Forever Fae (5 page)

“Your dress is absolutely go
rgeous,
S
ister
,
”
Meliantha swoons.
  Her wide-eyed gaze roams over my dress and she traces her fingers along the patterns stitched into it.  Her
eyes
then travel down to my hand and she notices the ring I’m wearing.

“Where did you get the ring?  It’s lovely.”

I smile at Meliantha, noticing how grown up she looks in her pale pink evening gown.  Her silky,
auburn
hair is stunning, but what makes her different from the rest of us in the family is that she has amethyst colored eyes. 

We don’t know how she came to get that color,
but they are strikingly gorgeous.
She’s only a year younger than me, but I feel like I have to protect her. 
Meliantha is timid and very tender-hearted.
  Her magical
ability
is for nature and animals and she loves to tend to the gardens.
Our beautiful gardens outside are t
he work of her wonderful capabilities. She loves animals as well and
when
she steps outside they all flock to her
,
vying for her attention.

I look at Meliantha and smile.  She’s still holding my hand looking at the ring when I say,
“Your dress is magnificent as well, Meliantha,
and Elvena gave me the ring.
She thought it would
be a great birthday present.” Meliantha looks up and lets my hand go. 

“Do you know w
hat Ariella
is
wearing tonight?  I haven’t seen her today.  She hasn’t been bothering anyo
ne has she?” I ask curiously.

             
At the mention of Ariella, Meliantha and Xylia both try
to hold in a laugh by covering their mouths with their hands.
This is not good.  Meliantha looks at me
,
takes her hand away from her mouth and laughs
.

“Oh no, she’s been bothering people alright.  She’s been bothering people so much that she’s been banned from attending the ceremony tonight.
”  She shakes her head in disbelief.  “Serves her right, and
M
other
and
F
ather
were furious with her after what she did today.”

Intrigued
at hearing what my sister said, I had to ask. “What did she do
now,
blow down a house with her wind capabilities?”

             
Xylia and Meliantha both burst ou
t laughing.  They
are
amazed
with
how I
kn
ow
my little
sister so well. Xylia decides
to answer me
.

“Not only did she blow down a house, but she also blew one of the guardians across the court.  Apparently, she asked him to dance with her after the ceremony and he politely refused.  Your sister doesn’t take rejection very well
,
does she? 
Anyway,
Elvena will be keeping a watch on her tonight.”
  That definitely sounds like my headstrong younger sister.

“No, she d
oesn’t take rejection very well and unfortunately s
he still has a l
ot to learn.  That poor warrior
was probably afraid of her.  She needs to learn to control her temper or she’ll never find a guy that’ll be able to keep up with her.  I hate that I
’m not going to see her tonight, but m
aybe
it
will teach her a lesson.”  I
am
hoping
I’m not
right about what she did, but my little sister is a feisty
one.
We all look at each other
and smile
.
It’s
perfectly clear
from
our faces that
we know
Ariella will never learn her lesson.

 
             
“The day she le
arns a lesson is the day the Summer Court freezes over,” Xylia jokes.

We laugh and cackle all the way out of my bedroom and down the long corridor to reach the winding staircase.  It
fe
els
like I ha
ve
butterflies in my sto
mach the whole way down to the Great R
oom. 
Once we reach the Great Room doors I pause to take a deep breath.  Xylia is on one side
,
Meliantha
is on the other and I grab both of
their
hands and squeeze.  I feel deep down that a change
is
coming, and it
is
going to begin this night.  I just wish I knew.

The Ceremony- Calista

             
The huge gold plated doors open and I
s
tand
motionless for what
fe
els
like hours.  Xyl
ia
clear
s
her throat
while Meliantha
g
ives
my arm a little nudge. 

Xylia whispers,
“Calista, it’s time.  We need to move forward.  It’s time to see all of t
hose cute warriors in action.” I look over at her and she winks while looking at the warriors positioned on the right side of the room.  I turn my gaze to the warriors and they are all looking at me.  I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

“I’m ready. Let’s hurry so you can get your f
ill for the night,” I whisper back.

We laugh softly and continue down the plush green carpet th
at lay
on
the aisle. The Great Room is
vi
brant yellow and has trees and flowers splayed about which makes it feel like I’m walking into a meadow.  Except in this meadow, we have
two t
hrones and a dais.  The room is
fil
led with gold plated chairs encrusted with crystals that glisten
from t
he sunlight coming through the windows from both sides of the room. The roof also opens
u
p to let the sunshine beam down and also makes the temperature a little hotter.  Rainbows flitter
along the walls and the floor from
the reflection of the crystals and it
makes the
room look
absolutely magnificent.

