Child of Mara

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"Where are the fae?"

Fiddle grins. "Technically all over the place, but generally they like to live in the Great Forest." He turns to Tae who is running his hands down his face. "All I'm asking is you let me help you get to Dyve. It feels important to me and I'm pretty handy to have around, you know! I can probably even muster a few miles of Wind riding each day to get us there. Not to mention I can keep the Soli off your backs."

That makes Tae pause and Mar looks at him with eagerness. "Can we, Tae? I want to fly again and speak to the fae."

"Dyve..." Tae thinks it over. "Probably best to get out of Solis anyway. Fine, but we're going west not east. I may not be a mage, but I can tell if you're taking us the wrong way."

Clapping his hands together, Fiddle nods. "Of course! Let's start with walking though. Wind is not my forte, and I did banish a demon today, so I'm a bit tuckered out."

Fiddle leads to way and after a few minutes of walking, Mar pulls their hand free of Tae's and skips up to the mage. "Did you banish Enu because she wanted to eat Tae?"

"In a sense. As Third Apprentice it's my job to make sure none of the Accursed make it back onto this plane. To protect all of En, including your fidgety friend."

"Tae's not fidgety."

"Agree to disagree."

Mar mulls that over and moves on. "So...there are two other apprentices?"

"Yup, but my peers' duties are different than mine. More focused on Aziron than the threats outside. The Accursed Ones are my jurisdiction since they always hunt pure-blooded Azir for their hosts. Which is why I don't think Solis will see my interference in too harsh a light. Then again my master might have a few sharp words for me about the whole Vallex thing. She always says I trust my gut more than my brain, but I like to think she says it with endearment."

"You said you'd met a fae before. Was that in Dyve?"

"Mmhm. My...half-sister...is what's called fae-touched. Aria has innate fae magic gifted by a promise rather than a boon since her mother was a changeling."

"What's a changeling?"

"That's a bit of a complicated question. I suppose the short version is that they're a fae, but one who's chosen to dwell in a mortal body for a time. Hyacinth, that's the changeling, lived in a mortal body for a while and then when they left, Titania got her body back. I was just a little kid when my father took me back to his homeland after my mother died. He fell in love with Titania and, well, Aria happened. As a thank you for using their body to experience mortality, the child of a changeling is gifted the fae's magic. You can always tell who has changeling blood in them because their hair is red as the sunset. I met Hyacinth when they visited Aria as a baby. The fae are curious beings—much like you my small friend—and love children, art, and music."

Fiddle laughs. "As you can imagine from me and my sister's names, our father was rather fond of music himself so Hyacinth visited a few times. Sort of a scarcely seen godparent as it were. Of course, since I decided to return to Aziron, I haven't seen them in over a decade. But anyway that's who you reminded me of, Mar."

Even Tae is listening with interest at this point, and Mar sticks their hands in their pockets. "Not like Primus then. I can actually ask the fae my questions?"

"Exactly! I just hope you don't mind me listening in, you've got me awful curious myself." Fiddle catches Tae's eye. "But I'll wait to get my answers with you and content myself with being the interrogated one for now."

"Why did you go back to Aziron?" Mar asks.

"Mar," Tae interrupts, "leave the man alone. He doesn't have to tell you his whole life story."

"It's alright, I don't mind. You see..."

Despite Tae's attempts to stem the conversation, Mar listens eagerly to Fiddle's tales of how he came to be the Arch Mage's Third Apprentice. He talks for hours until Mar's stomach growls.

"Here Mar," Tae says offering a parchment wrapped piece of meat, "hopefully it's fresh enough."

Mar unwrapped the small steak and sniffs it. With a sharp toothed smile, they open their mouth to eat but jump when Fiddle's hand bursts into flame.

"Let me get a fire going and we can get cooking," the mage offers.

Nose wrinkling at that, Mar tears into their meat while Fiddle's mouth opens and closes. Tae sighs. "Marans eat raw meat, you get used to it. I'll trade you that fire for some of this bread and wine though."

Tae and Fiddle split Tae's lunch. The Literan seems to relax at last, sharing his wineskin with his Azir lunch mate.

Brushing crumbs off his pants, Tae reaches into his pack and counts some silver and copper coins. "Hmmm, we don't have much. Hopefully it'll be enough to feed us until we get to Dyve, I'm terrible at hunting. I assume the Third Apprentice can afford to feed himself."

Fiddle scratches his head. "Er, normally, yes. However, I left my wallet back in Aziron since I wasn't planning on being away for so long. Don't worry, though, I can pull water from the air, so we don't have to worry about that and I am usually offered dinner by an Azir I meet. Perks of the position as it were."

"Because there are so many Azir in western En," Tae says sarcastically.

Fiddle puts an offended hand on his chest. "I'm from western En, I'll have you recall. Don't you worry, my good man, I'm not letting anyone starve to death. That would be quite an ignominious end for someone like me."

"Great, I'm glad Hunger knows you're a big-shot and will just stay away."

Tae shuts his pack and shrugs it on, and Fiddle frowns. The wind blows him to his feet and he looks down at Tae, a good half a foot taller. "I consider myself a fairly amicable man, Tae, but you are really pushing me. Have I done anything to deserve your disrespect?"

Flinching, Tae avoids looking at Fiddle, instead shifting from one foot to another. Finally, he sighs. "No, you're right. I'm sorry. It's...it's been a rough few days and the last time Mar and I were out in the wilds we would have starved to death if the sisters hadn't saved us. I just don't want to go through that again."

Fiddle puts a hand on Tae's shoulder. "Understandable, I really do mean it when I say you are safe with me."

Tae manages a half-smile. Mar takes his hand. "It'll be okay, Tae. We're not alone."

"Alright, let's go," Tae says, his old determination returning to his voice, "it's a long way to Dyve."

Fiddle is true to his word. He flies the trio when he can and even serves as the middle man, spending Tae's money on raw meat at villages they pass so Mar can stay hidden. He also proves quite good at foraging, often offering berries, mushrooms, and leaves to Tae while walking and munching on them himself. Despite Tae's doubts, a few Azir families do take the group in for the night. Giving them a warm meal and place to stay while Fiddle swaps stories with them and gives news from their homeland.

Is at one of those homes that Mar's dreams change again.