by Diana McCollum
Iris plopped down on her white cloud bed
only to find it lumpy and hard. She stood up and waved the clouds aside
to reveal her sisters the brats uh, harpies: Aello, Celaeno, and Ocypete.
They tittered, and flew up to the corner of the room, out of her reach.
Iris unfolded her wings and waved them
back and forth, creating a breeze strong enough to blow the harpies out of her
room. Before Aello left the room she shouted over her shoulder, “Father
wants to see you now, Iris.”
Summoned by her father, Thaumas, one of
the sea gods, meant one of two things. Either he had found her future
husband or something was wrong in the mortal world. Whichever it was, she
was screwed. Her father and mother, Electra, goddess and patron of Gilly
Pond in Ireland, insisted the time had come for Iris to marry. Her mother
wanted grandbabies and her father wanted her settled and living in her own
household. Father’s hands were full trying to rein in the hyper-active
triplets.
Iris was content in her father’s residence. To marry would mean leaving all she knew
behind, and losing her independence, what little she had. It wasn’t like she didn’t have suitors. She had plenty. In fact the handsome Zephyrus was interested
in her, but she didn’t want to be a slave to any god. They could be very egotistical, and
demanding.
The mortal world should be in good
stead. Let’s see I watered the
appropriate clouds for rain, I placed the proper number of rainbows, and I
delivered all the messages left in my inbox by the various gods. This
time she had remembered to change to mortal form when delivering the messages
from the gods, so she was good there. Nope, she couldn’t think of any
reason for father to be upset with her.
The blue sea motif on the walls of the
hall way and the cool tile on her bare feet sent a chill through her as she
descended the length of the passage way. One more level down and she
would be at her father’s chambers.
***
“Cian Boyle is in charge of the
leprechauns at Gilly Pond, the leprechauns are having problems with the fairies.” Thaumas boomed. “This is upsetting the balance of Harmony in
the Fairland’s meadows and forests surrounding Gilly Pond. Oceanic
Electra, what are you going to do?”
He struck his staff on the floor for emphasis.
“I’m sending Iris with a message for dear
Cian to come for an audience with us.” Electra moved to his side and stroked his arm,
hoping to quiet his ill temper. “I think
you and I can kill two birds with one leprechaun.”
“Speak plainly, Wife. I’ve no patience for riddles.”
“Cian needs our help. And we need his. He is a close friend with Zephyrus, God of the
West Wind. You remember at the banquet
last week, the young man who asked for our Iris’s hand in marriage?”
“The same young man that Iris said she
would give her wings up rather than marry?”
“The very same one.” She sighed, “Iris has naught against
Zephyrus, but wishes to keep her independence.
Iris claims marriage is not for her.”
“Yes, yes, go on.” Thaumas entwined his fingers with
Electra’s. Pulling her closer; he kissed
the back of her hand. “Pray tell Wife,
what devious plan are you cooking up?”
***
Iris straightened her robes, tied the gold
cord belt around her waist into a pretty bow, and knocked on her father’s door.
“Enter,” Thaumas bellowed.
“Good Eve, Father.” Iris curtsied,
still perplexed as to why she was summoned.
“Iris, we have an important errand for
you. We need to speak with Cian Boyle. You must fetch him here. The leprechauns and fairies are at odds in
Fairland and, your mother’s Gilly Pond is in danger. The balance is off
and something must be done.” His tone
left no room for argument.
“Yes, father. I’ll leave immediately.” Iris would never dare to disobey her father,
even if all she wanted to do was take a nap on her cloud bed.
As she turned to leave her mother reached
out and touched her sleeve.
“Leprechauns are tricksters. Be careful dear, and bring only Cian. Bring him directly here.” Mother smiled at her.
***
After fetching Cian, Iris led the short
little man down the long hallway to meet her father.
“I’m not liking being here,” he said. “The gods, egad, I cannot believe I’ve been
summoned. Tell me missy, where is the
goddess Electra? I know her. She is kind. I’m not so sure about the
rest of them egotistical gods and goddesses. They might just put me on a
platter, serve me up!” Cian wrinkled his bulbous, red nose as much as was
possible. He stroked his gray beard,
took his hat off and then put his hat back on.
“Really Cian! No one is going truss you up and bake you. Mother and father just want to talk with you. They understand there are some problems in
Fairland.” Iris folded her wings in and
patted the little man on the head. “I promise
no harm will come to you.”
She knocked on Thaumas's chamber
door.
Electra opened the door. “Please come in.”
“Cian! Dear friend!” Electra took his small
hand and led him over to Thaumas’s throne.
“That is all daughter, we’ll see to Cian’s
return to Fairland.” Thamus said.
Iris took her leave, feeling a bit left
out. Hadn’t she brought the reluctant leprechaun
here, and for what?
***
The next morning Iris was awakened by the
harpies. Aello tickled a feather across
Iris’s nose, causing her to sneeze, which sent the small harpies scattering
across the room.
Celaeno and Ocypete buzzed back over to
where Iris lay and dove at her like oversized bees.
