Something Strange

Ellyra finally gets a little character development! This is the last set-up chapter before High Tea, I promise.

“You’re doing what?” Fallin asked in disbelief.

                “I’m going to High Tea with Zayric.” Liza said again. ‘And I need you to train me in etiquette some more or I’m going to make an idiot out of myself.”

                “I don’t think this is such a good idea, Eliza.” Tam intoned quietly, his voice echoing through the barren stone hallway as they walked to the east tower.

                “Well I don’t exactly have a choice now. Zayric commanded me.” Liza was glad she could use this excuse, so glad that she didn’t really notice how much it didn’t bother her that Zayric had made the command in the first place.

                “Just because Zayric commands you to do something doesn’t mean you have to actually do it.” Tam reminded her darkly. “It’s too dangerous. You’ll be in such close proximity to the king, queen and all the other members of the court and if you make too many mistakes they’ll start to suspect. I don’t like it, Eliza. And on top of that we’re going to run out of magic soon if we keep going through it at this rate.”

                “Why are you so hesitant, Tam? Everything’s going to be fine. You were okay with using magic on me yesterday and this morning. What’s so different today?”

                “Everything, Liza! Everything’s different! Yesterday afternoon Cleven hadn’t gone berserk on us yet and this morning Cypress would still talk to me. The magic I used on you this morning has already worn off, see? And you had no warning. For all you know one of these times you could be chatting with Prince Zayric as Ellyra one moment and suddenly the mask would fade and you’d be Eliza the next.”

                “That’s what your ring is for.” Liza insisted. ‘It won’t be a problem once we have that. And what? Cypress isn’t talking to you?” Liza glanced over at him with concern in her eyes. “What happened?”

                “I told him we were using magic on you and he went crazy. Figuratively speaking. He’s very angry at me now; he even ordered me to get out of his room and threw things at the door once I left, and he never orders me around. I’m going to go back in and talk to him when he’s cooled down a little.”

                “Why is he angry? You were only using it to help me. And all of us really. It saved us from being discovered.”

                Tam opened his mouth to respond, but Fallin interrupted, holding up a hand to stop them.

                “We’re here.”

                As with the rest of the castle, the east tower and the corridor leading into it were not well lit. It seemed that the ghosts didn’t even come there much, as evidenced by the layers of dust that were stirred by the newcomers’ feet. The entrance to the tower was a narrowish archway covered by a large, heavy wooden door, near the top of which was a small window.

                “Cleven?” Fallin called. “Are you to come out?”

                A few seconds later the scrabbling of clawed feet on uncarpeted stairs was heard, then Cleven’s voice drifted from the other side of the door.

                “I’m here, Fallin. Please let me out. It’s musty and uncomfortable up here.”

                Fallin drew out a large, rust-encrusted key and turned it slowly in the lock. Cleven bounded out on all fours, looking tired and droopy.

                “Welcome  back, Cleven.” Liza said gently, reaching out to stroke his ears. “Did you survive your night in the tower?”

                “Oh yes, Miss Eliza. IT wasn’t half so bad as Zayric predicted it would be.”

                Tam squinted and looked through the darkness up at the forbidding stairs. “I don’t know Cleven, it looks pretty dingy up there. It doesn’t even look like the ghosts clean it much.”

                “They don’t. Or at least they haven’t in a while. I’ve been having them concentrate their efforts on the main castle and on taking care of its guests. It’s been very busy around here the past few weeks.” He smiled toothily and Tam flinched back a little. “None of us mind, though.”

                As Cleven spoke, Fallin crossed behind him to close and relock the door. “Let’s get out of here.” He suggested. “The dust is beginning to get to me.”

                The foursome walked back, three upright and Cleven still walking on all four of his paws. Tam kept a noticeable distance from Cleven, but if anyone noticed, nobody commented on this.

                “Why are you walking like that, Cleven?” Liza asked, keeping in step with his front two legs so she could continue to stroke his fur.

                “I walked around on my hind legs for most of the night last night and it was starting to hurt my back.” Cleven explained apologetically. “I know Tam doesn’t like it and I’m sorry. I think… I think it’s hurting me because the beast inside me is still struggling for control. I figure if I let it out in a subtle and nonviolent way like letting it walk on all four paws, it’ll be harder to take me over.”

                “That does make sense.” Tam admitted. “Good thinking, Cleven.”

                “I’m sorry it took me so long to get you out.” Fallin apologized. “It’s nearly midday. I didn’t mean to wait so long but I had a time rounding up these two.” He nodded to Tam and Eliza.

