“Fine, A Thaisce, whatever you wish,” Arach drawled.
“Aw, Dad!” Rian whined.
“Do you want to hear the story or not, Son?” Arach asked.
With a sigh, Rian settled back against the footboard.
Mollified, I got back to reading, “Despite her common status, Rivella wasn't worried about entering the Royal Castle of Earth. She'd been given permission to be there, and even without it, it wasn't against the laws for a faerie of one element to enter the kingdom of another. Besides, it looked as if everyone in the kingdom had been invited. Well, she was in the kingdom.”
“I don't see what the big deal was about her being in Earth,” Rian said.
“It was different back then,” Arach said softly. “The Elemental Kingdoms were not so . . . friendly with each other.”
“So, Rivella was very brave to visit the Earth Kingdom?” Brev asked.
“Oh, yes,” Arach said grimly. “Brave or stupid.”
“Brave, Daddy,” Samara said.
“I see that I've been told as well,” Arach drawled.
I snorted and read on, “By the time Rivella reached the castle gates, she walked within a space all her own, the Earth Fey giving her and her noble dress a wide berth. The Trolls on duty at the massive stone doors of the mountain castle bowed to Rivella as she passed by. Never had she been treated so respectfully, and Rivella liked it very much. She decided to wear her fine clothes more often.”
“Trolls,” Arach scoffed. “So easy to impress.”
“Rivella was beautiful, Daddy?” Sam asked.
“Not as beautiful as your mother.” Arach smiled at me. “But she was lovely.”
I lifted a brow at him, and he cleared his throat.
“Did she never return to the Fire Kingdom?” Brev asked.
“You must keep listening to find out.”
“She falls in love with the Earth King,” Rian said. “It's Cinderella. She falls in love with a prince in the human version, but in this one, it's a king. The title gives that away. And she's already been to all the other kingdoms, so that leaves the King of Earth. We already know the story.”
“But it's the falling in love that's the most fun,” I said. “That's where the story is. The middle part. Otherwise, we'd just have a beginning and an end. And I'll bet it was quite a great love story if Rivella gave up her home for the Earth King. Just like Aunty Nora and Uncle Guirmean.”
“The Earth King was probably very handsome,” Brevyn said.
“Handsome,” Samara repeated sagely.
“Not as handsome as me. Right, A Thaisce?” Arach prompted.
“Well, I don't know. You knew this Rivella, but I wasn't there to meet the King of Earth,” I said flippantly.
“Oh, so you wish to go back in time to meet King Rory and compare?”
“And be in a real faerie tale? Yeah, maybe I do.”
Arach blinked.
“I'll bet King Rory was nicer than Queen Aalish,” I went on.
“Mom?” Rian sounded worried.
“Vervain!” Arach jolted across Samara as our daughter screamed.
