Day 91 (69th), High Summer

Day 91 (69th):
No sooner has the bells rang than our room was flooded with people. Servants, the Royal Couple, Mamar, Mattis, Kendar, Lehand, and Jerome nearly ran over each other. The servants were carrying dresses and gowns. Everyone was chattering so that I could not make out what anyone was saying. I finally had my fill. I could tell the others had as well. As a whole, we left. We were nearly to the garden before any of them noticed our absence. Outside, the noise and activity took up where they had left. Leo, bless his scaly hide, roared at all this and it caused everyone to be still and quiet.
"What is all this racket? Can't a dragon sleep in peace?" he asked crossly.
That was when it dawned on everyone that we had no clue as to what was going on. Red faces and wide eyes graced nearly every person in front of us. King Droland recovered and explained.
"It is High Summer. On this day, maidens dress in their finest and present themselves to the world. Men use this time to find wives for themselves, their sons, or foster sons and wards. We were trying to get you seven ready."
"Is he for real?" Lisa asked mentally.
"Yes, he, and the rest, are very serious," I replied.
"We can't! I can't! I'm only fifteen!" Sarah pleaded loudly.
"My father already has suitors for me, but not for a few more years," Alice explained.
"Refuse them," Leo added, "tell them your duties exclude you from this festivity. Surely that will do the trick."
"Thanks, Leo," we all told him.
"Your Majesty," I began, "we cannot take part. Our duty, our mission, will not allow us to participate."
Faces fell. Nothing was said for many moments. A valet entered carrying a stack of papers. He stopped when he noticed the lack of activity. Cautiously, he approached. Droland snatched the stack and dismissed him with a wave. Shuffling paper was the only sound. Half-way through the stack, he stopped and approached us.
"These are all proposals to meet you seven for the purpose of future marriage. What do I tell them?"
"Well, Alice already has suitors. Sarah is a nun and cannot marry. Lisa is a soldier and has to get her commander's permission. Gretta is a ward of her village's constable and needs his permission. The rest of us are far from our parents and cannot contact them in such short notice," I stated.
Droland though for a moment, then replied, "Alice's and Sarah's arguments are justified. However, as king, my authority supersedes Lisa's commander and Gretta's guardian. The rest of you are considered adults, even Gretta and Lisa. As such, you do not need your parents' permission. Your duties as Sisters of the Swords do not exclude you from finding a suitor or even marriage. I cannot allow you, besides Sarah and Alice, to refuse these men."
We looked at each other, defeated. What to do now? Finding husbands was the last thing on our minds. We started to submit to this event when I felt a familiar, warm breeze.
"Your Majesty, what if we were denied by royal decree?" I asked.
"That is different. However, I am the highest authority here. Who would decree it?"
"I decree it," came a melodic female response.
While everyone was looking around, the Faerie Queen appeared out of a rose hedge. Everyone but King Droland, Queen Darla, Leo, and the seven of us fell to their knees.
"By my authority, I exclude these ladies from this event and deny all suitors," she said in a way that stopped all arguments.
She took the stack of papers from Droland and placed her hand upon it. It glowed for a moment, the faded back to normal. She returned them to Droland.
"My answer and seal are on each proposal. Let them deal with me if they truly wish to court any of these ladies."
Droland handed them to the nearest servant. Dropping everything else, that one took the papers and ran like the wind. All of the other servants stood, unsure of what to do next.
The Faerie Queen spoke again,"Who here is an unwed maiden?"
Slowly, hands went up here and there. She turned back to Droland.
"Why are they not going to the High Summer event?"
"They are servants. Only ladies of station take part in High Summer," he said as if it was common knowledge.
"What of Margret? Is she a part of this?"
"The Princess? Goodness, no. Her suitors have been chosen since birth. Vangar and Gavin are looking for wives, however. The daughters of our allies are too young or already married."
As if speaking about them were a summons, all of Droland's children entered the garden. Margret was dressed as usual, but the princes were dressed to impress. Surprisingly, both of them had a piece of paper in their hands. They all saw the Faerie Queen and understanding burst onto their expressions.
Both men marched over to her, bowed, and said in unison, "We seek to court the Sisters of the Swords."
She looked at them and smiled without warmth, "Which ones do you seek to court?"
Gavin deferred to Vangar, who said, " I am interested in Lisa and Gretta. Gavin is interested in Kayla, Anna, and Callie. We know about Sarah's commitment and suspected Alice, as a lord's daughter, already had suitors lined up for her. This is our request."
