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Emma does not often think this, but she would dearly, dearly like to be back at school at this particular moment.
Her parents brought her to the club to 'socialize', but they're the ones doing all the socializing. And now they've met some business friends of her dad's, and there's some secrecy clause about an upcoming deal, or something? So her mother's at the bar getting a drink with the guys' wives, but Emma's only twenty. So here she is, wandering around on the golf course, enjoying the sunset and trying to kill time until she can go back inside. And really, honestly missing school, where she doesn't have to go through this nonsense.
Finally she decides she's had enough of being outside- however much her mother protests that really, Connecticut is lovely in the fall, it's also chilly- and she starts to make her way back to the clubhouse. She's walking up the golf cart trail through the trees to get across the last hole when suddenly she realizes-
-the clubhouse isn't there any more. There's just more forest.
...what just happened?
Emma is momentarily distracted by her work- she spots the edge of one of the smaller leaves in the pile, she needs more of those, the edging won't turn out- but she manages to retrieve it and refocus and smile at Promise. "It's just a story. And your bookshelf does kinda look like it has a slightly different focus."
Namely- magic. Lots and lots of magic.
Namely- magic. Lots and lots of magic.
imeanforever
"The first thing I learned to do was a light spell. The things I do most often are growing spells on my favorite food plants. I've learned a lot of defensive magic, just in case."
imeanforever
"I haven't so far. I'll be glad of it if the breeder colony that wants to settle near here makes a fuss about being unwelcome, though."
That sounds vaguely familiar, but Emma can't remember where from. "Um. Breeder colony?" she asks, very confused.
imeanforever
"At the meeting you saw? River bought my vote with you? That was all the fairies who live near enough to notice if some other fairies move in to a certain area along the stream, deciding on whether they're invited to do that or not. Probably no one would have minded if it was just one fairy, or a court of two or three, but it's breeders, there's dozens of them."
"And breeders is... another kind?" Emma asks, still bemused. "And leaflets aren't, so you're..." Nope, there is no possible way to phrase that politely. "If you don't mind, it's not too intrusive, I. Um. Where do more leaflets come from?"
Storks do not seem implausible, at this point.
Storks do not seem implausible, at this point.
imeanforever
"Breeders are a - kind of kinds. The particular colony is mixed, I think the representative said he was a lilybright, but I don't know what the other kind or kinds in their court are. Leaflets and other spontaneous kinds just start instead. I started in this tree."
"Well, now I know, I guess," Emma shrugs. "...thank you for explaining things, by the way. I didn't even know this happened because of my name until you bought me from River."
"Not immediately?" she says, after a moment's thought. "It's just- things will come up, and I can ask. It's nice. But, thanks."
imeanforever
"You're welcome. I have much less to occupy my time now the gate is trying to find the spot I aimed it at, so we might as well make conversation."
"Well, what about you? I don't know how much you wanted to know about my world, I did kinda a terrible job explaining..."
"More forest, actually. We live next to a park, I know it pretty well. Probably part of our house. It's, um, big? Two stories, lots of windows, painted kinda blue-grey. There's a garden in the back, Mom tries to grow vegetables but only really manages flowers. It's me and my mom and dad, I don't have siblings, there's a woman named Sharon Mom pays to clean the house every week, there's a gardener but I don't really know him at all. Um, what else... they've got cars in the driveway, I guess, do you know what those are? Do you know what everything I said was, for that matter?"
"They're-" she thinks. "It's like, a really small house, made of metal. There's space for two seats in the front, and two in the back, and they all face forward, and there's windows all around the top half so you can see, and wheels on the bottom. And if you know how it works, you can get it to move really fast. So we use those, to get around quickly."
She has no idea what passes for units here. Feet? Meters? Fairy units? She is not going to try to quantify 'fast'.
She has no idea what passes for units here. Feet? Meters? Fairy units? She is not going to try to quantify 'fast'.