Fable - Ask Who Helps the Help

[Ceinwyn]

Ceinwyn was not from the autumn court, not originally. She had been born in the Summer court, and had known sunshine, warmth, and blooming flowers for most of her life. The blooms called to her, and she to them, and it was this affinity that garnered the attention of the high fae of Autumn. To be personally selected for employment was a great honor, not to mention the compensation that could see Ceinwyn’s family raised from struggling to comfort in a matter of months. She had her reservations about leaving, of course, but how could she deny her family, her mother and brothers and sisters, the life they deserved?

And so she went. The chills did not pierce her so badly now, and it helped that the Erlking’s palace was itself a massive tree. Ceinwyn felt oddly at home within its twisting bows, and she did her best to add to its beautiful gardens inside and out.

The lower levels, where the servants resided, were decidedly less grand than the luxury above. Ceinwyn descended the firm wooden steps to their common dining area, carrying a basket with dirt-covered tools and many plump, red apples. Her dainty hooves clopped to the table where she dropped herself and her burden with a heavy sigh.

“My arms will surely turn to lead before ‘arvest ends,” she said quietly to herself, massaging an aching bicep. She had spent the day helping much stronger fae harvest the orchards, and carrying the tall poles and heavy bins had been quite a task for the waifly faun.

 

[Olyssa]

Ceinwyn was not the only one to have taken over a good portion of one of the long tables that filled the dining hall with the equipment of her trade.

The Beast Keeper for the Royal Palace had already managed to find her way to the comforts of the room a bare hour before, her arms laden with an assortment of what the untrained eye might consider to be torture equipment. The sidhe was not about to correct anyone of their misconception when it meant she had a whole table to herself for cleaning and repairing them. Though, in fairness to the other fae who frequented the room, it might have just been the look on Olyssa's face that was the reason behind them giving her such a wide berth. Her right eye and cheek were a delicious shade of blue and purple boarding on black in the distinct shape of a hoof.

She was just wrestling with the mangled bit of metal that had once been a hoof pick when the delicate faun joined her.

"Try... dealing... with.... hormonal.... kelp-AHAH!" Olyssa held up the now rightly shaped pick panting. Her jaw ached from where she had been clenching her teeth with the strain of bending metal and her hands were red raw but there was a pleased look on her face. She picked up a cloth and began to polish it with a sigh. "At least Winter will be quiet. A time to rest."

 

[Ceinwyn]

"Heh?" she looked up, not having truly noticed the sidhe sitting at the other end of the table. Her unusually large eyes passed over the assortment of shining implements, and she flinched at Olyssa's sudden exclamation, expecting some bit of metal to come whizzing at her.

When none did, she continued to stare. She had not been here long enough to get to know everyone, for the Erlking's estate was large and well-staffed. She blinked, swallowed as she considered whether her curiosity outweighed her caution. "What... 'appens in winter? I..." she felt rather stupid for asking, "...'aven't been in Laigin for winter. Is it very cold?"

The summer court had seasons, of course, it was massive, but Ceinwyn had lived in the south, where the forest saw but light snows from time to time and the winds off the Cortosi Coast kept the air humid and warm.

 

[Olyssa]

"Oh, most things just go to sleep," Olyssa chattered on without any sign she had noticed the Fauns nervousness. Perhaps that was because she didn't care and was a sweet soul who wanted to put a more nervous fae at ease, but more likely it was because she was busy trying to chip away some shards of ice that encased a chisel and hadn't been paying enough attention to the faun to pick up on the tone. Her face screwed up in irritation and she began whacking the chisel off the side of the table till the ice begun to crack.

There were a few more choice words muttered beneath her breath, distinctly at odds with her pretty and dainty appearance, before she continued.

"I suppose it does get cold, we can get a little frost and we've had snow once or twice but it's enough that the plants and animals don't really like it. Most go into hibernation so there isn't a lot to do but get ready for spring," she shrugged and rubbed down the still chilly instrument. "A lot of people use it as time to spend with family and such. The Erlking goes off to his winter retreat so things calm down some."

 

[Ceinwyn]

Ceinwyn relaxed a little at that. It didn’t sound much different than what she’d been used to. Frosts would be new, she’d only seen a handful before, but if the plants could survive it then it must not be so bad. And if the Erlking left then perhaps she would have more time to perfect the small projects she’d been meaning to do.

Intentional or not, Olyssa’s easy tone did help the faun to relax a bit, and her tufted ears relaxed by the sides of her head and she asked “What are those for?” She pointed to the assortment of what looked like weapons in front of the sidhe. “And- oh dyw! What, what ‘appened?” She had finally noted Olyssa’s face and the nasty bruise that marred it.

“‘Ere I’ve, I’ve something,” she went to get up and succeeded in knocking her basket over, sending a trowel and a few apples bouncing to the floor. Ceinwyn teetered between picking them up and going to fetch something, quite overwhelmed by the suddenness of it all. “It’s just, ay, give me a minute.”

