Read The Falconer (Elizabeth May) for Free Online

head. Thin, translucent wings stick out from his lawn shirt and frame his tiny body. A muslin bag hangs from his shoulder and rests on his hip.
    Derrick resides in my dressing room, where he mends my clothes for the price of a bowl of honey a day. Although sometimes he does the exact opposite of mend . I recognise the fabric of his black trousers from one of the mourning dresses I neglected to throw out weeks ago.
    ‘Her fears aren’t completely groundless. Your faery brethren do appear to enjoy consuming—’ I hesitate, not wanting to offend him. He’s small, but he can make quite a mess if he feels insulted.
    ‘Ugh! That’s disgusting. Human souls taste like porridge, you know.’ So much for offending him.
    Lesser fae like Derrick don’t actively hunt humans. They could take energy if they wanted, but it would never be enough to kill or even seriously injure a person. If they were as powerful as the others, I wouldn’t have let Derrick live when I discovered him in the back garden a few nights after my mother died.
    I incline my head towards the door. ‘Would you care to explain that?’
    ‘Wood panelling,’ he says. ‘Very solid. Smells nice.’
    ‘You know what I’m saying. Dona can hear you.’ He simply blinks at me, clearly not at all troubled by it. I groan. ‘I thought only men had the Sight. You told me that.’
    Derrick shrugs. ‘She doesn’t have it. She’s just a wee bit perceptive, is all.’
    ‘I gathered that.’
    ‘No need to get huffy,’ he says. He brightens and the halo around him glimmers gold. ‘She can only sense me on occasion. Most other times, she’s as ignorant of my presence as the rest of your kind are.’
    ‘I don’t care. How long have you known?’
    He picks up a loose cog from the table and examines it. ‘A sennight.’
    ‘Seven days! And you didn’t think to tell me?’
    Derrick doesn’t look the least bit concerned, as though I’ve asked him why he didn’t bother to tell me about the fabric he uses to make his trousers.
    I consider the worst possible situations. What if a faery ever follows me home? What if it realises my maid can occasionally sense the fae? Sensitive humans and Seers have more energy to take than a normal human. That lass is a walking target and she doesn’t even know it.
    ‘I didn’t think it was important,’ he murmurs, ‘since I surely won’t harm her.’ He slips the cog into his bag.
    ‘Put that back, thief,’ I say.
    ‘But—’
    ‘ And all the others.’
    Derrick reluctantly pulls the part from his bag and tosses it onto the table. And another. And another. ‘You won’t release Dona, will you?’
    ‘Of course I will,’ I say. ‘Good heavens, that poor girl should leave the country. I don’t think they have faeries in the West Indies, do they?’
    Derrick eyes me, as if to say, You bloody wish they don’t . ‘She cleans my home the best ,’ he whines, drawing from his bag a gold button that looks like it came from my father’s wardrobe. ‘She uses this rose-scented substance when she cleans. Makes me think of spring and waterfalls and lovely ladies.’
    I roll my eyes. ‘Am I to understand that you want me to keep my oblivious maid in a position of danger because you enjoy the scent of her cleaning solution?’
    ‘Well.’ He looks rather embarrassed. ‘Aye.’
    ‘At least you’re honest about it.’ I open the dressing room door and groan. It’s a mess of frills and silk, skirts and petticoats strewn everywhere. ‘And no wonder you want to keep her here. Someone has to tidy this.’
    Derrick’s wings buzz as he flies to my shoulder and perches there. ‘I’d prefer she didn’t. This is just the way I like it.’
    ‘It looks hideous.’
    ‘How dare you?’ His wings flick my ear. ‘That’s my home you’re insulting.’
    His wings are starting to hurt me. ‘Behave yourself or you’ll get no honey from me today.’
    Derrick calms and sits next to my neck. ‘Cruel.’
    If he wanted, Derrick could