The Excalibur Principle
By Morpheus
I frowned intensely as I stared at the 'treasure' that sat on the floor
of my cramped apartment. It was an old box... a chest. Age had taken its
toll as all of the metal was covered with rust, including the antique
lock. It had obviously not been opened in decades... perhaps even much
longer.
My mind swirled with curiosity as I considered the hidden treasures that
might lie within, but at the same time, I winced at the amount of money I
had spent on it. Money that I could scarcely afford to waste since my
apartment, food and college tuition required nearly all that I had. Even
with my scholarship and part time job.
"I wonder..." I mused, chiding myself for my lack of control.
Every once in a while I enjoy going to yard sales or auctions, my mind
always filled with thoughts of treasures and antiques that I might be
able to find. Quick ways for me to get more money. Money that could help
me out on my tight budget. However I also sometimes get carried away and
spend a little more than I should, usually for little gain in the long
run. I was afraid that this time would be no different.
Just that morning I had been at an estate sale, auctioning off the
belongings of a very old house that had long since been abandoned. When
the real estate company had started cleaning it up to try selling it,
they had found a bunch of junk in the attic and had decided to get rid of
it by auction. When I heard about it, I hadn't been able to resist.
Especially not when they offered the sealed chest with unknown, and quite
possibly profitable contents. It had only taken nearly all my eating
money for the next 2 weeks... and then some.
"I guess I should open it," I told myself, staring at the chest
apprehensively. "I hope I didn't blow my money for nothing."
After staring at the chest for another few seconds I finally reached for
the hammer and chisel that I kept for just such occasions. A moment later
the rusted lock had broken right off and the chest was cracked open. As
soon as I lifted the lid a strong musty smell assaulted my nose, nearly
making me gag.
"Just great," I grumbled, bending over and looking at the pile of ancient
clothes which were all that I saw on top.
With a grimace I carefully started taking out the clothes and setting
them to the side. Halfway down I found a leather-bound book, though when
I tried prying its pages open, I found that they were partly stuck and
the pages I could see were completely smeared and illegible. Obviously it
had gotten wet at some time in the past. Shrugging, I set it off to the
side as well.
As I got closer to the bottom of the trunk my frown grew deeper and
deeper. I hadn't found anything that was worthwhile at all and it was
really starting to look as if I'd wasted my money. Then I found something
that made me pause. It was a small wooden box, probably a jewelry box.
"All right!" I exclaimed, thinking that maybe I had hit the jackpot.
However when I opened the box, it looked as if it was just stuffed with
cloth. That was, until I picked the cloth up and felt something solid
within. As soon as I'd pulled the cloth back, I was disappointed to just
find that it was just a key. Until I saw the light glint from it... then
my eyes went wide.
Holding the key up, I could see that it was just over 4 inches long, made
of what appeared to be gold and had a slightly swirling pattern along it,
especially where it flared out for the fingers grip and turn. And in the
center of that part, there was a green gemstone that glittered slightly
in the light, nearly making my mouth drool.
"Oh yeah!" I exclaimed triumphantly. I figured that the key must be worth
a bit. At least enough to double what I'd spent on the box and probably a
bit more. All I had to do was get it appraised and then find the right
person to sell it too. After carefully setting the key on my table, I
walked away, quietly singing to myself, "I'm in the money... "
-----
The next day I had just gotten back to my apartment, having just finished
with my classes for the day. After throwing my books and homework into
corner, to be conveniently forgotten for now, I passed by the desk where
I'd hidden the key and pulled it out.
I held the key up to the light and admired it, having already cleaned and
polished it. Now it looked almost as if it was new, and much more
interesting. Its fine swirls and incredible craftsmanship were amazing,
convincing me that I could probably get even more for it than I'd first
guessed. However I still hadn't had a chance to get it appraised so I
didn't know its real value yet.
Still holding the key in my hand I threw myself back in my recliner and
let out a sigh of relief. I sat there, rolling the key around in my hand
and looking at it for awhile. As I did so, I couldn't help but wonder
what it was a key to. Some rich man's liquor cabinet? A woman's jewelry
box? Or maybe it had just been made as some sort of trinket. I didn't
know, but shrugged it off since it wasn't really that important. Whatever
it opened was probably long gone anyway.
After a while I got up and started to put the key back into my desk
drawer until I could get it appraised. However as I passed my closet I
stopped, noticing the knob with the keyhole on the door. I chuckled as my
eyes went to the key, thinking that they looked about the right size.
Then on a whim, I stuck the key into the hole, curious if it would even
fit. To my surprise, it did.
"Cool," I muttered, already carefully turning it, sure that it wouldn't
actually do anything.
But I was even more surprised when it did turn, wondering if it was just
coincidence or if I'd found a skeleton key of some sort. That idea seemed
kind of cool, though unlikely. But then again, finding a gold key was
unlikely as well.
Suddenly, I felt a burning sensation shoot through my hand, almost as if
I'd grabbed hold of a lightning rod. But at the same time it didn't hurt
in the least. Still, I yanked my hand back from the key as fast as I
could, dropping my jaw when I saw that the key was glowing with an eerie
golden light. The same light seemed to come from around the entire closet
door as well.
"Holy shit!" I gasped, staring the glowing key in disbelief. There was no
way that I was seeing what I was seeing. None.
For a long moment I just stood where I was, staring at the door and
feeling all the hairs on my arms standing straight up. But when nothing
else happened, my curiosity started to increase. I slowly moved back
towards the door and cautiously reached out my finger towards the door
knob, being careful not to touch the key.
I was almost surprised when I didn't feel any kind of shock. At least not
until I actually opened the door, then I was more shocked than I'd ever
been in my life. My eyes went wide and I gasped. My closet was gone, and
in its place... in its place was... TREES.
"No way!" I gasped. "I've gotta be dreaming." Somehow though, I already
knew that I wasn't.
Burning up with curiosity I poked my head slightly through and stared in
amazement at the trees and statues that were where my closet should have
been. It was impossible, but it obviously was. As was the eerie golden
colored sky that was above the trees. Instead of a closet, it was more as
if I was looking out the back door into some kind of park.
"How'd that get in there?" I mumbled, knowing that it had been a walk in
closet before but this was ridiculous.
For a long moment I just stood there with my head halfway through my
closet door, then I couldn't resist it any longer. I stepped all the way
through. Almost immediately I realized that I was standing on floor made
of some kind of light colored stone. It went out a bit further then cut
off, being replaced by grass and the trees. Several statues of sort of
creatures that I didn't recognize were scattered about, just before the
cluster of trees.
