Genealogy of a Flower

[TreeFolk]

@Moonie

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
In the maids' quarters, Tansy pulled her soft gray maid's uniform over her head quickly, wiping herself off with a damp cloth and scenting herself with the flower extract she had made. She changed into her loose-fitting turquoise-colored dress, the soft lacey cotton material falling just beneath her bruised knees from scrubbing floors all day. She wiggled her toes, finally free from the uncomfortably rigid black maid's shoes, twirling her way happily to the very small mirror she had salvaged from one of the mage hall's broken mirrors. Looking into the mirror, she took her strawberry-blonde hair out of the harsh updo and let the loose waves free down her back. Pulling two sections from the front sides, she tied it back with a blue ribbon.

She turned to pull her worn leather sandals on, lacing them and tying them off around her ankles, happy to be as close to barefooted as was appropriate. Grabbing her worn leather satchel from beneath her cot, she danced and skipped her way towards one of the many libraries at the college, positively gleeful. She would have so much time to research tonight! She had uncovered several lineages that might uncover who her family had been 2,000 years ago, and if she could do that, perhaps she could track the changeling and save her own life! And if she could do that, maybe she could find her descendants and befriend them. She could have a family, a real family that might love her!

The image she painted in her head was lovely,  absolutely lovely! There would be a great big family, full of love and happiness. They would take picnics and garden together. She could settle in a tiny cottage where they lived, and provide her healing services to the village! Even if she wasn't good enough of a healer, which she didn't believe much in herself, she could serve some high family as a maid-servant to a lady like she had been trained.

Tansy slowed her steps, her feet quiet as she approached the front desk in the library. Clasping her hands demurely in front of her lap, she looked down at the floor as she spoke, her sea-foam colored eyes flickering up just enough to be respectful. "Could I possibly see the books I had out yesterday?"

The old man at the desk nodded quietly, giving the lad helping him a nod. The boy walked with a good deal of control to the back room, returning with a stack of old looking books. Tansy smiled brightly at them, her voice soft but excited, "Thank you very kindly, sirs." She took the stack, her arms shaking at the weight, and wobbled all the way across the library until she found her favorite corner. The corner was cozy, in her opinion, with one of the most beat up leather chairs and tables. It was clear not many used this corner of the library, what with the dust collecting and the books smelling musty with misuse. Setting her books down as quietly as possible, Tansy took the top book and began pouring over it.

It was later in the evening when a shadow passed over her book, blocking the light from the words. Looking up from her reading, she found herself looking at two girls, probably close to 12 or 13. Not wanting to cause a fuss, Tansy gave them a timid smile. "Am I at your table? I'm so sorry, I can move somewhere else!" She stood and tucked a string into the page she had been reading, closing the book and starting to stack her books up.

One of the girls sneered before purposefully bumping the stack of books over with her hip. The books loudly toppled, falling across the floor and table. Tansy instantly fell to her knees to begin collecting the books, smiling nervously, "No worries, I drop things all the time!"

An expensive boot stepped onto the book in her hand, the girl speaking hotly, "This is what you ought to be doing, cleaning, and not pretending to read. I can't believe they allow maids to even touch the books! How filthy!"

A bright blush flushed across Tansy's cheeks as she swallowed, unsure of how to respond. She got that weird feeling in her stomach, that feeling she always got when people started to stop noticing her, that feeling she got when she knew she would disappear. She was embarassed. "I... I'm sorry miss..."

[Zero]

It was a very quiet time at the library. Most students, of all ages, were in lessons. Some were taught as a group, others had private tutors.

Kia's Garden College was one of the oldest, grandest, and most prestigious of the many mage academies in Arca. While the school was technically open to anyone, only the wealthy could afford to attend or send their children there. Those students that did not come from the upper class were graced to attend through scholarships given out to those with exceptional promise and potential.

Most nobles hired private tutors to instruct their children from home. The rest usually sent their children to this school. It was why Keiran Fairhall attended Kia's Garden. When he had expressed a desire to study in the city his father had insisted that this would be the college he enrolled in to continue his studies. Since studying in Arca was what he'd wanted Keiran had deemed it impertinent to argue with the selection. This was the best school anyway.

At his age the young lord was free to study independently for the most part. After all, he was no child in need of tending and supervision, although he still had tutors to guide him when he needed direction.

Keiran was very good at seeming to be completely engrossed in a task while still being aware of his surroundings. His time at court taught him to notice everything. That was why he noticed the young, obviously working class, woman enter the library and collect a hefty stack of books before retreating to a dusty, mostly unused corner of the large space.

Overall this was rather uninteresting and so for a long time he ignored it. The young man had his own stack of tomes to pour over as he took studious notes on his subject matter of choice.

It was beginning to grow late when the two very young ladies entered the library. This would have been very uninteresting as well if not for the fact that they apparently noticed the young woman studying quietly in her corner. When the young ladies made right for her Keiran lifted his head from his books to watch, suspecting that the young women were not going to have a friendly chat.

