Her father took pity on her and hugged her. “I’m happy you like it, dear girl, and I know it will look exquisite on you when you wear it. Give the old busybodies something to gossip about, eh?”
“Yes, Papa. Without a doubt.” She hugged him again. “I love it. Thank you again. And now I’ll leave you to your other family…” she smiled at the horses, who were watching patiently.
“That’s my girl,” he replied, nodding at her. “Off you go now. If you see your mother with her head out of her wardrobe, tell her I’ll be in soon.”
Nodding, Elinor walked out into the sunshine, blinking as the light hit her, and remembering it had been quite some time since there’d been a sky this clear of clouds.
The air smelled clean and fresh, the flowerbeds were blooming, and the gardens beckoned. It was not a hard decision; a walk would be just the thing for Elinor and give her the chance to reorganise her thoughts. It was hard to dwell on strange mysteries when one was sorting fans, matching gloves, or advising on which gown was too passé and should be discarded.
Her Mama had returned with a lot of garments from Europe, where fashions were always changing, and being married to adiplomat meant that a level of style and elegance had to be maintained.
Elinor offered up thanks that she was not part of that life. She much preferred this…the soft grass beneath her feet, the sun warming her shoulders, and the birds singing their little heads off.
She realised her steps were taking her to the glade, and perhaps there was a good reason for it. Caleb’s tale of the Tylwyth Teg had stayed with her, and it was natural to think of Bronwen, a Tylwyth Teg herself. Had her people really been treated so horribly?
Reaching the familiar chestnut tree, she drew comfort from sitting beneath it and simply breathing for a bit.
“Hullo,Anwyll. I haven’t seen you very much recently.”
“Bronwen,” laughed Elinor. “I am so happy you’re here. Come sit with me a while. I have so much to relate…”
It must have taken at least half an hour for the two to share their news with each other, and as that conversation wound down, Elinor gently asked Bronwen about the story of Tylwyth Teg.
The elf’s face grew sad, and she glanced away for a moment or two, then turned back to her friend.
“’Tis all true, Elinor,” she sighed. “It happened so very many of your years ago now, of course. And the generations have passed for us as well as mortals. But the core of the tale is real.” Her voice became a whisper. “We try not to even mention the Coblynau, lest we attract their attention.”
“They’re still here?” Elinor’s eyes grew wide at the thought.
“I hope not,” answered Bronwen. “And honestly, they may well be just legends from our past now. But there is truth in the fact that we were driven out of Tylwyth Teg all those centuries ago. And that is a dark and ugly stain on our past.”
“Could you not return? Now that the ground is safe and secure?”
Bronwen sighed. “There are still many who would. I am amongst them, to tell the truth.” She touched Elinor’s arm. “And partly because of you, my friend. I would love to live so near to you.”
“But?”
“But our dwellings beneath the ground were sealed by the…you-know-who. They cast a heavy and dark spell when they left, and nobody has been able to break it.” She sighed. “Eventually we stopped trying, since failure often meant death.”
“Oh no,” Elinor frowned. “That is truly terrible.”
“I know, but…” Bronwen spread her hands, her long and elegant fingers expressing her helplessness.
“Theremustbe a way. Is there nothing to be done?”
“It is unlikely…time has passed, and our powers have changed. Our spells are very different from those of that time.”
Silence fell, and for a few minutes both were silent. Then Elinor leant back against the tree trunk, and a slight crackle from her pocket reminded her of the paper she’d tucked away there, fully intending to look at it more closely. Hoping it would distract Bronwen from the sad tales of the past, she made a decision.
“Bronwen,” she said, pulling it out and unfolding it. “I have a mystery here from a strange book that we found in Caleb’s library.”
“Caleb?” Bronwen’s eyebrows rose, and she grinned. “That’s quite informal, isn’t it? My, my.”
“Stop whatever it is you’re thinking.” Elinor fought a blush. “What I want to show you is this…”
She smoothed out the paper and rested it in her lap, watching as her elfin friend pushed her blonde hair away from her face and leant over.
“I think the first words may be some kind of Latin, but the rest? It’s a language I don’t recognise. I intend to spend time in our library soon and see if I can find some way of translating it, but I thought you might like to see it, since it fell from that book. Which happened to be glowing at the time.”