Turning around I stared at my door, seeing that from this side it was
embedded in a stone wall, made of the same light colored brick as what I
was standing on. The wall curved a bit on both sides and I could see
several other doors just a little further down. Curious I started walking
along the wall, seeing that all of the other doors were made of thick
wood... and locked. As I followed the wall around, coming to the
conclusion that it was just a circle, and a much smaller one than I had
guessed, I counted 7 doors total. 6 of the locked wooden doors... plus
mine. And of course I also found a large arch which showed the way
outside of the circle that I was currently in.
"Weird," I whispered, glancing back towards the cluster of trees which
blocked the view of my closet on the other side. "Very weird."
After several long minutes of deliberation on whether to return to my
apartment, lock the closet door and forget about this or continue to
explore, my curiosity won out again. But then again, there hadn't really
ever been any doubt. I never had been one to turn away from an
adventure... even if I'd never had a chance for one this strange before.
As I walked under the arch I kept having to look up, amazed at whomever
had built that place. It was definitely amazing. However once I was out
of the arch and saw the forest outside of it, I gasped. There were all
sorts of trees, most of them looking a bit odd to me. And they were
splashed with all sorts of colors, not just the green and brown that I'd
expect trees to be. There were even some small ones that seemed to have
blue leafs and big orange fruits that looked sort of like pears.
After a few minutes I was at the edge of the woods, staring at the bushes
and overwhelmed by the strangeness of some of the plant. Whatever else, I
knew that these weren't normal.
"I've died and gone to OZ," I exclaimed.
Suddenly I noticed something moving. I snapped around and saw a flicker
of light, moving among the branches. Then another. They dodged and
swirled around until one of them finally settled down on a tree branch.
Once settled, it wasn't glowing anymore and my eyes shot open even wider
than before, completely unable to believe what I saw. It was a girl. A
tiny girl who couldn't be more than 4 inches tall... with blue hair and
with a pair dragonfly wings on her back.
"Tinkerbell?" I squeaked out.
The tiny figure suddenly snapped around towards me and gasped, then shot
off back into the air like rocket. The other one tore off after her, both
disappearing into the woods and out of my view.
Feeling even more confused than before I shook my head and turned back
around, wanting to get a better view of the stone circle that I had come
out of. However once I looked, it wasn't the circle that caught my eye,
but something beyond it. Something that grew out of the middle of the
trees on the far side, some distance away. Something huge, that was all
pearly white and gleamed in the sunlight. Something that looked like an
awful lot like some sort of city with magnificent towers, though a city
unlike any that I'd ever seen before in my life.
It only took me a minute to decide on my new destination and with that I
started off towards the city... if that was what it really was. I was
dying to get a better look at it.
Fifteen minutes later I was in the trees on the other side of the stone
circle, heading towards the city that I'd seen. Every once in awhile I
was sure that I could see flickers of movement and even hear things. But
whenever I snapped around, there was nobody there. It was really
beginning to get to me but I kept going anyways.
Then as I turned around a tree I was surprised to see someone sitting on
the ground, eating some sort of blue mushroom. He couldn't have been any
more than 3 feet tall and was dressed all in loose brown and green
clothes. He had brown hair, streaked with green, large pointed ears and a
closely trimmed beard. Then he saw me.
Looking surprised, the little man jumped to his feet and started saying
something in a strange musical language that I didn't understand. Then he
stepped back, dropping what was left of his large blue mushroom glaring
at me.
"Where am I?" I asked nervously, hoping he understood English.
Frowning the little man whispered, "A mortal..." Then turned and ran,
disappearing behind another tree. I quickly followed him, but once I got
to where he had vanished, I couldn't find any sign of him, though I did
hear faint voices from around me.
After a minute I started walking again, nervously glancing around me and
muttering, "What the hell is going on around here?" I was strongly
tempted to go back through to my apartment, but as strange as everything
was, it only served to make me even more curious.
Then I continued making my way towards the city that I could still see
glimpses of occasionally through the trees, this time trying to keep my
eyes open in case I saw that short guy again. And before I'd gone much
further, I did see someone... but it sure wasn't that short guy.
A man... at least I thought it was a man, stood in my way. He was just
over 5 feet tall and had golden blonde hair and long pointed ears. His
eyes gleamed violet and his face was perfectly smooth, making him look
like a young teenager or possibly even a girl, though something told me
that he was definitely male. The strange man was dressed in flowing white
robes that seemed to be made out of silk, but with a golden metal
chestplate, belt and arm bands. However it was the fact that he was
holding a long and rather wicked looking spear that caught my attention.
"I come in peace..." I said cautiously, taking a step back and hoping
that he'd point that damn thing somewhere else.
The man snarled viciously and yelled something that I couldn't understand
a word of, though it sounded like the same language that the other guy
had used. And before I had a chance to even consider what I was going to
do, I was startled to see another figure, just an inch or two taller than
him, but dressed just the same, jumping out from behind the bushes. She
had pale green hair, pulled back into an almost impossibly long pony tail
and a spear, nearly identical to the man's in her hand.
I stared at the woman for a moment, amazed at just how beautiful she
looked. But before I could make up my mind as to what pick-up line to use
on her, they both howled and charged straight at me. I didn't hesitate a
moment longer before turning and running as fast as I could, but
unfortunately, they didn't hesitate any before following me.
"Not good," I cried out as I ran back towards the stone ring and the
safety of my apartment. "This ain't good."
Unfortunately I was lost within a minute, but that didn't keep me from
running in the general direction, or at least what I hoped was the right
direction. I wasn't too sure anymore and wasn't about to stop and ask the
guys chasing me if I was on the right track or not.
By the time I came out from the treeline my heart was racing and I was
gasping for breath. Snapping around I saw the ones who'd been chasing me,
bursting out of the bushes, furious expressions on their faces. And at
the same time I saw a little woman with wings, who couldn't have been
more than a foot tall, flying some distance above them, though not
seeming to actively be chasing me.
With a frantic look around I was relieved to see the stone walls of the
ring a short distance away. There was still hope. And as one spear
suddenly hit the ground, less than a foot away from my foot, I went back
to running as fast as I could, praying that I could keep it up long
enough to get back home.
Soon I arrived at the stone wall, feeling relieved, though still not
relieved enough. I'd already been dodging several spears and had the
feeling that they were actually playing with me. This seemed to be
confirmed when I glanced back and saw not 2 but 12 of those people. 6,
all looking identical to the man and 6 looking identical to the green
haired girl.
My eyes went wide and I cried, "Oh shit!" wishing that I hadn't been
stupid enough to leave my apartment.
But then the small army started to spread out and I didn't want to stay
in one place long enough for them get to me, so I started running again
along the wall, hoping that I could find the damn archway to get back
inside. Unfortunately though I already knew that it was on the other side
of the ring.