                “It’s all right, Fallin. No harm done.” Cleven rubbed his head against Fallin’s hand.

                “Cleven, what’s a dusty old tower with a locked door doing in this castle anyway?” Eliza wanted to know.

                “The mad king Leary lived in this castle, once.” Cleven explained. “When he was forced to abdicate his throne due to his obvious insanity, he came here. The servants used to lock him up there in that tower when he got violet – that’s why it locks from the outside but not the inside. It’s actually rather nice at the top when it’s taken care of, but I didn’t think the ghosts would have to…” he trailed off for a few moments, and then heaved a heavy sigh that rocked his whole body. “They don’t like it there. They say that they can sense unawakened spirits there who didn’t come up when the spell was cast. Anyway, I don’t make them go there if they don’t want to.”

                “Wow, Cleven. So this castle’s been used as a getaway for… secret relatives of the royal family before, huh?” Liza said carefully.

                “If by ‘secret’ you mean ‘undesirable,’ then, yes. Neither Zayric nor I knew very much about this place or even where it was before everything happened. Apparently there have been other times our family’s history that the castle’s been used, too. It’s housed b*****d children, misfit relatives… it even housed a secret harem for the king, once. Any family secret that’s old enough and important enough gets shoved off into this castle. It was built as a pleasure castle centuries ago but that’s obviously not its purpose anymore.” By now the little party had crossed through the great hall and Cleven came to a rest when he reached the bottom of the wide, sweeping stairs that he had so recently forced Tam to climb. Sitting down, he looked up at the rest of the bunch.  

                “How did you find all of that out, Cleven?” Fallin asked, puzzled. “I certainly never taught you any of it. I knew of a few things but not in such depth.”

                “There are a lot of books up there in that old tower room.” Cleven replied. “One of them was a chronicle of the tower’s history, written mostly through the diary entries of the people that had lived there. Very interesting, although some of it was complete gibberish.”

                “Interesting indeed.” Tam agreed. “It must be nice having a huge family getaway designed to hide all of your undesirable secrets. No offense meant, Cleven.”

                “None taken. And you’re right.” Cleven looked up at Tam, a glance of hesitance but also of calculation. “I found out something else, too. Something important.”

                “Oh? And what’s that?” Fallin asked, apprehension in his voice.

                “Zayric and I have fairy blood. No small amount of it, either. Our great-grandfather married a purebred fairy and there are more fairies in the line going even farther back. It’s astounding. The books even showed some mention of halfbreed children living in this place. Strange things would happen when they were around, too. Very strange things. Some of the writers suggested that they even had some amount of fairy power.”

                “I’m afraid that’s simply impossible, Cleven.” Fallin said gently. “Fairy magic just doesn’t work that way.”

                “I’m not saying it does.” Cleven amended quickly, looking up at Fallin. “But why didn’t you tell us? I don’t think father would be so keen on starting a war with the fairies if he knew that their race is in our family’s blood.”

                “He already knows.” Fallin answered grimly. “But he’s trying to forget about it. I doubt that even Queen Sybil knows his true ancestry. And I did tell you, as best I could, anyway. I made comments in passing if I got the chance, but your father seemed to think it would be bad form to tell you before a certain age and then everything happened… that’s why he relieved me of my position as your tutor. He knew that I knew, and he was afraid that if you and Zayric knew of your true lineage you would be more sympathetic to the other side. The rest of the kingdom doesn’t know either, or if they do they’re smart enough to keep the information quiet. It was two hundred years ago and not very many remember. Intermarrying wasn’t a terribly uncommon practice in those days, after all.”

                “Wait, the king fired you just because he thought you might tell Zayric and Cleven that they’re related to the fairies?” Liza asked, her eyes widening and her voice filled with anger. “That jerk! Why would he do that?”

                Fallin shifted his weight uncomfortably. “It’s a bit more complicated than that.” He said hesitantly, his eyes trained on the ground.

                “What do you mean, Fallin? Did you do something to provoke it?” Tam looked suspicious, his arms folded over his chest.

                “I… told Zayric. Just after you left, Cleven. I thought it might help cool his rage if he knew that he was mad at a race that was so close to who he was, but he wouldn’t listen to me. Naturally he asked his father about it, Clemantias denied it, Zayric believed him and I ended up out of a job. I’m actually rather surprised the king didn’t have me executed, given the circumstances.”

                “It’s still no excuse for his behavior.” Liza muttered.

