Fiona was out in the dawn-lit, dew-decked meadow, calling her cow for the morning milking, when the fairy queen stepped from the forest. She wore spring waters and budding leaves, with her hair tightly curled upon her head and dotted through with delicate, pale flowers. She strode across the meadow towards Fiona, wings folded, a breeze blowing around her. The flowers and grasses bent and swayed to let her pass. The morning sun rose higher with each step she took, wreathing her in gold.<\/p>\n
Fiona\u2019s blood ran cold.<\/p>\n
A thousand tales told by the elders around the winter fires sparked in her mind: the fairies lured maidens to their deaths, they kept them as servants, they turned them into stone. Fiona knew she should run.<\/p>\n
But she couldn\u2019t move.<\/p>\n
She lifted a hand to her brow to shield her eyes from the piercing sun, wanting to see the fairy queen better. The fae\u2019s beauty bewitched Fiona more than any spell could. Her heartbeat quickened in her chest and her blood thawed, running hot and right to her cheeks.<\/p>\n
The fairy drew up in front of her, tall as a sapling with a year\u2019s growth. Stunning. She didn\u2019t look much older than Fiona, who was almost twenty.<\/p>\n
\u201cHave you seen a cat?\u201d Her voice was deep and honeyed, with magic layered below the surface. And annoyance just below that.<\/p>\n
\u201cA\u2026 Cat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d She crossed her arms and her dragonfly wings flicked in and out. Fiona\u2019s gaze caught on her eyes, the deep brown of late autumn leaves damp from rain.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind of cat?\u201d Fiona finally managed to ask. There were lots of cats in the village, but she couldn\u2019t imagine the fairy looking for any of those.<\/p>\n
\u201cA bad cat.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAny proper cat is a bad cat.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fairy laughed. \u201cWhat\u2019s your name?\u201d<\/p>\n
Fiona narrowed her eyes. \u201cTell me your name first.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you really think\u2014\u201d The fairy cocked her head to the side. \u201c\u2014that if I wanted to steal you away from here, I couldn\u2019t come up with a better line than \u2018have you seen a cat\u2019? You can call me Zaubi, though.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m Fiona.\u201d Fiona did a small curtsy, hoping Zaubi didn\u2019t notice the flush on her cheeks. \u201cPerhaps I could help look for your cat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not my cat. It\u2019s one of Freyja\u2019s damned ferals\u2014Bee, she\u2019s calling herself today. I was supposed to be watching Bee while Freyja\u2019s looking for her husband.\u201d Zaubi\u2019s wings flicked.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you\u2019re responsible for the cat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her wings folded. \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019ve lost the cat?\u201d<\/p>\n
A heavy breath. \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me help you.\u201d The words slipped out of Fiona, and she immediately wished she could swallow them back. No one offered to help fairies. They took whatever\u2014<\/p>\n
Zaubi smiled, warm as the rising summer day. \u201cI\u2019d really appreciate that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before Fiona could convince herself that this was a terrible idea and that she was definitely getting kidnapped and taken away to fairyland, she found herself nodding and mentally running through all the places in the village that a cat might hide. \u201cWe have a number of cats hanging around, they keep the rats down. Maybe Bee fell in with them? I\u2019ll go check behind the butcher\u2019s, then down by the river. If all else fails, I\u2019ll check the midden.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zaubi lifted her chin. \u201cI\u2019ll come, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fairy\u2019s body blurred and her form changed. The sparkling dew dress shortened, turning into a linen shift. Her stature diminished and she became human. The flowers tucked into her hair no longer shone with enchanted starlight. She was still absolutely gorgeous, though. Fiona balled her hands into fists, fighting off the sudden image of putting her arm around Zaubi\u2019s waist and brushing the red diamond patterned belt now wrapped there.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd now for the finishing touch.\u201d Zaubi plucked a strand of hair from Fiona\u2019s head.<\/p>\n
\u201cOuch!\u201d<\/p>\n
The fairy touched Fiona\u2019s arm. A feeling like cold stream water rippled through Fiona\u2019s blood, dulling the sharp pain. \u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was that for?\u201d Fiona asked.<\/p>\n