When I got to the arch and ran through it, I was shocked to see the man
and woman who'd been chasing me already in there ahead of me. The man
stood to the path on my left and the woman to the right. I frantically
stared at one and then the other before looking towards the cluster of
trees, wondering if maybe I might be able to take a short cut through
them.
However I noticed that there was another stone wall between me and the
trees. It was just a little wider than the arched opening in the wall,
perhaps 10 yards long and maybe 7 feet high. There was no way that I'd be
able to get over it in time, but perhaps I could get around it. If I was
lucky. I'd really have to be lucky since the pair were slowly advancing
towards me, getting tired of playing with me I assumed.
"Can't we talk this over?" I asked, nervously moving towards the wall
opposite the arch.
When I was a little closer I was startled to see something gleaming from
the wall. Something shiny. There were strange spidery symbols, seemingly
written in gold... but glowing. And then there was the thing that was
sticking straight out of the wall, jutting out of the very center. It
seemed to be made out of a mix of gold and silvery metal and was
immediately obvious as to what it was. It was a sword of some kind, the
blade embedded straight into the wall, leaving only 4 inches of the blade
below the hilt sticking out.
I snapped around, looking at the man and woman, seeing that all the other
ones that looked identical to them were turning transparent... and then
vanishing until it was only the original two. Then I saw the others. The
small flying woman was sitting on top of the wall with the sword in it
and two other tiny flying people who were even smaller and glowing buzzed
around, staying well out of the way but obviously watching.
"What the hell kind of place is this?" I demanded furiously.
Then as I saw my attackers raise their spears, I suddenly decided that I
wasn't going to go without a fight. As scared as I was, I was even
angrier that they'd attack me for no reason. I barely even thought as I
instinctively grabbed for the only weapon available, yanking the sword
straight out of the wall.
Suddenly my attackers froze, their eyes going wide with shock and even
fear. I stared back at them, still furious and not noticing them stepping
back from me. Then it hit me. A strange warm tingling feeling, shooting
straight up from where my hands gripped the sword hilt and hitting me
like a bolt of lighting.
The strange chattering sounds that I'd been hearing started to become
clearer and I realized that it was the same language that the short man
and my attackers had been using. But to my stunned amazement, I found
myself making out some of the words.
"A mortal..." was said several times, as were, "Impossible," and "Trick."
But I couldn't focus on the words, being too absorbed in the unbelievable
sensations coming from within my own body. I stared down at the sword,
seeing that it was glowing a bright golden, but that I was glowing the
same color. It was coming from underneath my skin, from within me and
ultimately I was sure... from the sword.
Every bit of me seemed to be flooded with raw burning energy and I let
out a howl of pain. Then suddenly I could feel my very flesh moving.
Crawling, not painfully, but feeling extremely odd and uncomfortable. It
was almost as if I were made out of clay and being sculpted by some
invisible hands, which would have terrified me completely had I not been
overwhelmed with shock.
My arms felt tired and I lowered the sword tip to the ground, though I
couldn't quite bring myself to let go of it for some reason. The strange
burning sensation that had filled me, warmed me and I was sure...
transformed me, slowly receded and oddly enough, almost left me missing
it.
I was barely aware that the creatures around me were completely
motionless as I looked down... feeling strangely calm as I did so. In
some ways this almost felt like a dream to me, in spite of the fact that
I knew it wasn't.
"No way..." I gasped upon seeing myself.
It was obvious that my whole body had changed drastically. Had changed
into... a girl. A woman. One hand kept hold of the sword while my other
one hesitantly touched the swellings on my chest. The swellings that I
knew without a doubt were really breasts. My whole body seemed much
thinner and much... much more feminine. My waist was thinner, my hips
wider and my legs seemed longer... and much more shapely. And though I
didn't look at my crotch, I could already feel how different it was and
knew that even down there I was now female.
My eyes traced my arms, which were now hairless and feminine as well. My
fingernails though were not only long and perfectly manicured, but they
looked sort of silvery and glittery at the same time. Even my clothes had
changed. Gone were my jeans and T-shirt, replaced by some sort of creamy
white flowing dress.
I glanced around, whispering, "What the hell is happening to me?" Even my
voice had changed, becoming higher and definitely female.
But as I looked around me, I gasped, noticing strange colors that seemed
to be everywhere. It was as if everything were tinted slightly, much of
it glowing, especially around the creatures... all of whom were, much to
my surprise... on the ground, kneeling towards me.
Then I saw the wall behind me where I'd pulled the sword from and was
startled again to realize that the golden spidery symbols suddenly made
sense to me. It was writing of some sort and amazingly enough... almost
as easy to read as if it was written in English.
"Whomever so pulleth the sword from this wall... " I read aloud in a
quiet and disbelieving voice, "shall be rightwise queen of Faerie."
All around me, I could feel the tension... the shock and awe. But even
so, I didn't spare any of my attention on that. Instead I stood
absolutely frozen, staring in complete disbelief at the wall in front of
me. Specifically, the golden message on the wall.
"What... the... hell..." I gasped out weakly, eyes dodging to the tiny
girl with butterfly wings that sat on top of the wall, staring down at
me.
Stunned I dropped the sword that I'd still been holding on to, turning
around to look at the other people around me. The two somewhat normal
sized pair that had been chasing me were on their knees bowing, as was a
2 and a half foot tall girl with shimmery wings on her back and several
more of the tiny ones.
"Who are you people?" I demanded, trying to hide my confusion. "What did
you do to me?" Somehow, I kept from glancing down and looking at my
drastically changed body... though that didn't keep me from feeling its
alieness.
The woman with the long green ponytail looked up for a moment, frowning
as she did so. Then she stood up, leaving her spear on the ground and
slowly came towards me. "Your Majesty..." the woman said, a strong look
of resentment and something else in her brilliant green eyes. "You... you
pulled the sword." There was strong tone of disbelief in her musical
voice. A voice that, to my surprise, spoke in the same alien musical
language that I'd heard before. But this time I understood it without the
slightest problem.
When I frowned, knowing what the damn message had said, but still
wondering what the hell was going on, the green haired girl frowned and
glanced back at her partner. After a faint nod, he got up and came up to
me as well, bowing deeply before saying "You... you don't know?" It was
more of a statement than a question.
I glanced over at all the Tinkerbell wannabees and noticed that they were
no longer kneeling, but flying all over the place and chattering
excitedly.
"Your Majesty..." the girl said, bowing deeply. "I am called Laevre and
this is Moki." She gestured at her partner but didn't take her eyes off
me. "Any answer you seek awaits your Majesty at the palace." Moki readily
agreed and it only took a minute longer before I'd agreed to go with them
to the palace, to hopefully find out what the hell had happened to me.
