbed the wall as the truck approached them, but of course her mother saw only the truck.

"I see the new family is moving into the Henderson Place. I heard they're a young couple with no children -- name is Silverleaf. What kind of name is Silverleaf?" Loretta said.

"Sounds Indian -- Native American that is."

"No. I've seen them and they are very blond -- more Nordic than Indian. Surely you can eat more than one pear."

"Yes, Mother."

Tanya picked up the glass of vegetable juice and sipped it then spoke.

"I went to this Psychic at the Crystal City Street Fair. She gave me a card to some health food store -- Healthy Living. Said the lady there could help me develop a healthier vegan diet. Maybe I should go talk to her."

Tanya didn't really want to talk to the health food lady but she wanted to get her mother's mind off of doctors and psychiatrists.

"That's a great idea. Healthy Living is located near Lydia's Spa and Salon. I've an appointment at Lydia's tomorrow -- hair, massage, spa, the works. I could take you to Crystal City with me and you could talk to the health food lady while I'm in the spa."

"OK, it's a girls' date, Mom."

"That's my girl."

Loretta Swift gave Tanya another hug.

She hoped her daughter would listen to this health food store owner. She certainly would not listen to anyone else.

Healthy Living was located on Kelly Street, a block from where the cobblestone-paved Central-Crystal City Road ran through Oldtown. Tanya, wearing baggy sweat pants and a black tee-shirt showing a skull and crossbones, timidly entered the store which set off a tinkling bell. The smell of jasmine incense wafted by her nose. The source smoldered in an Aladin's lamp burner on the counter, next to an array of other incense sticks and cones. She gazed at shelves where bottles with handwritten labels and bunches of fresh herbs were stuffed next to the usual natural vitamins, stone-ground flours, ginkgo biloba, and echinacea. She was the only customer in the store so the owner immediately came over to help her.

She was slightly plump, her pleasant face framed by chestnut curls, her brown eyes warm and welcoming. A silver pentagram on a chain about her neck suggested she might belong to a witch cult which was fine with Tanya. Tanya knew a couple of Pagan kids at Crystal City High and they were OK -- more fun than the holier-than-thou Christian Evangelical crowd.

"May I help you, Miss?”

"Miss Walsh?"

Tanya handed the lady the business card the tarot deck reader had given her.

"I'm Miss Walsh," the store owner said as she looked at her own card.

"The psychic reader at the street fair last Sunday gave me this card. Said you could help me eat a better vegan diet. Everyone seems to think I don't eat right."

"Ah, yes. She mentioned you to me. In fact I gathered some reading material for you. You're not allergic to anything like peanuts or whole wheat bread, are you?"

"No, no allergies", Tanya said as Miss Walsh pulled out a folder from behind the checkout counter that was stuffed with colorful pamphlets.

"Here's the information. The trick with a strict vegan diet is to eat a lot of vegetable proteins since you are eating no animal products at all -- whole grain breads, brown rice, legumes, lots of nuts and seeds. Of course you still have to eat fresh vegetables and fruit. These pamphlets give several diet plans and some yummy recipes that should help you improve your diet."

"Thank you. Ma'am", Tanya said as she took the overstuffed folder from the pleasant lady.

"What's your name, Miss Vegan Eater?"

"Tanya -- with an 'a' -- Tanya Swift."

Miss Walsh returned her business card to Tanya.

"Well, Tanya, if you have any questions about these diet plans give me a call or come on over here. I'm here six days a week until 6:00 o'clock."

"Will this diet keep me from seeing things that aren't there?", Tanya muttered, then immediately wished she had not.

Now the Walsh woman will also know I'm crazy.

Miss Walsh stared at the too thin child.

Now where did a question like that come from?

"A good diet will improve all of your health, physical and emotional. But --- how do you know you're seeing things that aren't there?"

"Cause no one else can see them", Tanya whispered.

"Maybe you're just better at seeing things than the others are."

This was not at all the answer Tanya had expected.

Just then the little bell rang and two young women wearing jogging sweats and sneakers came into the store. Both had the kind of healthy good looks that attracted members of the opposite sex, sparking a moment of envy in the purple-haired girl.

"We need a gallon of Dragon Balm -- something that will send heat and icy cold all the way inside to our bones", the dark-haired girl called out with an exaggerated moan.

"Have you taken up aerobics or jogging or something, Heather?" Miss Walsh asked.

"Worse. Jenny and I recently joined Kim's Taekwondo School. I swear Master Kim is trying to kill us. He was three times as hard on us than on the other white belts and I've got the screaming muscles to prove it," Heather replied.

"That's my husband's fault. Dylan told Master Kim to make sure we really learn how to fight," the blonde girl chimed in.

"Yeah and just wait until we've learned a thing or two. I'm going to try my martial arts techniques out on your husband's --- piper -- bones", Heather retorted.

"Piper bones?" Miss Walsh asked as she reached for a large jar of the potent muscle salve.

"Oh! -- My husband plays the pipes in Heather's Irish band. Let us pay you for this stuff right away so we can get some on our aching limbs."

Miss Walsh began to ring up the sale.

"So, you're Dylan Greenwood's new bride. I'd heard Central City's most eligible bachelor had finally tied the knot", she said as she accepted payment from the blonde girl. "So why did the two of you drive all the way up to Crystal City just to buy a jar of muscle salve? There's health food stores near Kim's school."

"My husband and sister-in-law are helping some friends move into a new home on Cherry Lane. They decided to meet us up here for lunch. Dylan suggested we meet here. I guess he knew we'd be in need of this Dragon Balm stuff."

Tanya perked up at the mention of someone moving into a home on Cherry Lane.

"Are your husband's friends named Silverleaf?" she asked the blonde girl.

The blonde's eyes widened in surprise.

"Yes. Do you know the Silverleafs?"

"No, but I live across the street from the house they are moving into -- across from the Danann place actually. My mother learned their names. Mom knows all the gossip on Cherry Lane."

"Well, it is a small world isn't it?", Heather said as the bell rang again and two more people came into the store.

They were slender and lithe, dressed in green sweats with dark green oak trees embroidered on the shirts. Long silver hair was pulled back into pony tails and their bright green eyes were filled with laughter.

"I never realized how much fun it could be helping someone move into a new home" the woman called out in a musical voice that held a strange note of distant chimes.

"Don't listen to my twin, love," the man said as he walked over to the blonde girl and gave her an affectionate hug. "The ladies had a ball, but Shane and I are exhausted. We'll have to stay in our downtown apartment for a long time, love, for it will be awhile before I'll be willing to do this again."

The blonde laughed. Dylan planted a kiss on his wife's forehead then froze as he noticed the punk child who was backing away from him, a look of pure terror in her eyes. The feelings emanating from the teenager were a mixture of fear and deep unhappiness.

"No! -- not again -- not here. You are not real! I don't really see you!"

She fled with a sob to the door and ran out of the store, clutching the diet folder protectively against her heart. The silver-haired woman turned back to the door and watched the child run like a frightened deer down Kelly Street towards Oldtown.

"Wow! That child really has some serious issues," Miss Walsh said into the silence that followed the teenager's dramatic exit.

'I think she saw us as we really are', the silver-haired woman said telepathically to her twin.

'I agree. That is the only explanation for her behavior.'

Out loud Dylan spoke to the health food store owner.

"Do you know who that child is?"

"Actually I do. She said her name was Tanya and that she lives on Cherry Lane, across from the Danann family."

'Dana be praised! A child that old with Faerie sight living right across the street from Lord Cormac and no one knew!,' Dylan again said silently to his sister.

Probably has been avoiding contact with those like us. I would in her place. We need to inform the Danann Clan about her right away.

Tanya ran down Kelly Street until she reached the trendy clubs, high-priced restaurants, and expensive boutiques of Oldtown. She paused to catch her breath in front of Erotic Fantasies, an adult bookstore the other store owners had been unable to run out of the neighborhood.

Why do these psychotic episodes have to ruin everything. I meet a nice lady and ---- boom -- I'm seeing Star Trek aliens. I wish it would stop.

Tears streamed down her face. She thought about what to do next.

Don't want to go to Lydia's and let Mom see me like this. I'm not hungry.

She wiped the tears from her eyes then looked down the street.

"Oh no -- another one!"

Coming towards her strode an apparition with pointed ears, cat-like green eyes, and long white hair that fanned out in a soft cloud about his strange but beautiful face. He was dressed in electric blue and black medieval clothes over silver chain mail. A long sword was buckled at his slender waist.

Tanya backed up to the brick wall of Erotic Fantasies as the bizarre man approached. She saw him step out of the way of a pair of businessmen who had almost walked into him. The two businessmen never even glanced at the man as he passed by them.

"He's one of the invisible ones," Tanya whispered.

Usually the invisible ones were little old men and the tall pointy-eared ones were real people who looked perfectly normal to everyone else. But why should hallucinations follow a predictable pattern?

The white-haired man stopped and stared at Tanya, a hard look in his emerald eyes. He took a step towards her and she cringed against the brick wall. None of the invisible ones had ever paid any attention to her before.

Are my hallucinations turning into nightmares?

"Can you see me?" the man asked her in a voice that was soft, musical and menacing.

"Go away! You -- You're not real. I'm not really seeing you."

Tears again welled up in her eyes.

The man smiled a feral smile.

"Ah. She has the Faerie sight but doesn't know it. If you were blind you wouldn't suffer so much would you?"

