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Melpomene's Daughter, Part 8
Apr. 11th, 2002 02:33 pmNimuë's little secret comes out.
They fell in at the back of the tour, and listened to the guide recounting the stories of a rougher time.
“After the fire, portions of the city were rebuilt quickly, and usually right over top of the parts which had gotten ruined. This had the effect of raising the level of the streets. At first, shopkeepers just adapted to life below street-level- there were ladders down to the old sidewalks and the storefronts, and when people needed to go to the shops, they just climbed down. Unfortunately, Seattle was pretty much a rough-and-tumble town in those days, and fashions were significantly different than they are now. Ladies in the hoop skirts of the day weren't really comfortable exposing themselves climbing up and down- and the 'seamstresses' who were pretty numerous in the area tended to keep the gentry- at least the female half away, which led the shopkeepers to move their stores to street-level- what would have been the second or third floor earlier- and push for sidewalks to allow access without all the climbing.”
“Along with the streetwalkers of the time- who are commemorated on most of the manhole covers you'll pass in the district- since they had no visible means of support, most of them listed their occupation as 'seamstress' on forms so that the local constabulary wouldn't run them out of town as a potential public nuisance- see all the round plaques which say 'sewer'?” The crowd groaned and laughed at this. “Well, along with the ladies of the evening- often enough morning, noon and night as well; there were quite a few taverns which catered to the dock workers, sailors, and others in the port area. Unfortunately for thirty-two of these whiskey-besotted fools, the transition from street to sidewalk wasn't the step up it is now, but could be quite the nasty tumble; which was probably more a public safety risk than the seamstresses ever were.”
“So, the town officials decided to cover the old street level with new sidewalks, although they did put in rose glass tiles- which have now mostly darkened with time to purple- over areas where the businesses stayed subterranean, and Seattle's underground was born.”
The group moved on, but Nimuë took Alexei's arm and held him back a bit. “The next part talks about what happened when everyone moved up to street level- basically rats infested the underground. I really, really don't like rats. They won't mind if we skip that bit. Besides, it'll let us talk a little more.”
“That's fine with me. I'm not particularly fond of rats either.”
“Wonderful. Where were we? Oh, yes- going between the worlds. Anyway, any time there's a transition, it was thought that the veil between the worlds was especially thin. Do you know much about the hollow hills?”
“Just what the average child hears about in the stories. You're going to tell me that they have it all right and everyone else has it all wrong, aren't you?”
“Not quite. Most of the stories are generations removed from the legends, and they've shifted into tales for children. Society's gotten much more materialistic at the same time, and people are that much less likely to accept things they can't see or touch as real.”
“You're not saying that the fairies are real, are you?”
“That's exactly what I'm saying. We've,” she rapidly corrected herself, “- I mean- they've kept to themselves much more than ever before, and have very limited contact with your world.”
It was probably that second slip which caught her. The former one almost could have passed unnoticed, but not the latter.
“Wait a minute. You're trying to tell me that you're a faerie? You don't expect me to believe that for a moment, do you? And if you were, where are your wings?”
“You're asking questions again, but you're probably allowed to in this case. You certainly didn't think I was human, did you? Do you know many people who are twenty-seven hundred years old? Oh, yes- before we go any further, it can be dangerous to refer to my people as faerie- it's much more acceptable to call us na daoine maithe, which means 'the good people.' It's actually only applicable to about a third of our sort, but it will do for now. As for your crack about where my wings are, only the nobility among the people have the ability to change their form into that of a bird- none are like your Tinkerbelle- it's just not convenient to have wings sticking out all the time.”
“Well, are you?”“If you must know, I am. You're not supposed to be asking questions, though, although now if I turn into a swan suddenly, it won't come as a complete surprise to you.”
With that, she turned away from him, and suddenly seemed to vanish partially. Reaching back, she took his hand, and pulled him along with her. In a moment which seemed to be an eternity, Alexei found himself between the worlds, and then, suddenly in a world which was quite unlike the one with which he was familiar. Rather than being in the half-lit tunnels of the Underground Tour, they were now standing side by side on a beach at sunset, overlooking what was at least a lake, and might have been more- Alexei lacked the vantage to determine exactly how big the body of water might have been. Looking down at his hand, still firmly grasped in one of hers, then along the line of her body, and finally up at her face.
