Outroduction

It was the last time I would have to hand in a test at the abominable Testing Center. The very last. I filled in the last bubble, checked and rechecked the questions, and called it a wrap. After packing up, I handed in my answer sheet. All. That was all. I was free.

Free! It took an effort not to cheer and dance out of the building, since the other students were still silent and stressed. Instead I skipped down the stairs outside. My mind was still bothered, though not by the test. There was a question that had been nagging my mind since my last night in the faery world, months ago, now.

“So, you are going to stay here?” Ciaran had asked.

I can’t... can I?

My mother’s voice on the phone had the same hesitant expectancy. “Where are you going to go after graduation? You’re coming back home, right?”

I... Why does it have to be one world or the other?

I broke into a run as I went downhill. It was a warm Summer’s afternoon, and the wind felt so good. It was scary to me just how easily I’d slipped back into my ordinary life again. Of course my old habits weren’t going to change because of a crazy few days. Even though I knew it had happened, it was absurd to think about faeries and magic when I had a twenty-five page paper due the next day. At the same time, I had to admit such thoughts were more pleasant a subject to run away to.

Ciaran came to see me quite often, disguised as a human. He introduced himself to my friends and roommates as an "old friend" which raised their eyebrows, but they all seemed to like him. I couldn't keep up with him. Whenever I’d look at him, his eyes would always be soft and happy. Now that Brand was no longer dominating his personal life, he seemed to have no fears whatever. I was half-afraid every minute I was with him that he’d suddenly say. “I’m not going to let you go back. Let’s get married right away!” and take me off to the faery world, never to be heard from again. That made him a subject to run away from, so it was back to homework. My fears were ridiculous, so after a few days, I asked if we could just date for a while instead of simply accepting right away that we were destined for each other.

“Time to get to know you would be good, since I don’t know what you’re like when it’s not life or death, or on the run.” I explained. He tilted his head, considering the matter.

“I can see what you mean, but, we are always on the run from something, aren’t we?”

There was still a project to be turned in for that awful Humanities class, and I wanted to do that as fast as possible. I dropped it off, and started up the hill again and past the library’s shortcut, when I noticed a familiar figure leaning against the wall. He looked human, but fashionably dressed (if it were the 1920’s) with a fancy gray suit and a wide-brimmed fedora hat.

“Are you ready?” he asked, his hat covering his eyes.

He sounded like the Grim Reaper. The air was suddenly cold and chilling.

“For what?” I asked.

“I agreed to leave you alone until finals were over. You agreed to come with me when your time was up.” he grinned, turning his head toward me. “That was our bargain, was it not?”

“You really think you kept your end of the bargain?” I said flatly.

“As my word is my bond!” he put a hand over his heart, purple eyes twinkling.

I didn’t learn the true nature of faeries until their political upheaval was over with. When their lives are not at stake, faeries have different natures. And when I say different, I mean downright mischievous. Ever since I came back to the human world, they’ve been jumping out and scaring me from dark corners, disguising as crows outside the window of my classroom (waving at me, trying to make me laugh), pretending to be ghosts by making objects fly around the room, leaving my cookbooks mysteriously opened on pages with cookie recipes...

“You can’t call that leaving me alone! You barely let me study--”

“Too late. It’s time.” A dark blanket was suddenly thrown over my head from behind, and I was forcibly lifted and carried. Strong winds rushed around me as I kicked and screamed. In the next instant, the blanket was thrown off. I now saw Donal and Ciaran kneeling on the grass in front of me, presenting a cake.

Happy Graduation! the cake said.

I sighed with relief as they laughed at me. “Did you have to kidnap me just for this?”

“It was more fun that way.” Donal bounced.

“You’d think a king would have more self control!” I said, my heart still pounding from the most recent scare. I tried to smooth my crazy hair down from the static electricity it had come in contact with.

“I have a lot of self control!” Donal argued. “I waited until the right moment to scare you, didn’t I?”

“And you!” I turned towards Ciaran. “How dare you lead me into his trap? I trusted you!”

“It was too funny!” he pleaded, still laughing. “Besides, you got a cake out of it.”

“But it’s a favor you’ll have to repay! You must come work for me now.” Donal said grandly. “I left you alone until graduation, but now your time is up.”

