Through the Portal

William wasn’t sure what to think, at first. Josie was lying on a mossy bed, still as a corpse. She had been washed and dressed in a gown of pink flower petals. Her expression was peaceful, much to his relief. He was tempted to wake her, but remembered that they had been asked not to do so. He didn’t want to do anything that may hinder her healing, so he resisted. He satisfied himself in seeing that she was breathing steadily.

Meredith had to pull him back out of the room. If he’d had his way, William would not have left the child’s side until she awoke.

He looked to Adia when they were outside. “Is there any way I can be there when she wakes up? I know it would comfort her.”

Adia gave him a warm smile and nodded. “I will make sure you are sent for before we wake her up. It should be sometime tomorrow, though, so you should rest. I’m certain she will be more comforted if you are well when next she sees your face.

He nodded, acknowledging the wisdom of her words. The group was led back to their temporary homes, where they were to spend the night. However, William went to Katherine’s treehouse, fairly quickly, and knocked on the door.

She smiled at him as she opened it. “Is everything okay?”

He nodded. “I just wanted to ask you a question about the fairies.”

She let him in and they sat on the soft floor, facing each other. “So, what is this question?”

He paused, not sure how to word it. “When we spoke to the king and queen, you acted differently than you normally do.”

“You mean I treated them as royalty?” she asked, smiling a bit. “I suppose it seemed odd since most people in Mirra treat me as the highest authority.”

William nodded. “Were you just being diplomatic?”

Katherine shook her head. “In this place, we are outsiders. I can use my magic, here, but that would do me little good. This is their realm. The Veil of the Fairies is not subject to the rules of Mirra, Dunya or any other world.” She paused. “To be more precise, it is not part of any other world. When we came here, we left Mirra. In this realm, Oberon and Titania are the highest authority.”

William stared at her, having trouble grasping the idea. “But how is that possible? We were just in Mirra. We couldn’t have just left.”

She gave him a kind smiled. “A few weeks ago, we were in Dunya, then we walked through a door.”

The comment gave him pause. “Do you mean to say that the fairies opened a portal?” He stared at her. “They can do that?”

She nodded. “When it suits their whims. They send out a unicorn to lead people to the gateway they create and allow them to pass through, but only under the cover of darkness. The fairies themselves glide in and out of any realm they please and ask permission of no one.”

William had trouble processing such ideas. “Couldn’t they have helped us sooner, then?” He thought of all the dangers they had faced and wondered why the fairies had not stepped in before.

“They could have,” Katherine admitted. “They just didn’t care to do so until Josie was in danger. As Titania said, they have a soft spot for children.”

“So, they’re kind of jerks,” he decided with a sigh.

“They do as they please and have little interest in those around them, except for entertainment,” she replied. “However, they do not generally harm people, so I cannot judge them harshly. They wish to be left alone and it is best to respect that.”

William looked at her as another thought occurred to him. “You said some fairies live in the city, though.”

“Very few. As I said, they do what they want. If they wish to live in the city and obey the rules of Mirra for a time, they do so. We do not have any reason to refuse them.”

“I’m not sure I understand them very well.”

She smiled at that. “You’re not meant to understand the ways of the fairies. You simply need to respect them.”

He nodded and yawned, suddenly remembering that he hadn’t slept more than a few hours in the last few days.

“You should get some rest,” Katherine told him. “We are safe, here, for now.”

“Right.” William stood, knowing he wouldn’t be able to stay awake much longer. “Good night, Katherine.”

“Good night, William.”

As he stepped out of her treehouse, he nearly ran into Tristan. William gave a sleepy apology and walked around the elf, heading to his own treehouse and waiting hammock.

Tristan watched him go and stepped into Katherine’s little room. “I’m sorry to intrude, my lady.”

She smiled, brightly, at him. “It’s no intrusion. Have a seat.” She hadn’t bothered to get up after William left.

Tristan obeyed, settling on the moss in front of her. “I wondered how long we were meant to stay here.”

Katherine noted that he had managed to get the leaves out of his hair and she held back a laugh. “I know you find fairies annoying, but you’ll have to tolerate it, I’m afraid. It should only be a day or two until Josie is well enough to keep moving.”

“Assuming they do not decide to keep her,” Tristan commented with an edge to his voice. He never trusted fairies. No elf did. They were immortal, like the elves, but seemed to lack the wisdom that came with the years. They flitted around, acting like children. Some of them even looked like children. He found it insufferable.

