Fate
By Sweet Honey
Chapter Seven: A Bit Anti-social
At about the time Princess Abby was gaining some well deserved down time, her former maid Tirah was trying to cover up the fact that there were not one, but two missing princesses. Covering up Abby's absence was much easier than covering up the fact that the Queen's beloved daughter Kel was gone.
"Are you sure that Kel's tripidekanitis is contagious?" asked the Queen suspiciously, and Tirah nodded hurriedly. The Queen narrowed her eyes at the young maid and replied, "Well, I guess I'll check up on her later then."
As soon as the Queen left Tirah the poor girl collapsed into the chair that she had stationed in front of Kel's room. It was bad enough that she couldn't find out where Abby and Kel where, but she was also forced to make sure that the Queen didn't find out that they were gone or she'd be in deep trouble. She saw an older woman scurry across her view and the maid bolted upright and ran after the figure.
"Hey, I've been looking for you everywhere!" gasped the exhausted Tirah when she finally caught up with the figure.
Abby's grandmother Ella smiled weakly. "Why? Is there something that I can help you with-"
"Tell me where Abby and Kel have run off to!" whispered Tirah heatedly, and the older woman narrowed her eyes.
"You're a sly one, aren't you?" said Ella. "Why exactly do you plan to do with that knowledge (which, by the way, I do not have)."
"I'm going to go after them!" said Tirah, leaning against a wall. "Two princess' out in a place that they've never been...they need my help. And if they're with those Champions of theirs...well, I don't trust them at all! Tell me where they are, please!"
Ella shrugged. "They could be anywhere." she said with a wave of her hand, yet in the next moment her eyes were clouded and her expression was slack. "They went out to find the Divine Gem, in two different pairs. You'll never find them."
Tirah cocked her head to one side and gave the old matriarch half a smile. "Thanks, that's all I needed to know." she said, and turned around.
"Wait!" said Ella, shaking her head and staring at Tirah as if she had never quite seen her before. "What-what are you?"
"Me? I'm just the maid." replied a smirking Tirah.
******
"So your finally up." said Erik as he entered Abby's room. "Mr. and Mrs. K said that it was okay for me to see you."
"They're wonderful!" said Abby happily, as she stretched. "Really funny too. I wish they were my parents."
Erik looked away when she said that and Abby felt a pang of pity. "I'm sorry Erik." she said.
"For what? Did they tell you that my parents were dead? That I'm pitiful? Please, I don't want your pity."
"Well fine." said Abby snidely. "Anyway, I wanted to thank you."
"Thank me?" said Erik, and he eyed the princess suspiciously. "For what, pray tell?"
"For saving me of course." answered Abby, and Erik looked bewildered. "What, it's not that shocking that I would thank you. I mean, I know your not that...thrilled about having to travel with me. And it probably would have been better for you to just leave me there to rot, considering your feelings toward me and all. But you didn't, and I'm very grateful."
"You know, you turned seven different shades of red when you said that. Amazing."
"Shuddup."
They looked at eachother in silence for a moment and Erik finally said in a low voice, "I should be the one thanking you."
"Huh?"
"I told you: that poison wasn't meant for you in the first place." he said as he sat down on the edge of the bed. "And besides, I saw what you did. You threw yourself against me and now I know why. You saw that dart coming at me didn't you?"
Abby looked out through her window. "I might have." she said and clutched a piece of her bedspread in her hand. "But right now, I'm thinking that was a pretty good idea. You obviously don't hate me, of you went out of your way to save me. And plus you were so nice to me when you-"
"Get real, Princess!" interrupted Erik, running a hand threw his hair as he got up. "Just because I saved you doesn't mean that I LIKE YOU. It's a part of my job, and that's the only reason that I saved you. You, and every other human, is detestable to me. So stop with these little ideas of yours that I may be starting to even remotely like you, because I don't. In fact, I can't think of ANYONE who likes you." "A horrible thing to say to a sick person, don't you think?" asked Abby dryly. Erik opened his mouth to say something but stormed out of the room instead. He would have stormed right out of the small cottage is he hadn't banged into Mr. K before he reached the door.