He took off the leather glove that covered his right hand and reached for Tanya's tear-streaked face.

"No! -- No! -- Leave me alone!"

Her dark eyes grew wide. She tried to melt into the bookstore's wall. Never before had she felt so helpless and so terrified.

"Leave her alone, Mac Aedh!" came an angry voice to Tanya's left.

She looked and saw the flaming hair and glowing green eyes of the Danann brothers, Coran and Connla. They also had pointed ears and cat eyes, but then they always did. She usually avoided the Dananns but today she felt a profound sense of relief when their approach caused the white-haired man to back away from her.

"You can see him too?" she said in a whisper so low only elvish ears could have heard it.

"Since when do you attack children, Lord Niall? Even you can't be that unseelie, not and still call yourself one of the Sidhe," Coran said in a cold voice.

His eyes glowed with anger, his pony-tail pulling away from his head as if caught in a strong breeze.

Lord Niall looked at Tanya who still pressed against the brick wall, tears running down her cheeks.

"Is she a child? I would have thought her old enough for bedding, but -- this modern World of Humans has redefined what a child is, hasn't it? You do realize she has the Faerie sight which makes her a danger to us all."

The terrifying alien turned and murmured in a strange tongue. A circle of light appeared above the street. He entered it then became truly invisible, even to Tanya's eyes.

"What was Lord Niall trying to do to Tanya?" Connla asked his older brother.

"Blind her, I think. It was done a lot in the old days to those who had the sight. The real question is what was the Mac Aedh lord doing stalking the streets of Crystal City under a cloak of invisibility," Coran replied.

His expression was grim and angry.

"He wasn't real, so how can you talk to him -- or see him? But then -- you're not real either -- neither of you are real," Tanya said.

"Don't be ridiculous, Tanya. You know perfectly well I'm a science teacher at your high school and my little brother has been in several classes with you. In fact you are scheduled to be in my Biology class next fall. Besides, we live just across the street from you," Coran said in a calm voice.

The anger in his eyes had been replaced by a look of gentle concern.

"I asked them to put me in Mrs. Dowripple's class," Tanya whimpered.

"Now why would you want to be in Mrs. Dowripple's class? She teaches the slow students. You're too good a science student not to be in my advanced Biology class."

Tanya stared at the sidewalk in front of her feet, refusing to look at the brothers.

Everyone knows I'm crazy anyway. Might as well let them know just how crazy I am.

"I didn't want to be in your Biology class because -- you and Connla always look like some kind of -- Vulcan aliens to me. I know I sound crazy. -- I am crazy! I know you aren't really Vulcans but -- I'm sorry, Mr. Danann. I just get so tired of not being normal," Tanya blurted out.

Coran gently brushed the tears from her cheeks, then lifted her chin so she had to look at him. She shivered as her dark eyes met his uptilted cat-like ones.

"You are not crazy, Tanya. You are not seeing things that aren't there. You are seeing what is truly there. It's the others who don't see true reality."

He spoke in a low whisper so as not to be overheard by passers-by.

"Are you crazy too, Mr. Danann? That would mean -- you and Connla are from some other planet -- and there's invisible men running around."

"Sometimes there are invisible men running around," Connla said.

"But we are not from another planet. We're from Faerie, which is more like --another dimension or plane of existence," Coran told the shaken teenager.

"Faerie! What are you -- elves or something?"

"Elves, Daoine Sidhe. -- There are a lot of names for our species," Coran said.

"I've never heard of true group insanity. Are you making fun of me?"

Please say "yes". The alternative is too much beyond weird.

"I hope you don't think I'm that twisted," Coran said.

He glanced at the passing pedestrians, some of whom gave the three of them curious glances as they walked by.

Given the location and Tanya's punk style dress, they probably think I'm picking up a teenage hooker.

"We need to talk in a more private place. Did you drive?" Coran asked the teenager.

"No. I don't have my license yet. Mom drove me. She's over at Lydia's getting the full treatment. She'll be there most of the day."

"Perfect. That gives us an excuse to give you a lift home. My truck is parked in a lot just past Lydia's. We can inform your mother we're taking you home on our way to the parking lot."

Tanya wanted to run away and hide, somewhere far away from pointy-eared elves and invisible men. But no one had ever before suggested that she might not be crazy. She so much wanted to believe them.

What if I'm not crazy?

She trembled at the thought.

That would mean the cruel white-haired -- elf man? -- really did try to blind me.

She trembled again but nodded, allowing Crystal City High's most popular science teacher to take her hand and lead her down Kelly Street. She again held the diet folder against her chest as if it would somehow protect her against all the weird things that were happening.

A little while later Tanya found herself sitting next to Coran in his black Toyota pickup. Connla was forced to ride in the cramped back seat.

"The way your mother yelped when the receptionist took us back to where she was getting her hair done, I thought for a moment she had Faerie sight too," Connla told Tanya as his brother pulled the truck out of the parking lot.

Tanya laughed, forgetting her fear for a moment.

"It was pride. She didn't want her neighbors' handsome sons seeing her with her hair full of smelly hair dye gunk."

"So she thinks we're handsome," Connla said with a smirk. "She seemed relieved we were taking you home."

"Of course. This way she doesn't have to worry about me getting into trouble in Crystal City. -- You know, having a psychotic episode, seeing invisible men or elves or something. And when you promised to feed me lunch she was ecstatic. She thinks I don't eat right."

"Do you eat right? You do seem a bit -- on the thin side for a girl your age," Coran asked.

"OK -- They say I'm anorexic so I probably am. But then they also say I'm crazy cause I see elves and stuff like that, -- and I'm vegan. I don't eat meat products at all."

Tanya stared out the window at the city streets to avoid looking at the alien at her side.

"We can do vegan at the Danann kitchen," Coran assured her.

For awhile the three truck occupants rode in silence. When Coran pulled the truck onto North Riverroad, Tanya spoke.

"Mr. Danann -- Why did the white-haired man say I was a danger to you? Why did he want to blind me?"

Coran could feel her almost primal fear.

"You are a danger to us because you can see us when others can not. In the old days the witch hunters used those with Faerie sight to unmask us. Some of us were slain. In those days there were Sidhe who routinely blinded those like you -- so they could not be used against us."

"But those days are long gone. People don't hunt witches any more," Tanya protested.

"Lord Niall doesn't realize that. And some of those religious fanatics -- would -- if they could. Keeping you safe from those like Lord Niall is something we will discuss when we reach my parents' house."

They pulled onto Cherry Lane then onto the gravel road that led to the Danann's home. They drove past a formal planting of maple trees bordering a wilder woods. Tanya glimpsed a couple of the little green-coated red-capped men in the wood.

"Some of your 'invisible men'," she said.

Connla identified them for her.

"Trooping fairies."

"So why do they stay here? Are they servants?"

"No. The trooping men just like to hang out here - feel safer living in a woods owned by the Daoine Sidhe. They do provide security. They're good at scaring off unwanted intruders," Coran explained.

"They don't seem very scary to me."

"I thought they terrified you."

“Cause I thought seeing them meant I was nuts. But they're just little old men."

"Do not underestimate the trooping fairies just because they are small. They are creatures of magic and they can be capricious and dangerous."

"If you are trying to reassure me, saying things like that isn't going to do it."

"I'm not going to lie to you, Tanya, not even to reassure you. Faerie can be a very dangerous realm."

Tanya fell silent again until the truck passed over a stone bridge that spanned Willow Creek.

"Oh -- this is so pretty. I love your place, Mr. Danann."

"You're welcome to come here any time," Coran said.

The woods opened up into a wildflower meadow. They approached the house which was surrounded by mature trees, butterfly bushes, witch hazel, and highbush cranberries. Two rowan trees guarded the corners of the wood and stone house. Coran drove into the garage and parked next to his parents' Buick.

As the three of them entered the house, Coran silently informed his parents of the situation. When they approached the living room he turned to the nervous girl.

"My parents tell me you had an encounter with the Greenwood twins at the Healthy Living store."

"How did they tell you? -- through mind reading?"

"Yes. We can do that too."

"Are you reading my mind?"

Coran took the girl's hand.

"I wouldn't invade your privacy that way, not without your permission. But we are pretty empathetic. We can't help sensing your feelings."

"Mine are pretty much of a mess, I guess," Tanya muttered as they entered the large living room.

Cormac and Nora Danann, dressed in casual slacks and cream shirts bearing a unicorn and gryphon crest, sat like nobility receiving subjects on a high-backed loveseat. Cormac's pale gold hair was pulled into a pony tail. His wife's red-gold hair flowed freely across her shoulders. To Tanya they appeared to be no older than their oldest son.

"You guys age well," she whispered.

"You don't know the half of it. I'm over 1000 years old and I'm young by Faerie standards. Even Connla is over 200 years old," Coran replied.

Tanya clutched his hand, suddenly very afraid.

"Relax, child. Just because we're old doesn't mean we bite," Lady Nora said as they approached the loveseat.

The two Danann sons bowed to their parents.

"Am I supposed to bow too?"

"Among the Sidhe it's considered the polite thing to do when greeting the head of the home," Cormac Danann informed her.

She also bowed then stood there holding Coran's hand.

"We promised her some lunch and a lot of explanations," Coran told his parents.

"This formal living room is adding to her nervousness. Let us have the lunch and the conversation in the kitchen," Lady Nora said.

