The Princess sat in the Parliament of the Bright Court, as the Fey conferred on the best way to end their war with the Unseelie Court of Netherhill. The meeting had gone on for over an hour.
The dryad had found a gemstone from the beggar’s box, glittering with an evil light, tucked away in the sleeve of the Princess’s blouse. That was how the Fey knew she was there before rescuing her from the Land Kelpie. Its light had died, the stone now useless to finding her. Only sight or other ordinary senses could pick up her presence. The Princess politely refused all offers of food or drink, as she knew something of Faerie, and was aware that she would be bound to this land forever by partaking of sustenance, never to return to the mortal world.
Parliament was waiting for the High Queen Andromeda to attend and preside over the meeting, when a visibly flustered gnome, who announced,“The High Queen has been taken from us by trickery! She is gone from her chambers and cannot be found!” The wizened gnome seemed shaken, his voluminous beard reaching nearly to his knees, his spectacles slightly askew, and his belt was loaded with a collection of tools and instruments that had clearly seen better days. His blue felt cap topped his balding head. He looked as though he was a survivor of one too many incidences of exploding or malfunctioning widgets in some out of the way laboratory.
“I will go to find her.” The Princess volunteered. “As the only mortal in this room, and with the gem removed, the Unseelie will be unable to find me by enchantment or charm.” Parliament was silent momentarily, then a faun about two rows of seats to the left of her said,“If you do this, we shall be in your debt, human.” “We will help you get there!” Piped a group of kobolds, their high-pitched voices almost comical, though the Princess refrained from laughing or otherwise showing amusement.
“Let’s do this then. There’s no telling what those fiends are doing to her while she’s in their hands!” The gnome had gathered his wits, and now looked much more collected than a moment ago. “I have just the means of getting us there! Tell me, O Princess, have you ever travelled by airship before?”
To be continued
Troy David Loy ©2017
Troy David Loy is an eternal student, a writer, and blogger owned by two cats, Ricky and Eccles. He is co-author with Miss Sharmishtha Basu of two published books, and solo author of three books on Amazon for Kindle, with a fourth book on the way.
He lives with his family and values his friends, family, and the flourishing and the well-being of his species in dangerous times.
He seeks one overarching goal: to help make the world a better place in his own tiny, drop-in the- ocean way, one piece of fractal artwork, essay, or story at a time. He battles the Forces of Darkness™ from his secret volcano lair in Virginia as Troythulu while his eldritch tentacled servitors from beyond time and space keep the lab in good condition.
He may be found online at:
https://kestalusrealm.wordpress.com
https://troythulu.blogspot.com
on Tumblr at https://troythulu.tumblr.com
and on Twitter, @Troythulu
His Amazon author page is at: https://www.amazon.com/author/troyloy
waiting for the full story!
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