Page 12 of Mushy Stuff
I cock my head, “Restroom? Do you need to rest?”
She gets a shy smile and blushes a little, then says, “No, I need to pee…to um…relieve myself.”
Ah, I see. I show her a place outside a little distance away from the cave where she can relieve herself. I stand by her to watch over her and keep her safe.
She gives me another shy smile and says, “Um, can I have a minute of privacy?”
This is curious to me. She is shy about relieving herself? She was not shy when she was naked and swimming, andshe certainly wasn’t shy when we were mating. Why would she be shy now? “We mated, why are you shy about this?”
She laughs nervously and says, “I don’t know, people are just shy about it. Most people see it as something gross.”
“But it is normal, and something everyone does. Why would it be gross?” I ask. She shrugs her shoulders and gives me a nervous look. Okay, if she is shy, then that is fine. “I will be just over here waiting for you.”
She sighs with relief and says, “Thank you” before stepping behind a large bush.
I walk a little distance away. I can still see her and scent her, but I suspect she doesn’t realize that.
Humans are strange creatures. I try to think of what I know about them. Until now, I’ve never been around them except for when they must be dealt with because they enter my territory. I have heard of the Elven taking humans as mates, or more likely stealing them and forcing them to be mates. But I do not know what comes of that. I do not know if children come from those matings. I try to remember back to when I was a child and lived at my birth mother’s. But humans were never to her taste.
Lydia interrupts my thoughts when she reappears from behind the bush. We walk back to the cave together and I take my cooking supplies outside.
There is a log from a felled tree that I moved near the cave ages ago. It’s a good place for us to sit while the food cooks, so I build the fire near it. Lydia perches on the log and watches me put the hoppers on a spit. Then I cook the mushrooms on a hot stone for her. When they are done cooking, I end up using my claws to hold the mushrooms for Lydia while she leans in to take a bite; they are too hot for her to hold.
She laughs and says, “I take it that you don’t get many guests.”
“No.”
She takes the mushroom from me once it’s cooled off enough for her. “This is really good, Wold. Thank you.”
We sit beside each other in companionable silence for a few minutes while the hoppers cook. Lydia breaks the silence. “Why are you all alone here? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“I am a Guardian, and this is my territory to protect, so I live here and protect it.”
“But what does that mean? What is a Guardian?”
I try to explain. “There are two main types of fae people, The Elven and the Guardians. The stories that humans tell of the fae are usually Elven. They are exceptionally beautiful, with very human-like features. They have pointed ears like these.” I gesture to my own ears. “There are alsoGuardians. Guardians are protectors of nature and magic. Humans that run across us usually call us monsters, because we are monstrous.” I gesture to my body.
Lydia grabs my hand and says, “Wold, you aren’t monstrous. You shouldn’t say that about yourself.” I give her a long look. “Okay fine, you are scary when you lurk in the shadows and all someone can see is your glowing eyes. But you aren’t a monster.” Then she clasps our hands together.
I smile at that, then I continue. “We have territories that we protect throughout the realm. We inherit them from our fathers.”
She says, “So this was your father’s territory? Did he die, is that how it passed to you?”
I rub the back of my neck. “Not exactly. This is the territory that my birth mother said was my father’s. She brought me here when I was old enough to care for it. At the time, my father was still alive. I do not know if he is anymore.”
She furrows her brow, and says, “You don’t know who your father is?”
I shake my head. “Not really. My birth mother is Elven. You see, over time many of the Elven have become corrupt and depraved. Some of them like to take Guardians…as their captive lovers. Usually the Guardian is captured and taken to the Elven’s estate. They live there in confinement and are forced to please the Elven that has captured them. My birth mother had several Guardians trapped at her estate. My father was one of them, but I’ve never met him.”
I take a deep breath and glance at Lydia to see how she is reacting to this, and she has a horrified look on her face.
I push on. “When my birth mother got pregnant, she had also taken a lot of Elven lovers. She hoped that I would be Elven like them. If she had known that I would be a Guardian, she would have destroyed me while I was still in her womb. When I was born…as soon as she saw me, she knew I was from one of the Guardians. I assume she knew which was my father because I bore his resemblance.”
“Oh my gods, Wold, that is horrible. I’m so sorry that your birth mother was like that.”
I nod an acknowledgement. “After I was born, my birth mother couldn’t risk killing a baby without repercussions, so she brought in a female Guardian as a nursemaid for me. That female fed me and changed me and raised me until I was 7 years old. She was more of a mother to me than my birth mother. My birth mother couldn’t wait to get rid of me though, so as soon as she thought I might be able to survive on my father’s territory, she brought me here and left me. My nursemaid fortunately convinced my birth mother to let her stay with me for a month to show me what I needed to do to survive here. She’s the one thattaught me everything I know. She helped me perform the magic to bind myself to my territory. She taught me to hunt, and how to build a shelter. She also taught me how to care for my territory with my magic. When the month was up, she had to go back to my birth mother’s home. Then I was alone.”
Lydia squeezes my hand, and I suddenly realize that she’s still holding it from earlier. “Oh Wold, your birth mother sounds awful. I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
