Along the king's highway, among the edge of the tree line, a small fairy flitted her way between the scraggly firs and majestic spruce. At first glance, it appeared she had no particular destination in mind. She kept stopping every so often, perched on a branch and looked expectantly toward the road a few moments then then took off again. As she steadily made her way south, she soon spotted a dot moving toward her in the distance. Landing once again on the edge of a branch, she sat and kicked her dangling legs, waiting for the dot to move closer.
Nearing a suitable distance, the outline of a wagon soon came into view, a merchant's cart pulled by an old bay horse. Four wheels with thick spokes carried tall sideboards forming an enclosed box. In that box tied down with ropes so they wouldn't jostle were thick kegs, large burlap sacks, a few bundles of animal skins, and other things she didn't recognize. In front of this assortment of goods in the box seat of this buckboard style wagon sat a human, male, maybe in his late twenties, early thirties.
His clothing was of mid quality, higher than the typical workman could afford, but not so gaudy as the high-class nobility was prone to flaunt. A simple utilitarian pair of mud stained thick soled riding boots adorned his feet. A protective leather sleeveless tunic covered a soft cotton white undershirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows.
A bandolier secured to a black belt held a high-quality dagger and pouches of varying size containing receipts, ink, quills and parchment.
Draped along the backrest of the seat next to him was a long black cloak with animal fur adorning the hood and shoulders, emblazoned with the symbol of his employment: a pair of scales atop a cornucopia of merchandise found throughout the region.
He was of lean, yet sturdy frame, clean shaven with short cropped hair. Grayish blue eyes looked ahead unseeing, daydreaming, maybe of more interesting things than sitting, slowly waiting for the miles to pass.
The fairy looked poised to move toward the wagon, assessing its contents, the man and his horse. Making up her mind, she bee-lined straight for the wagon. With nervous excitement, she alighted on the seat next to the driver.
"Hello human. What's your name?"
The driver jumped, looking around, startled. His eyes landed on the diminutive occupant next to him. She appeared to be about six or seven inches tall. Four pairs of translucent wings dotted her back, glimmering with each slight movement, bending the light into a cavalcade of soft rainbows. She wore a small transparent cloak of Arachne silk interwoven with green vine patterns.
Sitting upon her brow was a wreath of white 'pearly-everlastings'; a type of flower that grows in cold climates. Her hair was black with two thick braids, one behind each of her pointed ears, the rest was free flowing fanning down to her mid-back. Two tiny violet clematis flower petals draped down over her larger than expected breasts like little flaps hiding her nipples but doing nothing to conceal the sides.
Her midriff was bare with a dress composed of four of the same type of petals but larger, hung down to her knees. They covered her front, back and sides but left a gap between, offering a flirty view of her proportioned thighs. Her tiny feet were covered with nearly translucent stockings made of possibly the same material as the cloak, dyed slightly white.
Her complexion was of a person who enjoyed spending just enough time outdoors to be sun-kissed but not enough for a tan; in other words, ruddy. A smattering of freckles powdered the bridge of a cute button nose. She carried two medium packed satchels under each arm, hanging from her shoulders.
She looked him up and down with an intensely energetic inquisitiveness, as if she was assessing his worth.
She looked nothing like the stories he'd heard or seen in picture books. She wasn't fair skinned and twig thin. If he'd have to use three words to describe her they'd be: adorable, hardy, cuddly.
Impatient, playful amethyst eyes stared at him, awaiting an answer. Blinking several times to make sure he wasn't still daydreaming, he reflexively answered her question:
"Um, hello? I'm Devin Ebonplume, a traveling merchant."
She broke into a smile and started barraging Devin with what sounded like her life story:
"himynameisAzaleaandIfinallycameofageandleftmyhomeonajourneytofindalifematebutI'mnotsuresurehowand..."
"Whoa, hold on." Devin cut in. "Slow down, start from the beginning at a slower pace, please.
"Sorry." Azalea said sheepishly. "It's been awhile since I've talked to someone. My name is Azalea Nymfewood. I've left my village in search of a life-mate. I believe I may have found one but I'm uncertain if they will accept it and how to go about broaching the subject."
Still trying to come to terms that a real fairy was having a dialogue with him randomly out of the blue, and about her future love life no less; being curious (and insanely bored) a conversation might help pass the time.
Devin thought for a moment. "If I may suggest, maybe just start with casual conversation, ask about hobbies, interests, maybe what you or they want out of the relationship. Get to know them."
Azalea sat down cross-legged, her dress fanning out around her.
"Good idea!" She exclaimed. "So, what hobbies do you have?"
"Well, I enjoy..."
Devin began, then paused.
"Wait a minute." Maybe he was sluggish from the late lunch he had and from sitting in the sun all day. "This life-mate you're referring to," Devin began slowly, "it wouldn't happen to be me would it?"
"Yup! Who else would it be about, silly?"
There was a slightly awkward silence as Devin processed this information. Devin assumed she was talking about a boy fairy.
"Is...is this common amongst your kind?" Devin asked.
"Hmm, I wouldn't say it's common, but it's not exactly rare either. My mother married a piglin," she answered as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
Another awkward silence as Devin tried to figure out what in the world this conversation had divulged into.
How would that kind of relationship work? Thinking of the most blaring and maybe obvious problem first: "Forgive my ignorance." Isn't there, ya know, a slight size problem among, um, a pairing like that?" He queried.
