Fenella stayed away from most of the denizens of the
castle for the final two days in which the pendant was being made. Each night
her nightmares became worse and worse, staring down at Drentylia and feeling
the intense loneliness of each of the lost Faeries, especially the sadness of
her dear friend.
She couldn’t stand the feeling and wondered if
perhaps she was being punished by her ancestors for failing them. Fenella even
wondered at times if she was still fit to be a queen at all…
The night previous to this night was the worst,
it truly was. Instead of peering down the hall and seeing Drentylia, in her
evil splendor, her journey took her into a portion of the Haunted Woods that
appeared dark and more terrifying than the rest of its cursed grounds.
Fenella stood in her royal splendor against the
twisted trees and eternal night. Quietly she waited, but what she waited for
she couldn’t say. The waiting made her uneasy, wishing that she could simply
beat her wings and fly off to where the sun was shining and a tender breeze
blew, but she knew she had to wait, and so she did.
And then they came, one by one through the trees
like horrible specters out of the twisted tales from old. Fenella recognized
them at once not by their faces, but by an intense sadness that tugged at her
heart each time they moved a step closer. She knew what this feeling was, though
she had never experienced it before, simply because it was a feeling in which
you need not words nor prior experience to understand something to deep and
eternal as this…
There they stood, the wingless Faeries, each
of them captured and used for Drentylia’s ascent to power. Fenella tried to
speak, but their sadness was all consuming and she could only stand there and
bite her lip, willing the tears not to come.
A former Light Faerie glared at Fenella, her
long blond hair no longer blond but an awful grey, as if she had aged many years
in the past weeks. Her dress too was tattered almost like she had traveled for
many miles, but Fenella knew that she had never ever left Drentylia’s watch.
An Earth Faerie, an air Faerie, all of them suffered the same graying fate,
including the Dark Faeries, which wore the most angry and contemnors glares
of all.
“I-I…” Fenella sputtered, the tears choking her
senses as she looked at her sisters, the ones she had failed. What could she
say to them? Those to whom she had failed after they had trusted her so! They
were no longer to fly about the skies because she simply was not attentive to
the signs, which sprung up all around her.
But the Faeries said nothing as they continued
to merge from the shadows, one by one. Some faces were twisted in rage, angry
at Fenella for forgetting them, for letting this happened to them. Others were
crushed, filled of the realization that their great queen, the one whom they
promised to help for as long as they could, would not return the promise to
them.
And then they began to yell and scream with voices
that were cold and piercing, like the winds that whisks past you on bitter winter
nights.
“You didn’t save us!”
“I can’t fly anymore!”
“I was the best in my class with my magic!”
“I wanted to be a guardian!”
“Why didn’t you help us, my queen?”
“We served you and you desert us!”
One by one their accusations ran, but Fenella
did not rebuke them for they were true and she knew it. So she stood there,
weeping openly and bore the brunt of the insults as she stared into each screaming
face.
Though the throng of angry, graying faces, however,
there was one that was different from the rest. It was that of a young Faerie,
an Earth Faerie Fenella assumed, that stared at her not with hurt nor anger,
but simply with a smile of recognition
Instantly she knew the familiar the face and
whispered the name aloud.
“Tae’la…” Fenella whispered. Instantly the other
Faerie’s voices hushed and died, whisked away by the air that flew through the
clearing. They stood there simply watching with their cold eyes as Fenella approached
her wingless friend.
Tae’la was graying too, her lovely wings missing
from her back. The hair that was always tied back in a graceful and sleek brown
braid was still in such a braid, but her hair was disheveled and dirty, with
pieces of the hair jutting out from the tress here and there.
The young assistant stood there, her face smiling
openly, growing wider and wider as Fenella’s attention because more and more
devoted to her.
“Queen Fenella, I must thank you…” she whispered.
Her voice was silent and horse, but it still held more emotion than a normal
voice could.
“Thank me? Why do you thank me Tae’la? I sent
you to this fate…because of me you no longer have wings!” She cried, wondering
if this too was mocking. But the Faerie stood there, her grey eye bright as
she looked up to her queen.
“But you are going to save us all! I know it.
I know you have had sleepless night over our plight, and I thank you for your
concern. Us young Faeries really have few chances to say that the Faerie queen
actually worried about us,” Tae’la continued.
“This will not be easy, that much I know. You
will win, we can all tell that…but you will pay a price Queen Fenella,” Tae’la
said sadly.
“I deserve to pay a price, after what happened
to you…all of you,” She whispered, turning towards the Faeries.
“Fenella, patch up your bleeding heart and get
on with your plans,” Hissed a voice form the shadows. Nendlitha was leaning
against a tree, her expression bored and mischievous. It was heartbreaking for
Fenella to see the Dark queen reduced to a wingless Faerie as well, her short
hair no longer sleek and black, but an unsightly grey color.