She stood up, came over to the frightened child, and hugged her, drawing her from Coran's side. Tanya came into her arms with a cry then she started crying again. Lady Nora held her until the sobbing eased.

"I'm sorry you're having such a frightening day, child. We'll try to make the rest of it as -- nonthreatening as possible."

Tanya nodded and allowed the elf lady to lead her into a modern kitchen whose eating area was dominated by a large oval table. The menfolk followed.

On the table were bowls of luscious fruit, a salad full of nuts and seeds, and a brown rice and red bean dish. Tanya was sure she could never eat so much food at one time. She sat down and the elves arranged themselves near her, Cormac Danann at her immediate left. She picked up a peach and took a small bite. It was the most delicious peach she had ever eaten.

"This is good -- really good," Tanya said in surprise as she took a second bite.

They ate in silence. Tanya finished the peach and sampled the salad. The dressing on it was to die for. It was not until Tanya had finished most of the salad and nibbled at the sweet rice and beans concoction that Cormac Danann spoke in a quiet voice.

"You've been hit with a lot of new and scary realities today, Tanya. We're willing to answer any questions. Don't be afraid to ask."

Tanya looked at the Sidh lord sitting next to her at a very ordinary kitchen table. It wasn't just that he looked alien and different. Pointed ears and cat eyes weren't all that scary. What was scary was the feeling of power that emanated from him.

"So, what exactly are you guys?"

"Coran already told you. We are elves, the Daoine Sidhe, the high lords of Faerie."

"Those are just words from fairy tales."

The elves laughed and Tanya blushed.

"So they are," Lord Cormac replied. "Let me see, how do I explain us to you? We are a species from the realm of Faerie, which exists on a different plane but interpenetrates your world, and draws some of its power from this place. We exist at a higher energy level than humans do -- and we can do magic, pretty powerful magic by human standards."

"Humans can't do magic."

"Actually some of you can, but not the level of magic the Sidhe can call upon. In this human world we cloak ourselves with magic spells -- shadow spells, invisibility spells, glamours that make us seem human. Those kind of spells don't affect you, Tanya. You have the Faerie sight and that means you can see past the Faerie spells that confuse the human minds."

"Am I doing magic?"

She didn't feel very magical.

"Not exactly," Lady Nora replied. "Those kind of spells confuse human minds in superficial ways. Your mind simply refuses to be confused and thus sees us as we truly are. It's hereditary although it tends to skip generations. You undoubtedly have some ancestors who had the sight."

"Mom told me insanity runs in her family. My great-grandmother, a great uncle, and an aunt were all considered pretty batty. I guess they were like me."

"It's unfortunate that your family interprets the gift as insanity. Had we realized your situation when you were little we could have educated and trained you. Sometimes we even kidnap children like you and raise them in Faerie. They tend to grow up happier there," the Sidh lord told her.

"My parents would not have been happy if you'd kidnapped me. -- Although -- as much of a bother as I've been maybe they'd have been happier at that."

"I think your parents love you very much, Miss Swift," Cormac Danann said with a sad smile. "They just don't understand you. How can they? But with us living across the street it would not have been necessary to kidnap you. We could have helped you right here on Cherry Lane."

"I -- I've been avoiding you all of my life. I mean -- I thought you were part of my insanity -- and -- sometimes you are a bit scary."

"Sometimes we are scary," Lord Cormac agreed. "Which brings me to the question of our unseelie friend, Lord Niall Mac Aedh."

"What does 'unseelie' mean?" Tanya asked.

"It means we consider Lord Niall an elf of questionable ethical and moral attributes."

"You mean he's just plain mean," Tanya said, a flash of anger in her eyes.

"Mean and dangerous," Lord Cormac conceded. "We need to do something to protect you. If we place you under our official protection that should stop him from harming you -- although with Lord Niall one cannot be sure. Accept this bracelet and wear it. It will be a sign to anyone of Faerie that you are under the Danann Clan's protection."

Lord Cormac handed Tanya a silver bracelet with a unicorn and gryphon crest engraved on it.

"Once you put it on it will not come off again," Lady Nora warned the girl.

Tanya looked at the bracelet then looked at her thin tattooed arms.

"It will mar the flow of the snakes if I wear it."

'How dare this impudent child refuse such a gift!'  Lord Cormac thought, his pale hair flaring as anger flashed in his eyes.

Tanya drew back from him and shivered.

He reconsidered his response and his face resumed its former calm demeanor.

"In that case we can offer you a ring with the Danann seal on it. It will have the same effect as the bracelet would have. But know, Tanya Swift, that only your youth protects you from elvish wrath. It is dangerous to thus refuse a gift from Faerie," the Sidh Lord said.

Tanya shivered again.

"I'm sorry, Sir."

He held out his hand and spoke in his own tongue. A silver ring bearing the Danann crest appeared in his outstretched hand.

He gave it to the girl, saying, "Put it on your right hand. It also will not come off once it is on."

Tanya slipped the ring on her right hand ring finger. It adjusted itself so that it fit her thin finger. She tried to pull it back off but it would not come.

"It's pretty anyway. Will it hurt my finger if I get fat like everyone wants me to do?"

"No. It will always fit you perfectly," Lord Cormac assured her.

"Does it do anything magical?'

"Not much. You can call one of us by saying our name three times and the ring will get our attention, but that doesn't guarantee we will reach you in time if you're in danger. Don't rely on it for that kind of thing. However, most of the creatures of Faerie will respect the ring and leave you alone."

"Will it protect me from Lord Niall?"

"Maybe," Coran said. "To tell the truth we're not sure."

"Oh great," Tanya said as she finished the last of the rice and bean dish.

She looked at her now empty plate in amazement.

"I usually don't eat so much. Did you use some kind of magic spell on me?"

"No. It was just the 'magic' of good tasting food. We Faerie folk like our creature comforts and the best food we can get is one of them," Lady Nora said with a laugh.

"I guess that is OK then," Tanya conceded.

That afternoon Loretta returned from Lydia's, her body refreshed and her hair color dazzling. She found a happy Tanya, the rosy boa curled up in her lap, feeding tidbits to Green Dragon, her pet iguana.

"So, how was lunch at the Dananns?" a surprised Loretta asked her daughter.

"Great -- and --- I ate all of it."

"Really? What did you have?"

"An absolutely heavenly peach, some kind of salad with lots of nuts and seeds, a sweet rice and bean dish."

"You ate all of that?"

Tanya knew her mother would call the Dananns to verify her claim.

"Yes! I'm not lying. I really ate it all."

"So, what caused this sudden spurt of healthy appetite?"

"They just served really delicious food is all."

"I must call Nora and get her recipes," Loretta replied.

Wednesday dawned as rainy and dreary as Monday had been. Tanya's good mood had evaporated overnight. She woke up feeling her usual helpless depression, mixed in with new feelings of anger.

"Why didn't they tell me all this when I was little?" she asked Green Dragon in his night cage. "All those doctors and psychiatrists -- all the hospitals with their IV tubes, the drugs that confused my mind. They should have noticed me and told me the truth when I was little enough for it to make a difference."

Tanya refused to acknowledge her own responsibility for deliberately avoiding her pointy-eared neighbors all those years. She found that she was not hungry for breakfast at all.

Near the Erotic Fantasies Bookstore where Tanya had encountered the vicious Lord Niall was located one of Crystal City's oldest and most respected businesses, Smithe and Smithe Wine Cellar. The elder Mr. Smithe had long since passed away, leaving his son the upscale store's only proprietor. The middle-aged proprietor saw no reason to change the name of a successful business when his father died so "Smithe and Smithe" the store remained.

Mr. Smithe was expecting the visitor who walked into his store that rainy Wednesday carrying a portable container designed to keep fine wine at the perfect temperature, but the tall middle-aged man's appearance was not quite what he had expected. The expensive gray business suit and air of refinement and confidence were expected, but the electric blue tie with its black dragon design, the long white hair pulled back into a 60's style pony tail, and the startling bright green eyes were jarring notes, at odds with the rest of his appearance.

"Mr. McCay?" he asked.

"At your service. You, I presume, are Mr. Barnaby Smithe."

The man spoke with a trace of an Irish accent. The sound of chimes in the distance was somewhat disconcerting. They shook hands. Mr. Smithe was impressed by the other man's firm grasp.

"I see you have brought samples of this mysterious Twilight Rose wine. I have set up a wine tasting table in my office. Shall we proceed at once?"

"That would be appropriate. We cannot discuss business terms until you have tasted the wine and decided if it suits your needs."

"I checked your wine out on the internet," Mr. Smithe admitted as they entered his office where a laptop computer sat on a large mahogany desk. "I found a few references to Twilight Rose being served at some exclusive wine tasting parties. The comments about it were complimentary. But I found a surprising lack of information on its origin, its distribution, or how to order it."

The wine store owner ushered his guest to a table covered with a white tablecloth, a decanter, and a sparkling clear wine glass.

"My family is the wine's only distributor. Up to now we have sold it on a direct order basis to an exclusive clientele. Those on our clientele list know how to contact us."

The white-haired man opened the container and brought out an attractive corked bottle containing an amber wine which he set down next to the decanter and the glass.

"Twilight Rose does not need to be decanted, but feel free to do so if you prefer."

"I always let even a white wine breathe a little before I taste it," Mr. Smithe replied.