 

[Olyssa]

"...!" Olyssa opened her mouth to explain with gallant enthusiasm what it was her equipment did before the woman changed her question. All that left her mouth was an a lungful of air that was almost audible in its surprise and left her jaw hanging slightly open. Not many people back the backbone - or sense - to ask what had happened to her when she was in a foul mood and bruised so being asked made her eyes pop with surprise.

"I..." apples exploded over the floor giving her further time to recover. She abruptly bounced to her feet revealing she was not much taller standing than sitting down, and ducked under the table to quickly collect the fresh fruit. The cook would not be pleased with bruised apples and the cook was perhaps one of the few people Olyssa was wary of. The huge fae was a mean wielder of a wooden spoon and belonged in the cages with the Dawon's, in her opinion.

 

[Ceinwyn]

Blushing furiously, Ceinwyn dropped to her knees to scramble up the apples with Olyssa’s help. They would just bruise where they’d hit the floor, maybe if they got them to the kitchens fast enough the bruises wouldn’t be noticeable.

With her things replaced, Ceinwyn moved to a small cupboard and pulled out a tiny clay jar of something green and sticky.

“Thank you,” she said quietly, her face almost as red as the apples, as she sat back down nearer Olyssa. She scooped two fingers through the jar and held up the emerald poultice, which smelled overwhelmingly of menthol.

“May I? It will help the swelling go down and fade the bruise.”

 

[Olyssa]

Olyssa stared at the gunk like it was the spit from a Lavella.

Like all good healers, the Sidhe was adverse to when she herself needed any such attention. She even pulled back away from the Faun almost on instinct before realising what she was doing and chided herself appropriately. to that affect she nodded, albeit with all the reluctance of a five year old child, in agreement to having something lathered on her face. The eye really did sting.

"I was re-shoeing a Gaothlach Kelpie," she explained in answer to the woman's earlier question and to distract herself. "She's just pregnant at the moment and more hormonal than normal. I got the bad shoe off, but when I tried to put the new one on," she gestured to her mangled instruments and face.

 

[Ceinwyn]

She set to work applying the paste as gently as she could. It was cooling and smooth, if a little sticky, and by the time she was done the bruised area had been covered in a thin, shiny layer of tiny plant leaves and oils.

Ceinwyn was by no means a healer. She knew a few of the plants that could be used for very basic treatments, such as this, but she did not truly understand how or why they worked the way they did. Her expertise lay in their cultivation, and on occasion preparation.

"What's a... gow-th-lake kalpie?" she asked as she finished, wiping her fingers on a spare rag and capping the small jar. "Es it like an 'orse?" She didn't like to think about horseshoes. She was learned enough to know they didn't hurt the beasts, but it made her own feet ache to think about having nails driven through her hooves.

 

[Olyssa]

"A swampy horse," Olyssa picked up her curry comb and then peered at her reflection in the curved silver back. It looked as though she had an eyepatch made of leaves but in an odd and humorous way she rather liked it. Plus, the pain was already beginning to dull. She set the comb back down and then turned back to the faun to delivery her lecture.

"Kelpies - the pure breeds you find up North usually - are able to shift into forms that look more like a Duanann, but there are subspecies which are more beast than fae. The Gaothlach Kelpie like to hang out in the swamps we have here in the Wilds. They feed off other animals who have to travel through the boggy water and they're very bad tempered at the best of times. A few fae like to keep them as guards if their homes are by bodies of water."

 

[Ceinwyn]

Ceinwyn's face showed more reproach the further Olyssa's description went. Kelpies sounded monstrous, and she couldn't imagine why anyone would want something so vicious as a pet. Then she recalled the general disposition of the majority of Duanann, and it made a good deal more sense. The Erlking had frightened her, still frightened her, if she was being honest. It was kind of him and his court to invite her here and provide her work, but she had heard stories about him and his family that made her blood run cold.

"Is that why you were working with et? The Erlking 'as one for a guard?" She noted, again, the truly omnifarious tool collection. There was far more variety than a farrier would require. "What... es it that you do? For his Majesty? Oh! But I've forgotten my manners. My name's Ceinwyn. I'm one of the gardeners." She had in fact been placed in charge of maintaining some of the most sensitive collections in Laigin, but boasting was not in her nature.

 

[Olyssa]

Olyssa, in contrast, looked dreamily off into the middle distance as her mind wandered along the trail of all the different types of Kelpie she had seen over the years. It didn't seem to bother her in the slightest something ten times her weight had decided to boot her in face. In fact, it didn't seem to bother her that there was any chance of injury from the types of animal she dealt with day to day. The other fae's tone of fear made her blink in surprise.

"Oh this wasn't the Erlking's, no. Kelpies are all well and good but he has much more... aggressive creatures to guard his palace. This was just one of the High families pets. They do this a lot, get something without knowing how to actually take care of it," she sighed sadly. "Poor thing is just very sore... Here I am prattling on," she laughed and shook her head then held out her hand.

"Olyssa, I'm the Beast Keeper of the Autumn Court - I just make sure the animals are looked after, treat them if they get sick."

