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Being a prince sucked.
It really did.
I know that's hard for the general masses to understand, but it's true. It's not all just games and money – and power – it was also responsibility, rules, respect, rules, meetings, rules, economics, rules, politics, rules, rules, and more rules!
And that was only the half of it. As a prince, I was expected to uphold pride and respect. I needed to represent discipline, strength, loyalty, justice, and integrity. And besides being a figurehead of the monarchy, I had to partake in combat practice. Never mind that I had a horde of well-trained guards at my disposal or that the royal quarters were the most secure in the Vale. Sword practice in the morning, hand-to-hand combat practice in the afternoon, war strategies in the evening.
Not that we were in a war, but let's just say supernatural creatures weren't always happy with each other.
And yes, you did read that correctly. Supernatural, as you humans call us.
In particular, I'm a fairy. Wings and all.
Laugh all you want, it's true. Call me unmanly if you wish, but just know I've gotten pretty handy with my sword lately and while it might be small to you, it can easily take your eye out. Just saying.
What were we talking about?
Oh, yeah. My birthright.
So, while we weren't at war with anybody, we had to constantly watch our backs. See, fairies aren't always well liked amongst the supernatural. Not because we're fickle little dirt bags or anything but because we hold significant influence over the land they inhabit. As fairies, we get to decide when the seasons come about – though we do have restrictions, Mother nature is not a very forgiving person – and we have the ability to cast spells, even if they aren't as powerful as witches and warlocks, but that's insignificant.
Also threatening would be the sheer size of the fairy population. While we weren't all located in the same area – that would be pretty dumb of us – each kingdom far outweighed the sizes of the local mystics around. And sure, my particular kingdom wasn't the grandest but fairies were fiercely loyal to their own and if one kingdom fell under ruin, another would quickly step up and send aid.
Yeah, we aren't as evil as some of you humans think we are. Seriously, why would we even want to deal with you humans? You guys always seem to have some drama going on. And you're not particularly nice to each other either. You're polite, sure, but you'd just as quickly mock a person behind their back and spread hateful gossip about a neighbor just to make yourself feel good.
You're as bad as the pixies.
And no, they are not fairies. We may look similar but we are definitely not the same. Forgetting the fact that they obviously lack the wings that greatly distinguish us, their ears were pointed, they dressed in green, and almost always had hats. If not, then they wore rags which they easily discarded for any new clothes they found, like those that humans set out to dry.
It's them that are stealing your clothes, not us. So, stop blaming fairies.
Don't let the fact that they help you with housework fool you; they just don't like messes. But they are definitely not above leading you astray in the woods if you don't know your way. They're kind of like sirens in that way.
Don't worry about those though. They're extinct.
Anyway, pixies aren't the worst of our potential enemies. As I said previously, witches and warlocks were more powerful than us in terms of spells. See, while our spells tended to manifest the will of Mother Nature, their spells brought forth malevolent forces against any and all who offend them. And unlike us who were limited to the amount of fairy dust we produce at any given time, witches and warlocks had unlimited access to runes, sigils, or incantations that usually lasted days or weeks at a time. Our spells lasted only moments. (you don't see the gold shine of our dust on the leaves and flowers you pick, do you? I thought so.)
Let's not forget their ability to raise the spirits of the dead either. Aside from the fact that that's just beyond creepy, the spirits of the dead would be able to spy on the witches' and warlocks' enemy with only them being the wiser. Though, you can tell if a spirit is spying on you if you knew what to look for, thankfully.
Also, thankfully, is the existence of white witches, the benevolent witches or "good witch" as you humans call them. Unlike the malevolent witches, white witches actually ask you for permission before performing their magic on you and profess ethic codes for other situations as well. They're the ones that typically traveled from village to village, town to town, seeking jobs as healers or seers, though more typically the former, and were unfortunately spooned into the same witch hunts made in retaliation to the bad witches' actions. They also acted as mediators between the mortal and the spiritual so we often consulted them when we felt threatened by those aforementioned spying spirits.
They were one of the few that willingly formed allies.
But anyway, I'm sure you didn't come here to hear about the allies and enemies of the fairies. You want to know about me.
Well as I said before, I'm the prince. The only Prince. I have no siblings so it's up to me to continue the family tradition and become the next ruler of our little kingdom. Not to mention produce the next heir. So obviously with me being the only chance any of the ladies have into becoming part of the most powerful family in the Vale, I would frequently have to fend off the, uh, 'affections' of some of the more passionate ladies. Seriously, did these girls not have anything else to do but stalk me all day? I had to sneak out of my own home just so I wouldn't have to entertain them. Forget about it being the "polite thing to do" as my father says. Some of these girls hung on too hard if I gave them a brisk "Hello."
It seems I've veered off a bit. My bad. I realize you don't even know my name. Let me introduce myself.
My name is Prince Cornelius. I'm sixteen years old. And there was no way that I could've known what was going to happen soon.