A minute later I had gone through the arch once again, this time with two
who'd been chasing me the last time, acting as an escort. One of them had
even picked up that sword that I'd pulled from the wall and carried it
along as if it was the most valuable treasure in the world, which did
seem sort of funny. If my situation hadn't been so damn strange, I might
have laughed at it. Instead I was trying to keep from thinking about how
strange I felt.
After I stepped out of the arch I nearly gasped in surprise and knew that
I definitely would have done even more than that if it hadn't been for
all the other strange things that I'd already seen. Just in front of me,
clearly sticking out from the trees with almost nothing to obscure it,
was the city that I'd seen before. At least I was sure that it had to be
the same one, in spite of the fact that it had been on the other side of
the stone ring before... and some distance further. Now... there was a
shiny stone path that lead straight to it.
"Amazing," I said, staring at the city that was much more visible than
before.
It was too small to be a city but too large to be just a palace. There
was a huge central building and lots of towers and spirals all over the
place as well as bridges from one to another. The whole style was filled
with spirals and curves, looking amazing and something straight out of a
fairy tale. The whole thing was bright and looked like mother of pearly,
shining brightly in the sun. I might not have been an architectural
student, but I was sure that most of that place was physically
impossible. Especially the several platforms that seemed to float in
midair around it.
"Weird," was all I said before I started towards the city with the
others.
Several minutes later I walked through the gates of the gleaming city, my
eyes nearly ready to fall out from all the strange things that I could
see. Everything was alive... filled with motion, energy and colors. There
were creatures all over, most of which looked like my companions. They
looked human in shape but, but most were extremely beautiful and
graceful, not to mention having the pointed ears, odd colored hair and
eyes... and of course the wings. And they came in every size. From about
the same size as me to only several inches tall.
"Oh my," I whispered upon seeing what could only have been a unicorn,
being ridden by a 3 foot tall girl. But that was mild compared to the
other things that I saw.
It didn't take much longer before I was led to the base of the center
building, and much to my surprise watched as Moki walked straight through
the wall. At Laevre's silent urging, I went forward and found myself
going through it as well, almost as if it wasn't even there.
Inside the palace things were just as strange as outside. Some of the
structure seemed to be made of marble, and some other materials that I
didn't recognize. There were gold and silver metals decorating the walls
in places, as well as more of the Tinkerbell girls, flying all over the
place. I saw stairs spiraling upward with no apparent end in sight. Doors
lined the walls of some of the huge rooms, dozens of feet above the floor
and of all sizes. Glowing balls of golden and silvery light floated
around the ceilings, apparently not connected to anything.
Then we stopped in one place, on a golden circle in the middle of one
floor. And before I realized it, the whole thing started to float into
the air, much like an elevator, though there were no walls or ceiling,
nor even anything actually touching it as it lifted. I just stared in
awe, too shocked with everything else that I'd seen to get as overwhelmed
as I would have just a short while earlier.
After we'd gone up an incredible distance, through a hole in the distant
ceiling, the disk stopped, becoming part of the new floor we were on.
"Second floor..." I mumbled under my breath, "fairy tales and
Tinkerbells."
Laevre ran ahead, her long hair whipping out behind her, and then she
came back a minute later, bowed and said, "This way your Majesty." I
frowned, still feeling confused, but going where she directed. For the
moment at least. One way or another though, I was determined to get some
answers.
Just moments later we all arrived at a huge pair of double doors. Laevre
bowed again and then opened one of them up. Several of the small winged
girls flew out at rapid speed, one of them being about 4 inches long with
purple hair while another one was closer to 6 inches and had short pink
hair.
"Your chambers," Laevre told me, gesturing for me to go inside. I frowned
but went in, the others coming behind me.
The bedroom was absolutely amazing. It was huge. Bigger than my own
apartment, and from what I could see, it even had several levels and
other rooms. The one we were in at the moment was more of a living room
type setting I guessed, with a huge window that looked down at the city
below. I gulped after glancing out, sure that we hadn't come up that high
with the elevator, but it sure looked it.
Moki gently set the sword that I'll pulled out of that damn wall onto a
table and then backed away, bowing as he did so. I could still feel his
wariness and some resentment, which made me feel even more defensive, but
oddly enough, I thought I could sense some sort of pride and relief from
him as well.
"Now what the hell is going on?" I demanded, surprising even myself with
the sharp edge in my voice. The other's all stepped back nervously while
I continued, "Why am I like THIS?" I gestured down at my body. "Why do I
suddenly look like a girl and how do I get back to normal?"
Moki and Laevre gasped and glanced nervously at each other. "We are but
humble guards your Majesty," Laevre answered quietly. "But we've already
sent for someone to answer all of your questions."
A few seconds later Laevre and Moki left the room, closing the door
behind them. Even all the of the tiny flying girls seemed to have
disappeared, though I wasn't completely sure with the way things were
going. After several minutes looking around the room and trying not to
look at or even acknowledge my own body, I decided that I had to see. I
didn't want to admit it, but I was burning up with curiosity. I HAD to
look.
"Now if I can find a mirror," I mumbled, glancing down at myself and
nervously poking my breasts. When I looked up, I was somewhat startled to
see a huge mirror against the wall, where I was sure there hadn't been
one minutes before. "Curiouser and curiouser," I exclaimed, gulping as I
moved towards the mirror.
As soon as I was in front of the mirror I turned and gasped out, "No
fucking way!" I froze solid, staring in complete disbelief. There was no
way that was me. None.
The woman in the mirror was gorgeous, though I noted that she could have
been a bit more stacked up top. She... I... had a very shapely figure
that I could see through the white dress that I was wearing, however, it
wasn't voluptuous. Instead, I was more slender and graceful looking. My
eyes shot to the long silvery white hair that streamed down to my waist
and my hand instinctively followed, touching a lock of what had to be the
smoothest and softest hair that I'd ever imagined possible.
"No..." I whispered, staring into my face. It was stunningly beautiful.
Very fine... almost delicate looking with high cheekbones, arched
eyebrows and somewhat pale skin. Elven was the word that I'd have to use,
though at the same time... it seemed a strong face. A face, made even
more strange by the long pointed ears that I now possessed.
And my eyes... I stared in amazement at my own eyes. They were silvery,
with flecks of gold and a little larger than they should have been. They
were not the eyes of any person that I'd ever seen before.
"What am I..." I squeaked, one hand gong to my tits and one between my
legs. As far as they all told me, I was definitely female.
Then realizing how strong and graceful I felt, I stretched out my arms,
trying out all of my new muscles. Suddenly I froze as something else
caught my notice in the mirror. A huge pair of glittery transparent wings
stretched out from my back, looking something like those that would be on
a butterfly, but not quite. They looked grander and much more
magnificent.
