Iris

2

After delivering Arlene’s reply to Queen Alisterra, I returned to my dorm.  I’d missed all my lessons for the day.

“Ew! Who’s the human?” Anabella squealed as I walked in.

“What?” I ran to the bathroom to see my reflection.  I’d forgotten to change back to my fairy form when I’d returned.

“Oops,” I said, watching as my ears pointed slightly at the bottom, my face became more angular, my wings grew back, and my frozen blue eyes changed color.

“Ah, that is much better,” Anabella took a deep breath as if she’d been holding it in. 

“I met a human boy on my mission,” I blurted, although unsure if I could trust Anabella. 

“Oooh, scandalous!” she cackled.

“It’s not like that.  But I think he wanted to see me again,” I said quietly.

“And is he going to?” she asked, examining her polished red nails.

“Of course not!” I scoffed, though not truthfully, “He’s a mortal.  Ew!  I just wanted to know how to get rid of him.”

“Tell him,” she said.

“Well I don’t want to hurt his feelings,” I sighed, “I’m just afraid that if I see him again he’ll try to talk to me.”

“Oh, please,” Anabella sneered, “You’re nervous that he likes you, and that you like him.”  She snickered, twirling one of her bouncy curls.

“Not true!” I argued weakly.

“I’ve got a knack for charming people. I can tell when someone is charmed.”  She raised her eyebrows at me.  “Do you really want to ignore this mysterious boy?”

“I…” Actually, I wasn’t sure.  There was something about him that just set something off inside me, but he was a human.  Fairies and humans don’t mix.  It used to be against the law, when anyone could go back and forth.  Now it was just plain stupid.  Not illegal, but that’s mostly because not very many people can go to the human world.  Pretty much all magical creatures have a built-in prejudice against humans.

I laughed nervously.

“I’m just overreacting!” I rolled my eyes, “I absolutely hate him.  He just scared me because I didn’t expect to run into him.  This was just, like, an after-shock thing.”  I shook my head, regretting ever feeling sorry that I would have to hurt his feelings to get rid of him.

“You sure scared me for a minute, there, Iris,” Anabella wiped her forehead, “This’ll be our secret.  It would so not be good for your reputation.”

When she left, I flew myself onto my bed and sighed.  Baby blue eyes kept popping into my mind.  I fell asleep, finally, glad to be rid of the mortal boy.

“Iris!” Sofie shook me awake.

“Ughhh…” I moaned, “What?”

“The queen has another assignment for you.”

I jumped out of bed, fixed my hair, and ran down to the queen’s chambers.  She was waiting patiently with a thick, golden envelope. 

“Good morning, Iris,” she said.

“Good morning, Ma’am,” I replied, eyeing the envelope anxiously.

“You did very well yesterday,” she said, “I need you to deliver this to Arlene.”

She handed me the envelope, “And I need you to pick up a package for me.  Tell them you’re delivering it to Arlene.”