“You call that leaving me alone?!” I repeated. “Anyway, I have some conditions.”

They listened attentively.

“I must be allowed to live somewhere besides the castle, I get creative freedom to try new recipes instead of the just same kinds over and over again, and finally,” I took a deep breath. “I get to come back to the human world if I want to. I have to have time off to visit my mother regularly.”

“Of course you get to come back.” Donal gave me a funny look. “Do you have any idea what we’ve been trying to do for the past five years? You don’t have to choose just one world or the other. Why not both?”

The sweet, secure feeling of relief hit me, and spread like happiness throughout my soul, and I smiled. This was that moment everyone ought to have at least once in their lives, when everything falls into place.

“Now that I’ve said that,” Donal added, standing up. “Ciaran, you have to convince her to stay in our world. She’s my favorite baker, and I can’t let her go.” he gestured toward the cake. “Never mind that thing. I’m going to get you a wedding cake! Then you’ll have to stay!”

I looked at him in horror.

“Donal, don’t scare her like that.” Ciaran tried to look stern.

“I’m perfectly serious!” The Faery King declared. “I order you to marry her this instant!”

“I’ll marry her when she’s ready!”

“Oh you will, will you?” I interrupted.

“Yes! Well-- if you want to.” Ciaran blushed.

“Well, of course I want to!” I heard myself saying. Wait.
"Well, then! It's settled." Donal said triumphantly, like we were simple pawns in his game."I'll arrange to have the ceremony--"

Wait.

“Oh, no you don't. Donal,” I turned towards the cute, blond devil. “What kind of forced, unromantic proposal was that just now? You've ruined... I am going to punch you in the stomach!” I yelled, chasing my future cousin-in-law around, instead of basking in the moment when I became engaged to be married. My new fiancé sighed, dug his fork into the cake, and began eating it while we ran around him.

After a few rounds of fruitless chase, Ciaran caught my wrist just as Donal snatched up the entire cake, the rascal. I protested, Donal hooted and disappeared into the trees. Birds sang in the quiet afternoon. My heart thumped loudly. The sun felt warm, and the cool breeze wafted around gently. His hand in mine was the most beautiful feeling imaginable, but I couldn't quite turn around and look at him.
"Ashlyn," Ciaran said softly, wrapping his arms around my shoulders, and pulling me close. "I will live in whichever world you wish, but please, let me stay with you." 
At length, I turned my face towards his and kissed him. "Okay." I said (a lame reply to his beautiful words).
"So," he was still hesitant. "Will you marry me?"
"Of course I'll marry you!"
"Okay. Just making sure."
For a few minutes we stood there, batting our eyelashes at each other and grinning like fools until Ciaran said,
"Let's go get that cake back."
I laughed. "All right. Let's." 
And so, hand in hand, we ran after the cake thief and had a truly grand celebration, in both worlds.

And this, dear reader, is the happy situation in which my story ends.

The moral of this story-- what you should take from this guide is: Beware of faeries, O ye student! They will greatly interfere with your homework. For those of you who have already finished your studies, I simply say, Beware. They would love to interfere with your life. You may meet them on the streets any day now. You might meet them while getting drinks, going dancing, or walking alone. They can make you very late for work, or lower your shining 4.0 GPA to a 3.6 in five days.

And obviously you must not only keep your defenses up against faeries, but against goblins, who may very well come after you when hungry. Not only faeries and goblins, but against humans, for you know that the handsome young man you’re talking to might just be Brand himself. Sometimes it gives me chills when I think he is still out there in the human world, and that I might meet him by accident, or that one day his memories might come rushing back. But as Donal said, he is closely watched, so for now I’ll trust his judgement.

Look out for innocent doorways leading to nowhere. The gates to the faery world are sometimes left ajar. If you see a beautiful person in a lonely, isolated place-- be it forest, mountain, or meadow-- and he or she tells you to follow him or her...

I won’t worry about you, reader. You have the knowledge to defend yourself against their tricks now. However, if you ever do find yourself in a marvelous place with vivid colors and magical creatures, stop by the castle at the center of the faery world. I regulate the enchantments made on the food there, and the castle’s kitchen is equipped with an unlimited supply of deliciousness. 