"Me and you. A talk. NOW!" he said angrily, and yanked Erik into his study, closing the door behind them. "I heard what you said to that girl, Erik. She didn't deserve that kind of treatment and you know it."
When Erik didn't answer Mr. K went on. "She was just trying to be nice to you, you know. Why do you have to push away every person that tries to get close to you-"
"I don't want to be close to a human!" yelled Erik, clenching his fists. "Humans are good-for-nothings who use fairy's as slaves. They are all selfish, sadistic, mean and prejudiced people who don't care about anything but themselves!"
"Sounds like you've acquired all the traits that you despise in others." said Mr. K calmly as he inspected an old book with faint amusement.
"I can't sit here and listen to your crap!" bellowed Erik.
"Fine. Your free to leave." said Mr. K, shutting his book and moving away from the door. "If anything though, your mad at yourself and I know why. So don't take it out on that girl because your probably right: she has been abandoned by those who should love her...sound familiar?"
"Why exactly should I be mad at myself?!" asked Erik as he opened the door.
"Because you may be caring for a human, for the first time in your life. Remember: There's always going to be people that hurt you so...what you have to do is be more careful about who you trust the next time around" said Mr. K, and Erik slammed the door behind him.
*****
"Dearie, can I come in?" asked Mrs. K some minutes after Erik had left.
"Sure." Abby answered. Her smile was amazingly bright but Mrs. K could still make out faint trails of tears.
"Honey...I need to tell you something." said the aged fairy as she sat on the side of Abby's bed. "But if I tell you, you have to promise not to tell anyone, all right?"
"Of course, I would never tell something if you didn't think I should." said Abby as she thought of how much she liked the fairy. "Your secret is safe with me."
"I'm glad." said Mrs. K, and she lowered her voice. "It's about Erik...your see, Erik isn't 100% fairy; he's half human too."
Abby thought she was going to have a stroke. "You must be joking." she said, sitting upright and nearly knocking heads with the fairy. "He hates humans...but how can he if he IS one?"
"He doesn't consider himself human." said Mrs. K. "His father was a fairy and very handsome in fact. He had little fling with pretty but poor girl when he was very young, and when he found out she was pregnant he got scared and left her. The poor girl was so distraught...we all think it may have done something to her, mentally."
Mrs. K paused for moment and sighed She looked over at a vase on the table and her eyes shimmered with tears. "If we had known...if that young, idiotic fairy had just told someone then we would have gone and retrieved him. But as it turned out, Erik stayed with his mother for the first decade of his life. In her broken mind, Erik's mother always blamed him for his fathers absence and her failure in life. Her hatred of him would sometimes flare and she'd beat him. But the worst part, I think, was that no one did anything to stop her. They all shunned Erik because of what he was and he was picked on by the other village children. Finally, when Mr. K and I were on a trip we came across him. We decided we would take care of him here and his mother was more than happy to get rid of him."
She looked up and was startled to see tears running down Abby's eyes. She offered Abby a pretty yellow cloth and Abby held it up to her eyes. "I thought such horrible things about him...I said such horrible things to him too." she said thickly. "And all that time...we're very alike and he can't even stand me."
"I think your wrong. I get the feeling that Erik likes you more than he's letting on." said Mrs. K. "Anyway, are you feeling any better? If you are you should get dressed and go for a walk around our house. It's very nice here, we even have our own little pond."
Abby nodded as she wiped away the last of her tears. Mrs. K left the princess a pretty dress to wear, although it was definitely something that she would never have been able to wear in the castle. It was a very very light blue, nearly white, with off the shoulder sleeves and a strap that went behind her neck so that the bodice wouldn't fall down. It was a little tight on the top but flowed out nicely as it fell. She looked at herself in the mirror and rolled her eyes as she realized just how tight it was on top. She wondered if this was the "teenage fairy" fashion, even the she herself felt a little like a prostitute in something so tight. She felt a twinge of sorrow as she realized that her favorite boots were still back at the waterfall and she opted for soft white slippers instead.
She walked out of and around the small cottage which certainly seemed much larger on the inside (which it was, in fact...just some useful fairy magic!). She gasped as she saw the pond, tracing the dancing colors on its surface with her eyes. Everything seemed so spectacularly real here that it made her head spin. She was startled to see Erik sitting on a rock near the ponds edge, throwing stones into the calm water.
