Eversleigh waved Aelfric to a chair. “You and Lord Matlock have some acquaintances in common. He is father to Colonel Fitzwilliam and Lady Frederica, whom you know as Marigold Meadowsweet, and he also knows Miss Bennet. She is a half-sister of Aelfric’s. It is a pity English has no term for the person who is my half-brother’s half-sister, don’t you think?”
“I had not realized Miss Bennet had fay kin,” said Lord Matlock, sounding displeased.
“Neither did she until a few days ago. She was quite astonished,” said Eversleigh lightly. “Do you have any questions for Aelfric? The Sidhe are more direct and abrupt than we are, so he will appreciate equal directness.”
Lord Matlock shifted in his seat. “Er... Are there many of the Sidhe?”
Aelfric said, “I believe there are nearly two hundred. And sixty Sidhe horses.”
“So few! In the stories it always seemed as if there werethousands.”
“There have never been thousands, but our numbers were greater long ago, when my father was a young man. Until my birth, it had been some fifty years since the last Sidhe was born.”
“The reason for the decrease,” interjected Eversleigh wryly, “which Lord Matlock is too polite to ask but is no doubt desperate to know, is the reduced contact between our two worlds. Sidhe are born of a union between a Sidhe and a mortal. Most such couplings lead to a mortal mage, but occasionally a Sidhe is born.”
“A mortal mage? But not a mortal without magic?”
“Of course not,” said Aelfric, sounding surprised by this lack of knowledge. “Your magic is a sign of fay blood. Those with no fay blood will never have magic. A half Sidhe will always have magic.”
Eversleigh smothered a smile. “Yes, I am afraid all the pure Norman bloodlines of our mages have been polluted.”
“That would be great shock to many in the Collegium,” said Lord Matlock faintly.
“Still, Sidhe magic is rather different from ours,” said Eversleigh. “Aelfric, would you be so kind as to display some Sidhe magic for Lord Matlock? He was surprised to learn that apples could be created rather than grown.”
Aelfric looked at his brother dubiously, but he obediently put out his hand. A shiny red apple appeared on it. He set it on the tea table and methodically produced a pear, a peach, three strawberries, and a cluster of grapes to accompany it.
Lord Matlock reached out a finger and touched one of the strawberries. “And you can eat these?”
Eversleigh leaned forward and popped one of the grapes in his mouth. “They are perfectly edible. They taste delicious and will quench your hunger, but they will not nourish you. If you ate nothing else, you would eventually starve to death. Nourishing food must be grown fromthe earth.”
“Still, the possibilities... Can you do this as well, Eversleigh?”
“Create fruit? Alas, no, that is a Sidhe skill.”
“Can you create anything you want, Prince Aelfric?” Lord Matlock asked.
“No. Nothing that comes from inside the earth, such as metal or jewels. Only things that grow or are made of things that grow. Except silver filigree. We can make that as long as we carry silver.” He touched his filigree wrist cuffs. “Now may I go to the breeder?”
Eversleigh laughed. “Yes, you may go to your precious horses, pest! If Colonel Fitzwilliam is agreeable, of course.”
Richard tore his eyes from the impossible fruit and shook his head in disbelief. “Certainly.”
“Then let’s go!”
“You may have the bills sent to me,” said Eversleigh dryly. “No Faerie gold that will turn into leaves overnight. Fitzwilliam, if you would be so kind, do attempt to keep Aelfric from bankrupting me.”
Aelfric’s eyes lit up. “Two mares. May I get two mares? Or perhaps three?”
“Three mares and not a single one more. Besides, you will have to take them through the rings, so you do not want an entire herd.”
Aelfric’s expression suggested that he did indeed want an entire herd, but he said nothing more as he and Richard departed.
“My apologies for Aelfric’s abrupt behavior,” said Eversleigh. “His youth is showing.”
“How old is he?” asked Lord Matlock, still staring at the fruit the Sidhe had created.
“They do not celebrate birthdays in Faerie, but I would guess he is in his early twenties. The Sidhe grow to manhood quickly, in perhaps ten years, and then they remain at the same apparent age until they enter their decline, which is also rapid. Their behavior changes, they begin toage, and are dead within a few years. Usually they retire from society when the changes begin.”