Sometimes he hated being right. He only watched for a moment as the girls began harassing the very unobtrusive young woman for no reason other than her obvious lower social station. With his characteristic charming smile, Keiran headed over to the scene.

"Do you want to know what I find filthy?" He asked with a very pleasant tone.

The two girls immediately whirled around to look at him, eyes widening as they took him in. Keiran was dressed in a very fine tailored suit, with his open ornamental robes completing the very regal ensemble. Although the girls were far too young for him, they both immediately changed their attitudes, attempting to hold themselves as if they were older and practically leaning towards him breathlessly.

"What do you think is filthy?" The more assertive girl asked, seemingly thinking that this obviously high born lord was about to join their little mob against the maid trying to read.

"I think little girls with mean, nasty attitudes are filthy. Simply disgusting. You should be ashamed of yourselves, picking on this poor woman who has not bothered anyone in the several hours she has been here."

Both girls were immediately taken aback. He'd insulted them, and smiled the entire time he did it! The ringleader of the pair puffed up indignantly. "She's just a dirty maid! These books are for students. People that can read and -"

"I assure you the young woman can read. It is no business of yours whom is allowed to borrow books from this library. Obviously the librarians saw fit to lend these ones to her. Not only have you been cruel to her, you've mishandled the college's property by casting these books on the floor. I think you young ladies have disturbed the library's occupants for quite long enough. Go back to your rooms, I will inform your instructors of your appalling and unladylike behavior so that you may be properly disciplined until you have learned a margin of respect for your fellow Serenians." His voice never raised and his smile never once slipped as he spoke.

"Y-you can't make us go to our rooms! We're not children and you're not our teacher." The girl showed her age in the way she huffed and stomped her foot like the petulant child she was.

[TreeFolk]

Tansy was mortified, terrified, trembling from where she remained sitting on the ground with a book clutched against her chest. Whenever highborn fairie folk became as angry as these ones were, it usually meant that servants were to feel the brunt of it later. And that was when Tansy hadn't caused the start of a scene. Here she was totally at fault! The girl was right... She hadn't even realized what a disturbance her presence might cause at such an early hour. Normally she would come to the libraries well after or well before any of the students or residents would arrive, so as to not disturb them with her presence.

She stacked the books quickly back up while they were involved in their interaction, leaving the damaged one for last. Fortunately, the book was bound in an organic material, something she could heal. Pressing her thumb against the corner of the binding, she let the fibers of the book connect and reweave themselves like a growing plant might. Quick as she might, she stood and curtsied deep at the girls, staring demurely at the ground. "My apologies for disturbing your library experience, young misses." She had said it so softly that she hoped that they would continue paying attention to the dashing young man who had come to her defense.

Stooping, she picked up the stack of books as best she could and moved quickly towards the front desk, her stomach gripping in anxiety. To Keiran and the girls, if they were watching, it would appear as if her body flickered in and out of near-invisibility. Her fae foster parents called it a nervous twitch. Her delicate cheeks were flushed bright pink in embarrassment as she reached the front desk. "Might you keep these for me a bit longer, please?" Her fingers bunched in the hem of her skirt nervously as she waited for them to give her a reply and pass her the slip she could give them to retrieve the books again. 

[Zero]

Keiran flicked his eyes to the obviously terrified maid as she curtsied to the two girls and apologized to them. The girls hardly deserved apologies, since she'd done nothing wrong, but he didn't stop Tansy as she left with her books. Thankfully the two girls were still huffing at him indignantly over his chastisement. He would rather they turn their vile selves on him than the poor young woman that had only been trying to read in peace.

There was a very brief argument, although it could hardly be called an argument. The girls huffed and stomped and insulted him, but a library attendant came to gather them both up and escort them out of the library for disturbing the peace and quiet. Not to mention for being a nuisance to Lord Fairhall who was well-known and well-respected on campus.

"Are you alright, Miss?" Came the smooth voice as Keiran stepped up beside her at the desk, looking down at her with a touch of concern. He knew that some servants could be very nervous and intimidated by nobility and those they served. This poor girl definitely seemed to be one of the more nervous ones. He smiled gently at her, trying to put Tansy at ease. "Those girls have been escorted out. You do not have to leave. This library is for anyone who wishes to learn."

[TreeFolk]

A nervous smile flitted across Tansy's lips as she consciously smoothed her fingers over the hem of her dress before clasping them neatly in front of herself. Remembering her manners, she tried to remind herself that she was no longer an indentured servant to the fae. Although she was her own woman now, she still did not feel it. Curtsying low, because he was obviously someone of high station, she corrected politely. "Just Tansy, m'lord."

At his question, she bobbed another curtsy. "Yes, m'lord, of course. You were quite kind to intervene.  But, I have no way to repay your kindness." Her eyes glanced at the men behind the desk, who had paused in retrieving the books at hearing the suggestion from her savior. He must be very high born, indeed, and bothering himself with someone like her, a girl with no past, no home, no family to speak of. Well, unless she were to uncover it in those books...