You are welcome to my cookies. In fact, please take a dozen or two on your journey so Donal won’t make himself sick again.

The End

Dancing Night

Parties are very important to faeries. Whatever the occasion, merriment is a must. If it’s a funeral, jokes and funny stories about the now-passed person are told over drinks, followed by a grand wake with cheers and dancing. It’s not like they don’t mourn. You’ve heard the many legends and myths about those that waste away with grief and wander forever as vengeful spirits, or those go mad and sell their souls for a chance to get their loved ones back. Of course faeries mourn, just like we do. They can’t dance away their grief as easy as that.

Before faeries dance, they sing.

With nearly all kinds instruments under the sun, with every voice in the kingdom joining in, they sing. It can get a little hectic. The sound reminded me of an orchestra warming up, and not all the voices were on the same pitch. As I said, faeries aren’t perfect. Once they got going, however, the feeling I got from their songs was overwhelming, even if a lot of them were sung in their own language. The celebration I witnessed that afternoon and evening was not only to welcome and congratulate Donal as the new king, but also to mourn the death of his father, and the loss of the good, fake version of Brand that they’d all been seeing. Songs were written and sung to convey these feelings. We would have been mourning Jinge too, if he wasn’t still alive.

“Don’t tell me you already wrote a song for me.” Jinge said to Donal, looking a bit horrified as we were on our way to the city outside of the castle.

“No, not at all. Of course not. We had far too much going on at the time.” Donal assured him, while avoiding his gaze.

“I had some funny stories prepared.” Ciaran added, grinning while Jinge glared at him. We walked with the crowd, out of the city, and into a large, grassy field with several bonfires were it, where it looked like the entire population of the faerie kingdom had gathered.

The written music and lyrics of each song were distributed via those handy magic mirrors so everyone could follow along. We sang as the sun set in beautiful orange and red hues, and then under the light of the stars. Ciaran told me later that lights and colors are more bright and vivid in the faery world because of the magical barrier that hides it. As a happy, unintended result, the stars are even more gorgeous under their sky.

When I die, I want my life to be celebrated under a sky like that.

The songs of mourning were followed by happier tunes, cheering on Donal’s bravery, cleverness, and victory. The public opinion of him and his ideals had been highly controversial before, and no doubt it would continue that way for years, but it was clear that he’d earned their respect. They praised the way he’d harnessed the raw power of fire, and made creatures of darkness his obedient friends.

“That’s one way to look at it.” Jinge said wryly, with Sol tucked in his arms as a cat.

As he heard himself sung about, Donal’s face steadily got redder and redder, and he stumbled over the words. Ciaran wasn’t mentioned much in the songs-- and he seemed to prefer that-- but there had been one of the sadder songs that we sang with his name on it, titled: “Brother.”

After the singing, the faeries danced. The instruments were played in one large group on one end of the field, and the faeries danced around the bonfires. The kinds of dances varied, but if you’re interested in what it looked like, I’d describe it as a mixture of ballroom, Scottish and Irish traditional, square dancing, the circular dance from the movie “Tangled” and overall, a good workout. No one minds if you mess up, they just laugh and pull you back into the right step.

The other important factor of merriment in a faery celebration is food, and the food there was fantastic. I’m happy to say that I had a part in its preparation.

In the morning of that day, I went to the kitchens and found that none of the bakers for the morning shift had shown up. Why? Because they’d all been sound asleep while the Faery King did battle, and were now crowded around one mirror in the dining hall and finding out what had gone on. I didn’t know that, however, so I took requests for breakfast and began searching the kitchen for ingredients. The bakers joined me soon enough, and, recognizing me as the human girl in the video that had aided their new king, they accepted me in their kitchen like I was a famous chef.

Even though I’m not famous, I’m still quite good, and we worked surprisingly well together. Breakfast was done before any of our gallant heroes came to eat, so they joined me at the table, where I was already digging into some scrumptious stuffed French toast. Not long after they were finished, Donal was bombarded with the detailed duties of being a king, and he dragged his unwilling cousin and bodyguard with him.

