Built For Speed or I Like The Sprite In You

A Ninth Caustrian Tale

 

Part 1

 

         "You know, Naomi, I hadn't noticed how, er...small your wings are." said Robin, gazing over her spectacles at Naomi. She (Naomi) was posing for a picture that Robin had decided to sketch of her. The two had spent a lot of time together since Robin and her youngest son Derek had returned, since Robin had spent some time in Naomi's old tree apartment learning about solitude and Naomi had had an eye-opening lesson recently about behaving herself. Fostering Robin's new found interest in art by posing occassionally was the easiest way to keep her mind off doing something mischievous.

         "Yeah, I was born with dwarfed wings," Naomi replied. "Kids used to tease me about it all the time. My dad used to say they were built for speed."

         "Well, they don't look abnormal, really, they look naturally small. Like..." Robin took off the spectacles and paused to look at Naomi with a frown.

         "Like what?" Naomi asked.

         "Well...they look rather like sprite wings to me," said Robin, sounding as if she didn't believe it.

         Naomi forced a laugh. "That's funny," she said. "Sprite wings. That's really funny."

         "No, really, they do."

         Naomi sobered quickly. "Look, Rob, I don't have many sensitive spots, but being called a sprite hits the few I've got mighty hard."

         "I didn't say you were a sprite, I just said your wings..."

         "Yeah, yeah, yeah, let's just drop it, 'kay?"

         Robin nodded and went back to her sketch. "My apologies," she said briefly, sounding sincere.

         Naomi shrugged noncomittantly and reheld her pose. The comment still rankled deep, however, and by the time Naomi had returned to her room, she wasn't so much irritated as she was reminiscent...

 

 

         "Daddy!" wailed Naomi, rushing in and throwing herself at her father. Merram gathered his 60 year old daughter into his arms.

         "What's the matter, Mi-Mi?" he asked. "Has someone been hurting you?"

         "Yes, Daddy, they hurt my fee-lings!" said Naomi, putting an arm around his neck and burying her face in his chest as she sobbed. "That dumb old Temi from the castle called me Mothwing and she said...she...she said my wings were stupid a-and little...a-and ug-leee!" The little fairy burst into tears as her father tried to console her.

         "There, there, now, Mi-Mi, we both know how reliable Temille's information on you has been so far, don't we? Remember when she called you a monkey? You weren't that, were you?" Naomi shook her head, but didn't look up. "And remember when she said you were stupid? You weren't that, were you?" Naomi shook her head "no" again. "Well, you see there? She doesn't know anything about you at all, does she? Besides," said Merram, holding her up at arm's length, "Mommy and I built you like this on purpose. You know why?"

         "Why?"

         "Because as cute and tiny as you are, you'll be the fastest fairy in Pyrope one day!"

         "Really?" she asked, fluttering her wings happily.

         "Absolutely!"

         Naomi kissed her father and zoomed back outside the tree. "Thanks, Daddy! I'll be the fastest fairy there ever was! You'll see!"

 

 

         "Naomi!" came Christine's voice.

         Naomi started out of her reverie into her natural state of irritation with the world. "Wha-at?" she snapped. "Didn't anybody teach you how to knock?"

         "Yeah, but years with you's broken that nasty habit," Christine shot back. Before Naomi could make a decent comeback, Chris added. "Daina says she needs you for something right now."

         "What something?"

         "What am I, there with her or here with you?" Chris said sarcastically. "It's not my job to know what she wants you for; it's my job to tell you she wants you."

         Naomi looked at Christine condescendingly. "You can't be serious. You don't know what she wants at all?"

         "No," said Chris innocently.

         "Right," said Naomi, settling back on her bed again. "All these years under my expert tutelage and you have no clue what Daina's up to."

         Chris sighed with a wry smile. "Okay, fine, she's working back in her computer to get all of our histories on file. She did mine already and now she's working on you. She'll probably ask you a bunch of stuff about what you remember from your childhood and all that and she'll type it in her computer and said 'Really? Hmmm...didn't know that' a lot."

         "Aww, man..." said Naomi, dismissing the idea as unimportant.

         "So you have to go, 'cause she said," Christine said seriously.

         "Yeah, yeah, I'll be there," Naomi said. 

         "Now," said Chris firmly.

         "Go; I'm coming!" Naomi said, waving her away. Chris gave her a skeptical look, then left the room. "Not!" Naomi snorted in derision, then she jumped up and dove out her window. She fell toward the ground, then changed into her fairy form at the last minute, caught her fall and sped away toward the forest.  Behind her, she could hear Christine yelling after her,

         "I knew it!!! You're gonna get it!!!"

         Naomi grinned and flew faster. "Getting it" had become an art from with her, as had "getting out of it". That was part of the reason why she'd learned to fly so well. She'd always been fast; that had come naturally, like her father had predicted so long ago. But her manueverability had come with years of practice that she'd gotten running from just about every evil person there was and even some of the good ones.

         As of late, however, her flying skills had become useful for moments like these, when her head was full of things that she couldn't sort out. Robin's comment about Naomi's wings and her sudden memories of home reminded Naomi that she hadn't been to Pyrope in over 30 years in fairy time. She hadn't really missed the time away until now. Her sister Fallon was no longer there, of course, having gone away at Naomi's request to keep out of the trouble Naomi usually brought her, but their mother was still there and Naomi could feel herself yearning to visit her, just to see if she were alright.