Once the amber wine had been opened, decanted and had a chance to breathe, Mr. Smithe poured it towards the center of the tulip shaped glass until the glass was 2/3 full. Holding the glass by its stem he held it against the white tablecloth to check its color, swirling it to observe its body and to release odor molecules. He took a quick whiff then a deeper one, contemplating its aroma before taking an initial brief taste. On the second longer taste he swirled it in his mouth, drawing in some air. Then he swallowed and savored the aftertaste.

Mr. Smithe kept his expression professionally neutral as he tasted the wine, but Niall Mac Aedh was a strong empath and he noted with satisfaction the feelings of excited pleasure that emanated from the wine connoisseur.

"Medium body -- perfumed bouquet -- round and deep -- a very complex wine -- velvety."

Lord Niall smiled as he observed the wine seller trying to maintain his business advantage by not giving the wine too much praise. The too honest Crystal City businessman gave up the effort.

"This is simply the most elegant, superb wine I have ever tasted. It is everything you said it was and more. I am definitely interested in doing business with you."

"Good. I suggest that Twilight Rose be marketed on a special order basis to those willing and able to pay well for such a fine wine. To facilitate this I will leave a couple of bottles with you so that you may hold a wine-tasting party for those likely to be interested in our wine. Here is my business card. I have no phone where I may be reached at present but you can reach me at the E-mail address if you are still interested in doing business with me after the party."

They shook hands and Mr. Smithe escorted the white-haired businessman to the stores's door. Glancing at the card Mr. Smithe noted the decidedly Irish spelling of his guest's name.

Mac Aedh, not McCay. How is it, Mr. Mac Aedh, that a wealthy businessman has no cell phone number where he can be reached? Or are you just protecting your privacy and the location of the vineyards this wine comes from?

He said none of these things out loud, however.

The initially rainy Wednesday turned bright and sunny in the afternoon. Cormac Danann and his wife were enjoying a lavish dinner on their patio. As they sipped some Twilight Rose wine their youngest child came out to the patio and bowed.

"I was just checking our E-mail. Look at this, Father," Connla said as he handed Lord Cormac a hard copy of one of the E-mail letters.

"An invitation to a wine-tasting party at Smithe and Smithe's," Lord Cormac observed. "Twilight Rose! Lord Niall is planning to market Twilight Rose directly to humans!"

"He has the right to do that if he wants," Nora ni Mac Brian de Froud-Danann replied with a shrug.

"Yes -- but -- what is he really up to? Mac Aedh hates humans. I'm willing to bet he has some more nefarious scheme in mind. I believe I will formally protest his selling Twilight Rose to the humans before your cousin, King Finvena."

"On what grounds, dear? We do all kinds of business with humans, so how can you justify preventing Lord Niall from doing the same?"

"I can't. But the required investigation will slow him down and give us a chance to find out what he is really up to. Son, let us go to the computer room. I want to E-mail a formal protest to Knockma Hill immediately."

"Sure thing, Father. Let's go."

"Before you finish your dinner? You really are worried about this, aren't you dear?", Lady Nora said to her husband's retreating back.

That same evening Lord Niall stormed out of his own computer room and into the sun room where his wife, Lady Arlene, was fussing over her favorite flowers.

"Dana be praised, the Dananns have gone too far this time!' he fumed.

His white hair billowed out in a wild cloud and his eyes blazed with anger as he waved a computer printout in his right hand.

Lady Arlene pushed a strand of pale red-gold hair out of her eyes and looked at her enraged husband.

"What has Lord Cormac done now?"

"He is protesting my selling Twilight Rose wine to the humans before the King and Queen. How can he do that when he is so totally embroiled in human affairs?"

"He doesn't expect the royal pair to uphold his protest. The delay caused by the investigation will ruin your business relationship with this Crystal City wine dealer, forcing you to start over in another city with another dealer."

"You're right. That is what he is trying to do, isn't it?"

"If you had not tried to rape that little Pagan priestess at the Greenwood party King Finvena and Queen Mab might have thrown the protest out as being too frivolous to consider. As it is they will probably draw the investigation out as long as possible, just to annoy you," Lady Arlene snapped at her husband.

Living in marriages that lasted for thousands of years, elves did not expect total faithfulness from their spouses. But there was a big difference between a frolicsome tumble in some mossy woodland glade and an attempted rape. Lady Arlene loved her husband too much to leave him over the incident but it had left a sour taste in her mouth.

Lord Niall noted his wife's displeasure but chose to ignore it. Instead he concentrated on how to counter the Danann lord's move.

"I'm returning to the Human World tomorrow. Perhaps I can find some kind of leverage to force Lord Cormac to withdraw his protest."

"As you wish, dear," Lady Arlene said with a weary sigh.

She had grown tired of her husband's scheming and Faerie's often vicious politics.

Thursday morning started out as yet another cloudy day, which did nothing to alleviate the depression and despair that had settled over Tanya. She'd convinced herself that the conversation with the Danann family about elves and trooping fairies had been a dream or yet another hallucination.

Sometimes I wonder if it's even worth while living.

Her mother had obtained some of the vegan food from Nora Danann, food so tasty that Tanya found herself nibbling at it in spite of her blue funk. It did not occur to her that the food was evidence that her conversation with the neighboring Sidhe had been real. Because her appetite seemed improved Loretta was unaware of her daughter's depression.

"I'm on my way to my bridge club, dear," she called out to her daughter at about 10:00 AM. "Will you be OK here while I'm gone?"

"Of course. I have Pink Lady, Green Dragon, and the turtles for company. There's still some fruit and that rice and bean stuff in the fridge for me to eat", Tanya called back with feigned cheerfulness.

"Fine, I'll be home by 2:00."

After her mother left Tanya cleaned her pets' cages and tanks, making sure all had sufficient food and water. Then she sat at the kitchenette table nibbling at a Faerie pear. She noticed her mother's sharpest kitchen knife sitting on the counter next to the sink where her mother had left it.

"I could just take that knife and cut my wrists and be done with it," she said out loud.

The more she thought about it the more she liked the idea. She went over to the sink and picked up the knife, turning it over and over in her hands, wondering what it would feel like to die. Finally she glanced out the kitchen window towards the Danann estate.

"Maybe I should go talk to the Dananns first. What if it wasn't a dream? What if they are elves? Coran Danann said I could come over any time."

Pulling a gray sweater over her dark tee shirt that displayed a coiled king cobra, Tanya headed for the front door. But she took the knife with her.

The child walked as if in a daze across the lawn, past the cherry trees, across the two-lane road. When she got to the "Private Drive" sign near the entrance to the Dananns' gravel road she almost turned around . Instead she gave herself a shake then headed down the road. She had walked only a short distance when she saw two of the red-capped trooping fairy men peeking out from some bushes beyond the trees.

"That's it! You guys are not going to plague me anymore!"

She took the sharp knife in her right hand and slashed it across her left wrist. Before she could register the pain from the first cut, she switched the knife to her left hand and slashed the right wrist. She dropped the knife in the grass growing under a tall sugar maple, sat down by the tree, and leaned against its trunk, waiting to die. Silent tears streamed down her thin face.

"Why did she do that?" one of the trooping fairies asked the other.

"I don't know. Was it something we said?"

"We didn't say anything," the first one replied.

They both shrugged their shoulders and trotted off into the brush under the wildwood trees.

Niall Mac Aedh, dressed in black slacks and a blue shirt with the Mac Aedh black dragon crest on it, stood concealed in the dense bushes in front of the house next to the Swift one watching the Danann estate. He no longer trusted an invisibility spell to hide him from prying eyes. He saw the distraught girl walk like a zombie across the street and enter the Danann estate. He could feel the anguish and despair coming from her in waves.

Very interesting. The girl with Faerie sight has established some kind of relationship with the Dananns. Entering the Danann's lands will be risky. Still, I think I need to know what that unhappy child is doing. It may well be worth the risk.

He found the child leaning against a tree, tears streaming down her cheeks and blood seeping from two fresh gashes on her skinny wrists. A bloody knife lay nearby in the grass.

"Who did this to you?" he whispered.

Tanya looked up, startled. She had not heard the approach of the Sidh lord.

"Lord Niall! -- No one -- I did it myself. What do you care? You want me to die anyway."

The Sidh checked the girl's physical condition.

"I'm afraid you are not going to die. You didn't slash deep enough to kill yourself."

His eyes were cold as green ice, his voice like sharp icicles.

"Terrific. I can't even do suicide right."

Lord Niall noticed the elf-silver ring on her right ring finger. He knelt beside her and grabbed her hand in order to look more closely at the ring. Tanya yelped and struggled to pull her hand from his firm grasp.

"You want to die and yet you fear I will hurt you. Relax. The Dananns have convinced me you are but a child and the Sidhe do not harm children. Besides I see from this ring you are under the protection of Lord Cormac. I would be a fool to harm someone under the Danann lord's protection."

"So, go away and leave me alone."

"Still -- You could be the leverage I need to force Lord Cormac to back off from his attack on my business concerns."

He reached for her other hand but she put it behind her back.

"Let me have your hand. I won't hurt you. I'm going to heal the wounds you gave yourself. I don't want to get your blood all over my clothes."

"I don't want to be healed," Tanya complained, but she gave Lord Niall her left hand.

He held her wrists in his powerful hands and murmured in the elvish tongue. A healing warmth spread through Tanya's hands and arms that would have been pleasurable had anyone but the hateful Lord Niall been doing it. Tanya watched in amazement as the blood stopped flowing and the ugly gashes healed before her eyes. When all that was left was two white scars the Sidh lord ended his healing.