After a moment of just staring at my wings and then turning to look at
them directly... to prove that they weren't just an illusion, I was
amazed. Then I carefully reached out a hand and touched one of them,
finding that it was soft and felt very nice. With a few moments more I
realized that they were nowhere near as delicate as they looked and very
flexible.
I examined my wings for a little while, even finding that I could move
and flap them a little, just by willing it. It was almost as easily as if
they were my arms. Then I relaxed and let them go back, folding up almost
automatically and draping down my back, looking almost as if they were
some sort of cape.
Turning away from the mirror I touched my breasts and moved towards the
table where Moki had put the sword. I stared at it, at the slender silver
and gold blade, admiring how fantastic it looked, though feeling rather
wary of it as well since I was sure it had been what had changed me. Then
with an idea that it might be able to change me back as well, I picked it
up again.
When nothing happened, I cursed, "Damn!"
For a long moment, I just held the sword, amazed at just how light it
felt in my hand, barely weighing anything at all. I'd noticed that before
when I'd first pulled it out of the wall, but I had been a little too
preoccupied to think about it. With an experimental swing of the blade, I
nearly let out an impressed whistle. It felt so smooth and easy in my
hand.
Then suddenly I heard an, "Ahem."
Snapping around I saw a man, standing just in front of the heavy doors.
He had the fine features and pointed ears that I'd noticed on everyone
else, myself included. A long white beard grew from his face, though the
rest of his head was bald. He stared at me with strange piercing blue
eyes... then bowed.
"A fine blade... your Majesty." Then the old man stepped forward and
said, "However I believe that you have many questions... which is quite
understandable from what I've been told." He shook his head and stared at
me. "A mortal..."
"Who are you?" I demanded, trying to keep calm and stay at least somewhat
polite.
"I am called is Safron," he stated. He stared at me for a long moment,
his eyes seeming to look straight into my soul and I had a faint
suspicion that I'd been found wanting. Then he continued, asking me
several questions about how I'd gotten there and found the sword. He
frowned at my answers before saying, "I do not suppose that you are
familiar with our history?"
After I shook my head, Safron continued in a tone that reminded me a lot
of one of my professors. "We are the people of Faerie, referred to by
your... by mortals with many different names. Once... we too originated
in the mortal world and watched as the mortals increased in numbers and
power... taking out lands from us and driving us away with their
poisonous iron." There was a sadness in his eyes at that.
"Oh," was all I said for the moment.
Without seeming to notice my interruption Safron continued. "When this
first began, our wisest and most powerful mages all worked to put our
homeland beyond the reach of mortals. To elevate it to another plane of
existence where we would be safe. However a great many of our kind
continued to live in the mortal realm, alongside mortals. And on rare
occasions, a mortal would be honored with a visit to our home."
"I've heard legends about Fairies," I commented, though I'd never thought
that they might possibly be real.
Safron nodded vaguely. "But centuries ago a tragedy struck the people of
Faerie. Our queen was struck down... murdered by one of our own." Safron
looked sad. "Our last queen had no heirs and the nobility were soon on
the brink of civil war. A war, which would have destroyed us all."
I gulped, feeling the pain that came from Safron. "Our traditions
dictated that all Faerie return home until the new Queen had been chosen.
Any war would have put the lives of every Faerie in danger as well as
destroyed our homeland. Then we settled upon a solution. We would use the
Excalibur Principle."
"Excalibur Principle?" I demanded, looking down at the sword that was
still in my hand and then carefully setting it back on the table.
"A magical method of selection," Safron stated, "made famous by some
mortal king." He paused for a moment and absently ran a hand over his
beard before continuing. "A sword was imbued with magics, binding it to
the very essence of our homeland and then embedded within a wall."
"And whomever pulled it out gets made queen," I snarled, already knowing
that part, "But you said that happened centuries ago..."
Safron nodded. "Indeed. The land itself was to choose our next queen for
only the one chosen would be allowed to draw the sword. Each of our
nobles believed that they alone had the greatest right, so quickly agreed
to this compromise. However..." Safron looked down at the ground, "much
to all of our surprise, none of the noble women were able to draw it."
For the next several minutes Safron told me about how all 7 doors to the
Faerie realm were shut and locked, sealing their homeland until their new
Queen could be chosen. After the noble women had all failed, then tried
again several more times, others were finally allowed to try.
"Every girl Faerie in the realm tried to draw the sword," Safron
continued, "though none were able. Eventually, even all of the males
tried it. But the sword would not come out. We were without a queen and
bound to remain here until one was found." Then Safron bowed deeply to
me, adding, "Until your Majesty came."
I gulped, trying to remain calm and think about things logically, which
certainly wasn't easy since I looked like something out of a fairy tale.
"Why me?" I cried out with more emotion than I intended. "I'm not even a
Faerie." Then I gestured down at my body and grimaced, "Why did this
happen to ME?"
"I do not know why you were selected to be queen," Safron answered
quietly. "It surprises all of us as well, I can assure you of that. You
were not only male, but mortal as well. It is unheard of."
"No shit!" I sneered, seeing Safron wince at that.
"It is possible that one of your ancestors might have been a changeling,"
he suggested, though his tone seemed skeptical. "Several have been lost
in times past... though I know of none that were royal." After a moment's
pause, he muttered, "Or a bastard."
I took a deep breath and asked, "Why a queen?" I refused to stare down as
I demanded, "Why not a king?"
"But we have always been ruled by a queen," Safron answered, sounding a
little surprised.
"Well I don't want to be your queen," I snapped, beginning to get furious
again. "Change me back to normal and I'll go home."
This seemed to surprise Safron even more. "You... you do not wish to be
Queen?" His eyes went wide and he exclaimed, "But your Majesty... you
have been selected. The land is alive with our magics... and it has
chosen you. The very act of pulling the sword was your coronation and
bonded you to the land itself, giving you a form appropriate to your
position." Then Safron paused and stated in a very firm tone, "There is
no undoing what has been done your Majesty."
For a long moment I just stood there, a numbness replacing my anger.
Feeling a little uncomfortable, I sat down in a chair while Safron
continued to stand there, looking a little concerned. But whether it was
for me, himself or all of Faerie... I didn't know.
After waiting a short while Safron bowed. "With your Majesty's leave... I
shall depart, but will return shall you have any further questions." And
with that Safron turned and left, leaving me alone with my confused
thoughts.