Katherine shook her head. “I have their assurances that they will return her to us as soon as she is well.”

He sighed, still not liking the circumstances. “I suppose we should be grateful that they saved her.”

“We should be very grateful, indeed,” Katherine agreed. “Make sure to keep that in mind next time you decide to undo all the work the pixies put into your hair.”

He frowned, trying to decide if she was making fun of him. “Very well, my lady.” He headed back to his own house, leaving her in peace.

Katherine breathed a sigh once he was gone. She had her apprehensions about the fairies, but she didn’t want the others to worry. She knew they had no reason to harm the group or stop them from getting to the palace, as long as everyone behaved.

When they awoke the next day, each member of the group found a bath waiting, as well as flowers on the window sill, which appeared to be freshly plucked. Meredith wondered where the water for the bath came from and where it went, since there was neither faucet, nor drain. However, she decided, it probably wasn’t worth asking about.

She found a dress of red flowers waiting for her, again, and she slipped into it. Before long, pixies surrounded her, fixing up her hair and weaving orange flowers into it. She stayed still, not daring to try and stop them. Once they were done, she headed out, hoping she didn’t look silly.

She found Valda out walking, looking unhappy because, once again, there were flowers in her hair. To make matters worse, they were pink, this time.

She frowned as she caught Meredith looking. “I messed the flowers up, yesterday, and they seemed to think I would like this color better.”

Meredith was about to compliment her, but realized that would be a bad idea. “It’s just for a few days and it’s not that bad.” Her stomach growled and she looked around, wondering where she was supposed to get food.

“I take it you didn’t figure out what the flowers were for,” Valda commented.

Thinking they were still talking about their hair, Meredith gave her a confused look. “Don’t the pixies just enjoy fixing hair up?”

The she-elf shook her head. “The ones on your window sill, I mean. They’re for eating. It’s fairy food.”

Meredith blinked, uncertainly. “We’re supposed to eat flowers?”

“The fairies really like flowers.” Valda shrugged. “Clothes, food, buildings…” She shook her head. “The ones they gave you to eat should be alright, though.”

Meredith nodded. “Thanks for the advice.”

She headed back to her treehouse and found the flowers still waiting. There was a pile of them in a bowl, like cereal. Meredith picked one up and nibbled at it, experimentally, surprised to find that it tasted like honey-milk. She finished the rest and realized there was a glass of liquid beside them. She couldn’t discern the color because it changed depending on how the light hit it. Meredith drank it and discovered that it tasted like sugar water. Satisfied, she stepped back out to find the rest of her group.

As soon as she walked outside, a basket full of flowers was dumped on her head from up in the tree. She looked up through the falling flowers at a smiling Robin. He waved to her. “Good morning, fair maiden.”

“Good morning.” She couldn’t help but smile, in return. “Most people would dump water on someone’s head.”

“I am not accustomed to mortal pranks, but I have been ordered not to use any magic on our guests.” He paused. “Water, eh?” He flew off, seeming to be thinking about it.

Meredith hoped that wouldn’t come back to bite her. She found William, his hair woven with leaves, this time. He smiled and touched it. “Guess we all got the pixy treatment, today.”

Meredith giggled at him. “Well, you look quite dapper.” A few minutes later, she heard a splash and they went to see what was going on. They found the twins drenched and Robin wearing a pleased smile.

He looked at Meredith. “You’re right. Water is better.”

The twins gave her a look like she had been the one to splash them. “Traitor.” They spoke as one, but didn’t sound as angry as they might have.

Meredith held back a laugh and shrugged. “Don’t blame me. He did it.” She pointed to the fairy, who stuck out his tongue at them and flew off.

The twins grinned as he left. Jake spoke first. “That was awesome!”

Henry nodded. “We totally just got pranked by Puck.” They high-fived like it was a great accomplishment.

Meredith raised her eyebrows, but didn’t comment. They continued walking and found Katherine outside of Tristan’s door, trying to talk him out of it. “You can’t stay in there all day.”

“I beg to differ.” His muffled voice came through the door.

“What’s going on?” Meredith asked.

Katherine shrugged. “I came to see him, this morning, but he won’t open the door.”

Kaelen walked over to see what was going on. Silver leaves were woven into his dark hair. “Typical wood elf, making such a fuss.”

“I’m not making a fuss,” Tristan replied. “Just go away.”

