Swear Not By The Wings
10 King of Fairies

The fortress is guarded by giant gates. Two knights open the fences for the boy and I. The unknown fairy hops off of his stallion before guiding me off as well. I am breathing heavily from the scare.

"What were those things?" I ask out of breath. My hero looks at me quizzically.

"You're not from here are you?" He asks.

"It's a long story," I state, not bothering to explain my whereabouts here.

"My name is Theoden, what's a pretty redhead like yourself doing with the ghoul fairies?" The handsome boy introduces.

"My name is Arrietty, thank you for saving me. I was actually taking a walk around the woodland but got lost. Now I'm here!" I explain.

"Oh, you come from the woodland?" He raises a brow.

"Well, I wasn't born there, obviously," I chuckle.

"Of course! Humans can't be born in a world such as this one. Well, let's get you inside," Theoden gently commands.

I follow the fairy into the imperial kingdom. When we make it inside, I notice the black walls and furniture. Whoever's in charge of this place must love the color black!

"Theoden, you bring a guest?" A new voice says from a tall staircase. I look up and gape at the sight. Standing high above the room is a scarily good looking boy.

Like myself, he does not have any wings. Is he human? My eyes drag over his appearance and I see a silver crown laying on top of his deep brown hair. He's the king? But he's so youthful looking!

"Yes master, this is Arrietty. She comes from the woodland. She got lost and I found her." Theoden clarifies. The king gracefully walks down the long set of stairs until he's standing in front of me with an enchanting smile.

"Arrietty, is it?" I nod when the king addresses me by my name. He takes my hands and kisses it. My heartbeat accelerates upon the action.

"You must be the famous great-granddaughter that the wind whispers about," he says. I gulp at this. How does he know who I am?

"Ah! How rude of me! I forgot to introduce myself. I am Adriel or-" I cut the king off from his sentence.

"You're the king of fairies? I've heard stories about you. Aren't you supposed to be old? You don't look a day over twenty," the king and Theoden laugh at my outspokenness.

"Pretty human, I don't age," winks Adriel. My cheeks go pink due to embarrassment. Of course, he doesn't age! He has the timeless job of watching over the fairies.

"Tell me, girl, have you been cursed?" The king inquires. I see him eyeing my pendant. I wrap my hand around the jewelry and nod timidly.

"You must miss your mom," he guesses. I stare into his eyes. How in the world does he know that? Adriel holds out his elbow for me to grab. I link my arm in his and wave at Theoden who is watching me being pulled away with a smile.

The king leads me to a gorgeous balcony. I look over the platform and see that there is another town behind the kingdom. I see all types of fairies! The beings are dressed in elegant outfits and look like royalty themselves. I remember the sickly fairies and ask Adriel about them.

"So, there are good fairies here. What happened to the ones in front of your castle?" I ask the king.

Adriel smiles sadly at me and goes on to say,

"Those are ghoul fairies. Unfortunately, they have no magic in them so they are now sick," I frown at his words. That's so sad.

"Can't you save them?" I ponder. Adriel quickly shakes his head.

"I've tried, but they cannot be saved." The king notices my damaged mood and smiles to me,

"Are you hungry?" At the mention of food my stomach grumbles. Adriel laughs and leads me to his dining room. Dozens of fairy servants scramble around us, setting food on the table. My mouth waters upon the sight.

"So, you come from the woodland, I hear," I couldn't answer Adriel's question because I was too busy shoving pasta down my throat. The king chuckles in entertainment. I blush at my impoliteness. When I'm done swallowing the food, I frantically say to the king,

"Yes, speaking of, do you know the way back? My friend is probably worried." By "friend" I meant Elio. Does he know that I am gone? Does he care?

"Leaving so soon? Why don't you stay the night? I'll prepare a room for you. I'm sure your friend will come by in the morning," Adriel is quick to say.

"I don't know, I promised him that I wouldn't speak of this place, and now I'm here," I sigh. Adriel raises his eyebrows.

"Who?" He questions.

"His name is Elio," I say.

"Ah," is all Adriel replies with.

"Do you know him?"

"I do," the king says with a bitter laugh.

"Is he your boyfriend?" Adriel wonders.

"No! Elio is the one who brought me here," I say.

"He placed the curse on you?" Asks the king.

"I placed the curse on myself, I think," I mumble. Adriel smiles at my confusion.

"You must've cursed the fairies. Is that why you are here?" He smirks.

"Wow, you're good," I proclaim and Adriel just winks at me. The king and I continue our conversation. I got to know more about him and he got to learn more about me. It was a healthy trade.

Before, I was wary of Adriel because the stories I've heard about him weren't pleasant ones. Now that I've met him for myself, he seems almost normal. Well, normal for this world at least. There's nothing normal about fairies and magic where I'm from!

Soon our laughter dies down and the discussion shifts to the topic of my mother.

"I don't have a mom, but understand that families are important to humans," Adriel tries to empathize with my pain.

"Yes, I wasn't even able to say goodbye before I left her," my voice begins to lower and I feel my lip start to tremble. Adriel watches me like he is contemplating something in his mind. He opens his mouth but refuses to finish his thought.

"Well, I could, never mind. That's too much," he doubts.

"What's too much?" I reply in a shaky voice.

"Arrietty, it's nothing, really," the king looks at me again. My teary eyes stare into his black ones and he mutters under his breath.

"I know I shouldn't offer this, but I quite like you, Arrietty. You miss your mom, don't you?" He inquires.

I immediately perk at this.

"I do," I confirm.

"Would you like me to break the curse for you?"