Chapter 4
"I apologize for alerting all of you at this early hour," said the Minister of Autumn, raising his voice to be heard above the mumbling crowd. He wrung his hands. "Queen Clarion has taken a turn for the worst. The Healing talents are doing all they can and Lord Milori has been at her side this entire time. If anyone has any ideas for a possible cure, it would be greatly appreciated. In the meantime, I suggest we keep our hopes up and go about our business. That's what Queen Clarion wants."
Distressed murmurs rippled through the crowd.
"This is bad," said Clank, glancing around at all the troubled faces.
"I'll say it is." Bobble's eyes were enormous behind his dewdrop spectacles. "This is one thing we Tinkers can't fix."
"What'll we do if Queen Clarion…?" Iridessa buried her face in her hands and drew in shuttering breaths.
"Everything will be fine, Sunshine," Rosetta said with poorly disguised optimism. "This is Queen Clarion we're talking about. She'll pull through."
Zarina dashed away. She needed to be alone, to think. If only her Alchemy could do more than switch and enhance talents, allow the Winter fairies to cross over, and grow Pixie Dust Trees. A dozen Trees wouldn't save Queen Clarion. There had to be a mixture that could!
Inspiration for a life-giving dust came to her but the main ingredients were impossible to obtain: a piece of a rainbow, a lock of mermaid hair, and the tail feather of a giant neverbird, the fastest bird in Never Land.
It was hopeless. The Healing talents had to come up with something. She headed for Torth Mountain. At least Kyto would be a distraction.
"I see there is great distress in Pixie Hollow," he said in his rumbly voice. He peered into a gilded hand mirror clutched in his claw. It was oval and not much bigger than his eye. "The queen is very ill."
"How do you know? Is that a magic mirror?" She alighted on the ground but kept her distance. In the midst of her inner turmoil, she was grateful for the zephyr that blew his smoke away from her.
"Indeed it is." He lowered the mirror and peered down at her. "You are very astute. It allows me to see all over Never Land since I can't leave my cave. The previous fairy queen—what was her name?—gave it to me. She figured it was an act of kindness." He snorted.
"You're right about Queen Clarion." Tears stung Zarina's eyes but she blinked them back. She refused to show any weakness before Kyto. "No one has been able to heal her."
"It's to be expected." He examined his talons. "Her time is up, her light is fading."
"That's not true!" Anger bubbled up inside her. She reached for her sword only to find, to her dismay, she didn't have it with her. "There has to be a cure. She will get better."
"Ah, little fairy, you are one of the newer Arrivals, are you not? You can't fathom how old Clarion is. She's been around for a long, long time. Not as long as me, of course, but her reign has exceeded that of any other Pixie Hollow queen. Her time is up, is all."
Zarina turned, prepared to fly off. She'd kept her promise and visited. She didn't have to stay and listen to this.
"You realize you'd make a great queen."
She lowered her wings and turned back to him. "Me?"
"Why not you?" Kyto's muzzle stretched into a toothy grin. "Your talent is the most powerful of all the fairies. Not only do you have control over every talent but there are endless possibilities for pixie dust that only you can come up with. You deserve to become the new queen. Queen Zarina. Has a nice ring, doesn't it? That would certainly be much better than a pirate captain!"
Zarina remembered how the pirates had praised and honored her, before their ultimate betrayal. "And you enjoyed that, did you not?" Kyto practically crooned as she flushed with pleasure at the memory. "That praise would be tenfold in Pixie Hollow if you took Clarion's place as queen."