Land of the Faery

Chapter 3 - Frito's and Bean Dip

I felt tiny and insignificant compared to the giant, glimmering, gold gate of the castle. It looked exactly like every castle I had seen out of the fairy tale books I read as a child. beautiful vines and flowers snaked and grew alongside the giant stone walls that protected and enclosed the castle.

"It's so big," I said craning my neck to get a full view of the castle over the top of the giant gate.

"If you think it's big now wait until you see the courtyard," said one of the little creatures while signaling to one of the guards. "mind opening the gate for us, we have retrieved the princess from the human world." The guard looked rather surprised but quickly recovered and returned to maintaining his stone cold expression.

He grabbed the gate with two firm strong hands and pulled. It moved slowly, but in all fairness, it was probably a couple of hundred pounds.

"Shall I have someone escort you to the king and queen?" The guard asked.

"No, we can handle it our selves. We are really looking forward to getting in the kings good graces if you know what I mean" said the other small creature with a wink of his eye towards the guard. The guard, however, did not seem phased or amused by this notion.

"Come on let's go, we better get you to the king"

"Ah, okay," I said and then gesturing to the guard "excuse us."

They led me down several long pathways that were ornately decorated. The smell of fresh flowers and rain hung in the air. I could see the sunlight reflecting off the dewdrops on the green grass and tree leaves. I followed them mostly in a daze.

They led me into a small room. There were two red plush seats on either side of a polished wooden table. A large window was on the far side of the room which provided the majority of the light in the room. There were two large bookshelves on either sided of me. Some books were so large you could probably spend your entire life reading them and never finish.

"Take a seat and make your self comfortable. We shall go fetch the king."

I took a seat in one of the plush chairs immediately feeling relief in my legs from standing on them for too long. I sunk deep into the plush material and felt my stomach grumble. I guess it had been a long time since I had last eaten. What I wouldn't give for some Frito's and bean dip. In fact how long had I been gone for? I didn't know if time here worked differently or not. Before I even had the time to contemplate all possibilities the door to the room opened. In walked a very tall man, he had a very long beard the same strawberry blond color that my hair held. He had kind wrinkles around his big green eyes. He had a kind look about his but something in the way he held himself demanded respect.

I looked up at him and made eye contact and then immediately regretted it. I suddenly felt more nervous than I ever had before in my life. I mean if there was ever a time to be nervous it would be when you're meeting your biological father for the first time. Who just happens to be the king of a supposedly mythical kingdom in a world you just happened to stumble into after chasing a ball of light and drowning in a lake. Nothing out of the normal here.

His face softened upon seeing me "you look just like your mother."

"I was just thinking I looked more like you, with the eyes and the hair and all." He chuckled in response.

"I suppose we do have that in common but you sound just like her too." I had never given any thought about what similarities I might share with my mom or father. Probably because if I was going to share anything with my mom it would be her mental illness. I prayed every day that I never ended up like her. "I had always hoped I made the right decision by sending you off to the human world until it was safe. Now I am not so sure it was the right choice."