The Ugly Prince

The Honest Confession of the Heart ~ Part Three

Winnie swore her eyes could have popped out under the pressure, it was all too much in one day, and today was the approval of the plan hoping for Juliana’s decision. She had not slept since Juliana’s departure which had caused her nothing but worry and grief on what answer she was to give her, which was why she had to come her to this overly populated place filled to the brim with obsessive pansies. Now she had learnt even though she denied the fact that she of all fairies had a true love awaiting her, as well as just knowing that Prince Drake was Juliana’s it was all too much in one day. She nodded her head promising she would tell Juliana as soon as she caught up with her, with that Gwendora freed Winnie’s arm and let her walk past into the Garden of Pansies.

She couldn’t help herself but kneel there, hiding behind the flower filled bush as a new heavy suffocating emotion tightened her heart breaking chest. She was envious that this world was nothing but pure untouched beauty, a world that only harboured the beautiful and the confident immortal beings never touched or worried about time. They could do anything they wanted without regret everything they did was always perfect, so perfect in fact it hate her as they were everything she could never be. They didn’t have to worry about healing a broken heart, when a strong love a person harbours for another is not returned, or that they didn’t feel worthy enough to gain another person’s affections. He was surrounded by them, the perfect beings. They sat gracefully around him forming the most perfect trap with him in the middle without an exit, as a large bright tree stood behind him and the sides and front of him full of those bright and colourful creatures.

She felt the short length of her hair that only reached her shoulders and no more, as she watched from afar looking at their long silky hair and their elaborate flowing clothing as they asked thousands of more questions over another like before at Drake. As he sat there between the lion’s den as he as always played the gentleman he was asking politely for them to speak one at a time, but something she was unsure of sight a sharp pang through her heart. She clutched the place where the pain had stroke as she wished to see no more as her graze wavered, but she had the scare of her life when she saw Winnie sitting slightly behind her gazing over her shoulder. “Sorry” apologised Winnie as she backed herself slightly from Juliana “but at first I was wondering what you were doing, but now I know” she said as she gave a considered serious look as she saw the faint blush on her face as she looked away in shame. “They’re not all that pretty, and Drake is clearly not interested in them and never has been, he is only being polite around them. That’s what they do every time they see him” Winnie said convincingly knowing this well for she had seen them many a time.

“But they are pretty” Juliana argued back in a quiet voice feeling her confidence drop as she looked away once more.

“There are showy. Very showy, they are silly in the mind other thinking nothing but themselves to comprehend anything else” Winnie argued back trying to lower her voice.

“They are long hair” Juliana blurted out without regret or surprise, she had to be honest with herself it was always something that bothered her the most.

“So? My hair isn’t long even if I undid my pigtails; it’s the same length as yours. Mary- Gold will tell you the same and she doesn’t have long hair either by the way” she honestly replied knowing what she was saying was true as she watched Juliana’s gaze come back to greet her in astonishment. Before she carried on as she giggled to herself “me, you, Mary- Gold are all in the same cup, we are the only ones who are fairly dark headed more Mary- Gold than anyone else, we also have the very same views on things if you think about it. I don’t like Flower Fairies, well the female kind anyway, Mary- Gold loathes them and you don’t get agree with what they are doing, right?”

Juliana began to smile finding a close circle of friends that shared the same opinion, she nodded in agreement, before she watch Winnie stand up and offering her, her hand to help her get up from the shadowy ground which she excepted with a smile. As soon as she was up on her feet a thought came to mind that caused her earlier concerns to up rise, Winnie looked back at her as she saw Juliana slight bite on her lip in worry and thought and instantly without Juliana speaking a word Winnie said exasperated, “don’t worry about my plan, ok? I don’t want to force you into anything you’re not comfortable with. I wouldn’t do that to anyone, don’t get me wrong when I found out you are a human well I wanted you to say yes, but after asking you what your world, the mortal world was like, and when you told me there were willow trees near your village and told me about how it looks like when the seasons changed” Winnie closed her eyes picturing the forever changing scenes she said passionately “it’s just that I know I don’t belong here, like you and Mary-Gold I am just to different many years ago I suppose the other fairies even the elders. Said I look more like a human child then a fairy, and I never got on with them either not matter how I tried to fit in. But I can’t change who I am and I don’t really what to either, my feelings for these boring still world I can’t love, but the thought of change and witnessing it around me. I know I would love that, just the sound and thought of it makes me smile and want to see it more and more.”

“I didn’t know you felt that way?” Juliana spoke utterly shocked from hearing Winnie speak about her feeling like the outcast of this perfect world.

“I don’t really speak, more like I don’t talk about it, I always feel like if I voice how I feel about things it would cause nothing but hurt to anyone who would listen” she replied honestly speaking with her back facing Juliana finding it easier to be honest with her and herself, as she peeked over her shoulder sadly.

Juliana felt sorry for how Winnie felt, she truly felt alone, she remembered how her home had looked, how she felt about the other fairies but something sprung to mind wanting an answer as her mind came closer to a final conclusion which felt less wrong to her. “Winnie have they treated you badly?”

Sharply Winnie turned around at her unexpected question “no, not really. But when I was around over fairies at one of these parties I was always being stared at for no reason, which was when I tried to be like everyone else. That day I was so hungry, I hadn’t eaten a good meal at all I thought at that time that was the reason I was being stared at as my mouth was full of food. They all gathered by the two elders much like Gwendora and Moriya, gossiping while looking at me perfectly away I was staring at them questionably and listening in to their whispers. I knew full well they were speaking about me, at first I thought the elders would put them in their place but they smiled glanced at me as they said ‘yes, she is strange, more un-fairy like more than a human like child then like the rest of us’. I knew at that moment that they were right, so I left the party feeling rather down.”

Juliana grasped horrified what Winnie was put through making her resolve more clearer, as she replied “so you didn’t eat very much then?”

“No” Winnie exclaimed almost looking as horrified as Juliana, “I took the food with me, are you crazy? There is no way I was going to starve and leave free food behind.”

Juliana was silent for a moment before laughing heartily, she should have expected that from Winnie, “what?” Winnie questioned, “no one in their right mind is going to leave perfectly freed good food behind.”

Juliana couldn’t stop laughing before trying to calm herself in vain as she held her stitching sides, “oh Winnie” she said between dying laughter, “I’ve decided. I’m going to help you but on the condition that you will live near my village so I can keep eye on you.”

Winnie stood completely still and silent, emotion wiped from her face before she ran into Juliana closing the gap between them thanking her greatly as she hugged her. “Thank you, thank you” she repeated over and over again, “I will, I will I promise not to stray too far from your village.”