Enchanted

Chapter 1 - The Mysterious Box

“This is Enchanted. It’s very beautiful. I’ve imagined this place before but I never thought it really existed.  If you do not mind me asking, your highness, what exactly is Enchanted?” Avery asked quite timidly. Queen Clarissa smiled and nodded her head.

“Come, I’ll show you. Walk with me,” the queen motioned her hand to the right and Avery followed. The queen came down to level with Avery and her legs appeared unlike before when she was hovering and her dress was sparkling, unfinished. The two men also joined the queen and walked behind her.

“Enchanted is a place of myths and mysteries. Everyone here is fairies but they can also turn into mermaids.” They walked past the lake which had lots of mermaids swimming around.

 “Every fairy has a job which they are committed to. They have the ability to turn into mermaids when they desire. Some fairies turn into mermaids as part of their jobs. Others have never experienced their mermaid powers. When a fairy is a mermaid, she can do anything a fairy can, plus much more. Men also have the same abilities as women. Both sexes have special powers as well, depending on the kind of fairy they are. For example, the water fairies can heal the injured or themselves using water and can conjure up anything they desire from it. Fairies can turn into mermaids just by a slight touch of water, but if the fairies have to work near the river, we bind their mermaid powers until they are needed again. We make wishes and dreams come true here and we do our part to make your world bliss,” Queen Clarissa explained as they walked through the paths of the captivating kingdom. A messenger fairy flew down unexpectedly to the Queen and bowed before talking. Avery looked at the two men standing behind the Queen. One was quite old; he had silvery-grey hair and was wearing a suit with many badges on. The other one was quite young, also wearing a suit but not with as much badges. The messenger flew away and the Queen turned her attention back to Avery. She noticed her gaze on the men.

“Oh, how silly of me to forget!  Princess, this is King Raphael my husband and my son, Prince Dylan. They go with me everywhere, like my escorts,” The queen said. This made Avery curious as to why Dylan looked distraught and depressed but she let it go, thinking it was just how he was.

“Now come with me back to the palace and we will discuss the real issues,” The queen took Avery out of her daydream and flew ahead. Now Avery was puzzled. She couldn’t fly! She wasn’t a fairy!

“Uhm… your highness, I don’t mean to alarm you but, I can’t fly!” Avery said louder as the queen rose higher and higher. The queen came back down and floated in front of Avery. She clicked her hands and smiled with satisfaction. Avery felt tingling from behind her.

“Now you can,” the Queen said smiling.  “Dylan will show you how to get started but I have to head back to the palace. He will bring you,” The queen said as she set off again. Raphael followed the queen and all the fairies went back to work. Some of the young girl fairies were giggling and waving flirtatiously towards Dylan. He just smiled at them and looked back at Avery. His eyes were an amazing blue-grey that sparkled and his brown hair was bouncy and radiant. He looked amazing and reminded her of one of those Greek Gods she learnt about in school. Avery’s back started tingling and an amazing set of blue, turquoise and purple wings shot out of her back. They were so heavy that Avery almost fell over but Dylan held her hands, helping her keep her balance. Glitter fell from her wings and Avery felt beautiful except for the fact that she was still in her night shift dress.

“Are you okay, your highness?” Dylan asked as he held Avery’s hands. He really was dashing and there were no people like that from Carcassone or anywhere in France, thought Avery.