A single feather

Esmeralda: A realisation

Esmeralda tried to calm her thrashing heart but the troubled thoughts ripping through her mind denied her of such liberty. The constant jolting of the carriage never helped in the matter. After a particularly harsh turn and subsequent collision between the carriage and the ground, Esmeralda gave up on trying to maintain her calm and decided to look out the window so that she could at least see when a jolt would occur.

The carriage was being steered by two humans who looked rather disinterested in the task. The one, an old and thin man with greasy hair and a disagreeable face, appeared to be sleeping. This didn't do much to calm Esmeralda's already apprehensive nerves. The other human was much younger than his partner and looked like a rather pleasant fellow, talking to the horses and whistling under his breath. Esmeralda couldn't help but marvel at their lack of magic. She wondered what their lives must be like and carefully examined their bodies. It was rather peculiar to see just how similar human beings looked to witches and warlocks. In fact, they could even be mistaken for faeries if you ignored the lack of wings and slightly pointed ears.

Now looking at the humans up close she failed to see the savage monsters she had been taught to dislike. She supposed appearances could be deceiving. Like the mermaids who seduced sailors before drowning them and drinking their blood.

The carriage made a quick turn, causing Esmeralda to almost fall out of her seat. The two humans did not seem to notice, however, carrying on at the same infuriating pace.

They had managed to travel a rather far distance in the short period of time, although Esmeralda supposed the humans' reckless steering of the horses was the reason for that. They had already left the bright greens, and soft earth of the hills on which she lived. Now, although they were not yet near civilisation, they were surrounded by large green farms and the scorching sun - a human zone. Humans were the only creatures that farmed domesticated animals. Werewolves and vampires tended to go for wild animals like deer and would only eat cattle if they were struggling financially. Meanwhile, faeries did not eat meat at all. 

Esmeralda watched as cattle grazed at the long grass, chewing lazily, an innocent look in their large brown eyes, despite the fact that there had been several occasions in which the cattle had decided to suddenly cross the path in front of the carriage, almost causing a collision. The humans had clearly experienced this before, and edged the carriage to the opposite side of the path, speeding the horses up beyond their already frightening pace in order to overtake the cows before a collision.

The old man, who had since woken up, and the young man were chuckling to each other and Esmeralda was rather curious to hear what they found so humorous. However, she knew she couldn't ask. She never spoke to them and they never spoke to her.

That was how it was between faeries and humans. She had been taught about the humans and their hatred for magic. How they had slaughtered any creature they believed to have contained magic after the discovery of iron, the weakness of most magical creatures. Then an army was formed and the Second Iron War took place. Many innocent lives were lost but ultimately magic won. It was considered a kindness that humans were allowed to live in peace. Many believed that humans should be executed just like the humans had done to magical creatures during their reign of terror. This hatred of humans led to the introduction of the Unseelie court and the Seelie court. The Unseelie court was intent on punishing humans for their crimes by making them slaves to the magical creatures. They even went so far as to kill any humans found within their borders. In contrast, while the Seelie court held a great disliking for humans, they tolerated them and permitted them to live within human zones. The shift of power between these two courts was constant worry in the humans' lives, with humans obviously preferring power to lie with the Seelie court.

Lately, the Unseelie court had been gaining a rather large following, which was quite worrisome to many humans. Esmeralda could only imagine that the death of the King and Queen of the Seelie court,  would only lead to more unbalance and would provide the Unseelie court with more power. It could even lead to an attack against Seelie court, considering the unstable position it would be in after the deaths of its rulers.

And Esmeralda was the one who would have to deal with it. She was meant to marry the next King. She would become the new Queen and she would have to try and control the Unseelie court and prevent a war. This realisation, came with another burst of anxiety as Esmeralda fully realised the enormous responsibility she would carry as queen. Suddenly Esmeralda couldn't breathe and an awful ringing filled her head,  dark spots entering her vision. She tried to calm herself down. Tried to remember the prophecy and the fact that it would protect her. But what if that's where the prophecy stopped? Her becoming queen. Then it would be up to her to actually stop the war. She would lose the prophecy, her only instructions in an otherwise demented world and she would be responsible for the deaths of all humans. Suddenly the black dots widened, until darkness clouded her eyes and she could no longer see. 

"Are you okay back there?"

Esmeralda heard the lazy drawl and was slowly brought back to reality, her vision slowly becoming more clear.

"Yes thank you." She replied, looking out the window, so as to not see the humans' faces.

"You need some water?" The young human asked.

"No, I'm fine thank you."  She repeated, cheeks bursting aflame until they were as red as her hair.

The rest of the ride consisted in silence, and Esmeralda couldn't help but wish for conversation to distract her from her thoughts. No longer was the prospect of the carriage crashing her most important worry.

After what felt like an eternity, the horses came to a sudden halt. Esmeralda was so nervous she did not even mind that the sudden stop had caused her to bash her head against the door. The young human opened the door to help let her out, and Esmeralda took a deep breath, realising that this was the moment her life would change forever. 

As she took the young humans hand and her feet touched the hard ground, Esmeralda plastered a smile onto her face, went over her backstory and began the performance of a lifetime.