A Venice Faerie, Part 1

I slipped in between two market booths, weaving behind them, right along the edge of the canal. I snuck a peek around the corner of one and shot back. There he was. Looking among the glorious jewels and hand-crafted treasures at the Market booths. Damn. Didn't he ever get tired of chasing me? I slid along one of the tents and merged into the beinnale. The beinnale was one of the best times for me in Venice. Not that I couldn't hide in Venice anyway. Venice was a wondrous place for water fey to relax and live. I slid around a large tent and into another by accident. I peeked outside. No, he was still at the Market. I sighed and turned, just to come face-to-face with a woman clad in jewelry. "Welcome to my tent. Do you wish for a reading?" she asked in a heavily accented English. My accent wasn't exactly English, either, I suppose. Somewhere mixed between British, Irish, and Australian. I could put a little more into either one of those, to sound a bit more like a specific one. My accent was an exotic one, only found among fey. I hesitated, and peeked outside. "Whomever you are hiding from shall not find you in here, young one." she assured me. I hesitated again, but then smiled tentatively. "Sure, why not?" I'd heard my voice had a wispy, wind chime-like sound to it, but had never really noticed. I suppose the woman did, because her eyebrows shot way up behind her bangs. "Sit, please." she said, gesturing to a heavily cushioned seat. I took a seat, careful not to crush my wings too hard against the back. "How much?" I asked in Italian. She didn't seem surprised that I knew. "Four coins." she said, and nodded to a velvet bag hanging off the side of the table. I clinked the coins into the bag. She blew out a couple candles in her tent and dimmed the oil lamp. The orb in the center began to glow. We both leaned forward. She closed her eyes and placed her fingertips on the orb. Her brow furrowed. "Hmm.... interesting..." I didn't want to seem like one of those corny people out of the movies who said, "What? What do you see?" but... it didn't seem like I had any other options. "What is it?" I asked. "A boy. He's the one following you. Is it not true?" She peeked open one eye to watch me nod. "His goal is to destroy you. But... something will change his mind." She squeezed her eyes shut tighter in frustration. "Your future is foggy to me. Something... something will go wrong." "What? What will go wrong?" I desperately needed to know. "At dusk...." Her head crashed against the table. I stared at her in alarm. "Hey! Wait!" I cried out, reaching over a hand. Her head rose quickly, and she blinked. She smiled at me. "I'm sorry, only one reading per day. Come back tomorrow to get it again!" "Wait, you said that something was going to go wrong, at dusk! What was it?" I demanded. She looked at me, confused. "I'm sorry. I said no such thing. Goodbye now!" She bustled me out, leaving me bewildered. I sighed, and slipped into a vast crowd. I strained to see over the throng, and saw him pocketing something in a velvet bag. He turned and headed my way. I ducked back down, slipping through the crowd easily, before I saw a gondola. I stepped on. It was a teenager my age, around sixteen. I stepped onto the boat tentatively, my willowy, light frame barely rocking the boat. "Can I get a ride?" I asked the boy softly in Italian. He blinked at me in surprise and awe. Then he held out a velvet bag and nodded to it. I took out a couple coins and showed them to him. He hesitated and shook his head. I pursed my lips and looked over the throng. He was coming closer, trying to look over the crowd for a ride. "Please!" I begged the boy. My aqua marine-blue-green eyes widened as I pleaded. They always looked watery, and not just because of the Caribbean coral reef water-color of my eyes, but just the fact that I was a water faerie gave me the ability to make myself look like I was on the verge of tears if I really wasn't. He hesitated again and shook his head slowly. I had to get out of here. I dumped the original amount of money I'd brought into his bag and leaned forward to kiss him delicately on the lips. His face was lit with surprise, which then changed to awe and dreaminess. "Please?" I asked him, a bit more flirtatious this time. "Of course." he said, blushing, the first time he'd spoken at all. He motioned for me to take a seat. He pushed off, maneuvering us around the many boats and water travel in the canal. "Where to?" he asked. I thought for a moment. Then I asked him to take me to another part of the biennele. He nodded, and took off in the direction, casting glances at me. He licked his lips several times, obviously nervous to be around me. We reached the goal, and he pulled up. I stood, nodding to him. He stared at me longingly. I leaned forward to peck him on the lips again as a sign of gratitude (and so maybe he wouldn't stalk me, but who knows, I was just probably encouraging him), but was interrupted as I heard a breath sucking in sharply. I whipped my head around, leaning away from the boy, who looked angry at whoever had kept away my kiss. It was him. I looked up frantically at the sky. It was dusk. The sun was slowly lowering in the sky. He was in a different gondola, and he looked furious.