“I won’t go away until I see you are alright,” Katherine told him. “Don’t make me order you to come outside. I will if I have to.” She knew he would never disobey a direct order from her, but she didn’t like giving them.

There was silence, then the door slowly opened. William repeatedly reminded himself not to laugh as he saw the elf.

The pixies hadn’t appreciated Tristan pulling all the leaves out of his hair the day before. As a punishment, they had woven dozens of colorful flowers into it. He glared at them all, looking like he was going to kill someone, although the effect was diminished by the flowers.

“Well…it’s not that bad,” Katherine said, at last.

Tristan shut the door and that was the last they saw of him that day.

It was midafternoon when a fairy came to fetch William. She introduced herself as Cobweb and led him to where he had last seen Josie. There was already a fairy with the child. She had her hands on Josie’s head and they were glowing, faintly. She smiled as she saw William. “The sickness has been expelled and she’ll be alright to leave in the morning.”

He breathed a sigh of relief, watching as Josie blinked her eyes open. He took her hand and smiled at her. “Hey, sleepyhead.”

She gave him a tired smile. “Where are we?”

“We are spending some time with the fairies.” He indicated the one beside her.

Josie sat up to look at her.

“I’m Peaseblossom,” the fairy said. She was fairly small, but looked like an adult. Her dark brown hair was cut short. Like most of the fairies, her skin shimmered. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay,” Josie replied. She felt considerably better than she had the last time she was awake. She started to cry and, this time, she had water for the tears. “I’m sorry, William. I shouldn’t have drunk the water.”

“Hey, it’s okay.” He spoke softly and hugged her. “Everything’s okay, now.” He was too relieved to be upset. He was just glad that Josie was alright.

The rest of the children visited her, individually. Everyone was elated to see that she was awake. Before long, Josie was able to walk around and she was thrilled to see the Veil of the Fairies. However, she didn’t let go of William’s hand the whole day, which was fine with him.

As the day ended, though, Peaseblossom insisted that Josie sleep in her own house that night, so the fairy could keep an eye on her, just to be safe. The child didn’t want to leave William, but he promised everything would be fine and Josie allowed the fairy to lead her away from her friends.

“They really seem to love you,” Peaseblossom noted.

Josie nodded, sadly. She still felt guilty for causing them all so much trouble.

“You shouldn’t look so sad,” the fairy told her. “It’s good that they love you so much. It should make you happy.”

“I did a bad thing, though.” Josie stopped walking, looking like she was going to cry, again. “I didn’t do what I was told and I made Will upset.”

Peaseblossom looked at her for a moment, then lifted the small child and flew upwards with her.

Josie was frightened, at first, but they flew over the treetops, allowing her to see the night sky, filled with stars. They seemed bigger than ever from up there. She looked down and saw rainbow treetops, seeming to glow a bit.

Peaseblossom smiled at her awed expression. “If you had not disobeyed, you would never have found your way to our realm, dear girl. I’m not saying you should do it, often, but, this time, don’t you think it worked out? We enjoyed meeting you and your friends, after all.”

Josie stared at her, not sure what to say. “I was afraid they would be mad at me.”

Peaseblossom smiled. “I have watched humans for many years and I know that anger rarely lasts when there is love. Trust that they forgive you because it’s clear that they do.”

The child nodded and hugged her neck. “Thank you.”

Peaseblossom carried Josie back to her treehouse and laid her down inside, allowing her to rest for the night.

Just as Katherine returned to her own treehouse, Adia showed up and smiled at her. “The king and queen invite you to have dinner with them. They wish to speak to you, privately.”

Katherine nodded. “I am honored to accept their invitation.”

In truth, she just wanted to lay down and rest while she could, but she knew better than to say such a thing. She followed Adia to the treehouse of the rulers, where a table had been set with several bowls of flowers. The handmaiden stepped out, leaving the guardian alone with the king and queen.

She gave them a deferring nod as she entered. “Your highnesses, thank you for your kind invitation.”

“You are very well-mannered,” Titania commented with a smile. “I am glad. Please, have a seat.” She indicated a free chair at their table. “Help yourself to some dinner, as well.”

Katherine nodded and took the offered seat, setting some flowers on plate in front of her, even though she wasn’t particularly hungry. “May I ask why I have been summoned here?”

“It has been some time since we had a chance to dine with a guardian,” Titania answered. “It is such a rare opportunity.”