                “Maybe not, but here we are.” Fallin said firmly. “But there’ll be time to talk about Cleven’s ancestry later. Right now I think the more pressing issue is getting Liza ready to go to high tea tomorrow. She’s got a lot to learn in a short amount of time.”

                “High tea?”

                All four heads immediately tipped upward to look at the owner of the inquisitive voice as she descended the stairs.

                “Ellyra?” Liza asked, thunderstruck. “What are you doing out of bed?”

                “I woke up and felt better and I wanted to stretch my legs. Marina said it would be all right.”

                “Taking unannounced walks seems to be a theme in these past few days.” Tam murmured to himself, hastening up the stairs so he would be there to catch her if she fell. Looking at her, Tam noticed that the little Dove resembled a ghost herself: She was still dressed in the long, white nightgown that the ghosts had put her in and the long hours indoors and the affects of her illness had made her skin unnaturally pale.

                “You should really get back to bed, Ellyra. It’s not good for you to be walking around this dusty old place.” Cleven intoned, watching her. It was clear that he wanted to help as badly as Tam did and Liza could see his muscles tense and strain in frustration.

                “Dusty? There’s not a speck of dust to be found. You know how clean your wonderful ghosts keep this place.” Ellyra countered, stepping from the bottom stair and giving Tam a smile. “And really, I’m feeling much better. It’s like some sort of mist has been lifted in my mind. I’m a little weak, but that’ll go away after I walk, so please let me stay out of bed for a while. You have no idea how good it feels to be walking around in different rooms after having to stay in just one for so long.”

                “No, but somebody does. Cypress was saying the same thing.” Tam said, although the comment was so quiet no one heard it.

                “What’s this you’re saying about high tea?” Ellyra inquired again. “It would be strange to have it in this castle without inviting some more people…”

                “It’s not here, Ellyra. Um. Zayric invited me this morning before he left.” Liza winced. “Or… I guess I should say he invited you. He wasn’t really talking to, you know, me.”

 “Zayric invited… you?” Ellyra asked, perplexed. She leaned semi-gracefully against the banister and regarded Eliza with wide, questioning eyes. It seemed to Tam that she was still drowsy from the potent herbs that the ghosts continuously mixed into her tea, yet at the same time she was strangely lucid.

                “It’s a long story, Ellyra.” Liza confessed. “I would tell you but...” She glanced up at Tam, trying to gage his thoughts.

                “It’s all right, Eliza.” Tam sighed, resigned. “Everyone else knows, Ellyra might as well know too.”

                “Know what?” Ellyra asked, a slight smile playing across her light lips. “That you and Cypress are fairies?”

                “How… how did you know?” Tam spluttered after the few seconds of shocked silence that inevitably followed this remark.

                Ellyra shrugged her small, thin shoulders slightly. “I… guess I just knew somehow. And while I was sick I had a lot of dreams where the two of you had wings.”

                “Yes… yes you did mention that once when you first starting hallucinating.” Tam said thoughtfully, stroking his shoulder with the palm of his hand, fingers extended. Had his wings still been attached to his back, the tips of his long fingers would’ve stroked his wings. “I figured that you were just seeing things and babbling about things that weren’t there.”

                The Dove shook her head slowly. “No… no it was all quite clear. In my dreams I would see three fairies – you, Cypress and a fairy woman. She was beautiful, but it looked like she was hurt. Her wings…” Ellyra closed her eyes tightly, scrunching up her face. “Sometimes her wings were red with blood.”

                “Alarken.” Tam breathed. “You must’ve been dreaming of the Fairy Queen.”

                “That’s what I thought too. It’s kind of strange, though, since I’ve only ever seen the Fairy Queen once, and that was at a distance. I don’t know why I was dreaming of her in such vivid detail.” Ellyra answered, nodding. “And Cypress was there too, and he was wearing a circle of silver on his head like a crown.”

                “That’s because he’s a prince. The Prince actually, although he rarely acts like it.” Tam muttered his last sentence with a particular venom in his voice that worried both of the girls. “It’s amazing that your dreams were so accurate.”

                “There’s something very strange going on around here.” Fallin said suspiciously.

                “What do you mean, Fallin?” Ellyra asked, leaning a little more upon the railing.

                “I mean that it’s strange how convenient all of this is. Cleven is going crazy, but only sometimes, and apparently something about you is keeping that from happening, except last night whatever it is about you that stops Cleven’s inner beast from appearing shut off and left it to run free and take over his body. In the meanwhile, you’re dreaming about Tam and Cypress’s fairy forms and about the Fairy Queen while we think you’re completely delusional. There has to be some connection to all of this.”