         She wiped her mind clean again, concentrated on a ballistic roll, then plummeted downward, catching herself just before she hit the ground and zooming upward. She tore dangerously through the thick of the Forest, practically navigating the heavy thickets with her eyes closed, but feeling the exhilarting thrill of her speed. Now I understand what Daina sees in speed skating, she thought with a grin of ecstacy. That's probably as fast as a human could get without one of those bulky vehicles of theirs...

         Naomi stopped for a moment in a low treetop for a breather and the moment she did, more memories of the past came at her...

 

         By the time she was 100 years old, Naomi had outraced every young fairy in the glade. She had also become a fairly decent shape changer, something that had impressed even the older members of the community. Part of this was the reason she had been chosen as court messenger for Lady Robin.

         Although she was only 20 years older than Naomi, it was widely held that Lady Robin was the most likely candidate for the throne of Pyrope. She had a quiet leadership that about her that wasn't as overbearing as King Dannick's, yet still commanded the same, if not more respect.

         In fact, most of the reason Merram and Allia sent their eldest daughter to work for her was that at 16 human years old, Naomi's maturity was less than her sister Fallon's and Fallon was practically an adult at age 11.

         It wasn't that Naomi was a horrible or evil child, she was just...bored. Anytime she found herself at a lack for entertainment, she turned to mischief in whatever form it took. And the days she wasn't looking for trouble, it usually found her in the form of her best friends Igi and Mena. Igea (as was her real name) had a habit of finding Naomi whenever a royal court brat like Temille needed an attitude adjustment or when a fake doorway needed creating for a gag or anything else that could provide physical humor. Mena, who was King Dannick's daughter, was considered the black sheep of her family, since she fraternized with commoners such as Naomi. It also provided Temille, a brat of the court, and Kara, her sidekick, with fuel for their vicious rumormongering fire.

         But with Naomi running messages all the time from Robin's castle farther in the Forest to the Royal Family, there was no way she could ever run into any trouble.

         Until she collided with Daniel.

         Truly, it hadn't been her fault, but neither was it his. She was on her way back to Lady Robin's with news of a new servant to be sent to her. As she careened into a window that was left open specifically for her incomings and outgoings, she crashed into the aforementioned servant, knocking both of them into the opposite wall so hard he had become unconscious.

         Here, she thought, trying to revive him frantically, was the perfect example of how trouble found her. How could she tell her mistress that she had killed the new servant? That would hardly put her in a positive or even slightly favorable light.

         "Come on, wake up, man!" pleaded Naomi, desperately shaking the manservant. "I'll get in all kinda trouble if you don't..."

         "I'm awake already; stop shaking me!" came the groggy reply. The eyes of the youth opened and looked at her as she gazed back in sheer worry.

         "Are you okay?" she asked, her face a pretty portrait of adolescence feminine despair.

         The new servant looked up at her with an appreciative smile. "Yeah, I think," he began. "By the way, my name's Dan..."

         "Well, then what's the big idea a'you tryin' ta get me in trouble?" demanded Naomi, her face immediately shifting to a look of annoyance. "You go waltzing by here like it's nothing. Don't you know a runway when you see one?"

         "Well, I..."

         "Look, I get that you're new, so I'm not gonna turn this into a lecture, okay? I'm not gonna lecture you. Just stay away from this window or you're liable to get run over again, 'kay?"

         "Well, I don't think it was so bad the first time," said the servant. Naomi's jaw slackened in shock for an awkward moment as she realized two things; he was flirting with her and she was sitting straddled across his chest. Hastily, she scrambled off of him and they both stood up. "My name," he said, taking her hand and shaking it a little, "is Daniel."

         "H-Hi," said Naomi, her cool shaken. "I'm, uh...uh..."

         "Going the same direction as me, I hope," he finished.

         "Yeah," she answered, almost relieved. "Yeah, I think I am."

 

 

         Naomi laughed aloud at her favorite memory of Daniel in his pre-kingly days. He was so wrapped up now in ruling Pyrope and dealing with its affairs of state that he never flirted or goofed around the way he had when they had both worked for Robin. He had been Robin's (Lady Robin, Naomi remeinded herself) private servant then, while she (Naomi) had been Robin's private messenger.

         That was the first time Robin and I became close, Naomi thought. When we told each other everything, includng stuff about Daniel...

 

 

         "If you like him so much, you should tell him," Robin told her one day, as they were leaving the Royal Palace to return home.

         "Nah, I can't," Naomi replied. "That'd be too easy. Besides, Daniel really likes you, I think." Of course, she didn't really believe that, but whether he really did or not was immaterial. She knew in her heart that someday, he would see her waiting in the wings, realize what a fool he had been, take her by the hand and carry her off to the gemweed fields (where all the really juicy love stories ended).

         "I still say you're wasting time," Robin said. "You're more in love with the fantasy than the real thing."

         "Maybe," Naomi sighed. "But it works for me."

