So, I'm back again. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. And I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Five months later

"You may now kiss the bride."

The groom smiled as he removed the veil and pressed his lips against his bride's.

The crowd cheered.

Wendy smiled and clapped, as Lily and her husband made their way through the crowd.

Wendy had made the flower crown Lily had on her head. They had been lucky that spring had come early. Despite it only being late March, the flowers and trees had already bloomed.

The laughter and cheer that came with a wedding.

After the ceremony, the celebration began.

Wendy sat down on a bench exhausted Edward had swung her around to the music.

She chatted with the other girls at the table, when Lily came by.

"Look at the blushing bride." Mathilda teased.

Lily's face instantly turned red.

The others giggled.

Lily glowed as she smiled. "Well, I am glad that Stephen agreed to a Spring wedding."

"The flowers are lovely," Mina commented, as she drank her tea and watched her children in the grass.

"Yes, you are quite talented at flower crowns," Sarah said to Wendy. "But where did you find flowers in that color?"

Wendy smiled mischievously. "In the realm of the elven queen, of course."

"It is called the realm of fairies." Elizabeth corrected in her teacher's voice.

Wendy's shrug was almost invisible.

"Speaking of fairytales…" Lily said and gleamed as she took both of Wendy's hands. "Where is your prince charming? Could he not come?"

Wendy did not know what expression to make and settled on an uncomfortable smile. "No, he had … work to do…"

Lily did not seem to be bothered.

"Pity." She said and made a gesture with her hand. "It would have been marvelous for our wedding to be graced with the presence of nobility. Though I suppose we have you."

Wendy felt her face grow hot.

"Oh, Wendy…" Sarah giggled. "When are you telling us the good news?"

She smiled despite her hot face. "No news yet…"

"If you do not have any by the summer, you should marry Alfred instead," Mathilda said and slurped tea from her mug and nodded to the spot where Lily's new husband was talking to the unmarried men.

For a moment Alfred seemed to notice them looking at him and looked up.

Wendy turned her head away and frowned. There was no chance for that.

"Regardless," Lily said and squeezed Wendy's hands that she was still holding onto. "When you come to the city, please come visit me and Stephen. It is going to be so wonderful."

"Are you sure about going to be city?" Mina asked, even though that decision was already set in stone. "It is not easy to leave everything and everybody behind."

Lily's smiled and let go of Wendy's hands, as she turned to the older woman and folded her hands together like a lady should.

"Of course, we will miss everyone, but there is so much more opportunity in the city. Besides my father has enough workers and children that they won't miss me or Stephen."

"Stephen's work was always exemplary." Elizabeth agreed. "He will do well in the city." She then smiled proudly at the bride. "And so will you."

"Indeed." The groom smiled as he smilingly clasped his arms around her waist. "She will do amazingly."

Lily giggled.

He lovingly kissed her on the cheek and looked over the other women.

"But why are we all sitting around? Miss musician?" His eyes settled on Wendy. "Care to play a joyful tune."

Wendy smiled and rose to her feet. "How can I refuse a request from the groom?"

A few days later.

The girls had gathered at the village edge.

"We are going to miss you," Mathilda said and grabbed Lily's hand.

She just smiled.

"We can come visit right?" Another girl asked.

"Of course," Lily said and straightened her back. "Once we are settled you can come visit. You might even decide to stay."

The younger girl squealed with glee.

Wendy wondered if it was going to be like this when she left. Then she shrugged at herself. There was a time she could not imagine leaving and now she dreamed of it.

"See you!" Lily almost sang as the wagon rolled out of the village.

The women followed the wagon until they reached the inn, where they stood and waved as they saw their friends disappear behind the hills.

"Let's go inside and get a drink," Wendy said and invited them inside.

The women sat down and began gossiping about what Lily and Stephen were going to do in the city, while Wendy served them tea.

Lily was of course going to be a housewife and go to cafés and read poetry – and Stephen? He would have to start small, but as time went on he would get a better job and income.

They squealed at the thought and some of the younger ones dreamed of going into the city to find gentlemen to marry.

Wendy smiled and turned her head toward the bar, where her father was cackling.

"Young women and their thoughts."

