The crowd had been warm so far with laughter and clapping every so often. Drake and Newegg had been working together alright. The boy nearly missed some of his marks for the performance, but Newegg was experienced enough for the both of them. Newegg had been more patient than normal with the boy. She even slipped in some encouraging glances as they did the flame juggling. Now Drake placed the old lute into his lap. He had been seated on a barrel for this section of the performance. His eyes closed as he prepared. Something inside of him was stirring. But he could not make out what was the feeling.

Newegg was getting on her mark. Her outfitting was rustling back she kneeled. The stage hands were readjusting the lighting to be more dramatic. Ozzy and Lucky were busy in the background getting the final set together with the stage hands. The lights now dim and the room darken for mood. It was just as Newegg. She had lectured Drake about this section and how it was about the flow of dancing and song. It seemed out of place for a clown act to Drake. He shrugged it off. He had only been a clown for a short while anyways. Newegg bent her head upward as she wanted for the beginning cord. Drake scanned the tent once more as he nervously held his fingers over the lute. His voice was meek as he begun to hum.

Drake started. His song, however, was not the song from practice. It came out as a melodious tune that was other worldly in sweetness:

Come one and all to listen,
A modest song for you know,
The coming age of Dreams freely flows,
Oh all children dance and sing with joy and hope around the fairy ring!
Lady Law will not find the Witness before the cracking Dawn.
Yet worry not about the chaos from the over joyous celebration,
A dragon hidden amongst the flowers will come to the show.
And too will bow the royals to the wish of the repeating Undeath and the Unknown,
Tricky in the dance is the fleeting is the time of the Daughter of Shadow.
Laugh the tricksters in the hidden place for they lead the celebration.
In the coming age of Dreams, the lands will be delighted with milk and honey.
Open your hearts stare upward to the stars come the sign.

Newegg did not miss a beat about the change in song. She dashed about in leaps and twirls. She motioned for the drop of the silken curtains of the acrobats. Newegg numbly climbed about them and awed the crowd with her ease and polished style. She jumped down and made even a large bow. She performed magic trick with a puff of smoke and made there appear a dragon. Another motion and petals of flowers showered the crowd. She spun around and dazzled them with a quick flick of her finger and glitter shimmered down on them.

Then behind the curtains, Drake could hear Primrose gasp. She was rushing about backstage and shortly left the tent. The boy felt the beads of sweat drip down his face. The crowd was applauding at a delay reaction. Newegg from behind was huff and puff with her finished dance routine. Her appearance here was less comical and more elegant. Newegg upheld her head with her makeup light on her cheeks and lips. Her eyes glimmering with unknown thoughts. Lucky and Ozzy came back to the center stage with the spotlight still lingering on Drake. The clowns committed themselves to an oddly beautiful dance with juggling of fire torches. Lucky slipped by Drake as the crowd sat back down for the final act. She grinned and said, "Keep going, Drake! We are on the finisher!"

Primrose gestured for the boy to take a seat in a chair. Drake held the lute with care in his hand. He knew the Scarred Man promised him everything he needed. The Scarred Man was after a wish weaver. Drake peered at his lute which the fairies dreaded so much. The lute was magically and an item from the junk shop owner. The Scarred Man told the boy it was of great power and would echo true of the tune of time. Drake had not figured out how such an item would protect him. But the Scarred Man promised everything would be fine for Drake as long as he kept the lute nearby.

Sitting in the low stool, the boy scanned over Sweet Pea and Primrose. The old hag sat down at her table. It was the very same table she dealt her cards with Drake, when he first came to the fairies. The boy was unsure of how to answer either of the fairies. First he looked upon the Queen of the Fairies. She seemed to age slightly since Drake had looked at her face. She seemed to be tired and very worried. Drake raised his eyebrow as he spotted gray hairs on the tips of the ringleader's hair. His gaze returned back to Primrose had a little less wrinkles on her aged face. Maybe it was a trick of the light?

Drake adjusted his lute in his lap. He tried to draw on the feelings he had during his last performance. The boy took a long pause as he tried to remember what he had been thinking about before the performance. He had been nervous and worried about the act. His finger stood on the strings. Reviewing of the situation, the boy worked over his thoughts again. He had made sure to do some breathing as Ozzy and Lucky had encourage. What was it that Newegg had told him before heading out. Drake thought to himself, It was not to cry. But why was I crying?

Drake fiddled with retuning the lute. The magical lute sounded sad and lacking heart with the tuning. Try as he may the thoughts between the performance and when he sang were missing something. The boy held his breath as the fairies waited on edge. With a strumming of the lute, Drake closed his eyes. He knew the skill to play the lute was not his best. The ringleader and the old hag were seeking something he did not fully know what. The second cord begun to sing out with a melody. It was lackluster and dull. He grew frustrated.

Primrose gently encouraged, "Lad, try to play more from the heart. Put more in it."

Drake nodded. His fingers rested on the strings. There in his mind came a muse in a shape of a faded dream. It was a young maid with black hair and a green dress. Drake started to strum once again and he felt a calling of his muse. She was out in an open field with a bow and arrow set on her back. She was not smiling, but she had something important about her. Drake tried to focus on his newfound muse. The young maid's eyes showed him wisdom and grace as she seemed to step forward. As Drake looked more at the maid and knew her the muse slipped away and the dream was broke. In the spinning world of his broken dream, the melody came forth as similar to the first time. It rang out of heavenly sounds quicker speed. The melody birthed no words from the boy.

