When Mircea finally showed up she made the discovery that she was, in fact, the rodent they were yelling about. “Rude,” the muffled yelling came but not one could understand her since she had a strong grip on the strawberry. There were more muffled screams as Mircea got the strawberry away from her. Finally, she let it go and she rubbed her face. “I’m fine.” Her tail wagged a bit up at him but her ears were back since she was in trouble.

“I smelled something good and I wanted to taste test. I’m always hungry Mircea.” Her tail wagged a bit and she looked up at him with a smile. “I didn’t know we had to pay for it. We borrow it.” Borrow was a light term since food could not be returned.

Mielikki jumped down into the pie and she began to finish the pie in record time. She licked her hands and her arms and looked up at Mircea after a few minutes. “I’m all done with this one. The others can wait for us to get home.” She was all dirty though and no shopkeep would let her in.

“You should bathe her in the fountain that the kids use.” The screams had drawn one of the queens and she had fair golden hair. “Mischievous little thing.” She pat Mielikki on the head and handed Mircea a handkerchief. “Here, clean her up with this in the fountain.”

The queen left them and Mielikki wagged her tail. “She’s a nice lady. TIME FOR A BATH!” She lifted her arms up to him not that he could pick her up like that easily. She would have to ride in the palm of his hand.

"Is that so?" He said in an amused tone, though his smile seemed more like a pained grimace near the ends of his mouth. Mircea understood that he would need to maintain a greater vigilance when Mielikki was with him, especially since her concept of 'borrowing' was very loose. A beautiful blonde woman who he assumed had seen the fiasco kindly suggested he help the sprite clean herself off in one of the nearby fountains. The handkerchief she gave him felt like silk, and there was a faint rose fragrance from it. "Ah, thank you." Before he could ask the woman for her name Mielikki was already eager to wash the blueberry sauce off herself, and he sighed. It was hard to be upset when she was so genuinely happy. He would need to find out who the blonde woman was so he could return the handkerchief once he had it cleaned. 

"Come onto my hand, try as I might you would slip through my fingers." She had already slipped through them earlier even before she was smothered in sweetened juice, but he kept that little tidbit to himself. Coming over to the fountain he held her close so she could rinse herself thoroughly. Once all traces of blueberry were out of her clothes and hair, he patted her dry with the handkerchief. "Just a moment." He let her down on the fountain's edge while he wrung out the water so she could use it again as a towel. Any residual water he removed with careful use of his magic. Now that she was sparkling clean, he had less to fear if she traipsed about in the cloth shop. "Well now that you've had a little bit to eat, why don't we see the fabrics? You can pick whatever you like, just as promised." 

The store wasn't large by his standards but to her it would be. Rolls upon rolls of cloth in all sorts of patterns were aligned on the shelves by color. There was yarn, buttons, and many other sewing implements. Greeting the owner, he asked her if he could see the smallest buttons they had. As the lady went to check the backroom, he held up Mielikki to browse the selection of fabrics while he waited. "Whenever you see one you like, I'll stop and let you have a closer look. There are many textures available this time of year, occasionally they will have brocaded silk too but those normally aren't on display. You would have to ask for them to show the bolts to you." 

Mielikki climbed into his hand as they made their way to the fountain. It amused her as she jumped into the puddles and even splashed water towards Mircea. “This is fun!” She cleaned herself diligently not leaving a speck of dirt on her. It appeared like forest spirits liked to be clean when their mischief was over. Her little deer tail moved rapidly as he dried her off and it made it hard to dry. Her blonde hair was poofed out because of the heat but she didn’t seem to mind it.

She dried herself off once more with the handkerchief and handed it back before they were on their way. “Okay! That sounds fun!” Mielikki was excited as they moved into the fabric shop. She found some silk that felt nice to her and she started to put the corner of it into her mouth. Mircea stopped her and explained that it wasn’t edible. “Oh. Okay. I’m sorry.” She spit it out and patted an orange silk. “This one. I like this one… and that blue one that feels weird.” The other one was a plain blue cotton fabric.

Still, she had him stop at every fabric so she could feel like. Turns out she liked silk the best since it was so soft and smooth to her. It actually sent shivers up her tail which Mircea could watch as she worked. Once the buttons were brought out she put one in her mouth and he promptly made her spit it out. “That’s not edible either? I’ve never seen them before.”

“What is brocaded silk?” She wagged her tail as the conversation came back around to what he told her. When the lady showed her a black with gold designs she wagged her tail and patted it too. “I like this one too Mircea.”

“I might have tiny flowers that are fake for her hair… if she won’t eat them.” The shopkeep brought out some tiny buds. “You can put them in her hair.”

Mielikki started to wag her tail fiercely. “Really?”

“If he braids your hair I think it would be adorable.”

