Forever Fae

Chapter 4 - Calista

Elvena left a few minutes ago to give me my space before the ceremony. I hadn't talked to Merrick since yesterday, so I had no idea what to expect. Xylia and Meliantha should be here any minute to walk with me to the Great Room where the ceremony and feast would be held. After the festivities, there was going to be a meeting with the council and the different dignitaries from the other territories to discuss the Black Forest, as well as the missing fae and our plans on how to keep our people safe.

I could feel the evil growing stronger. Hopefully, after the meeting, we'd have an idea on what our future plans would be regarding our safety. The leader of the dwarves, Durin, would not be attending, as well as King Madoc and Queen Mab from the Winter Court. Durin and King Madoc were having their own meeting to discuss the production of more magical relics. It'd been said that the magic in the relics made by the dwarves had certain components that have the capability of destroying different types of evil.

Walking through my spacious bedroom, I headed to the space that'd always been my sanctuary ... my library. My library was where I liked to relax because reading had always been my escape. The library was connected to my room and it was just mine to use; no one else in my family liked to read as much as me.

When I wasn't secretly training with Merrick, I was in my library or out in the gardens with my sister, Meliantha. I loved to engross myself in a book and imagine I was right there with the characters. Taking a seat by the window, I picked up my favorite book that was sitting on the nearby table. I got it from the mortal realm, and I was reading it for the fifth time. The love story between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy was simply epic.

It wasn't long before I heard Xylia and my sister enter my bedroom. Xylia and I had been best friends since infancy, and she was also the wildest and craziest girl I knew. Her mother and father had been part of the council for many years and are good friends of my parents. Xylia and I travel to the mortal realm every now and again, mainly so I could get my books and Xylia could get her choice of hair dye. She had put streaks of purple in her dark blonde hair to match the purple dress she picked out for the ceremony tonight. She was also part wood nymph, super skinny and tall like me, reaching about five feet and ten inches. She always said she was jealous of my curves, and I always snapped back and told her to eat more. The trees were her escape and she hated that books were mine because the pages were made from trees. She complained all the time that I needed a new hobby, but I couldn't give up my books no matter how much she whined. She'd just have to get over it.

"Calista, where are you?" Xylia called from the bedroom. "Oh yeah, let me guess, you're in here." Xylia poked her head in through the library door and saw me holding a book. She grimaced, but then quickly switched it to a smile.

"I thought you'd be in here. Happy Birthday, Princess. Why are you in here reading when you have your own story that's about to be made? It's a totally romantic story that doesn't involve cutting down precious trees and involves half naked, hot warriors."

Jumping up and down with excitement, she rushed over to me. "Aren't you excited about tonight? I wish I was a royal and had hot warriors fighting over me. Who do you want to win?"

Leave it to Xylia to think a bunch of men fighting over a person was hot.

Rolling my eyes, I said, "Oh Xylia, I don't care who wins because I think all of our warriors are honorable men. I'd be proud to have any one of them by my side. It's just the ceremony part that I'm a little nervous about."

With a sly smile, I glanced at her and asked, "Do you think you'll dance with Conall tonight?"

"Yeah, if Merrick doesn't kill him first," she teased. Conall was one of our warriors and would be fighting for the title of my guardian. Xylia has had feelings for him forever, and I thought he might've had feelings for her as well.