She sat down silently beside him and he didn't seem to mind although he didn't acknowledge her presence either. They sat in silence for a long time and finally Erik said, "I'm sorry for what I said before...it was a mean thing to say."
"You really shouldn't be sorry." said Abby as she picked up a rock and skipped it along the waters length. "What I mean is that you're right and it shouldn't hurt me that you've realized it before I have."
"That's really a horrible thing to say." said Erik and he gave Abby a strange look.
"What, that your right? Yah I know, that poison must have done something to my head huh..."
Erik threw another rock in frustration. "That's not what I meant and you know it!"
"Yah, I know." said Abby in a low voice. "I should apologize to, for going all sentimental on you...I don't know, I guess I was just a little happy that I thought you might like me. My mistake."
"Your face is turning red again."
"You watch my face to much."
"Actually I was distracted by the color of your eyes. The light really makes them seem to glow." replied Erik, and Abby looked away and began to rub her gloved hands together. Erik grabbed one of her hands. "Stop that, its annoys me that you start rubbing your hands together every time you feel self conscious. I meant what I said as a compliment, not an insult...your blushing again."
"I've been blushing way to much recently." said Abby with a smile and got up, but Erik pulled her back down again.
"I don't hate you." he mumbled, and let go of her hand.
"Does that mean that you like me?" asked Abby slowly and she looked at Erik with her strange unwavering stare. "You can lie, if you want."
Erik didn't say anything and Abby pulled her hand away. As she was walking toward the cottage she suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around her from behind.
"I don't want to like you, I really don't." murmured Erik as he pressed himself against her. But Abby didn't hear him, because at the moment she was being bombarded with mental images that she couldn't place or make sense of. Images of Erik as a child, trying to hug his mother as the beautiful woman screamed and pushed him away while punching and kicking at him surrounded the princess and she felt a burst of emotion in her chest.
She turned and wrapped her arms around him and whispered, "Too bad"
By Sweet Honey
Chapter Seven: A Bit Anti-social
At about the time Princess Abby was gaining some well deserved down time, her former maid Tirah was trying to cover up the fact that there were not one, but two missing princesses. Covering up Abby's absence was much easier than covering up the fact that the Queen's beloved daughter Kel was gone.
"Are you sure that Kel's tripidekanitis is contagious?" asked the Queen suspiciously, and Tirah nodded hurriedly. The Queen narrowed her eyes at the young maid and replied, "Well, I guess I'll check up on her later then."
As soon as the Queen left Tirah the poor girl collapsed into the chair that she had stationed in front of Kel's room. It was bad enough that she couldn't find out where Abby and Kel where, but she was also forced to make sure that the Queen didn't find out that they were gone or she'd be in deep trouble. She saw an older woman scurry across her view and the maid bolted upright and ran after the figure.
"Hey, I've been looking for you everywhere!" gasped the exhausted Tirah when she finally caught up with the figure.
Abby's grandmother Ella smiled weakly. "Why? Is there something that I can help you with-"
"Tell me where Abby and Kel have run off to!" whispered Tirah heatedly, and the older woman narrowed her eyes.
"You're a sly one, aren't you?" said Ella. "Why exactly do you plan to do with that knowledge (which, by the way, I do not have)."
"I'm going to go after them!" said Tirah, leaning against a wall. "Two princess' out in a place that they've never been...they need my help. And if they're with those Champions of theirs...well, I don't trust them at all! Tell me where they are, please!"
Ella shrugged. "They could be anywhere." she said with a wave of her hand, yet in the next moment her eyes were clouded and her expression was slack. "They went out to find the Divine Gem, in two different pairs. You'll never find them."
Tirah cocked her head to one side and gave the old matriarch half a smile. "Thanks, that's all I needed to know." she said, and turned around.
"Wait!" said Ella, shaking her head and staring at Tirah as if she had never quite seen her before. "What-what are you?"
"Me? I'm just the maid." replied a smirking Tirah.