Zaubi wrapped the strand of hair around her finger. \u201cA charm. Now everyone in the village will think they know me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fiona nodded. A small voice in her mind mentioning that if everyone thought Zaubi lived there, then Zaubi didn\u2019t need to leave the moment they found her cat. She could stay for the midsummer\u2019s dance coming up\u2014Fiona shook the thoughts away, reminding herself that fairies were tricksters, at best. Even when they weren\u2019t at their worst, they weren\u2019t date material.<\/p>\n
Off they went, cat hunting.<\/p>\n
The cat wasn\u2019t behind the butcher\u2019s, but he told them to check down at the riverbank since the village cats sometimes clustered there, hoping for scraps from the daily fishers. Zaubi smiled and thanked him graciously.<\/p>\n
Fiona licked her lips, toying with the thought of asking Zaubi if she wanted to take a break. They could sit and talk and discuss\u2026 Cats. Maybe something else if Fiona could turn the subject\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cTo the river?\u201d Zaubi asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe river,\u201d Fiona found herself saying, before she could say anything else.<\/p>\n
It was for the best. Fairies were dangerous. No one with a lick of self-preservation would spend their morning trying to figure out how to flirt with one. Fiona motioned Zaubi to the path leading out of the village and towards the river.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo what\u2019s the party for?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHuh?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI noticed the pigs hanging in the butcher\u2019s. Seems like a lot for day-to-day life in a small village like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fiona nodded. \u201cOur midsummer festival starts in two days.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zaubi ran her hand along the yellow flowers bobbing along the river path. \u201cThat sounds like fun.\u201d \u201cI\u2019m sure it\u2019s nothing like a party in fairy land.\u201d<\/p>\n Zaubi picked a flower and rolled it in her fingers, finally tucking it behind her own ear. \u201cYou might be surprised. I never meet anyone new in fairy land.\u201d<\/p>\n From around the bend the song of flowing, burbling water rang out.<\/p>\n Fiona broke her gaze away from the flower and pulled her mind back from the thought of Zaubi\u2019s long fingers playing with the flower stem. \u201cWe\u2019re almost there.\u201d<\/p>\n There were no cats at the riverside.<\/p>\n In fact, the three women fishing said there had been no cats all day.<\/p>\n \u201cStrange,\u201d Fiona said.<\/p>\n Zaubi frowned. \u201cLet\u2019s try the midden? Middens attract a bit of magic.\u201d<\/p>\n An anxious feeling settled in Fiona\u2019s stomach, a worry she would disappoint Zaubi. There was fear in it, fear of fairies, of punishment, but also a silly desire to make Zaubi, this pretty fairy she had just met this morning, happy. It was a dangerous, foolish feeling. Dangerous in that fear was the more logical feeling, and the one she should be cultivating. Foolish\u2014she caught Zaubi\u2019s gaze for a moment and forgot why, exactly, it was foolish. All she could think about, as she led the way to the midden was that Zaubi could come with her to the festival.<\/p>\n The thick scent of rotting vegetables hung in the midden air, but there were no cats about.<\/p>\n Zaubi toed a scrap of turnip. \u201cIs there anywhere else?\u201d<\/p>\n Fiona started to suggest the gardens (there were always mice in the gardens and where there were mice it followed there would be cats) but then another voice interrupted her, small and mewling.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m late, I\u2019m late, I\u2019m late.\u201d<\/p>\n Fiona and Zaubi crept around a pile of broken furniture, waiting to be recycled into something new or firewood.<\/p>\n \u201cLast one!\u201d<\/p>\n A tail vanished into the pile. A moment later a tabby emerged with a kitten in her mouth. She made for the woods with her tail held high.<\/p>\n Fiona might have thought it strange that the village cats were speaking, but she was already traipsing around with a fairy.<\/p>\n Zaubi followed the cat.<\/p>\n Fiona followed Zaubi.<\/p>\n When they entered the woods, Zaubi\u2019s human appearance vanished, and Fiona caught her breath all over again. What would it be to be a fairy? To wear gowns of dew drops? To know Zaubi better? Sticks crunched under foot and the heady scent of loam filled the air. A breeze rustled the oak leaves. Fiona felt far from home. She felt like she was in Zaubi\u2019s realm.<\/p>\n \u201cBee!