A Modern Fairytale

The great betrayal

If you put your mind to it, you can do anything. Anything I can do, you can do better—everything I can do, you can do better. Why, you ask? That's simple.

Because you started earlier, and you're starting with more potential than I did.

Remember this. Remember it daily.

☆☆☆

Long, long ago, a fairy princess was exiled from her own kingdom, leaving her companion behind to evade the wrath of the new king. The princess went unheard of for decades, only to show up again at the forefront of a human king's army. She tore the fairy king's wings from his back as a souvenir for her new lord, stopping for only a few hours to briefly reunite with her companion. When she left, she left the entire kingdom in his hands.

As she left, the piano that had suddenly appeared in the throne room they were in faded into golden sparks. Reginvalt blinked once, watching it fade, his expression impassive. Then, he glanced down at the golden ring on his finger. Nearly a century ago, it was him who made this ring. He'd forged it and given it to the princess, whose powers would be augmented so long as she wore it. With the ring, she became known as the nation's "warrior princess"—up to the night she was evicted. That night, Reginvalt retrieved the ring from her room before the guards arrived, saving it from the new king, keeping it with him until he met her again. With this ring, the former princess Valerie defeated the fairy king who banished her.

And now, she gave Reginvalt that same ring back.

Three months after the event, King Reginvalt stood outdoors, looking up. It should be midday, but it seemed that a gigantic dark cloud was hovering over the entirety of Mecrisdale.

He chuckled.

☆☆☆

One day, Valerie sat at her King's office, the both of them staring into the crystal globe she had previously taken from another kingdom.

"Can it go higher?" King Alasdair asked.

Valerie shook her head. "The particles only go up to a certain level."

"But it would be no use looking at this if we cannot see what exactly it is hovering above your motherland, Valerie. The land of man is of no concern to you or your...friend."

The crystal globe showed a view of Mecrisdale, the land of fairies. Save for the dark clouds over it, everything else seemed normal—but the mass of those "clouds" was anything but ordinary.

Just as Valerie was about to speak, what looked like a droplet of water floated into the room from the window. A blink later, the fairy lifted a finger. The droplet backed away from her touch. She sighed.

"Sire, it seems that my friend is messing with me."

Alasdair chuckled softly. "Go talk to him then."

"I'll see you again tonight. Take care, Sire."

With a nod, she left the office, the water droplet following her the whole way back to her own room.

☆☆☆

Back in her own room, Valerie once again lifted her finger. She filled the droplet with golden dust. Once it was filled, the sphere erupted, sprinkling her golden sparks all over the floor. Where it fell, a convincingly opaque projection of Reginvalt's form rose.

"Don't just go into another king's office like that," Valerie said.

"Why not? I get to catch a glimpse of your new lord, and...anyway." Stopping mid-sentence, Reginvalt's image walked to a chair and took a seat. "I'll get straight to the point. There is an entire kingdom flying on top of mine and I am quite positive they are actually looking for you."

"...alright." Valerie strode over herself, sitting on her bed near the chair he'd chosen. "Do you see them? What do you know?"

"I can go up just a bit higher than before—just high enough to see that it's a kingdom and not just clouds. Other than that, the most I've seen are feet."

Valerie's gaze shifted to her feet; Reginvalt's remained observant on her. Then, she looked up again. It seemed that his hair had gotten a little redder in three months.

"Alright," she said again, "I got it. Get out."

"Yes, yes, I'll leave you to it. If..."

"Mecrisdale will not be crushed."

"Astounding."