3
THE FAIRY QUEEN
The Fairy Queen sits on her throne of flowers and tries not to fall asleep.
She has always been receptive to Fren's counsel. He advised her parents and has seen over her reign from the moment she was crowned. However, the old fairy tends to drone on.
It’s not his fault that news about dying crops and displaced sprites isn’t as alarming as it once was.
The despair is routine. Each day brings forth increased rot and destruction. More of her subjects suffer and die in Meadowmist. The Deadland's reach has been creeping into her realm for decades. How long before it reaches them at Glimmerveil Castle?
Reports of it polluting the Everspring have spread. Fairies and sprites have fled with alarm, but where are they to go? Nowhere is safe fromit.
The Fairy Queen nods as each devastating update is read.
Fleeting tendrils of power coil in her palm. Once her magic was strong enough to sprout an unending forest filled with life and heal thousands with the flick of her wrist.
Today, she was lucky her immortality hadn't waned. It was a feat to take flight. The wings at her back hung limply, only able to carry her for short distances. The magic in her veins has grown cold.
Soon there will be none left.
The Fairy Queen glances at a tightly closed rosebud at the arm of her throne. Fren's words fade to the background as she locks onto it. She can feel its life, taste the metal of magic against her tongue. Her magic sings, desperate to be made whole again.
By the time she is able to make the rose bloom, she has a pounding headache. Such a trivial bit of magic would've required half a thought a century ago. If the darkness spreads here, she won't be enough to stop it.
None of them will be.
Before her parents had been claimed by the Void, magic was ripe throughout the land. It flowed freely, strengthening every creature that called Meadowmist home. The other realms had been just as fruitful.
Everything had changed the moment the darkness found them.
The Void must be stopped. There has to be a way to kill it before it lays claim to them all.
Golden sunlight slips between the open windows in the throne room. Glimmerveil Castle is made up of glass and glittering stones. It is a modest structure with only a few towers reaching the upper branches of theguildtrees.
She has lived alone inside these walls since she was sixteen. Over the centuries, the silence has nearly driven her mad. If not for her realm, she would've left the castle long ago in search of companionship.
The Void stole that from her as well. She shakes herself from the unpleasant memories.
Verdant meadow grass blows gently from outside the window. The sweetness of fresh flowers teases her nose. There is another scent on the wind. Not one of decay, which she is grateful for, but one that is masculine. It skitters over her skin and into her stomach.
Elwood must be returning. If the Spirits are merciful, he will bring good news with him.
He is one of the few scouts she has left. Most scouts have already perished. It won't be long until she is forced to send Elwood into the Deadlands. The thought makes bile race up her throat.
It is she who should be out there. Fighting back against the darkness as her parents had done, despite Fren's warnings that she is needed here. How is it fair to ask others to risk their lives if she is not willing to do the same?
A soft rustling tickles her ears.
A pale body covered in velvet-soft wings lands on her shoulder. Its white feet stand in sharp contrast to her green skin. Themistbirdblinks its blue eyes. Tickling under its delicate chin, she feels its rapid heartbeat against her shoulder.
The effort such a small creature makes to live is overwhelming. Every pounding heartbeat is a gift from the Spirits.
To think there is something out there that wants to see them all snuffed out.
The creature leans against her finger. Its fierceness steals her breath. The Fairy Queen will give everything she has to protect those in her realm.
Fren's counsel be damned.
