See Me (See Me #1)(24)
“Och, no. They can only be normal sized or tiny.” Leilah held her hands about twelve inches apart. “Nothing in between. And the Leprechaun don’t take well to unnecessary shifting, such as the Clourichaun do fer fun.”
“I don’t get it,” I said. “What’s the point of being able to shift? Can they glamour to disappear, too?”
“Aye.” Leilah settled back onto her hands, crossing her short legs in front of herself. “The Leprechaun were the first humans ever to be gifted with magic by the Fae. It was a test of sorts. The Fae didn’t want to give men too much power at first, but they wanted them to be able to easily hide in the grasses and forests if necessary. Besides making shoes, they had the job of tracking Fae who came out of the portal to mingle among humans. The Fae could not be stopped, but the humans who had interaction with the Faeries had to be wiped clean.”
“Wiped clean?” Cassidy and I asked at the same time, making the girls laugh.
“Surely ye’ve heard of Trackers?” Rachelle asked. I shook my head. “Well, they’re able to use magic to make humans forget moments. They follow the Fae and wipe the memories from humans who come into contact with them. Eventually the Fae bores and returns to their own realm. Only two Chaun Trackers remain, and there’s nary a bit o’ use for ‘em anymore.”
I absently plucked bits of clover and grass as we digested the information, which was all fascinating to me. For years Mom and Dad said, “We’ll tell you everything someday when it’s time.” They loathed speaking of the Fae and their realm.
“Do you guys know anything about McKale and that Freaky Fae Girl?” Cassidy asked. “The Shoe Mistress?”
My stomach clenched at the mention. Leilah and Rachelle shared a grimace.
“You can tell us,” I said.
“It’s all rumor, of course.” Leilah lowered her voice. “Some say the Shoe Mistress has sneaked into the earthly realm alone… to see him.”
Again my stomach spasmed, and I curled an arm around my waist. “Wouldn’t everyone know if she opened the portal?”
“No’ necessarily,” Rachelle squeaked. “She could bribe their doorman and open the tiniest crack, which could only be felt by people standing nearby at the moment of the opening. If she snuck in during the night there would be no one around…”
I gritted my teeth together at the thought of her gliding unsuspectingly into McKale’s room whenever she got the urge.
“Well, they obviously haven’t done the diddy or he’d be brainwashed,” Cassidy blurted. “Right?”
“Really, Cass?” I shot her a look and Rachelle covered her face to hide a scandalized expression.
Leilah continued unfazed. “If you mean what I think, he’s definitely not given his full self or she’d have taken him over to Faerie for keeps. That’s the only way humans are accepted over there: as property.”
“I don’t understand why she has to sneak,” Cassidy said. “Can’t Faeries do whatever they want, anytime they want? Why does she care what the Leprechauns think?”
“Oh, no,” Rachelle piped in. “It’s no’ because of the Chaun that she sneaks. It’s the Fae who would no’ accept her extended interest in a human. They think of us as working dogs. She’d be shunned by her own kind, she would.” The little woman nodded her head vigorously, curls bouncing on her round shoulders. “And besides, Lady Martineth and the Summer King would be naught too happy to find she’s taken to the Chaun’s ‘last hope.’”
Cassidy’s sickened expression mirrored mine. This did not bode well. I didn’t want to talk about it anymore. Thank goodness for my sister who knew me so well. She cleared her throat.
“Well, we’re not going to worry about her right now. What do you know about the Clourichaun?”
“Crazy Clours,” Leilah said with amusement, picking a clover bloom and fiddling with it. I ran my hands over the clovers as Leilah told us the story.
“They’ve always been a rowdy bunch who drink far too much. Some say it’s ‘cause they’re mostly average-sized blokes with no control. No offense.” She stopped to look at Cassidy and me, but we just shrugged it off. She smiled, relieved. “The Clour share this land. They’re on the other side of the forest, and they used to share shoe-making responsibilities. Too often they were behind on orders, and the Leprechaun had to step in and do their work for ‘em in a rush like. Besides that, the Clour were leaving the lands and being careless around humans. Especially females. They’d been warned by the Fae, which was lucky because they’re no’ usually the type to waste time on warnings.
“About two hundred years ago one of the Clour impregnated a nearby farmer’s daughter. It certainly wasn’t the first time, but the Chaun had become good at hiding incidents of their kin’s indiscretions. Ye can only imagine the surprise humans experience when they discover their child can do magic! It was terrible business, switching babies and the like. This one particular time was being dealt with when the portal opened a day early and the Faeries discovered what had happened. It was the last straw. The Fae cursed their bloodlines into extinction.”
“Why didn’t they just take away their magic?” Cassidy asked.
“The magic is so deep in them. To pull it out would require a lot of Fae energy, and t’would make the Clour lose their minds, but the Fae wanted them to live and suffer.”