Tinker Bell didn't want to bother Fairy Mary again, she had already pestered her to tell the story of Vidia and the dam incident. The tinker overseer was very busy trying to manage the daily routines and restore Tinker's Nook to its undamaged state following Vidia's twin rampages. So Tinker Bell flew to the Pixie Dust Tree to consult with Queen Clarion. On her way, she overflew the confinement cells where Vidia was still being held for her assaults on Tinker's Nook and Tinker Bell herself. The tinker fairy could hear Vidia screaming and shouting that she was the victim of the Queen's hypocrisy. What did that mean? Tinker Bell asked herself. She had not been there when Vidia indicted the queen and to the tinker fairy the accusation sounded like the fast flyer just trying to escape her prison sentence.
Tinker Bell arrived at the Pixie Dust Tree just as Queen Clarion descended the main staircase to meet with her ministers. The queen looked radiant as usual, but she gave the impression of being tired behind her regal front.
"Queen Clarion, good morning," Tinker Bell greeted.
"Good morning, Tinker Bell," the queen replied. "How may I help you?"
"Uh, well...," she began, the tinker fairy looking down at her feet, which were themselves crossed over indicating a sense of embarrassment and discomfort.
"Go ahead, Tinker Bell, please tell me what is on your mind," the queen prodded.
After moment of hesitation Tinker Bell began by reporting how things were going with the mice and her efforts to help Roquefort eat nourishment. Then, she slowly told the queen that she had heard about the incidents with Flora, as Rosetta had called her and also what happened at the dam during the hurricane.
"Did she really do all of those things?" Tinker Bell asked.
"Oh dear." The queen stared into space for a moment. "We've never had a fairy named 'Flora,' but the events you described happened to Rosetta several decades ago."
Tinker Bell was floored. Vidia had done that to Rosetta? Why didn't the garden fairy trust Tinker Bell to know it was her? Maybe, as she had stated, it was still a very sore subject.
The queen continued, "As for what happened at the dam, I've never been convinced that Vidia was responsible. No one actually saw her use her talents to generate the violent winds that drove the waters into the dam. But the circumstantial evidence against her was quite strong. I have never been able to prove her innocence or guilt completely."
"What if I could?" Tinker Bell shouted enthusiastically. "If I could see the original plans for the dam I might be able to reconstruct what happened."
"Thank you, child, but the topography of Pixie Hollow has changed substantially because of the flooding," the queen told her young tinker. "Unless you could find a topographical map of Pixie Hollow before the hurricane you probably won't be able to figure out what happened."
"Is that important?"
"I do not know, but only thoroughness would be able to acquit Vidia," the queen stated.
"Then thoroughness is what you'll get," Tinker Bell said.
"Be careful, Tinker Bell," Clarion cautioned. "It could also condemn Vidia if the evidence proves that she did indeed try to flood Pixie Hollow and its residents. Such an act would lead to banishment for the rest of her life."
"Whoa!"
"Yes, it would be best to allow the event to remain shrouded in mystery," the monarch said. "It could very well be what keeps Vidia in Pixie Hollow."
"Do you think she is guilty?"
The queen stopped for a moment to think about her answer. "I cannot believe that any fairy, even Vidia, would ever attempt to commit murder of another fairy or act to damage or destroy Pixie Hollow. This is her home, where else would she go? A fairy's talent is her joy and without Pixie Hollow and the other nature talent fairies Vidia would not be able to perform her talents to its fullest and thus would be denied her joy."
"I'll take that as a no," Tinker Bell said with a grin. "Where can I find the plans?"
The queen sighed, there was no stopping the little tinker fairy. "They are in the archives."
"Thank you, your highness. I'll get right on it."
"Tinker Bell, sweetheart, aren't you forgetting something?"
The tinker fairy tried to think of what she might have overlooked. She stood before the queen and curtsied to the royal.
"No, Tinker Bell, that's not it."
"What am I forgetting?"
"We all have our assigned duties, remember? You must help the mice recover and then you are to assist Vidia to capture the last of the thistles."
"Oh, right. Well Fawn is going to mash up more food for Roquefort and Vidia is still in confinement."
"She will be released later today," the queen stated. "You should prepare to join her. You can study the plans later, when you have completed your punishment."
Tinker Bell bowed to the queen. "Yes, your highness." Tinker Bell fluttered out of the room partly elated that she might be able to gain Vidia's trust, partly deflated that she had to wait until she had finished her punishment. She was anxious to start right away.
"Tinker Bell," a voice came. She turned and saw that the queen had followed her out of the tree. "I will have a scribe make a copy of the plans for you. You can work on them when your punishment has been completed and your home is restored. But leave Vidia to me. She is my responsibility, not yours. I know you just want to help, but with every talent in Pixie Hollow at my disposal I am best suited to that task."