******
"So your finally up." said Erik as he entered Abby's room. "Mr. and Mrs. K said that it was okay for me to see you."
"They're wonderful!" said Abby happily, as she stretched. "Really funny too. I wish they were my parents."
Erik looked away when she said that and Abby felt a pang of pity. "I'm sorry Erik." she said.
"For what? Did they tell you that my parents were dead? That I'm pitiful? Please, I don't want your pity."
"Well fine." said Abby snidely. "Anyway, I wanted to thank you."
"Thank me?" said Erik, and he eyed the princess suspiciously. "For what, pray tell?"
"For saving me of course." answered Abby, and Erik looked bewildered. "What, it's not that shocking that I would thank you. I mean, I know your not that...thrilled about having to travel with me. And it probably would have been better for you to just leave me there to rot, considering your feelings toward me and all. But you didn't, and I'm very grateful."
"You know, you turned seven different shades of red when you said that. Amazing."
"Shuddup."
They looked at eachother in silence for a moment and Erik finally said in a low voice, "I should be the one thanking you."
"Huh?"
"I told you: that poison wasn't meant for you in the first place." he said as he sat down on the edge of the bed. "And besides, I saw what you did. You threw yourself against me and now I know why. You saw that dart coming at me didn't you?"
Abby looked out through her window. "I might have." she said and clutched a piece of her bedspread in her hand. "But right now, I'm thinking that was a pretty good idea. You obviously don't hate me, of you went out of your way to save me. And plus you were so nice to me when you-"
"Get real, Princess!" interrupted Erik, running a hand threw his hair as he got up. "Just because I saved you doesn't mean that I LIKE YOU. It's a part of my job, and that's the only reason that I saved you. You, and every other human, is detestable to me. So stop with these little ideas of yours that I may be starting to even remotely like you, because I don't. In fact, I can't think of ANYONE who likes you." "A horrible thing to say to a sick person, don't you think?" asked Abby dryly. Erik opened his mouth to say something but stormed out of the room instead. He would have stormed right out of the small cottage is he hadn't banged into Mr. K before he reached the door.
"Me and you. A talk. NOW!" he said angrily, and yanked Erik into his study, closing the door behind them. "I heard what you said to that girl, Erik. She didn't deserve that kind of treatment and you know it."
When Erik didn't answer Mr. K went on. "She was just trying to be nice to you, you know. Why do you have to push away every person that tries to get close to you-"
"I don't want to be close to a human!" yelled Erik, clenching his fists. "Humans are good-for-nothings who use fairy's as slaves. They are all selfish, sadistic, mean and prejudiced people who don't care about anything but themselves!"
"Sounds like you've acquired all the traits that you despise in others." said Mr. K calmly as he inspected an old book with faint amusement.
"I can't sit here and listen to your crap!" bellowed Erik.
"Fine. Your free to leave." said Mr. K, shutting his book and moving away from the door. "If anything though, your mad at yourself and I know why. So don't take it out on that girl because your probably right: she has been abandoned by those who should love her...sound familiar?"
"Why exactly should I be mad at myself?!" asked Erik as he opened the door.
"Because you may be caring for a human, for the first time in your life. Remember: There's always going to be people that hurt you so...what you have to do is be more careful about who you trust the next time around" said Mr. K, and Erik slammed the door behind him.
*****
"Dearie, can I come in?" asked Mrs. K some minutes after Erik had left.
"Sure." Abby answered. Her smile was amazingly bright but Mrs. K could still make out faint trails of tears.
"Honey...I need to tell you something." said the aged fairy as she sat on the side of Abby's bed. "But if I tell you, you have to promise not to tell anyone, all right?"
"Of course, I would never tell something if you didn't think I should." said Abby as she thought of how much she liked the fairy. "Your secret is safe with me."
"I'm glad." said Mrs. K, and she lowered her voice. "It's about Erik...your see, Erik isn't 100% fairy; he's half human too."
Abby thought she was going to have a stroke. "You must be joking." she said, sitting upright and nearly knocking heads with the fairy. "He hates humans...but how can he if he IS one?"
