Every time Aislin saw Fairengar, she thought it had to have grown more beautiful than the last time she was there. Built of gold-veined marble, perfect crystals, moonbeams from clear nights, and sunbeams from cloudless days, it was the most beautiful building in the world. And she wasn’t alone. Before Fairengar had been moved in entirety, people had traveled across countless kingdoms to see the fairy palace. Aislin had always thought it was a shame that more people didn’t get to see it now. Returning home from the human lands, she wondered if that was about to change.
As beautiful as Fairengar was, Aislin thought the next sight she saw was even lovelier. Her mother waited just inside the palace gates, her face alight and her arms open to her daughter. With a cry from her heart, Aislin slipped from her horse and ran to her mother. Queen Maylin enfolded her in a warm embrace, murmuring soothing words just as she had when Aislin was a baby. When she finally held her daughter away from her to look her in the eyes, the pedrasi woman’s smile faltered for an instant. “You’ve changed,” she said. “You look older now. Did someone hurt you?”
“Not in any way that being home won’t fix,” Aislin told her mother, and gave her another hug.
Her mother smiled as King Carrigan took his daughter’s hand and led them both inside. “I’m sure your grandmother is waiting for you in the throne room,” he told Aislin. “She was ready to fly over the mountains and search all the human kingdoms for you herself. She’ll want to welcome you back where everyone can see that you’ve returned, but we’ll have a family celebration later when your grandfather is here.”
“I’m very fortunate to have such a wonderful family,” said Aislin.
“We’re the ones who are fortunate,” her father said. “You saved your mother and brother by sacrificing yourself. That was far more than anyone could ask or most would do.”
Aislin shrugged. “My family is everything to me. I would do anything and go anywhere to keep them safe.”
“I believe that you and I have a lot to discuss,” her father said.
“I have a lot to discuss with all of you,” said Aislin.
The throne room was crowded when Aislin and her parents walked in. Fairies, sprites, nymphs, ogres, and other beings she had known all her life had come to welcome her back. The floor was marble, but the walls and ceiling were clear crystal so that it looked as if everyone was outside. Unlike those in the human kingdoms, the smiles that greeted her were genuine.
Although the thrones rested on a raised dais so that everyone could see the king and queen, neither the thrones nor the dais were at all like those in the human-owned castles. The thrones were made of the arched and curled branches of living trees, while the dais was made of rock taken straight from a glade in the woods. Moss and wildflowers spread across the rock’s surface and small animals made their homes in the nooks and crannies. Water trickled down one side, magically replenishing itself as it gathered in a pool at the base. Occasionally, a frog croaked or a cricket chirped. Although there weren’t any trees in the room, the air was filled with the scents of the forest. Sometimes a bird flew through, but no one could see where they came from or where they went. When Aislin closed her eyes, it was easy to believe that she was in the forest itself.
This is what a throne room should be like, Aislin thought as she approached the throne.
Queen Surinen was smiling as her granddaughter drew closer. Aislin thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world, with hair the color of the moonless night sky and eyes the color of violets in the spring. Although the queen frowned as readily as she laughed, and she was older than most of her people could remember, her face was unlined and unblemished and had a radiance of its own.
“Welcome home,” the queen told Aislin. “How are you after your grand adventure?”
Aislin grinned. “I’m well, Your Majesty.” Their more informal greetings and their real conversation would come later when they didn’t have an audience. Taking the locket from around her neck, she handed it to the sprite dressed all in green who waited at the foot of the dais. “King Darinar asked me to bring that to you,” Aislin told her grandmother. “Two fairies are in there, but only one is waiting for sentencing.”
The sprite darted up the dais, bowing his head when he handed the locket to the queen.
“Two?” the queen said as she examined the locket. “Oh, dear!”
“I have a lot to tell you,” said Aislin.
The queen nodded. “And I have many questions for you.”
The look they shared said a great deal. Things were going to change; they both knew it. Part of Aislin was sad because nothing was ever going to be the same again. But another part was excited—hiding from the humans hadn’t worked, and now all the humans would know that the fairy king had come back. Perhaps it was time they returned to the world they’d left behind. Perhaps it was time the fairies helped to straighten up the mess that the human world had become. And perhaps it was time Aislin accepted herself for who she really was—a princess with powers that were unlike anyone else’s.