Larrikan stares at his grandmother and says, “If I stay here I will become one of the Unseelie Court?” He sounds horrified at this idea.
“Have you ever seen an Unseelie fox?” asks Iorwen.
“No…” replies Larrikan, “I haven’t. Does that mean we don’t change?”
“No,” Iorwen tells him, “it is because the Elders kill them before they go too far.” She adds, “We’ll be watching you closely.”
From her tone and deadly serious demeanor, Larrikan can tell Iorwen isn’t kidding. He asks, “What do I have to do to stay Light?”
“You must only take life energy which is free or truly freely given,” explains Iorwen. “Most minor members of the Light Court don’t collect passive energy like we do. You will have to get energy the way they do. You will have to go to the rade.”
Larrikan looks blank and says, “The what?”
“The rade,” repeats Iorwen. “Can you play the fiddle?”
“Uh. What?? I mean, yes, I play the fiddle,” replies a very confused fox.
Iorwen says, “Good. They fae like fiddle music. Fast dance music is best. Be at your best. It will help.”
Larrikan, lost, says, “Help what?”
“Help you not get eaten,” his grandmother tells him. She can tell he’s getting a little freaked out by all this talk of eaten, which is her point. She explains, “Every month on the full moon, the local fae will gather for the rade. You must go. At the rade, they will sing, and dance, and drink in the light of the full moon.
“The light of the moon is the raw power, and the music and dancing somehow amplifies it. The more fae, the more power they each gain. You need that freely given power to keep you from taking it from people and places around you.”
Larrikan licks his chops, and then asks, “How do I find this rade? What do I do while I am there?”
Iorwen says, “There is a chant to sing to find the rade. I don’t know what happens when you sing it. I’ve never been to one. While you are there, you must dance with the fae.” She adds, “And try not to get eaten. All types of fae come to the rade, and some of them can be quite hungry.”
Larrikan just says, “Teach me everything you can. The rest I will just have to learn the hard way.” He tries to lighten the mood by saying, “I’ve done okay at not being eaten so far!”
Iorwen spends until well into evening teaching Larrikan what she knows. And hoping he isn’t eaten.