For the next half our or so I sat in the chair, staring out the windows
at the city below me. It was filled with alien sights... but unbelievably
beautiful ones. Every once in a while someone or something would fly
past, close enough for me to get a glimpse of. There was such a sense of
wonder and magic that I couldn't believe it. Then I'd glance at myself,
becoming even more amazed at the realization that I was now a part of it,
willing or not.
Then I suddenly felt something in my head, on the very edge of my
consciousness. I looked up and noticed that there were two lights flying
into the room, one blue and one pink. Both settled down on the table in
front of me, revealing two very small but beautiful girls.
The first was about 5 inches tall and had blue hair and blue tinged
wings. A small pair of what seemed to be antenna came from her forehead
and she was completely naked except for the blue stripes that covered her
skin. Whether they were tattoos, natural markings or painted on... I
didn't have a clue.
The other girl was one that I'd seen earlier, being about 5 inches tall
and with short pink hair. However I was a little startled when I got a
closer look at her and saw the was wearing what seemed to be a small
black mini-skirt and thigh length stiletto heeled boots and a very skimpy
black tube top.
"Your Majesty..." the blue haired girl said, bowing, "I am Myst... your
handmaiden until you select another."
Then the pink haired girl stepped forward and shocked me with a sudden,
"WASSSSUUUP?"
"What?" I gasped, stunned at the sight of a Tinkerbell wannabee that
looked and acted nothing like what I would have expected.
"Hiya," the pink haired girl announced, "if ya need anything... I'm your
girl. The name's Tryx."
"Um... " I stared at them both, unsure of what to say so settling on,
"Hi." They both smiled at that though Myst looked a little nervous. Even
while glaring quickly at Tryx then looking back to me with a forced
smile. "You're supposed to... help me?" I asked, feeling rather
uncomfortable with the idea of having servants, though not nearly as
uncomfortable as with everything else.
"Yes your Majesty," Myst answered eagerly. "It is our honor to serve
you... as long as you will have us."
Tryx nodded agreement. "Yep."
"Well... " I said after thinking about it for a minute, "I really don't
need anything right now." It was hard to believe that I was talking to a
couple of living Barbie dolls, much less having them talk back to me.
Then with a quick bow, and a request to call if I needed anything, Myst
suddenly shot towards the door and vanished the little bit that was
cracked open. Tryx however continued to stand on the table, watching me
curiously. I stared back for a moment before my curiosity seized me
again.
"You're a bit surprising," I commented carefully. "Where the hell did you
learn about that stuff? I thought that no one was able to leave this
place?"
Tryx giggled. "Just because we couldn't go to the mortal world doesn't
mean that we can't watch it." She gave me a wink as she added,
"Especially the TV." Then Tryx sat down and dangled her legs over the
edge of the table, swinging them back and forth as she folder her wings
back. "Some of us like to watch the mortal world. It looks SO cool."
I couldn't resist chuckling at the image in front of me. "Sometimes it
is," I told her, "but this place really looks interesting."
"I guess," Tryx responded with a halfhearted shrug. "But I've been here
my whole life." Then she suddenly straightened up and gave me another
look. "Wow!" she whispered. "You really came from there didn't you? They
said you were a mortal... but..." Then she repeated, "Wow," again.
After a moment of silence Tryx started talking again, asking me all sort
of questions about my world. I frowned at first, but once I started to
answer her, I got a bit more enthusiastic. Especially when I was able to
ask her about this place, learning quite a bit about it from her. And the
more I learned, the more amazed I became.
It seems that the Faerie have something of a hierarchy and caste system,
based mostly on size. The bigger a Faerie, the higher rank they had.
However there were other factors as well, such as age, bloodlines and
strength of magic.
According to Tryx every Faerie has magic, though the bigger a Faerie the
stronger their magic usually was. I guessed that this was one of the
reasons that size played such an important part, though she assured me
that it certainly wasn't in all cases. Just most. I also learned that
though Faeries had magic; most of it was relatively weak in actually
doing things other than creating illusions. But whereas a large number
could create illusions, there were only a handful that could do those
kind of things for real.
She also told me that nearly every Faerie possesses wings... which I'd
already seen for the most part. However it took proportionately less
magic for the smaller Faerie to actually fly with their wings, resulting
in most of the Faerie over 3 feet tall, not bothering to fly much at
all... if ever. There were only several small clans that did not have
wings, and from her descriptions of them, I guessed that they'd be
something like Leprechauns or Brownies. Nearly every member of those
clans were males for some reason.
I was surprised to find out that females outnumbered the males, almost 4
to 1, which would have made me much happier before my change, but now...
now it only reminded me that I wasn't quite myself anymore.
After we had finished talking I was even more amazed than before. Tryx
got up to her feet and grinned at me, saying, "You know your Majesty...
you are da bomb!" Then she giggled before flying away, not even bothering
to bow. I just watched her go, smiling slightly and deciding that she
might have been pretty strange... but I definitely liked her.
It didn't take me long before I was tired of exploring my bedroom
chambers. Even if they were 10 times larger than my old apartment and
1000 times more grand, they were still nothing compared to what I knew
was outside.
Once Myst and Tryx returned I spent several hours wandering through the
palace with them escorting me, amazed at all the stunningly beautiful
things around me. At the architecture which was like something pulled
straight out of a dream... breaking nearly every law of physics.
Everywhere I went I was aware of the creatures... people who watched me.
All of them Faerie, varying in size from several inches to about my
height. All of their eyes following me with curiosity, fascination and
questions. I could see the resentment and disbelief in some as well as
the excitement and cheerfulness of others. And as I went past I could
hear the faint whispers... echoing the emotions that I'd seen on their
faces. However the one thing that was constant was that they were all
VERY polite to my face.
There was one thing else that I quickly learned which both Safron and
Tryx had forgotten to mention. Namely that clothing was considered to be
entirely optional. I saw Faerie in some of the grandest, strangest and
most colorful clothes imaginable, but I saw just as many that were naked
or nearly so. Even after seeing Myst and some of the others on my way in,
I was still a little surprised at this.
The sight of so many naked women brought a faint smile to my face, then a
much deeper frown when I once again remembered that I was no longer in
any shape to do anything with them. At least not the way that I would
have liked.
After I'd seen a large amount of the palace, though by no means all of
it, Myst led me into a huge hall, filled with long tables of nearly every
size, each overloaded with foods of all sorts. Faerie of all sizes
crowded the room, standing and sitting about, chattering madly. However
the moment I came in, silence suddenly filled the room as all eyes turned
towards me.
"This way your Majesty," Safron said, appearing next to me. He gestured
and led me towards one end of the room, though it was immediately obvious
which chair was to be mine. The tall one that was at the end of one
table, looking quite different and much more elegant than any of the
others. After I'd sat in the chair Safron whispered, "They are waiting
for you to seat them your Majesty." It was only then that I noticed that
everyone was standing.