She eyed the books with a look of intense yearning... She was so close to uncovering who her family had been! From the descriptions her fae foster family had given of where they had gotten her, she had narrowed her search to Moonspear. After a few weeks of digging through history and genealogy books, she had her search narrowed within a hundred years and a few families. Today she had read about an abnormality in one of the lines...

Realizing she had been staring at the books rather than giving the proper attention to the young lord, she blushed bright. "I..." She was really not comfortable asking for things for herself. "I would very much like to stay, that is, if you think it is alright and I am not disturbing anyone." She reached out a finger and stroked the spot in the binding she had mended with her magic, testing it as she yearned to open its pages again.

[Zero]

Lips twitched, deepening Keiran's smile as Tansy curtsied twice more, her speech and mannerisms were so polite and seemed subserviently pacifying. He wondered if she had been a maid at the college for very long, and if not whom she had served in the past. Good manners was vital for a good servant, but she seemed almost skittish to him. Like an abused creature afraid a slip could result in some terrible punishment.

That made him sad, but his pleasant mask never changed. Some nobility were simply unreasonable and cruel to the help. There was no reason to be unkind to those that served you. Indeed, you would buy more loyalty and better service with kindness than abuse. In the Fairhall household the servants were motivated by love for their masters, not fear.

"I did not expect repayment, Miss Tansy." Keiran observed the way she looked at the books so longingly. He could tell she wished very much to continue her studies. With a polite smile and nod to the librarian. The men left the books in front of Tansy and went back to their work.

"Of course it is alright. You are welcome to stay as long as you like." He turned his attention back to the librarian for a moment. "This young lady is not to be disturbed in her studies. Report any harassment to myself and the headmaster, and remove the troublemakers at once. I also insist that the room be better kept. Miss Tansy's corner is quite filthy."

"Yes Lord Fairhall, of course." The librarian agreed quickly and his helper left immediately to clean the corner that Tansy had been occupying himself.

Keiran turned his smile back to the soft-spoken young woman, he lifted half the books from her stack into his arms. "Come, join me at my table. No one will disturb you further this evening, Miss Tansy."

[TreeFolk]

Tansy watched in quiet awe at his assuredness. She had never been treated so kindly, she felt almost like a lady herself! She felt unworthy of his kindness, but did not wish to seem ungrateful by expressing her discomfort with his gestures of generosity. Despite this, she felt a swelling of giddiness swell in her chest as he lifted half the stack of her books from the desk. Turning to the librarians, she curtsied to them, "Thank you so very much!" Lifting the rest of her books, relieved at the lightness of her stack, she followed the lord with a lightness in her step. She could return to properly thank the librarians later.

Perhaps she would work a bit in the stacks in her spare time to repay them for doing something for her, even though it was the lord who had asked it of them. Though she was worried how the servants responsible for cleaning the library would be treated for letting her small corner become so dusty... Would they be punished? Perhaps she should have cleaned the corner herself, though she served the young ladies quarters. But as she had been trained, it was her duty to anticipate the needs of others, even if they were not necessarily her responsibility to serve.

At the table she neatly placed her stack of books beside his, eyes glancing at what he had been studying and curious to ask him about it. She had never been given the luxury of studying, though she was well-read and quick to learn. All of the tales she had read were fairytales, books collected from the humans by the fae. They only collected books about themselves, finding it amusing to read about how the humans interpreted their interactions with the fae. Tansy taught herself to read, and had found the rare pleasure in curling up in a tree or in the sun to read accounts of brave princes and fair maidens. Needless to say, her perception of humans was a little skewed.

Seating herself across for him, she at first would glance occasionally up to ensure the lord was not displeased with her presence. He seemed entirely content to bury himself back in his own studies, and so she soon found herself rooting through her own stacks.

She quietly read and skimmed the pages until she came upon a page that made her heart thud loudly in her chest, like an angered bird in a cage. She breathed a small, quiet squeak of shock as she stared directly into the eyes of a young woman who looked to nearly be her twin, with the exception of the dark streak of deep red in her otherwise strawberry blonde hair. Her own sea-foam green eyes stared back at her from the page. This was the changeling.

Tansy's eyes darted to the description below the portrait, her fingers tracing the fading letters reading:

Viscountess Aurelie, Daughter of the Marquis Acton and Marchioness Lucrece of Family Bellamy

That was her name! That was her real name, and those were the names of her real parents. Turning back a few pages, Tansy found a portrait of the Marquis Acton and Marchioness Lucrece. Tears welled in her eyes, her fingers stroking the portrait lovingly. Her mother! Oh how beautiful her mother had been, with the same delicate doll-like features that Tansy had inherited! And her father! He stood tall and bold with a full strawberry blonde beard and sea-foam green eyes, towering over her mother. She barely noticed the tears spilling down her cheeks, and didn't think about how odd the lord might find it that she was crying over the portrait of individuals deceased for well over 700 years.

[Zero]

With Tansy's stack of books moved to rest on his table, Keiran resumed his previous seat, leaning over his open book to find the place he had left off before having to take a momentary diversion from his research. All of the books piled upon the table for him were about Cockatrices, and a parchment held extensive notes taken from the various texts that littered his table. Indeed, he once more had a quill in his hand, a very soft scratching of the pen on paper the only sound that he made.

