Blissa wanted a moment to herself. It had been a draining day. She’d been helping her father with visiting dignitaries, reading their moods and offering advice on who was most receptive to the accords they were negotiating. The issue at contention was her father’s ban on human-fairy mating. While this fairy realm outlawed it, the neighboring realm found human-fairy relations to be quite normal.
The dignitaries wanted free passage for their citizens who wished to move here, and her father was inclined to give it. Blissa wasn’t sure, though. She still remembered the terror of the night her aunt had died. She remembered the horrific sounds of the swords slicing into her aunt’s body, the jovial cries of the human men as they fled the little house and stormed the castle with plans to murder her, her father, and her cousin, the only remaining fairies with a claim to the throne.
She could tell from the delegation members’ feelings that they believed every word they said. They truly thought that not all men were unjust and that it was wrong to paint them all with such a broad brush. Blissa supposed it made sense, on the most basic level. But allowing Radella and Errol to mate had caused great anguish.
Blissa sighed as she walked the castle grounds. They were beautiful this time of year, as most of the flowers were in bloom.
“Blissa!” a voice called out.
She smiled, recognizing instantly who it was. She turned and watched her cousin Maurelle run toward her. She was dressed in green today, a pretty, billowy dress that Blissa had made for her. The dress suited Maurelle, and her long black hair swung carefree behind her. A rare, broad smile was on Maurelle’s lips as she ran barefoot toward her cousin. Blissa’s grin widened at Maurelle’s approach and she could feel the joy coming off of her. “What has you so happy, cousin?”
Maurelle giggled, and shook her head. “Not here,” she whispered, grabbing Blissa’s arm and tugging her away from the castle, into the lovely forest that surrounded it. They walked in silence, Maurelle a glorious bundle of happiness pulling her along. Finally, they reached a secluded clearing, and Maurelle sat in the grass, bidding Blissa to do the same.
She did. A crow flew down, landing beside Maurelle, who stroked its feathery back and cooed at it. The crow cooed back and then flew away.
“What did it want?” Blissa asked.
“Just wanted to tell me that his wife’s eggs hatched today. I shall go visit them when we’re done.”
Blissa nodded. Maurelle was an animal fairy, and she could speak to them and help them. It was a wonderful power to possess, and she was beloved by the forest creatures. Though sometimes Blissa thought Maurelle related better to the animals than the people. Having balance with both would be better. “So, what is it that you wanted to tell me?” Blissa asked.
Maurelle’s cheeks flushed and she leaned in. “Eldred,” she whispered. “We were, um. We were walking down by the Crystal Pond and we were talking about prophecy and his studies, and I was saying that the birds are wonderful harbingers of weather events, and he, well, he kissed me.”
Of course he did. Eldred was completely in love with her. Blissa had no idea why he hadn’t done it sooner. His adoration of her cousin had been plain to anyone who looked at the two of them together. If Radella had been around, she could have helped Maurelle see it earlier.
Maurelle’s mother, like many in the royal line, had been blessed with two fairy gifts. She had the wonderful elemental power of fire, but she was also a love fairy. When her brother had assumed the throne, Radella had focused mostly on her duties with love. If Maurelle’s mother were still alive, she would be the first to have seen the signs of Eldred’s affection. Blissa had been sensing Eldred’s warmth toward her cousin for quite some time, but even without her ability with emotions, she thought she would have seen it. “I’m happy for you,” Blissa told her cousin.
“Really?” she asked. “I mean, it doesn’t bother you that Eldred is, you know, a Halfling?”
Blissa raised an eyebrow. She supposed somewhere in her own mind she’d known of Eldred’s parents, but she’d not even thought of it. She shook her head. “No. I mean, his father died when he was young. He’s been a member of the realm since a babe and raised by the kindest fairy ever. Whatever wicked traits of men he could have had must have been stomped out by all that, right?”
Maurelle breathed out, bit her lower lip, and finally nodded, but she didn’t seem entirely sure. “Do you think your father would allow us to be together?”
Blissa, again, hadn’t thought about it much. Yes, the union of the fairies and humans was strictly forbidden, but Halflings weren’t really human. Partially, she supposed, but not really. “I don’t see why he wouldn’t. He’s talking to the delegation from the Southern Realm; they’d like him to lift his human-fairy ban, anyway.”
“And will he?” Radella asked, her tone uncertain.
“I don’t know,” Blissa admitted.
“He shouldn’t,” Maurelle said, her mind now settled. Blissa could feel the waves of anger radiating from her. “Men ruin all that is good.”
The harshness of the statement put Blissa off. Yes, the men who had attacked the castle had been bad. But Eldred was good. And there was no indication that his father had been bad. Perhaps the Southern Realm delegation was correct.
“Listen,” Maurelle said, standing up. “I’m going to go speak to Uncle Roldan, and then go visit the baby crows.”
Blissa stood, too, a little taken aback by the abrupt change in mood of her cousin. It had shifted slightly, from anger to vengeance. They were similar emotions, but they were perceptibly different. Blissa touched her cousin's arm and sent a wave of calm to her. “You should relax,” she said. “And enjoy the afterglow of Eldred’s kiss. He’s a good fairy, and I’m glad he kissed you. I think you might find bliss with him.”
Maurelle’s mood tempered slightly, her face shifting from a grimace to a ghost of a smile. “If your name were hope, would you find every opportunity to use adages about hope?”
Blissa chuckled. “Perhaps I would, but I think finding bliss would be a favorite expression even if it weren’t similar to my name. We all want that peace and contentment that comes when we find the right mate. You deserve that, Maurelle.”
Her cousin nodded and tried to look happy, but she was still troubled by the earlier part of their conversation. There was still an undercurrent of anger, and perhaps even vengeance, about Maurelle. “It was good talking to you, Blissa. I’ll see you later.”
She watched Maurelle head back to the castle, her gait not as carefree as it had been when she’d come.
Blissa sighed, wondering how to get her cousin back on track. Then she had an epiphany. The answer was simple. Eldred.
Maurelle said the two of them had been at the Crystal Pond when they kissed. Perhaps he was still down that way. They were wonderful places to cool, and oracles tended to like their clear blue waters. Swimming in them was said to connect an oracle more closely to the seas of time, which it was their job to read. She’d head that way, and perhaps find him there or run into him as he returned to the castle.