Choose a side

Creteus and Peter walked through the East End together. Every now and then a Fae would greet Creteus, or wave, or simply nod, and Creteus would acknowledge them. To a man, they ignored Peter.

Eventually Creteus asked, "Where do your loyalties lie, Peter?"

"Sorry?"

"How do you feel about the humans? Do you feel any loyalty to them?"

Peter spat on the pavement. "Them gobshites?"

Creteus nodded. "Yes, I can understand that. What with the daily insults, the degradations, the chip, chip, chipping at your soul. What about the Fae?"

"The Fae?"

"It's one thing to hate the humans, and you've every reason to do so, but what about the Fae? Do your loyalties lie with us?"

"Well, sure, I guess."

"Because this isn't a world where any of us can remain neutral, you know that, right? They have a saying, the humans. If you're not for us , you're against us. That's their strength, see. They have no indecision, no second thoughts. When push comes to shove, they know exactly what side they're on, and that's the side of themselves. They see the Fae as a threat, and that includes every single one of us. They don't see the distinction."

"I guess not."

Creteus stopped and turned towards the leprechaun.

"We must be united, Peter, every one of us. Because they are. They seek to divide us, to chip away, until we are nothing but their slaves. Do you think it's a coincidence they're concentrating on the Elves at the moment? Trying to get our brothers to turn on them, to give them up? And when the Elves have gone, who will be next? The fairies? The dwarves?" Creteus shook his head. "The leprechauns?"

"They're not all bad, though."

"Ah, the landlord of the Lion and the Lamb? The daughter of Gordon and her do-good charity?"

Peter shrugged, knowing a yes would be the wrong answer.

"The landlord, your friend. Did he give you money when you were broke? Did he give you employment? Did he offer to give you a roof over your head? Did he? Or did he stand back and let the Ministry walk all over our friends?"

"He called the Amanda hippy."

"Hippy. Yes." Creteus smiled, then continued his walk. Peter scurried alongside him. "They only do what they want to do. She feels guilty because her father exposed us, and now what she wants is to assuage her guilt. Not for us, you understand, but for herself."

"But they're okay. For humans, I mean. They're not bad people."

"You think not? And the pub, what do you think that is?"

"It's a pub. It's a place you can buy a decent whiskey, or at least enough whiskey that you don't mind if it's decent."

"And the hippy? What does she think of it?"

"I don't know. To be honest, I think maybe she thinks of it as an excuse to meet with Bob, but don't quote me on that. I'm not exactly an expert on romance."

"No, I think she sees it as an interface, a place where humans and Fae can meet, enjoin, see the other side as characters not so different from themselves. An interface where Human and Fae can embrace each other and end all the misery in this word."

"Well, that too, I suppose."

"And how many humans have you embraced, hmm?" Creteus stopped to shake hands with a wizened old woman at the doorway of a greengrocer. She took his hand in both of hers and said something close to his ear. There were tears in her eyes. Creteus smiled and nodded and walked on.

"It's not a hands across the water meeting place of love and harmony. It's a point of friction, and the city is tinder dry right now. Do you know what I think the Lion and the Lamb is? A trap." Creteus put his wrist together, his fingers clawed. "It must be very convenient for the Ministry to know where a group of Fae meet, where humans who are sympathetic to our cause mingle. And all they need to do is go to a human judge, get a warrant under their human laws and Snap!" He brought the jaws together. "And then they have the names and details of Fae who have the audacity to think they can visit the same premises as humans in all their purity. And the landlord was once one of them. How convenient."

"No, he's not like that. He left them. He saw what they were like and left because he couldn't do it."

Creteus shook his head sadly. "Of course, if that's what you believe. You know the human better than I. Nevertheless, the Ministry raided the pub. And, what did you call her? The hippy? She arrived and ensured legitimacy to the whole proceedings." He patted Peter on the shoulder. "Oh, I'm sure that's not what either of them intended, but nonetheless, that is the truth of the matter. I'll need to talk to those they interrogated, of course. A couple have come forward already. The Ministry are not very, what shall we say? Polite? And there was a fairy there, too. She works there, I understand."

"Dawn?"

"Ah, yes. Dawn. What's she like?"

Peter shrugged. "Okay, I suppose."

"Okay?"

"Look, you know about us and fairies. I know you do, otherwise you wouldn't have teamed me up with that Elmwood. What was that? A lesson? Who to? Me or him?"

"We are all Fae, Peter."

"No! No, you don't get to do that. Fairies and leprechauns, that's different. It's not like us and dwarves. My parents were fairies, okay? You have no idea what it's like, to have your own parents bury you in a cave, spit at you, cross the street, they're so ashamed to even look at you. Fairies like Elmwood, they despise me. And for why? Because of something I've done?"

"So you don't like Fairies."

Peter hawked loudly and spat on the ground. "I'm telling you, the only reason I stuck it out with that pretentious little prick today was because he has no sense of humour and can't tell I'm taking the piss out of him every time I open my gob."

"And Dawn?"

Peter took a long breath. "Well, okay. Dawn's all right. I mean, there was a bit of tension when I first met her, but she doesn't spit in my drink and she's okay with me."

"And she works at the Lion and the Lamb. Why is that, do you suppose? The money can't be that good."

"Ha! Tell me a Fae who's on good money anywhere here. But it's a job. And she likes the craic, I think."

"She's a drug addict?"

"What?" Peter frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"She likes crack."

"Yeah. Oh wait, craic, not crack. The Blarney. The chat." He mimed a jaw opening and shutting with his hand. "The cut and thrust of wit and repartee, is what I'm saying. The interaction twixt barmaid and drunkard. The craic. She's a feisty woman, she doesn't take shit without giving it back in spades."

Creteus smiled. "You like her."

Peter batted the suggestion from his face. "Away with you. I'm just saying, for a fairy, she's okay."

They stopped. Peter looked around. They had arrived at the building that housed his sub-basement.

"Be careful with your friendships, Peter," said Creteus, taking his hand and shaking it. "With the humans especially. They will always choose their own over you."