The Faeries of Dulwich Woods

Chapter 4 - What We Would Choose To Do

Barnwyr Druce's silver beard-bells jingled melodiously as he returned to his seat. Now it was Barnwyr Arienhs turn to speak; looping several feet of her hair over one arm, she approached the glimmering pool where Avery and the unconscious Riordan were trapped.

'Avery Shaw,' she began, fixing her with a pitch-black, fathomless gaze, 'did you lure or entice the child Bihan Ruz from the realm of the Kindred into the world of humans?' Avery looked up at Caradoc for guidance.

'You may answer - speak freely,' he reassured her.

'No I did not, your Honour. I didn't know anything about this place and I had no idea how to get into it, or that it even existed,' she said as loudly as she could to cover the pounding of her heart, 'I have never been here before.'

'So how do you account for the presence of Bihan Ruz in the mortal realm?'

What a ridiculous question, thought Avery, I've just explained that I didn't know this world existed - how on earth do I know how he got there?

'I don't know, Your Honour. At first, I assumed that he was a regular kid who'd got lost from his family. I didn't know he was a... umm (Avery floundered a bit as she searched for the right word) ... what we would call an elf or a fairy? I thought that his black eyes were a bit strange but other than that he seemed like a normal, little boy.'

'You found his black eyes to be strange, eh Mortal? How quaint; I find them perfectly natural,' drawled Barnwyr Arienh, playing to the crowd as she gestured at her own. The glade erupted as the host of winged cherubs, goat-men, warriors, nobles, living trees, hags and gaffers grunted, wheezed and cackled uproariously. The cacophony of inhuman laughter was quite alarming, but Avery tried to keep a steady head.

'Your Honour, I didn't mean to cause any offence,' she said quickly and gave a quick curtsey for good measure.

'None taken,' said Barnwyr Arienh unsmilingly, as she adjusted a large hank of snowy hair that had fallen over her face.

'May it please your Honour, but the human girl has stated that she first encountered the son of Goody Turaysh on the Rounded Stump, the remains of a primaeval oak that is close to the Dew Pond,' Caradoc interjected, 'As you may know, in times past it served (on rare occasions) as a portal between the realms. This may account for how an unsupervised child of the High Folk might have slipped into the human world.'

'Let this be noted,' said Arienh, 'Now, mortal child, Lord Caradoc has confirmed that he and Lady Helori Caradoc observed you waiting with Bihan Ruz in the forest for some time. Explain to us how you found him, what you did and why. This is your opportunity to give your own account, in your own words.' Avery cleared her throat and clasped her hands together to keep them from shaking and began.

'From a distance, I saw a toddler who was sitting on the tree stump; that seemed normal because many children like to play on that stump, I did when I was small. When I got closer, I looked to see where his parents were but no one was near, there were no grown-ups around at all. That wasn't normal and I couldn't understand it as he's very young, practically a baby. And where I come from, no one would leave a baby alone in the woods.'

Avery paused for breath. The uncanny denizens of the Cedar Court were unnervingly quiet, completely engrossed in what she had to say. Lady Elouan gazed down at her from the brightly lit branches of the cedar tree.

'Pray continue, young Mortal. We are listening,' she observed. Avery curtsied again.

'I just couldn't walk away and leave him there. What if a dog attacked him or worse, what if some bad person found him and hurt him?'