Edward and David came shoveling through the door with a table they had been fixing behind the inn.

A couple of the young women giggled, and the two young men's ears got red, and they nearly dropped the table, because they were busy looking away from the women.

The giggling grew louder, and Wendy covered her mouth to hide her own.

It was adorable to see those two not knowing how to look and still didn't have the confidence to smile back.

There was a knock on the inn's front door.

Wendy raised an eyebrow at the door in confusion. People normally just came in, and no one ever knocked.

She opened it slowly.

On the other side stood Eric.

He was dressed casually – at least for him – and smiled charmingly at her. "Hello, my dearest."

"Eric?" She smiled and wasn't sure about whether she should step outside and close the door or invite him inside. "I did not know you would be coming."

"I wanted to surprise you, my love." He said and lifted one of her hands to his mouth.

Wendy knew the girls inside were watching.

"I wanted to see the first bloom of spring with you," Eric said sweetly against her fingers. When he lowered her hand from his lips, he looked at her and his blue eyes shined. "Perhaps we could have a picnic…?"

Wendy suddenly became conscious of the fact that she was wearing a dirty apron.

"I … have nothing for a picnic…" She stuttered out and felt the blush grow on her cheek.

"Well, I have…" He held up a beautifully woven basket.

Wendy smiled and looked back at her father.

The older man gave her a smile and nodded.

She opened the door wider to let him in. "I will need to get changed."

Eric stepped inside and smiled. "I will be waiting."

He then leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

She backward from him stumbled over her own feet in her attempt to get to her room to get washed off and changed.

"Never thought I would see the female hunter fall for a man." She heard the other girl's giggle.

She didn't care, she knew they were jealous.

Wendy smiled shyly at Eric when she stepped out of her room.

She was wearing her best Sunday dress and a shawl Eric had brought her last month.

The tall, dark-haired man came closer. "You look divine."

The inn was quiet, as she led outside.

"Are we not going to the forest?" Eric asked when Wendy headed toward the stable.

Wendy turned to him and smiled, her red hair flowing freely in the wind as she did. "You want to go all the way there on foot."

Eric smiled knowingly and followed her. "We do not need to go far."

"No," Wendy smiled. "But I know the perfect place."

The hooves clopped against the dirt, as the horses raised through the trees.

Wendy took a deep breath. The fresh Springer was crisp and clean.

She laughed and looked over at Eric beside her.

He smiled and kicked at his horse, so it overtook hers.

The horses jumped, the small stream running across the forest floor, which seemed to startle Eric.

Wendy laughed again.

"You need to keep up, young Baron." She called to him over her shoulder.

"There's something utterly magical about you when we're out here," Eric said as the horses slowed down.

Wendy turned to him. "How so?"

"You just looked so much more at home." Next mile dreamily at her but then frowned. "Pardon me? That was not meant as an offense."

Wendy giggled. Knowing what he meant. "It is fine."

"So where is this perfect place for a picnic?" Eric asked as the horses led them through the forest.

Wendy pointed towards the tree line. "Right through there."

"Amazing," Eric said as he gazed at the meadow with the small pond. "I did not know such places existed."

Wendy got down from the horse and let Temper roam. "Yes, it is one of the places in between here and the realm of the elvens."

Eric got down from his horse and started spreading a blanket on the grass. "It reminds me a bit of the time you saved me in the lake."

"Does it?" Wendy asked and sat down on the blanket, as Eric pulled out different kinds of food and a bottle of wine from the basket. "Yes, I remember you cost me much that day."

"Oh, and how so?" Eric asked with a smile and handed her a glass.

Wendy leaned her head to one side and smiled playfully at him. "Because of you, the man in the lake got angry at me. It took me months to get him back on my good side, so I could hear his fiddle again."

Eric laughed and shook his head as he opened the bottle.

He poured the red liquid into her glass and introduced all the little different foods to her, as she sipped on it.

It was far too sweet to be wine, but she had no idea what it was.

"What are these?" Wendy asked and held the green little thing in between her fingers.

Eric smiled. "That is a grape. Like they used to make wine."

"Oh, I thought grapes were red."

"There are many different kinds."

"How amusing." Wendy smiled at the little green thing and popped it in her mouth. It was sweet and nice.

