“That’s actually two questions, but I’ll let it slide this time,” said the fairy, taking another lick of jam. “As for ‘where’ she is, I can’t really tell you. See, a long time ago, even for us Fae, Mealla cast some potent protection spells around her home. It’s possible to find it on accident, but to just go there? I don’t think even the royal family could, not that they’d risk it. So, to just ‘find’ Mealla on purpose is impossible.”

“That can’t be!” said Eibhlin. “I have to—”

“Don’t interrupt. So inconsiderate! Anyway, I can’t tell you ‘where’ Mealla is exactly, but I can tell you how to get there,” said the fairy.

“But didn’t you—You just said finding her on purpose is impossible,” said Eibhlin.

The fairy huffed. “Interruptions. Interruptions. Do you want answers or not? As I was about to say, it’s impossible unless you follow certain steps.”

“Steps?” asked Eibhlin.

“Second question,” said the fairy, to which Eibhlin mentally cursed herself. The fairy continued, “You need to use a certain fairy door that goes straight to her home, and for that you’ll need three keys. Special fairy keys Mealla made. After making them, though, Mealla hid them in the Mortal Realm, and only she knows where they all are or where the door is. I do know where to look for one of the keys, though, if the rumors are true.”

“Really? Where?’ said Eibhlin.

“Far away, in a place too far to reach in a season on foot,” said the fairy.

“Can’t you be more specific?” cried Eibhlin. “And what am I supposed to do after that? Search the world for keys when I don’t even know where to start?”

“Not my problem. I’ve already answered three questions. Our business is finished,” the fairy said.

Eibhlin said, “Wait! Isn’t there anything else you know? I’ll trade for it. I have to find Mealla.”

With a sidelong glance, the fairy sighed and said, “I’ve really spent too long here in the Mortal Realm. Fine. I’ll do what I can. I mean, you did let me go in-stead of pulling my wings off, after all, so consider this my gratitude.”

“Thank you!” said Eibhlin.

“I’m not doing much, just getting rid of you. Don’t be so happy about it,” said the fairy. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”

River rock held back trees, forming a clearing, in the place where the fairy stopped. Standing alone near the edge of the Lúrin was a large, wide willow covered in knots. The fairy led Eibhlin to the riverside tree.

Eibhlin asked, “Why are we here?”

“More questions?” said the fairy. “This tree, silly human, is a fairy door. If you unlock it, you can go to wherever its road connects to.”

“Unlock? How?”

Smirking, the fairy reached out her hand. Light twisted together to form the shape of a key that shone soft, white light. “This is what you humans call a ‘fairy key.’ It can open almost any door, magic or not. You’ll be looking for similar keys, only since they’re Mealla’s, the ones you want are bound to specific doors. Now listen carefully. I’m going to open the fairy door in this tree. It’s just an ordinary door to an ordi-nary fairy road, but I can use my magic to connect this road to another road I’ve heard leads to one of Mealla’s keys. Oh, don’t look so amazed. Connecting roads is nothing special. However, don’t get comfort-able. Our doors like to just go one way, so joined roads can be a little unstable. They only last a couple trips before the bond breaks and they go back to normal. After that, don’t risk it. You don’t know where you could end up. Understand?”

Eibhlin nodded. “Yes. Thank you.”

With a return nod, the fairy approached the tree and slid the white key into a knot in the bark. She jerked it slightly counter clockwise then turned it the other way. Click. Rays of light burst from the keyhole like the sun behind an eclipse, but nothing else seemed to change. The fairy removed the key, and its light slipped away into the keyhole, leaving behind a simple, tarnished key.

“What happened?” Eibhlin asked.

“The key just lost its magic. Normal fairy keys are one use only. Mealla’s keys are different. You’ll see when you find them. There’s no mistaking them, even by a human. Well, there’s your road,” said the fairy.

“My road,” Eibhlin whispered. The light from the keyhole sent tingles up and down her spine. She shiv-ered and stepped toward it.

“H-human!”

Eibhlin turned to the fairy.

“Gi-give me some of your hair. Nine strands. That should be enough,” said the fairy.

“Why?” said Eibhlin.

“Just do it,” the fairy said, her pale skin tinted pink.

Eibhlin plucked the requested number and hand-ed over the long strands. Light gathered at the fairy’s fingertips. With the hair held tight in one hand, she took the strands with the other and, faster than Eibh-lin could see, wove them into a tiny braid. However, it was not a braid of hair but of pale gold. After joining the ends, the fairy handed the chain to Eibhlin, say-ing, “An apology, for laughing at you. Use this to hold the keys. The chain will never break or fall off your neck or leave you without your permission.”

“But there’s no clasp. How did you join it?” said Eibhlin as she took the chain.

“Must light have a clasp to join together?”

Eibhlin could only shake her head. “Thank you, Miss Fairy. Thank you very much.”

Facing away, the fairy said, “I don’t know why you’re thanking me. Silly human! It’s just a business deal, nothing more. Trying to catch me like a bug and then thanking me? Stupid! I’m not going to waste any more time here. I do have things to do, after all. You need to hurry, too. The door won’t stay open for long.”

The fairy took off, but as she shrank and flew away, she glanced back and said, “May Lady Fortune favor you, human.”

Eibhlin waved as the fairy disappeared into the woods. Then, taking a deep breath and pulling the chain over her head, she stepped toward the fairy door.