Happy New Year! Here is another installment of Princess Pantheon, with Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 available here.

4. Shock of the Fairy

Emily stumbled into the castle through a side entrance that only she knew to avoid suspicion. She nearly came in undetected, first up a flight of winding steps and down a long hall.

Sadly, Emily was not clever enough to evade the headmistress that routinely checked the rooms. As soon as she recklessly swung open her bedroom door, the thirty-second door on the right, with a kick, there the headmistress was. Arms folded, toe tapping, gaze low.

Tall, beautiful, and ever concerned was headmistress Omniscience. She was the oldest fairy alive and only a few thousand years younger than the eldest vampires. Her eyes were a fierce shade of white that stood in contrast to her peach skin and pink lips and amber hair.

“Emily,” her soothing voice resounded about her chest. “You were gone all morning, afternoon, and evening. Pantheon meetings have never been quite that–”

A look of horror spread across her face. “Oh, heavens and all things devoid of holiness! Your hair! Your eyes!”

Emily stared up at her, cheeks reddening. She stuck out her bowl towards the headmistress. “Soup?”

“There, you must be feeling better now,” Omniscience softly spoke into her ear as she brushed Emily’s hair. She had just given her a red rose and milk bath and washed her golden tresses with aloe juice and herbs. The fairy princess was dressed in a soft pink, silk gown that flowed to her ankles. The headmistress had applied a balm to the princess’s fingers that instantly diminished the purple and red bruises. 

“My poor princess,” she said as she picked out the red petals from her hair. “You must have been worried sick all day.”

“Yes.” She sighed from the relaxing touch of fingers against her scalp. Omniscience parted her hair in two and began to braid the first section.

“I had been worried, too. I had been meaning to talk to you.”

“About what?”

“Well, I came in to scold you about your poor time management, of course.”

Emily tensed. “Yes, of course.”

“But… once I saw the state that you were in, I thought better of it.”

The princess relaxed.

She added, “We can save that for another day.”

Emily cursed in her mind. 

Her blond hair was fixed into two shiny little braids, and the headmistress smoothed out the top. “All done. Now face me, dear.” 

Emily did as she was told.

“You’ve only been our princess for one full season. We usually do not instruct on transformation until seven seasons into your reign. However, it seems as though it is happening early.”

She shook her head. “What? What’s the transformation?”

Omniscience thought for a moment. “It would be better saved for the morning. There will be no more Pantheon meetings until the end of fall.”

“Yes, the vampire holiday has commenced.”

“We can use that time to have you study here and prepare you for what is to come.”

“Headmistress, please.” Emily’s eyes were wide. She clasped her hands together and implored with great earnestness. “Please.”

She grabbed the young princess’s hands. “To be a fairy is a great sacrifice, Princess Emily. You’ll learn that soon enough.” She laughed at her. “Don’t look so defeated, dear. It’s a wonderful thing.”

Omniscience kissed her forehead and rose from her chair. “Goodnight, sweet princess. Don’t let the unknown trouble you.”

In her dreams, a silver light came down from above. Emily outstretched her fingers to grasp it. When she did, she saw the faces of so many flashing all around her. With each face came their own blur of feelings and memories. They were the memories of so many…so many human children…

~Sammicakes