"Don't hold them like that," Eric said and took a small finger food, as he called them.

He held it between his thumb and his index finger and moved it towards Wendy's lips. "Hold them like this…"

Wendy's swallowed, stunned, and opened her mouth.

She closed it around the finger food and … chewed.

Eric observed him with a smile as he sipped his glass.

The food tasted different than her parents' food. It was like there was more flavor in this.

"I also brought some cake," Eric said as they finished off the food. "Though I am not sure it survived the ride."

Eric pulled out some plates and a little bell-like thing. When he pulled the lid off of it, there were two slices of cake inside.

Wendy made big eyes at it.

They were a little smushed like they had been shaken around. But they look like the cakes in Elizabeth's cookbook. There were layers of cake and cream and even a little strawberry on top.

Wendy smiled in amazement as she put the spoonful of cake in her mouth. It tasted so sweet.

Not even after the inn had gotten popular had her mother made cakes like these. This was like Lily's wedding cake.

Eric nodded his hands into hers as they lay together on the blanket.

"There's something utterly special about you, my little fairy." He said and pressed his lips against hers.

Wendy smiled against his lips and placed a gentle hand on his cheek.

As their lips continued to move against each other, she felt herself grow warm and irritated and glided down the side of her arm.

His hands glided over her back as she explored the front of his shirt for buttons.

She pulled her mouth away from his for a moment – just to breathe – and he began to kiss and neck.

She giggled at the tingling sensation.

Wendy unbuttoned Eric's shirt, while his hands fumbled with the edge of her skirt.

Eric playfully bitten to the nap of her neck.

In retaliation, Randy rolled over, so she now sat on top of him while he was lying beneath her.

He looked up at her with dreamy eyes and an unburdened shirt.

She looked down at him with glittering green eyes and red curly hair hanging down over her shoulders. The hair nearly reached its face as she leaned over him.

She wanted to kiss him but stopped when she saw something move out of the corner of her eye.

"What is it?" Eric asked and tried to get up as Wendy's eyes were fixed on the moving thing.

Wendy held him down with a gentle hand.

The deer and its baby came closer.

It stepped through the tall glass slowly and carefully and stopped in front of Wendy.

She reached a hand out and scratched it behind its ear.

The baby came close too, and Wendy moved to scratch it under its mouth.

"Are you sure you're not a fairy folk?" Eric's voice was so soft she barely heard it.

She smiled down at him. "What makes you ask that?"

"You look so otherworldly at the moment." He whispered. He moved up and got between her and the deer and kissed her. "And I cannot even fathom that you're mine…"

The two deer joyfully sprang through the grass like they had gotten what they wanted and disappeared out of the meadow.

"Do you think you could leave such a magical place behind?" Eric asked as he buttoned his shirt again, as she had gotten off him.

Wendy sipped the red liquid in her glass. "And would be incredibly hard, but I think I could."

Eric kissed her cheek. "Good, because I don't think I could live without you."

Then he got up and wandered towards his horse.

Wendy downed the last of the liquid that was in a glass and put it back in the basket.

She saw the dragonflies glide over the surface of the water in the pond and went over to watch them.

"There's really nothing in this forest that isn't magical when I'm with you," Eric said from behind her.

Wendy turned around with a smile and saw him getting down on one knee.

A gust of wind rose around them and butterflies rose from the surrounding bushes.

He held a little box up to her and popped it open, as he spoke.

It was a golden ring with a green gem set into it.

Eric smiled up at her. "There is not really a moment with you there isn't a magical, my love. Therefore, I don't think I can part with you, my beautiful fairy queen. Will you marry me?"

Wendy smiled at his word and held out her hand for him to place the ring on her finger. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the magical creatures of the forest watching her. The elven queen smiled.

"Yes, I will, my lord."

She continued to smile as Eric placed the ring on her finger.

They shared a kiss and Eric lifted her off the ground and swung her around.

She laughed.

Thanks for reading :)

I'll try to update regularly, so here goes nothing.

Also, I have used a speech-to-text program to write this chapter. So there might be some wrong or missing words. I think, I got them all, but please comment if a sentence doesn't make sense.