\u201d<\/p>\n There, in a clearing, were all the village cats. The tabby deposited her final kitten next to three others, all fluffy and fat. In the center of the circle of cats, was Fiona\u2019s cow, and next to her cow sat a regal winged cat, huge, with sleek, golden fur, flashing eyes, and fangs peeking from curling lips. Seeing the last kitten brought before her, Bee rose on hind legs and proceeded to milk Fiona\u2019s cow, squirting the milk into a chipped bowl and pushing this towards the kittens. Then she turned to Zaubi and Fiona, tail thrashing. \u201cZaubi! How dare you interrupt my congress of cats?\u201d<\/p>\n A meowing, hissing chatter went up from the gathered felines. Fiona could make out words here and there. None of them were happy.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s Queen Zaubi to you, and what in a moonlit fairy circle are you doing?\u201d Zaubi\u2019s wings went wide. Her hands rested on her hips.<\/p>\n \u201cLike I said, I\u2019m holding a congress of cats.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve taught them all to talk?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have given voices to the voiceless.\u201d<\/p>\n Another murmur went up. \u201cWe have demands. We have needs. We want changes.\u201d<\/p>\n The mother cat licked the fluffy, striped head of one of her four children. \u201cI want my kittens taken inside.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor each rat we catch, we should be given bits of fish,\u201d an orange cat said.<\/p>\n A calico stretched out. \u201cWhen we get old, we want to lay near your hearths.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cKids who throw stones at us should be punished.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCream every morning!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLet us in your beds. Let us keep you warm.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cVenerate us as gods!\u201d<\/p>\n A gust of wind shook the trees. \u201cEnough!\u201d Zaubi shouted, bringing quiet to the clearing. \u201cCan this be undone?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot by me.\u201d Bee raised a hind leg to scratch behind her ear.<\/p>\n The four kittens waddled over to Fiona. She knelt and scooped one up, a white and grey tabby. \u201cZaubi, what they want is fair.\u201d Fiona held the kitten out to the fairy queen.<\/p>\n \u201cFiona is wise,\u201d said the mother cat, licking her paw. \u201cShe always gives me cream.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHi!\u201d the kitten squeaked to Zaubi.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are cute.\u201d The fairy\u2019s eyes met Fiona\u2019s and softened.<\/p>\n Heat filled Fiona\u2019s heart, rushed through her blood, colored her cheeks. Heat and impulsiveness. She reached out and touched the strand of hair twined round Zaubi\u2019s finger. \u201cWhy don\u2019t you stay a little while, till the congress of cats concludes and all their demands are met? You could come to the festival?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWith you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWith me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d like that.\u201d Zaubi smiled.<\/p>\n The kitten purred. <\/p>\n A.P. Golub is a speculative fiction writer residing in central Virginia with their partner, dog, and three cats in varying states of domestication. They\u2019re a graduate of Viable Paradise writers\u2019 workshop and can be found on Twitter and Instagram as @andtatcat. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fiona was out in the dawn-lit, dew-decked meadow, calling her cow for the morning milking, when the fairy queen stepped from the forest. She wore spring waters and budding leaves, with her hair tightly curled upon her head and dotted through with delicate, pale flowers. She strode across the meadow towards Fiona, wings folded, a …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107927,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,14,20125],"tags":[20122],"class_list":["post-140248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction","category-publications","category-tcl-47-spring-2023-publications","tag-the-colored-lens-47-spring-2023","entry entry-center"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/107927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=140248"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":140250,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140248\/revisions\/140250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=140248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=140248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=140248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nIt is. You could come. Everyone thinks they know you.<\/em><\/p>\n