The thing hung there, as if it paused in whatever it was doing to notice me slowly opening my eyes. I thought I was crazy. Hey, I thought I was dreaming. It would have been nice if I had, but you know how reality is. It comes slamming back, and there's nothing that you can do to make it go away. Events came back; Arion, my mother is a kelpie, my father was a magical person, and I was now part of the contract that got them together.

That sucked. But my attention was now mainly focus upon the creature that spun about my head, and suddenly a little head popped fully into my vision.

The little thing was green, head to toe. Its dress appeared to be made of leaves, and its tiny features were green. Even its long hair – which went to about her butt – was the same light shade of green. Its eyes were black, like my mom's eyes had been. Not to mention the little yellow flower that was affixed to her dress.

Blinking, I started, and swung at the little creature. It darted out of my range, and I pinned myself up against the head board. Wait, head board? I frowned. The last thing I remembered was walking through the woods. Thinking, I tried to remember what had happened.

I honestly didn't remember anything, other than hearing a tiny snippet of a conversation that even now was too vague to remember. Focusing on the little thing, I figured that it could answer my questions. Before I could, though, I noticed that it was laughing at me. It was a tiny sound, and it was like the squeaking of a mouse.

"What's so funny?" I asked, intrigued.

"You," she promptly responded, before breaking out into another spasm of giggles. "Prince Arion said that you over-reacted to everything, and he wasn't kidding." My eyes widened. Prince Arion. He was a prince? I sighed. Of course I would manage to piss off royalty on first sight. All in a days work for me.

"Great. Way to go, me," I said sarcastically. The faerie gave me a strange look, and I shrugged it off. Relaxing in the bed, I stared at the girl. "Well… Where am I? And who are you? For that matter what are you?"

"He also said that you asked a lot of questions." Tittering a little more, the little creature perched upon the bedside table's candle. "You're in Merriwind, and I," she paused to make a little twirl on the candle, "Am to keep an eye on you. You may call me Winny."

I sighed. Not a great answer, but it would do for now. What was Merriwind? If I was left with all these unanswered questions, I would explode. Silently, I reminded myself of the one thing my mother said to me most often, 'Patience, Grace.'

Getting out of bed, I felt rather useless. What I was I supposed to do with myself? And then I paused. Glancing down at myself, I noticed that I was no longer in my ratty clothes, and that my knee no longer ached. Staring at the medieval style gown I wore, I couldn't help but to feel an edge of happiness. There was something so satisfying about being dressed like this… I felt like a princess. Not to mention it was colored the loveliest deep olive green. These people knew their stuff.

Twirling once, I took pleasure in the soft fabrics, and the way the sleeves fit against my arms. Even the lighter green ribbon was soft, and even though it hung off my shoulders, I was pleased with it. Then it crossed my mind that someone would have had to change me while I was asleep, and I grimaced.

"Don't you like it? I picked it out myself. Your old clothes were icky." I turned to her, and nodded slowly. I grabbed the nearest chair and sunk into it. I didn't want to think about the dress or where I was. I wanted to think about my mom. My mother, who I was never going to see again. My shoulders slumped, and my head dropped into my hands. All instincts screamed for me to cry, but I didn't want to give them the satisfaction of knowing I was miserable.

I heard a tiny sigh in the room, and the gentle flutter of wings as Winny buzzed about the room. A brush was soon felt going through my hair, and my head snapped up, only a little wet from tears. At least my hair could act as a screen from the world. It took me a few moments to track what it was that Winny was saying, but I got there. "You know, normally I tangle hair like this." The little faerie chuckled. "Aye, I would have had great fun with your hair… But I'm ordered to take care of you."

A small, bitter laugh came out of me. "Is that all you faeries do? Cast misery down on hapless humans?" Like my family. My entire damn family was plagued by this faerie magic. The brushing stopped.

"You judge us," Winny accused, in a soft tone. "You. A Halfling thing is judging us. A human, none the less. You creatures…" her anger made her choke. "You evil mortals poison things everyday! You're selfish and disgusting and greedy. You destroy forests all so you can have your fire and paper, and you judge us!" She bashed me with the brush, and zipped away from me, glaring daggers across the room. "Ignorant, stinky, self-centered creatures all of you." She wasn't going near me any more, and I just sat in amazement. Was that how they really saw it?

