The Fairy King Earns Some Popularity Points

The Council shows itself.

Nikki and Poxy walked in companionable silence, Nikki full of excitement for the banquet. She'd never been to a banquet before. Then again, she'd never been to a whole other world, either. The faint sound of music started to ring in Nikki's ears. The music got louder and louder, until Poxy stopped Nikki in front of huge wooden doors. The guards bowed to the pair, and pushed open the doors.

Sweet music flooded the halls, and Nikki gaped all the mythical creatures milling about, chatting among themselves. Each creature was the only one of its kind, besides the guard that each one had, and each one had a crown of some sort. A huge, round table sat in the center of the room, with chairs, silverware, plates, and name cards. 

Fairy servants of all shapes and sizes loaded an impossibly long table with food that Nikki had never seen before. Sparkling blue liquid was poured into goblets, orange-sized spheres with rainbow stripes were piled into bowls, tiny glittering cakes, roasted animals that Nikki didn't recognize, salads with foreign vegetables, and lots of other unfamiliar foodstuffs.
In the corner, a band of fairies plucked and blew strange instruments, creating beautiful music. They stopped suddenly, though, and Westibal stepped forward to the front of the room and blew a clear note into a horn.
"Welcome, everybody, to the Council's monthly banquet." Westibal said loudly. "And now, introducing your host, King Manari." Everyone applauded politely, as the king made his entrance. He put up his hands for silence.
"Before we begin the eating," King Manari said to the crowd. "We have a bit of business to attend to. I didn't tell any of you before, but now I must tell you. Last week, my daughter, the Princess Vinessan, was kidnapped." There was a gasp and startled murmurings. The fairy king once again held up his hands, and the crowd quieted. "We caught her captor, however, and brought her back to Sasailya."
"What do you mean by, 'brought her back'?" someone demanded.
"I mean, we brought her here from Earth." the king explained, and there was an outbreak.
"You can't do that, Manari!"
"It's against regulation!"
"You have no right!"

"Humans have no place here!"
"Please, calm down, everyone!" the king cried, and the crowd gradually lost its volume. "I know it was against the rules, but she had kidnapped a member of the royal family! That is an act of war!"
"So?" someone else shouted.
"Yeah!" cried another. "Why are you sharing this, Manari? You just executed the captor, right? No harm done." A sense of unease took over the king.
"Well, not really." he admitted, but quickly continued. "I had no choice! Vinessan had Bonded with the human before we could get to them. I couldn't possibly kill the human." The Council broke out again.

"This is because of your incompetent military force!"
"She Bonded with a human?"
"Manari, you're being ridiculous!"
"Where is she?"
At the last question, everyone fell silent, turned, and stared at the asker; a haughty, proud centaur, with a thick, muscled top, chestnut brown horse body, and a golden circlet resting on his head. He clopped a hoof and looked back at everyone with a steady gaze.
"I said, Manari, where is the human?" he repeated evenly. Manari looked extremely uncomfortable.
"Well, I brought her to the castle, and-"
"Where is she?" the centaur said again, with steel in his voice. The king sighed and pointed at Nikki, who had been in the corner, unnoticed by everyone.
"There." The crowd gave a shout of shock as they noticed Nikki and surged toward her. Poxy, thinking fast, hustled her up to the king for protection. The king looked down at Nikki with an expression of distaste.
"Her name is Nikki Forrester." the king said in an expressionless voice. "She is here to stay."

"You can't be serious." this time, it was a blue being, a woman, with webbed hands, blue skin, and gills, her head peeking out of a large pool

"I am." Manari replied. "She stays; alive, and under my protection." Nikki looked up at him with relief. Maybe he wasn't so bad, she thought, but the cold look she got in return clarified his meaning: he was doing it for Vinessan.

"I doubt it can even comprehend what we're saying!" A satyr cried out.

"I can, too!" Nikki even shocked herself. The fairy king whipped around to face her, with a furious look that told her to shut up, but Nikki ignored it. "I don't even want to be here." she continued boldly. "But I've been Erased; and I can't bear to go back if it means Vinessan will die." Nikki waited briefly for the crowd to transform into a mob, but it didn't happen. "That brings me to ask the Council a favor. My brother, Henry, did not forget me. I just want to see him. If it means I can only see him once, fine. But I beg the Council to at least let me say good-bye." Silence. They all just stared at Nikki, who desperately wanted to run and hide, the only thing keeping her was Poxy's hand, clutching hers, giving her courage. Finally, the saytr stepped forward.

