Read Online The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey - Free Book Online

any perceptible motion, only a bit of breeze from their passing. It was surreal, to tell the truth, giving Elena a sense of peculiar dizziness and disorientation.
    She blinked, and for the first time, wondered if she really was flying through the night sky above the countryside. The whole situation was very dreamlike, after all.
    Dreamlike; was it a dream?
    The more she thought about it, the more certain it seemed. Why, at any moment now she would awaken and discover herself on her pallet in the deserted, barren house, with the depressing prospect of no position and very few options in front of her.
    Oh, surely this was a dream. When had anything this wonderful, this fantastic, ever happened to her? Never, of course. She stared out at the darkness. This was like something out of a tale; entirely like one of those dreams she used to have, stories she used to tell herself.
    After all, how could a horse and cart be flying in the air like this? When had she ever heard of a flying cart?
    But a little voice inside her, stubborn—or perhaps desperate—insisted that this was no stranger than things she already knew were true. Well, how can Witches fly about on broomsticks? Even Madame Fleur can do that; I saw her, once. Only once, and in the company of (she presumed) another Witch, but still—
    â€œMadame Bella, what’s keeping us in the air?” she asked, hesitantly.
    The Godmother gestured at the little horse, who tossed his head. “I prevailed upon my little friend Sergei,” she said, cheerfully. “He’s part of his own set of tales, but when he’s not needed there, he often helps out the Godmothers and Wizards. His mother is the Mare of the East Wind, you know.”
    â€œOh,” Elena said, at a bit of a loss, for in fact, she didn’t know. She hadn’t even known there was such a thing as the Mare of the East Wind.
    â€œOh, silly of me, of course you don’t know.” Madame Bella chuckled. “And there you see why I need an Apprentice; I’m getting so muddle-headed, it is more than time that I stepped down, before I try to put a magical lamp into Cap’O’Rush’s hands! Sergei and his mother are from another line of The Tradition, another set of Kingdoms and tales. Take it as read that Sergei is a sort of magical creature rather like one of the Faerie Folk and with equal powers.”
    â€œA magic horse. Like a—” She strained her memory, but could not think of another such. At least, not one with power enough to make himself and the cart he drew fly. “Like a Wizard?” she hazarded.
    â€œNo, more like a dragon,” Bella told her. “Or a Unicorn. His mother is truly powerful, much more so than he is; but then, she is more than half a spirit creature. She was mated to a mortal stallion once, for some reason that escapes me. He has two brothers who are really remarkable to behold; quite the most handsome horses I have ever seen. But sad to say, they have not a smidgen of magic in them; he got the lot. Didn’t you, Sergei?”
    The little horse tossed his head and whickered. It sounded rather like a snicker.
    â€œYes, I know, you got all the brains in the family, too,” Bella laughed. “Which is probably why you are your mother’s favorite child. It’s quite true though,” Bella continued, turning back to Elena. “Sergei is rather brilliant and terribly crafty, which makes him invaluable to us. For instance, had your stepmother unexpectedly returned, I am fairly certain that he would have found a way to get you away from her long before I did.”
    The horse whickered again, and Bella clapped both hands to her mouth in feigned shock. “Sergei, you would not have!”
    From the bray that came out of the little horse’s throat, whatever it was, Elena was entirely certain that, yes, Sergei would have.
    She wished Bella would tell her, but the Godmother just shook her head. “Just as