rowan

     Once upon a time, long long ago, there was a great and magical
forest known to the world as The Forest of Mayfair.  In this forest
there lived a multitude of creatures, most noteable among these, the 
faeries of Mayfair.  These faeries were mostly frivolous creatures,
passing their time at elaborate balls help by their Great Queen Maeve,
or they amused themselves by harassing hapless mortals lost in the
woods.  All different manner of fey haunted Mayfair: sprites, elves,
gnomes, satyrs and fauns, naiads, dryads, nymphs and pixies.
     
     One of these faeries was a particularly mischevious pixie named
Rowan.  She usually spent her days roaming Mayfair, tricking lost 
travellers and teasing the forest creatures, with the help of a sprite
named Azure.  They would chase the foxes, pull the ears of rabbits, 
and unstring the bows of careless hunters who entered the enchanted
woods, if they weren't too busy being rude at the faerie balls.
     
     On one of her solo adventures, Rowan stumbled across a mortal
resting by the brook that bubbled through Mayfair.  Smiling evilly
to herself, she though to make sport of the man, and invisibly crept
forward to crouch near his sleeping form.  Looking closely, she noted
he possessed a Victorian beauty that rivalled that of any of Maeve's 
numerous elven consorts.  Forgetting to hide herself from mortal view,
she reached down to smooth his curling mahogany tresses back from his
silken brow.
     
     As she touched him, he stirred from his slumber.  Rowan dashed 
off, frightened, but not before the man caught sight of the slight,
gaily-garbed, winged girl.  Blinking in disbelief, the man stood up
and looked around him, searching for a sign of the creature he had
just beheld.  But seeing nothing, he shrugged it off as a daydream and
gathered up his satchel, trudging off along the brook to where it left
the glade.  Little did he know that perched high up in the tree he had
been resting against sat Rowan, watching his departing form.

     Rowan spent much of her time thinking about the mortal she had 
found, and tried to Azure about him, but the sprite was much more
interested in taunting bunnies and hunters than listening to the inane
foolishness of her pixie compatriot.  However, the poor pixie had lost
interest in these games, and frequently found herself mooning about 
the glade, hoping the man would return.

                              +++++

     Seasons passed in the blink of an eye for the faerie denizens of
Mayfair, for the fey have no souls and are immortal, for all practical
purposes.  But every second stretched by as an eternity for Rowan, as
she haunted the glade, ignoring the pleas of her fey kindred to join
them in their revelries.

     And one joyous day, Rowan was rewarded for her tireless devotion,
for the man had returned to the glade.  Years had passed, but she did
not think he had changed all that much.  She, however, had become
rather waifish and bedraggled looking, and when she espied the mortal,
she allowed herself to be seen.  The man was so surprised to see her
materialize out of thin air that he almost fell into the bubbling
brook, finally seeing the creature he had thought a dream so long ago.

     As the years had passed, he had told no one of his vision, but 
had spent much time trying to sketch her to no avail, and now she was
standing before him, real as day. 
 
     Rowan became alarmed when he gasped and stumbled, and made to 
flee, but stopped when he requested that she stay.  Nervously, she 
stood there under his scrutiny, suddenly conscious of her dreadful
appearance.  But her fears were calmed down as he spoke to her, softly
telling her he was to be made king, and that he had come to the glade 
to say goodbye to his boyhood, and to perhaps dream of the faerie girl
of his youth.  He then itroduced himself as Trenton, and asked her 
name, which she gave, and then sat down when he beckoned her to.  And
thus began an impossible dream.

                             +++++

     In time, Trenton was duly crowned, but he still found time to 
slip away from royal duties and visit Rowan at the brook, where he 
would regale her with stories of court life, and bring her baubles
like the ladies of the court wore.  In return, she gave him flowers
and treasures from the forest.  Unwittingly, she also gave him her
heart.  Eventually, she became jealous of the time he spent at court,
and of the fancy things she could never dream of seeing, and she 
tried to fashion herself more like the nobles he had told her of, and
while Trenton was duly amused by her antics, he never truly understood
their significance.

     As the years passed, Trenton visited less and less, as he had 
taken a mortal bride as his queen, and had fathered many sons.  The
rigors of royal duty had caught up, and the price of kingship was
costlier than he had ever imagined.  Lacking his presence, Rowan 
became very lonely and depressed, so to entertain herself, she began 
attending the faerie balls with Azure, and played the games of so many
years before, but she never forgot her King.  And she most anxiously
awaited his brief visits, even though he no longer had the smooth brow
of his youth, and his dark hair was heavily threaded with silver.  The
change did not matter to Rowan though, for immortals are ageless, and
she didn't understand the basic tenets of mortality.  Death was simply
a concept beyond her grasp.  She had seen the grasses and the trees
grown brow and wither, only to return to life in the spring, vivacious
and youthful like her, immortal like her.

                                +++++

     More time passed, and Trenton stopped visiting all together, so
Rowan was forced to do the inconceivable.  She left behind her home
in Mayfair and travelled to the kingdom to seek her King.  When she 
arrived, Rowan found the palace as he had described it before, except
the halls were decked in black and the atmosphere of the place was
very somber, quite unlike the forest, which was gay and bright.  If 
she had held onto her heart, it would have begun to quicken, as she
worriedly roamed through the halls.  After much searching, she found
herself at the broad doors leading to the King's chambers, and let 
herself in, where she found a wizened old man on his deathbed.

     Trenton smiled tiredly when he saw Rowan, and knew that at last
his heart's desire had been fulfilled.  He could die in peace with 
Rowan at his side, for was a creature of fey not merely the earthly
manifestation of an angel?  But Rowan did not understand why Trenton
had not come to see her anymore.  Hadn't she devoted herself to him?
Hadn't she loved him more than she had loved herself?  Hadn't she 
given him her heart?  Yet, somehow when his hand grew cold in hers, 
she knew it was time to go home to Mayfair, far away from the realm
of man.

     So Rowan returned to the glade, and listened to the deathtoll 
knell as she sat under the tree by the brook, weeping.  As the tears
rolled down her child-like face and collected in her lap as pearls,
she did the only thing she knew to do.  She wished herself as gone as
her heart was.

                                 +++++

     Much much later, when Azure came looking for Rowan, she found a
small silvery sapling growing by the brook, and she knew she would 
not find her pixie companion.  Smiling sadly, Azure gently brushed the
leaves of the sapling with her silken fingers and whispered softly,
"I will call you Rowan."