Fairies are Evil

by Linda Robertson

In my book, they are. Literally. I established early on in the first book of the series, VICIOUS CIRCLE, that the fairies in my world aren’t what they want you to think:

The fairies convinced citizens they were benign in a brilliant-if-utterly-false public relations campaign and [they] weren’t considered as threatening as wæres. Neither were witches, for the most part.

–Vicious Circle page 21

But you don’t really see the fairies until the second book, HALLOWED CIRCLE:

The brunette male growled as Beverley struggled against him. She almost slipped away, but his slightly elongated fingers stayed fastened over her mouth and he jerked her roughly against him. I saw that his dark vest glinted with gold embroidery as did his breeches. A large jeweled brooch gleamed against a lacey cravat. The female stepped forward. “We’ve lost our mermaid. So we took yours.” Even in the distorting illumination I could tell her skin was red and her hair a shade of the same. She wore a wreath of tiny flowers in her hair and a gossamer tunic dress that matched her coloring.

–Hallowed Circle page 343

The third fairy, a light-haired male with yellowish eyes that afforded him an air of uncontrollability, stepped up beside the female. He wore breeches with a shirt under a brocade surcoat. He leered at me as she offered him a sheath.

Suddenly, many things happened at once. My mind registered the weapon and Beverley’s danger. I started forward. Though running, time seemed to slow, and all sounds became muffled. The yellow-eyed fairy pulled the dagger from the sheath. The southern doors opened behind me. . . . I felt the air current of their movement. I felt Johnny at my heels. I heard Menessos’s voice, chanting, loud through the fog that had filled my ears. The yellow-eyed fairy turned and raised the gleaming dagger, ready to strike Beverley.

I was too slow. I could not speed myself up. I would not make it to Beverley in time.

–Hallowed Circle page 344

Behind me, the fairy growled angrily, wings flapping to pursue me. Nearing the edge of the stage, though, I remembered here there were no steps like there were on stage left. I went down and slid like a baseball star aiming for home plate. The fairy shot past over my head. I jumped up and ran back across the stage to the steps. Halfway across, the fairy dropped into my line of sight, flipping head over heels to kick at my face. I ducked to the side, narrowly avoiding his boot; I felt the ankle brush over my earlobe.

–Hallowed Circle page 346-7

All the fey wrath is breaking loose in the third book, FATAL CIRCLE:

Fax Torris stood on the bow [of her ship]. Her skin was crimson. Her hair, rising stiffly from her scalp in odd peaks, was also shades of scarlet. A wreath of yellow and orange flowers helped create the illusion of a blaze atop her head. She was clothed in shreds of her fiery colors, stirred by the winds into a flickering semblance of flames.

–Fatal Circle page 330-1

In a flash of flames, Fax Torris leaped…toward [her brother] Lucrum. Wings of fire sprouted from her back. I glimpsed her raised arm, saw the glint of a blade. Lucrum saw it coming. His cry of horror carried across the water to the shore, vibrating like the dull thudding impact of boulders in a landslide. Fax Torris had murdered him.

–Fatal Circle page 332

In my world fairies may dress in Ye Olde England fashions, but they are far from sweet. They are elementals, holders of magic. They are selfish manipulators and greedy tricksters who will readily use violence to unabashedly achieve their aims.

I think they are way more fun that way. What do you think?