"He doesn't consider himself human." said Mrs. K. "His father was a fairy and very handsome in fact. He had little fling with pretty but poor girl when he was very young, and when he found out she was pregnant he got scared and left her. The poor girl was so distraught...we all think it may have done something to her, mentally."
Mrs. K paused for moment and sighed She looked over at a vase on the table and her eyes shimmered with tears. "If we had known...if that young, idiotic fairy had just told someone then we would have gone and retrieved him. But as it turned out, Erik stayed with his mother for the first decade of his life. In her broken mind, Erik's mother always blamed him for his fathers absence and her failure in life. Her hatred of him would sometimes flare and she'd beat him. But the worst part, I think, was that no one did anything to stop her. They all shunned Erik because of what he was and he was picked on by the other village children. Finally, when Mr. K and I were on a trip we came across him. We decided we would take care of him here and his mother was more than happy to get rid of him."
She looked up and was startled to see tears running down Abby's eyes. She offered Abby a pretty yellow cloth and Abby held it up to her eyes. "I thought such horrible things about him...I said such horrible things to him too." she said thickly. "And all that time...we're very alike and he can't even stand me."
"I think your wrong. I get the feeling that Erik likes you more than he's letting on." said Mrs. K. "Anyway, are you feeling any better? If you are you should get dressed and go for a walk around our house. It's very nice here, we even have our own little pond."
Abby nodded as she wiped away the last of her tears. Mrs. K left the princess a pretty dress to wear, although it was definitely something that she would never have been able to wear in the castle. It was a very very light blue, nearly white, with off the shoulder sleeves and a strap that went behind her neck so that the bodice wouldn't fall down. It was a little tight on the top but flowed out nicely as it fell. She looked at herself in the mirror and rolled her eyes as she realized just how tight it was on top. She wondered if this was the "teenage fairy" fashion, even the she herself felt a little like a prostitute in something so tight. She felt a twinge of sorrow as she realized that her favorite boots were still back at the waterfall and she opted for soft white slippers instead.
She walked out of and around the small cottage which certainly seemed much larger on the inside (which it was, in fact...just some useful fairy magic!). She gasped as she saw the pond, tracing the dancing colors on its surface with her eyes. Everything seemed so spectacularly real here that it made her head spin. She was startled to see Erik sitting on a rock near the ponds edge, throwing stones into the calm water.
She sat down silently beside him and he didn't seem to mind although he didn't acknowledge her presence either. They sat in silence for a long time and finally Erik said, "I'm sorry for what I said before...it was a mean thing to say."
"You really shouldn't be sorry." said Abby as she picked up a rock and skipped it along the waters length. "What I mean is that you're right and it shouldn't hurt me that you've realized it before I have."
"That's really a horrible thing to say." said Erik and he gave Abby a strange look.
"What, that your right? Yah I know, that poison must have done something to my head huh..."
Erik threw another rock in frustration. "That's not what I meant and you know it!"
"Yah, I know." said Abby in a low voice. "I should apologize to, for going all sentimental on you...I don't know, I guess I was just a little happy that I thought you might like me. My mistake."
"Your face is turning red again."
"You watch my face to much."
"Actually I was distracted by the color of your eyes. The light really makes them seem to glow." replied Erik, and Abby looked away and began to rub her gloved hands together. Erik grabbed one of her hands. "Stop that, its annoys me that you start rubbing your hands together every time you feel self conscious. I meant what I said as a compliment, not an insult...your blushing again."
"I've been blushing way to much recently." said Abby with a smile and got up, but Erik pulled her back down again.
"I don't hate you." he mumbled, and let go of her hand.
"Does that mean that you like me?" asked Abby slowly and she looked at Erik with her strange unwavering stare. "You can lie, if you want."
Erik didn't say anything and Abby pulled her hand away. As she was walking toward the cottage she suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around her from behind.
"I don't want to like you, I really don't." murmured Erik as he pressed himself against her. But Abby didn't hear him, because at the moment she was being bombarded with mental images that she couldn't place or make sense of. Images of Erik as a child, trying to hug his mother as the beautiful woman screamed and pushed him away while punching and kicking at him surrounded the princess and she felt a burst of emotion in her chest.
She turned and wrapped her arms around him and whispered, "Too bad"