While it seemed that the young lord was completely engrossed in his work, Keiran actually was very aware of his guest. His soft blue eyes would dart across the table on occasion to check on Tansy, trying to gauge her comfort level. The last thing he had wanted was to make her uncomfortable, after all.

For a time everything went quite well. The young maid seemed content now that she was left to study in peace and he was making good progress with his notes.

At least until Keiran chanced to glance up only to find that suddenly tears were streaming slowly down Tansy's face. He immediately became quite alarmed. Abandoning his notes, the young lord rose from his chair and moved around the table beside the crying woman, entirely unsure of what was wrong, but hoping to comfort or reassure her in some way.

"Miss Tansy? Whatever is the matter?" He gazed down at the book in front of her. Keiran had noticed the type of books Tansy had been reading. They were all books on family histories and genealogies. A strange subject for a maid, but who was he to judge? What surprised him was the very striking resemblance the maid had to the image on the page. All noble children had to study genealogies and lineages, for their own family and other important houses, and Keiran was better versed than most.

Still, he didn't know these people. Although looking at the house name, he thought he recalled vaguely reading of them before. This was a very old book and these people were long dead. There certainly was no longer a House Bellamy of any note. "You could be their descendant."

Well no wonder she would wish to look through these old lineages. A woman from such an old bloodline reduced to a maid!

[TreeFolk]

The library was quiet and mostly empty in the late hours. Tansy had noticed the subject he had been studying was on a mythical beast, and though she might not have normally shared as much as she was preparing to share with him, she felt vulnerable from the discovery and had at least a modest hope he would believe her story. This was something she had lived questioning for hundreds of years in the Otherworld. Who was she before she was renamed Tansy?

Softly, she confided her story, continuing to stare at the portrait of her parents. "I'm so very sorry, m'lord." She pressed her palms against her eyes to slow the tears. "But I have been looking so very, very long for them..." She stared into the faces of the adults in the portrait. "These are my parents..." She stopped herself, nearly hiccupped as she withheld a sob, swallowed heavily and continued so quietly that he might struggle to hear her. "Were my parents."

Tansy turned the page to the portrait of the changeling, the woman who looked her twin. "You see, when I was... So very long ago... My name was Aurelie." She could dimly recall that name being called out to her as a young child, her fingers deftly drifting over the name beneath the portrait of the changeling. It was hard to even start the story. The first time she would tell it, really, so she had no practice in making it cohesive. "During my time and that of my parents, many fae kidnapped human children and exchanged them with their own. Kept the human children as servants little better than slaves, so that their children might live among humans."

She wondered if she could track down books with more history on House Bellamy. Wondered if there was a portrait of her as a child, and not of the changeling version of herself. Wondered if there were accounts of her disappearance and the change in her upon her return... Well, the return of the changeling. "It was my fourth summer..." No, she should not get into that story yet. She turned back to the portrait of her parents, tracing the borders lovingly.

"Though they are dead and gone, perhaps I had aunts, uncles, siblings, nieces, nephews, and so on. Perhaps I could find my descendants after I right things with the changeling who took my place. Perhaps I could have a family." Her voice was small, hopeful, sad. She turned her face finally to look up at the lord, smiling softly. It did not matter that she had discovered that her family was of high noble blood. No, it just mattered that she had family.

[Zero]

It would have been his first instinct to gently shush her, rebuking any apology for her tears. After all, there was no reason to be sorry. He couldn't do that after she spoke again. Had he not been staring at the image of the couple himself Keiran might have worried the poor girl was having some psychological fit, some delusion, but she did look very much like those people. The problem was they had died many hundreds and hundreds of years ago - how could she possibly be their daughter?

Unless they were not human. Most Serenian families descended from fae, hundreds if not thousands of years removed. Sometimes fae creatures bred back into the family lines, renewing the failing fae blood. His own family could trace their origins back to elves and nymphs.

Tansy did not strike him as anything other than human, however.

Keiran pulled a chair beside her and seated himself next to her as she flipped through the pages back to a portrait that could very well have been Tansy herself. He noticed the streak of dark red hair that was the only true difference between the flesh and blood woman beside him and the image he was intently staring at.

What a remarkable story, but was it true? A girl stolen by fae and replaced with an identical impostor. Why would they engage in such a practice? Was it better for their children to be raised among humans for some strange reason? Why enslave the human children? Keiran's mind had begun working over a thousand questions, his curiosity burning with this sad, strange tale.

Tansy turned back to the image of her parents and the young lord pushed aside his own curiosity to look at her with concern and, dare he say, pity. Whatever else he thought of what she had said, the emotions she was feeling were real.

Keiran chose to believe her.

"Let us find out, Miss Tansy. Wait here." He offered her a gentle smile and stood once more, heading for the librarian's desk. Quill and parchment was offered to him, and Keiran wrote down two notes, both of which were promptly taken away by attendants. Another attendant vanished to look through the shelves once more.

When he returned, Keiran gathered up the books that Tansy had been studying, except the one with her parent's image, and stacked them neatly to be returned to their shelves. They would be of no further use to the search since they were far too broadly focused.

