mercurial
adjective
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changeable; volatile; fickle; flighty; erratic.
a mercurial nature.
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animated; lively; sprightly; quick-witted.
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pertaining to, containing, or caused by the metal mercury.
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(initial capital letter) of or relating to the god Mercury.
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(initial capital letter) of or relating to the planet Mercury.
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When Alan had heard he had been chosen to be the fairy princess’s bodyguard during her visit to human lands, he had some ideas about what the job would be like. He had pictured a dainty, ethereal beauty. Maybe a bit of a mischievous streak, but still gentle and stately. The kind of woman that songs were written about. No, not songs. Odes. Maybe even a full epic poem.
That was not what he got. Not by a long shot.
“Ooo, what’s that?”
The princess zipped around the marketplace to get a closer look at whatever shiny thing caught her attention. It was easy for her to do, considering she was barely a foot tall. Alan groaned as he pushed his way passed the crowds to catch up to his charge.
He caught the princess using a well-polished plate as a mirror. She was making faces in it, contorting her face in ways that would be fun for a child. And, apparently a fairy. She Did a small twirl and her wings hit the plate, sending it clattering into nearby sets of tableware. Luckily, none of them were damaged, and the shopkeeper seemed more amused than anything.
The fairy princess giggled raucously at the sight. Then something else caught her eye and she started to zip off. Alan made a mad dash for her and was able to catch up. She grabbed her out of the air.
“Hey, what’s the big idea?” She shouted.
“Sorry, princess.” Alan said. “But I am your bodyguard while you’re here, and it’s very hard to guard your body if you keep rushing off to look at every little thing.”
“Aww, boo. You’re no fun.” She said with a huff.
“Yes, yes, I’m the big boring human.”
“So long as you know that. Hey, have you ever thought about being a knight? I can knight you! That’s totally something I can do. I dub thee Sir…uh…Sir...”
After a few moments, Alan looked at her with an eyebrow raised. “You can’t think of anything good, can you?”
“Gimme a minute! I’ll totally think of a good one. It’ll go so good that…that those music singing humans—”
“Bards? Minstrels?”
“Yeah, them. They’ll definitely sing about the totally great and not at all an insult knight name I can give you.”
“Well as much of an honor as that would be, I’m afraid I must respectfully decline your highness. I doubt that the king and queen will appreciate a human knight in fae lands.”
Aside from the potential political problems, Alan just did not want to be tied to this particular princess for the rest of his life. That was a surefire way for him to go grey and bald before he was 30.
“Aw you’re no fun.”
“I do believe we’ve already established that, yes.”
“If I promise not to rush off, will you let me go?”
“If I thought you were capable of keeping such a promise I would.”
“I…I…” She paused and thought for a moment. “Okay, yeah, I gotta give you that one. There’s just so many fun things around here!”
“Tell you what, if you behave and stick close to me for an hour, I’ll show you a dog. Behave for two hours and I’ll show you a cat.”
The princess’s eyes went wide. “I have no idea what either of those are, but I know I absolutely want to meet both of them!”
“Good. You know what that means though, right?”
“I’m going to stick to your side like I have a…what are those metal rope things called?”
“Chains?”
“Right. I’ll stick to you like I have a chain tied between us.”
Alan hummed and hawed for a moment. He was not sure if this was a good idea, but he would give it a try. He let the princess go, and much to his surprise she did not immediately dart off.
“Good. Now if you want to see something, let me know, okay?”
“I can do that! I can absolutely do that!”
Alan was not so sure. But he would just have to hope she was up to the task. And that she did not actually know how long an hour was.
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