                “But if there was, don’t you think we would’ve found it by now?” Cleven asked. He yawned wide, spreading out his mouth to show his glimmering, dangerous fangs. Tam flinched.

                “Maybe not. Obviously the common thread is somewhere we aren’t looking. Something that we haven’t thought of yet. Perhaps it could be magic-related, or it could if that weren’t impossible.” Fallin mused, stroking his wrinkled chin.

                “Perhaps it’s not so impossible as you think.” Tam put in, tilting his head in thought. “What do we know about fairy powers? We don’t know that the magic doesn’t exist outside of the wings; we only know that it doesn’t happen without the wings. What if fairy magic runs deeper than that? If the wings are only a conductor of magic, than it’s possible that we all have some magical connection to each other somehow.”

                “Yes, yes I see where you’re going!” Fallin exclaimed excitedly. “There could be a greater connection that doesn’t manifest outwardly unless the wings are present!”

                “Except I don’t have any fairy blood.” Ellyra cried helplessly, throwing out her arms as a gesture to stop them. “At least, I don’t think I do. Perhaps… maybe my mother…”

                “Who is your mother?” Tam queried, looking at her intently.

                “I… I don’t know.” Ellyra confessed. “I was too little to remember her before she died. I tried to ask Father many times but he never tells me anything.”

                “Well then it’s an open question.” Fallin insisted. “And assuming that you do have fairy blood, then there could, in fact, be some sort of connection…”

                “This is all very well and good.” Liza interrupted crossly, “But shouldn’t we concentrate on the most pressing issue at hand, here? I’ve got to learn how to behave during high tea and we’ve only got a few hours to teach me.”

                “Since when do you voluntarily cooperate with etiquette lessons?” Tam asked her slyly. “You’re not eager to do this simply because you’ll be more likely to impress Zayric, are you?”

                “No!” Liza shouted, flushed. “I… I just know that I’ve got a lot to learn and a very small amount of time to learn it in and I want to make sure that I don’t act stupidly and completely ruin my disguise and Ellyra’s reputation.”

                “I’m really feeling much better, Liza.” Ellyra murmured softly. “It might be better for me to go myself. You’ve had enough to do, learning everything. Thank you so much for getting me out of trouble all those times by taking my place. I think it’s the least I can do to go as myself this time.”

                “But you’re not well enough yet!” Liza objected. “You only just started to feel better this morning. How do you know you’ll be well tomorrow afternoon as well? You may have a relapse, and it’s certainly not a good idea to go exposing you to all of those people if you’re still contagious.”

                “If she were really contagious one of us would’ve gotten whatever it is by now.” Tam pointed out. “I really don’t think we need to worry about that now. And yes, it would be dangerous for Ellyra to go if she had a relapse, but it would be just as dangerous for you to go, too, Eliza. We should save the magic that we have left for emergencies. Just using it is risky, especially at an event that’s at the palace, away from here, where you’ve got the advantage of our being here to cover your tracks in case something goes wrong. It would be much safer to send Ellyra herself. She’s in no danger of betraying herself by lack of etiquette or by having her magic evaporate on her without warning.”

                “And there’s even some greater potential here.” Fallin added, looking around the room. “If Ellyra leaves our company for a few hours, we may be able to gage a change in Cleven’s behavior, to see whether something about her really is keeping his beast form in check. That may support our magic theory, and then we would at least know not to separate the two of the any more. And I’d have something rather interesting to finch to the king, then. Of course, just in case we’re right and Cleven’s condition does worsen…” Fallin’s enthusiasm faded a little. “Cleven, I’m afraid we might have to take you back into the tower, if that’s all right with you.”

                Cleven licked his nose thoughtfully. “Yes, it’s the only way for everyone to be completely safe. It’s all right with me.” Cleven decided. “I can use the time to research the instances of magic without wings that I found in the journals upstairs.”

                “Maybe we should even bring a few of them down so the professor can look through them, too.” Tam suggested.

                “But there is the danger of Zayric thinking that there’s something seriously wrong.” Liza interrupted, diverting the conversation before it could get too focused on Fallin’s theory again. “He’s suspicious of me already since I’m not the Ellyra that he met at the first ball she went to. He would find it strange that Ellyra isn’t acting like me!” Liza turned to her friend. “No offense, Lyra.”

                “None taken.” Ellyra responded, nodding. “I understand, Liza. But maybe just like you pretended to be me, I could pretend to be you. At least sort of.”

