With her small bag of belongings, tattered outfit and worn shoes, the young girl stood at the edge of the mountain forest. The sun’s rays were starting to lighten the sky to her right, so she knew her time was limited. She’d been walking all night to get here. It was now or never.

She gulped nervously and tightened her grip on her bag. The large field behind her, untouched by any farmer, was a sort of buffer zone between the mountain and the town and farms. There were tales of the Fairy Emperor sending crazed wolves onto the town if a person even so much as stepped onto the field. Of course no one had been attacked by a wolf, sane or otherwise, in recent memory.

In fact, she’d walked the entire length of the field without so much as tripping and scratching a knee. It had been perfectly safe. If she’d been more secure in her decision to do this, she might have enjoyed the walk.

But now the ever upward sloping forest was in front of her, dark and silent. A few more steps and she’d be in it. For all her parent’s talk about the goodness of fairies, even they hadn’t entered the mountain.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and ran in.

It was strange, but she knew the exact moment she stepped onto the mountain. It was like the entire pile of dirt and rock and trees bore down on her all at once. She skidded to a halt and got on her knees, shaking.

She’d thought a lot about what to say, and it seemed right now was the time to say it or risk something far worse than slavery.

Licking her chapped lips nervously, she spoke, her voice sounding shaky and small in her own ears: “Oh Emperor of the Great Mountains, please forgive me for trespassing on your land. I humbly request safe passage on your land. If you tell me no, I will leave this very moment. But--but if you’d be so kind as to let me stay, I’d be very grateful.”

Silence.

Her eyes had been closed the whole time, and now she opened them to see if anyone had heard her. At first everything seemed as dark as ever, but then, some distance away, she saw what appeared to be two bright gold lights. They were side by side, and seemed to sway in unison. They flickered in and out of sight as they passed through trees and bushes.

Suddenly they were very very close. Her whole body tensed up. They weren’t lights, they were eyes. And they were attached to a very large beast, though of what type she could not be sure. Sometimes it seemed like a wolf, other times like a bear, but regardless it was very big. Unnaturally big.

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When it spoke, it seemed like several voices speaking at once: “What will you give me in return?”

“G-give?” She managed to stammer out.

It moved closer, “You think you can enter my mountain for free?”

She trembled. “A-are you th-the Fairy Emperor?”

“I am.”

She gulped. She hadn’t anticipated on having to pay to get onto the mountain safely. “I d-don’t know what to g-give you, sir. I’m v-very poor but w-whatever I have I-I’ll give. What d-do you want?” She pulled her bag in front of her and dumped out the contents. There really wasn’t anything of value. Just some change of clothes, some food bits she’d scraped together, and one small knife she’d, uh, “borrowed” from the kitchen.

It was staring at her belongings with it’s strange glowing eyes. She found that she could not look directly at any one part of the beast... ah, the Emperor. Any spot she stared at for more than a moment became transparent. It was strange but the only way to see him clearly, it seemed, was to not look at him at all.

“Why do you come to my mountain? You are small and weak and only the strong survive here.”

“My parents died. The people who took me in wish to sell me because they think I’m useless. But if I leave, I’ll be leaving the place I was born… Please, sir, please don’t make me go! I’ve no where else to go if you turn me out!” She couldn’t stop big tears from trailing down her face and plopping on the ground below her.

A long gusty sigh escaped the King. It was not like a normal sigh, for it didn’t seem to come from him directly, but around him. Something like a gust of wind emanated from him, stirring up the leaves on the trees around her. Then, all at once, it stopped.

“Can you sing?”

Confused by this question, she responded, “I-I know some songs, sir.”

The King shook his great head and said, “Then sing for me every day and I will let you stay here.”

She blinked, surprised. “Singing? Is that all?”

“Would you rather something else?”

“N-no, that’s fine.” He seemed to think that was the end of the conversation, for he started to move away from her. A panicked thought flashed before her head. “Sir, Majesty Emperor, sir! What if I’m sick! Will you kick me out if I can’t sing if I’m sick?”

He halted for a moment to say, “I will allow exceptions for sickness.”

She felt a wave of relief flow over her. Another thought came to her. “Er, one more thing sir.”

This time he fully stopped. He’d gotten much farther than he ought for the amount of steps he was taking, some part of her noted. Fairies were, indeed, odd creatures.

“What is it now?” He was starting to sound irritated.

“J-just to clarify. Do you need to be present for the singing to count?”

“No. I will hear you, no matter how far I am from you.” He paused and then added. “And I am only letting you stay, I am not giving you any particular protection. Expect no help from me concerning what you will eat or drink or where you will find shelter.” There was another pause. “Once you leave, our deal is broken. Do you understand?” Even as he asked, his whole image seemed to waver and fade.

“Yes, sir! Thank you sir! I’ll sing every day, sir, I promise!”

But he was already gone.