I had nothing to do, being left alone, so I aided in the preparations of the night’s celebration. The other group of chefs made the main courses, so we were in charge of dessert (the best job ever!). We made cakes, pies, cookies, candy, fruit tarts-- including dessert pizza, and also a bunch of French pastries (the names of which elude me). When I was pulling the oatmeal cookies out of the oven, one of the bakers brought me a certain platter.

“Be sure you only put the king’s favorites on this one. Once you set the food on, it never runs out.”

“Never?” I asked incredulously.

“Not until you wash it, no.” Her eyes wrinkled up in a smile. “We haven’t used this for him since his last birthday party.”

We piled that platter with all the desserts on the favorites list, and while it made me happy to do so, all I could think of was how much I hoped Donal wouldn’t eat too much and become sick. It didn’t stop me from wanting him to try them, though.

“Here, Donal!” I said, waving him towards the platter after he came back from a dance. “I made those.”

He smiled and took one. After one bite, the Faery King looked at me, shocked. Immediately, he took my hand and went down on one knee.

“Hey now,” Ciaran said warningly from the other side of the table.

“Madam,” Donal began earnestly. “Now that I am king, please do me the honor of baking in my kitchens.”

I blinked at the strange proposal. “Sorry?”

“I love your cookies beyond any that I have ever tasted. Please say that you’ll stay and make them for me.”

“Your highness, are you offering me a job?” I laughed.

“The very highest position in my eyes.” He nodded solemnly.

I smiled at his sincerity. “It would be my pleasure to bake for you.”

“Yes!” Donal jumped up, shoved two more cookies in his mouth, and danced off again with a pretty faery girl.

“He’s going to make himself sick.” Ciaran observed, coming to stand next to me. “So you are going to stay here?”

Since I had just taken a job in the faery world, his words shouldn’t have jolted me with such abruptness, but they did. In that single jolt, the merry sight before my eyes seemed unfamiliar, and the music strange. I noticed that there weren’t only faeries dancing around the fires, but wild, fabulous creatures, like nymphs, dryads and pixies. I looked up at Ciaran, and his normally handsome face now seemed like that of a stranger’s. What had I been doing before I came here...?

“You should stay here.” he said cheerfully, nudging me with his elbow. “You’ll like it. You can bake in the mornings, and we’ll play during the day, and--”

“Argh!” I interrupted him. “It’s Tuesday, right? I forgot, I have homework due today! I have to get back!” Interfering faeries! I panicked. I had all A’s, too!

“But, Ashlyn, it’s already nine o’clock!” Ciaran stopped me as I tried to run. “You can catch up tomorrow.”

“Right, right.” I twitched. “I only missed four classes so far, I should still be able to pass, right? Right?”

“Right. And then you’re done after this semester!”

“True! If I pass!”

“You’ll pass, you’ll pass.” My faery tilted up my chin and kissed me. “Stay and dance with me for tonight, Ashlyn.”

“One dance.” I said stubbornly. “Then I have to go back to my apartment and get a proper night’s sleep.” 

“Fine.” he conceded, and pulled me into one of the groups that was already dancing underneath the bright, beautiful night sky.

Before the Dawn

A beautiful faery woman started forward from the crowd, then halted. It was Emilia, the somewhat naive and ditsy woman who’d decided to show me around the castle the day before. She watched Brand get lifted by the arms and dragged away by John and Rodger. Her mouth opened, and closed. No one in the room said a word as they took the unconscious Brand away to the human world, but I saw a single tear slide down her cheek.

“Well,” Donal said. “That’s that. What time is it?”

“About eleven o’clock, your majesty.”

“Sounds right. I’m exhausted. Let’s get some sleep, everyone!”

“But, sire!” Donal was suddenly surrounded by faeries. “It’s your first night back home, and you just had your glorious victory! We ought to celebrate right away!”

“Tomorrow, tomorrow!” Donal waved them away. “The rest of the kingdom is sleeping; let’s wait until they know the news too, so they can join in.”

“Ah, yes, that is wise. You’re so thoughtful, your majesty.” They backed off, whispering among themselves. “We have until then to plan all the details of the best holiday yet!”

Donal gave a slight shudder and came over to us. He looked relieved as the room began to empty, and what formal manners he had left vanished. “Jinge, carry me to my room!” he leaned and fell forward towards his bodyguard.

