Oh yeah Finola says You need to be very careful of that What’s wild magic I ask It sounds a bit scary Sometimes when a Faerie does magic a bit of it escapes Finola says And it can get into other things Salix says And make them do magical things Like toadstools Finola says Remember Salix what happened to King Oren’s rug Hmmm Salix says That was an accident Finola and I giggle The Faerie Woods can be scary sometimes But they’re fun too I’m about to ask for more information about wild magic when Salix Flapfoot What have you done We all stumble to a stop Oren the Faerie King of Farwood has suddenly appeared It is like he popped out of the ground 7
Salix drops to one knee and bows his head Your Majesty he says Stand up idiot child Oren says I don’t know why he calls Salix child Oren doesn’t look like he’s much older than me Salix stands His green face grows pink with shame Why is Blue Jasper here Oren asks Didn’t I say the human should stay away from the Faerie Woods You did but Oren is angry Not so much at me though He’s half brother to Indigo and Violet That makes him my brother too in a way He’s angry at Salix for bringing me here And once Salix explains Oren knows about our deal a Faerie pact It means I had no choice in the matter It’s nice for someone else to be in trouble for a change Now that I’m here I realize I don’t want to go home He asked me to help find his wood I say I’d like to help No one should be without a home 8
Oren raises his eyebrows at me He looks amused With Faeries that’s usually not good I suppose Salix hasn’t told you very much about Merwood Oren says Uh-oh Finola says No but Now I’m annoyed I know it’s going to be something bad I turn to Salix and glare at him He shrugs Merwood is an Unseelie wood Oren says What does Unseelie mean I ask Seelie and Unseelie are the two types of Faerie kingdoms The words are old And hard to translate Oren says Once they meant happy and unhappy Or close to that And now I ask They don’t mean anything Salix says quickly At least they don’t mean what they used to Those divisions don’t matter anymore So says you Salix Flapfoot Oren says Long ago the Unseelie woods waged a wicked war on the 9
Seelie woods Nearwood and Farwood When they lost the war the Unseelie woods were cursed Merwood was cursed for one hundred years Fenwood was cursed for one thousand years And Witherwood His face hardens It’s difficult for him to speak of anything to do with Olea Witherwood was cursed for all time he finishes Wait I say Merwood is connected to Witherwood Witherwood is where Olea was sent as punishment for her crimes She killed Oren’s father who was also the father of Indigo and Violet Olea is a very bad Faerie She nearly killed my mother She nearly killed me I’d rather not get anywhere near her Is this true Salix Is Merwood connected to Witherwood He shrugs looking guilty Sort of Salix I cry Oren sighs again One day little Flapfoot I will be rid of your mischief 10