"I have a sister," he said softly. "And I love her dearly." he took a deep breath. "I vote in favor of Nikki Forrester." There was another pause from the crowd.

"I vote for the human, also." the lady in the water called out.

"Me, too." a brownie called out.

"I also vote for the girl." the centaur agreed, and suddenly, the whole Council-save Manari- had cast their votes, in favor of Nikki. Her heart soared, and the Council all looked at the fairy king expectantly.

"But she's a human." the king protested, but the crowd kept staring at him.

"Have a heart!" someone called, and the king sighed.

"All right, fine." he said grudgingly, and the Council cheered. Poxy gave Nikki a hug, and the two laughed with joy. Henry! She was going to see Henry! Nikki barely heard King Manari announce the opening of the banquet, and let Poxy drag her to her seat, which was on a smaller, two person table in the corner, deliberately kept away from the Council's table. She was so excited she could barely think, and just sat in her chair in wonder as Poxy dashed off to the banquet table with both of their plates.

"Here!" Poxy returned, plates laden with food, and put a plate in front of Nikki, who realized how hungry she was. She eagerly picked up her fork, but hesitated, unsure of what the food was.

"Poxy, what is this?" Nikki asked, gesturing to the food.

"Oh!" Poxy chewed, and swallowed his mouthful. "Okay, this is a part of that huge animal on the table, the one with the long neck." Nikki nodded. "Here, try it!" Nikki slowly put the piece in her mouth, letting the taste sink in.

"Oh, my gosh." she exclaimed. "This is so good, Poxy!" Poxy grinned, and Nikki put in another piece. It was like a steak; the juiciest, most flavorful, steak EVER.

"Good, huh?" Poxy smiled, and showed her the rest of the food.

The banquet was the best Nikki had ever been to. There was excellent food-the steak, the rainbow oranges that first tasted like peaches, then apricots, then strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, rasberries, and so on, the sweet, fizzy blue drink, the tiny cakes whose taste can only be described by bliss, sweet striped sticks that tasted like candy, yummy lettuce with delicious dressings and vegetables, pink rice puffed and savory, light, fluffy, ambrosial bread, and lots of other delectable food choices-and there was not so excellent food; the sawdust crackers, slimy noodles in a nasty green sauce, nauseating bowls of a broth with a gross yellow meat, and other repugnant sustenance. 

Besides the food, many beings came up to talk and chat with Nikki, despite the fact that the fairy king had made an obvious effort to isolate her. The brownie king chatted with Nikki for quite a long time, making her feel at ease with his funny jokes and cheery behavior. The saytr that had stood up for her talked with her quite a bit, too, surprising Nikki with his partying behavior, and how he loved to poke fun at the centaurs. The impressive centaur trotted over and made Nikki's acquaintance, but left soon after. 

The lady in the water-queen of the naiads, or water nymphs, actually-spoke to Nikki a little, also, but mostly told her how water nymphs were obviously the superior nymph race. After that, Nikki was pulled into a conversation with the queen of the nature nymphs, aka dryads, who had dirt-colored skin, leaf-colored hair, and dressed in flowers and plants. She spent the conversation warning Nikki about the nasty water nymphs, and how they claim to be the best nymph race, when, really, nature nymphs are the best by far. Before she could even catch her breath, Nikki was pulled aside by king of the fire nymphs, with coal black skin and fiery red hair, who told her that his race was the best. 

Another lady, the prettiest creature in the room by far, curtsied with a smile to Nikki, and stolled away without a word. Poxy told her that she was Ellatia, the queen of the unicorns, in her human form. Nikki then walked outside for a brief moment to talk to the king of the giants, who was too big to fit in the banquet hall. The king of the fairies avoided Nikki the entire evening, and gave her haughty looks whenever they made eye contact. Nikki talked with the kings and queens of selkies, dwarves, elves, leprechauns, dragons, gnomes, mermaids, jinns, pixies, gremlins, werewolves, imps, and other creatures that Nikki had read about in the fairy-tale picture books.

