A day in Mannhtorg

A Demi-elves trade town

My sister runs into the back-room with a frightened look, “It’s her, she has come again.”

“I’m busy, I’m doing the inventory.”

“Please sis, I don’t want to deal with her, she’s terrifying.”

“No, she’s not! She’s a bit weird, but that’s because she’s a collector, other than that she’s cute and amiable.”

“You’re only saying that because you are insensitive.”

“I’m not, and as proof, even the hero likes her!”

“That jerk like anything female! Put a skirt to a desk and I’m sure he’ll be fine with it!”

“That’s not… Maybe in the past, but now he’s devoted to her… I think.”

“Please, I’ll take care of the inventory; hurry before she gets angry!”

I walk back to the shop and find miss Inimica looking at our new pieces… Oh, how I’d love to have skin like hers.

“Hello miss Inimica, what can I do for you today?”

“I just retrieved some of my collection, and I would like them adjusted to my current size.”

She put a variety of rings and bracelets on the counter and among them, “These are men’s…” she looks at me sharply and I drop the subject; to each their own.

“You’ll be happy to learn that our usual jeweler is back in business. Turns out they were at war with some human empire somewhere in the north.”

“I didn’t mind the goblin; he wasn’t half-bad for a Fae.”

“Yes indeed, he’s unexpectedly normal when he’s not in a mood.”

“A mood?”

I shudder, “Believe me, you don’t want to know.”

From her expression, it looks like she actually does, but I don’t want to talk about, nor think about it.

“Our usual Jeweler is famous, he’s called Eitralf and accepts to do small works like ours, mostly for a chance to look at Fae’s craft, and a bit because his old master is mother’s acquaintance.”

Fae craftsmen are interesting because they use materials unavailable for mere mortals, like moonlight, night’s veil, and in the worst cases virgin’s unicorn blood, death throes and the like.

“Eitralf? I acquired some pieces from his early days some time ago; he’s as good as they say. Does he take commissions?”

“Not from us, we aren’t high profile enough. I heard he took one from the fairy Queen, recently though.”

Miss customer seems in deep thought and the silence bothers me so I say the first thing that comes to mind, “The hero is in town, I’m sure he’ll be delighted to see you.”

Miss Inimica attitude changes instantly, and even somebody as insensitive as me can feel her annoyance; it’s like it radiates from her body.

I feel obligated to defend him, even though he used to be a jerk and a lady killer, he’s much more amiable nowadays, “He’s not a bad guy if you get to know him.”

She puts money on the desk and speaks decisively, “As thanks for the info, I’ll leave these to you; have them retouched by whoever you want. As for me, I’m going to the dwarf kingdom, if he can take a commission from that… Person… He can take some from me.”

I never thought ‘person’ was such a suggestive word; even thinking about it makes me feel dirty now.

“Good luck Miss Customer, I hear he only accept works that interest him.”

Under her gaze, a frisson of fear descends my spine, I think I understand my sister’s fear a little better now.

“Don’t worry, you’re a good girl; I won’t hurt you. I was just getting angry thinking about Her.”

To call the Queen unpopular would be an understatement, as the head on the Unseelie, everything they do become her responsibility and I think it’s unfair. Unlike the King, she’s more of a representative than a ruler, she speaks for them when needed but they do as they wish.

For miss customer to know her seems farfetched, but I can’t bear not knowing, I need to ask, “Do you know Her? Like, personally?”

“We’ve met, more often than I’d like… Although, it doesn’t mean much considering once was already more than I would have liked.”

I pray for the two never meet again, I can’t sense magic power as well as other demi-elves, but even I understand the terror of this doomsday scenario.

To my great surprise, miss customer awkwardly pats my head, “Don’t worry, she’s extremely irritating because she personifies the Faes self-absorbed nature, but in many ways, she’s way easier to deal with than her ex-husband.”

I don’t mind the patting, but what part of that sentence is supposed to be reassuring exactly? His majesty is worse? That sounds like heresy.

As though she read my mind, she explains, “He’s not worse than her in the sense that he is evil; he’s simply rigid in his thinking. She’s easier to deal with because her chaotic nature gives her a short attention span.”

The King and Queen embody order and chaos, respectively; said like this it’s easy to understand why the Queen is both the worst and easiest to deal with.

Before leaving, miss customer leaves me with a request, “Don’t tell the hero I was here.”

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Two pretty girls are hitting on me, and not so long ago I would have enjoyed it fully; I was a hedonist back then.

“Sorry girls, I don’t have the time right now, I heard a powerful and dangerous Fae is in town.”

That’s what brought me to her in the first place, a black-haired white-skinned Fae was supposedly terrorizing the southern trade town and I went along with the request, only to find out that the story had been overly dramatized. The worst she had done was jump the line to get an appointment with the shamans; a bad behavior for sure but they had been well compensated.

When I first met her, I considered a beauty, although not a head-turner. Her power, though, was something else, so much that I wondered if the guys who made the request wanted me to die. Not that it would be surprising, plenty of guys hate me, and with good reasons.

I immediately dismissed the request and approached her; I came a long way, and she was good-looking, so why not? I couldn’t say a word, her eyes said it all; she was like me… No, her case was probably a lot worse than mine, but she had pulled through, and not by wasting her life away like I did, but by simply enjoying the day… Although as I learned later her hobbies can only be enjoyed by the old, rich and powerful.

“She’s in the oddity shop near the south gate, the one owned by two sisters.”

“Oddity shop?“ I don’t have memories of such a shop anywhere in town, but I know of one owned by two sisters, “Do you mean the jewelers?”

“Do jewelers deals in cursed artifacts?”

I’m not sure, but assuming they sell Fae stuff, then they probably do; the shaman wouldn’t have such a booming business if it wasn’t the case.

“Thank you, girls, I’m heading there.”

“Na, don’t bother, she’s scary, but she’s never hurt anyone, come play with us instead.”

Oh, benevolent King, this reflection of my former self gives me the creeps; no wonder fathers and husbands everywhere hate my guts.

“Sorry girls, I’m on the clock.”

I run towards the shop and walk in, the one behind the counter is the older sister, and she looks at me with conflicting feelings.

Looks like I’m not welcomed, better play dumb, “I heard a powerful Fae was around, frightening the townsfolk.

“No, she did not! That’s slander!”

That one’s pretty cute, lighthearted and innocent; I wish I had met her before I was cursed to become the hero.

“Where did she go?”

“I didn’t say she was here today, just that miss Inimica isn’t a bad per…” she bits her tongue, “a bad individual.”

What a weird way to say it. “She’s gone then?”

Her sister comes out from the backroom disgusted by my very existence, “Leave my sister alone, creep. Your Fae is long gone, and probably out of the forest by now.”

Damn, I missed her again, although I suppose it makes sense, her reason to avoid me is probably what attracts me to her.

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The champion arrived a few minutes after she was gone; being a huntsman by trade, he’s good at hiding his presence, and combined with the fact that she feels at ease in town, her senses have grown a bit numb.

She doesn’t have to avoid him, and she doesn’t even hate him, but something about him irks her. He’s like a reflection of her former self; the one who had no control over her life.