The Oath

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"Mum's done a good thing when she sent me to school," Ferry argued. "I couldn't have stayed hidden inside forever. I wouldn't have seen this beautiful world. I wouldn't have learned so many things.  I wouldn't have met my friends... I would have been very lonely..." he said in a low voice.

"But you must understand that her decision put you in danger, My Prince," the Pan said firmly. "It put all of us in danger. Being out in the world meant anyone could see you. The fairies could have seen you. People could've hurt you. That creature of the Hollows knew of your awakening. That's why we had to do something. We had to show up in your life and the lives of your friends without anyone suspecting anything..."

"That's why you brought Mr. Pancake's Magic Show to town," Ben dared to speak. "You're Mr. Pancake!"

Lord Stephan nodded, "It was the only way we could come to your town without drawing attention. You see, the grown-ups in the world of humans see only what they want to see. They only see the whole picture and miss the small details. For them, it was only a magic show. Yet, the children realized it was more than a show. But the parents don't listen when they should. If they could only stop for a moment and listen... See the world through the eyes of a child... They would discover so much..."

"That's how Ferry's Guardians could stay in town without looking suspicious. They sheltered in our homes," continued Ben. His curiosity made him quite babbly.

"That is right," said the Pan. "They had to look like animals escaping from the circus. Strange animals, it's true. But in the end, the circus is nothing but an unusual show. Creatures like us can easily find a place in a circus without the people suspecting anything. They would call them freaks and that would be all."

All the children were quietly listening. Pan couldn't be more right.

"But then came the difficult part. The part where the human children we selected had to become Prince Garrett's guardians without suspecting anything."

"But why us?" asked Ben.

The Pan looked at the little boy with glasses in front of him. He seemed pleasantly surprised by his curiosity.

"Because in strange, unusual ways, at least one member of your family was somehow connected to fairies. Matilda's mother was kidnapped by fairies. Benjamin's grandmother knew so many remedies that only the fairies could have known. Whilst May's grandmother actually met one... Of course, we've kept an eye on you to see if you were worth the mission."

"And we made certain that you were, indeed worthy," added Baldie.

But Ben was still not clear, "What is that mission, more exactly?"

"You have to protect Prince Garret from anything that might harm him," said the Pan and his voice felt even more serious. "Like iron. Iron is poison to fairies. You also have to protect him from harming himself or from people wanting to harm him. He still can't heal himself, it takes a lot of time to learn that. Because if human healers... How do you call them? Doctors! If the doctors studied him, they would find out he's not human. That his blood is white. And Prince Garret would become ─"

" ─ a lab rat," Ben interrupted him.

The Pan nodded. Lavender rose from her chair with difficulty and came to Ferry, leaning on her crane.

"I have something to give you," she said. She took out from the many layers of her dress a pair of gloves. They were so delicate, they looked like woven from a cobweb.

"Here," she said, offering them to him. "It's the last thing I've used my fairy skills to make. They look fragile, but they are stronger than steel. They will protect you from the touch of iron."

The Moonlight Boy | Ferry's Tale # 1Where stories live. Discover now