A Modern Fairytale

Human nature

"I find it amazing," you said to me, "That you have survived all these years among those two. Appearance aside, you seem to be nothing like your brother."

I let out a dry chuckle. "No, Your Majesty—I find it amazing that I am sitting here across from you."

If someone had told me you were a different species—a fairy, maybe, or even an angel—I would have believed them. For a human king, you are indeed quite attractive. It's no wonder that Valerie was attracted to you. Well, yes, one of your knights found her first, but I don't doubt for a second that she had planned it all along. The calm resolve in those green eyes alone makes you special, and as I recall, I recognized it every time we met.

You showed an esoteric smile. "Really?"

And I wasn't sure if it was really meant as a question, or if it was simply rhetorical. Are all kings like that? You, Reginvalt...and two others I don't know personally—unreadable, vague, shrouded in mystery. Well, not so much Reginvalt, but that's only because we grew up together. I can imagine quite clearly the amount of people who would want him dead just because of the taunting smirk on his face.

"...yes," I answered anyway.

"Do you think that maybe...you have always belonged here in Rectitia, Einar?"

☆☆☆

Even when her wings were invisible to the naked eye, Valerie always seemed different to me—in the sense of not being human, that is. I would say the reverse is true with you: even when you vanished right before my eyes, it sometimes took a moment for my mind to register the fact that you are actually a fairy, not human. The glint of mischief ever-present in King Reginvalt and Valerie's eyes had always been absent from yours. Would that make you less of a fairy, or more of a man? Speaking only for myself, that question does not plague me—but I wonder if it ails you sometimes. When you looked at me now, just as when we first met, you seemed to see more to me than there actually was—than I felt there was, at least. Were you looking for a reason she chose to stay? If so, you'd be looking in the wrong place.

The answer is not in me, but her. I am only human.

"...I'm sorry?" you asked. A reasonable response, I think, to a question as sudden and out-of-place as that which I had just asked.

"Would you have found a more permanent home in Rectitia—by that, I mean this island, not the additional lands we have conquered since Valerie's arrival—than anywhere else you have been to? And please, feel free to give your most honest answer. I speak to you as a friend, not a king."

I watched as you took a sip of tea from your cup—nervous, no doubt. In spite of his crown, you could never see King Reginvalt as your king; on the contrary, although I was not wearing mine, it seemed that you remained distinctly aware that I was Valerie's king. I apologize for asking the question in such a manner, but I do not suppose that it would be more prudent of me if I pointed out directly that you seemed inherently human.

"I've stayed here longer than anywhere else, yes." That became your answer. "It's a lovely island, and I...find it comfortable here. The people seem considerably less murderous."

I chuckled at the last line. "Of course. The most murderous creature here—"

Before I finished the sentence, a knock came at the door.

☆☆☆

It was Valerie—of course it was Valerie. Who else would enter the king's study unannounced?

I glanced at you. "The most murderous creature"—that must be her, right?

"—Valerie," you said, finishing your sentence as well as addressing her.

Flustered she did seem, compared to how she normally was, but you didn't ask. Between the two of us she glanced back and forth for a few seconds, as if trying to decide who to engage. To my understanding, there should be no question; it would undoubtedly be you, the king of her own choosing. By contrast, I had met her as a matter of circumstance, even though it was by minutely conscious choice afterward that we remained connected.

Before saying anything, she first closed the door behind herself. A flick of her finger sent a circle of golden sparks circling the room and then slowly drifting to the floor.

"Something very serious happened?" I guessed. Otherwise, she wouldn't have cast an additional barrier against eavesdroppers.

"I received word from Mecrisdale," said Valerie in reply.

"From Mecrisdale," you emphasized without explicitly asking the question.

"Yes. Mecrisdale," she confirmed, just as ambiguously. "Einar, come with me."

"Me?"

☆☆☆

You sounded so surprised, it was like you had forgotten that it was you who had any connections to the kingdom of fairies in the first place.

"Go on," I said, giving you the pardon you did not actually need.

A bow later, you left the room with Valerie. Even as the door closed, her barrier did not dissipate—and I soon understood why. The golden barrier shielded whatever was happening inside of it from potential spies and eavesdroppers, some of whom we—no, I, human as I am—might be unable to detect. Indeed, I am at all times aware of my own mortality. It may be true, yes, that not so many years had yet passed that they began to show on my face, but it also remained a fact that many, many years later, if anyone was to stand by her side forever more, it would not be I.

It must be you.

There was a time when I thought it might be King Reginvalt, but right that second, I knew it must be you, not him—capable as he seemed, and well as he held out to be. That was because...

...before my eyes, a short scene played. It was something like a memory, carefully preserved and purposefully transferred from one pair of hands to another. Some parts were static. At times, a few seconds would simply blank out—but I think I understood what was meant to be conveyed.

At the last moment, he sneered at his foe, as though he knew for sure of the other king's defeat. He hadn't the breath to say anything anymore, but the look alone was certain to haunt the other for however long he lived, even if he were to outlive Valerie.

I know it not to be my style. I couldn't if I tried, and I don't think I would opt for the same path. But you...what would you do, Einar?