Blinking, I grasped for words. "Well…" I paused, and rubbed the aching spot on my head thoughtfully. "I guess you're right." I didn't like saying it. It was like saying that it was alright that they had taken me away from my life. Yet Winny had a point. Humans weren't the greatest neighbors, and with all the things we did to their home, we made it harder and harder for them to live. Grudgingly I would accept the point she made. This did not make me a willing prisoner. No Stockholm Syndrome today, thanks.

Looking satisfied by that response, Winny flitted back over, and brushed at my hair furiously. She clearly wasn't over her anger yet, and I was not appreciating the beating she was giving my scalp… I needed her to calm down. Thinking back to what she said, I carefully broached a new subject. "So… whose hair did you have the most fun tangling?" Winny struck me as the type who loved to brag. Perhaps that would ease things up?

Slowly, Winny began. "Weeell… do you really want to know?" I nodded, all the while thinking that I would do anything to spare myself from having my hair brushed so brutally. Giggling in glee, she started on a tale about how she'd once had the best of times tangling some woman's hair… when she started mentioning that this had occurred in England, and how the woman's hand-maidens had always been aggravated about the knots, I stopped her.

"Wait… when did this happen?" Winny paused, thoughtfully.

"Mmmmm… A long time ago. How am I supposed to know? Human time is different from ours. I just remember that she got into big gowns, and looked like a prune. She was an ugly queen." Winny said it nonchalantly, yet an idea crossed my mind.

"Queen… Elizabeth, perhaps?"

There was silence, and then a squeal of excitement. "Yes! That one! You're so good!" I sighed. Queen Elizabeth, one of the most famous women of all time, and yet Winny barely remembered her name. I barely heard the other stories the pixie told. I was trying to remember how old Winny would have to be in order to have tangled the ancient Queen's hair… That would make her… I kicked myself for not paying more attention to history. Whatever age it was, she was more than at least 200 years. Or so I believed… Don't trust me, I'm the worst at history.

The brushing went on for a few minutes. Winny had maintained a constant stream of chatter, and I had inserted a few comments here and there to assure that I was listening. Truthfully, I think I missed half of what she said. My mind was far away, and I couldn't quite muster the energy to listen to everything that Winny spoke of. This situation reminded me of Beauty and the Beast. My school had done the show my junior year. Belle's song "Home" summed up how I was feeling, and I suddenly knew very acutely what she had felt when the Beast had proclaimed that she would never see her father again.

'I can, however, guarantee that you'll never see your mother again.' The words seemed to ring in my head. I restrained the need to blubber like a lost child. My emotional state was less than peachy, and I knew at that moment that I wouldn't be able to handle any more distressing news. What was next? I thought back to the movie, and remembered that Belle had to break a spell on the prince. 'Please, please, please no Beasts. No spells. Nothing more today. Pleeease.' The thoughts sounded whiny to me, but I was sick of this whole faeries and magic business.

Winny's pleased squeak alerted me to the fact that she was no longer brushing my hair. In fact, I had zoned out so entirely that I had even missed when she'd tied my hair up into an elaborate knit snood of some kind. How convenient that there was a mirror there. It had little gold leaves in it, and pieces of broken green glass. The snood – I think that's what my mother had called it when she'd given me one ages ago – was white, and stood out starkly against my hair. The effect was… different.

The mirror disappeared, and I blinked. More faerie magic. Ugh. "You're ready!" the little pixie cried out to me, pulling me out of my seat. "I really managed to make you look good. Right? You're so much better now!"

I sighed. "I suppose," I replied, before my mind caught up to what she had said. "Wait. Ready for what?"

Rolling her eyes, Winny looked at me like I was an idiot child who needed everything explained. "Ready to see the King and his sons. Duh." I don't think I processed entirely. She must be kidding. She didn't just say 'the King and his sons'.

"What?" I sounded like a clueless idiot, but I really hoped that I had misheard her.

"The King and his sons," she stated, loudly and slowly. "You humans really are slow." I blinked like an idiot, and plunked back down into my seat.

"You can't be serious."