Princess Avalon of Honey Falls (currently incomplete)

Prince Atlas

"What are you doing here?" I ask him.

"Um, I was told to get my brother." he isn't making eye contact so I know he's lying.

"You're lying," I state.

His shoulders slump, "How'd you know?"

"The lack of eye contact, you sneakily climbing over the wall instead of using the front doors, and your brother left mere minutes ago, right before I came out here."

He stands slack-jawed, unable to speak.

I stare him down but am distracted by a sudden outburst of growling from where the gnomes should be.

We both swing our heads in that direction and sure enough, the two gnomes who were just stumbling around after the fall are now wrestling and beating each other on the head with their hats.

"One moment," I say, holding up a finger and standing up to go separate the gnomes.

I make sure to stomp my feet so they are startled by the sudden vibrations and they jump apart right as I seize them by their necks and hold them up in the air.

I set them on a rock covered in moss by the area where the fairies fly around who are currently nowhere to be seen, set my hands on my hips, and bend down to their height.

"Now. You two," I say, pointing at them, "are going to sort out your differences. Understand?"

They both nod and shake each other's hands and then jump off the rock and skip hand in hand over to their dirt hole.

When they disappear, I turn back to Atlas with a grim expression.

"What, was that?" he asks, bewildered.

"Classic gnome fight. Their arms are too short to punch each other, so they resort to beating each other with their hats. Pretty clever, actually."

"We don't have gnomes in our garden."

"What do you have? Fairies?"

"Yes, and they are brutal at times, too much fairy dust." he scoffs swiping a small sprinkle of the glittering dust off his clothed shoulder.

"We have the same problem." I groan in annoyance.

"I feel you," his face sympathetic.

Folding my arms, I change the subject, "Now tell me why you're really here."

His face turns red and he struggles to form a full sentence so I save him the humiliation, "Just needed an escape?"

"Basically." he scuffs his shoe-tip against the grass.

"Thats fair. I had a disagreement with my family so I was sent out here for a while."

"Ah. That's what I was going to ask you next, for the reason you're out here. Do you mind if I stay for a bit?"

"Not at all," I sweep my dress beneath my legs and sit back beneath the tree and he sits next to me.

We sit in silence for a few moments listening to the rustling leaves as a gentle breeze flies past.

"Are you happy with your life?" he asks me suddenly.

"Usually. Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering."

"Are you happy with yours?" I ask, scooting the tiniest bit closer.

He leans farther back against the tree, the long soft branches of the willow tree floating around in the breeze.