The Ugly Prince

New Acquaintances & A Royal Invitation - Part One

Juliana looked at them with wide open eyes full of disbelief to what she was witnessing, as the fairies continued to cry out for Drake while slamming and knocking loudly on the walls and door. Their crazed obsession left her absolutely gobsmacked as she returned to her seat and slowly looked at Rosa who was looking to see her reaction, she gave out a small laugh as she asked Juliana “popular isn’t he?”

She nodded her head feeling overwhelmed by the sure number of them as their cries and banging’s echoed in her ears, “I see what you mean. Is it always like this?” she replied trying not to look back over her shoulder.

She nodded her head with a smile still spread across her face as she answered back with a slightly tired sigh, “aye for a long time, all the time, every time we’re here, every moment when he’s on his own.”

“All the time?” she questioned.

“Yes, at one time before we thought they wouldn’t dare attempted to get into the carriage out of politeness when he first started to hide himself away,” she paused as she remembered that shocking day many years ago as she sighed to herself before she continued. “Well, let’s just say never underestimated the crazed and obsessive not matter who or what they are.”

“Why what happened?” asked Juliana intrigued.

“Let’s just say the doors were unlocked I didn’t think they would go that far, and they swung the doors open and rushed into the carriage. Until half of them surrounded him either side where they started to play a furious game of tug of war pulling Drake’s arms as they fought over him to see who was going to win him over. While some of the others made their way behind and tried to drag him down as they hugged his neck almost suffocating him to death.”

Juliana looked at her with her mouth slightly open as she was utterly speechless while Rosa looked unaffected, “well” she continued as she held the reins high ready to give the signal for the still unicorns to press on. “I suppose we should make a move on otherwise we’ll never get there,” and with that the unicorns began to trot forward pulling the carriage along while the fairies followed closely behind still calling his name as they rode on.

The hours seemed to linger and drag becoming overwhelmingly long, as they rode further into a forestry passage as they were surrounded by thick trees, large patches of scattered flowers of glittering flowers as the sun was shining through the gaps of the treetops. The golden road had become more narrower as if the forest was closing in on them, the crazed infatuated swarm of fairies had mostly given up an hour ago as the path had became narrower. In a short a moment of time their travel dramatically began to change as the earth beneath them had become bumpier, as broken branches, crumbled bark, twigs and fallen leaves covered the road. As the unicorns began to manure the carriage through slightly more spacious clearings, where the trees seemed less compacted as they seemed to give way and spread more evenly making their journey easier.  

Only five determined fairies remained sitting comptemptly along the edge and sides of the roof, their voices had died down considerably only saying his name from time to time. As Drake sat silently and still inside the carriage through their trickish pleas, as his covered head leaned against the door feeling tired and bored.

The fairies however were entirely oblivious to the change of direction as they sat more composed kicking their thin legs gently back and forth, feeling the coolness of the air caress their delicate skin as if they were dipping their feet in cold water. They all sat contently with beautiful smiles on their faces as their translucent colourful wings flickered from time to time, as their attention began to drift from Drake to their new quiet visitor.

A fairy with lilac long straight flowing hair wearing a strange bright yellow dress made of the finest silk, with looked like a dressing robe that clung to her body with a purple and pink striped large wide ribbon holding the robe together around her slender waist. With two long translucent baby blue ribbons that hung on the back of her robe on her shoulders, who sat on the edge of the corner at the front of the carriage suddenly looked over her shoulder and saw Juliana beneath her. Suddenly came and sat beside her with curious look on her face as she asked with curiosity laced in her voice as she smiled sweetly at Juliana, as she intently looked at her “what’s your name?”

 “Juliana” she replied startled by the fairy’s sudden closeness as she sat beside her looking at her very intently.

“Juliana, that’s a nice name” she replied as she repeated her name as she nodded to herself while she looked away for a moment, before looking back at her quickly with a bright smile on her face as her eyes seemed to gleam at her. As the fairy continued to intently look at her more closely Juliana could see the colour of the fairy’s eyes and was astonished, to find that her eyes contained a hue of bright sycadelic colours that are found in the rainbow. In a moment of observing silence the fairy once more began to speak as she held her hand in front of her chest as she introduced herself, “my name is Larna. You probably don’t know but I’m an Iris Fairy.”

Before Juliana could speak a fairy who laid on her belly diagonally across the carriage holding her head with her hands with her elbows bent, and her thin leg kicking back and forth turned around laying across the middle of the carriage roof looking down at them. She wore a dress in different vibrant shades of blue with a puffy skirt with sparkling white translucent wings that looked like ice; her hair was long, pale blue with a crown of white bluebells with ocean blue eyes. She smiled at the both of them and said with an amused voice eager to join in the conversation, “my name is Anslo, and I’m a Bluebell Fairy.”

 Another fairy who sat close by sitting at the edge of the carriage on the right hand side dressed in a curly orange dress, with fiery orange hair tied up with long curls coming out of the bun with auburn eyes. Suddenly wanted to join in the conversation out of tiredness boredom without moving from where she was sitting, as she said “I’m Raviola” she turned her head to the side and looked at the two other fairies that sat side by side at the back of the carriage roof. As they were too preoccupied whispering  Drake’s name in vain as they continued to plead him to come out, she turned her head back round facing them once more as she continued “you won’t get anything out of them their clearly not interested introducing themselves.”

“Girls, girls” Larna shouted suddenly making Juliana jump out of her skin as her voice echoed in her ears, and her heart pounding in her chest and when she thought her nervous were calm. Larna suddenly took a strand of her looking at it intently curious of its unusual colour, as she shouted once more “come and have a look at her hair!”

Where both Anslo and Raviola stretched themselves closer towards them to look, as Larna gently lifted the small strand of hair in between her slender fingers to show them. “I haven’t seen that colour before” replied Raviola as her eyes widened in surprise, as she gently took another strand of loose hair to examine it closely as Anslo peered over her shoulder to observe.  

“Neither have I” replied Anslo curiously.

“You must have been visited by the Ancients,” said Larna as she looked up at Juliana who was afraid to move in case her hair was accidently tugged as she sat completely still.

“Could be?” said Raviola as she inspected the hair more closely.

“It could be possible, they are still out there” replied Anslo who looked like she was in deep thought.

“Ancients?” asked Juliana unsure what they were saying as the three of them took another strand of hair each examining it between their fingers trying to come to a conclusion.

But before Anslo could reply back to answer her question she suddenly looked up and let the strand of hair slip through her fingers as she froze looking frightened and alarmed, where her jaw involuntarily shuddered as she stuttered “oh no, we’ve gone too far!” and with that her human form began to glow a bright blue silhouetted figure before bursting into a pale blue glowing orb and flew away with haste.

The fairies who sat quietly at the back glanced over their shoulders and gave out a frightened gasp as their eyes widened from shock as they put their hands over their mouths, and instantly they turned into pink and green orbs of light and flew away following in the same direction Anslo had flew.

“Not there. Anywhere but there!” cried Raviola as she too transformed herself into an orb and flew off leaving poor Larna alone was sat there beside Juliana, looking traumatized to move as she left go the Juliana’s hair as her mouth was open and her eyes wide with horror as she realised that the others had left her behind.

“Not where she lives” she shuddered “not the evil fairy,” she cried as she trembled with fear “don’t leave me!” she shouted desperately as she flew away quickly in a form of a pale yellow orb until she was out of sight.