“I hope I am not overstepping, but couldn’t you have summoned the guardians of Mirra any time you wanted?” Katherine pointed out, hoping they wouldn’t get offended.

“Well, we could have,” Titania agreed, glancing at her stoic husband. “But we don’t often bring people here. It wouldn’t do for us to become too involved with the affairs of other realms.”

“I suppose not.” Katherine frowned, thinking of how much they could help her people if they would just meddle a little. However, she didn’t dare to say such a thing, knowing they might decide to meddle in an unpleasant way. “Well, I am quite honored to be one of the few visitors to the veil. My companions and I are all grateful for your assistance.”

“We couldn’t let an innocent child come to such a dreadful end.” Titania looked to her husband and he nodded, apparently giving her permission to discuss something. She looked back at Katherine and took a breath. “We heard you are taking them to the Blue Palace to fulfill a prophecy and we have misgivings about your plans.”

Katherine looked at her, not really able to argue since she’d had her own misgivings. “I fear I may have no choice. My world is dying and they are our best and, possibly, only chance to survive.”

“Are you prepared to sacrifice the children for your cause?” Oberon asked, his voice cool, making his emotions unreadable.

Katherine paused and looked down at her untouched plate of flowers. “I will protect them as far as I can. I put their lives before my own and will continue to do so.”

“But you cannot,” he pointed out. “You must protect yourself to protect your people. I understand that the lives of five children are not more important than the fate of an entire realm, but this is a decision you must make. You must know how far you are willing to go for your people or you are sure to fail them all.”

“I have no reason to believe that anyone needs to die. I don’t even know what will be required of these children,” Katherine argued, forgetting to be polite for a moment. “You can’t know, either.”

“We don’t know,” Titania agreed. “And we mean no harm. We simply wanted to make sure that you know what you are doing. We do not wish to see children come to dreadful ends, after all.”

Katherine took a breath, realizing her hands were shaking. “You ask how far I am willing to go, but I am not willing to force children into battle.” She looked at the pair. “I will protect them as far as I can. Once we get to the Blue Palace, they will be the ones to decide their fates.”

“You would leave such a decision in the hands of ones so young?” Titania fixed a curious gaze on her.

Katherine nodded. “You know as well as I do that it is never wise to underestimate children. I believe they will show themselves to be quite strong.”

The fairy queen smiled at her and gave a brief nod. “I sincerely hope you are right.”

They packed their bags early, the next day, once again wearing the clothes the elves had given them. The fairies had cleaned the clothes and they felt like new. Katherine thanked them for their hospitality and Adia led them to the edge of the forest. All the flowers had been removed from their hair, but Tristan still looked grim and William had to stop himself laughing every time he pictured the elf with his hair full of brightly-colored blooms.

“Thank you, again, for helping us,” Katherine told Adia as they stood, preparing to leave.

Josie held tightly to William’s hand, feeling safer by his side. She stared around at the forest and the fairies, sadly, realizing she may never see them, again.

Adia just smiled. “There is no need to thank us. You know that fairies act on whims and do as we please. We saved the child because we wanted to save her.” She looked down at Josie. “I expect great things from you, little one.”

She stared at her, not understanding. “But I’m too little to do anything.”

“Never let anyone convince you that’s true,” Adia told her. “There is nothing wrong with being little and it may turn out to be a great strength of yours.” She smiled at the rest of them. “I believe you all have strengths that are yet to be discovered. I look forward to seeing them, but, for now, we must say goodbye.” She stepped back. “Farewell, until we meet again.” She snapped her fingers and everything went dark.

The group looked around, a little disoriented. Katherine turned and smiled more brightly than any of the children had seen. “The palace!”

They followed her gaze and saw a great dome, shining in the night. The fairies had opened the portal just a few yards away and they reached the wall it loomed over within a few minutes. The children couldn’t help but stare at the wall and the dome, which looked large enough to cover half of Asheville. William remembered that Katherine had said it surrounded a city and he couldn’t wait to see inside.

Katherine led them to a transparent door, behind which was a guard. He smiled when he saw her, opening it for them. The group stepped through and the door closed behind them. The guard placed his fist over his chest in salute. “Welcome home, my lady. Your father will be pleased to see you.” He returned to his post as Katherine led the group under an arch and into the city.

She turned to her companions and smiled. “Welcome, my friends, to the Domed City, the capital of Mirra.”