Mielikki looked up at Mircea with big eyes. “Can you do my hair too?”

It was her first time in a shop like this, as she was touching every one as they passed. He gasped a little when she tried to eat a corner, but when she learned it wasn't something she should eat she stopped. In their browsing she selected bright orange silk and a soft blue cotton fabric. He told the owner he wished to buy a bolt of each along with the buttons she had brought, which were small enough to where Mielikki could use them. Ever curious, Mielikki asked what brocaded silk was and she was shown the rich fabric embroidered with gold thread. She decided she wanted it too so three bolts were the total, one of each. Keen to the sprite's enthusiasm the owner suggested some small decorative fake flowers to use as hair accessories. When he saw them, he had to agree. They were just small enough and they were perfect. Mielikki was a forest sprite and the little buds would go so well with her tiny antlers. "Can you do my hair too?" Her big golden eyes looked up, shining. 

"Yes, of course! As long as you sit still for a bit, then I can. I will need your help to tie the braids so they don't unravel though." Adding a few more thimbles and a skein of yarn to the purchases, they had finished everything they had to do here. Before saying goodbye, he had a thought. Taking out the cleaned and now dried handkerchief he received from that kind stranger, he asked the fabric shop owner if she knew anything about who this belonged to. "Oh! Is that–" She noticed he didn't realize who it belonged to so she smiled and didn't tell him directly. "Yes, I know where you can find her house. Just follow these directions, and you should see it. Thank you for your business, and I can't wait to see what you make for your little friend." They followed them until they arrived at a large manor, and he stood for a few moments amazed at the grand building. This lady must be someone very important, but he was yet to learn just how important in a moment. Knocking on the door, he mentally rehearsed what he would say when he saw the lady while returning the handkerchief. 

It was a pity he didn't have anything suitable as a thank you gift. Hopefully she hadn't seen what trouble Mielikki had gotten herself into back in the market firsthand. Light gray clouds were forming overhead as he thought of it. Even if the sprite wasn't embarrassed the rain spirit was, just a little.

Mielikki nodded fiercely her butt moved just as much as her tail did. She would have to calm down long enough to have the braids done in the first place. “I’ll try my best Mircea.”

Once they saw the big house Mielikki was in utter aw of it. She was all over Mircea’s shoulders as she looked at the building. She even sniped one of the flowers she saw and was chewing on it. Just one wouldn’t hurt and she looked at Mircea with the flower already in her mouth. “Chewy.”

She spit it out because she didn’t like the texture. Finally, something she wouldn’t eat. The door opened and it was a housekeeper. “Please come in.” Once they saw the handkerchief she bowed and went to fetch the lady of the house.

Mielikki’s tail was going crazy as the beautiful blonde-haired woman came down the stairs with a red-haired man holding her arm. “Well, if it isn’t my new little friend from the market place.” She reached out and patted the small deer woman’s head. “Did you enjoy yourself?”

“It was the best pie I’ve ever had.” Mielikki sounded so happy.

“That’s good.” Lily smiled and looked up at Mircea. “You didn’t need to trouble yourself bringing it back. Really but thank you.” She took it gently. “My name is Lily and I’m one of the five rulers of this city… This is my spouse Auron.”

Mielikki blushed a little and got all excited as she climbed up on Mircea’s head using his hair. “YOU ARE A QUEEN?!”

“Yes, I am little one… What is your friend’s and your name?”

“I AM MIELIKKI AND THIS IS MIRCEA!” Then it dawned on her as she tugged on Mircea. “Let me into your hand at their level.” Once she was on their level she turned around and shook her butt at them. “I AM NOT A RODENT. I am a deer.” She toucded her antlers and Lily laughed with a full heart.

“How dare you be mistaken for a rodent… a beautiful deer you are.”

Mielikki blushed more and jumped up and down in her hands. “I like her Mircea! Can we be her friends too?”

Mircea's eyes were wide in shock when the lady introduced herself as one of Arri's five queens. Oh no. If she had seen them in the market, then that meant she likely knew all about him fishing Mielikki out of the pie smothered in filling. As he was stunned speechless, Mielikki cheerfully gave more details that he wished she hadn't. His face was pink on his cheeks and he lowered his eyes out of courtesy. "No, the pleasure was mine milady." He also gave a slight bow to Auron. Outside the rumble of incoming thunderclouds were heard before the drip drip drip of rain started to fall. His little friend's amazement at this discovery made the rain outside pour harder, and the city saw a brief rain shower as his embarrassment grew. Mielikki's confidence was bright like the morning sun as she insisted that she was a deer and not a rodent–clearly upset at the stall vendor's mistake.

