The Chestnut Prince is part of the same world as Eldra, click to read her story.
The deepest, wildest part of the Green Woods was never seen by humans. It was a rare, tangled world where moss and root, vine and branch, stream and dew and fern and shafts of dull golden sunlight seemed to meld together. A radiant, chaotic whole of nature tumbling outwards from a central core of heat, light and life.
It was the very heart of the forest, the place where wild, nature flowed forward on invisible currents of energy, following the ancient paths of worked stone that lay sleeping, forgotten beneath the layers of mud and leaf that eventually became the ground.
This part of the woodland had a soul.
The elves knew it, respected it, revered it.
They tended this untamed place as if it were their Mother, Father and God all rolled into one…and in a way it was.
Without this bit of living wild the fae would be worse than forgotten, they’d cease to exist.
They loved that bit of wild world and protected it. Air, water, sunshine and this bit of untouched world were the elements of life, the fae stood for it, in front of it, feeding it with their own magic even as the world sustained them. As the tree to the air, the sun to the leaf, the water to the grass, so too did the fae to the forest and the forest back to them.
So you can forgive the wee bit of eleven arrogance of the Chestnut Prince, guardian of the Chestnut trees on the fringes of the Green Wood’s heart for his attitude. As prickly as his cap, he looked forward and backwards with as much clarity as you or I see around us in the present.
“You’ll be going no further today.” He announced with the voice of reason of one who is not only stating his opinion but fact.
The taint of humanity clung like a sour cloud around the deer who stood before him, large eyes unblinking as it gazed, head lowered slightly as it snuffled the air, catching the sweet scent of wild violets and blackberries, clean water and the familiar wild aroma of chanterelles, just beyond the wee elf who blocked their way forward.
The Chestnut Prince perched on his throne of roots in the middle of the deer path was not heartless, he was logical. The deer smelled of humans, it had passed too near their world before breaching the veil that led them here.
The deer huffed, was it impatience, perhaps, she looked past the Chestnut Prince but the way was blocked, the path though clearly etched in the moss and shimmering with an oddly compelling pearlescent light was not for her, not today. She could no more go forward than she could retreat.
“You’ll not wait long.” The Chestnut Prince declared, his voice startled the deer who had been lost in her own thoughts of sweet berries and soft green moss to curl up on, to while away the days chewing cud while waiting her child to be born. Born away from humans, their greed, their cruelty, their roads and rules.
She huffed a sigh again and slowly lowered to the ground in front of the Prince, who didn’t smile, but his face softened, his fingers twitched until he gave in and leaned forward to lightly press a minuscule hand, startlingly warm against the soft fur just above her shiny black nose.
The deer closed her eyes and felt the acceptance.
“After the rain, you’ll be free of the human scent, you’re already welcome, just a bit of time.”
The forest darkened, the sky seemed to grumble in frustration above them as the first raindrops fell, heavy and fat, splat, splat, splat, hitting the leaves of the chestnut tree, startling some bluejays high in the canopy so that they screeched and took off, amusing both the Chestnut Prince and the deer.
The rain was warm.
The Chestnut Prince leaned back in his throne, the hidden world at his back, guarding the threshold, eyes forward to the world ahead, the deer at his side a wall of warm, auburn fur, quietly chewing.
“Soon.” He said again.
And the deer felt the truth of those words and let the rain cleanse her and waited with the Chestnut Prince, silent guardian of the Green Wood’s heart.
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