The Misty World of Arial Hollyberry

“Winter Procession” by David Delemare

Transporting the “faerie way” has a tendency to make me slightly dizzy, I think it has something to do with molecules rearranging…

We always arrive in the realm outside the palace, appearing  just at the bottom of the broad stairs that lead up to the ornate double doors of the royal home. Because this was a special occasion, and because Arial wanted to make her first visit to the newly arrived queen spectacular, she made sure that our whole entourage appeared right in the center of the Grand Hall. Personally, I thought it was because she was showing off for her mother, but she insists it was…”just for effect, in honor of Yule”.

The winter palace, as you would suspect, is made entirely of ice and snow. Every wall glistens. The floors are solid white and the color of choice is blue, every shade you can imagine. It sounds like a cold and foreboding place but I can assure you, it is just the opposite. Faerie magic is a wonderfully subtle thing, you can never trust your senses. What looks cold; is warm, and things that appear at a distance are actually closer than you suspect.  Now, standing in the middle of the winter palace, I was comfortably warm.

The pale ice blue walls were draped with long runs of spruce garland that were decorated with pine cones, holly berries, and snowdrop flowers.Fireflies added their own particular type of twinkle.  Two large oak trees stood sentinel at both sides of the dais, where, instead of one chair, four chairs sat. I had to ask. “Arial, what’s with the four chairs?” I pointed at the ornate stools, each carved with symbols depicting winter, spring, summer, and fall. Arial was busy greeting a steady flow of her faerie family. She looked very proud of her kind as she  turned to explained.”The Festival of Oak and Holly is the only time the four sitting queens are together. The Yule ball is the time for all four seasons of the Fae to come together and celebrate the coming year.”

I nodded and looked around me. The grand hall was quickly filling up with faeries of all types and sizes. Other magical beings where in attendance as well. Elendain and the elves from the elven-wood were here. The centaurs were represented by Serg. There were dwarfs and pixies, mermaids and dyads (the mermaids accommodated by the placement of large fountains down each side of the hall). The dyads pretty much stayed in the oak trees, only coming out to greet the occasional well wisher.  This party reminded me of the one I attended at Midsummer, only more lavish.

While marveling at my surroundings, I was surprised by a sudden flurry of faerie wings. Flashes of blue, yellow, red, and green obscured my sight. Four faeries whipped about my head in an excited frenzy. They were all talking in high tinkling voices at the same time, which made it hard to tell what was being said, it just sounded like a cacophony of jingle bells. Then it dawned on me, these were the first four faeries I ever saw! I held out my arms. Sunny, Bella, Pip, and Ferne all came to rest, two on each arm, wings fluttering wildly in their excitement . “Oh! my dear sweet friends! I am so glad you’re back! Pip, I do believe you’ve grown, and Sunny, are you still a relentless teaser?” Ferne, the plant lover of the bunch, glided up to tuck a sprig of holly behind my ear and gave me a quick peck on the cheek.

While we got caught up on the latest happenings, the lights dimmed and the huge crystal doors at the back of the hall swung open slowly. A path to the throne was made as the guests parted to make way for the procession of queens. As it turned out, I was on the front line after the throng of beings drew back to allow the queens passage. I could see them as they came down the aisle, stopping every once in a while to hug someone or share a few words. I noticed, as they made their way to where I was standing, that the people they stopped to speak with didn’t look at all magical.  I watched as Litha hugged a small woman just a few feet away. She looked up to see me gazing in their direction and offered a huge smile, then practically danced over to where I stood and wrapped her arms around my shoulders in a tight bear hug. I felt all warm and fuzzy inside. Glancing over I saw the small woman beaming approval and nodding. “Litha?, who is that woman, the one just over there.” I indicated with my head so that the petite little lady with thick wavy brown hair wouldn’t know I was asking about her. Litha turned and bent over as if to remove a speck of lint off of her gown, looking up briefly to see who I was talking about. “You will meet her. In the realm she is known as Sparkle, faerie blood flows in her veins too. She is very popular with the spring faeries, she loves bright colors.”

Before I could ask another question, Orlaith swept over to me with an air of “this one is mine” and took over the conversation. “Kind One, you look absolutely enchanting! This is your first Yule with us I think?” There was an undercurrent of tension between the queen of summer and the queen of winter, I thought, now I see why spring and fall have to separate the two, they are both very powerful in their own way. I hugged her. “Thank you, I can’t take credit, it was all Arial’s doing, you should be proud.” Orlaith took my face between both hands and kissed my forehead then stared at me intently, her blue eyes reaching deep into my soul. “I am proud of both my daughters.”

Did I just hear the queen of the frost faeries call me her daughter? Oh-my-gosh! I was stunned into silence. Orlaith moved down the path as people on either side bowed and curtsied. I started to make my way closer to Sparkle but was stopped by a dainty hand on my shoulder. It was Alina. She was standing, arm in arm, with another faerie I hadn’t met before. “Don’t go running off just yet! There is plenty of time to mingle. You need to meet Mab, the Queen of Autumn.”