"I have sent out requests for books regarding the history or genealogy of House Bellamy. It may take some time for them to arrive, however. I sent one request to the library of Rillaria, the capitol of Moonspear. Their records on the noble lines within their providence will be much more detailed and complete than any we might find here. The other request was sent to the Royal Library." He had little doubt both libraries would be willing to loan those books to the library here to aid in a student's research project.

[TreeFolk]

He was at least not trying to send her to a psych ward. She nodded when he told her that they would see, and when he went to submit his requests she quickly went to a bookshelf she had visited on her first arrival at the library. Pulling out the book, she met him back at the table, much calmer.

Tansy sat down with the small unmarked book, opening it to the title page reading The Erdluitle Changelings. It was a very short, vague book. She opened to a page with a portrait of one of the web-footed, rahter ugly, child-sized fae. Gently passing him the book, she felt the need to explain her situation a bit further. "These were the fae that took me." She glimpsed down at her feet, at the barely-noticeable webbing between her own big and second toes.

"They wished to make my line their own, so that they might rejuvenate the land, but they could not convince any humans to be with them. They are not a pretty race. I was told they took me because my mother was so beautiful. They wished to have their child take on my guise and breed with the humans, and for me to eventually be given to one of their men." A sick feeling curdled in her stomach at the memory of what she had done. Of the murder she had committed, entirely on accident, when her own innate magic from her parents had taken her by surprise. She wondered what fae race her parents had descended from before the Erdluitle had forced their way into their line.

Looking back up to him, she gave him a warm-hearted smile. "Thank you so very much, m'lord. I believe you are a blessing of good luck sent my way, which I am entirely undeserving of." She felt herself becoming more and more aware of how far out of line she had stepped with him. Her throat tightened in anxiousness, and once again her stomach twisted as she struggled to stay visible, flickering briefly out of his sight and back in again. Struggling past it, she looked down at the table. "I've kept you far too long, and been terribly rude and distracting. My deepest apologies, m'lord. Can I not do something to repay your kindness and patience?" This last part she said imploringly, desperate for some service she could do for him to alleviate her worry of overstepping her boundaries.

[Zero]

Taking the book as it was passed to him, Keiran's casual smile slipped for the first time as he looked down at the portrait of the type of fae that had taken Tansy from her family as a child. Her story was quite troubling. Kidnapping children with the intention of forcing them to breed with them? It was loathsome.

"How barbaric." Another even more troubling thought occurred to him. "How many children have been stolen and replaced with these...Changelings? This practice must be stopped."

Not that he knew how to stop it. To Keiran it seemed that few even noticed that their children had been swapped for doppelgangers! How could that be? Could so few parents not recognize that their child was no longer their child? It must be the case if this was something that happened and wasn't reported or discovered.

One problem at a time. Tansy was the lost child that had already been found. They could worry about other lost children later. She was right, they needed to track down her living kin and return her to where she rightfully belonged. Which was not grovelling for his forgiveness. Even knowing that she'd been a slave much of her life, and that she was a maid now, Keiran could scarcely believe just how timid and apologetic Tansy was. She'd done nothing wrong at any point that evening and half of what had come from her was apology.

It was so peculiar the way she flickered like a little like struggling not to go out. There was obviously some magic about the young woman. More and more curiosities to discover about the strange young maid that turned out to be far more than she seemed.

"Miss Tansy, I think you have suffered quite enough misfortune for any one lifetime. Why would you say that you are undeserving of good fortune now?" Keiran's voice remained very soft as he placed a hand on the back of her chair and knelt down so that he could look up into her face from where she had turned her gaze to the table. He offered her a very gentle smile. "You need only let me help you continue your search for your family. Now that I know of your struggle it would warm my heart greatly to see you back where you belong. That, I think, would be quite reward and repayment enough."

A noble girl stolen in time? Misplaced by a rogue fae and now found again? Keiran's father would be quite pleased to see the Fairhall name attached to the safe return of Viscountess Aurelia of House Bellamy. More importantly, Keiran truly wished to help her. She would need help.

[TreeFolk]

"There are other humans remaining in the Otherworld, though most are from my time. Fae and human relationships were much different, and the practice is now very rarely practiced... It is very difficult for humans to return after such a long time, whether they wish to or not. I was very lucky."

Tansy's eyes widened and she blushed brightly as he knelt down beside her, forcing her to look into his dark blue eyes. He was very handsome, she thought, though all humans were beautiful to her after all the time she had spent among the Erdluitle. Even ugly humans were usually much prettier. Though this was true, she did not think herself pretty at all, and hardly thought about her looks at all. If she did, she only thought herself plain after being told so for countless years by the Erdluitle.

Clasping her hands in her lap, she couldn't answer his question about why she felt undeserving. Years of servitude had taught her that she did not deserve anything, that she was fortunate to have an Erdluitle family want to house, feed, and clothe her. They had not been unnecessarily cruel, but they had never shown her kindness or love. Mostly she had been raised and trained to be seen and not heard, and to put her needs aside.

