The Queen

“Ed, you stand accused of trespass; the knowing and willful unauthorized entering of a human into our realm.”

Shortly after being escorted to the room, a uniformed member of the guard had collected him. There was no talk between himself and the guard as he was escorted through a long corridor and through another door. Then they were outside.

Eddus had stopped walking to take in the view, but was urged forward by a stern look and an audible grunt from his escort, who stood much shorter than he, but still managed to have an air of authority about him.

The cloudless sky was so bright that it made his eyes ache. He was on a city street, unlike anything he’d ever seen before. Besides buildings of architecture he’d also never seen, there was nothing that looked like technology in sight. Absolutely nothing. Even the lampposts lining the street were just that, lamps on posts. Each one had hooks on either side of it that held a lamp that looked like it needed to be physically lit with fire each night.

The buildings were constructed of what seemed to be a solid, smooth stone with a mother-of-pearl finish. Each one was a different colour. No two that he could see were the same. Between them and as far as Eddus could see behind them were trees. They looked much like the trees in his own world.

Groups of both winged and non-winged people congregated, curiously watching the human walk, unrestrained, from the door he exited, along the street. Some hovered just above the crowd in order to get a better look, the rapid movement of their wings creating a humming sound.

Doing his best not to make eye contact with anyone, he wondered for a moment if any of the non-winged beings present were also human. Keeping pace with the guard beside him, he glanced from left to right. Those in the growing crowd all seemed to blur together as he passed them.

Turning off the street, they took a pathway that led under two large stone arches and up the wide staircase, entering a large set of doors that led into what looked to be a perfectly square building made of the same stone as the others he’d seen, but it had no windows. Once inside, they walked the length of a massive hallway that appeared to be made of some sort of marble.

From the outside, the building had not looked as big as it did inside. The foyer they’d entered was wider and longer than seemed possible. And there were many more people present than Eddus would have thought possible. They were coming in and out of doorways that lined one side of the hall. Others congregated outside of a very large door at the end of the hall. The crowd made way as he and the guard approached the large, closed door.

Eddus waited, as instructed, until the door silently opened and he was ushered in.

He stood on a large, white, perfectly square slab of stone that he’d ascended a set of steps to reach. Before him was a panel of three in identical apparel, seated and facing him. His guess was that they were the heads of the guard or held some high position.

The room was large and open. It too was much bigger than seemed possible. The ceiling alone seemed to be higher than the building had looked from the outside. Eddus did his best not to think about the obvious impossibility of the spatial difference, as he had no idea what to expect from the three in front of him.

Behind him was a large crowd of gathered spectators, seated in a sort of gallery, come to watch him being questioned. Evidently, word of his arrival had traveled, as the number of those gathered was much larger than that of the people present when he’d stepped into the pixie-ring. Quickly, he scanned the gallery for any sign of the face he’d come in search of, before turning again to face those in front of the platform on which he stood.

“It is true,” Eddus said to the person who had spoken, listing the charge against him. He hoped that by being honest and answering all the questions asked of him, he could get help in finding Abbi.

There was a pause as the three spoke quietly amongst themselves.

“We’re told that your presence here is under a circumstance that needed to be brought before us.”

The person seated in the middle of the three spoke again. She was small, less than half the height of an average human being, but perfectly proportionate. Her shortly-cut hair was a dark blue and her skin was pale, and she had wings. She looked like a picture from a fairytale book he might have read as a child.

“We’re led to believe that yours is a unique case that would require consideration beyond the usual forms of action that we take to rectify situations in which our realm is disrupted by intruders.”

“I do hope so...” While he didn’t exactly know what actions the speaker was referring to, Eddus could only guess from the reference he’d heard when he arrived, to making him run, and Dain’s comments about handing him over to those who were present when he arrived, that it had something to do with mob justice. “It was mentioned that I would be taken to see the queen.”

“This is where you will present your case so that we can judge whether or not it warrants leniency and decide how to proceed with you.”