                “Let Zayric suspect.” Tam declared. “Zayric is a suspicious person by nature, anyway. He’s going to want to believe something or other and if he wants to he’ll go right on believing it even without any good amount of proof. It’s much safer for all of us in general to just let him think what he wants to about Ellyra – at least the more immediate danger of her giving herself away with more overt hints will be avoided.”

                “But—” Liza began.

                “Eliza, it’s not that we don’t think you can do it.” Cleven said, rubbing his head against Eliza’s shoulder. “I agree with Tam. It’s simply safer not to use magic. Sometimes my father employs people to look for signs of magic use. I’m not sure how they do it and I’m starting to think that it’s rather ineffective, but even if it is we can’t risk it. And this way if you are found out a charge of fraud will be punished far less harshly than a charge of magic use.”

                Liza pulled away and whirled on Tam, enraged. “You’re just being cautious because Cypress chewed you out about the magic thing this morning. That’s all this is. If this had happened early this morning before you’d gotten the chance to let him in on that particular secret you’d be letting me go!”

                Tam stepped forward calmly. “You’re right, Eliza. I am being cautious. I realize now that I should’ve been much more cautious than I was right from the very beginning. But I’ve learned my lesson now, or if I haven’t at least I’m beginning to learn it. Magic isn’t a toy and it shouldn’t be treated as such, not by me and certainly not by you. I know you’re upset, but this really is the safest way of doing things.”

                “The safest way for you to ease your mind or is it the safest thing for Ellyra?” Liza turned her head and gazed at her friend imploringly. “Ellyra, look at you! You’re so pale and weak… you can barely stand up without help. You can’t go to High Tea in a state like that.”

                “I’m strong enough, Liza. Really I am. I haven’t felt this good for weeks now.” Ellyra told her friend earnestly. “I’ll be able to make it. It’ll be hard, but it’s only for a few hours, and we’ll just be sitting around drinking tea and talking. I can do it. Really.” Despite her soft-spoken demeanor and her leaning posture, Ellyra really did seem confident in her ability. This, however, only seemed to upset Eliza even more.

                “So I suppose that you don’t need me anymore.” Liza sulked angrily. “Ellyra’s better so you don’t need me to pretend to be her anymore. Someone should just take me home tomorrow. I’ve got a lot of work to make up since I’ve been here, pretending to be a lady.” Liza turned her back to stride away but Tam caught her shoulders and wouldn’t let them go.

                “Don’t do that, Eliza.” Tam warned her.

                Eliza gasped in surprise as she was drawn back into Tam, the back of her head brushing his chest. His tone was far sharper than she was used to, and something about it jerked her out of her annoyance briefly, at least long enough for her to listen.

                “Sulking isn’t going to get you anywhere, Eliza.” Tam continued sternly. “Look, whatever you say I know you wanted to see Zayric again, and you will. I promise.” He glanced over at Ellyra. “We still have this second ball of yours to deal with, remember? We don’t know if Ellyra is going to be up for such an event. Hopefully her health won’t take a turn for the worst, but we don’t know anything yet. Just in case, we still need to get you that ring. If you’re wearing that, then I trust that the magic won’t wear off. Assuming Ellyra can’t go, would you be willing to stay here and continue your etiquette training in preparation for the ball?”

                Liza was quiet for a few seconds, and then she slowly nodded. “That… sounds fair to me.” When Tam let her go a few moments later, she turned to face Ellyra. She turned her eyes down in shame when she saw the saddened expression on her friend’s face. “I’m sorry, Lyra. I shouldn’t have been so upset. It’s not fair to try to take your life away from you.”

                Ellyra approached Liza and reached out to embrace her friend, leaning on her as she had originally leaned against the banister. “It’s all right, Liza.” She said. “I’m glad you’re getting the chance to live like this. I think it actually suits you better than it suits me, sometimes.” As Ellyra drew away from her best friend, Tam put a hand on her shoulder to steady her and Cleven rose to his hind paws, grimacing as he got up, and picked Ellyra up, cradling her gently in his arms.

                “You’re still very weak.” Cleven observed. “You should rest a little more before high tea happens tomorrow. I think that someone should go along to monitor her condition. I would, but I can’t.”

                “Oh no.” Ellyra protested. “You really don’t have to—”

                “I will.” Tam offered quickly. “She’ll need someone to look after her, and I know enough about courtly manners to pass for a gentleman. Technically I am one, after all. Just of a different species.”