Jinge kept him from falling over with one hand. “Not going to happen. I’m still recovering from a mortal wound, remember?”

“Aw!” Donal pouted.

“Will that it really be all right-- for Brand to be in the human world? Won’t he remember eventually?” I interrupted.

Donal straightened up. “I have no idea. It was an experiment!” he grinned. “But I’ll be sure to have people watching him closely. In the meantime, I’m starving! Let’s go get something to eat!”

“Don’t you want to sleep?” Ciaran asked.

“Nope! Not yet. I haven’t eaten since Aunt Maud’s house.”

For a moment, both of them looked like they were about to vomit. “Let’s go to the dining hall.” Ciaran said. We all went and ate whatever scraps were left, but there wasn’t much: leftover lasagna and a strange macaroni salad. None of us talked.

I thought I would sleep heavily and well after that exhausting day, but just as I was about to lay down and sleep, someone knocked on my door.

This was very strange, but I opened it a crack. It was John.

“Hello?” I offered.

“Ashlyn,” he began stiffly. “I just want to say that I’m sorry. And also, thank you. I’ve been waiting a long time to be ordered to do the right thing, and you made that possible.”

It was sweet of him, but his wording annoyed me. “What are you, a tool?” I wanted to ask, but didn’t. He was being sincere, after all. And he was a soldier of sorts. They do have to follow orders.

“I was there when Jinge was put in jail, and I couldn’t do anything to help him, but because of you, the princes worked together to help him. Even though everything has been thrown into chaos ever since, you helped us become the society I wanted us to be. In short, I... I’m sorry that I tried to erase your memories. Can you forgive me?”

I smiled. “Of course.” I stepped out my door, and we hugged for the second time. “How did it go-- creating a past for Brand?”

John leaned his back against the wall of the corridor. “It went all right. We put him in a hospital so his burns could be treated. Rodger is working on the paperwork for his new identity. He’s going to be the only survivor in a house fire. It’ll be difficult to come up with a convincing life story, since he has to start from scratch, but at least I’ll finally be doing something important.”

“Hey!” I said, nudging him. “You were my friend for four years. That was important to me.”

“You didn’t really need me, though.”

I thought of all those times when we had argued, when we’d eaten together, and when I had wanted to strangle him. “I did. I definitely needed you.”

John smiled at me, his glasses catching the light from inside my room. He nodded and left without even saying goodnight. I shrugged, shut the door, and climbed into bed. Just as I was about to fall asleep--

Knock, knock, knock.

Groaning, I got up to answer it. This time it was Emilia, clutching a bundle of cloth.

“This is for you,” she said, her voice unsteady. “I remembered that the green dress I lent you was all you had to wear besides your pajamas, and that it got soaked in the filthy swimming pool, so I brought this.” She held up the cream-colored bundle, which I began to take from her, and then she burst into tears.

I’ve never been good with sobbing adults. Children are fairly easy, since most of them just want to be comforted and held. Crying adults are crazy people who may explode violently when they are upset, and the best way to treat them is never the same. I’m never sure if an upset adult wants to talk, get patted on the back, be sympathized with, or left alone. Emilia, luckily for me, was the kind that didn’t give me time to try the wrong method.

“Ashlyn, he’s gone!” she sobbed, pushing her way into my room and collapsing on the chair dramatically.

I shut the door. “You mean...?”

“Brand.” she finished, wiping her eyes. “I’ll never see him again.”

“Why not?” I sat on my bed.

“If I do, he might remember where he came from! I’m never allowed to go to the human world because I can’t act.”

“I’m so sorry.” was all I could think to say.

“What should I do?” Emilia wailed.

My gaze gravitated to the plump pillow on the bed. Sighing, I asked. “Did he mean that much to you?”

She quieted, taking deep breaths. “I know he was mean, and cruel, and did a lot of bad things, but I’ll never find anyone like him again.”

I tried to recall their previous interaction, which consisted of her talking about fashion, and Brand becoming so annoyed that he left us alone for the entire day.

“I know he didn’t really care for me,” Emilia laughed a little. “But no one could possibly be more handsome and elegant than he is.”