Already she admired this man greatly, and was in awe of his kindness and willingness to help. He must certainly be the nicest man alive! She gave him a timid smile, "You are so very kind, m'lord." She returned a timid smile, and tried to keep herself from apologizing or asking how to repay him again. That would be rude, though she still felt the urge to do it.

She suddenly remembered that she had no idea what the time was. Glancing up at the clock on the wall, she saw that it was close to the time when the house mistress would lock up the maids quarters. This was, she was told, both to keep riffraff out and to keep the maids from going out and cavorting with the men (whatever that meant). It would not be first time she had stayed out past curfew, and she knew a little corner of one of the gardens where she might sleep for the night.

Unworried for herself, though it might be hard for her to get through the work day the next day, she looked curiously back at his stack of books. There was not much else they could do for her research until those books were sent, so she was curious to know what he was studying. "If... If you don't mind my asking, that is, if it is not too rude of me... What is your interest in cockatrices?"

[Zero]

"It should not be practiced at all. They have no right to steal and replace human children. No right to enslave human children." There was a reason that humans and fae were often not in friendly contact. Stealing of children was probably one of those reasons.

The way that Tansy blushed seemed not to have any effect on Keiran as his expression remained unchanging as he looked up at her with the same easy smile. While very intelligent, there was one aspect of his life that the young lord was not so keen on recognizing, and that was attraction. Oh it wasn't as if he didn't see that Tansy was a beautiful young woman, she certainly was, but he could recognize attractiveness without really being effected by it. When women looked at him or blushed or giggled at him, he just didn't consider that they were finding him to be appealing.

"Everyone deserves kindness, Miss Tansy." Keiran said, smile growing slightly as she smiled at him. Sure, it was a timid smile, but it was a smile. At least she no longer seemed very upset. Seeing a young lady cry was always a little sad, whether he knew her or not.

"It is not rude at all. Mystical and magical beasts are a great interest of mine. My family is rather famous for breeding and raising Kirin, so you could say being fascinated by such rare creatures runs in my family. Cockatrices are rather fascinating animals, but I do not think I should ever like to meet one." No, that would not be a good encounter. Most of the beasts he studying were quite dangerous.

Keiran stood up slowly before sitting down in the chair next to her once more, hands smoothing over his robes, trying to straighten them from where kneeling had crinkled them slightly. "It is very late, Miss Tansy. Am I keeping you? Do the maids not have a curfew?" He thought they did, although he didn't agree with locking grown women up at night for any reason.

[TreeFolk]

Her smile brightened briefly before becoming more reserved again, looking down into her lap out of habit. "From what I can recall of my parents, my parents told me that kindness is the greatest medicine and more precious than the rarest of gems. If you share it with others, you will never want for anything for your heart will always be full." Seeing their portrait had stirred up a clarity of her memories of her parents. She had always cherished the memory of their kindness, but had never been able to quote their advice until seeing them again. "I am so very glad that you think the same."

She glanced at the clock again at his suggestion, though she felt she needed to explain a bit more since he seemed so incensed by the idea of what had happened to her. The smile dimmed on her face as she thought of her own experiences as a switched child. She picked at a loose thread on her dress. "I believe things were not seen the same back then..." It was hard for her to talk about the subject, because she did not want to seem as if she felt sorry for herself, but she also felt for those left behind.

"Many children were taken, even by other humans. And many of the other children easily assimilated to their new lives, and would never wish to leave the Otherworld. They can live for a very long time there, much longer than if they were human. And many changeling children bring families good luck in repayment." They were all excuses to try and make her situation seem less tragic, because she did not want him to feel sorry for her. Although she didn't recognize it, she sounded exactly like a victim of Stockholm syndrome, incredibly willing to forgive the behaviors of her captors. Most of what she said had been told to her repeatedly throughout the years by her fae captors.

"I wish other children did not have to go through it... But I was never treated with unnecessary cruelty. When I was punished, it was only because I am very obstinant and not very well-mannered." Which, she felt, were character traits she was currently displaying to him by speaking so much out of place. "I was so very fortunate to have had such gracious fae guardians to feed, house, and clothe me." She wrung her hands together, "It was very selfish of me to leave..."

But she had needed to after killing the prince on accident. Well, it was so selfish and irresponsible of her. She should have stayed and taken responsibility for her actions. In fact, she had been very close to doing so before the strange old woman practically forced her through a portal back to this world and given her instructions.

Tansy pushed her chair back and stood, bobbing another curtsy. "Pardon, m'lord, you must think me mouthy. I don't get the opportunity to speak much to others." Again, another curtsy. "I really should return to the maids quarters before curfew, and I have already wasted so much of your time... Though I am so very curious to hear more about your studies!"

Her smile returned as she tucked a wayward strand of hair back behind her ear, picking up her knapsack and the two remaining books. "Perhaps... Perhaps I might... That is, if it is not presumptuous of me to ask, might I join you again if you happen to be here tomorrow after I finish my duties?"