"I'm leaving the scars as a reminder to not be so foolish in the future."

"What do you care!"

"I don't. I'm just doing it, that's all. Come on. We must get out of here before the Dananns discover me."

"I'm not going anywhere with you," Tanya protested, anger warring with fear in her eyes.

"Yes you are!"

He stood up and pulled Tanya to her feet in one powerful fluid motion. He murmured again in Elvish and a circle of bright light appeared across the gravel road.

"They know I'm here now," he said as he pulled the struggling teenager with him into the light.

Tanya felt an awful stomach-wrenching falling elevator sensation that turned into nausea. She found herself standing beside the Sidh lord in a different place. She whimpered.

They stood under a trellis covered with star jasmine vines. The trellis was in a garden full of evening primroses. The garden was part of a courtyard within a castle wall, guarded by tall conical towers built of smooth white stones that reflected the cobalt, orange, and rosy pink of a sunset sky. There was no sun to be seen. Beyond the garden was the central keep, also built of the white stone, surrounded by a fluted inner wall and protected by its own cone-shaped tower. The castle was beautiful but it was nowhere near Cherry Lane.

"Where -- Where are we?"

"We are in Castle Mac Aedh in the Twilight Lands of Faerie, where you shall remain as my guest until Lord Cormac agrees to stop interfering with my plans to market my wine in Crystal City."

"You -- you brought me here because of some business dispute!" Tanya gasped.

She was beginning to think the Sidhe were just plain crazy -- even crazier than she was.

"Yes. Yes I did."

His feral smile held nothing of warmth in it.

"By the way. Do not eat while you are here with me or you will be bound to Faerie, which I suspect you would not like. You are -- kind of thin. I hope Lord Cormac gives in to my demand before you become too hungry."

"Oh great," Tanya said as the Sidh lord grabbed her hand and led her towards the inner keep. "You bring me here as a prisoner and don't even plan to feed me. If Lord Cormac doesn't give in to your demands and I die of starvation I guess you would like that."

"I won't let you starve. I dare not harm one under the Danann protection. But if I do feed you here you will become bound to Faerie and then you will not want to go home again."

Some other Sidhe men, wearing medieval clothes in shades of blue and black, silver chain mail, and long swords, passed by and bowed to Lord Niall who nodded in response. Tanya they ignored.

"You know what, I believe in you, Lord Niall," Tanya said as they approached the entrance to the inner keep.

"You believe in me?"

"Yes. I was beginning to think my conversation with the Dananns was imagined -- just another weird hallucination. But I'm not crazy enough to imagine anyone as mean as you are. So -- I do believe you are real, Lord Niall Mac Aedh."

Lord Niall chuckled and, for a brief moment, smiled a real smile.

"I guess meanness has its good points," he replied.

Cormac Danann and Coran were watching Connla access the day's business news on the internet. All of a sudden all three froze.

"What was that?" Connla asked.

"A temporary gate was opened! I sense the magical imprint of Mac Aedh," Lord Cormac said.

The three Danann men were on their feet and running through the kitchen towards the front entry faster than it would have taken most humans to think about it.

"Mac Aedh!' Cormac Danann called out to his wife as they exited the front door and lept like graceful antelopes from the porch.

"I know -- I felt it too," Lady Nora's voice followed them from inside their home.

The elves flew down the long gravel road at an inhumanly fast pace but it was nearly a mile to the place where Niall Mac Aedh had opened a temporary portal to Faerie and forced Tanya through it. The unseelie lord and his unwilling guest were long gone by the time they came upon the scene.

"It was Lord Niall all right. His magical scent is all over the place," Coran said, his eyes blazing in anger.

"There was a human here too - an unhappy and frightened one," Lord Cormac said.

"Female -- I think it was Tanya," Coran said. "If that unseelie b*****d has harmed her!"

"A knife with blood on it!" Connla called to them.

He bent to grab it then pulled back his hand.

"It's made of steel," he said.

Coran knelt down and gingerly brushed the wet blood on the blade then touched the blood to his tongue.

"Human blood all right -- and female. But no Sidh would have wielded a steel blade. And this is no weapon - just an ordinary kitchen knife."

"I can't imagine Lord Niall rescuing Tanya from a human attacker. Besides there's no trace of a second human here. Neither can I imagine that Lord Niall would harm one he now knows is under my protection. There is a puzzle here I cannot read," Lord Cormac said.

"But he took her. Both of them went through the gate", Coran replied.

"He may be planning to use her as a pawn in our battle over his right to sell his wine in the Human World. Lord Niall would not interpret such a move as an attack on Tanya," Lord Cormac said.

"So, what do we do now, Father?" Coran asked.

"Wait for Lord Niall to contact us. If I'm right that he is using Tanya as a pawn in our little business game then he will be contacting us soon."

Lord Niall and Tanya walked through the entrance to the keep, entering a hall lit by tall torches that emitted no smoke. In niches along the hall were marble statues and busts representing mythological creatures.

Wouldn't surprise me if they were portraits.

Other halls and rooms branched off from the main one, some accessed by closed doors, others by open archways. Other Sidhe wearing the blue and black colors favored by the Mac Aedh Clan passed by, bowing to Lord Niall and glancing at Tanya. There were little brown men wearing raggedy brown clothes who scurried about on various errands. These also bowed to the Sidh lord.

"Are the little brown men slaves?" Tanya asked.

"The Sidhe do not keep slaves. Those are brownies and they are hired help, though the only pay they will accept is honey-sweetened milk."

They passed a doorway that led to a swimming pool surrounded by a deck of black and aquamarine tiles. Several Sidhe were swimming in the pool. Tanya noted with an embarrassed blush that they wore no bathing suits.

"We Sidhe do not have your human nudity hang ups,", Lord Niall said with an amused smile as he noticed her embarrassment.

"That is the second time you have done that," Tanya said.

"Done what?"

"Smiled a real smile."

The Sidh lord's face returned to its usual expression of cold arrogance.

"Do not assume that means I like you. I do not like humans and nothing will ever change that."

Tanya shivered and fell silent.

Their way was blocked by a regal woman with pale red-gold hair, wearing a medieval blue dress with a tan overcote. Her green eyes glowed and Tanya cringed back until she realized the anger was directed towards Lord Niall and not towards herself.

"What have you done now, My Lord?" the woman said in a voice of cold fury.

"This child is the leverage I will use to force Lord Cormac to stop harassing my attempts to market our wine to humans. She will remain as our guest until this matter is resolved."

The woman came over to Tanya and reached for her right hand. Tanya guessed that she wanted to see Lord Cormac's ring so she held up her hand, allowing the elf to examine it.

"You have dared to kidnap a child under the protection of the Danann Clan? I hope you have not gone too far this time, my love. And what about her eating in Faerie?"

"We will not feed her unless Lord Cormac delays the resolution of our differences long enough that we have to. The food problem should force him to act quickly. In the meantime show her all other hospitality. I will leave that to you, my dear. I must compose an E-mail missive to send to the obstructing Danann lord."

Lady Arlene gazed sadly at Tanya.

"Come on then, child. I will show you to a suitable guest room. My name is Lady Arlene ni Mac Leon-Mac Aedh. What is your name?"

"Tanya - with an 'a'. Tanya Swift. I have Faerie sight and Lord Cormac put me under his protection because of your husband. Your husband doesn't like me very much."

"This must be very frightening for you, Miss Tanya. I apologize for my husband's thoughtless cruelties. There was a time, a very long time ago, when he was different -- kind, gentle, caring. These days --- he does not like humans and is all too willing to use everyone else", the woman said as they turned into a small hallway that led to an oak door set into an arched doorway.

"Why doesn't he like humans?" Tanya asked as Lady Arlene opened the door.

"That -- is very personal with Lord Niall. You will have to ask him and he may well not tell you."

The room Lady Arlene showed the teenager into was delightful. It held a king-sized bed covered with a red-and-yellow-flowered spread, a shelf full of books, an old-fashioned dresser with a gilded mirror, a vase full of tropical flowers, and a vaulted window that looked out on the sunset-lit courtyard beyond. A second door led to a pink marble bathroom with a large soaking bath.

"At least I get to stay in a comfortable prison, even if he plans to starve me."

"Do not attempt to leave the castle, but otherwise you may explore the castle as much as you please. You will not be confined to this room."

Lady Arlene looked the too-thin girl over with a critical eye.

"You don't look to be in shape for a period of fasting. And you need water; you can't drink ours. I'll send a retainer I trust to your world to buy some bottled water. It is safe for you to drink the water of your world here."

"Can I eat the food of my world too? Could this retainer bring me something to eat?"

The anorexic teenager realized that being forced to fast was not the same thing as deliberately not eating.

"Yes. One must eat the food of Faerie in Faerie; the binding spell is specific. But while Lord Niall will allow us to bring you water I think my retainer will have to sneak in any food. He will not be able to bring back much."

"Have him get a bag of trail mix, the good kind with peanuts and chocolate bits. Chocolate is not really vegan, but -- who cares? It's high energy food. A little will go a long way."

"I'll do that, Miss Tanya," Lady Arlene said with a gentle smile. "You are coping very well for one kidnapped by a notorious Sidh lord like my husband."

Tanya shrugged.

