A Human’s Guide to Surviving Magical Mishaps by Kit Bryan
Rule 95- Greed is like trying to hog the dance floor—you might get all the attention, but you'll be left dancing alone.

FINALLY a fae with a tail! I was right that she also has wings. The third and final strange thing about her is that her eyes have no pupils or iris. They're just straight up white. I would say she looks blind except that she seems to be able to see what she's doing just fine. Her wings are also very different to Fin's, where his wings remind me of a dragonfly, Pan's wings remind me of a bird. Soft and feathery. Her tail is also covered in downy little feathers. I so badly want to touch it and see if they're as soft as they look but I force myself to keep my hands to myself, remembering how picky the fae are about touching. Reluctantly, I turn my attention back to the now very large bag that she has on the coffee table. Maybe what he sent isn't a letter after all. Pan reaches into the bag and pulls out a large wooden box, almost as large as the bag it was in. She pushes the bag aside, letting it fall to the floor and places the box on the table. It is a dark wood and upon closer inspection, is beautifully engraved with detailed, interlocking designs all over it. Some of the designs look like they might be writing of some kind, but nothing I understand. The centre design appears to be a tree of some kind and the rest of the design spirals out from it. It really is a gorgeous box. I trace a hand over it. Pan however is getting impatient.

"Are you going to open it? I want to see what the prince sent you!" She bounces in place excitedly. I think I like Pan, she is unapologetically nosy. I bet she would get along great with Lucy and Marcus.

"I guess so. I have no idea what he might have sent." I answer easily. With both hands, I carefully unlatch the lid and lift it open. My jaw drops. The entire box is filled, and I mean FILLED with gold and gemstones. Like seriously, I have never seen so many valuable stones in my life. The contents of this box are probably enough to live off of for the rest of my life. Not to mention my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren's lives. The value of this box is just obscene. I'm suddenly terrified that someone is going to break in and snatch it away. Or worse, that the mayor is spying on me and is somehow going to know about this. Why the hell would Ashton send SO MUCH? I know he said he was going to pay me well, but this is excessive! My eyes are probably bulging out of my head. Pan looks amused by my reaction, although she does seem a little shocked herself.

"The prince must believe he owes you a great deal. He has sent you a small fortune." She sounds impressed. I frown. A small fortune? Just what are these worth to fae that she considers this a SMALL fortune. This is a large fortune, more than a large fortune!

"I... This can't be right!" I object. Pan frowns.

"But I was instructed that the box and its contents were to go to you. Do you believe there has been a mistake of some kind?" She asks, alarmed. I shake my head.

"No, I mean that I can't take all this. It's far too much. I only worked for him for a couple weeks! This is completely excessive!" I explain. Pan relaxes and shrugs, I notice that her wings shrug with her shoulders which is kind of adorable. "Ah, well the prince handed the box to me personally, so I have no doubt that he intended for you to have it." She assures me. I shake my head again.

"No way, absolutely not. It's one thing to pay me for work that I've done, but this is just crazy. I... I'll take enough to cover what I'm owed. You can take the rest back to him." I decide. Pan looks a little horrified. "You... You intend to send it all back?" She asks.

"Not all of it." I sort through the box and take a few precious stones from it. Small ones that should be easier to sell. I have no idea how I would even go about selling the larger ones to be honest. I don't know their exact value, but I take three stones. Two diamonds to sell, and one blue stone. I think it's tanzanite. This one I'm picking just because I like it. Maybe I'll have it made into a bracelet or something. It would be a nice memento. My selections complete, I close the box and latch it shut again.

"That's it. You can send the rest back. I don't need it." I say firmly. Pan objects at first, insisting that Ashton meant for me to have the contents of the box, but eventually after I refuse to give in, she agrees to return them to him. I thank her and offer her a drink and a snack before she goes. It's the least I can do. For this single delivery, she's going to have severe light sensitivity all night. It's better for her to get home quickly so that she can begin recovering. In the morning I force myself to get up early, or what passes as early when you don't have anywhere to be... It's before nine at least. I get dressed and after a quick internet search, I figure out where I need to take the diamonds to sell them. I take the tanzanite along too, in my purse to keep it safe. I don't plan to sell it, but I might see if I can get it made into something I can actually wear. I sell the diamonds to a very confused but excited jeweller. Apparently he has never seen such perfectly cut diamonds before. He wants to know where I got them but I just tell him I inherited them. Who knew, apparently fae are good at cutting diamonds. I shouldn't be surprised, they have magic after all. I wonder how the old guy at the counter would have reacted if I had come in with one of the bigger ones, or that whole box. I think he might actually have had a heart attack and died. In the end, he offers me fifteen thousand dollars for them which seems like a lot for two smallish diamonds but I'm not going to argue. I get the money paid directly to my bank account then I show him the tanzanite. I explain what I want to do with it and his face lights up.

"I have just the thing." He declares. He rushes off, apparently I'm his new favourite customer because he is incredibly eager to please. He returns a minute later with a necklace. The pendant on the end looks like a little ornate silver cage. He explains that it's designed to store small objects in and display them. He could make a custom piece of jewellery for the tanzanite, and maybe one day I'll ask him to. But this is a very good solution for now. I buy it from him and with the tanzanite carefully clasped around my neck, I make my way home. I am more than happy with the results of my morning, I mean, how many people my age can get fifteen THOUSAND dollars for a couple weeks of work? I don't have to feel guilty about taking extended leave anymore because I can definitely afford it. My savings have never looked so good. After actually going out for the morning, I'm kind of tired. I order food in for lunch, then after I've eaten, I decide it's time to

take a nap.

I wake up hours later, completely disoriented and confused. What time is it? Why am I awake? I hear someone knocking at the door, I suspect they might have been knocking for a while based on how eager they are. I'm expecting Lucy for dinner, but she would have just let herself in. I glance out the window and I can see that the sun has just gone down. I have a suspicion who it might be. Sure enough, when I answer the door, Pan is waiting on my doorstep. She greets me with a cheerful smile. "Hello again Miss Fall."