She wiggled her tail and proudly showed off her antlers as she stood on his hand. She was a charming little being, there was no doubt about it. "I like her Mircea! Can we be her friends too?" Stunned, it took the rain spirit a few moments to grasp this before smiling down at her. "Y-yes, of course we can Mielikki." The rain outside began to let up once his heart stopped beating so fast. Auron raised an eyebrow at the energetic sprite. "She's a lively one isn't she?" Mircea's mind was drawing blanks while Mielikki was having fun. "I apologize for the mess earlier, I should have kept a closer eye on her. This is her first time seeing Sularia." He was careful to avoid mentioning too much about the city's most famous attractions–namely the rose gardens. If what his garden's fate had taught him anything, it was that her curiosity and appetite were forces to be reckoned with. 

They had only known each other for less than a day yet it seemed as if she was completely attached to him. It was a perplexing situation, but the little deer-sprite was too endearing. The experience of being with someone with such energy was something he had forgotten after so long. But here they were, meeting one of the Queens of Arri while he had a bundle of purchases in hand.

“Please, Mircea call me Lily.” Lily was endeared by both of them. Their pairing was an odd one but they seemed to work.

Mielikki seemed excited at the prospect of having yet another friend. Mircea was her first friend she ever had that wasn’t about to kill her. Her tail wagged with excitement and Lily was giggling.

“Oh, it’s no problem. Believe me, my kin cause more problems than little Mielikki. Tell me Mielikki how old are you?”

“I’ve seen twenty-seven Terras.”

“A beautiful adult doe I see.” Lily smiled a bit more and Mielikki wagged her tail some more at the compliment. “Mielikki do you want your fortune told?”

“Fortune?”

“Yes, you see I have the ability to divine your future a little.”

“PLEASE! I want to know if I will die partying like my ancestors!” It took Lily back a little but forest spirits were always a little different.

She motioned for the group to sit down as she got out some tarot cards. She shuffled the deck and placed out a series of cards. “Are you ready Mielikki.”

“YES!” The forest spirit got down on her hands and knees on Mircea’s hand as she watched the cards be flipped.

“You will not die partying, however… Love is in your fortune.” Mielikki’s ears went back but then forward as she listened. “You will have a family and live out your days in a wonderful garden.” Lily pointed out the pictures as she went. “You will be married too.”

“I don’t want to leave Mircea.”

“Oh, the cards don’t say if you do or don’t Mielikki. That is up to you.” Lily shuffled up the cards and laid more out. “Now for Mircea.” More deer tail waggles as Lily laid the cards out. “Mircea… The answer to your problem is closer than you realize… Also in the not so distant future, you will find a wife and have children of your own.” Lily chuckled a bit as she looked at the two of them. "How curious that both of you are destined for the same things."

Mielikki looked up at Mircea and smiled a bit. "Do I marry Mircea?"

"Who knows little Mielikki but a marriage is to someone that you never want to be apart from."

"I NEVER WANT TO BE APART FROM MIRCEA EVER!" The little deer woman proclaimed.

Only twenty seven years of age? Mircea was again surprised. He thought Mielikki was much younger from her sunny disposition and bold personality. He was never good with ages, and since she was so small he had assumed she was young. Mielikki particularly enjoyed Lily's compliments with her happiness plain to see. Auron watched them both with amusement, and that was when Lily asked the sprite if she wanted to have her fortune told. To have your future divined by one of the five queens was a great honor that anyone could receive, and the rain spirit kept quiet as the queen turned over the cards. Mielikki's question as to whether she would die partying like her ancestors as quite shocking, and he began to wonder how often death occurred for her to see it as such a casual thing. Her mother had perished during such parties yet she didn't seem upset. 

Mielikki's fortune was a good one, and Mircea was relieved she wouldn't die in such a rash way. She would live safely in a garden, and he assumed it was his. He wondered if her kin would come to visit soon, or others of her kind. Then it came for his turn. The cards were shuffled and laid out, and he listened with full attention to the queen's words. As she did so a thought came to mind. There was a small hope inside of him as she did the reading; for years following his master's untimely death he had struggled and searched for a way to remove what bound him to the man's service even after death. With the way the spirit contract had been written, Mircea was unable to tell others about his predicament. If he tried to explain in writing his hands froze, his tongue tied the moment he tried to give even the subtlest of hints. One possible way was to create a cipher and coded message, but not many would be willing or knowledgeable enough to know what he wanted.

"The answer to your problem is closer than you realize…" Those words meant the world to him. For a heart who had nearly resigned itself to a bound fate, it meant that there was a chance, a possibility that he could be freed. There was a way, and it was close. And once he was free, he could have a family. He wouldn't have to be alone again. 

