Two Short Tales of the Fey - 1. Taliesin's Luck

The King and Queen of the Fey had heard stories of a young man named Taliesin, who lived in the Rhondda Valley. He was gay, and all that he wanted was a boyfriend.

The King and Queen of the Fey, taking pity on the young man, decided that they would send some of their most loyal fey to his house once a month on the night of the full moon.

As the young man slept, they would slip into his house through the keyhole. They would sing, and dance, and weave their magic for him.

Taliesin would hear their beautiful voices, and he would be woken up by them. He would listen to them for hours, yet never once did he venture from his bedroom.

When he woke up the day after one of their monthly visits, Taliesin would feel a kind of static charge in the air.

After the fey had visited, Taliesin would have an amorous encounter with some cute guy from the Valley. The fey had used all of their combined magics to create a spell that would summon a young man to him.

However, he would only experience such pleasure once a month, on the day after the full moon.

Since Taliesin’s romps were as a direct result of the magics of the fey, he never found the boyfriend he had long hoped for. He had amorous encounter after amorous encounter, but the next day the young guy he had been with would disappear, and the both of them would return to their normal lives.

The fey visited month after month, season after season, without fail. Month after month, and season after season, the young man would have his amorous encounter, also without fail.

Then the month of April happened. An event occurred which happens roughly once every two years and eight months. This year, the month of April heralded a blue moon.

This event was a sacred occurrence to the fey. It was the most celebrated event in their calendar. All the fey in the country of Wales came together to sing, to dance, and to make merry. They chatted with each other, and played games with each other, and drank and made more merry. The King and Queen of the Fey had also given their people the month off from visiting Taliesin.

Taliesin had been looking forward to April as soon as he realised that the month contained two full moons. The month promised him twice the pleasure he usually experienced. Imagine his disappointment, when the fey did not come, and his amorous encounter did not come.

The month of May quickly saw a return to normalcy. The night of May’s full moon saw the return of the fey to Taliesin’s home. They slipped into his home through the keyhole as they had done on this night each and every month for the past three years. They began to sing and dance and weave their magics for him once again.

As usual, Taliesin was woken by their melodious voice. However, this time he dared to venture from his bedroom. Tonight he confronted the fey and he berated them for failing to bring him what was rightfully his the previous month, on not one but two separate occasions.

Taliesin then returned to his bed, knowing that he would need his sleep for what the next day promised. However, the amorous encounter as promised by the magics of the fey never materialised.

The following month on the night of the full moon, Taliesin waited up for the fey so that he could find out what went wrong with their magic. The fey never came.

On the night of the month of July’s full moon, Taliesin waited up for the fey again, this time so that he could find out not only what went wrong with their magic, but also why they had failed to come to him the previous month. Yet again, the fey never came.

Taliesin waited for month after month. Month after month the fey never came.

The fey had turned on him. He had had the audacity to question their gift to him. Out of spite, the fey had cursed him. He would never know love or happiness.

Taliesin eventually died a very lonely, very miserable old man.