Previous Chapter of Princess Pantheon

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Honeybun came and sat with Emily during one of her lectures. The were-bunny princess was bored and did not want to participate in any vampire holiday games near her village, so she figured she would spend time in the fairy realm’s outdoor classroom. 

The pair sat on a fallen tree trunk overgrown with yellow and green fungus and little brown worms. Five deep grooves were carved within it as seats. The awning shielded them from the sun, its wooden musk enriched by the heat and filling the air. Pink and red roses wrapped about its columns.

 The outdoor classroom was solitary and tranquil, tucked deep within the forest behind the castle. A few deer, pure bunnies (the plain kind that stayed simply a bunny no matter the time of day), and squirrels occasionally scampered by. Beyond a few woodland creatures, the forest was populated only by Honeybun, Emily, and her instructor, Amina.

Amina was long and slender, silver-faced and honey-haired. She was dressed in flowing pink silk that clung politely to the curves of her frame. She held a thin beacon of silver in her hand and ran it along the surface of the board carved into a tree.

“The customs of the past were rigid and brutal, allowing no relationship between human and fairykind,” Amina’s clear and deep voice (deeper than one may have anticipated from her appearance) rang throughout the forest. Her tone was elegant and so intriguing that some of the deer and bunnies stopped to stare at her for a moment. The squirrels didn’t care.

“Due to this, the seventh era fairies selected one from our race to serve as the silent messenger between ourselves and humankind– a vessel for communication, study, and safeguarding. Our vessel, the princess. All of this you know, am I correct?”

Emily, a bit distracted playing with Bun, didn’t hear the question. But when Bun poked her and stared at Amina with wide, warning eyes, the fairy whipped her head around and nodded. “Yes, ma’am!”

“What did I ask you, Emily?”

“I don’t know, ma’am.”

“Then why are you saying yes, Emily?”

“It… seemed like the right thing to say, ma’am.”

Emily beamed brightly, toothily, her face burning pink.

Amina let out a deep sigh and turned her attention to her dear friend. “Princess Honeybun, if you’re going to distract my Royal Wing, then I must insist that you part from us for now.”

“Perhaps the Royal Wing should take a rest,” Bun replied in her most diplomatic and serious tone. Emily attempted to hide a chuckle behind her hand, but failed miserably when Bun crunched into a carrot stick, loud as Heaven.

“It has not yet been an hour!” Amina sighed again, but then she surrendered a smile. “Foolish girls. Are you the ones who govern our world with your pantheon? Do you girls get anything done?”

“Of course we do, Madam Amina! Please refrain from insulting and demeaning us!” Bun perked up, furry ears at attention with a bit of angry passion. “We’re more than just mere girls! We’re revolutionists in the making!”

Emily swayed her legs to some song, perceptible to only her. Giggling, she added, “Yes, Amina, we’re deeply offended by your insinuation!”

The instructor returned to sighing, with an added bit of temple rubbing and headshaking.

But who could blame Amina’s frustration? After all, out of the three entities in the forest, only she was the one who knew how unforgiving, how merciless reality could be.

Sparing not even the most willful and sweet of young girls…

~Sammicakes