         Robin giggled, just a royal page scurried up to her. "Lady Robin," he said, bowing low, "King Dannick wishes to see you privately for a moment. I believe he wants your opinion on Lord Hythe's plea for mercy."

         "Hythe deserves no mercy; I've said it before," Robin said coldly. "He had no right to covet what was not his."

         "I believe the king wished to hear your opinion in person," the page replied.

         "Of course," said Robin, realizing she was venting her feelings upon the wrong person. "Naomi, go on ahead. I'll meet you at home in a few minutes." Naomi nodded and took off. "Field for me if you have to!" Robin called after her.

         Naomi acknowledged this with a nod as she jumped out the nearest open window. "Fielding" meant that Naomi would change her form to look like Robin in case anyone important dropped by. She knew and had enough of Robin's mannerisms to be able to pull this off as well as she had in the past.

         The thought of Daniel, however, soon re-entered her head. Perhaps he already liked her and was just afraid to tell her, she thought. In fact, he had to be! Robin was right. She had waited long enough; now was the time to tell him how she felt.

         When she returned to Robin's castle, she found him in the hall, on his way to Lady Robin's chambers.

         "Daniel," she smiled, "I've got to tell you something..."

         "Not now, Naomi, I've got to tell Lady Robin something..."

         "But she isn't..." began Naomi, but he was already heading off on a determined head of steam. Naomi shrugged. He'll see she isn't back yet when he gets there, Naomi thought. Or will he? She did say field for her...!

         Armed with an idea an a mind for mischief, Naomi darted out her entry window and into the window of Lady Robin's boudoir just before Daniel rushed into Robin sitting room, where Naomi/Robin sat. "M'lady, I have pressing news."

         "Daniel, I have urgent matters of my own to attend to..." Naomi said imitating her perfectly.

         "My Lady, this can not wait." So adamant was his tone that Naomi suddenly realized that this might not be the joke she'd hoped. I better tell Daniel it's me, she thought. She opened her mouth and he rushed on.

         "Please, just hear me out," he said. "Since the moment I laid eyes on you, I could think of nothing but serving you, as all servants should. But, m'lady," he added, tenderly taking her hand, "this thought has pervaded my every action. I no longer want to just serve you; I want to be with you, at your side always. This is no longer a simple relationship between servant and mistress. I can do nothing without feeling overflowing emotion toward you. I am afraid I've fallen in love with you, Lady Robin, and no matter how wrong that may seem, I must stand by this decision. Nothing in this world could turn me from the desire to tell you how much I love you every second of my life and hear you say the same."

         Naomi felt faint. Just as she had been about to tell him the very same thing! How could he do this to her? "But...what about Naomi?" she asked, hoping desperately that the mention of her name would bring him to his senses and her out of this nightmare.

         "She's a child," he said, "and immature. Who could love anyone so foolish without being spell bound? True, she has a roughly attractive quality about her, but, you...you are beautiful in every way. I wish I could be worthy of you. I wish I could be a man that would not socially bring you shame, but I can't be that any more than can hide my feelings for you. I love you, Lady Robin and no one else."

         Naomi's heart broke completely down the middle, causing her to cry out in agony. She pulled her hand away from him and grasped the front of her tunic above her demolished heart.

         Daniel dropped to his knees in front of her. "M'lady?" he began. "Are you alright? I realize this news must be awkward, but..."

         "You have no idea how awkward," came a voice at the door. Daniel whirled to find the real Lady Robin standing behind him.

         "My Lady!" he gasped. "Then who...?"

         "No!" sobbed Naomi, still holding her fists tightly at her chest. Her image of Robin faded to reveal her own tearstained face. "No! How can you say those things about me? How can you, Daniel, when I loved you first? How could you do this to me?!"

         "Naomi, I..." began Daniel, then suddenly he realized what he had said. "Please, I had no idea I speaking to you or..."

         "Or else you wouldn't have said them?" she gasped. "Oh, that's just great, Daniel, I feel so much better knowing I cold have been strung along a little while longer!" He reached out to take her hand again and she drew away from him violently. "Don't touch me! Don't you ever touch me again!"

         "Naomi, please...!" Robin began.

         "And you wanted him all along!" Naomi flung at her. "Well, he's yours, Robin! Take him just like you take every other man! You both deserve each other!"

         Angry, devastated and beyond sympathy, Naomi flew out the window in an emotional rage that was going to last her a very, very long while. Her mind was whirling again, this time in an effort to strike back at both Robin, Daniel and all of the snooty aristocracy they cherished in in a way that none of Pyrope would ever forget…

 

 

         Naomi flew directly back to Castle Eternity and into Robin's studio window. "Robin, I'm sorry," she said, "I'm really sorry."

         Robin was reaching into the crib to scoop up an irritably hungry Derek. Instinctively, Naomi hung back a little, worried that little Derek might accidentally upset his mother with his untamed empathy. Robin, however, had learned in the past few weeks how to cope with Derek's contagious dispositions. "What've you done now?" she asked, good-naturedly, taking him to a chair by the fireplace as she began breastfeeding.

         "I ruined your reputation in Pyrope," said Naomi, still standing in the doorway. "All those rumors I spread about you and Daniel. I mean, I did it to everybody in Dannick's court, but I'm sorry I messed things up for you."

