The Succubus and the Queen

Hello. This week, I've decided to give a glimpse into one of my WIPs (work in progress).  This is rough, unpolished, and unedited. I hope you enjoy it regardless :)

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Burgundy liquid filled a cut quartz glass with a thick gush, like fresh blood being let loose. The fire crackling in the hearth a few feet away lent life to the distilled liquid, and Nicnevin paused to admire the effect. Fire gave life to many things, it would seem, things that ordinarily would be lifeless and cold.

A pile of books, maps and loose papers floated around her on the woven willow lounge chair as she looked through them, trying to find a clue to where her mother was hiding. She'd won the west and southern parts of Summerland from the Eilis Grove, but the Sidhe were loyal to a fault. She took a sip of wine and smiled. Elderberry, the liquid of Magic.

Nicnevin ran a hand through her hair and sighed. She hated uncooperativeness. Thinking up creative deaths and torture methods may have been a favorite pastime of Sari's, but she'd rather not kill the people she wanted to rule over.

A pair of slender hands slipped over her shoulders and began to rub the muscles there with practiced motions. Nicnevin's head rolled to the side subconsciously and a silent sigh escaped her lips.

"No luck with your search?" Sari asked in her velveteen voice.

"No, though we should move north before going further east. The Grove's seat is in the east, it will be hardest to penetrate."

"That depends entirely on how you plan to go about it. Direct assaults, like you've been using so far, would be useless. It's a massive fortification and was built as a fortress to protect its people and its secrets. More subtle ways can be effective in these scenarios... ways my people specialize in."

"You would have me use the Succubi to penetrate the Silvermount?" Nicnevin turned her head a fraction and Sari's hands descended further down her shoulders, pushing fabric out of her way. Nicnevin felt her heart beat faster with every inch the purple silk slid down.

"I would have you use your resources to their fullest, my Queen. It's something you should consider now more than ever."

"Are you speaking in terms of my army or referring to yourself?"

"I don't see why both cannot be true. I am, after all, your General. You should be using me, and my many talents, to their fullest." Sari's lips descended on Nicnevin's neck, and her skin tingled.

"Perhaps we should discuss this... later."

"There's no better time than the present, my Queen." Sari said a moment before brushing her teeth along the curve of Nicnevin's collar bone and biting down on a soft spot. An involuntary moan escaped her lips, and she took a sip of wine, hoping to distract herself from Sari's advances.

"There's no point in distracting from this. I've always wanted you." Sari said, reading Nicnevin's movements without pause.

"I've always known." Nicnevin breathed as Sari slid around front and kissed her lips. Searing heat erupted between them, then Nicnevin pulled Sari into her and engulfed the succubus in magic.

Have a Very Faerie Holiday.

Sparkles. Music. Glitter. Singing. Baking. Twinkling. Revelry. Laughter.

All of these things attract and tantalize Faeries, good and bad, in the winter months just like the spur our own emotions. Nothing revs them up more than the sight of twinkling lights and perfectly wrapped packages, tins full of sugar cookies with icing or maraschino cherries, and rum-spiked eggnog. Oooo, the temptations!

It's hard for the Faeries to stay good at this time of year, especially if they're the mischievous type. So, I offer this wisdom for keeping them entertained and away from things you want left alone.

1) Keep broken decorations. Something about the crash and crunch of glass baubles makes trouble-makers giggle, and if you think plastic is safe, you are wrong there too. My suggestion to prevent breakage is to keep broken ornaments in a vase (out of reach of pets or children) so they can crush those bits instead. Besides, the Faeries like to use the bits as mirrors, or for their own decorating.

2) Always keep a small plate of sweets for them in every room. Yes, every room, or at least the ones that have other things the Faeries are attracted too. Providing them with their own treats is a preventative gesture- Your cookies may disappear slower from your cookie jars this way.

Art by Amy Brown

3) Leave wine with the sweets. Faeries love wine. It doesn't really matter what kind, though they do prefer Elderberry and fruit wines over all others. Wine will ensure that you have less spills over the holidays, and your other alcohol will be safe from their prying hands. Use wine when all else fails.

