A Cambria Fairy Tale

Chapter 3

"May I come in?" she asked, already stepping into the room.

Raine took a deep breath. "Earthen, I'm really not in the mood ..."

"You saw one today, did you not?" she asked point blank, her voice low. "You saw a human."

Raine quickly closed the door. "Shush! What on earth are you talking about?"

Earthen took a step closer. "I saw the way you reacted tonight when Father asked you about the human, and you were daydreaming all through dinner." Earthen looked directly into her eyes. "You saw one today."

Raine was about to deny it, but thought better of it, knowing that she could trust her sister. "Why do you ask?"

One corner of her lips curled into a smile. "Raine, you cannot hide your feelings from me. Now, out with it. What did you see? You know if Father finds out ..."

"Well, Father is not going to find out, is he?" Raine warned.

Earthen remained unshaken. "What happened? Tell me everything."

Raine took another deep breath. "Nothing happened. Nothing at all."

Earthen took a step closer. "But you saw one, did you not?"

"Aye. I saw one," Raine admitted as she let out a deep breath.

Earthen's eyes grew wide in disbelief. "Really? What happened?"

Raine sat on the edge of her bed as her sister perched at the foot, positioning herself for a long conversation. When they were younger, Earthen and Misty used to sneak into her room, plop onto her bed, and they would talk all night for hours on end, but it had been a while. "Well, I was flying through the forest when I heard something huge rustling through the leaves. All of the forest animals were scurrying away, so I thought it was something to be feared. It didn't sound like a bear. But when I looked, it was a human."

Earthen's eyes grew wide. "You stayed hidden, did you not?" She took Raine's hands into her own, frightened. "Please, tell me that you stayed hidden ..."

"Yes, yes," Raine interrupted, pulling her hands back. "Stop being so dramatic. Of course I stayed hidden."

A worried look suddenly appeared in Earthen's eyes. "We must tell Father right away. If humans have ventured this far into the Magical Forest ..."

"Shush," Raine cut her off. "No. We are not going to tell Father."

Earthen pulled back abruptly. "Why not? Raine, the existence of our world is at stake! If humans have come to destroy us ..."

"No; they are not here to destroy us," Raine said, taking a deep breath. "There was only one, and ... he looked kind enough."

"He?" Earthen asked, skeptical. "Oh. Now I see ..."

"What do you see?"

"You like him."

"What?" Raine asked in disbelief. "What are you talking about?"

"Then, why are you protecting him?" Earthen asked, unrelenting. "In fact, I think you are in love with him."

"In love with him?" Raine couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I only saw him just this once ..."

"And you are in love with him."

Raine took a deep breath. "That is absurd!"

"Oh, really?" Earthen challenged as she rose from her perch. "Then, let us seek out Father and tell him now. Oh Father!"

"Hush!" Raine took her sister's hand and pulled her back to the bed. "Do not tell him. I beg you!"

"You beg me?" Earthen asked with a sly smile. "You are in love with him."

"Stop saying that!" Raine said. Many of the fairy boys and young men in the Magical Forest had taken an interest in her before, but no one had interested her ... until now.

"You know, you are now sixteen and Father will expect you to marry soon ..."

"I know," Raine cut her off. "Do not remind me."

"I am just saying that you should not be thinking of this human boy," Earthen interjected. "You need to think of the other Fairies of the Realm ... for our kingdom. You are the eldest, after all, and are expected to take over Father's rule. One day, you will be queen."

"I know." Raine didn't need to be reminded of her duties and responsibilities as the eldest child of a king. She knew all too well of her duty to the Fairies of the Realm. As the next heir to the throne, she was expected to marry well, for the husband she chose would rule beside her one day. But it seemed that none of the men of the fairy world were interested in her, her personality, who she was. They were only interested in one thing ... her crown. "Well, worry not, dear sister. I only saw him once, and I doubt that I will ever see him again." Raine's heart sank at the thought. For the thought of never seeing the human man again was unfathomable to her already.

"But you will see him again, will you not? If you have the opportunity?" Earthen insisted.

Raine shook her head, but couldn't speak the words to deny it.

"Yes. You will," Earthen replied. "Trust me."

Raine took a deep breath. "Well, he will probably never come into the Magical Forest again, anyway."

Earthen smiled as she placed her finger under her sister's chin, forcing her to look at her. "You are in love with him!"

"Stop it!" Raine said, pulling away. "How could it be? I only saw him just that once."

Earthen shrugged. "The heart knows what it wants."

Raine took a deep breath, unable to deny it. After all, it was absurd to think that she could be in love with a man after seeing him from afar just one time. "Okay. I think you'd better go now." But as Earthen drew near the door, Raine grabbed her hand. "Please, do not tell Father. I do not know what he would do if he found out."

A smile lit Earthen's face. "Worry not, big sister. Your secret is safe with me." Then, she turned to look into her sister's eyes. "But if it ever comes between safety of our people and your human, I will side with our people. Understood?"

Raine nodded, knowing that she was right. She must think of her people first and foremost. "Understood."

But as Earthen left the room, Raine hoped that it would never come to that.

Raine shook her head as she dressed for bed, trying to clear away her thoughts, but it was of no use. So, she climbed into her big, four-posted bed and pulled the soft quilt snuggly around her. But as she drifted off to sleep, thoughts of the human boy with the wild, blond hair and tanned skin flashed through her mind.