         "Messed things up?" laughed Robin.

         "Well, yeah, I mean...uh, do ya have to breastfeed the kid now?" Naomi winced.

         Robin looked at her as if used to the tiresome nature of the question. "Yesss, Naomi; there's no cow outside with udders bursting just for Derek, you know. And let me clear up this "ruined" thing. Ruined is what I would have been if I had stayed in Pyrope any longer. I would have become another heartless ruler like Dannick was and that would have been a complete waste of my talent."

         "And this isn't?" Naomi asked. "You think living in away from all your fairy friends and not getting to be queen is boosting your talent any?"

         "Of course it is," said Robin with unnatural softness. "See what I made?" she added, lifting her bundle of joy a little. Derek giggled a little at the shift in position, then returned to his suckling. "And I made two others before him, with a bit of help. Now that's talent."

         "But you could've done that as queen of Pyrope," said Naomi.

         "Oh, of course, but not with the man I love. I'dve never met him or helped Christine or taken over the thrones I've taken over, teased the tyrants I've left whimpering for my return...Naomi, I've lived an actual life since leaving Pyrope! I could never thank you enough for humiliating me!"

         "You're not just saying this to make me feel better or just 'cause you're trying to counteract Derek's irritableness, are you?" asked Naomi warily.

         "Of course not. Now, do come in and sit down and stop acting like a criminal about to make an escape."

         "Y'know," said Naomi, sitting down, I've lived a lot, too. I guess it wasn't so bad, leaving Pyrope."

         "Not for me. No, it wasn't, was it?" babytalked Robin to Derek.

         "I think I want to go back," Naomi said, not looking at Robin. "To Pyrope, I mean. Not to stay or anything...just to visit."

         "I think you should," said Robin smoothly.

         Naomi looked astonished. "But...Robin, I was banned, don't you remember?"

         "Of course I do," Robin replied. "By King Dannick."

         "Well, there's no reason why Daniel (King Daniel, she reminded herself) should fail to uphold that!" Naomi protested. "After all, I haven't been Miss Wonderful during his reign, either. I worked for Corwin, the Goddess Lyra, the Theives' Guild of Tenken...I even fairy hunted for a while after I stopped assassinating. Call me crazy, but that's probably not gonna sit to well with him."

         "Time changes everything," said Robin simply. "Even you."

         Naomi opened her mouth to protest, then stopped. Robin did have a point. "I swore I'd never go back," Naomi said.

         "You've broken that promise twice, if I recall correctly. Once to get Fallon and once to check up on everyone." Robin returned. "Stopped in to see Igea, I believe."

         "How'd you know about that?" Naomi gasped.

         Robin smiled, but didn't answer. They sat quietly for a moment, then Robin said, "I always wondered, Naomi, how you escaped Pyrope when you did. I mean, I remember that Dannick had had you brought up on charges of slander and that you insulted him right in court, so you were taken to the dungeon. How did you escape?"

         "Mena," she replied, "She came to help me at first, but there was someone else, too..."

 

 

         "What brings you here, child?" came a voice from the corner of Naomi's cell. Naomi whirled around to peer into the darkness, then froze. She had just been brought to the dungeon by King Dannick's guard after causing a complete uproar in her own trial hearing. She was thinking now that perhaps exposing Dannick's mistress hadn't been the best of ideas, but that certainly couldn't be helped now. Right now, she had to find the owner of the voice speaking the strange language.

         "Does my voice frighten you to silence, or can you not speak anything but your cursed fairy tongue?" came the voice again.

         "I am not afraid," said Naomi, standing straight and speaking the language of the speaker. "And I don't know the name of your language, but I understand it. Why do you speak such an odd tongue?"

         "Because it is my native language and I will not abandon it," came the voice, a strong conviction carrying it to Naomi's ears. "That is why I am here in this dungeon."

         "Who are you and where are you?" asked Naomi.

         "Here," said the voice, and as Naomi's eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could make out the figure of an old woman sitting on a bench in the corner. "I am no one of consequence. You, however, must be extremely important to be here."

         "I," said Naomi loftily, "have insulted the King."

         "Have you?"

         "Personally."

         "My, that is important."

         "Of course," said Naomi, "and I never thought twice about it."

         "You certainly act as though you didn't," smiled the woman. "Not many could be here waiting for execution and not think twice."

         "Execution?" echoed Naomi. "Like...when they kill you?"

         "Of course," said the old woman. "Only those who are to be executed are brought to this area of the dungeon. Surely you knew."

         "No," breathed Naomi, all her hidden fear surfacing. "How could I have known? I can't die here! I'm only a kid! They can't execute a kid!"

         "They can if she's personally insulted our rather vain leader." Naomi jumped up, pacing the room nervously. "Well, what did you expect would happen to you, girl?" asked the woman.

         "I was hoping I could just...well, I don't know, but I never thought I'd really be killed over it!"

         "Then what will you do?" asked the old woman.

         "I don't know, but I can't die!" gasped Naomi, hysterically. She threw herself sobbing across the old woman's knees, the horror of her own mortality sweeping over her. "Please, you must help me! I can't die, I can't!"

         "Everyone goes sometime, child," said the woman, stroking Naomi's hair.

