Love at First Sight

Chapter 34

The next day on the warm side Clarion was in her room drawing Milori again and enjoying one of her rare free Wednesday afternoons when there was a knock at the door. She quickly shut her sketchbook, set it on the bed next to her, and said

"Come in," Mary burst in a hurry and said

"Clair, we have a big problem!"

"What now? Has Tink brought back more lost things from the beach?" asked Clarion joking as she went back to her sketchbook. She saw Mary shoot a disapproving glance at it but she didn't care. Mary didn't mind Clarion's obsession with art but even she thought that that sketchbook had too many drawings of Milori in it.

"No, but it does have to do with Tink. I can't find her."

"Oh no. This is not good! If she gets in trouble I have to listen to Hyacinth complain about it for the next week. When was the last time you saw her?"

"Yesterday at the basket pickup. She didn't show up in the nook this morning and I figured she had gotten caught up with some project at her house so I didn't worry about it too much. But when I didn't see her at lunch then I got concerned and went to her house but she wasn't there and I looked all over the nook and couldn't find her."

"Ok. I'll text Bri. she can get the scouts looking for Tink." Clarion picked up her phone and sent a message to Brianna who was her head of security. Hey Bri. We have a code green. Tinker Bell is missing. I need all scouts on the lookout for her."

"You got it, Queen Clarion," replied Brianna. Clarion put her phone down and Mary asked her

"Clair, You don't think..." Mary asked. She didn't even have to finish her sentence. Clarion knew that she was wondering if tink had crossed the border.

"No. There's no way. She likes to break rules but not that much."

"You don't know her like I do. She reminds me of you when we were growing up. Breaking rules for what she believes in."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Love, Clair. You broke the rules for love."

"Well, it was different then. Border crossing wasn't forbidden, just discouraged."

"Yes but hanging out with winter fairies was forbidden. You and Milori were probably the only ones crazy enough to do what you did, and Tink is about as crazy as you were when we were kids."

"You're right," the two sat in silence for a minute before Mary asked

"Hey, are you okay? And is that your old ring from Milori?"

"Yes, it is. I've just been missing him so much lately. He's the only person who truly understands me. Everyone else always expected me to be perfect all the time just because I was the princess. They all saw me as the girl who loves my formal dresses and having my hair up, he saw me as the girl who would rather wear leggings and a t-shirt than a dress, he saw me as the girl who would rather let my hair down than have it up all the time. All the boys that used to chase me only wanted me because of my title. He didn't care about me being royalty. He just cared about me. With everybody else it was always ok I'm gonna put this job and that responsibility on you now and you'll just have to juggle it all because it's all gonna be your life one day. With him, it was hey why don't you just blow off some of your stuff and come hang out with me for a while? It was Saturday night movie night and Sunday afternoon tea with Dewey. It was skating on the hidden lake and snowball fights just for fun. Forgetting everything and letting myself get lost in his eyes at the border every sunset, sneaking around behind Queen Raya's back for a whole year and breaking rules. It was being ourselves, loving, and being loved for who we really are. That's what I miss the most, feeling loved, feeling like I'm on top of the world, like I can truly do anything." Just then, Clarion's phone went off. It was Bri. The message said We found Tink. She's headed toward the border with a machine and her friends. It looks like they might have a winter fairy with them.