"Please sit down," I said, feeling myself blush with embarrassment. I
couldn't believe that they expected me to be their leader... much less
their queen.
Several of the small ones... pixie's I guess, quickly filled my plate and
brought me a crystal cup, filled with a thick golden colored liquid.
Strange fruits filled my place, as did some sort of meat that I couldn't
quite identify. I only hesitated a moment before I took my first
tentative bite of a blue fruit that resembled golf ball sized cherry.
"It's good," I muttered, licking my lips in surprise. Good was actually
an understatement since the unfamiliar fruit was actually incredibly
delicious.
"Mridivan berries," I heard a voice behind me whisper. When I glanced
back I saw Tryx, sitting on the back of my chair with her feet dangling
down. What looked like a tiny chicken drumstick was clenched firmly in
her hand. "Try the roast alicorn," she suggested, gesturing to a
delicious smelling piece of meat on my plate. "It's a delicacy."
I smiled, feeling a little relieved that she had stayed close by me,
though I wasn't sure why. Safron was sitting in the seat next to me and
trying to be helpful, but he seemed a little too... professional.
Looking around I noticed that I got the same mixed reactions as I had
before. But in the tables closest to me I noticed that most of them were
about my size and dressed rather sort of fancy. They were the ones whom I
noticed the harshest looks coming from, though they obviously tried to
hide it. It didn't take me long to figure out that they had to be the
nobles. The ones who'd expected to have one of their own as queen. No
wonder they took such an instant dislike to me... even if it wasn't my
fault.
As I slowly ate Tryx sat over my shoulder, cheerfully pointing out people
and telling me a little about them. She kept having to pause though as
she burst into a small fit of giggles.
Tryx pointed at a about the same size as her who perched on a wine glass,
saying, "Mebli Marx once got stuck in a bottle and had to trick a mortal
into letting her out by promising him a wish." She giggled as she added,
"But she didn't have that kind of power so just used illusion to make him
think that his wish was granted, then took off. It was a bit before my
time, but I hear that he was ran out of town when he tried to spend a
bunch of rocks."
"And Klaer..." she gestured towards a human sized woman with solid black
hair, "she once..." Tryx whispered the rest into my ear and I had to
struggle not to laugh along with her.
Several times during the meal people came up to me, bowed and introduced
themselves. One was a gorgeous girl about 2 feet tall, another was a
friendly noble who was several inches short of me and the last was a girl
with green skin and white hair, standing 8 inches tall at the most. The
rest of the people however said polite hello's, but remained somewhat
distance and nervous of me, which almost amused me since I was the one
who was surrounded by alien creatures.
Dinner lasted a lot longer than I was used to, something made worse by
the fact that I felt nervous around all of the people who obviously
resented me. Of course not all of them did. In fact a great number smiled
at me every time they looked my way. I wasn't sure if they had heard
where I'd come from yet, but I suspected they had the way the rumors had
been flying. The only things that made dinner bearable were the
unbelievably great food... and Tryx's company.
Once dinner was finally over, to my relief, I returned to bedroom that
they'd given me, feeling very full. I only hoped that I wouldn't have to
do that many more times before I could get back to normal, because in
spite of what Safron told me, I knew... or at least hoped that there was.
After another long talk with Tryx in my room she eventually left, leaving
me alone once again. Alone with the one thing that had begun to scare me
more than all the strange creatures that filled this alien place...
myself. My transformed body.
For a long time I just stood in front of the mirror, staring at myself.
Trying to convince myself that it wasn't real. That I was just having
some sort of strange dream that I would eventually wake up from. But I
knew that I wasn't and no amount of wishing would make it otherwise.
My eyes quickly darted to the sword then back to the mirror, where they
remained. As much as it embarrassed me, made me blush to even consider
it, I was also becoming more and more curious about myself. About what
I'd turned in to. And about what I looked like naked. At the same time I
silently cursed my curiosity, knowing that it was responsible for my
change in the first place. If I hadn't let my curiosity control me, I
would still have been safe in my apartment.
"Well..." I said, forcing a weak smile, "at least I'm not a cat."
And with that I started to remove the new clothes that had mysteriously
appeared on my body at the same time I was changed. However I was
completely shocked when just as I pulled on the fabric, it melted away.
Fading and vanishing, almost as if it was made of nothing more than
smoke.
"What the hell?" I exclaimed in surprise, and then caught myself. "Damn
magic," I grumbled, knowing that I'd never get used to the stuff. I might
not know how my clothes had suddenly disappeared, but I had to admit that
it was kind of cool.
However I quickly forgot the clothes as I noticed myself in the mirror.
My whole body was as pale as my face, though my complexion seemed to be
absolutely flawless. Seemed to be without a single hair below my neck. I
ran a hand over my skin and was amazed at how smooth and soft it felt to
my touch. Nearly like silk. The boobs... my boobs... seemed to be around
a B cup, though I wasn't any real judge of size. They seemed just a
little bit small, but very pert and upturned a little.
After several minutes of examination, I admitted, "Not bad." Though I
added a silent 'in my girlfriend' to the end. My body was slender...
almost willowy, though certainly not without curves... and extremely
attractive in an exotic sort of way. But then again, I'd already seen
that, even if not in that much detail. If I had a girl that looked like
me, I wouldn't hesitate a moment to screw her. "Too bad I don't though."
Then bending over and finding to my amazement that I was now MUCH more
flexible than I used to be, I looked at my crotch and tried to keep some
kind of clinical detachment while I examined it. It certainly wasn't easy
since I was getting both nervous and turned on at the same time. After
all it wasn't some girlfriend's slit that I was looking at, but my own.
And as far as I could tell, other than being completely hairless, it
looked like a normal female vagina.
Shaking my head faintly, I whispered, "God this is weird."
I carefully ran my fingertip against my delicate folds and gasped in
surprise at how sensitive I was. And how wet I was quickly getting. My
fingertip was covered with the fluid and I pulled it up to my nose to
sniff, then quickly licking it with my tongue. I was surprised to find
how sweet I tasted. Almost like some sort of honey, which I knew for a
fact wasn't normal. At least not with humans.
"But... " I gulped, glancing back at my wings as I stretched them out,
"I'm not human anymore."
That idea struck me seriously for the first time. Up until then, I'd been
thinking about how strange it was to have been turned into a girl... not
about being turned into some sort of alien creature. Or fairy tale
creature as the case was. That made changing my sex seem a little less
strange in comparison, though not too much.