         "But not me! Not now! I'm afraid!" cried Naomi.

         "Then don't let it happen," said the woman, her voice lowering conspiratorially. "Rise up against your enemies. Outsmart those vile hypocrites in their own game and leave them in stinging shame."

         "But how can I do that?" Naomi wailed.

         "By being brave in the face of your fear. You have begun a fight that you must now finish." The old woman took Naomi's face firmly in her hands and added, "You cannot turn tail and run simply because the tides have turned."

         "I-I...I can..be brave," Naomi gulped, quickly sucking back her tears. "But the odds are completely against me. There's nothing I can do. If I could just get out of here, I'd leave and never come back."

         "Ah, well, with such odds, surely you must have a stroke of luck tucked away," smiled the woman.

         A knock on the cell door broke Naomi's attention. "Naomi!" a voice whispered. "It's me, Mena!"

         "Mena!" Naomi exclaimed, running to the door.

         "Shhh!" hissed her friend. "I'm not even supposed to be near the bottom floor of the castle, let alone the dungeon. If Daddy found out..."

         "You gotta get me outta here!" Naomi whispered, barely able to see over the top of the barred window of the cell door. "They're gonna kill me!"

         "I know," Mena groaned. "You made Daddy pretty mad."

         "Well, if you help me outta here, I'll never make him mad again," said Naomi. "I'll even leave Pyrope."

         "Maybe if you apologized..." Mena began.      

         "I'll leave Pyrope," Naomi repeated firmly.

         "You'll have to," sighed Mena. A jingling of keys could be heard, then one was fitted into the lock and the door opened.

         Naomi sprang out almost before the door had opened. "Wait," she said to Mena, then turned to the woman in the cell. "Come with me, old one," she said. "You can be free, too!" But no one answered.

         "Who are you talking to?" asked Mena.

         "The old woman that was in here with me. She was here for..."

         "No one is in this whole part of the dungeon but you, now, come on!" Mena began running farther into the dungeon. Naomi looked back into the cell for a confused moment, then ran after her.

 

 

         By sunset, Naomi had left even the farthest known territories surrounding Pyrope and was still going. She finally stopped to rest on the petals of a large wild rose. All the tears of lonliness and fear had run out of her long before she had reached this spot. Now her only need was for a place to stay, somewhere safe that she could relax...

         A noise behind her made her jump up from her seat and fly up in the opposite direction. From out of the brush behind her came a wiry man. She had never seen a human before, but knew this must be one when she noticed his obvious lack of wings. He crept up on her, his eyes focused on her every move.

         "Hel-looo, little buglet," he said soothingly. He was speaking in a human tongue, one she had rarely heard, but knew, from her many travels and contacts within Pyrope, how to speak. "I'm not gonna hurt you; I just wanna have you made into a little crystal statue."

         "A what?!!" gasped Naomi. "I don't want to be a statue and I'm not a buglet!"

         "I don't know what you're saying, buggie, but it can't be more important than the 200 gold pieces I'm gonna get for you."

         "I said," snapped Naomi, in his language, "I am not a bug and I'm not gonna be some statue."

         "Hey, you talk!" gasped the man, startled.

         "Nothing gets by you, does it?" replied Naomi sarcastically.

         "Fairies don't talk; they have this fairy babble they do," said the man. "I mean, I thought they did. I always heard they did..."

         "Well, apparently not, huh? And listen, just 'cause you can't speak a language doesn't make it babble."

         "Right," nodded the man, his lack of concern apparent. "Forgive me." He dove to grab her and she flew around him. He tried again and this time she flew between his legs.

         "Look," he said, still trying to grab her, "you could make this a lot easier by just letting my catch you. It'll happen eventually, anyway."

         "Oh, yeah," she replied, dodging him again. "Why?"

         "Because humans are smarter than lower life forms," answered the thief. "And theives are even more cunning than that, no matter what form they take."

         "And I suppose fairies are..."

         "Lower life forms," finished the man. "And, yes, I am a thief."

         Naomi flew directly into his face. "That," she said, "is not only a lie, but a complete insult. You're the lower life form. You're the one not developed enough to even have wings or be able to learn simple languages. And you're also the one who thinks I'm dumb enough to let you catch me." He had tried to grab her the entire time she was speaking without success and Naomi now compounded the failed attempts by flying up to a branch out of his reach and sitting on it smugly.

         "Say, you're pretty fast," said the thief, gasping as he looked up at her.

         "Of course I am," answered Naomi. "You're not so bad yourself, for such a clumsy bulk of flesh."

         "Thanks, I think," he replied. "It's a thief thing."  Neither one of them spoke for a few minutes while the thief caught his breath. Naomi considered leaving for a moment, but decided to wait. The human might not be much, but he was, after all, company.

         "So fairies are pretty smart, then?" he said finally, sitting beneath the tree and looking up.

         "As smart as you," Naomi answered, coming down a branch. "Actually, smarter." She looked at the man disdainfully and added, "A lot smarter."