"I'm here. What choice do I have? I might as well try to cope."

Tanya found the very real danger of being held prisoner in a Sidh lord's castle less terrifying than the fear of being crazy she had lived with all of her life. It was a kind of relief to realize it was the universe that was crazy and not her.

"Rest while I take care of the food and water situation. I'll send a brownie to look after you. You can ask him for anything you need -- except food and freedom."

The Sidh woman left, leaving Tanya alone in a fairy tale castle. A reaction set in and she began to tremble. Tears streamed down her face. She threw herself on the comfortable bed and cried herself to sleep.

Connla walked from the computer room to the spacious kitchen where his parents, elder brother, and sister were eating a late night snack. He bowed and handed two computer printouts to his father.

"The expected missive from Lord Niall," Lord Cormac said. "He has Tanya and is holding her at his castle. As expected his demand for her release is that we withdraw our protest against his selling wine to humans. If we wait too long and Tanya becomes too weak from hunger he will feed her and bind her to Faerie. -- The mystery of the bloody knife is solved. Lord Niall cannot resist gloating over the fact that he found Tanya trying to commit suicide by cutting her wrists on our property."

"Dana be praised, that poor child. And now that unseelie lord has her," Lady Nora cried out.

"The second letter is from Lady Arlene. She is letting us know she secured bottled water and a bag of trail mix for the child from the Human Land. That gives us some breathing space," Lord Cormac continued.

"Lord Niall would be furious if he knew his wife went against him that way," Lady Nora said.

"I deleted that E-mail and surely she deleted the 'sent' copy. The Mac Aedhs are pretty computer-savvy for elves," Connla said.

"Lord Niall is a businessman. These days elvish businessmen need to be computer savvy," his father replied.

"Why don't we just gather an army and go rescue Tanya?" Connla asked.

"That would lead to Clan warfare and many of us would die. Besides, Lord Niall has the closest thing to a standing army among the Sidhe. We must resolve this through diplomatic means," Lord Cormac replied.

When Tanya woke up she found several bottles of water sitting on top of the dresser, next to a long-stemmed wine glass. She got out of bed and looked through the dresser's drawers. There were outfits there in her size, all in the Mac Aedh black and blue hues but modern in style. In a bottom drawer, hidden under some underwear, was the bag of trail mix. She opened it and ate a handful of the contents, then hid the rest under the underwear. She drank a full glass of water. Finally she picked out some fresh clothes and went into the bathroom. There was a bottle of floral scented bubble bath on the edge of the tub. She ran a hot sudsy bath, discarded her dirty clothes, and climbed into the aromatic bath, stretching out and coming as close to relaxing as she could in that place. When she finished the bath she toweled with a fluffy blue beach towel, dressed, then came back into the bedroom to find a little brownie standing there. He bowed.

"Primrose at your service. Is there anything else the little lady would like?" he said in a squeaky voice.

"Primrose? Cute name. Let me see -- Could you find some teenage romance novels to read? The books on that shelf look kind of boring. A book on snakes would be good too."

The little man spoke in a tongue that did not sound like Elvish but was not a human tongue either. The books on the shelf disappeared then a bunch of teenage romance novels and a dry looking tome on herpetology appeared in their place.

"Wow! That's cool, Primrose. Magic does have its uses. But I'm not in a reading mood just now. Is there a place where I can look out on the land beyond this castle?"

"There's the keep tower. I can show you where it is."

"Great. Let's go."

Primrose led her out of the guest room back to the long hall which Tanya soon discovered ended in the entrance to the tower. A winding staircase led up it. Tanya eagerly began to climb. When Primrose started to follow she stopped him.

"I can find my way to the top and I know the way back to my room."

"Very well. If you need anything just call my name and I'll be there."

He disappeared with a soft "pop" sound. Tanya continued climbing up the spiral stairs. She was hoping to see a way out of the castle.

The stairs were interrupted by landings and doorways leading to other parts of the structure. She reached a height where windows penetrated the tower wall, letting in the dim rosy twilight from outside.

"I guess it's always sunset here," Tanya said out loud. "That's probably why they call it the Twilight Lands."

The tower was covered with a fluted cone-shaped roof. Just below the roof an open doorway led out to a circular balcony protected by a stone wall. Tanya went out onto the balcony and looked around. She walked around the tower, checking out the terrain in all directions.

Behind the castle a cedar and fir forest climbed the slopes of hills that became a purple mountain range in the distance. A waterfall cascaded down a nearby cliff, raising a cloud of sparkling mist in the river which widened out to form a small lake. On the lake was a warehouse, a tall tower, and a dock where elves and brownies were loading and unloading small river barges. In front was a meadow where white horses grazed and a thatched-roof stable where brownies groomed some of the white steeds.

"Are you enjoying the view, Miss Tanya?" came a voice from behind her

"What are you doing up here, Lord Niall?"

She turned to confront the Sidh lord.

"I saw you come up here and decided to make sure you were OK."

'You decided to spy on me.'

"I'm not feeling suicidal; I won't jump," she said out loud. "I'm just looking to see what is beyond the castle. Lady Arlene said I was free to explore."

"So you are. But if you are looking for a way to escape let me warn you that Faerie can be a very dangerous place. You would never survive on your own out there. Besides if I catch you trying to escape I will lock you up in a room full of -- wriggling snakes."

Lord Niall had once used that threat on a human girl who had been so petrified of the idea of being locked up with snakes she had been willing to do anything he asked of her. Tanya looked at him, a look of open-mouthed amazement on her face. She began to laugh and it was his turn to stare open-mouthed. She laughed so hard tears came to her eyes.

"Please lock me up in your room full of snakes, Lord Niall. Taking care of the snakes will give me something to do while I am here."

She held out her thin arms, showing off the colorful tattooed snakes that twined up them.

"I love snakes. I have a pet boa and plan on becoming a herpetologist when I grow up -- if I grow up."

"I see. -- Scratch the snake threat. Young human girls are not supposed to like snakes," Niall Mac Aedh grumbled.

He turned and descended the winding stairs, leaving Tanya to enjoy the view at her leisure.

I suppose he is telling me the truth about how dangerous Faerie is. And I won't be here long enough to find a friend who might help me escape and survive outside. -- I hope I won't be here that long. I guess escaping isn't such a good idea after all.

Tanya descended the stairs then spent several hours exploring the castle, out of boredom rather than any renewed hope of escape. She discovered a huge library that looked like a British "old boys' club" and a banquet hall of blue and white marble where elvish retainers were being served gourmet food by eager brownies. She withdrew from this room lest she be tempted to forget the danger and taste some of the aromatic food. Finally she found the computer room where several white-haired elves were handling the details of the Mac Aedh import business. One of the Sidhe workers turned and gave her a friendly smile when she approached his computer to see what he was doing.

"So, is there something specific you'd like to know about the wine importing business, Miss Tanya?"

"You know my name, so what is yours?" Tanya asked as she studied the computer screen where shipments of wines with names like Mac Leon Rose, Faerie Gold, Devine Nectar, and Twilight Rose were being tracked.

"My name is Fintan -- Sir Fintan to be proper. My father is Lord Niall's cousin."

Tanya was not much interested in wine, but Sir Fintan was the first Sidh in this place other than Lady Arlene who had acted friendly towards her, so she stayed to ply him with questions.

"Do you grow and bottle all this wine yourself?"

"The Mac Aedh Clan produces no wines at all. We merely distribute it. The largest vineyards of the Twilight Lands are those of the Mac Leon Clan. Lady Arlene is a Mac Leon as are many of the retainers here. But the star of our wines is Twilight Rose, a wine made from the nectar of flowers that grow in the Forest of the Wood Elves. It is the most superb wine in any world, human or Faerie, and the wood elves guard well the secrets of its making. We hold exclusive rights to its distribution. It is this wine Lord Niall wants to market to humans, the center of the dispute with Lord Cormac that resulted in your being brought here."

"Lord Mac Aedh doesn't even like humans. Why is he so anxious to sell his wine to us?"

"Miss Tanya, the wealthy people of your world will be willing to pay a small fortune for just one bottle of Twilight Rose."

"Oh -- I see."

The daughter of a businessman, she understood well how hardball such deals could become.

"You guys aren't so different from humans after all -- where business is concerned."

Sir Fintan laughed.

Back in the World of Humans the police had just left the Swift home. Loretta Swift, her eyes red from crying, sat on her living room couch wondering what to do next. The police were convinced her troubled daughter had run away, that there was no foul play in this case. Loretta suspected they were right but could not stop worrying. Her husband had been forced to cut an important business trip short to come back and deal with their difficult child but it would be hours before his plane got in. Loretta wasn't sure she could deal with this alone.

Maybe the Dananns have seen her. She seemed to have enjoyed having lunch with them. I'll call Nora and check.

Lady Nora answered the phone ringing in her spacious kitchen on the third ring.

"You should let the machine pick it up. Lord Niall is not going to contact us by phone", her husband said, glancing up from the "New York Times" business section he was reading.

"He might.----- Hello? -- Oh, Loretta, how are you? -- What? -- Really? That's awful. ---- No, the last time we saw her was when she had lunch with us on Tuesday. -- Is that what they think? Given her troubled history they are probably right.---- I'll tell you what, why don't I come over and keep you company. You should not have to wait alone at a time like this."

After hanging up, Lady Nora turned to her husband.