“Nendlitha…” Fenella whispered. “It’s all my
fault…”
“Ugh, must you really think that all of Neopia
revolves around you? Did you ever think that Drendlitha might be plotting more
towards the world than simply making sure you have a bad day?” The Dark Faerie
rolled her eyes.
“My queen, please be strong! We will be fine.
Do not think of us, but please just do what you must,” Tae’la implored. Before
Fenella could say anything the young girl hugged Fenella around the waste, the
way a child might hug her mother. The queen simply stood there shocked, never
having such a caring show of emotion brought before her. But she laid her hands
upon Tae’la head and smiled.
“I promise Tae’la and everyone… I’ll save you…”
Fenella’s eyes slowly opened that morning as
she stared at the ceiling. Was it a dream or not? She did not know…but she knew
what she had to do now.
***
For years to come Fenella could never get over the sheer irony of the atmosphere
that afternoon. She sat in her throne, staring out the windows that lined her
room.
Silently the crafts maker entered the room, the
item of either peace or downfall in a small box. The queen took it without saying
a word and held it in her lap, her mind a complete blank. As the craftsman bowed
out of the room another figured entered, Valeane. She was dressed in her usual
attire, her large wings poking out from her traveling cloak as the twin blades
glittered at her sides. The two said not a word as the Faerie queen opened the
small box and gently handled the pendant to Valeane.
“It’s beautiful, my queen,” the Faerie said as
she took it. Fenella gave a nod before she sighed and quietly stood up.
“Good luck today Valeane,” Fenella said before
the Faerie bowed herself out. The queen stood there a long time, staring at
the closed door trying to organize the swirling mass in her mind. There was
no use making heads no tails of anything, which had passed her by so fast, and
she simply laid her head on the side of her throne and drifted off to sleep,
not caring anymore of anything. And when Fenella awoke late that night, though
the world was still turning and everyone in Neopia still went on with their
lives…in her heart she knew that an hour ago everything had changed for one
Faerie,
***
Fenella knew about Drentylia long before Valeane came back to the castle, long
before the celebrations started, long before the young Faeries were rescued….gray
but still alive. Though she was immensely glad for all of it, the price upon
her heart was heavy, and she spent the day locked in her room wondering what
had she done in this whole mess?
Eventually she came down to the main hall, where
many Faeries were rejoicing in an extravagant hall. Light, fire, earth, water,
and air… all were in the palace gabbing and gammoning about, celebrating the
demise of one of their own. Fenella tried not to think about it this way, but
it was difficult for her.
Food had been prepared for this spontaneous occasion
and even more food was still being brought in by the cooks from all around the
city. No one seemed to notice the Faerie Queen’s entrance, which was perfectly
fine with her… for once she simply wanted to melt away into the shadows and
observe everything, not feeling the guilt that all of this could have been avoided
earlier.
“Fenella,” whispered a voice in her ear. The
queen gave a jump as she saw the Earth Faerie Fiona next to her, beckoning the
queen to follow. Fenella did so as she was lead away from the party into the
higher levels of the castle, completely deserted of Faeries (for everyone was
downstairs celebrating this fine occasion).
But one room was not.
She could feel that they were in the room even
before the pair had gone down the hall. Her shoes were instantaneously filled
with lead as the same sadness engulfed her heart…and she recognized this sadness.
“You know?” Fiona noticed as Fenella desperately
tried to hold back a cry. The queen nodded and leaned against the wall sadly.
“I cannot face them, I feel as if I failed them,”
the queen sobbed into her hands. The Earth Faerie frowned and looked heartbroken
as she shook her long hair in disagreement, moving in close to the queen.
“Fenella, you did what you could and had to do.
No one can blame you for not seeing that which is beyond the sight of our eyes
and time, and if they do, then they are simply pathetic beings looking for something
to blame other than the fact that they cannot control what happens to them!
You cannot let those simple minded fools ruin your life…Fenella you just cannot!”
Fiona pleaded. Fenella’s heart was weary, but that small ounce of strength helped
her, soothed and strengthened her at the same moment. The queen whipped a tear
out of her eye and, with a glance back at the Earth Faerie, wandered towards
the group of grey Faeries waiting in the room.
The sadness tore at her heart, but she had to
explain the news to each of them. Their faces were the same, just like in the
dream. Some were angry while others were simply crushed, but Fenella stared
at their faces and bore their guilt. She was the object of their shame and anger,
and so she took the blow because deep in her heart she knew that she deserved
this horrible punishment.
“I must admit that seeing you all here alive…
it does provide me some relief. I cannot imagine, nor will I pretend, I know
what you had to endure through this ordeal, but I do know that your strength
and resilience has guided you through it.
“You wings… are missing, and that much I know.
You all know what happens when a Faerie looses their wings I assume. They turn
grey and slowly loose all magical abilities whatsoever. However, there is a
cure for this curse. You must find yourself a new name,” many of the Faeries
perked up at this knowledge. A chance to get their wings back?! A real second
chance?!