         "Very funny," he said. He continued to look at Naomi thoughtfully, then added, "Y'know, I'm no fairy hunter, but I'm willing to bet you could outrun all the ones I know. In fact, with a little training, you might even beat the ones I don't know. Might even make a little money at it, too." He looked at Naomi, who was still perched tentitavely above him. "Look, kid, I got a proposition for ya. You do a few scam jobs for me and I'll make sure no fairy hunter ever lays a finger on you. Deal?"

         "Humans hunt fairies?" Naomi frowned.

         "Some do," said the man. "It's good money if you've got the spells and the know-how. I'm just your run-of-the-mill thief, though. Name's Tive."  

         "Ok, Tive, if there really are human fairy hunters why should I buddy up with you?" Naomi demanded.

         "Because I told you, I'm not a fairy hunter personally. Besides, you obviously need someone to help you, otherwise you wouldn't be this far out of Fairyland," he replied. He didn't know how right he was, thought Naomi wistfully. "So do we have a deal or not?"

         "Waitaminute," said Naomi. "What's this scam job stuff?"

         "Simple, really. You make like you're dumber and slower than any human (and you're obviously not), we place a few bets, you run 'em over like you just did me and we make a little cash. We could probably even rob the poor suckers of whatever they're carrying, too, if we get you up to par. A few basic thievin' manuevers, kiddo, and you'd be the best."

         "How much do I get?"

         "As much as you can carry." Naomi still looked doubtful, so he went on. "Look, kid, I'm as decent a sort as they come these days, so you may never get a better offer. Besides, with all the stuff I'm gonna teach you, you'll be able to get away from anybody, even me, if you needed to. You've got my bond of trust on it," he added sincerely.

         "Well..." While she stood deliberating, the thief jumped up, grabbing her from the limb she sat on.

         "Rule number one," he said, grinning at her. "Trust no one. You gotta always watch your back."

         Naomi struggled to get free of his hand for a second, then bit his top finger. He yelped and let her go and she flew a small distance from him. "Rule number one." she mimicked. "Trust no one. You gotta always watch your fingers."

         Tive looked at her in surprise, then burst into hearty laughter. Naomi joined him and the Naomi-Tive Bond Of Trust got its shaky beginnings.

 

 

         "Whaddya mean, you sold me to Sharrin?!?!" Naomi screeched "You can't sell me; I'm not yours!"

         "Calm down, kid, it's not what you think," Tive said patiently. "Having spent more than two years with his diminutive partner in crime had acclimated him to her melodramatic fits. He pulled the cage she was in closer to him and glanced furtively around the tavern they were in, making sure no one was listening to her continued rantings.

         "First I let you talk me into getting in this dumb cage..." she yelled.

         "I can't just let you fly around free, Naomi; people'd think you had a mind of your own!" Tive explained. She knew this was for the good of the scam, but each time she began a fit, she began with her initial set of gripes.

         "...then I get talked into wearing these stupid wing weights..."

         "For effect, kid!"

         "...and now you tell me this dumb song-and-dance about money being tight and you're selling me to the highest bidder!? What is this crap, anyway?" As she talked, Naomi had taken off the lock Tive had put on her cage for appearances and stalked out onto the table to glare up at him.

         Exasperated, Tive grabbed Naomi up in one hand, her cage in the other, the slipped steathily through the tavern to a shadowy back table. He drew the curtains across it then set the cage down on the table and opened the hand he held Naomi in. She stood on his palm with her arms folded, regarding him with a quiet calm. "OH, this one had better be really good," she said slowly. True to fairy form, Naomi could only effectively hold one emotion at a time. Tive could tell she had reached the eye of her storm in an attempt to hear him out. Afterward, she'd probably explode again, see the logic in his arguement and then calm down for good.

         "Listen to me for a minute, willya? Sharrin is the the bandit king around here, you know that! He thinks our operation's gotten too big, so he wants in on it. He thinks I'm the master mind behind you and that I trained you to do all those pickpocket tricks and games." At her frown, he added, "I know, I know, you came up with some of that stuff yourself, but, remember, humans don't think fairies have any brains--that's how we get away with most of our scams. Anyway, he said either move out of town or sell you to him. Now, here's where we make a huge profit. We make this look real to him and he buys you.  He may try to make you work for him, but you just play dumb and he'll give up. He doesn't realize that your cage is just a sham and you can walk out anytime you like, so all you do is take off and meet me back at the tree. We get the money, we move on to some obscure town and start over. See?"

         Naomi continued to regard him with skepticism. "You have got to be kidding me," she deadpanned. "You think this is gonna work?"

         "I have imminent faith in you capabilities, kid," Tive smiled. She was hooked now and they both knew it. Flattery got him everywhere.

         "If you leave me," Naomi warned him, "I'm telling Sharrin's guys about your East Side scam to pick their pockets while they did card tricks. Then I'm telling them you said you could never be caught and THEN I'm telling him all our hiding places so they can look for you."

         "I'm aware of this," Tive said. "C'mon, Bond of Trust, here. Escape and meet back at the tree, deal? If it looks bad, I'll leave my little vial with a message in it for you on where to meet." He tapped the little hollow crystal that hung on its black leather strap and Naomi had to admit his seriousness. Tive had gotten this crystal from an old woman who took him in as a child and it was the only thing he ever took seriously. It never left his neck, except to leave Naomi messages in major emergencies.

