The Seventh Queen

Faeries?

      It was just another fine morning at the castle, but the queens  weren't much delighted as the king started missing Zaira and was planning on calling her back. "Its been a long time now, I must order the men to get her back" he stated.

   None of the queens wanted her back, they started looking at each other not knowing what to say, that's when Zeena spoke "We are all worried about her and would be happy to have her back".

The queens were shocked to hear such a thing from Zeena and began whispering among themselves.

"If the king permits we would ourselves like to go and get Zaira back. It will be quite a surprise for her, she will be glad to see us" saying so Zeena eyed the other queens and they nodded in agreement with a sly smile. They knew that she was onto something, something that would not be good for Zaira. 

                  .............................................

Sheena was busy making breakfast, Zaira saw her moving around with half eyes open, but she was too sleepy to wake up, she turned her back towards Sheena and  slept again. Both of them couldn't get a good sleep because of the events of the previous day.

Sheena followed her usual routine, but Zaira slept till noon. Sheena wanted to talk to her but didn't want to wake her up. Once Sheena left the cottage, Zaira woke up. She had many questions in her mind, thinking about them made her sick, she didn't want to wake up but was hungry. She freshened up and headed for breakfast. Soup as usual with some leftover bread. A flash of the dining table of the castle came to her mind, she did miss the luxuries. The grass is always greener on the other side she thought to her self. She stared at Hoor's box while having her breakfast, she couldn't understand as to why Sheena was so upset on seeing Hoor rather than being surprised and excited. 

After completing her breakfast she began doing the daily chores, cleaning the vessels, dusting, collecting some feathers etc. She sat down and relaxed for some time, she wanted to talk to Hoor but she wanted to talk to Sheena first. She went out and decided to take a walk in the forest, as she walked she remembered the first day she came here and how terrified she was on seeing it and at the thought of living here, and now here she is strolling around alone without a care.

"She is pretty"

"Shhh... She'll hear us"

Zaira heard the whispers coming from above her but couldn't make out from where.

"Who is it?" She said in a loud voice to be audible, but mostly not to sound scared.

"Should we? She doesn't seem to be harmful" a voice said the other.

"No Anees she is a practitioner of dark arts, we cannot trust her" replied the other.

Zaira heard the voices clearly, she knew they came from right above her, but she couldn't see anything.

"Please Kanees, pretty please " said the voice again.

"Ugh! Fine. But if we are in trouble I will not save you" was the reply.

That's when she could see, from the tree above her, two faeries slowly descending with a light surrounding them. Tiny human like but with wings, they looked alike and the only difference in them was the color of their hair and the dress they wore. They came down to the level where they could see Zaira clearly. Light coming from their wings like golden glitter in air.

"Umm...my friend wants to talk to you" the one in the green dress spoke a bit shyly while the other tried hiding behind her.

"You are very pretty " the pink one said peeking from behind.

These beautiful creatures who themselves looked like they were made of gold were complimenting Zaira. She was overwhelmed by looking at them completely mesmerized by the way they were flying and the way they spoke. 

"So it was you who was following me when I first entered the forest?" Zaira asked them still looking at them in awe.

"Yes yes we just wanted to see what was happening. We often fly and play around the forest. Uhh...let us introduce ourselves, this is Anees, my best friend and I am Kanees. We live in a cave deep in the forest, that is where our faerie kingdom is."

The faerie in the pink dress was Anees with grey eyes. She was shy and spoke very softly. She wanted to talk but was very anxious. The one in green was Kanees, dark brown eyes and always with a smile, she was a playful one and a wee bit daring always there to have her friend's back.

The faeries became Zaira's friends and she played with them for almost the entire day. They too asked her who was she and why she has come here, this time she decided to tell the truth. The faeries felt sad for her and decided to make her feel good. They showed her around the forest and told her all about it. They told her exciting stories of their adventures and also showed her some of their magic. She liked them very much and never wanted the day to end, but the sun had started to set and it was getting dark. She was hungry and needed to headback to the cottage. The faeries wanted to come with her but they too had to go back. She told them they could come and meet her any time and were always welcome but for now she had to go.