Her hair was the color of the rainbow, falling to the ground to sweep at her feet in swaths of curls. Long robes in every shade of blue imaginable fell in graceful folds about her rounded body, and on her back, magnificent wings of gold throbbed.
Her eyes were a beautiful shade of violet, full of liquid warmth and concern, her round face soft and plump. She wasn’t at all small like the Truth Fairy, in fact, she was quite life-size.
Instantly Jon and Dannan knelt before her, bowing their heads, right arms resting across their hearts in reverence.
The Blue Fairy tapped the tops of their skulls with the edge of her gold staff, elaborately adorned with carved snakes winding about the length, the work so intricate, each scale was visible. “Rise, boys,” she murmured, smiling fondly down at them.
Jon plucked her hand up and planted a kiss on the back of it, giving her one of his devastatingly handsome smiles. “Ellesandra, my queen. So good to see you.”
She gave him a mischievous grin. “Are you chasing after my fairies again, lad? Like in the days of old? Some things never change,” she teased, her chuckle light and easy. “And Dannan, have you given up picking clean the bones of humans yet? All that protein will kill your cholesterol.”
Dannan’s head fell back on his shoulders and he laughed, his helium-filled giggle making Toni smile despite this new predicament.
“Ah, Ellesandra, I gave those up centuries ago, which ye well know. Shame on ye for trying to frighten our otherwordly friends. But alas, ’tis good to see yer beautiful face once more.”
Ellesandra chuckled until her gaze fell on Toni. She cocked her head, her eyes curious. “You’re not from this world.”
Toni licked her dry lips and curtsied—because it seemed like the thing to do—her ankles bowing inward awkwardly. “No, ma’am. Jersey. I’m from, um, the land we call Jersey. Toni. I’m Toni Vitali.”
Ellesandra’s nostrils flared and her lips pursed. “And you three? You’re not like her.”
Marty and Wanda were the first to react, but Nina was slow and sluggish as she trailed behind them. “I’m Marty Flaherty and these are my friends, Wanda Jefferson and Nina Statleon, a vampire, and a werewolf, and a halfsie. And this,” she reached out and rubbed Carl’s muzzle affectionately, “is Carl. A zombie in our world.”
Ellessandra’s smile beamed when her soft eyes landed on Carl. She reached a hand out to cup his muzzle. “Ahhh, a gentle soul, your Carl is?” she asked, though Toni suspected the fairy knew the answer.
“The gentlest ever,” Nina whispered, her lips now alarmingly pale as she reached for Wanda’s and Marty’s shoulders, her knuckles white.
“You’re a good lad, aren’t you, Carl? I can see it in your eyes. Good blessings be yours always, my lamb,” she said, blowing a kiss toward him. A kiss that turned into rainbow-colored dust as it clouded over Carl’s head, falling around him in glittery sprinkles of powdery light.
“And you…” She pointed to Nina, her eyes critical as she scanned the vampire’s slumped form. “You suffer?”
Nina’s head hung low on her long, graceful neck, but her eyes remained fierce. “I’m just hungry and tired,” she said, her teeth tightly clenched.
Toni slipped between Marty and Wanda and looped Nina’s arm around her neck in order to hold her up. She pulled her to a stump, brushing it free of snow with the fabric of her dress before setting Nina on its surface. “Rest,” she whispered, placing a hand on the vampire’s shoulder and squeezing.
“Ellesandra,” Jon cut in, his tone urgent. “Our apologies for taking you from far more important matters, but your assistance is needed. As you can see, a guest of Shamalot is in desperate need, and we have an unusual request…”
“Say no more, dear friend,” Ellesandra said, holding up a hand covered in rings. “But first, I must deal with my errant fairy.”
“Please, please, please, my queen!” the Truth Fairy begged as she squirmed in Dannan’s grasp. “I was tempted by gold. It will never happen again!”
“Whose gold called upon your recklessness?” Ellesandra demanded, her sweet face no longer so sweet.
“Queen Angria! She’s put a price on the red one’s head. Endless riches be had if we bring her to the queen!”
“Why? What does she want from me?” Toni spat.
The fairy’s head shook rapidly as her frightened eyes captured Toni’s. “I know not! I know only she has handed down orders to bring you in alive!”
Ellesandra shook her head and tsked her displeasure. “You have betrayed your title, fairy! You shall pay!”
“But she stole my power, my queen! She made my nose grow three times its size!”
Toni’s finger whipped up in the air as she left Nina’s side, her eyes narrowed as she confronted the fairy. “Hold up there, Tinkerbell. You tried to trick me into going with you. Then you tried to set me on fire. I just returned the favor. I didn’t steal anything from you on purpose. It just happened.”
Which had become the story of her life these last few days.