Mick Charming

As we ran, he noticed two shining lights above us in the dawning light: Fairies. They were pure, good ones, because of their white hue, so we stopped and they settled on Mara and Lily contentedly. The soldier's march was halted for the night.

'Alf.' He acknowledged as they 'grew' to Human form and we found seats on the mossy floor. He'd found a very lovely Fey girl to fly with. Her hair shined like moonlight. 'Where are you off to in such a hurry mate?'

'To the Queen. One drop of her blood and me and my brother's curse can be broken.' He announced solemnly.

'Five years, right?' Mick smiled at them. 'Seems so long. Our eleven years in the wilderness seems like two minutes.'

'Gosh, is that Lily and Jamie? Last time I saw you two,' he ruffled their heads, 'you were babes.'

'They are cute.' The girl next to him agreed. 'I'm Amber White, by the way.'

'Mick Charming's my name.' He nodded. 'That's Mara, my wife, and Lily, my daughter. They don't speak, you know, and this is little Jamie. He doesn't stop.'

'Eleven years ago, Sir Knight turned up at Mara's dad's castle and bewitched her brothers. The Queen killed them before she could break it and Mara's been struck dumb ever since.' Alf explained to her.

'Eleven years? Harsh!' she cried. 'I wouldn't have survived.'

'The Queen's blood?' He questioned them suddenly. 'That's a hard task.'

'Yes. I'm gathering help. I've got a maid up near the castle that'll most likely help. She's well into things like this.'

'What about Sir Knight?' Jamie asked.

'He's gone missing. Rumour has it that she's killed him, better luck.' Alf replied. 'We must be off. At midnight, the maid turns into a pumpkin…or something like that. Come on, AW.'

'AW? Seriously?' she complained, turning to fairy form.

'Wait, Alf, let us come with you.' Mick said suddenly, catching his wife's hand. 'Killing the Queen might be the undoing of Mara's curse too.'

Alfie regarded us with bright, twinkling eyes and nodded. 'Head to the Fairy ring on the outskirts of the Forest. I'll catch up with you as soon as I've found that daydream maid. Beware the Invisibility Curse.'

With that, they departed-two single beams of light like twin moons, into the horizon. He hoped they wouldn't get caught.

And when the moon turned to sun and Mara and Lily became the beautiful Nightingales, he really hoped that by killing the Queen, they'd be no longer jinxed to wear wings when the sun's rays shined down on them. That he'd feel Mara's lips on his in the sunshine once again. Someday soon.