The fall had been very short, or time just got away from me, and I realized that I hadn’t been to the palace when Mab reigned. “Your Highness.” I bowed my head and waited. Mab’s laugh was a lot like Orlaith’s, high and tinkly, but her manner was softer, more easy going. I guess that personality trait is a plus if you have to be the go between for Litha and Orlaith. Her hair was streaked gold and rust. She wore it shorter than the other queens and it had a unkempt wind blown look. The Autumn queen’s crown was a circular cornucopia. She was very steam-punk faerieish.

Mab lifted my chin with a finger. “I have a gift for you. If you don’t mind, would you honor me by gathering with the others at the entrance to the palace at midnight?” I promised that I would and as she moved away to take her place by the other three queens I wondered, what others?

The evening flew by (no pun intended). It was a blur of dancing and music, laughter and wonderful faerie food. Midnight bore down on me like a shooting star and as the time drew nearer I found myself filled with excitement. Who were “the others”? What was Mab’s gift? At five minutes to midnight I made my way to the arching crystal doors of the palace. I wasn’t the only one who was excited. When I arrived there were four others standing in a loose circle. Sparkle was there, she was speaking to a man with a pleasant face and easy going manner. The two other women were talking and laughing like they were old friends, one with thick shinning black hair, and the other with curly golden locks. They all turned to greet me, but before anyone could say anything, Mab appeared in a swirling bronze mist.

© Tami Ruesch, The Misty World of Arial Hollyberry, 2009.

Thanks to the miracle of video cameras and the talent of those bright beings who post their work, we can all visit the many wonderful festivals that take place throughout the summer. Here is just one of many…enjoy!
Faerie Stories

The Emerald Guard appeared at the ivy hedge as promised to escort us to the Mayday festivities. We could hear the bright music and the high tinkling laughter of the faeries echoing through the forest as soon as we past through the portal into the faerie realm,

The long rays of the sun shinning through the high canopy of branches made the spring leaves glow bright green. Pools of deep green shade made a nice backdrop for the long flower garlands the faeries had draped along the path leading to the meadow where Arial had instructed the maypole be placed.

I glanced around nervously, wondering if trolls were lurking in the underbrush. Almost on que, as if she could read my mind, Arial zipped out of the honeysuckle vines the were growing in a matted tangle at the base of a Hawthorne tree. “Good, good, you have come!” She was carrying a crown of flowers woven together with pastel ribbons. “We have taken a vote and it was unanimous, all the faeries have elected you to be the Queen of the May.

Bill and I exchanged a quizzical glance. “Just what exactly does that mean?” I had to ask, I wasn’t sure I wanted any surprises.

Cythia and a few more flower faeries joined us as Arial explained. “For the purpose of the Beltane celebration the Queen of the May acts as the physical form of Mother Earth and leads the parade around the court, accompanied by the green man, who symbolizes the spirit of the plant kingdom and the ever renewing cycle of life. The procession moves forward just as spring moves toward summer.”

“If I am the queen, who is the green man?” I looked from one faerie to another, squinting my eyes in a suspicious scowl. All the faeries burst into loud peals of laughter. The sight of these tiny beings rolling around on the ground, so to speak, in mid-air with their multi colored pastel skirts tumbling around their heads and their wings fluttering madly was too funny and I found myself grinning brightly.

“Kind One…” Arial held her side and tried hard to catch her breath. “The green man is the Green Man, he always has been. He lives in the trees and come out once a year signaling the return of the bright cycle of the year.”

I couldn’t wait to see the walking spirit of the plant kingdom. “Okay, I’ll do it. Lead on!” Arial and Cythia flew ahead of us as we walked down the path and out into a meadow. The maypole had been placed in the center and was tied at the top with long pastel streamers that were waving in the light breeze.

The sky above was thick with faeries, singing and playing flutes. I leaned close to Bill, “At least this will be more fun than turning into a cat!” He didn’t say anything, but put his arm around my shoulder and hugged me tightly. Cythia motioned for Bill to take a seat on some large purple pillows, after making sure that he had food and drink she helped Arial  place the flower wreath on my head and signaled the beginning of the procession.

Out of the forest behind us came a tall stately being, moving in slow, graceful strides. This was the Green Man. He was completely covered in leaves, his hands consisted of fine branches twined together forming fingers and his legs looked like young oak trees. He moved up beside me and stopped. After bowing to Cythia, he turned to face me. Without saying a word, he looked me over from head to foot then extended his arm for me to hold (I was having a very hard time keeping my mouth from hanging open). I took his arm and we began moving around the meadow, gradually moving faster as we approached  the center where the maypole stood. The faerie crowd was cheering and whistling. More than once I saw Arial at the edge of the group with a proud smile on her face.

As we reached the maypole, several faeries, the green man and I took a streamer and began dancing in and out, weaving around the pole as lively music played. When the streamers had been woven tightly around the maypole and we were all out of breath from laughing and  dancing, the green man turned to me and bowed politely. He plucked a willowy stem of leaves out of his chest and wove it into my hair then disappeared into the deep shadows of the forest, leaving me with the feeling that I had been dreaming.

I ran over to Bill. “Did you see that!? I was dancing with a living tree! Oh my gosh…pinch me, am I awake?” Bill looked at me with that same dreamy look in his eyes that he always gets when we are in the faerie realm. “Sure you’re awake” He smiled at me then and said…”Faeries!”

© Tami Ruesch, The Misty World of Arial Hollyberry, 2009.