4) Don't leave wrapped gifts in unlocked areas. Fae, like puppies and curious children, tear through wrapping paper and ribbon like its their job. Creative gift hiding may work on the kids, but don't be fooled. The Faeries are watching, and that perfect wrapping you did won't last more than a second once you stash it in a place no one will find (that includes you, and when you go to hide something there next year, you'll suddenly remember why there was one less gift). The best way to keep Faeries out of your gifts is, ironically, to lock it away. Faeries are honour-bound to respect boundaries set by locks (even a simple slid-lock). Setting up a closet with a lock on it can be an effective way of keeping both the kids and the Faeries out of your holiday wrappings.

5) Don't use tinsel. Tinsel provokes cats and Faeries alike. Nothing says "destroy me" like the reflected light of twinkling, blinking tree lights or candles off the shiny surface of tinsel (as if the tree wasn't tempting enough). The last thing you need is a Faerie pulling your tree over because they went into a tinsel craze. Use garlands instead, and on the inner parts of the tree. If you really need tinsel in the house, string it up on the mantle, over a railing, or tape it to the ceiling fan.

6) Don't forget to set holiday rules. Along with the normal rules, be sure to set an extra layer of protection against Faerie mischief. With family and friends inbound, Faeries have great times toying with new arrivals. Make it very clear that they are not to bother anyone, nor are they to sabotage anything (electronics are a favourite) until after the holidays are over. If you're travelling instead, be sure to set rules that protect you from having stowaways, and rules that prevent the house from becoming discombobulated while you're gone.

7) Never leave an electronic device unattended while turned on.  This is like a beacon to them, it calls, and they will do whatever they can do mess it up. Electronic energy disrupts the natural flow of Magical energy, so as much as the Faeries may love the lights and music and all that comes with the Holidays, they will sabotage your decorating if its running too often. The same applies with your TV, your computer/laptop, and even simply keeping lights on in the house. The more electricity you use at once, the worse it is. So do them, and yourself, a favour and limit electrical use this holiday. You don't want to find out that Christmas Eve, your tree lights aren't working and you've "misplaced" the replacement bulbs.

8) Don't forget to give them something too. After all, Faeries can be quite spiteful. Regardless of leaving sweets and wine, the Faeries will expect all these rules and restrictions that come with good behaviour to be rewarded. Gifts can be something as simple as a bottle of glitter, or a packet of their favourite seeds or spices. You can also try small tumbled gemstones, or building a Faerie house or garden for them to pamper. Showing gestures of appreciation to them helps to keep them kind towards you as well, and much of that helps in avoiding holiday mishaps.

Not much to say today.

I'm afraid I have precious little to say. Holiday preparations have taken over my brain, and my creativity is being siphoned off slowly as I realize Yule is only 20 days away, and I will have family flooding my house. 

Today, I'll leave you with a simple piece of art that previews things to come this month. 

Trimming the Tree, by Amy Brown. 

Wishful Wednesdays: Trapped!

This week, we discovered the illustrations of artist and author Elizabeth Mueller.

Here's our favorite:

Go say hello, and tell her the girls at Dreamers Imaginarium sent you!

http://www.elizabethmueller.com/

Disclaimer: We at the Dreamers Imaginarium neither support nor condone the practice of faerie trapping. No faeries were trapped or in any way harmed in creation of this post.

Sister of my Soul

We all have moments in our lives when we question what we believe in and how we have come to see the world. For me, this moment occurred while simply looking for a way to communicate more purposefully with the Faerie people that had become part of my life. Instead, I experienced something I will never forget.

During meditation, I went to my usual place: a stone staircase near a waterfall in Kilkenny, Ireland. I took in the beauty of the area, and was preparing to climb down the mossy rocks to the edge of the falls, when something stopped me.

Copyright 2013 to Bobbi St. Jean.

I turned around and saw a very tall, very dark Faerie walking down a set of steps towards me. Oddly, I was not fearful even though I knew she was not the kind to be hospitable with humans. There was something familiar about her, something my soul seemed to recognize even though she was physically hard to see clearly.

"You are here." She stated simply when she arrived at the bottom of the stairs. Then, she reached her hand out to me. This Faerie woman was roughly a head taller than me, and I could feel magic emanating from her. I knew better than to refuse her, though I did not touch her either. I simply took a step forward, and found my scenery changed immediately. 

