Chapter 2: Adina/School Days
Several years had passed, and (though he had been sorely tempted to get rid of her), the king and queen had kept their daughter. On the day of her birth, the new parents had stared stunned as the Mother lifted their daughter up, fixed the two with a knowing stare, and said, "This child will be famous one day! No harm shall come to her, or doom will befall. Destiny and the fates are with her, and she will be Queen, of the Faeries and Wilis one day! I swear it!" And with that she'd vanished, leaving two new parents frightened out of their wits. Since no one ever disobeyed the Mother, they'd kept her and named her Adina Xanthe-meaning "Voluptuous Yellow"- which was a nice name, but didn't fit.
Nothing quite fit, thought her mother, watching her four year old daughter toddle around the castle garden. She didn't really even resemble a Faerie much. The little 'dear' had blonde-almost white really- hair(and no Faerie had any blonde colored hair!), dark eyes(the queen wasn't sure quite what color they were) , a pale skin color, and worst of all, she had no wings of any size or sort. Her Faerie parts were, well-so far all the Queen could see was that she had light pink finger and toenails, and she had the same body shape like a normal Faerie. Though all malicious gossip about Adina was forbidden in the Queen and King's presences, that couldn't stop it from flying all over the Faerie kingdom. She watched silently as Adina suddenly noticed a butterfly and immediately began chasing after it, leaping into the air after it like a cat. The little Faerie's face lit up as she soared through the air for a second.....and just as quickly turned into a look of terror as she crashed to the ground below, letting out a shriek. "Oh, my poor darling!" the Queen exclaimed, hurrying to her daughter's side, scooping her into her lap, and murmuring comforting words into Adina's ears. Surprisingly, Adina wasn't crying at all; in fact the only thing she was focused on was the butterfly fluttering before her, laughing with its wings. Something new filled the child, and it came out through her eyes. In an instant the butterfly burst apart, its wings and body going in all directions. "Come on, Adina, it's time for your nap," her mother's voice quietly broke into her thoughts. Adina watched the butterfly's body settle on the ground as her mother carried her to her room, never knowing what had just happened.
The school bell rang loudly and clearly. Five year old Adina stood quietly outside the door to her classroom, listening to her mother's maiden Galinda give last minute instructions. "Now be nice to the other children in your class, Your Highness," Galinda told her, with a smile that was a little too forced. "You must always remember who you are- and who your parents are. Don't tear or mess up your dress, and have fun!" Galinda started to lean down, as if to kiss Adina on the cheek , then thought better of it. "Run along, now." As fast as she could without running herself, Galinda left Adina's side. With a resigned sigh, Adina stepped into the classroom, and all eyes latched onto her. She managed to ignore the gawks and giggles, and calmly strode to a chair with her name on it. "If everyone can tell each other their names," the teacher, an older fairy with pale blue hair and powder blue wings called out, "we'll soon get started." "I'm Rosemary." "May." "Fleffle." "Chipoq," and so on, until Adina. "My name is Adina," she said heavily, "and I'm-" "Their Majesties' freak," the Faerie boy called Fleffle whispered loudly to another boy, sending the class into giggles. "Take that back!" Adina snapped, abruptly standing up and knocking her chair over. Fleffle suddenly challenged, "Why? You don't look like a Faerie! You're ugly!" Feeling the silent encouragement of his classmates, he continued. "Ugly, ugly, ugly!" "No!" Adina shrieked, bursting into tears. "I'm not ugly!" She thrust a hand out in front of her, and Fleffle flew backward and into the wall. The class raced to his side, pushing and shoving. Once they saw he was merely dazed, they turned as one to gaze at Adina, who was standing near the teacher, both of them with eyes wide.
Recess finally arrived, and Adina and her class were the first outside. The little Faeries flew into the air, shouting at each other and laughing. Adina gazed up at them as she slowly walked on the ground, lost in thought over what had happened. "How did that happen?" she said aloud. She'd been thinking of how much Fleffle should be made to shut up, and then he was across the room. Mummy hadn't taught her that. Nor Daddy. Odd. "Adina!" a voice called out in front of her. "What you did today, little one, was something special." Adina glanced around, and saw a great eagle in the bushes. "Who are you?" "Don't worry, I'm a friend," the eagle said. "I want you to have this." Out from under the eagle's left wing came an amulet. "Put it on." Adina stared at it, more than a little afraid. "Come, little one," it won't hurt you, it will help you." "Adina! Time to go back inside!" her teacher yelled from the school entrance. With a quick glance, Adina reached out and took the amulet, whispering "Thank you." "You're welcome. Now go on, things will be okay." As she ran to the building, amulet in her dress pocket, Adina never even questioned why an eagle would pick her to talk to, much less give a present to. The eagle softly chuckled, watching her go inside. Then as fast as he had come, he was gone.