"The police believe Tanya has run away, which is for the best. Mr. Swift is out of town and on his way home. I'm going over to keep Loretta company."

"The Swifts will want to drag Tanya to yet another drug-dispensing psychiatrist after this, which is the last thing that child needs. Try to convince them to take her to a counselor instead while you are there", Lord Cormac suggested.

"I might even suggest Coran as that counselor. He is after all a school counselor as well as a science teacher. I think the Swifts might go for that idea. They were impressed when he kept that rebellious Longstreet kid from becoming a repeat offender in the juvenile court system last year", Lady Nora replied.

While the police convinced themselves and her parents she was a runaway, a fatigued Tanya ended her conversation with Sir Fintan and returned to her bedroom. She helped herself to more trail mix and a glass of spring-bottled water then propped herself up in the bed against a down-filled pillow and tried to read a romance novel. Reading the novel made her sleepy so she gave up and crawled into the bed, soon falling fast asleep. The brownie Primrose came into the room to extinguish the smokeless torches.

A while later another slipped into the darkened room. Lord Niall's eyes could see quite well in the dim light from the open window. He stood and watched the sleeping girl with her wild purple hair and ridiculous nose-ring.

Such an outlandish child. She seems to still be healthy in spite of all the energy she wasted exploring the castle today.

He walked over to the dresser and glanced at the water bottles, one of which was partially consumed. He knew that his wife had obtained the Human World water for the child and approved. The child needed water more than food. Then he became aware of a sweet aroma coming from the dresser. The Sidh lord rummaged through the drawers until he found the bag of trail mix hidden in a bottom drawer.

"So my wife has gone behind my back to provide her with human food."

His green eyes glowed. He had half a mind to remove the food and let the child truly go hungry.

"No. I don't want her to know I've been in her room. As long as Lord Cormac believes she is going hungry the truth of the matter is irrelevant."

He replaced the candy, fruit, and nut mixture in its hiding place and exited the girl's room.

When Tanya awoke the torches had already been lit in anticipation of her arising. She drank more water and ate a small handful of the hikers' concoction, determined to make it last as long as possible. After another warm sudsy bath and a change of clothes she was ready for yet another day in Faerie. She realized she had no idea what day it was. The forever sunset glow outside robbed one of all normal sense of the passage of time.

"May I help the little lady?", came the squeaky voice of Primrose from her bedroom.

"I guess. I don't know what I want to do. What is Lady Arlene doing?"

"The Lady is in the sun room tending her flowers."

"The sun room? I missed that one when I explored yesterday."

"It is a room full of sunlight where Lady Arlene grows flowers from the Sunlit Lands of Faerie."

"A room full of sunlight! I would love to see it."

They found the Lady Arlene fussing with some scarlet blooms in a room full of morning sunlight and decorated planters filled with exotic flowers. Lady Arlene greeted the teenager with a warm smile.

"Hello there, Miss Tanya. Did you come to see my flowers?"

"Yes I did. I need some sunlight. I'm sorry but I'm tired of your land's constant sunset glow. It's pretty but it gets old after awhile."

"I suppose it does for one not used to it. We Sidhe do not require the sense of constantly changing time you humans seem to crave."

Tanya and Lady Arlene spent a pleasant half hour in the room while the elf lady discussed the various cultivars she grew. Then Lord Niall walked into the room. He nodded to Tanya when she gave him a proper elvish bow, then walked over to his wife and kissed her fair forehead.

"I can't understand why Lord Cormac is delaying so his reply to my demand. He should be getting worried about the child's health -- or maybe he doesn't care as much for his human pet as we thought", the Sidh lord complained.

"He cares!", Tanya retorted.

"He is just playing a waiting game, trying to rattle you. He will give in eventually", Lady Arlene assured her husband.

Lord Niall stared at the teenager and at his wife. His eyes narrowed.

"Of course we all know the girl is in no immediate danger of starving. Yes -- I found the candy and nut concoction from the Human World in your dresser drawer, child. I know my all so loyal wife has insured that you not truly go hungry. But Lord Cormac does not know this and he should be more worried. -- or ------ Does he know?"

Tanya shivered at the angry green light that began to glow in the Sidh lord's inhuman eyes, but the anger was directed at his wife. Lady Arlene returned her husband's stare with an air of defiance.

"He does know, doesn't he? I can see the truth of your guilt in your eyes, My Dearest. You have betrayed me to my enemies. How could you, Mo bhean¹?"

Lord Niall Mac Aedh rushed at the wife he had loved for millennia, his white hair flaring out like a wild mane. He grabbed her arms, his fingers digging into her soft flesh.

"So -- Do you hate me as well, Gra mo chroi²? Will you slay me over a bag of sweetmeats and a human child's health?"

Tanya rushed over and grabbed Lord Niall's arm, her own dark eyes sparkling with anger.

"Stop it! Stop hurting her, Lord Niall!"

When he turned his blazing eyes toward her she let go and backed off.

"She loves you! She is probably the only one in the universe who still loves one as mean as you. Will you destroy her love just because she doesn't hate humans as much as you do?"

Tanya turned and fled out of the room full of sunshine, flowers, and anger. She ran down the long vaulted hall, pushing past bemused elves and scurrying brownies. She fled the keep, running until she came to the battlement-topped wall near one of the towers that guarded the shining white castle. A red-gold haired elf man wearing chain mail and a long sword stood near the tower.

"How do I get up to the top of that wall?", she asked him, brushing angry tears from her eyes and cheeks.

"Why do you want to go there?"

"So I can see something besides this hateful castle. I want to look at the lake and think."

"You can climb up there through the tower", he said with a shrug.

She went into the tower and climbed spiral stairs identical to the ones in the keep tower. Near the top an open doorway gave access to wide battlements. Narrow windows in the tower provided warriors with a place to shoot at invaders, although it had been centuries since anyone had tried to invade Castle Mac Aedh. The last Sidhe Clan that had tried it had been totally wiped out by the revengeful Mac Aedhs.

Back in the sun room a chagrined Lord Niall released his painful grip on his wife's arms.

"Forgive me, My Love. I had not meant to hurt you. -- This impossible child has turned my mind topsy-turvy."

"This hatred you feel for the humans is beginning to consume you, My Lord. If you don't find a way past it, the hate will destroy our love and our life."

Lady Arlene walked out of the room, leaving Lord Niall torn between following his wife or searching for the child.

"If she flees the castle she may be harmed and Lord Cormac would not forgive that. I'd better find the girl", he said out loud.

Tanya stood on the sturdy battlement and stared out at the gurgling river that flowed into the bright blue lake where a barge was being unloaded by busy brownies. Two white herons with flowing crests stalked fish beside golden cattails. Large dragonflies flitted among the cattails and rushes at the edge of the lake. Strange birds called sweetly from the nearby woods.

Tanya's rapidly beating heart began to slow and the tears ceased streaming down her cheeks. None-the-less her hands, which rested on the battlement wall, trembled when she heard the hateful Sidh Lord's voice behind her.

"It is a lovely view, is it not Miss Tanya?"

He spoke in a low voice devoid of the rage that had filled him just a short while before.

"Beautiful and peaceful. How can you hate so much while living in such a beautiful place?"

Tanya turned and looked at the tall slender white-haired man.

"Why do you hate us humans so much?", she whispered.

"The way you pollute your planet and destroy the wild places, why shouldn't elves hate you?"

"I think none of the elves like our environmental irresponsibility but the others I have met don't hate us."

Niall Mac Aedh took a deep breath. A look that was a mixture of anger and sorrow passed over his face.

"All right -- all right --- I will tell you the true reason I hate your kind. ------ A few centuries ago --- in a time that is ancient history to you but is an all too painful memory for us Sidhe --- the religious fanatics of Europe indulged in an orgy of blood-letting your Pagan community calls the Burning Times. Many thousands of heretics were slain by the inquisition. More were tortured and killed because they were believed to be witches, though most were but senile old women or younger women whose property someone coveted. We Sidhe are no saints. We have our duals, our battles, and our wars. But we've never done anything as savage as you humans do when you are on some kind of holy crusade."

Lord Niall paused, as if to catch his breath or come to grips with some painful memory.

"Sidhe were slain too. Not a lot of us, for our magic enabled many to fight back and escape. Most of us withdrew to Faerie and left the human vermin to wreck havoc and destruction on themselves. The witch hunters sometimes used those like you -- humans with Faerie sight -- to track down those of us dwelling among humans in glamoured disguise.

My parents were dwelling in a small country village in France. They had many friends in that village and believed that they were safe from danger there. They refused to return to Faerie when I and my cousins begged them to. There was a man in that village, one like you who saw them as they truly were. They thought he was their friend and would not betray them. But the witch hunters got to him and tortured him. To save his own skin, he did betray them. They came upon my parents while they slept, wounding them with weapons of steel and binding them in iron chains. They tortured them with steel and iron implements then burned them at the stake.

My cousins and I gathered a small army to rescue them but we were too late. They were already dead when we arrived, their beautiful bodies charred beyond recognition. The witch hunters and those who watched and gloated did not long survive our arrival. The one with Faerie sight lived just long enough to tell me all that had been done to my father and mother. But nothing could bring back my parents and nothing can erase the hatred for humankind that has burned ever since in my heart."

Lord Niall looked at the human girl. Tears were streaming down her thin face. Her eyes filled with horror as she looked at him. The Sidhe are empaths. Lord Niall could not miss the genine sympathy and anguish his tale had aroused in her.