“Emilia, with your looks, you could have any man that you want!” I tried not to yawn. “If he never noticed you, then it’s his loss.”

She was quiet for a moment. “Do you think I could convince the king to make me into Brand’s girlfriend before he lost his memory?”

“Huh?!”

“It could be part of his backstory! If I become human, he can get to know me all over again!”

“Wait, wait, you said you couldn’t act!”

“I could do that much! ....And if I couldn’t, do you think maybe he could erase my memories too?”

I blinked. “What if Brand still didn’t like you? You don’t want to give up everything just to be left alone in the human world, do you?”

She opened her mouth, but I continued.

“It’s really rough out there, especially if you don’t have any family. I only have my mom, and leaving home was super hard for both of us. She was furious when I went to a college in a different state, just because she hates being alone. She stopped talking to me for months. If I didn’t have such good room-mates that semester, I wouldn’t have made it.”

“Oh, I’ll make plenty of friends!”

“Yes, but if Brand leaves you, and let’s face it, he’s a jerk, so he probably will, you’ll be all alone.”

The tears streamed down Emilia’s lovely face. “I’m already alone.” she said.

“Well,” I felt like I’d said too much. “Just something to think about. If you still feel awful, we can ask Donal about it together.”

“Oh, thank you!” She bounced up, wiping her eyes. “You’ll look great in this dress, by the way! I think it will fit your complexion perfectly! Thank you for everything, Ashlyn!” She smiled, left the dress on the chair, and shut the door behind her. 

I couldn’t help but laugh as I finally climbed back into bed. “And she said she can’t act...”

Judgement

We entered the throne room, where masses of faeries were already assembled. Knowing what they did now, they bowed deeply to Donal as he stepped in the room. He flushed and nodded back. After slight hesitation, the Faery King sat in his father's throne for the first time. Donal thought that he finally understood how a king felt. With so many people looking at you, a raised seat is necessary so they all look small. This helps a great deal, but for Donal, there were still so many of them, waiting for him to speak.

“We are here to pronounce judgement on the former Regent, Brand.” he announced loudly. “Come forward.”

Brand walked to the center of the room, his jaw set. As he walked, his gaze swept across the room. Everyone that met his eyes flinched. He stopped in front of Donal, and stood up proudly.

“Does this man have any supporters among us?”

No one stepped forward.

“Very well, then.” Donal said. “Because of your crimes--”

“Just kill me quickly.” Brand interrupted. “Don’t drag it out.”

“I’m not going to kill you.” Donal said, making the crowd murmur in surprise. “I've already thought of a better punishment for you, cousin. I’m banishing you. Your memory will be completely wiped of all knowledge of this world, and you will be sent to live with the humans.”

Something inside Brand seemed to break. He turned pale. “You can't do that!”

“Can he?” I whispered to Ciaran from the sidelines. “Won't that be dangerous? I mean, won't he still have his magic?”

“No,” Ciaran whispered back. “Magic itself is nothing more than knowledge and concentration, really. He won't have the ability if he doesn't know it exists.”

“Oh, I can, and I will, unless you have a better idea.” Donal replied, shifting his position on the throne. “I think this is the best thing for you. You've abused all the knowledge and power given to you before, so this is a fresh start. I won't leave you alone in the other world, of course. You will be monitored closely so that you don't cause any trouble.” Donal had a strange, almost sympathetic smile on his face. “I will make sure you last more than one night.”

Brand fell to his knees. “Please, I beg you, kill me instead. I’d rather be killed here and now than endure the agony of living with soft-headed humans!”

“You would rather die?”

“I would!” Brand declared.

Donal stood up. “You don’t deserve the mercy of a quick and easy death!” Everyone in the room jumped; the sweet and clever boy had suddenly become frightening and full of wrath. Brand’s eyes widened.

“You will die slowly and naturally!” Donal thundered. “You are now reduced to the lowest form of life in your own eyes, and your humiliation and pain will continue for a lifetime!” As he spoke, Brand’s appearance changed-- round ears, short, black hair, natural color in his skin-- he now looked completely human. The process was painful-- it was no disguise this time, but a physical change. Brand struck the floor with his fists and screamed. It was all over in a moment.

