Alex sat in her chair for the first time. She couldn’t deny that sitting alongside the rest of the council members with purpose was a very good feeling.
The celebration went on and Alex was continuously congratulated by fairies she had never met. At one point she noticed someone lingering behind a pillar nearby. She could have sworn she knew him. He was taller than her and wore an old suit a tad too big for him. A feathered mask covered his face.
He had been watching her the entire night but never came over to congratulate her or say hello. The more Alex looked at him, the more anxious he seemed to become. Finally the attention she was giving him obviously worried him too much and he headed out of the Fairy Palace. Alex’s curiosity got the best of her and she decided to follow him.
“Grandma, may I be excused from the party for a few minutes?” Alex asked.
“Of course, dear!”
Alex hurried out of the main hall and down the front steps of the Fairy Palace. She felt something crunch under her foot and realized the fellow in question had taken off his mask and dropped it on the stairs. She looked ahead and saw him running into the gardens.
“Hey!” Alex called out, but he didn’t turn around.
She chased after him as fast as she could in her gown. Every time she got close enough to see who he was, he would turn and run down another path in the gardens. Alex felt like she was chasing him in a maze of colorful plants and flowers. Eventually she caught up to him on a small bridge that crossed over a pond.
“Freeze!” Alex demanded. “Show yourself or I’ll use my wand!”
He slowly turned around and his face was perfectly lit in the moonlight.
“Rook?!” Alex gasped.
“Hello, Alex,” Rook said timidly.
“What are you doing here?” Alex asked.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to run from you,” he said. “I just really wanted to see you again. I thought I would sneak into the ball and surprise you, but once I saw you and discovered it was your ball, I couldn’t help but stay.”
Alex didn’t know what to say. She had never meant to keep the reality of who she was a secret from him but she hadn’t wanted him to find out like this.
“Rook, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the whole story about who I am,” Alex said. “I was afraid I would scare you away if I did.”
Rook stared at her for a moment and then nodded. “So you’re the next Fairy Godmother, huh?”
“Yes,” Alex said sheepishly.
“And you’re the one who defeated the Enchantress?” he asked.
“Guilty of that as well,” she said.
Rook took a minute to wrap his head around it. He stared off at the gardens around them in absolute bewilderment. “This is bad,” he said, shaking his head. “I don’t know what I’m going to do about this.”
Alex felt her heart drop into the pit of her stomach. “Rook, I’m still me,” she pleaded. “I’m still the same fairy you met at your farm and who you went on a walk with yesterday.”
To Alex’s relief, Rook looked up at her and smiled. “That’s not what I meant,” he said, and stepped closer to her. “I thought you were amazing the first time I met you, and the more I think about you, the more amazing you seem. Now that I know just how incredible you really are, I’m not sure how I’m ever going to let you go.”
“Oh,” Alex said. Her heart began racing and her butterflies fluttered to life. “Well, that’s very… very… nice.”
“You make me really happy, Alex, in ways I can’t explain,” he said.
“You make me really happy, too, Rook,” she said. “One of the reasons I’m wearing butterflies tonight is to match the butterflies you give me when I think of you.”
Rook stepped even closer to her and placed a hand on the side of her face. He looked into her eyes for a moment and then slowly leaned his head closer to hers. Alex’s heart was about to beat out of her chest. The butterflies fluttered more rapidly the closer he got to her. They flew off her dress just as Rook kissed her for the first time.
The celebration continued in the main hall despite Alex’s absence. The Fairy Godmother sat in her chair and happily watched over the party around her. It had been a terrific night and she couldn’t have been prouder of her granddaughter. However, the celebration had taken a toll on the Fairy Godmother and she was feeling very tired and a tad weak.
“It’s a wonderful party,” Mother Goose said, pulling up her own seat next to the Fairy Godmother. “Nothing will ever beat that mixer I threw during the Crusades but this might be a close second.”
“Yes, I think everyone is enjoying themselves,” the Fairy Godmother said softly.
“Are you feeling all right, FG?” Mother Goose asked. “You don’t seem very festive.”
“I’m just glad this day is finally here,” she said. “The Fairy Kingdom can now rest assured that their future is in good hands.”