“Get out! Don’t you have some
flowers to pollinate or something?” Iris threw a pillow at Ocypete as she
made a dive knocking the small robust harpie across the room.
The mad laughter of the harpies echoed
down the hall as they made their escape.
Aello buzzed back, “Father wants to see
you, right now Iris!” She tittered.
Iris rubbed her temple. What
now?
“And so there you have it, Daughter.” Thaumas stroked his long beard. “You must settle the feud between the fairies
and the leprechauns, and you must do this while you are in mortal
form.”
Iris had never seen such a sparkle in her
father’s eyes before. If it was that
important to him, she would do her best to solve the feud.
Shortly after leaving her father, Iris
landed at the edge of Gilly Pond. She
placed her clothes and wings behind a bush. In her mortal form she’d have no use for them.
She summoned her magic and covered
herself with mortal clothes.
“Cian?” She called.
“Cian?” Exasperation laced her voice.
“Ah-h, girly, I’m right here.” Cian stepped from behind a fallen oak tree,
leaves crunching under his black buckled boots. “Do not be so loud least them treacherous
fairies know ye are here.”
“So what’s the problem between the
leprechauns and the fairies?”
“They are claiming we stole the gold from
beneath the rainbow.”
“And did you steal the gold?” Iris
knew how much leprechauns valued gold, and how they were known to steal or
trick others out of their gold.
“It was given to us, by the head fairy
himself.” Cian brushed some dust from
his coat sleeve, not making eye contact.
“Given willingly, or did you trick him?”
“I say he gave the gold eagerly, but if
you asked him he might say he was tricked.” He nonchalantly scraped his boot over the
leaves. “We leprechauns want to be taken
seriously.”
“Then you must stop
tricking the fairies. I want to give the
leprechauns a very special job. You
can’t use trickery and you must guard something precious with your lives. It is a very important job. I’ve already talked with the fairies and
they’ve agreed.” She smiled at the
nervous little man. “The harmony of
Fairland depends on the fairies and leprechauns working together.”
Cian squinted up at her. “Is it really important, will we garner some
respect from doing the job well?”
“Yes. Whenever I place a rainbow at Gilly Pond, the
fairies will place pots of gold at the ends of the rainbow.” She poked him
gently in the chest, “You and your fellow leprechauns will be the security
detail. You will guard the pots of gold
until the rightful owners follow the rainbow to the ends and claim the pots of
gold. This is an important job that only
trusted leprechauns can do.”
She spoke elevating her voice so that the
leprechauns hiding in the forest would hear her words. “Are you all willing to accept this mission?”
A chorus of 'Yes!' rang from the forest.
“By Gilly, by golly I think you’ve solved
our problem.” Cian started to waddle
towards the forest. But stopped and
turned, “Iris, I have a bit of magic meself.”
He toddled back and handed her a small
round stone. “The very next time you meet
a west wind; you must place this stone on the ground before you and face the
wind. Repeat three times, ‘There is good
fortune in the west wind, show me your true nature.’ Then give this stone to the first person you
encounter. I promise you will not regret
it.”
What
an odd little man. Iris slipped the stone into her pocket. She picked her way through the meadow towards
Gilly Pond. Rounding a huge boulder a
gentle west wind caressed her face and gently lifted her hair from her
shoulders. The wind swirled around her
caressing her like a lover.
She fingered the stone. What the
heck? The smooth stone was growing
warm, and began to pulsate. Pulling it
out she lay it on the ground before her and repeated what the Leprechaun had
said. “There is good fortune in the west
wind, show me your true nature.” She
repeated the magic charm three times.
The wind picked up speed, and twirled
around forming a whirlwind in front of her. Dust and leaves blew about and in the middle of
the whirlwind a form took shape.
Her heart beat faster and her throat
tightened. The figure emerged and held
out his hand.
“Zephyrus!” Iris picked up the stone and when she placed
it in his hand his fingers encircled her hand.
“Iris,” his voice was hoarse with desire. “I’ve longed for you to be my wife and partner.
Why is it you’ve given me no audience?”
“I’ve no desire to marry.” She said.
“I come and go as I please except for when my father has an errand for
me to do. I’ve no wish to give up my
freedom.”
“Ah-h, my beauteous, Iris, I wish for a
partner in marriage, not a slave.” He
pulled her into his arms and brushed her lips with a kiss.
Followed by a second deeper kiss that took
her breath away and stirred feelings deep inside of her.
Iris pulled back to stare into gentle gray
eyes, set in a handsome face and knew in her heart that Zephyrus was meant for
her.
The deal was sealed, and the stone in
their hand grew cold. Iris slipped it
back into her pocket.
Iris belonged to the West Wind, and
Zephyrus belonged to her.
Once her clothes and wings were back on,
she rose hand in hand with Zephyrus up to the heavens. Iris looked back
once waving her free hand to create a spectacular rainbow on Gilly Pond.
Thaumas held his
wife’s hand, “You were right my love, Iris settled the dispute and all is well
in Fairland. Thanks to Cian, Iris is
with Zephyrus. The world is as it should
be.”
