5. The New Besties

{Alessia}

Since I couldn't exactly make sense of the dream, I decided to let it go and face my new life at the fairies glade.

I noticed that the fairies got up way earlier than we usually did, but Ophelia being the darling that she was didn't wake me and she let me get up from bed in my own time.

When I got up, she was already dressed and the Sprites were already setting a small table for 

breakfast.

I wondered what fairies normally ate.

I got up and got dressed after taking a shower and then I moved towards the table, Ophelia was just too courteous, she had not even touched the meal, she was waiting for me.

"Dear, you look beautiful, join me for breakfast." Once again her voice got to me.

I really did love to hear her speak.

"Thank you Phee." I smiled and sat down beside her.

"Phee?" She asked.

"Yeah, it's my nickname for you, now that we're bffs," I said and she stared at me in complete ignorance.

Fairies probably were not up to date with the lingo that is used on the surface.

"Thank you, I quite like it, it's quite quaint, I think I'll call you Sia like the queen does." She smiled.

It was cute how she pretended to understand what I meant.

She clapped her hands three times and the Sprites reappeared again, they opened the dishes on the table and I was in awe of the display.

There were a lot of fruits, veggies, and juices, but there was also meat and my mouth began to water immediately.

"We usually don't eat meat because we are friends with the animals and we don't like to harm them, but we understand that you eat them, so we had to get some for you, we would not be eating with the queen because she couldn't possibly be able to stand the sight." She explained.

I felt sad after her explanation, but I could not cheat my nature, it was in my nature to eat meat and so it was something that I would do.

To make her feel at ease though, I started with the fruits and veggies.

There was an array of fruits, mostly berries though and some other fruits that I didn't know their names, the Sprites served the food on plates and they gave us cutleries to eat with them.

This was the fanciest breakfast I had ever been, as I held the fork in my left hand and the knife in my right, I silently thanked Nana for her constant admonishments because if she hadn't always been on my neck with regards to etiquette, I would have made a fool of myself at breakfast.

"The juice is collected fresh from the nectar of mixed flowers every day," Phee said when I moaned from the sweetness after drinking the juice.

"Yeah, it's like nothing I've ever tasted before, it's so good," I said and she smiled.

"So, what do you want to do today?" She asked after we finished our breakfast.

"We can hang out outside, in the garden or something and we can invite Cole and some other Faes," I said.

"C-cole?" She asked shakily, she was nervous.

"Yeah, he's my best friend, we can hang out together and who knows, he might also become your friend too." I smiled and watched her blush the shade of a crimson apple.

"No, I'm afraid that is just not allowed." She was very embarrassed and she did her face with her wings.

We went out, the Fairies had the most beautiful garden and forest, I watched them playing with animals and I felt a little bit guilty about making them serve me and Cole meat, but I did not say anything about it.

We played in the garden for a while before Cole and his friend came to join us, he was sharing a room with the Fairy prince Othello. I thought their names must have been Shakespeare-inspired since my godmother's name was Helena, but when I asked Ophelia, she didn't know who Shakespeare was.

I was really surprised, now I get why it's said that the Fairies live in another world, it definitely did feel like it.

"Cole!" I called out immediately, I saw him approach.

I was excited to see him, especially since he was the only person that was like me around here, I loved being around Ophelia and my Godmother, but it was just a different feeling around Cole, he felt my pain and he was the only person who could really understand how I was feeling.

"Hey Alie," He greeted and developed me in a hug. "Hi, Ophelia." His voice lowered when he greeted her and I watched her reply shyly.

"Hey." I greeted the prince and he just nodded at me.

A bit rude, don't you think? But I ignored him.

I just had to get used to the fact that not every Fairy would be nice to me.

I tried to get Ophelia to join in my conversation with Cole, but she was much too shy, the prince was much too obnoxious to join in the conversation and soon they left both of us alone.

Later that night, I discovered that the Prince was not Ophelia's brother, but her mate to be or partner to be, I did not know how it worked in the Fairy world.

I also discovered that they didn't have any mate bond, they just chose to be with who they wanted to, but if they were of high rank like Ophelia, their mate was chosen for them, from the finest of men in the kingdom.

And if I was being honest, the prince was the most handsome of men that I had ever seen and I had seen a lot of handsome Fairies in the short time that I had been here.

Cole seemed bothered about the news, but he was not saying anything so I decided to press him about it.

"Ophelia huh?" I started, I was a sixteen-year-old magical being without any magic, I did not know how to approach the subject.

"What?" He asked.

"You like her don't you?" 

Well, consider the question asked.

"N-no, what are you talking about." He was getting all defensive, my boy was getting all defensive, he definitely was feeling her.

"Uh Uh." I hummed and raised an eyebrow at him, he knew that he couldn't lie to me, so he dropped the act.

"I have this feeling when I see her, but I can't explain it, I have to stop that though, I'll find my mate in two years and we might even leave before that, I'll never see her again." He tried to say it with determination, but he sounded sad.

I didn't know how to comfort him, and I felt bad about making him talk about it. I had not yet met any boy that I liked though, male company was very restricted for me at home.

I only ever spoke to Cole and my father and I'm sure my father would have forbidden me from speaking to Cole if he were not like a brother to me, he was truly like a brother to me though, my father had found him when he was barely four years old and since we met, we have been inseparable.

Leaving home would have been harder to handle if he had not come with me and I was glad that he was with me and that I could always count on him.

After a while, we both retired to go inside, he went to his chambers and I went to go find Ophelia. I didn't exactly know where to search, but I did not find her where I searched.

When I was tired of searching, I clapped three times like I had seen her do and the Sprites immediately appeared.

So this was what it felt like to have magic.

My mother sure was lucky.

"I would like to find Phee," I said in my best Fairy voice, they replied but for the world of me, I couldn't tell what they were saying.

Eventually, they pointed in a direction and started pulling me towards it, I kept following them until I got to what seemed like a private garden, there was a waterfall and everything in it.

It was the most beautiful part of the Fairy glade I had seen.

"Hey Phee," I called out when I spotted her, I mistakenly bowed to thank the Sprites again and they had the same reaction that they had the first time and they flew away.

"Hey." She replied and patted the space beside her, she was sitting on a log of wood staring at the waterfall, she was very close to the water, if she put her hand out, she would be able to touch the flowing water.

The water looked more like a mirror when I took my seat beside her, it was not see-through like I expected it to be, it was just reflecting, I could see my face in the water, but the person staring at me was different somehow.

It felt like she was who I was on the inside.

"It's a reflective spring," Phee said. "It shows you anything you want to see, I come here when I need to think, but for some reason, it's not giving me any answers." She explained.

"Can I ask it to show me, my family?" I asked, I just wanted to know if they were okay.

"Yes, all you have to do is close your eyes, think about them and put your two hands into the water." She said.

I closed my eyes, took in a deep breath, and thought of my family, it was not difficult because they were always on my mind, I stretched my hands and touched the water, it felt warm and thick, not quite like water, it felt like gel or jelly pouring on my hand, but when I withdrew my hand it did not stick on it.

I opened my eyes and I smiled as the image of my home appeared before my eyes.

"It's beautiful," Ophelia said. "I see why you miss it so."

It was beautiful, but it was not comparable to the fairies' glade.

I continued looking at the water as different parts of my home came to view, I almost bolted out of my seat when my parents came to view.

I had really missed them, I looked more seriously and I realized that they were sad and mourning, they were headed to the river, they were dressed up in all black and they were holding flowers.

There was going to be a funeral, someone had died.

I gasped in horror as the portrait of the deceased came into my view.