October Prompted Fiction: Fae School Collection: The Acalica: 518 words

[k_a_webb]

Written for forgottenspirits's prompt about the Acalica, a group of Bolivian weather fae.

Frost was busy plaiting Hail's hair when Rain walked in. As usual after a rainstorm Rain's plait had come undone and her long hair was only being tamed by the water. Sometimes she wondered whether she should cut her hair, but she knew she'd miss it if she did. Her hair had been long ever since they had chosen to become weather fae in the hope that they would all be kept together. That had been before they'd had to leave their old home, so it held a lot of memories. Not all the memories were good, especially those from before the move, but that didn't mean she wanted to get rid of them. 

“Did you have a good time?” Hail asked, dragging Rain out of her thoughts.

“Being out in the rain was nice and it does seem like it's getting cleaner.”

“That's good.”

Frost glanced over. “Did anyone see you?” he asked.

Rain shook her head. “No human would want to be out in that weather.” She sighed. “I'm sure the glamour worked though.”

“What if it didn't? The last thing I want is for someone to find out that you're female.”

“Frost, it will be fine. You're good at glamours.”

“I don't want to take chances.” He looked back at Hail's hair. “Maybe I should go to Alder and see if he can make sure that I've done it right.”

“Even if someone does see me, what difference is it going to make? They already believe that we're wizened old men.”

“I need to keep you and Hail safe from humans who might think that female fae are an easy target.” He looked back at Rain. “You're my only sisters now and I'm not going to let anything happen to you.”

“You're worrying about nothing. The glamour will have worked in the same way that it worked when Alder first did it.”

“Alder was always stronger than me, Rain.”

“We don't need Alder.” She stepped forwards and touched her older brother's shoulder. “Even if you don't believe that you have the ability to make as good as glamour as him I do. If anyone sees us they will see the same thing they always have.”

Frost bit his lip. “I worry.”

“Nothing will change that. You have two sisters.”

“You're right there, but it's important to me that you're safe.”

Rain looked at Hail and then at Frost. “Someday Hail and I are going to want to have children, so you'll have to trust that we can keep ourselves safe. We are old enough to.”

Frost opened his mouth and then closed it again. “I know, Rain, but it's hard.”

Hail reached out and took Rain's hand. “Nothing is going to happen to us, Frost,” Hail said. “We were taught to defend ourselves and we will use that training if we have to.”

“I don't want to lose you.”

Rain smiled at Hail. “You're not going to lose us. Give it some time and you'll have gained some nieces and nephews instead.”

“Someday you might want children of your own, Frost,” Hail suggested, smiling back.

© K A Jones 2011

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

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[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I am keenly interested in obscure fey from different cultures, and would enjoy seeing more. I think this story is a nice self-contained example of such.

No typos found.