come. The red caps carried them in their pockets,” he grinned, remembering it fondly, gauging by the look on his face. “They were fierce when they were finally let loose. The House of Fire is proud to have our pixies as part of the Host.”
“ I'm not sure if we'd be able to do that,” Artair's shoulders began to slump. “It seems a little too far from our natures.”
“ No one expects you to do anything you don't want to do,” I gave Arach a look when he sighed. “I'm sure you have other skills to offer Fire.”
“ Well, we are fine craftsmen,” he looked at me hopefully and gestured to the earrings I was still wearing. “We really did make those.”
“ Well then,” I beamed, realizing that these fey had talents better suited to my tastes than Arach's, “you've made me a very happy woman.”
“ I thought I did that,” Arach grumbled.
“ A woman needs more than sex alone,” I teased. “We need clothes, shoes, handbags, and jewelry. And I think we just hit the jewelry jackpot.”
Chapter Eight
The earth pixies were welcomed by their cousins, the fire pixies, with open arms. I guess when you're abused as a group, you learn to stick together despite your differences. The earth pixies were offered a place among the fire pixies in the village of hollowed out trees and burrows in front of Castle Aithinne, but the earth pixies chose instead to inhabit the large room Arach had provided for them.
It was like a refugee camp at first but every time I checked on them, they'd made themselves a little bit more at home. Until finally I ventured in and found a mini wonderland.
The bed had been removed to give them more space and the only pieces of furniture they'd requested had been tables of differing heights, so Arach had let them have as many as they liked. The room was full of them, placed neatly side by side against three of the walls and coming out into the room in a tiered manner so that the tallest were at the back. This created two levels for them, the tiered top level and then the floor beneath the tables.
They'd built themselves little houses on the top level and had somehow managed to import enough soil to cover the tables and grow a nice layer of grass around the homes. There were little flowering plants all over as well and they must have brought some seeds of those glowing, hanging plants we'd seen in Castle Crith-Fuinn because they were growing off the walls, lighting the room brightly. When I'd asked how they slept at night with the light from the flowers, they'd giggled at me and reminded me that flowers close at night.
There were bridges and rope ladders connecting the different tables and also vines from the glowing plants on the wall, which they used to navigate the two levels. Beneath the tables were workshops, always busy with the sound of clinks and clanks coming from them. There were also gathering places and distributing halls which handed out the food we gave them as their share of the House of Fire's provisions. This was another shock to them and some of the pixie women actually started crying the first time they were brought food. I wanted to confront Aalish all over again when I heard about that. There were only two reasons to cry over food, either it's so wonderful that you are moved to tears, or you've been starved. As much as I liked the food made by the chefs of Fire, I didn't think it warranted tears, so that left only the latter. What kind of monster starved their own people?
Their bathroom had been converted into a sort of hot house, with lush flowers growing around the sink and mini trees filling the useless tub. They got their water from the faucet in the sink, treating it like a natural water source they could simply turn off and on at will. The women gathered there a lot, they'd worked out a schedule for washing times and water gathering times, so they could fill the sink and do all their laundry at once. The room had become a village unto itself.
I was
“ I'm not sure if we'd be able to do that,” Artair's shoulders began to slump. “It seems a little too far from our natures.”
“ No one expects you to do anything you don't want to do,” I gave Arach a look when he sighed. “I'm sure you have other skills to offer Fire.”
“ Well, we are fine craftsmen,” he looked at me hopefully and gestured to the earrings I was still wearing. “We really did make those.”
“ Well then,” I beamed, realizing that these fey had talents better suited to my tastes than Arach's, “you've made me a very happy woman.”
“ I thought I did that,” Arach grumbled.
“ A woman needs more than sex alone,” I teased. “We need clothes, shoes, handbags, and jewelry. And I think we just hit the jewelry jackpot.”
Chapter Eight
The earth pixies were welcomed by their cousins, the fire pixies, with open arms. I guess when you're abused as a group, you learn to stick together despite your differences. The earth pixies were offered a place among the fire pixies in the village of hollowed out trees and burrows in front of Castle Aithinne, but the earth pixies chose instead to inhabit the large room Arach had provided for them.
It was like a refugee camp at first but every time I checked on them, they'd made themselves a little bit more at home. Until finally I ventured in and found a mini wonderland.
The bed had been removed to give them more space and the only pieces of furniture they'd requested had been tables of differing heights, so Arach had let them have as many as they liked. The room was full of them, placed neatly side by side against three of the walls and coming out into the room in a tiered manner so that the tallest were at the back. This created two levels for them, the tiered top level and then the floor beneath the tables.
They'd built themselves little houses on the top level and had somehow managed to import enough soil to cover the tables and grow a nice layer of grass around the homes. There were little flowering plants all over as well and they must have brought some seeds of those glowing, hanging plants we'd seen in Castle Crith-Fuinn because they were growing off the walls, lighting the room brightly. When I'd asked how they slept at night with the light from the flowers, they'd giggled at me and reminded me that flowers close at night.
There were bridges and rope ladders connecting the different tables and also vines from the glowing plants on the wall, which they used to navigate the two levels. Beneath the tables were workshops, always busy with the sound of clinks and clanks coming from them. There were also gathering places and distributing halls which handed out the food we gave them as their share of the House of Fire's provisions. This was another shock to them and some of the pixie women actually started crying the first time they were brought food. I wanted to confront Aalish all over again when I heard about that. There were only two reasons to cry over food, either it's so wonderful that you are moved to tears, or you've been starved. As much as I liked the food made by the chefs of Fire, I didn't think it warranted tears, so that left only the latter. What kind of monster starved their own people?
Their bathroom had been converted into a sort of hot house, with lush flowers growing around the sink and mini trees filling the useless tub. They got their water from the faucet in the sink, treating it like a natural water source they could simply turn off and on at will. The women gathered there a lot, they'd worked out a schedule for washing times and water gathering times, so they could fill the sink and do all their laundry at once. The room had become a village unto itself.
I was
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