Our Neutral Waters

Chapter 1

"Faye, time to get up and taste the faerie dust!"

I open my eyes, and they flutter a few times before they're able to focus on my friend, and only friend, Arynna. My eyes flicker to the side just in time to catch my blue tinted wings about to crazily flutter. Not yet, I whisper to myself.

"What's got you so bright and cheery today?" I inquire, since usually I'm the one waking her grumbling self up.

"Well, if you remember," she flutters over top of me until she falls softly beside me her green wings coming to a halt, "it's the ball today."

My eyes widen with excitement, yet my heart beat goes faster than my wings could ever go. The ball is this one year 'party' you could call it, that is celebrating the King and Queen's anniversary. It represents love, and meeting your mate. You meet your mate at your 6'205th day. Your 17th year. Arynna and I have finally reached our 6'205th day this year, and her being excited to meet her mate has been all she's talked about.

I on the other hand am very nervous, and scared that my mate will reject me. Since perfection is something that us faeries love to enquire.

Its hard for us, because we are known for being the most beautiful of all kinds. Not to be sexist, but there are mainly women born as faeries. We out number the men with a great number, and they don't mind. The other kinds see us as the beauty gurus and the models, they never see us as strong and independent.

You may think, your life is so hard, being too beautiful and all! Mocking me. But, my dear friend, since us faeries are so much alike with our beauty, we must use something to define our latter of the 'food chain'. Our eyes.

I look up into Arynna's bright green eyes realizing my zone out, and she smiles at me gently. She shakes her head knowingly having her dark brown hair fall into her face.

I sigh and sit up, "Did you bring your dress?"

And that's when we started to get ready.

The ball starts at 11:30 when the golden rays of the sun hit through the branches or our trees and warm the dew off of our fields. So after spending an eventful morning with Arynna, we're off in the air on our way to the ball.

We curve and swirl skillfully through the branches, and I look over at Arynna. Her long brown tendrils drifting behind her as her dark green dress flows like soft leaves around her legs. I look down to the brown leather band I tied around her wrist and smile as I look down to my white ribbon on my ankle, representing our friendship.

Since I got distracted looking over at Arynna, my blonde waves get stuck in my face and I have to stop one branch away from the ball. I perch myself and fix it as Arynna comes to me her eyes filled with concern.

"I know it isn't just your hair bringing that frown onto you face," her thin hands hold my chin so I look at her and I frown deeper, "what's wrong Faye?"

"What if I meet him?" I say truthfully, my voice filled with dread.

"Faye, you're beautiful. He will love you." She says, glancing away because she knows the real issue.

"Arynna you know what the issue is, we always knew! Everybody else seems to know what the issue is." I look down and I tear up, my vision becoming blurry. "You know my eyes are imperfect."

Before, when I mentioned the eyes are the most important, I should've mentioned that mine aren't perfect. They're a light blue and on my left eye, there is a speck of brown. It covers 1/4 of my eye, yet everybody knows how imperfect I am. I've been up at the bottom of the list for everything due to my eye, and I know my mate would never accept an imperfection.

"Faye, they're fine. You know if I could change that stupid rule I would in a heart beat." Arynna holds me close and I nod my head, well knowing that she means it. At least somebody seems past it.

We distance from each other and I wipe my tears away, and we fall down to the forest floor to a large clearing where the ball is held every year.

The King and Queen are standing in the middle of the grass clearing, holding hands and lovingly looking into each other's eyes. Pure golden eyes, no specks or flaws are seen on them. I smile to myself, hoping one day I could be that beautiful, and that somehow my eye is only something that stays until I'm an adult.

I look around to all the girls and their dresses made with the finest fabric in the forest, and I look down to my blue dress flowing in pieces like ribbon, and I frown realizing I look like a ripped up snowball.

"Arynna I look like a ripped up snowball." I whisper into her ear, and she bursts into giggles.

"Faye you always know how to cheer me up," she turns to me and hugs me close and I smile back at her, "but no you don't."

I shrug and we pull away when the King and Queen raise their hands to speak. "My fellow faeries!" The King starts, his gaze holding us all at bay, "we are here today to celebrate the most special day of my life, and hopefully it shall be yours too." He smiles before turning to the Queen.

"All of the faeries have gathered into this clearing for another year, and we all hope the diversity of towns will stroke some strings in your hearts."

"Now, let us begin our ball!" They shout in unison, and after erupts a chorus of shouts and whistles. I giggle at everybody's excitement and Arynna and I dance around as soon as the music starts.

My eyes look around, hopeful and weary to find my mate. For every kind, finding your mate is different. For faeries, you may find your mate by looking each other in the eyes.

Werewolves must scent each other, Vampires must touch one another, and mermaids have the gift of being able to tell if they're a mile apart.

My eyes gaze over lots of men, but they all look away immediately from my own eyes. After a few songs, I give up and look to see Arynna frozen in her spot. I look to her gaze to see a taller faerie male, which in full form he'd be about 5'4". That's the tallest that the males reach. Us females reach about 5'0" if lucky. I'm 4'10", and Arynna reaches a beautiful slender 5'0".

They look at their eyes and walk towards one another. His red hair flowing in shorter wisps hitting his golden wings and I freeze. His eyes glow a soft gold, and I gulp, a royal.

No wonder Arynna would be mated to a royal, her confidence radiates across the trees and her beauty is beyond compare. Deciding to let them have their space, and knowing I should fly around to look for my own happily ever after, I leave.

After flying around until 3:00, I've realized that he is not near, meaning that my mate is non existent. I sigh, I should've known.