The Faeries of Dulwich Woods

Chapter 13 - Dance Wiv Me

With a great clamour of merriment and excitement, the tremendous faerie host streamed between the pillars and filled the vast circular hall beneath the hill. Riwal and Elouan sat with the other Protectors at a huge, round table in the centre with the Cup of Teylu hovering in mid-air above their heads. The crystalline Cup rotated steadily, its faceted sides glinting in the brilliant light from hundreds of floating orbs, as the Protectors disported themselves below.

A clever little detail, thought Avery with a touch of pride, the symbol of family unity embodied in a large, levitating goblet. And I helped to recover it! Yay for me!

The courtiers of each Protectorate were escorted to their seats while the rest of the Effrayna Kindred crammed themselves into the remaining spaces. The Kindred proceeded to pour themselves generous goblets of ale and wine and help themselves to savouries, soups and exquisite desserts that defied imagination. A pair of Soudard Gwer stood guard at each table as the faerie folk piled their plates with food. Avery thought that they seemed a lot like watchful teachers obliged to supervise their rowdy charges over school dinners and hoped that they too would be allowed to partake of the incredible feast. She was sitting at Helori's table with some truly fascinating companions; four red-capped gnomes, three delicate sylphs, some youths in white chitons, their dark, curly heads wreathed with laurel, and a couple of cheery crones. The table was groaning with all sorts of marvellous food; a neighbouring platter was loaded with exotic fruits, some of which she couldn't even identify, and a towering pile of moist honey-cakes by her elbow looked irresistibly delicious. She stared longingly at all of the wonderful pies, wavy-latticed apple, peach and blueberry; golden-crusted beef and chicken oozing with sumptuous gravy and rubbed her hands with anticipation as her fellow diners tucked in with greedy abandon. As she watched them eat , she was struck with unbearable pangs of hunger; the food was so beautiful, so abundant and so pleasing to the eye. The meaty aromas and fruity smells were so enticing that she was seized with an overwhelming desire to grab handful after handful of the plump, claret-coloured cherries, and cram a massive slice of beef pie into her mouth. She yearned to start eating immediately and was just reaching for a juicy, purple-striped persimmon when Helori seized her wrist.

'I'm sorry, Avery, this will seem unkind but I must stop you. You cannot eat of this food, nor drink one single drop of mead or wine.' Avery's face fell, she was the very picture of dismay and disappointment

'I'm here at this incredible banquet and I can't eat a thing? Not the grapes, the cakes, not a spoonful of ice-cream? I have to sit here and watch everyone stuff themselves?' Avery laid her head on the table and groaned with frustration, 'This is so unfair!' She looked up at Helori pleadingly. 'But why Helori? Have I done something wrong?'

'Of course not, youngling, I foolishly assumed that you knew. Mortals should not partake of Kindred food for two important reasons. Firstly, our fare is so delightful, so addictively delectable that when a mortal eats it, ordinary food palls in comparison. Several mortals have simply wasted away on their return to the human realm, their own provender nothing more to them than dust.'

'So I have the opportunity to eat the most delicious food that I'd ever taste in my whole life, and I'm forbidden to. That seems a bit cruel,' said Avery wistfully.

'Yes, but you would slowly starve yourself to death thereafter; you are missing the point, Miss Avery.' Helori retorted.

'And what's the second reason?' Avery enquired.

'Many that eat the food offered them by Kindred get trapped in this realm, never to find their way home again. The few that do make it home often find that decades or even centuries have passed by, and all whom they once knew and loved are gone. This is an ill fate indeed,' came the sobering reply.