Mother Goose took a good look at her. She knew something was wrong even if it wasn’t plainly written on her face. “I’ve known you for centuries; I can tell when something is bothering you,” she said.
The Fairy Godmother sighed. “Can I confide in you?” she asked her oldest friend.
“Of course,” Mother Goose said. “If I gave you a gold coin for every secret of mine you’ve kept, I’d be broke.”
The Fairy Godmother looked directly into her eyes. “Years ago when I declared Ezmia as my heir, there was always something in the back of my mind that told me it wasn’t meant to be,” she said. “I ignored it, but then later that feeling proved to be intuition. Now that I’ve declared Alex as my heir, there is another feeling that’s come over me that I can’t ignore.”
“What is it?” Mother Goose asked. “Do you have doubts about Alex, too?”
“On the contrary,” the Fairy Godmother replied. “After months of training her and finally seeing her among the council tonight, I feel nothing but hopeful… and tired.”
“How tired?” Mother Goose asked.
“More tired than I’ve felt before in my life,” the Fairy Godmother told her.
Mother Goose’s face fell. “Are you telling me what I think you might be?”
The Fairy Godmother nodded. “Yes,” she said with a bittersweet smile. “You and I are the only ones old enough to know how magic works in these situations. We know what’s to be expected. But please remember this is good news. It means we’ve finally found the true heir of magic and she’s ready.”
Mother Goose didn’t say a word. She took the Fairy Godmother’s hand into her own and smiled as widely as she could, given the news.
“I think I’m going to retire for the night,” the Fairy Godmother said. “If you see Alex, please tell her I’ll see her in the morning.”
The Fairy Godmother slowly disappeared into soft glittery clouds, too tired to climb the stairs.
Suddenly the hall of fairies parted. Something was causing a ruckus, and they hurried away from it as fast as possible. Three boisterous witches had just arrived in the Fairy Palace, and they noisily made their way into the center of the hall.
Each wore a long, ragged black cloak, and they all smelled foul. One witch had cat eyes and twigs for hair, another was missing an eye but had two large noses, and the third had skin so loose, it appeared to be melting off her face like wax. They cackled loudly at the fairies cowering away from them.
The eight members of the Fairy Council formed a circle around the witches. It was obvious they had come to start trouble.
“What business do you have here?” Emerelda asked them.
“We came here for the Fairy Inaugural Ball, of course,” the one-eyed witch said in a shrill voice.
“You weren’t invited,” Violetta said. “This celebration is for fairies only.”
“You’re breaking the laws of the Happily Ever After Assembly by being in our palace,” Xanthous threatened. “Witches are not allowed to set foot in this kingdom, and you know it.”
“Enforce those laws while you still have them, because soon there will be no assembly to threaten us with,” the one-eyed witch warned.
The fairies whispered to one another. What did the witch mean by this? Xanthous grew impatient and didn’t care to find out. “Leave at once, or we’ll have you thrown in Pinocchio Prison,” he threatened.
The witches cackled even harder at his attempt to frighten them. “But if we leave, you’ll never receive our gift,” the witch with cat eyes hissed. “We didn’t come all this way empty-handed.”
“We don’t want your gift,” Tangerina said. The bees flying around her neck and wrists flew at a quicker pace. “Go back to wherever it is you came from.”
“Trust us—you want what we have to offer,” the witch with waxy skin wheezed. “It’s less a gift and more a prophecy. It’s something the witches have kept to themselves for a great while, but since it’s such a ceremonious night, we thought we’d share it with you.”
“We don’t want to hear your ridiculous prophecy, either,” Rosette said.
“I do!” Coral peeped, speaking on behalf of all the curious fairies in the room. “It couldn’t hurt just to listen to whatever information they want to give us.”
The members of the Fairy Council looked at one another, but no one objected. “Very well,” Emerelda said. “If the witches promise to leave us in peace when they’ve finished, they may share their message with us.”
The witches scowled at the audience of fairies. They held hands and formed a circle. The witches cocked their heads up to the sky, and their mouths and eyes began to glow. A strong breeze swiftly blew through the palace as the witches chanted a rhyme in unison.