“I cannot tell you how to get a new name for
the discovery must be made by you and you alone. If I aid you in a large portion
of this, the magical will not properly work and you will loose the possibility
of a second name.” Following this, Fenella stopped and took a deep breath, fighting
back the tears that threatened to blur her vision. The stares emitted by those
of the grey stature did not waver in their disgust, simply growing more and
more furious that she would dare show weakness in front of them who had faced
more than she dare to even dream of.
A gentle tug at Fenella’s skirt brought her back
to her senses as the Light Faerie from her court came over. She quickly motioned
for Fenella to follow as she began to hurriedly jog out of the room. The queen
didn’t want to follow, feeling as if she may have abandoned her sisters yet
again, but sadly she bowed herself out of the room and followed the hurrying
Light Faerie, who was down the end of the hall tapping her foot in worry and
annoyance.
“Fenella, this is bad! Really bad!” she quickly
yelled as the two jogged down the hall, the sounds of the party echoing from
below. “Valeane has been attacked numerous times on her way back to the castle!”
the Light Faerie yelled as she wrenched open the door to Fenella’s throne. Inside
the court was quickly huddled about Valeane who sat upon one of the chairs that
lined the room.
“Valeane!” Fenella yelled as she rushed to the
Faerie’s side to check her well-being. Indeed, she did look as if she had come
off worse in a fight… or four. Between defeating Drentylia early that morning
and suffering sneak attacks all through the day, she thought that the Faerie
looked rather worse for the wear. But her resilience was evident as she held
on to a respectful smile and gently denied any help to remove herself from the
chair.
“What happened?” the queen asked in hushed tones
as she shifted her eyes from Faerie to Faerie They all began to talk at once
hurriedly and panicked.
“The rumor has spread about Drentylia far faster
than we could EVER have suspected!”
“People are glad, even the Dark Faeries, but
there’s some problems! Everyone wants that necklace!”
“They know of its power, my queen and they fear
it… and are horrifyingly drawn towards it.”
Fenella quickly held up her hands to stem the
speech, it was all too much to take in at none moment. They quickly stopped
and stared at her, itching to be the first to explain it all to their queen.
“Now, one of you… only one… please explain this,”
she said gently. The court looked at each other and stayed silent until the
air Faerie cleared her throat and began to explain the situation.
“Many people have learned about Drentylia, but
not so much what she did… but what she was defeated with. The rumor has grown
among the pets, Faeries… and even darker creatures… that this is possibly the
most powerful thing to ever be created on Neopia. Fenella they’re afraid of
it… they don’t know what could happen to them and their way of life if the wrong
hands get it,”
“But that’s no matter,” Fenella sighed with some
relief, fearing that perhaps something much worse was coming to pass. “We can
simply assure them that this will not be used again ever and keep it under the
tightest surveillance and security. In a few hundred years time the legend will
be dead and we will have nothing to fear!” The queen explained, simply throwing
away the situation. The air Faerie slowly shook her head, sending her blond
hair in every direction.
“Yes, but you see many of the monsters that live
around here want it as well. They know what it can do and they each want it
for purposes that I dare not even think about! Valeane was attacked for this
reason, to obtain the amulet. Luckily it wasn’t on her at the time, but the
barrage on her has continued!” she quickly explained, dropping her eyes to Valeane
who sat in the chair, looking abashed.
“I only wish that I could have fended off those
fiends longer,” she snarled before laying her head in her hands. Fenella’s expression
turned from relief to worry again as she began to see the picture and that threat
was that was soon taking the place of Drentylia.
“They’re joining together Queen Fenella, to try
and simply take over the palace and steal it. Thought I know we can hold them
off…we cannot do it forever. If they all join together, we could only last a
short while before…” The air Faerie stopped, looking horribly upset. The queen
held her head in her arms as her headache insured through the grief.
“We can guard it, I’m sure that our power can
out do them,” Fenella explained, only to send the court in a flurry again of
disagreements.
“For now! But how long?”
“Or power cannot hold out forever,”
“One slip up and we’re all doomed!”
“Then simply destroy it,” Fenella continued to
keep her voice in restrained calm, the panicking of the Faeries slowly throwing
her into a rage at others. How could she be so moronic to let something like
this happened?
“…we tried… we can’t. Once the power is given,
it cannot be taken back… and it’s too powerful to be destroyed.” The Light Faerie
hugged her arms and shivered, thought it was not the least bit cold inside the
room. They didn’t have to say it, but knew that someone would have to voice
the idea of it, and so the silence of its mere thought spiraled around the group,
though none dared to utter its name.
No one, but Fenella.
“If the pendant cannot be guarded here, then
it must be guarded by someone else… which only means,” the queen looked up at
the court, her expression solemn and tired, “that a Faerie must accompany it
and go into hiding.”
To be continued...
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