The Land of Stories: Rewriting the narrative

Chapter 17: The Summit

If there was a prize for the most dramatic entrance, Red and Trollbella were certainly both going for it. First, Trollbella burst in in a bright pink ballgown, with her new husband, and threw a tantrum when she discovered there wasn't a seat for him. She tried to make Xanthous give up his seat, but he refused, so she threatened to sit on him. Alex's attempt at pacifying her went unheeded, and eventually Emerelda told.Trollbella that if she did't calm down, perhaps her husband could take her place. So Trollbella reluctantly accepted a spouse-less attendance.

Then Red Riding Hood, dressed in a similarly oversized red gown, threw the doors open and made a huge show of "being here to support dear Alex" despite having been "recently harassed in my own castle!" For some reason, she was positive she had been named Aurelia's aunt, and therefore allowed to tell her what to do and comment on her dress. Neither "dear Alex" nor "sweet Aurelia" appreciated this, and the whole thing really just made everyone think that Red had relapsed in the last 20 years, since she was so genuinely helpful just after the Literary War.

"The purpose of this summit is to discuss the actions of Alex Bailey, and also the slander and violations against her, such as the desecration of the Fairy Palace." Cinderella read out formally.
"Libel, dear. Slander is spoken." King Chandler told her with a wink.
"Right, thanks, Chandler." She said, muttering, "that's totally what's important here."
"Before we begin, would everyone please raise their hands to indicate whether they mostly side with Alex, mostly side against Alex, or are mostly neutral or waiting to see how the summit goes before they decide." Cinderella announced. "Mostly with Alex."
Cinderella, Hope, Sleeping Beauty, Xanthous, Emerelda, Aurelia, Red and Froggy raised their hands. After a well-placed glare, Trollbella and Elvina did too.
"Mostly neutral."
Snow White, Rapunzel, Sir William, King Chandler, and King Chase put their hands up.
"Mostly against Alex?"
A single hand went up. A hand, connected to an arm, connected to a chest wearing a jacket with the Charming coat of arms. Cinderella glared at her husband as he began to speak.

"What makes us trust someone?" He asked, powerful voice booming. "If they prove themselves to be honest, to be a good person,we trust them. When has Alex Bailey shown these qualities?"
"Chance, what on earth are you doing?" Cinderella hissed, as the attendees collapsed into whispers.
"What is he talking about? She saved us, didn't she?"
"Listen, he might explain himself."
"Cinderella clearly didn't know about this!"
"I know, look at her face!"

"Meanwhike, what makes us distrust someone? When they tell us lies, when they reveal ulterior motives, when they do bad things, we distrust them."
"What has she ever done?" Scoffed Cinderella incredulously.
"She saved us all, multiple times!" Xanthous added.
"Ah, but what if that was all a ruse?" Chase asked dramatically.
"Maybe I'm missing something here, but what did she gain from saving all your lives?" Aurelia piped up. "I mean, it's not as if you immediately..."
"Made her our Fairy Godmother?" Chance finished triumphantly. "A position of immense power? What indeed?"

Alex shook her head as Chandler and Chase collapsed into murmurs, and the flames on Xanthous' shoulders leapt a few inches higher as he jumped to Alex's defense. The whole room became a mass of voices and people, loudly proclaiming their views, until a magically magnified voice shouted,
"QUIET!"
Everyone's heads snapped to Cinderella, who was hissing something to her husband, and then to the auburn-haired young woman in a red dress who sat beside her, hands flat on the table.

Hope stood up, feeling less and less sure by the second.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your all-important conversations, your Majesties, but the point of this summit is for us to reach a decision together, surely? Da- King Chance has already voiced some views, and we all... may have different opinions about them, but we will achieve nothing if we don't communicate properly. Now, I know it seems school-like, but perhaps we could raise our hand if there's a point we want to make from now on?"
"Oh she's good." Someone whispered, and Hope sat down.

"Emerelda, please, tell us your thoughts." Cinderella said, a hand squeezing her daughter's encouragingly under the table.
"Thank you, your Majesty. I would just like to say that although I cannot speak for Alex as to what her intentions were, we did not appoint her Fairy Godmother because she stopped Ezmia, or Evly, or the Masked Man. Brystal Evergreen chose her to be her heir, and we cannot look at it any other way. Also, she passed the three tests with flying colours. The reason those tests are there, your Majesty," here she looked at King Chance with a well-disguised glare, "is so that only someone pure of heart, a truly good person, can become Fairy Godmother."

"Well, it's all very well her saying that." Chance rolled his eyes. "How do we know she's not in on it too?"
"Will you stop with the conspiracy theories?" Cinderella asked angrily.
"We have no reason to distrust the Council." Rapunzel agreed.
"They might not be perfect, but hardly anyone is." Announced Red loudly. "And I've always trusted Alex. She's like a sister to me." Here she beamed and tried to reach over to pat Alex on the shoulder.
"Your Majesty, with all due respect, why are you suddenly so distrusting? What's happened?" Sir William asked.
"Yeah, are you just jealous you're a King consort and Alex is a powerful woman?" Trollbella demanded half-jokingly.

"I am not the one on trial here!" Chance exploded, standing and glaring at the assembled party.
"Well, maybe you should be!" Shot back Xanthous, also rising and glaring straight back at the King.
"Everyone, please." Froggy interjected in a calming tone. "Like Hope said, we need to work together. Perhaps, since she's the reason we're here, we could see what Alex has to say?"
"Yes, let's here it from the horse's mouth." Chance sat down and reclined in his chair as Xanthous quelled his flames.

"Your Majesty, I understand where you're coming from, I really do." Alex said softly. "But when I defeated Evly, I didn't even know I was a fairy. Being the Fairy Godmother was the last thing on my mind. I don't think you truly understand what it means to be a good person. Good people don't save the world because it will give them power and status. They do it because they care, because they have kindness. They don't face evil because they know they'll be lauded as a hero. They do it because they have bravery, they have courage. They don't act nice to people because those people will be nice to them, they do if because they are courteous, and they have grace. They don't help others for the sake of helping others, they don't do what is right just because it is 'right', they don't put their own needs before those of other people, because they truly care, they have  heart. In short, your Majesty, good people can become Fairy Godmothers. And if you don't understand that, we'll have no choice but to question whether you are a good person or not."

Alex sat down to rapturous applause, whilst Chance stared, dumbfounded.