                Cleven nodded. “Let me get you back up to your room, Lady Ellyra.”

                “Thank you.” Ellyra breathed softly, snuggling against Cleven’s fur as he stepped gingerly up the stairs. Her innocence and her lack of knowledge of the events that had taken place the night before led her to trust Cleven completely, something that comforted Cleven immensely. As he awkwardly tucked his now half-asleep cargo into her borrowed bed, Cleven thought about how wonderful it was that Ellyra trusted him. He hated to hide his bouts of inhumanity from her, but it had always impressed and consoled him that she, despite her smallness and her frailty, had always been able to look past his exterior and focus on the prince beneath it. Reaching out with a large, furry paw-hand, careful to keep the claws away, Cleven stroked Ellyra’s cheek with his soft fur. “Sweet dreams, little Dove.” Cleven said in a low, growl-like whisper. “Sweet dreams.”

Author's Note

And so, once again, I tried to get them to High Tea but I just couldn't do it. It ended up expanding into another chapter. This one is actually kind of interesting, though - there are suspicions and theories and Ellyra finally gets a little bit of character development. Keeping in suit with the last chapter, there's a lot of dialogue and arguing. Does it flow well? And is the ending too abrupt? Commentary on Cleven's interaction with Ellyra would be great... I'm trying to figure out if there is/could be something there or not.

Reviews

[Hannah!]

I liked this chapter; the theories were interesting, and I think some things are beginning to fall into place for me, so it was fairly helpful as well. I'm glad Ellyra is awake, too. I rather missed her while she was sick--and I definitely think that there's SOMETHING between Cleven and Ellyra, though it's anyone's guess as to what. Sometimes, I think it's mostly one-sided--that Cleven likes Ellyra, but much more than she likes him. Other times, it's obvious that there's something more to the way Ellyra looks at Cleven, too--the sword fighting scene comes to mind. In any event, I loved their interaction in this chapter. Personally, I thought it was well-written and very natural; it makes sense for Cleven to want to do anything he can to prove that, in spite of everything, he is still more man than beast, and Ellyra had no real reason not to trust him. The tenderness was a BIT heavy-handed--I think that it's the mushiest scene (mini-scene, really) in the book, except for the Cypress/Carina scene. Up until this point, both of what I'd call the major romantic relationships (Zayric/Liza and Ellyra/Cleven--and I did kind of assume that something would be happening between Ellyra and Cleven from the beginning) have been very subtle, but you definitely lost the subtlety in the last paragraph of this chapter.

I love the whole dialogue the characters have together--I love that Liza wants to go to high tea to see Zayric (one assumes), I thought it was cute. It does strike me as slightly odd that they are all standing around the stairwell talking. Personally, I find it a bit more natural for people who are talking together to either find a place to sit, or move--unless they're at a party or something. It just struck me as odd; all these people gathered around a stairwell. Although, I suppose they didn't really know they'd be talking for any length of time, and so saw no reason to move...and I guess the others were already unsure about Ellyra's being up and around in the first place, and didn't want to lead her farther from her bedroom. But Eliza seems to be the only one who is worried about Ellyra's frailty of health. There is some general concern, and of course Cleven makes sure she returns to her room, but all the same, it seems there'd be more of an uproar. Maybe not, though.

I'm a bit worried about the high tea scene, because it seems to be that Lyra is not as strong as she seems to think she is--she was pretty tired after only a brief time awake, after all, and she didn't even go that far. I'm wondering what she'll get herself into.

I think my favorite part about this chapter was the expansion into Fallin's character. I don't know why, but he really clicked for me in this chapter--I think he's my favorite now, and I was really very fond of Eliza. His eager scholar attitude makes me smile, and, as your characters so often seem to be, he is a wonderful balance for all the others, in so many ways. He bridges the gap between the humans and the fairies, I think--I don't know how they would have managed without Fallin there. XD I never thought of him as a very significant or interesting character until this point, though--and he has had some very defining moments in the past. At any rate, well done! He's a very amusing character.

Some of the phrases get a bit modern again, though. I don't know why, but I always shrink back at modern pharases in fantasy books. Eliza uses them the most. "Chewed out" seems like such a strange phrase to use, considering the setting. But that might just be me; people have yelled at me before (and called me pretentious) because of this complaint, so perhaps I'm just rambling on about nothing.

All-in-all, after reading this chapter, I feel like I've been brought up to speed on a lot of things, and a lot of the confusion (though not many of the questions) that was in my head is gone. Well done!