500 Kingdoms 1 - The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey

Author:Mercedes Lackey
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: LUNA
Published: 2004-11-25T23:00:00+00:00

The ass was petrified with fear. All four legs were rigid, and his eyes practically bulged out of his head. His ears were flat down against his back, and he shook so hard it was almost comical.

Evidently Alexander had never seen a giant before, either.

“I don’t think this one’s likely to give me much trouble, Godmother,” Titch said, with a chuckle like thunder in the distance. “I reckon the easiest is to carry the two of you—him ’neath my arm, and you on my shoulder.”

And so it was; Titch knelt down and offered her his hand to step up onto; from there she got into a comfortable sitting position on his shoulder and took a good hold of his hair. He seized the trembling ass with both hands and tucked Alexander under his arm, and away they went, back down the path to her cottage. Each one of Titch’s strides covered a good thirty feet, so Elena reckoned that was probably how tall he was, since a man can usually stride the length of his own height when he’s in a hurry. It was a very good thing that she no longer had any difficulties with heights, though.

The giant’s hair was like strands of yarn, so it was easy to hold onto, and his broad shoulder made a surprisingly comfortable seat. He kept up a lively conversation with her as they walked, modulating his voice so as not to deafen her. She suspected that he must spend a reasonable amount of time around humans to be that sensitive about their needs, and a moment later, he confirmed that.

“And the wife says to me, ‘Titch,’ she says, ‘Your old mam’s getting creaky in her bones, and I’m not so young anymore. Can you find me a couple of human lasses and lads to help with the cleaning? They can get where I can’t.’ And Godmother Bella, she set us up with some lively folk that don’t mind living off in the beyond. Said they was tenant farmers turned out by the lord for havin’ sauce. ‘Sauce away,’ says I, ‘I like a man who’ll tell me what he thinks to me face!’ and we get on as right as rain.”

She hoped that Alexander was listening to this. It was the sort of thing he needed to hear. For here was a giant, a monster, giving help to humans who’d been dismissed, not because they hadn’t done their work and done it well, but for speaking their minds. And furthermore, this same giant approved of men speaking their minds.

Then again, at this point, he had probably passed out from fear.

Before they were home, Elena learned all about Titch, his half-deaf old mother, his wife of thirty years, the four humans who helped them tend house and the herds and the sheep themselves.

Now, sheep don’t live in forests, they live in grasslands, and Elena finally asked Titch what had brought him down into Phaelin’s Wood.

“Oh,” he replied, “That’s no secret. Got a bargain with the Elves; when there’s a storm I clear deadfall and leave it in four special places.

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