The Fairest Thing Chapter 11

Chapter 11
The Smurfs were taken by surprise when Gerard came riding into the village. He visited Clockwork often after the small automation had returned to live where he was created. While Gerard had changed over the course of his visits, from the youth who had stumbled into the village years ago into a confident young man, this time it was obvious something was wrong, judging by the determined expression on his face. The Smurfs were soon told the sad tale of Sabina's disappearance, that Gerard had come to them for help in locating her, and to pick up Clockwork for help in the search. Papa Smurf thought that he might know of a spell to help find her more quickly, and a group of other Smurfs had agreed to join Gerard in his search: Smurfette, Brainy, and Handy. After some wait, (which was made more pleasant by delicious pastries courtesy of Greedy,) Papa Smurf announced that he did indeed have a spell that might be able to locate the princess. "Do you have anything that belonged to her? It could be anything, but it has to have been carried on her person." "Sadly I don't," sighed Gerard. "Wait, I do!" said Smurfette, and she ran to her house, returning with a pair of hair ribbons. "Sabina gave me these." "Those will work wonderfully, Smurfette!" Papa went to the village square, produced a vial of glittering powder, and shook some on one of the ribbons. "Star anise, lodestone powder, duck's feather and dust from a crossroads," he began, "Take hold of this, and find its owner!" The wind picked up, blowing dandelion seeds and leaves past. Papa Smurf held the ribbon high above his head and released it. It fluttered up, and was caught by the wind, which carried it higher and higher until it was gone. "Excellent. I need to take the rest of this and place it so I can see where that ribbon ends up." "What now, Papa Smurf?" asked several Smurfs in unison. "Now we wait. It will take time for the ribbon to find her. Please stay if you want to, Gerard, we will make you comfortable as always, but be aware, this could take some time." "If it finds Sabina, I am more than willing," he said. The feast was attended by the village Chieftain, his large family, and most of the villagers, as a gesture of generosity from the Brothers of Equality. Though small in scale, it was a boisterous celebration. Dennis had been to feasts and celebrations in the castle as Sabina, but he was quite unprepared for this. The Chieftain and Cyneric acted as hosts. Swanhild changed into female attire but behaved most improperly: shouting, dancing with the young men and taking bets on how many pints of ale she could balance on the cleavage created by her tight-laced corset. The food was simple, the drink was strong, and the songs were provided by a surprisingly talented Irish bard, who played both ballads to pull at the heartstrings and bawdy drinking songs that made Dennis blush in spite of himself. Cyneric commented that the bard would still be playing at the court of a Duke, had he not been caught philandering with the master's pretty young wife! Johan and Edelhart ignored their relatives' antics and caught up on their respective adventures while Maenad sat beside them, looking at the celebration and sighing mournfully about not being able to participate. Dennis was also content to watch the whole thing from the table where Johan and Edelhart sat, until Swanhild ran up with a mug of cider. "Come on, Dennis, don't be so shy. Have some fun! Your friend Peewit is enjoying himself!" It was true; he looked as happy as could be, especially around Swanhild. Dennis had seen him give similar looks to Maenad, but guessed that Peewit was too in awe of her for it to amount to anything. Since he had won the ale-balancing bet, Dennis guessed Swanhild was far less intimidating to someone like Peewit. "I…uh…" Dennis stammered as Swanhild took his hand. "Go on, Dennis, don't let us keep you from having a good time," added Johan with a wink. So Dennis was given the mug of cider (it turned out that when pirates said 'cider', they meant very strong alcoholic cider) and subjected to dancing with Swanhild and some of other village girls, who thought young Dennis was very fetching. Desperate to not give the wrong impression or have his secret discovered, he volunteered to go to the storehouse with Swanhild and Peewit to fetch another jug of mead. Brewed drinks, along with most of the valuables in the village, were kept in a storehouse inside the castle's wooden palisades. It was guarded, but the guards stepped aside as soon as they saw Swanhild. Once inside she marched straight to the mead, while Peewit and Dennis lingered to look at everything inside. As Cyneric had said, it was mostly basic provisions: food, textiles, farming and fishing supplies, and weapons for both seasoned warriors and peasant conscripts, though there was a small amount of actual treasure to be seen. One item in particular drew Peewit's eye. It gleamed tantalizingly the way Dennis's ring did. He drifted to the treasure-hoard unthinkingly and reached for the shining item. "Peewit! What do you think you're doing?" Swanhild demanded, and stomped over to him. Peewit produced a carved, painted box with iron reinforcements. "I just wanted to look at this. I think it's magical." "How would you know? We couldn't get it open for the life of us, though we figured it was valuable from the box it's in. But it isn't yours, so put it down. Don't forget you're here on our good graces." "Let him have a look, Swanhild. He won't steal anything, and he has had a knack for these things lately." Peewit examined the box, which looked very old, and fingered the painted design until one of the carved knobs sank with a click. Under it was a metal tab, which he pulled, and the box cracked open. "Well I'll be…" breathed Swanhild. Peewit looked at her sheepishly and opened the lid. Inside was a round, fist-sized boulder with a wrinkle across one side. It was completely unimpressive given how it had been stored. Completely unimpressive to anyone with normal sight, anyway. Thanks to the guardian's touch, Peewit saw it pulse with magic. Very old fey magic. He carefully lifted it from the box, and immediately had the same sense of "knowing" he had when he had looked at the Smurfs' map. He dropped the boulder like a hot coal and leapt away. "What's wrong, Peewit?" "Th-that thing is dangerous! Evil! Put it back in the box, somebody!" "Dangerous and evil? This ugly rock?" "It's no rock," Peewit said. "It's like…it's like a saint's relic, but from a giant who lived long ago. Don't ask me how I know, but it's called the Eye of Balor, and it's a weapon. A Fairy weapon." Dennis gingerly took the item from Swanhild and placed it back in the box, slamming the lid shut with a click. Swanhild looked at the chest thoughtfully. "Interesting. What was it doing on that ship, I wonder? Well, it hasn't hurt anybody so far, I think it'd be best not to frighten anyone out of their high spirits tonight, but I definitely want to have you show this 'Eye of Balor' to my brother and the Chieftain tomorrow and tell them what you just said. We may have more use for your talents." Peewit didn't know whether to be terrified or thrilled. Next chapter