The Queen’s Return

The Queen’s Return short story by Iris Carden

The scent of magic preceded them.

Queen Rose of the fairies rode on a sleek black cat. Above her flew Primrose, the nursery maid. At one side walked the great wizard Merlin, and Orsinius Wishlet, a wisp, guardian of mythical treasures, carrying Excalibur.  On the other side, walked Lady Justice, her pearlescent wings folded, carrying her razor sharp scimitar, alongside the powerful witch Ariana Sutton.

Using the interim, or Ariana’s thought magic, they could have simply appeared in the fairy village.  Instead, they chose to walk through the nearby forest.

As they walked, fairy soldiers and castle guards who had been hiding in the forest, fell into line and walked behind them.

They entered the village, the larger beings carefully avoiding stepping on houses.

Fairies came out of their houses and greeted their returning queen with cheers.

With the volume of her voice magically enhanced, Queen Rose called out from in front of the castle: “Lord Rust, you and your elves will leave the castle and leave the fairy lands immediately, on fear of penalty of imprisonment or death.”

An elf messenger came out of the castle.  “Lord Rust claims this castle and the whole land as his right, as his ancestors were cheated in the Great Settlement of the fae wars in time immemorial.”

Lady Justice held out her hand, and a massive, ancient, book appeared, open, in her hand. She said: “Time immemorial is more remembered than Lord Rust believes. According to the record of my ancestors who mediated the Great Settlement, the elves gained a greater area of land than any of the other fae folk, on the promise that they would never again invade another of the fae nations. By right all elves must not enter fairy lands unless invited, and military actions are banned.  Lord Rust and all elves will disarm and follow the Queen’s orders immediately, or magical justice will be enforced.”

The sun glinted on her sword.

The elf messenger dropped his sword, and started running. Other elves, seeing this, did the same.

Lord Rust had still not exited the castle. 

The Queen called out again, but he still did not appear.

Ariana pointed to the ground in front of the castle gate, and Lord Rust appeared there, looked around, and tried to run but found himself unable to move.

Lady Justice lifted her sword, but the Queen called out, “No. Please imprison him, as I was imprisoned by him.”

Lady Justice consulted briefly with Ariana, and Lord Rust found himself inside a very pink doll’s house.  He tried to leave, but found there was some kind of magical barrier preventing him. A teenaged girl who looked human, was watching the doll’s house, while gently rocking a baby fairy in a nutshell.

“Lord Rust, I presume,” Andy Justice said. “If you’re here, I guess I can take Princess Aster home now.” The girl, with the baby, disappeared into the interim.  Seconds later, she appeared beside the fairy castle. She gave the baby to Primrose, who carefully took her inside.

Minutes later, the Queen’s standard was once more flying high over the castle.

Queen Rose appeared on the balcony, as fairies cheered, cried, and hugged each other.

“Today is a day of celebration,” the Queen told her people. “Today things are back as they should be.  We have to thank our magical guests who came to help us overthrow the invaders. Lady Justice, Ariana Sutton, Merlin, Orsinius Wishlet, and The Cat are forever welcome in our lands.”

Fairies continued to cheer.

The Queen continued, “Even greater thanks go to one of our own.  Primrose, nursery maid to Princess Aster, not only saved the princess, but also negotiated with our new friends, arranged my rescue and courageously came here as a spy so we would know how to plan our return.  Primrose is fond of saying she is just a nursery maid.  Today, I declare her, our official hero, the princess’ protector, and my trusted advisor.”

There were more riotous cheers, and in the crowd, Primrose’s mother wept tears of pride and joy.

“I declare today a feast day, which will be remembered annually in honour of the great hero Primrose,” the Queen declared.

At that moment, Merlin threw some coloured dust in the air, muttered some strange words, and the sky filled with fireworks.

Ariana closed her eyes a moment, and tables filled with wonderful foods appeared all around the village.  

Some fairies brought out musical instruments, and a celebration began which lasted late into the night.

Series 2 Stories:

• Nutshell
• Doll’s House
• Spy
• The Queen’s Return
• Cat
• Dream
• Mirror

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