"John, Rodger!” Donal called. “After I wipe his memories, I’ll leave it up to you to find a home for him. A hospital will probably be best to help acclimatize him.” John and another faery nodded soberly and stood near Brand.

I turned to Ciaran, who was frowning. “Are you all right with losing your brother like this?”

He looked at me and nodded, but I thought he seemed sad.

Donal reached out his hand and was about to completely erase all the memories from Brand’s mind, when Brand suddenly grabbed his wrist.

            “Donal!” he said desperately. “What-- what was the Endless Glass like?”

            “Like?” Donal repeated.

“What did it feel like to use it? Tell me,” Brand pleaded, a helpless longing on his face.

Donal felt something like pity for him. “It was like... like the most powerful and dangerous monster imaginable was holding me in its teeth.”

“But you could control it, right? It obeyed you?”

Donal laughed. “Like the ocean obeys a sailor.”

“Are you ever going to look at it again?” He looked wistful.

“Not if I can help it!”

Brand bowed his head. “I will never understand the way you think.”

“Maybe someday you will.” Donal said, and touched his forehead with one finger. There was a slight flash, and Brand collapsed on the marble floor.

The Sodden Aftermath

You know, in movies where the characters are either hostages or heroes underwater, I’ve always tried to hold my breath with them, just to see if I could survive in the same situation. Sometimes I could hold my breath for that long, but in reality, the increased pressure and fear of death are too much for me. Even if I'm only swimming for fun, when completely submerged, I panic almost instantly.

When everyone had jumped into the old swimming pool to avoid getting burned alive, the water level (which hadn’t stopped rising) rose above my head. With my feet shackled to the floor, panic set in. I strained against the cuffs around my ankles, pulling up and up to the surface. They weren’t budging.

You can’t call for help underwater.

Before I was really in danger of drowning, however, someone grabbed one of my ankles. This scared me very much, of course, but the tight metal against my skin loosened, and my feet kicked free! The shackles had been unlocked. My wrists were suddenly pulled to one side as well, so I opened my eyes underwater to see Jinge-- Jinge!-- unlocking the cuffs around my hands. My gasp of surprise left me breathless, and I resurfaced, gasping in the smoky air. The fire had died down for the most part.

Ciaran's head popped up soon afterward, but he didn't seem surprised at all to see his formerly dead friend standing next to him and shaking the water out of his ears.

“Jinge!” I yelled, treading water and rubbing my wrists where they’d been chafed. “I'm so glad you're alive!”

He grinned, showing his white teeth. “The same to you, human girl.” he said. I never thought that would sound affectionate.

“See?” Ciaran swam over to me, looking like a happy puppy. “I told you we’d be all right!”

“You knew he was alive?” I had to yell over the noise of everyone in the pool.

“Yes, he met us before we got to the castle!” Ciaran yelled back.

“Then why didn’t you tell me?”

“Couldn’t have anyone overhearing. It was a surprise for Brand!” my faery laughed, pointing.

Brand was at the far side of the pool, his back flat against the wall. What hair he had left was stuck to his head, which changed his appearance completely. His face had an expression of utter disbelief and horror as he stared at the very-much-alive half-goblin.

The other people in the pool were very confused. “What in the worlds happened?” and  “When did they put a swimming pool in here?” were two of the their exclamations.

“Hey!” A voice called our attention. Everyone in the old pool looked up at the boy standing above us with magnificent blue flames still dancing off of him. His clothes were completely fine, not even smoking, and the black dragon's head peering over his shoulder made him look all the more frightening. “As Donal, son of King Alder, I declare my rightful succession to the throne. Do you accept me as your king?” he asked.

The ten bystanders who had been out of it until the fire started, nodded their heads like scared rabbits.

“Excellent! You can come out now.”  Donal said, smiling. The fire around him vanished. “I'm sorry!” He called down, holding his hand out to me. “I'm sorry, I had to get a full confession from him before I stopped him! You're all right?”

I took his and pulled my heavy skirts out of the pool. “Donal! Jinge is alive! He’s right there!”

“I know!” the Faery King laughed.

“Sorry, but what just happened?” One of the others asked us.

“Brand was just owned by Donal's awesome fire!” Ciaran said happily.

“What? And I missed it?” A lieutenant among them was greatly disappointed, and hit the water with his fist.