[Zero]

"Your parents sound like very wise and good people, Miss Tansy." There weren't enough people in the world that valued kindness nearly as much as they should. It seemed a shame that Keiran knew next to nothing of this House Bellamy. If he did not know of it then it must be gone. Still, it was possible that it was simply swallowed and consumed by other houses. He hoped that they could find where that bloodline had gone. If for no other reason than so that the sweet little maid before him could finally go to whatever home she had left.

Anyone would be angry at the idea of stolen children, and Keiran knew excuses when he heard them. It was sad that an innocent child had been poisoned by years of captivity. He knew that it would take far longer than tonight to change Tansy's mind about her time in this Otherworld and this fae family that had been her "guardians" for her time there.

Keeping that in mind, Keiran pushed aside his anger and indignation at what had been done to Tansy as she suddenly stood from her chair. Blue eyes watched her bob into two more curtsies as more apologies flooded from the sweet, nervous maid that was by right a Marchioness.

"None of my time has been wasted." Keiran insisted, returning her smile as she asked if she could join him again tomorrow evening. "I am in the library most evenings, Miss Tansy, and you are always most welcome to join me. Please, feel free to approach me no matter the time or place. I found your company this evening quite delightful."

Most of the time they had been together in the library he had been studying and taking notes just as he would have if alone. He couldn't fathom how she could feel that his time had been wasted. As for the rest, well she was so polite and appreciative. It was very refreshing to find someone so very sweet and unassuming. If only he could calm her overly subservient behavior. No maid at home would have been quite so skittish and worried in his presence! Not to mention, Tansy was no true maid. Well, all things in due time.

"Good night, Miss Tansy." Keiran smiled at her softly before moving to gather up his own things. He couldn't keep her any longer, it would be horrible if she missed her curfew on his account, and it was getting quite late. His own bed was calling. Even the most dedicated students and scholars required sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By noon the few books that the Royal Library held on House Bellamy were waiting for Keiran and Tansy at the desk. The ones from Moonspear would take a few days to arrive, but it was certainly a start. The young lord collected the records and took them to his usual table, the same one that he had spent time with Tansy the night before.

It was tempting to begin looking through them immediately, but he set them aside and returned to his work on Cockatrices. The other books could wait for Tansy. Keiran felt it would be wrong to begin without her, considering how personal the subject matter was.

[TreeFolk]

Tansy had to run back to the maids quarters, just barely slipping in before they turned to lock the front doors. When she laid down on her cot to sleep, she found herself overly stimulated from the events of the evening. Not only had she finally discovered her family, but she had met the nicest man! Smiling to herself, she stared up at the ceiling, her hand clasped around the small locket around her neck. The symbol on the locket, she now realized, was her family crest. And though the portraits of her parents on the inside had long since been faded and scratched away, she felt closer to them than she ever had before.

Eventually she did sleep, and was woken before dawn with the rest of the maids. Tired, but excited by the day, Tansy dressed quickly in her maids uniform and practically skipped about (when nobody was looking, of course). Time seemed to fly by as she rushed through her duties, wanting to be dismissed early to go spend time in the library with the young lord.

When she was finally dismissed from her duties she took off back to her quarters to change. Pulling on a sky-blue dress and her sandals, she skipped all the way to the library with her knapsack thumping softly against her side. Stopping in front of the doors to collect herself, she smoothed the skirts of her dress and gently checked the state of her side braid in the reflection of the front doors. Pulling the doors open she quietly entered the library, cheeks flushed from her exertion of energy as she saught out the young lord.

Spotting him, she approached him and waited until he glanced up from his reading so as to not disrupt his chain of thought. When he did finally look up, she smiled warmly at him and curtsied. "Good evening, m'lord." Although she had heard the librarians say his name, he had not yet shared it with her and she would feel presumptuous using his name informally. Digging into her knapsack, she produced a small burlap pouch with dirt in it and another small wrapped item. Touching the pouch, a tiny flower sprouted.

Cheeks pink with her excitement and eyes bright, she explained her gifts with shy eagerness like a child looking for approval, "I used to read all about mythical creatures, and met a great many of them. I once read a tale about a young lad who saved his family from a cockatrice by making it look into a mirror." She unwrapped the small item to show the small piece of mirror she had been using. "And this flower is wolfsbane, or monkshood, which can kill werewolves." She tucked a stray tendril of hair behind her ear and clasped her hands in front of herself, rocking a bit. "I'm sure you already knew these things... But in case you ever come across them... Since you said you would very much not like to, you now have something to protect you."

Her eyes drifted to the stack of untouched books, and her heart skipped in anticipation, wanting to ask him about them but waiting politely for him to bring them up.

[Zero]

Given his studious nature, slipping deep into concentration on his research was quite easy for Keiran. Hours slipped by with his reading and note taking undisturbed. Of course anticipation of being joined by the timid young Tansy was ever present in the back of his mind, causing his eyes to be drawn upwards briefly every know and again in search of strawberry blonde hair and eyes that reminded him of the sea.

So long had passed in his study that when his eyes raised to actually find Tansy standing patiently nearby the young lord was actually slightly startled. How long had she been standing there? At least she did not seem to be perturbed by a long wait, so perhaps she had only just arrived very recently. That only begged the question of why she had not made her presence known immediately.