Tinker Bell agreed. "How did you know?"
"I'm the queen, it is my job to know these things," she said, presenting herself as almost omniscient.
"Did Fawn tell you?"
Clarion chuckled in her reply. "Yes, she did."
Queen Clarion returned to the tree and addressed her ministers. She instructed them that they were to perform their normal duties for the day without her supervision. "I have a task at hand relating to Vidia that requires all of my attention."
"If it is not too much to ask, what do you plan to do with her?" Redleaf questioned.
"I plan to release her to complete her punishment," the queen told them.
"Is that wise?" Hyacinth replied, aghast that the queen would do such a thing so soon after the events in Tinker's Nook. The Minister of Spring was worried, rightly so, that Vidia may choose another act of revenge against Tinker Bell, or worse, the monarchy. In light of the fast flyer's assertions of government misconduct and hypocrisy his concerns were well founded. Queen Clarion understood his objections, but responded that to simply punish Vidia would serve no purpose except to further her resentment and hatred for the monarchy and the other talents of Pixie Hollow. Eventually, Vidia would reach of point of no return and could choose to leave Pixie Hollow forever or retaliate in response to ever growing hatred to those around her.
"It is time we stopped just punishing her and instead try to reform her," she told her advisors. "We must now look into her mind, her history and investigate every incident in which she has been involved to determine her culpability. We may find, as was the case with Silvermist at the stream, that she was not the instigator of some of those events. She may have chosen, rather poorly, to take matters into her own hands in response."
"Pfft, why not just bring the matter to one of us?" Hyacinth said dismissively.
"Because it is clear she does not trust us," the queen replied sternly. The ministers were silent after this exchange. The queen spoke once more, "I will be personally investigating the long list of charges and crimes of which she was accused and convicted. It is my belief that some of those convictions may be overturned because the testimony given was likely biased by a strong dislike towards Vidia."
The queen looked down at the floor for a second before continuing. "Perhaps Vidia was right. We may have all been partly responsible for who she is now."
"Preposterous," Sunflower interjected.
"If she were ignored, if she lost trust in us and we did not think to look beyond the sneering, self-absorbed veneer then we have all done her a disservice. Placing blame is academic at this point. Mending fences and returning Vidia to the fold must be our next logical step. Nothing else will be acceptable."
The ministers accepted that nothing they would say would change the queen's mind. When Queen Clarion settled on a course of action, she could be very stubborn about seeing it through to its end. They each left to their own seasons to supervise the daily routines. Viola accompanied the queen to the archives to pull and review Vidia's file. It was lengthy to say the least. The queen had been involved in some of the cases, but many were adjudicated by assigned representatives of the queen who handed down judgments and penalties in the queen's stead. These fairies were the talent guild overseers, summoner talents such as Viola, and the ministers. Only the most serious infractions found their way to the queen.
Queen Clarion had budgeted a full day to complete the review, but the file was so large that she concluded it could take as long as a month to work the task to its satisfactory completion by herself. So she enlisted the aid of her helpers Rhia, Cinda, Lisel and Grace. She then sent Viola to the confinement cells to retrieve Vidia.
"What are we looking for again, your highness?" Cinda asked, looking rather confused.
"The testimonies in each of these cases relating to Vidia need to be reviewed for any of the following: inconsistencies, incompleteness, biases, unwarranted assumption or a lack of direct, visible or measurable evidence that could convict Vidia beyond a reasonable doubt. You should also look for any instance in which Vidia made a suitable claim that she was not the instigator in a face to face confrontation."
"No offense, your highness, but Vidia always tries to avoid being punished," Grace said. "Everyone knows she tries to place blame with everyone but herself."
"That is exactly the attitude I'm trying to quell," Clarion responded with a kind, but firm tone. "I believe that too often she was accused based on perception rather than proof. We are going to investigate and look for positive proof of her culpability and when none is present or the evidence is insufficient those are the cases we must give our fullest attention to determine the root causes of the events."
The helpers nodded their understanding of what they were too look for and why. They began the dull and boring task of reading through each case file. The queen took a stack for herself and sat down amongst her helpers to work with them. Several minutes later there was a knock at the door. Viola had returned with a visibly aggravated Vidia in tow.
"I will return shortly, please continue," she told her helpers. Queen Clarion then instructed Viola to fetch tea and cakes for everyone. Some refreshments could make the task at hand a little easier to muddle through. Viola left for the tea house while Queen Clarion took Vidia aside to speak with her. Clarion did not look forward to this conversation. She knew that Vidia would take this news as an admission of guilt, which it was to a certain degree. The queen needed to get past it quickly and move on to the subject at hand reforming her troubled fast flyer. The greater task was trying to change the attitudes of the entire population of Pixie Hollow. Clarion wondered if such a thing were possible.
"Vidia, we have a lot to talk about," she began.
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