         "Well, you don't have to go that far..." she said grudgingly.

         "But I will, okay, so quit your crabbing." She opened her mouth to protest, but Tive was looking at the two men entering the tavern. "Hold your water for a minute; Winch and Duck just walked in."

         "Duck?" Naomi echoed, dutifully jumping back into her cage and locking herself in.

         "It's what the intelligent person does when he walks into a room mad," Tive explained. Naomi looked at the huge man as he and his shorter counterpart waded through the room toward them and felt a slight worry run through her. Tive hurriedly gave her last minute information. "Alright, now don't forget, they think all fairies are like trick animals, so don't let on that you're smart by yourself and they'll never know the difference. You'll probably only have to be super convincing for Sharrin, if you meet him. Oh, and take these gold pieces and put 'em in your bag just in case you need 'em."

         "You're actually giving me money?" she gasped.

         " I know you've already got 2 or 3 hundred on you, you little thief, but just keep these, anyway," came the reply.

         Naomi gave Tive a grin and he flashed one back. He been way under on his guess. She knew he'd been cheating her ouf of money every chance he got, but she'd been taking her share back from him by pickpocketing him any chance she got, so they were both carrying more than a thousand on them. At least we're both dishonest about it, Naomi thought.

         He slipped five pieces of gold between the cage bars and she took them one by one and put them in a bag of holding Tive had had made for her. Like all bags of holding, it had a contained void inside that could hold anything its user could fit through its opening without ever adding to the bag's weight. Naomi's opening was especially wide to fit coins and other small human objects that were almost half her size. "And don't forget," added Tive in a whisper, "meet at the tree." She nodded and he stood up to greet the two men. "Winch, Duck, good to see you. I expected Sharrin..."

         "Sharrin doesn't deal in petty scams," the shorter man, Winch, replied, waving his idea away as he sat down. "Where's the fairy?"

         "Right here," he said showing the cage to Winch. Winch snapped his fingers at Duck, who reached for the cage. "Uh, just a moment," said Tive, rubbing the tips of his fingers together meaningfully.

         Winch reached back toward Duck, his eyes on Tive and Duck dropped a small bag of coins into his hand. Winch placed this in front of Tive, but Tive left it on the table, clearing his throat conspicuously. "Consider yourself lucky to be leaving town alive."

         "With or without my extremely talented fairy?" Tive asked cooly. Winch gave him a hard stare and Tive met it with a steady gaze. Naomi watched them with interest. Tive could have always left with Naomi and still made money in another town, which would cut Sharrin completely out of any money at all. Winch seemed to realize this, too, as he reached back and got another and slightly larger bag of coins from Duck.

         Tive smiled and took both bags. "Very generous of the Guild, Winch. I'll be sure to speak highly of you when I leave."

         "Be sure to do that," Winch said. "Leave town, that is." He snapped his fingers again and Duck grabbed up Naomi's cage. "She have a cover or something for this? We don't want her knowing how to get in and out of the Guild."

         "Hey, she's bright, but not that bright," Tive chuckled. Tive waved at Naomi and made a face and she copied him. "See? Monkey see, monkey do. She's just fairy, after all." Tive did not look at her directly, but she knew from his tone that he was hoping she wouldn't take offense for both their sakes. She maintained her cool and Winch stood up.

         "She escapes, it's your butt," he said simply, walking out. Duck followed him, carrying Naomi's cage. She looked back at Tive, whose head was bent down over his money. At first, she was hurt, then she saw him do a small movement with his hand, like a tiny wave. She waved back and saw him no more.

        

 

         By the time Naomi and her new owners reached Sharrin's receiving room deep in the heart of the Theives Guild, she was already feeling as homesick (or Tive-sick) as she ever wanted to feel. Sharrin sat upon a throne that looked real enough to have been stolen from a king's own waiting room. An elf stood by him, looking official as Duck and Winch set her cage down on a table next to him. "Have you already taken care of the job I asked?" Sharrin asked Winch.

         "Not yet, sir," came Winch's reply. "We wanted to be sure you received this first."

         "Then go and finish him," said Sharrin, looking disdainfully down at Naomi. Winch and Duck left as Naomi smiled winningly up at Sharrin with a completely innocent look on her face. She continued to smile as spoke to him in Faerie, knowing from experience he'd never understand her. "You big lummox; even if you were twice as smart as I think you are, you'd still be an idiot."

         "She says you're a big lummox, and that even if you were twice as smart as she thinks you are, you'd still be an idiot," said the elven man next to him. "If it please you, my lord," added the elf hastily. Naomi gasped, then caught herself. She had already underestimated Sharrin's ability to understand her; it would go even worse for her if he found out she could understand him.

         "The little winged viper," Sharrin chuckled. "Not as stupid as she lets on. Well, she may be of some use after all, if we can break her spirit some. Ask her if she knows who I am and what I can do to her."

         The elf turned back to Naomi and said in Faerie, "Do you know who this big lummox is? And by the way, if you speak this human tongue, you're wise not to use it in his presence." Naomi gave him a look of surprise. Sharrin took this to be the surprise from learning that she could be understood and laughed again. But her shock was from the realization that this elf might prove to be an ally. She decided to test him and see.