Almost too soon, Nikki began to yawn and her eyes began to droop. Poxy rescued her from her current conversation with the king of vampires, and led her back to her room, where the silence was a blessing after all the talking. She only vaguely remembered Kenaria helping her into a nightgown, slipping into bed, and sinking into a dreamless sleep.

The morning on Earth started out sunny and cheerful. Henry slammed his alarm clock, immediately stopping the beeping.

With a groan, he tumbled out of bed and took a quick shower. More alert, he changed into some clothes, and clomped downstairs. His mother was sitting at the table, still in her pink bathrobe. Odd. She was usually gone to work.

"Morning." she smiled, blowing on her coffee.

"Morning." Henry responded, getting out the milk. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?" Mrs. Forrester gave him a funny look.

"Work?"

"Yeah, you know, at the office." Henry poured himself cereal. "What?" he glanced at his mom's funny stare.

"Oh, I get it, it's a joke! Funny." his mom laughed, standing up and putting her mug in the sink. "Would you go get your sister?"

"Um, sure." Henry said slowly. A tendril of suspicious wormed its way into his brain, but he tried to push it away.

"Nikki!" he shouted in a cheery voice, bursting through her door. He never had to wake up his sister before; she was usually an early riser. "Wake up! It's time for-" Henry stopped dead in his tracks. This was not his sister's room. Baby toys littered the floor, a changing station stood in the corner, lambs frolicking in meadows decorated the walls. In the farthest corner of the room, a tall crib stood. Cautiously, Henry slowly approached it.

A sleeping baby with blond curls lay in the crib, and Henry lost it. Running downstairs, he ran up to his mother.

"Mom!" he said, breathless. "She's missing!"

"Your sister?" Jasmine Forrester dropped the plate she had been cleaning in the sink, and the blood drained from her face as Henry nodded. She took off, and was upstairs faster than Henry could turn around. He ran after her, coming into the hallway and headed towards Nikki's room.

"HENRY FORRESTER!" the unearthly shriek came from his sister's room. Henry came in, stopping up short at the sight of his mother's face, which was a mottled red. "I can't believe you! Why on Earth would you pull an awful prank like that? Huh? Did you think it was funny?" Henry was shocked; he was telling the truth. His mom picked up the strange baby, cradling her. "Well, I got news for you, buster." his mom continued. "It's not funny. And if you do it again, I will ground you until your beard touches the ground. Understand?" Henry mumbled a reply, too shocked to say a word. His baby "sister" began to fuss, and Mrs. Forrester comforted her. "Shh, Samantha." she crooned, and left the room, leaving Henry in utter confusion.

Nikki was gone. That was for sure. He didn't know why, or how, but she was gone, no doubt about it. She had been replaced, somehow, by a towheaded baby, which was Henry's real sister, apparently. Could Nikki just have been a dream? There was no way this was a dream; it was too clear, too definite. Everything he remembered about Nikki suddenly felt fuzzy, hazy, like maybe it didn't happen.

Doubtful, and unsure of himself, Henry gathered up his school things and boarded the school bus.

Author's Note

I tried to capture the feeling, the sense of unity, that the Council has. Anyway, reviews, good or bad, are very much appreciated!

Reviews

[A. L. Allen]

OK, more constructive criticism for you. :) I like the whole idea with Henry still being able to remember Nikki, but I think that you can milk it a little bit. I think that the whole process of him thinking Nikki is a dream could be a lot more drawn out and painful. Maybe you could turn it into a whole chapter by itself; you know, get him really confused and turned around as he goes throughout the day or week or whatever with nobody having any idea about what he's talking about.
Just a suggestion. :)

[paparapapa]

Well, at the start of the chapter, you painted a very beautiful image. Oh, and I loved how the Council started with wanting to execute Nikki and the king wanting to protect her but ended with a hundred and eighty degree turn. :)) And yay, a sign of Henry in this chapter. I'm loving this. But it's just really sad that her parents can't remember her, and she was even replaced. :| But still, great chapter!