I mak
e my way to the front where my father, Ki
ng Oberon
,
and my mother
,
Queen Tatiana, are
seated on their thrones. 
My father looks handsome with his bright red hair and eyes
that
match mine.  He look
s
at me with pride written all over his face and it feels good to know I’m doing something right.  I lift my chin and continue my way down.  I look over at my mother and her smile is just as radiant.  She has golden blonde hair just like me and her eyes are a brilliant shade of blue.  She’s wearing a lovely yellow dress that makes her look angelic, but she is far from it.  Her temper
is
known throughout the court.

I finally make it to my seat and my father greets me, “Good evening,
sunshine
.”
 

I give both my parents a warm smile and reply,
“Good evening,
F
ather
, and t
o you
,
M
other
.”  My mother smiles and reaches
over to take my hand.
  I squeeze hers in return.

“No need to be nervous, my daughter.  Tonight is go
ing to be a very special night,” she says tenderly.

I
d
on’t
respond. I just
t
ake
a look across the room at the m
any guests.  The entire room is
filled with the chee
rfulness and brightness of the S
ummer
Court
fae.  On one side all of th
e warriors
stand
and
in the middle
are
our gue
sts from across the territories. O
n the left
side of the Great Room are all the council members of the Summer Court and their families.  I look at the warriors and I find
my f
riend Merrick among them and smile at him.  He smiles
back with
a
cocky grin I have always known and have
seen for so many years.  He
has grown
up to
be such a handsome man with his
golden blonde hair and the brownest eyes I’ve ever seen. He keeps his hair short, but long enough to see that he has some curl to it.  It
always looks so soft and fluffy and I love to play with it.
  He stands six feet tall and has the body of a god. 
Many of the
Summer
fae women go crazy over him and are constantly following him around.

I turn
to look a
t the council members and I see
Xylia’s parents
, Raisa and Foster
,
sitting there and they both give me a nod.  I smile warmly at them and nod back.
  Taking the first seat of the council is Avery.  He handles a lot of the court business and is my father’s most trusted counselor.  I’ve
never really liked him because I can
sense some darkness in him
somewhere
and when I confronted my father about it he just laughed it off and considered it nonsense.  Avery
gives me a smirk and I pretend
not to see it.
He has
hair the color of wheat and sharp facial features that almost make him look cruel.  He’s a handsome man, but nothing about his personality appeals to me.  I try not to pay much attention to him when he’s around.  I take my thoughts away from him and
I
continue to look around at my guests
.
In
the middle I see Aelfric and Rhoswen.  I’m so glad they made it.  I give them a huge smile and I receive one in return.
They travelled all the way from the
Elven
K
ingdom
to
see this next stage in my life and I couldn’t be more grateful. 
 

I recognize almost everyone in the room until my
gaze
finally land
s
on a pair of piercing
,
ice blue eyes. 
Our eyes lock
and I can’t bring myself to look away
from him
.
  It’s like my universe
has
stopped and the only people in
the
room
are
him
and me
.  It
fe
els
like a shock
wave travelling through
out my body
,
i
t
is
so intense.  He
seem
s
to be feeling the sam
e way, according to his wide-eyed expression. I can feel my face flushing and my lungs feel like they can’t get enough air.
I really need to calm down and figure out what is happening to me. 
The attraction is uncanny.
It
is ridiculous to feel this way over someone I haven’t even met. 

He’s
gorgeous with his dark spiky hair and those ey
es.  My goodness, the eyes are
goi
ng to make me melt right here.
He obviously isn’t from the Summer Court.  He has Winter Court written all over him
,
h
is pale skin
could account for that.  He’s
dressed in all black with his shiny silver armor glitte
ring in the sunlight.  He looks
like a
sexy dark angel.  His lip tilts
up on one side in a hal
f smile, half smirk kind of way and he lifts his eyebrow like he’s amused.
  My reaction is automatic, I smile
back
at him. I really want
to
find out who this stranger is.
 

I
am
brought back to reality when my father stands up and moves to the edge of the dais.  The room falls silent as my father begins his announcement.

“Welcome guests
, we are here to celebrate in the Guardian
C
eremony
of my eldest daughter
,
Princess Calista,
and
her
soon
-
to
-
be
g
uardian
.
  This is a tradition that has been upheld for hundreds of years.  We honor that and tonight we ask that you join us in this celebration and make it memorable.  A feast and dancing will be provided after the ritual in honor of P
rincess Calista and her
g
uardian
.”