         "No, I don't know him, but if he's threatening me, I don't take kindly to it. Where do you come from and does he know what you're saying?"

         "She says she doesn't know you, but she does take back what she said before. Apparently, she wants no trouble."

         "Tell her she'll receive none if she works as dilligently for me as she did for Tive," Sharrin replied.

         "He says shape up or ship out and he has no idea what I'm saying to you." The elf looked serious, but a twinkle of mishchief shone in his eyes. "I'm from the Deep Forest, originally."

         "No one lives there except sprites and renegade fairy colonies," Naomi said.

         "And brownies. I was a friend of Acorn's." came the reply.

         "Who?"

         "He's a brownie. Runs his own tavern and fence..."

         "What's she saying?" Sharrin demanded.

         "She's wanting to know where her master is and I told her Tive is no longer her master, that you are. Then she asked who you were and I was explaining your position, m'lord."

         "Very well," Sharrin said, waving him away. "Take her to the training room and explain the rest. What else have we got today?" Another thief came up to display his booty while the elf bowed out, carrying the cage Naomi was in with him.

         "He told me to..." the elf began.

         "To take me to the training room and explain the rest; I know," said Naomi.

         "So you do speak human!" said the elf. "I am surprised! Most fairies don't bother to learn."

         "You know a lot of fairies?" she asked.

         "Naturally," the elf replied. "That's part of my job. I train fairies like you to do tricks and things, like Tive did with you, but on the Guild scale."

         "Who are you?"

         "The name's Cairn." came the reply. "And you are?"

         "Naomi," she replied. "Uh, how many fairies have you trained?"

         "More than I can count. But I'm not all that, really. I guess I'm sort of a Fairy Immigration Board. They come to me through hunters and small time crooks and I teach 'em what they have to know to work in the city and survive, especially under Sharrin's rule. When they've had enough of Guild life, I tell Sharrin they died from overwork, buy a nice little crystal statuette of a fairy to prove they're really gone, then I let 'em go."

         "That's great!" Naomi said. "I was gonna go through all the trouble of escaping by myself."

         Cairn laughed. "Hey, with the kind of set-up we've got, you might want to stay on a while." They entered a room with cages lining the far wall, seven of which were occupied by fairies. Cairn set Naomi on a table in the room, then said aloud, "We've got company, gang." The cages opened and the seven fairies inside them flew across the room to alight near Naomi. Some were about her age and some were younger, but they were all female.

         "Hi, I'm Deia," said one bright-eyed fairy. She was fairheaded and seemed to be a few decades younger than Naomi. "New to town?"

         "Nah," she replied coolly. "I've been working the streets."

         "I've seen you before," the oldest looking one, a stable looking fairy with dark hair, said. "You were doing an independent thing on the corner with this guy..."

         "Tive," Naomi replied.

         "Yeah, him. Good coordination you've got, cleaning out pockets while he scams 'em above table."

         "Thanks," said Naomi, truly grateful.

         "I didn't think she was so hot," said another fairy, stepping up to Naomi and tossing her dark hair back. "I could do that with no trouble at all if Cairn would let me."

         "But you don't do it, so shut up," said Naomi smoothly. The others giggled.

         "Yeah, Juri, shut up and move out of the way," said another fairy.

         "You shut up, Sepia!" snapped Juri, but she blushed and stepped back.

         "So, whadaya think?" Cairn asked. "Gonna stay with us a while?"

         "Tive and I are headed for the next town," Naomi replied.

         "Tive?" Cairn asked. "The guy we bought you from?"

         "That's him."

         Cairn shook his head. "Kid, you might never see him again. Sharrin ties up all loose ends of transactions. Duck's hunting your friend down right now. That's what he meant when he asked if they taken care of that job he wanted done." 

          "Oh, no!" Naomi gasped. "I've got to find him! He's supposed to meet me at our tree! He'll be a sitting duck!"

         "Maybe he knows already," suggested the fairy named Sepia. "Everyone knows how Sharrin operates."

         "Either way, he's supposed to leave me a message at our tree," Naomi said. "I've gotta get to him!"

 

 

         "Well, what happened?" Robin demanded, nearly hanging on the edge of her seat with interest.

         "Sharrin's guys caught 'im," said Naomi flatly. "They killed him and I got his message vial." She reached under her shirt and pulled out a worn black leather strap attached to a little crystal. Robin faced sobered as Naomi opened the crystal and pulled out an old scrap of paper and handed it to Robin. Before Robin could read it, Naomi recited the words exactly. "Naomi. Duck and Winch are tailing. Meet me in DF at Acorn's. Ask sprites for help. Bond of Trust. Tive."

         "Oh, Naomi..." breathed Robin. "I'm so sorry."

         "It's okay," Naomi shrugged. "Those were the last tears I ever shed and it's done me good. Keeps me tough," she said. She took the note back and put it and its vial away. "I gotta go back," she said, standing up. "To Pyrope. I...I-I miss..." Naomi seemed to gather strength before she finished, "I miss stuff like that. Like...my mom. Not that you and Target and everybody don't care about me or anything, just..."

         "Have a safe trip," Robin said softly.

         "Thanks," came the greatly relieved reply. "I will."

 

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