Primrose noticed something beyond the boy and dug out her deck of cards. The old hag scattered her deck until she found the three that came with the change of the boy's fortune. Primrose was in disbelief as the three cards were being lightly tugged on by the lute strings. She placed down the cards face down on the table. Drake's melody was now turning and twisting into something else. The melody was bittersweet. As the melody played on the first card flipped, Death, the card of new beginnings and endings. Primrose reached out her hand above the second card. It started to flip over and reveal the Five of Cup, the card of loss, disappointment, and regret. The old hag begun to worry about the boy. She moved to stop him going any further. It was Sweet Pea, who reached out her hand and stopped the old hag.

Drake's tune darker. In the boy's mind the loss of the muse made him feel something else snap away. The pain within made him shutter and feel something scarred to him was been torn apart. Disappearing from his mind was his time at his birthday party and his plan to runaway to the circus. He had one last distant thought of the last person he spoke to that night. She was his muse. He played wilder and the sound went black and chaotic. Drake opened his eyes. The memory and all its thought were vanishing from his mind. Tears ran down the boy's face and in the pit of his stomach ached with bitterness. As he rubbed his cheek, his reasoning for the bitterness was for nothing. He sniffed and stiffly dried his face. Drake knew real men did not just cry for no reason. Dryly, he looked at Primrose and Sweet Pea.

In wonder, Primrose said, "I get it now for the most part! The lute has strings from the Sisters of Fate! The Scarred Man must mean business with us! But. . . I do not understand it."

"Yes, it does not solve the riddle of the earlier song, Primrose. Keep working with the boy here and discover what his skills are," Sweet Pea snarled. She had clearly become disturbed.

Drake put his lute on his back. His clown makeup was surely ruined. His pride was hurt as he got off the stool and bowed before Sweet Pea. He contained his anger and self-pity. The boy instead forced a blank expression. The need for a smile could wait until he returned to the clown tent. He stood in silence. Primrose was trembling her hand over the last card. She would not reveal it to the boy. Drake eyed the cards on the table. He narrowed his eyes as he felt the uneasiness in his stomach. The boy knew a brave front was needed for business with the fairies. He placed his hand on his chest, "I will do my best, Madam!"

"But Sweet Pea what if he cannot figure it out?" Primrose frowned.

"I am sure he shall be successful with your help," Sweet Pea leaned closed to the old hag. Her voice was dark, "Otherwise, we will have to take a different approach without you, Primrose."

"But your highness! You would not harm me! I am your sister!" Primrose put her hands up.

Drake pled, "Please do be kind to her!"

"No, you daffy souls!" Sweet Pea covered her face and sighed, "We will have to travel back to the Scarred Man and ... and ..." Sweet Pea struggled to speak. She swallowed and groaned, "We would have to speak with him. I hate speaking with the Scarred Man! Even more so when we must be on nice terms!"

"Excuse me, Madam. But I don't know much about the specialness of the lute you speak of. But I will do my best," Drake spoke his mind, "Would it really be that bad to speak with the Scarred Man now, if the message is that important?"

The ringleader quickly changed her mood. She grinned with a gentle smile and cooled her disgust. Sweet Pea cooed at him, "Drake, Drake, Drake. You are so new to my troop. I get that you are trying your best boy. You are young and naïve about the magic world. We fairies are good at knowing the tricks and the magics of our world. It is when the Scarred Man starts to muck with things and does business with us that we have more trouble."

"I thought you were friends with the Scarred Man. He spoke highly of your circus and you. He said he knew no one better to entrust my wish to," Drake said.

"Friends!?" Sweet Pea chuckled, "Boy, that man and his accursed children have caused me nothing but trouble throughout the ages! We have not been on friendly terms since that cheating thief stole from me! We only have stopped fighting as the Scarred Man and I came to a peace pact recently."

"What happened?" Drake asked.

"Sweet Pea has lost most treasured item of the fairies: the Glass Apple," Primrose interrupted, "She must give it to Lady Muerte for the Winter Slumber."

"Thank you, Primrose, for jumping in on my train of thought!" Sweet Pea shouted. She snapped her fingers and summoned up a chair to sit on. The ringleader drummed her fingers on her lap for a moment, "Fine, boy. She has started to tell you my business. Look I need the Glass Apple to help transition the seasons. It a magic item that help changes the seasons. I give it to Lady Muerte for the change of winter. Our circus travels so we can change the seasons for spring. Primrose is in charge of summer. It is Lady Muerte and her husband, Lord Stycks, who cares for fall and winter. Right now... Well, the Scarred Man managed to give me a substitute magic item. It was a contract signed by the Scarred Man for his magical junkshop and use of all or any magical items within it. It will be enough for Lady Muerte to handle the change of fall... But without the glass apple, which the Scarred Man's children stole and lost, I am not able to permit the change to over to my sister."

"Is it really bad, if the seasons cannot change?" Drake questioned.

"The harvest cannot happen! The animals will not be able to sleep! There will be no winter snow for the land to get water! The spring will continue to reign!" Sweet Pea groaned, "Boy, do you get the gravity of such a situation? My sister and I age according to the seasons, if we keep going on as we are now our powers will weaken. Primrose will not be able to carry on summer. I will get no rest! It will be horrible. Do you understand!?"

"Yes," Drake nodded.

"Good," Sweet Pea straighten up her clothing, "Now, I need you to master that lute! If I can help it I want to avoid messing with the Scarred Man more. I am tired of dealing with the messes he causes me... Primrose, try again with him."

"Yes," Primrose turned to Drake, "Come lad, let us go again!"