Mielikki interrupted his train of thought with a direct question if she would marry him. The queen replied indirectly, explaining a bit on what marriage was and how it was something quite special. When you held special feelings for a special person you never wished to part with, that was the unique bond formed by love. And what the forest sprite shouted next made heads turn: "I NEVER WANT TO BE APART FROM MIRCEA EVER!" The rain which had stopped started again, his face flushed and cheeks warm. "Mielikki, are you sure about this? We've only just met after all." They hadn't even known each other for a whole day yet she was declaring she wanted to stay with him forever. It was hard for him to believe it, not because he had no confidence but because… Because the last person he had promised to stay with forever was no longer alive. Even though that person seemed to despise him, he had wholeheartedly promised such a thing long ago. 

Even though he was willing to stay with someone forever, they didn't always stay with him. 

Mielikki’s tail wagged a bit. “Why wouldn’t I be sure? I like you and I like your garden… Isn’t that enough?” It was a surprisingly mature answer that showed how old she actually was.

Lily took Auron’s hand and smiled at him. “Sometimes Mircea… You just know and you can fall in love with someone very easily. Isn’t that right Auron?” Though it did take them a little bit to admit it. The little forest spirit was ready to give him her whole heart right out of the gate.

“WELL, I LOVE MIRCEA THEN.” The little spirit yelled as she looked up at the rain spirit and smiled. “Forever!”

Lily got up and went off somewhere before coming back with a small rainbow-looking plant with lots of leaves. “Now, this is my present to you but you can’t eat it yet. You have to let it mature on the night of the full moon a few days from now. Once it does you can only eat half of a leaf… Do you understand?”

Mielikki’s eyes were big and she nodded fiercely. “What does it do?”

“It’s a surprise. Just make sure you take care of it… Okay? If you really want to marry Mircea… You should wait and see how you feel about him when you eat it.”

The little forest spirit nodded. Lily waved her good-byes to them and they went home together. He made her all sorts of dresses after that.

On the night of the full moon, she found her way out of the house to where she had Mircea put the rainbow plant. She wasn’t about to wait any longer to taste it. She ate only half a leaf before she found she didn’t feel any different. She went back inside, climbed up into Mircea’s bed, and passed out on the pillow next to him.

Though his wasn't able to show it, those simple words of hers touched his heart. After years of always barely meeting ever-changing, sometimes impossible standards–being liked for something that didn't require change was wonderful. It wasn't because of what he could do or what he did, he was liked for himself. For so long Mircea had been the one giving that he was thrown completely off-guard when someone now was doing the same for him. He picked her up and gave her as much of a hug as he could for their size differences. Even if he couldn't say the words aloud he was more than happy. Lily then gave Mielikki another gift, something that definitely fit her well. It was a curious plant with foliage that rivaled the rainbow. There was plenty of leaves now but with her appetite it might not last very long.

The Queen of the Yellow Court gave the sprite a few instructions on this plant. She couldn't eat it just yet; after the full moon passed it would be fully mature and then it could be eaten. However, only half a leaf could be consumed at a time. The instructions were very specific but what exactly this plant did was a mystery. Mircea's mind had wandered off to other places at this point so he missed the latter half of what Lily imparted to Mielikki. They said their goodbyes and arrived back to the estate safe and sound. While their meals were cooking, the rain spirit thought of what sort of clothes would best suit the lively little sprite. In between he was busy making clothes for various occasions for her. Clothes easy for her to move in, clothes for sleeping, pillows and tiny padded quilts so she could lounge anywhere she wished. The buttons he bought were put to use, but when those ran out he began to work on making ones out of braided cord. These were Karithian style, ones that were less likely to tear off because they were made of soft thread. Working on something so small was time-consuming but a relaxing break from his usual routine.

In the next few nights he tossed and turned as Mielikki's bold confession echoed in his mind. Rain pelted the garden and house in bouts, leaving spots damp and muddy. Moss began to grow more than usual and soon even the rocks were coated in a vivid green layer. When she tried on what he made for her it was a joy to see how much she liked them. The black brocaded silk was reserved for special dresses, things she could wear if she wanted something fancy. The tiny fake flowers were added to give those dresses more flair and he had created a few decorated sashes for her to wear as scarves or belts for style. Winding threads into cords gave her something to tie her braids with. He had even found a few stray beads in his drawers to use as additional ornaments. 

With his poor sleep prior, he was sleeping quite soundly that night when Mielikki ate her first half of a leaf. So when daybreak was approaching, he shifted and stretched his arm only to land on something instead of empty air. Something was off. Wearily he opened his eyes to find his face covered by hair that wasn't his. Confused, he tried to brush it away only to find a face very close to his own. Honey gold eyes opened and looked back causing Mircea to jerk backwards. With a startled cry, he accidentally backed himself off the bed with a thud! What was that?! Who was that? What was going on?