 

[Ceinwyn]

Ceinwyn swallowed thinking about what sort of monsters the Lord of Autumn might have at his disposal. Things had been peaceful enough between the courts, at least as peaceful as such things ever were, but that didn't stop her from hearing all sorts of frightening children's tales as a child in the summer court.

She noted that Olyssa seemed quite happy discussing the kelpies. It was evident that she cared for them very much. The two of them were not so different, it seemed. Rose bushes wouldn't kick her in the face, of course, but there were more than a few poisonous and thorny collections to be managed... and that was merely among the non-magical greenery...

"They're lucky to 'ave ou," she said. "An' don't worry 'bout prattling," she said, with the first small laugh she'd had this night, "I do think it's interesting, even if kelpies do seem... intimidating." She had a sheepish sort of smile, with her lips pulled back just enough to show small, daintily pointed canines.

 

[Olyssa]

Olyssa had the good grace to still blush even if the faun assured her she wasn't prattling. She was used to people getting bored when she begun to talk of her work and the creatures she loved so. It had made her guarded about who she spoke of it to over the years to the point she had withdrawn from being around people too much entirely.

"They are not so bad when they are not scared," she smiled and then glanced to the apples they had managed to save. "What parts of the gardens do you look after? I only really use a few here and there to help with the medicines for the animals but I know there are lots to it," or at least she assumed there must be with the whole of the Wilds as the Erlkings 'gardens' so to speak.

 

[Ceinwyn]

Ceinwyn rubbed one of the battered fruits on her sleeve in an attempt to make it look presentable, but pursed her lips in disappointment as the bruises were already starting to form. With a resigned sigh, she replaced it in the basket with the bruised side facing inwards.

"Technically I work with all of the gardens in and on Laigin's immediate area, hence the harvesting, but they keep me mostly on the sensitive collections." She blinked her large, doeish eyes and massaged her arm again absently. "Some of the species aren't native to the wilds, y'see, and they need some help adjusting." Several of the more extravagant rose varieties had been transplanted from the Spring Court long ago. Ceinwyn had ruffled the feathers of the senior gardeners when she insisted on changing soil types, but the results had silenced them. "I suppose if highborn families take wild animals as pets, it must be rather similar, yes?" She had not truly considered it before, but if the rich enjoyed shipping creatures about as much as they did their pretty flowers, then there must be a great many beasts out of place.

There was a loud crash from an adjacent room that caused her to start, and her short tail flicked upwards in alarm, showing bright white fur. The rumbling shouts that followed were unmistakably the cook, and he seemed already in a fowl mood.

"I'd best get these to the kitchens." She grabbed up the basket and moved quickly for the door. "Will you be eating with the servants tonight? Just... I should like to hear more about the animals."

 

[Olyssa]

Olyssa listened in a rapture. As far as she could see it the gardens and the animals went hand in hand; one could not survive without the other. It was a beautiful cycle and it saddened her to realise she did not really know much about one half of it. This chance encounter would change that she was sure of it. The sidhe was nodding at the fauns comparison and had been about to open her own mouth to reply and add her theory when the great crashing echoed up the stairs. A tiny brownie burst from the stairs that led down to the kitchen in a fit of tears and ran from the room. Olyssa pursed her lips.

"Yes, I think you better..." The goblin cook could swing from mood to mood as quickly as the wind could change. She blinked at the question and turned her attention back to her new fledgling friend. "Oh, I don't..." she trailed off and then forced a smile. Usually she took her dinner outside with the animals where she felt more at home. "Yes, I'll be eating here tonight if you would like to discuss further," she smiled hesitantly then stood. "I best be going too, I have to feed the others before I can eat myself. It was nice meeting you, Ceinwyn," and that she did mean. With a little bow of her head she collected her things and set off for the stairs.

 

[Ceinwyn]

The cook had been too bothered by something else pay Ceinwyn much mind, and the alarmingly strong goblin took the apples from her basket with barely a grunt. After retrieving her trowel, she quickly slipped away. She took the brief time before dinner to clean and stow her tool and wash the dirt from her face and hands. Her dress was dusty but it would do until tomorrow, no sense in changing that now. Not many clothes were made for faun bodies, but this style suited her well. It was a fine fabric (for her, anyway), that fit snugly to her torso and split down the sides up to her hips. A small slit had been made in the back to accommodate her short tail. It allowed her free movement without forcing her hooved legs through skinny pantaloons.

She brushed a bit of dusty from the front of the garment before moving back to the servant’s dining area. She didn’t see Olyssa, so she took a seat with empty chairs on either side. A few minutes passed and dark, bark-skinned faerie took the seat to her right. A bit later a tall, dark-haired faerie tried to sit to her left, but Ceinwyn forced herself to say “I’m sorry, um, but I am saving this for my friend.” The faerie frowned at her in annoyance, but said nothing as they moved on down the table.

Ceinwyn exhaled, her face red from the effort of a single social interaction. She was the type to stay silent rather than risk any sort of confrontation, with few exceptions. Perhaps because of this she had made very few friends since arriving at Laigin, and she liked Olyssa. It was worth being a little rude to keep that friendship, right?