Keiran smiled brightly at the warm smile she gave him, but inwardly sighed when she dropped into a curtsy at once. Outwardly he rose from his seat politely with that same pleased smile, as one should do when a lady joins you.

The previous evening in Tansy's company had raised suspicions from the scholarly lord that the unassuming maid harbored some form of magical ability - she seemed to have a knack for becoming unnoticeable if not outright invisible. Now his delicately shaped brows raised slightly as she brought forth a little pouch and caused a tiny flower to sprout from it.

Yes, a girl of magical talent for sure. Not surprising, many noble families in Serendipity produced mages.

What was really a surprise was when she presented the little flower and the mirror shard to him as gifts. Even Keiran could not maintain that airy expression that was both pleasant and neutral as Tansy explained the gifts to him. No, confusion, shock, and finally genuine affection softened his elegant features.

His initial instinct would normally have been to insist that he did not require any gifts from her, that his kindness was not conditional or in expectation of some benefit to himself. Those things were still true, but he feared that refusing the small presents might be offensive to his strange companion. They were certainly not expensive gifts of some arbitrary monetary value, but she probably had very little to her name, and more importantly, the sentiment behind them touched him. Things to protect him...

How sweet.

"I...thank you. You are so thoughtful and sweet. These are wonderful, I adore them." And he really meant it. Nobody gave him things with such feeling behind them. Keiran smiled even more brightly, pulling out the chair next to his for Tansy. "Come have a seat, Miss Tansy. I have a gift for you as well. The Royal Library is within the city, so the books they possessed on House Bellamy arrived earlier this afternoon. I am afraid it will be several days yet before the ones from Moonspear can make their way here, but this is certainly a start."

[TreeFolk]

"I'm so very glad you like them!" She was positively glowing in her happiness at pleasing him as she took the offered seat. Even though she could not give him expensive gifts, she had hoped he would like her gifts. She had spent the day during her chores thinking about how she might repay his kindness without offending him, since his insistence that helping her was repayment enough.

Putting down her knapsack, Tansy leaned forward and ran her hands down the top book. Her heart was racing as she opened to the first page depicting a crest with turquoise and gold borders, the emblem of a sun over a vast field of wheat. A lion reared on one side of the crest, with a deer balancing it out on the other side, stretching up to eat one of the ivy leaves wrapped around the banner at the top of the page. Her fingers made quick work of unclasping her necklace, turning the book towards Keiran and handing him the necklace to inspect. "M'lord, look, it matches!" The locket, though worn out from hundreds of years of wear, still had enough defining aspects to match it to the crest on the page.

She turned to the next page which had the title of the book, House Bellamy: An Overview. The book was very old, but she didn't think much of it as she opened to the next page. House colors were gold and turquoise, house animals were the deer and the lion, house motto "Fortune Favors the Kind"... Her eyes ate up the words, heart soaring at the influx of information about her family. The next page had a detailed description of the regular family physical traits, and the founders of the family who were bequeathed a patch of land on the border of southern Moonspear which they were responsible for safeguarding. But it did not specify where the estate was... But surely another book would tell her.

Turning to look at Keiran, her cheeks flush with excitement, she asked "Do you know of an estate in southern Moonspear?" She turned the page to an ink drawing of a large castle-like estate surrounded by gardens and golden fields of wheat. "That looks like this?"

[Zero]

Resuming his seat, now with Tansy beside him, Keiran leaned forward eagerly as the first book was opened. Letting his gaze study the young maid's face instead of the page was all the confirmation that he needed to know that waiting for her had been the right decision. It was impossible not to notice and share in her excitement.

It surprised him when she unclasped a locket from her neck and put it into his hands. While Keiran had decided to believe her story already, looking now at the object in his hands and comparing it to the book before them...it was fairly compelling evidence. Tansy couldn't have created this elaborate a hoax, con, or delusion. Not with the crest ornamenting the jewelry in his hand and splashed spectacularly across the page of this book.

No maid could have come up with this - and he had no doubt that for the moment Tansy was a maid. No lady or schemer could act so subservient. Tansy was far too genuine for trickery.

"So it does. This necklace could be used to help prove your identity as Viscountess Auralie to authorities should there be an inquest." Of course there would be no inquest, no challenge to restore whatever titles, lands, or possessions that were by rights hers unless Tansy actually requested one from the crown. She did not seem to be after such gains. "It could also prove your identity to any remaining family members."

Keiran very carefully laid the necklace next to the book as he turned his eyes onto the pages, reading with Tansy. The information was fairly basic and frustratingly vague. This was no detailed history or record of the family.

"No, I am afraid not. Being from a different providence I am less familiar with Moonspear's lands." He kept the disappointment from his voice as best he could. It was silly to even think it, but he felt already that he was failing the poor girl in some way. Reasonably and rationally Keiran knew that he couldn't be expected to know everything, and of course Tansy would not blame him or be angry that he didn't have the answers.

He still felt guilty.