After sitting in thoughtful silence for several moments, I pushed those
thoughts to the back of my mind, becoming even more curious about what it
was that I'd become. I returned to my self examination, finding that I
hadn't gotten any less wet but that I was definitely feeling even more
aroused. Even my tits... breasts felt super charged and sensitive. In
fact my whole body did to some degree, which was a hell of a lot
different from usual. It didn't take more than a few more minutes before
I found my bed and began to rub at my crotch and breasts in earnest.
"Shit that feels good," I moaned to myself in the middle of my
masturbation, just moments before I was too overwhelmed with pleasure to
speak. Just before I suddenly exploded into the most unbelievably intense
orgasm that I'd ever experienced, greater than any that I'd even imagined
possible.
Wave after wave of intense ecstasy pulsed through my entire body...
through every fiber of my being, making me scream out passionately. I
stared up at the distant ceiling and smiled in a dazed way, amused at the
swirls of light and color that floated above me. I continued to remain
where I was for a long time, delighting in the afterglow of my explosive
pleasure and staring at the bright colors. Eventually though, both faded
away.
"Oh man that was good," I told myself with a deeply satisfied sigh,
sitting up from the bed and licking my fingers with a smile. "I've got to
do that again."
I waited a full 3 minutes before I began all over again. When I finally
went to sleep in my supremely comfortable new bed, it was with a very
wide smile on my face.
-----
The next afternoon I found myself walking down a wide corridor in the
palace, feeling extremely nervous. I couldn't help but glancing around me
as we walked, then tried to look unimpressed so that I wouldn't look like
such a complete fool. Or at least not so much as I felt at the moment.
Myst and Tryx flew several feet behind me, just above each of my
shoulders. Safron was walking to my right, just two steps behind me and
several other smaller Faerie were even further behind us. And walking as
an armed escort in front of us, were Laevre and Moki, each holding spears
in their hands. However their being armed seemed sort of pointless to me
since there weren't even any other people in the halls besides the ones
that were with me.
As we passed through a section of the hall where mirrors covered both
walls as well as the ceiling and floor, I couldn't help but seeing myself
reflected in them. I was wearing a long silvery white dress that trailed
the ground behind me, trimmed with a thin and unbelievably elegant gold
metal belt.
Myst had talked me into wearing them when she and Tryx had arrived to
dress me earlier that morning. Of course it had helped her case that she
was upset from finding out that I'd undressed myself the night before
rather than calling for her or Tryx and I didn't want to see her pouting
anymore.
"We are nearly there your Majesty," Safron told me politely. In his hands
he was carrying the sword that I'd pulled out of the wall, though it was
all wrapped up in some kind of blue silk.
A minute later we arrived at a pair of heavy doors which opened on their
own, with no one touching them. Safron and the others didn't hesitate
before going in and I had little choice but to go in with them. As soon
as we were inside my eyes shot wide open.
"Pretty cool..." Tryx whispered in my ear, "Isn't it?" I could only nod
faintly in response.
The room was huge, with walls that looked somewhat like marble but
glistening with an inborn light. They were even covered with long streams
of ivy that shot up it, occasionally even moving. There were several
pillars going up along the walls, but it was towards the top that truly
inspired my awe. The arches that went to support the ceiling shifted and
became tree branches instead. There was no ceiling, merely green, silver
and gold leafs that came from sprouting branches, revealing a star filled
night sky above.
After a faint nudge from Myst I returned my attention to the rest of the
room. The floor was a flowing white marble that actually seemed to move
faintly like water out of the corner of my eye. There were designs in
gold and silver, etched through it, though I wasn't able to really make
them out. Then I felt another nudge from Myst, this time more insistent.
"Oh my," I whispered, seeing that the room wasn't at all empty either.
I'd been too distracted by the rooms interior to truly notice all of the
Faerie that were in it. A great many of them were nearly my size. Nobles.
Safron coughed slightly to gain my attention, then let me towards a
slightly raised platform. However it was the throne on the platform that
drew my attention. It was made of what looked like gold, though it seemed
brighter... nearly glowing and green leafy vines decorated its sides.
I stopped just in front of the throne and turned towards the waiting
Faerie, feeling every pair of eyes on me though fortunately the
whispering had stopped. This was it. What Safron and the others had told
me about that morning. I was to finally be presented to the Faerie
kingdom and officially introduced as their queen.
"Don't look so gloomy," Tryx advised into my ear in a whisper. "Smile."
Suddenly Safron stepped forward and held the sword outstretched in his
hands for the room to see. "Behold Faerie... the sword of selection has
been drawn from its wall. Behold Faerie... " Safron stepped back and
dropped to his knee, holding the sword hilt up towards me. "Our new
queen."
I forced a smile as I took the sword from Safron, seeing it glow slightly
as I did so, then held it above my head for them all to see while the
sword glowed even brighter. I felt somewhat foolish as I did so... but
oddly... excited. I could feel them all staring at me and tried to look
as confident as I could. I didn't want to be a woman, a Faerie or a
queen, but at the moment I didn't have any choice in any of it.
Then I stood there where I was, trying to look confident and queenly like
Safron had directed me to earlier. One by one, Moki, Laevre and the other
Faerie who'd witnessed me pulled the sword out of the wall all came
forward, announced that they had indeed watched me pull the sword, though
none made mention of my change. Then they each bowed before me,
proclaiming their loyalty. Only after I had accepted it did they again
rise to their feet and step off to the side.
However I was surprised when one man... one of the nobles suddenly
stepped in front of the platform and snarled, "IMPOSTER! This is naught
but trickery."
He was several inches shorter than me but looked very athletic. None of
the Faerie seemed to be buff, but he seemed to be more so than any of the
other Faerie that I'd seen. His white hair was shoulder length, having a
single green streak right in front. The Faerie snarled at me and suddenly
drew his sword, a long and slender looking blade that I didn't doubt was
very deadly in his hands.
"Look out Majesty..." Myst whispered fearfully from one side.
Then Daeden loudly announced, "She is an impostor, not even one of us. We
all know that she is but a mortal." The word 'mortal' was spat out as if
it was vile. He glared at me before adding, "Ours is a long and glorious
race, that I for one shall not allow to be defiled. I would rather perish
than follow one such as her." After pointing his sword straight at me in
an obvious challenge, he growled, "I challenge thee foul impostor!"
For a moment I just glared back at Daeden, beginning to get more than a
little pissed off. First I get chased and threatened, then lose my own
body. Now this bastard was insulting me and I wasn't one to back down
from a fight... especially when I had a lot of repressed anger to let
out.
"You're on," I snarled, feeling confident for the first time since I'd
found myself in that strange world. "Besides..." I whispered to myself
smugly, holding my own sword out, "I have a magic sword."
"But so does he," I heard Tryx exclaim from behind me, the worry obvious
in her voice.
Safron