“Don't worry, you can watch it again.” Ciaran assured him. “Donal recorded and broadcasted the entire thing. The entire kingdom now knows the truth.”

Brand did not take this news well. When everyone else was getting out of the pool, he slid down into the water up to his cheeks and started sullenly blowing bubbles in it. Everything he had previously accomplished suddenly came crashing down around his ears in a matter of minutes, so I can't really blame him for being so shocked. Soon only him and Jinge were in the water.  While the rest of us were talking and wringing our clothes out, they stared each other down. Finally, Jinge waved his hand towards the ramp, as if to say, “You first.”

The former villain slowly walked up the ramp and dropped to his knees in front of Donal. His beautiful, long, white hair was now gone, burned in a short, jagged pattern, and his long, elegant coat was reduced to a scorched, frayed shirt.

“Brand,” Donal said grandly. “You will be taken in front of the court, properly and publicly, and given a fitting punishment. Everyone knows what you really are now.” Donal's formal speech suddenly broke when he bent over laughing. “I can’t believe you fell for the oldest trick in the book! You confessed with the entire world watching, just like on TV! Ah, it worked perfectly!” he wiped a tear from his eye. “I can't believe it was so easy! I was so scared it wouldn't work!”

Brand only grimaced and kept his eyes on the floor. The doorway had been crowded with curious faeries-- John and Emilia among them-- but no one was brave enough to come in after the fire.

“Can we get some towels?” Donal asked them. “We're going to need a lot.”

We were brought towels, and made our way to the current throne room. We got a lot of stares on the way there. A soaking/ burned group of people, with a dragon marching down the hall. I was busy trying to piece together what had happened, so I timidly nudged the magnificent king next to me.

“So when did the dragon come in? It's completely random to me.” I asked.

Donal laughed, and reached up a hand to scratch behind the dragon's ears. “This is Sol, otherwise known as Jinge's cat. We thought her species was extinct until now. Turns out they can shapeshift.”

“She saved my life.” Jinge said from her other side. The dragon wrapped her neck around Jinge affectionately, making it difficult for him to walk. He just smiled. She was black as midnight, with a long neck and tail, sleek black feathered wings that were folded at either side, and a head not unlike the dragon at the end of Disney's Sleeping Beauty. She was about as large as a cow, but she purred softly as Jinge stroked her head.               

“Did you know they'd put us in the old throne room? Was that a part of your plan?” I asked Donal.

“No, I didn't know. But Jinge was receiving the broadcast as well, so he came straight to us.”

“There were a lot of guards around the door. I would have beaten it down if John hadn't given me the key.” Jinge said.

“That did work out surprisingly well. How did you broadcast it to everyone?” I turned to Donal.

“With this!” he showed me a slightly melted piece of metal that he'd picked up from the floor. “It's what they call a bug in the human world. We disguised it in an odd casing so Brand wouldn't recognize it, but apparently he pocketed it and forgot about it. It worked out perfectly. Aunt Maud put the camera portion on my shirt, see? I connected it to the Endless Glass, and told it to stream the video and audio to every mirror in the kingdom.”

I blinked. “That sounds really complicated.”

“It wasn't that bad.” Donal grinned. “Aunt Maud worked as a spy during the second human World War, and since then she's been using these to spy on her relatives. The hardest part was the Endless Glass, but in the end, all I had to do was tell it what I wanted. It linked to me and my camera, and streamed what it saw. It was terrifying, though.”

“Okay, last question for now.” I lowered my voice. “Were you really crying?”

“Hmm? When?”

“When Brand was telling you about your dad.”

“Oh, of course I was!” Donal admitted, his face softening. “I thought he would have agreed with Brand, not stick up for me.” He stopped abruptly in front of the doors to the current throne room, which were respectfully opened for him. It was like stage fright. He did not want to go in. Everyone was already assembled inside, waiting. Donal looked back at us, in need of reassurance.

“You’re gonna be great.” I kissed him on the cheek.

Ciaran patted his back a bit roughly. “What she said.”

“If they throw rotten tomatoes at you, you’re on your own.” Jinge added. 

The Faery King laughed, and took a deep breath. “Well, here goes!”