Lost and Found: A Tale of the Tylwyth Teg

Chapter 18 - First Arrivals and Feuding Royals

"Whew!" exhaled Anne, and everyone laughed – even Ms. Nettle Tansy. "Dinnertime, everyone. Ms. Tansy, may I send some food out to your driver? It's cold outside – he could eat in the kitchen, if that's all right with you?"

'That's just not..." Nettle began in a tone suggesting outrage, but when Owen offered to go outside himself and fetch Cardamom Seed, she seemed to have a change of heart. "That's unnecessarily kind of you, Anne. I'm certain he would be most grateful for the warmth and the meal."

Dinner went splendidly, with our guests asking for seconds and in Owen's case, thirds. Nettle asked Anne many questions regarding her cooking, with the two disappearing into the kitchen for a while to talk about herbs. When they returned, they brought a stunned Cardamom with them. He sat, delightedly, at the table.

Anne's cooking, as I've mentioned before, has its own special magic. It brings people together, for one thing. We sat by the fire and Owen had drifted off into a light sleep. Conversation turned to Cambria Colony and its history. We were all seated in the drawing room.

"Please," I began, "tell us about how the Tylwyth Teg came to America. I understand you were among the First Arrivals, Nettle. It must have been a long, tiring journey. The old woman laughed.

"Not at all," she responded, "I just stepped through a door."

"Like the one on our staircase?" asked Anne.

"Not exactly. That door is a created door. The one I'm talking about is further north, a natural door. We came long before the Chumash, or even humans were here."

"Why?" Anne seemed incredulous. "Wales is beautiful."

"We were fleeing the war between Queen Mab and King Oberon. The 125th war, to be exact. Some of us had had enough of their constant bickering and indiscriminate escapades. We regular Tegs always get caught in the middle and are asked to choose sides in wars about paramours and pranks. About 200 of us made our way to the ley line portal and walked through. Of course, not a single one of us knew where it led to."

"What?" I commented. "I find that hard to believe! I thought the Fey were supposed to be curious. Some, insatiably so!"

Glenda laughed, her red hair seeming even redder by the fireplace's glow. "Don't believe anything you've read about us. Over the centuries, we've done a good job of planting false information, for our anonymity and safety. Course, some of us would like to do away with the secrecy."

"Don't talk foolishness, girl," cautioned Maddox, eyebrows raised.

Ms. Tansy coughed, loudly. "I was in the middle of answering Ms. Bellefleur's question. "Those of us who came here that day are called, naturally, The First Arrivals." She turned to me. "As for your statement, we are curious. But when the King & Queen threaten you with death if you go near something, you stay away."

"They sound like dictators. Why didn't all of you band together and, I don't know – use your magic to imprison them?" Seriously, if it were me, I thought, I'd have just turned them into stone, or something equally permanent and punishing.

It was Cardamom who answered. "If I may speak freely, madam? I sense no danger in these women." After his employer nodded, he sighed. "The greater magics belong only to those of the Royal Bloodline. We possess simple, little magics in comparison to theirs. They would have crushed us had we rebelled."

From the kitchen came a yowl. "Excuse me," I announced, and came in to find Alwyn limping into the kitchen. Abe came running and hovered quietly while the bearcat allowed me to examine his foot. He looked at me defiantly, in the 'I will kill you if you do anything' expression that cats have perfected, while I carefully probed the foreleg with my fingers.