Instead of the calm serenity of a forest with a lazy waterfall, I found myself standing in front of a wall. This wall, unlike those we see in our world, was made up of vines and plants that were thickly knit together. The outermost layers had brambles and roses growing, with poison Ivy and poison Oak interlaced throughout. Every few feet, I saw towering trees with platforms and doorways, presumably guard towers, and little glowing crystals dotted the wall at regular intervals.

As I looked at the wall, I noticed that it was moving, growing, knitting tighter together with every second. I looked to my Faerie companion, but she didn’t seem to notice the wall at all. She led me to the left until we reached an Oak tree tower. This tower had outgrown roots, the trunk’s base was lifted roughly 15ft off the ground to show off its elegantly twisted mess of roots. We walked under the roots, and a set of doors materialized (or I hadn’t noticed it until then. Both are equally possible). They were silver filigree, the pattern depicting the moon phases, the seasons, and many flowers and herbs. Several gemstones, pearls and other precious metals were laid into the doors to accent the metal work. To this day, it is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

My escort pulled a large, matching silver key from a cord around her neck and, instead of putting it into the keyhole, she ran the key along the seam where the doors met. They opened, and we went through, she in her detached air, and myself in awe and amazement.

Photo Copyright 2013 to Bobbi St. Jean

"Your doors are beautiful." I said to her after a moment or two.

"They are not ours. They are yours." I waited for her to elaborate, but she said nothing more. She led me to a garden a few feet inside the doors and we sat on a carved stone bench beneath an apple tree.

I looked to her for a moment and realized she had taken her shroud off. I could see her clearly now. Her hair was curled and dark, black like the deepest winter’s night sky. Her skin was creamy, pale, but reflected a slight golden hue that spoke of time spent in the sun. She had rounded features, not the sharp ones I had always envisioned Fae would have. Her lips were a soft pink, her eyes a vibrant violet. She wore no make-up, yet she was more beautiful than any model found in our world. She was tall, graceful, but not as lithe and thin as I had always believed Faeries would be. She had curves to her, though the long dress and satin cloak she wore did a good job of concealing them. She bore a circlet of silver on her head, and wore pearls, moonstones and sapphires in a beautiful floral array at her neck and ears.

"You are new here, new to us. You wish to see more of us, but it is we who need to see more of you first. You have opened yourself to us, but we are not so trusting. You should not be either. Sidhe and humans have long had rivalries, be wary of this as you progress in your journey."

I nodded, then asked, “If I should be wary of the Sidhe, why should I trust your words, why should I trust you?”

A smile broke on her lips, the first real sign of expression I had seen from her so far. She looked at me then, meeting my gaze for the first time. I felt my heart lift, fill with joy and peace. My stomach fluttered, my skin began to tingle and I could feel the crackle of static in the air, the feeling of Magic.

"Because you and I are twins. Trust me because I share your soul."

Flight of the Faeries.

There's nothing quite so magical as watching a group of Faeries take to the air. It's not something the average human sees every day- in fact, I'd guess that most humans never see a single Faerie in their entire lives.

http://www.howarddavidjohnson.com/fairies.htm

Once, they were over-abundant in the world and caused all kinds of mischief, trickery and Magic. They lived alongside humans in an uneasy relationship of mistrust and respect. These days, seeing a Fae in any urbanized area is extremely rare, and I can't blame them for staying hidden behind the Veil. We'd probably catch them and send them off to be studied for scientific documentation, or we would lock them in an iron cage and watch the effects it took to try and understand their Magic. Fae may live on private property, especially if the humans dwelling within are magical in nature, open to the Earth's mysterious nature, or if the house has been abandoned for many years.

So, to be able to witness a small group of golden Faeries, maybe six or seven, taking flight one afternoon from a reddening Japanese maple tree  in my front yard was something of a miracle. The Veil isn't particularly thin there, nor have I ever seen Fae in this tree before (they prefer Oak to any other for living in). Even with Halloween approaching, is an odd occurrence.

What does this say, then, of me, that I should be so lucky to see Fae where I've never expected to see them? Perhaps it means they're not as fearful as they have been. Perhaps it means I was delusional and actually saw nothing. Whatever it was, the scent of cinnamon and apples they left behind now leads me to remember the Faeries in Flight.