"You weep for them! You actually care about the brutal deaths of two Sidhe you never even knew?", he whispered.

Reaching out he gently brushed the tears from Tanya's cheeks.

"It's --- a terrible story. How can people be so cruel? I -- I understand your hatred now. But, Lord Niall -- We are not all like the humans who killed your parents. And I am not the man who betrayed them."

"No, Tanya Swift, you are not like that man", he said in a whisper like wind-chimes in a gentle breeze.

He turned and went back into the tower, descending the winding stairs at a rapid pace.

"How long will you continue to hate us so?", Tanya said to his departing back.

Later Tanya sat on the brightly flowered bedspread in her room, pondering her situation.

"I've got to get out of here before I truly go crazy. If these two Sidhe lords can't find a way to end this dispute on their own I'll just have to do something myself."

She left the colorful bedroom and headed towards the computer room.

Lord Niall stood behind Sir Fintan, watching him track a shipment of Twilight Rose on its way to Knockma Hill.

"The King and Queen side with the Danann Clan against me yet they still drink my wine", the Sidh lord sneered. "I take it there is as yet no word from either Lord Cormac or the royal couple?"

"I've been checking the E-mail hourly. No word as yet", Sir Fintan replied.

"Let me send an E-mail to Lord Cormac", came a voice from the computer room's open doorway.

The two Sidhe turned to look at the teenager standing near the entrance. There was a look of defiance on her young face.

"Why should I do that? Lord Cormac already knows you are here", Lord Niall replied.

"Because I will ask him to end this petty standoff. I am tired of being a pawn in your game of Faerie business chess and I'm tired of this place of endless sunset. I think Lord Cormac might end this if I ask him to."

"He might at that. But what is preventing me from sending off an E-mail in your name?"

"He will know that it is not me if you do. You want to expand your wine business and I want to go home. Let me at least try", Tanya pleaded.

"Very well, Miss Tanya. But I will be watching over your shoulder to see what you write."

Sir Fintan accessed the Mac Aedh E-mail and brought up a blank letter with Lord Cormac's E-mail address already on it. He allowed Tanya to sit down at the computer in his place. She began to type:

"Dear Lord Cormac:

Please end this male macho stand-off and let me come home. I am tired of being a pawn in a Faerie chess game. I am tired of this sunless land and I am tired of this stupid idiotic hateful Sidh lord's hospitality ---------"

"Stupid idiotic hateful Sidh lord!', Lord Niall complained.

Tanya looked up at him with wide open brown eyes.

"You want him to know it's really from me, don't you?"

"Very well. Insult me to your heart's content, little girl", the Sidh lord said with a shrug.

Sir Fintan stared at his older cousin. He knew well what would happen to him if he dared to use words like that to refer to Lord Niall. Tanya finished her letter.

"Please seriously consider my request.

Yours respectfully,

Tanya Swift"

"There", she said with satisfaction as she sent the letter then got out of the computer chair. "Now maybe you two can end this little boy 'King of the Hill' game and I can go home and eat a real meal."

She flounced out of the computer room, leaving a couple of flabbergasted Sidhe behind.

"Two days ago that child was a terrified suicidal mess. Faerie shock therapy must be good for her", Sir Fintan said with a wry smile.

"Is that what we have been doing -- providing a troubled human teenager with 'Faerie shock therapy'?", Lord Niall asked.

"Apparently", Sir Fintan replied.

Lord Cormac and Coran were practicing sword fighting on the wooden floor of their study cum gym when Connla brought in the computer printout. The Sidh lord parried Coran's latest thrust and made a graceful flourish that caused the elf-silver blade to flash in the soft light provided by the room's high tinted windows. Both men bowed and returned their swords to their ornate scabbards.

"Let us see what Connla has brought us", Lord Cormac said, turning to the younger son who handed the letter to his father with a bow.

"An E-mail from Tanya, Sir."

"How do you know it's really from Tanya?"

"Read it, Father", Connla replied with a grin.

"So the child wants to come home. -- 'male macho stand-off', huh -- 'stupid idiotic hateful Sidh lord' -- You're right, son. It was Tanya who wrote it. I suppose it is time to end this charade and withdraw our protest from before the King and Queen so the poor child can return to the Human World."

"You're going to give in to Lord Niall's demand just like that!', Connla said in dismay.

"I was always planning to give in to his demand -- eventually. The protest was just a delaying tactic that he found an effective way to counter."

"It may be for the best, Father. If we block his entry into the Crystal City-Central City market he would just go somewhere else where we won't be nearby to keep an eye on him", Coran said.

"There is that. Come on, Connla. Let us ponder what to say in our missives to Lord Niall and to the King and Queen."

They left the library cum exercise room and entered the computer room to bring an end to the Faerie confrontation.

Tanya stood in the colorful bedroom that was really a prison, again wearing the gray sweater, jeans, and cobra-displaying tee shirt she had arrived in. They had been returned to her freshly cleaned and smelling of thyme and heather. She was waiting for the Sidh lord to come and escort her home.

Primrose popped into the room.

"The Lord will be here shortly. Is there anything else the little lady would like?"

"Just a hug from you, Primrose, for being such a helpful little brownie."

"That's what brownies do", the embarrassed little man protested.

But he gave the child a quick affectionate hug then popped out of her room. No sooner had the brownie left than Lord Niall appeared at her door.

"Are you ready to go, child? The protest against my wine selling in the Human World has been formally withdrawn and you are going home."

When she nodded he turned and walked rapidly towards the main hall, forcing Tanya to run to catch up with him. He led her down the vaulted hallway, out the entrance of the keep, and into the charming garden where the jasmine-covered portal was located. When they approached the arbor the Sidh lord spoke.

"I am sending you to the permanent Faerie gate on Firefly Island. That is in the big nature park near your home. Someone from the Danann household will be there to meet you. I am sure you will be happy to be quit of my unpleasant company."

Tanya looked up into the cat-like eyes of the Sidh lord.

"You don't hate me anymore, do you Sir?"

"Have you added mind reading to your many talents?"

"I'm not reading your mind. I'm reading your eyes."

Lord Niall stared at the young girl.

"When --- when you wept for my slain parents, your tears washed away my hatred. But don't think that means I --- like you. An absence of hatred is not friendship. And do not make the mistake of thinking I have stopped hating the rest of humankind."

"I will not make that mistake, Sir."

Lord Niall spoke in the elvish tongue and a portal of light appeared inside the flower-covered trellis. But as the girl started to walk through it he called softly.

"Tanya."

She turned and looked back at him.

"I wish -- things were different -- that this history of violence and hate did not lie between myself and humankind. Then I might have liked you and we might have been friends."

Tanya walked back to the Sidh lord and tried to reach his face by standing on tiptoe, but he was too tall. She reached up and pulled him down to her. The Mac Aedh lord offered no resistance to this unexpected gesture. The girl kissed his smooth ageless cheek.

"I too wish things had been different and we could have been friends, Lord Niall", she whispered.

She turned and walked through the glowing gate, steeling herself for the stomach-wrenching falling elevator sensation she knew was coming.

"I'll tell you one thing, little girl. If ever I figure out how to destroy the human race I will whisk you away to a safe haven in Faerie before I do so", Lord Niall Mac Aedh said to the empty gate after she was gone.

Tanya emerged into late afternoon sunshine beside a flat rock set into a grass-and-wildflower-covered hill in the middle of a small island in Crystal Lake. Lord Cormac and Coran stood there waiting for her.

"Welcome home, Tanya", Lord Cormac said with a smile.

"And about time too! How many days did you leave me in that place? I lost track of time in Faerie. And -- I'm famished. All I've had to eat is water and trail mix. I want some fruit, lots of salad with nuts in it, maybe some cheese -- I don't think I want to be a strict vegan anymore. Cheese would taste good right now."

Lord Cormac laughed.

"You were at Lord Niall's castle for over two days. It's Saturday now. And food awaits you at the head ranger's house. His wife is waiting to ferry us back across to the mainland once we get off of this hill. We can call your parents and let them know you've been found when we reach the ranger's place."

Tanya came over and grabbed a hand of each Sidh man.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go."

Lord Cormac and Coran both laughed as they started down the hill with Tanya walking between them.

"You've changed, Tanya. Faerie must have been good for you. I trust this is a sign that Lord Niall did not mistreat you", Coran said.

"He did not mistreat me, but --- if he doesn't stop hating so much someday I think he will loose everything he does love."

The two Sidhe men exchanged glances over her purple hair.

"I think you may be right about that, Tanya", Lord Cormac replied as they descended the island's hill, heading for Tanya's first real meal in over two days.

1Irish Gaelic for "my wife"

2Irish Gaelic for "the love of my life"

Author's Note

I am in the process of fixing all the misplaced commas in this story, but it will take some time to find them all.

Reviews

[PANDORA]

Wow..just wow. Once I started reading this I did not stop. Skipping dinner until I had finished reading the whole thing.

The characters were amazing. The plot, amazing. The description of everything...AMAZING!

This should be published. I have not looked through all your writings but I hope there is more to the story. If not there should be. You have a fan!! Going on my bookshelf.

[David Jae]

This is well-written and enjoyable. Tanya is endearing and her struggles are ones everyone can relate to.
If I can suggest, it is too long for one document and would be better broken up into several chapters.

Still, you should be very proud of this.

David Jae