For a moment, Eddus stood silently, looking at the three seated beings in front of him, who in turn watched him, almost expectantly. The area was quiet. All that could be heard was the occasional shuffle of feet or an inaudible whisper by someone in the crowd behind him.

“Please, I’m- I don’t know how I am to address you.”

Eddus was careful not to add an apology to his statement for fear that it might anger someone on the panel and hurt whatever chance he may have at the leniency that had been mentioned.

The small faerie was quiet. She regarded Eddus with a serious face for a moment before nodding.

“Beagan. You may address me as such-”

“There are no titles, and there is no need to address anyone here by name. You have only to state your reason for having come here.” The individual speaking sat on the left side of the three. Slightly taller and heavier-built than the faerie next to him, he had no wings. His skin was dark and textured, as though he spent most of his time exposed to sunlight. His ears were long and pointed, drooping to the sides.

Eddus could not venture a guess as to his age based on his appearance. Glancing back and forth between them, he was not sure how to respond.

“I am here in search of a friend of mine. Her name is Abbi. We met some time back.”

“You may indeed know a faerie of the realm,” Beagan commented. “And although interaction between faeries and humans is not common, it does occur.” She paused for a moment, glancing at each of her counterparts. “How long have you and this faerie known one another?”

“She’s a pixie. She said she’s a pixie. And I’ve known her for maybe six months, more or less,” Eddus replied.

“That would be six months in your world.”

The third member of the panel spoke flatly, more of a statement than a question. With pale blue skin and long, straight, black hair, her extremely thin build was accentuated by her perfect posture. She turned her head slightly to regard Eddus with a cool, blank stare.

“I suppose so, yes,” Eddus said, not sure what she meant. He quickly examined the woman who had spoken.

She was the tallest of the three on the panel. From where he stood, it looked as though she could have easily been as tall, if not taller, than himself. She sat with her hands folded on her lap, her bare feet on the floor, not making a move. Except for the colour of her skin, she could easily have been taken for a tall and attractive human, perhaps a swimmer or a runner.

“You’ve come here to find someone whom you literally barely know.”

The speaker’s gaze shifted from Eddus as she turned to regard the other two sitting next to her, murmuring something softly, and receiving their replies, equally as quiet.

Beagan glanced at her colleagues as their conversation came to an end, first one, then the other, and then to Eddus.

“This friend, I take it, you are certain is fae?” she asked. “Otherwise, you would not have entered our realm and risked the consequences thereof.”

“Fae?”

“She is a faerie, is she not?”

“She said she’s a pixie.”

Beagan nodded thoughtfully.

“Abbi said that she might be in trouble, in which case I think that I could be partly to blame. I just wanted to see that she is okay.” Eddus nodded. He was reluctant to mention that Abbi had shown him the inside of the pixie ring. “I just need to know that she is all right. Then I’ll go, and I promise you’ll never see me again.”

“This is not your world, Ed. If this “Abbi” has done something to warrant a punishment here, it has nothing to do with you.” The small faerie stood and approached Eddus, looking up at him. “You may have come into this realm with good intentions, but ultimately, you have broken our laws. These laws were made and agreed to long ago by both the fae and the human race. We will present your case for judgment and pass a ruling. You will be housed in the room you were taken to until such time. I trust that it has not been too unpleasant?”

Eddus looked at her in surprise, to which she gave a questioning look.

“If I am not being too bold,” he said, “I’m being held prisoner, and you ask me if it is unpleasant?”

“There are no prisoners in this realm, Ed. Until the queen’s decision, you may not be able to move about completely freely, but I think you will find your treatment to be much better than that of any prisoner.”

“And after?”

“It is up to the queen’s judgment if you are found guilty or not, and in what way you will be dealt with. But Ed,” Beagan’s expression softened momentarily, “you will never be held prisoner in our realm.”

“I have no complaints about where I am being kept,” Eddus told her. He suspected there was more to what she said about there being no prisoners, something that she deliberately neglected to say.

Beagan gave a slight nod, and Eddus felt something touch his elbow. He turned to see the same guard who had escorted him in.