We were in shock. We never suspected either of them having any interest in any of us. We all thought that they had princesses in the wings, waiting for some preset day to get married. The Faerie Queen inspected the two men for a while. She took the papers from them.
"I will hold these. If you feel the same after the Baalocs and Maalicus are defeated, I will allow it," she said very seriously.
They accepted her answer and left. Droland dismissed the servants and told them to return all the dresses to where they got them.
As they were leaving, a group of men stormed into the garden. They bowed tersely to Droland, then one of them launched into an argument.
"What is the meaning of this, my king? Our requests are returned with some preposterous reply that the Queen of the Fae had denied all suitors. What kind of joke is this?"
"It is no joke," the Faerie Queen answered.
The men looked at her and fell to their knees. Not a one spoke. A couple passed out.
Finally, the speaker asked, "My fairest lady, are we so far below you and they that we are unworthy of their company?"
"I have refused the princes of this palace as well. Their mission is too important. Find your brides elsewhere, Men of Raval. These ladies are not for you," she stated, ending the conversation effectively.
The men rose and left. The unconscious ones were roused and aided out. Servants who had not seen the Faerie Queen entered and exited quickly to get a glimpse of her. Once it was clear no one else was going to try to dispute the response, the Faerie Queen decided it was safe for her to leave us. She did hand us something unexpected. She gave me a ring and bracelet linked together by a thin chain. The ring had a stone that shifted color depending on what angle you looked at it. In the center was a dark slit. The bracelet looked like scales. All she said was I would need it later. She looked up at Leo and winked. To Lisa and Alice, she gave them each a necklace with their elf ancestor's family crest, a circle containing a tree rising out of a harp. They put them on immediately as I had my gift.
As she was headed over to the others, a noise caught our attention. From the door, clerics and soldiers came running, yelling as they did. They stopped and stared at all of us. Hands went inside robes and large bottles of that sparkling water were produced.
The cleric at the front began, loudly, "We are here to remove the vile presence of the creature known as the Faerie Queen. We are also here to purge this place of her influence and the influence of the accursed swords."
I don't know what response he expected, but all of us laughing was definitely not it. Droland and the others tried to reason with them, but they would not hear it, stating that they, too, were corrupted.
The Faerie Queen stepped forward,"Use your water. See for yourselves what we are."
We all lined up, even Leo, whom they had somehow failed to see and were shaken when he approached. Getting their nerve back, they uncorked the bottles and began showering us with the liquid. This tingled even more than the previous attempts. When the bottles were empty, they looked for the effect they had expected. They were disappointed. The Faerie Queen wrung it out of her long hair and shook it from her gown. The rest of us wiped it out of our eyes, shook out our clothes, and pushed our wet hair out of our faces. They looked at us closer. Droland held out his hands for them to see. Leo gave a mighty shake and reshowered us and got them as well. A handful of the guard and a couple of the clerics began screaming and twisting around. The one that had spoken looked at them and went white. Skin boiled and burst in sprays of pus and blood. Eyes exploded, skin fell off in chunks, hair snowed the ground as blood stained the grass. They collapsed to the ground and died. Sarah leaned on Leo for support. We went to the dead and checked their backs. As expected, every dead man had at least on mark on his back. The few remaining soldiers and clerics were horrified, one even got sick. The one who had spoken tried desperately to apologize, beg forgiveness, and make amends. They were told to get their dead and leave. Struggling, they did just that.
We began to wonder how to dry off when Leo said, "Gather around me. I'll get us dry."
We did. He laid down and started humming. Warmth radiated from his body. Not too hot, but warm enough that we were dry in short order.
"My Queen," I asked the Faerie Queen, "what is this water? Every time it has touched me, it tingles. It is actually rather pleasant."
She mentally laughed, "It is from a fountain at Green Springs. It is naturally as you have seen it. Many faiths claim it is the birth fluid of Creation. As you have seen, evil cannot bear its touch least it destroy them. People are baptised in it to purify themselves. Some drink it daily to keep evil out of their bodies. We have used it to cleanse ourselves for ages beyond ages."
Callie verbally interrupted, "Kayla, look at your hair! It has changed!"
Taking a section, I examined it. My previous mouse brown had lightened and gained a red cast. Also, a hint of curl could be seen. I looked around.
"All of you have changes, too. Look."
I drew Vanity so they could see themselves in her polished blade. Callie's unruly locks were smoother and straighter. Lisa's hair had grown inches in the matter of seconds and had gained a silky appearance. Alice's took on a shine unlike I had seen before. Sarah's straight hair developed ring-like curls, framing her face. Gretta's uneven locks grew to a uniform length and had waves that shimmered in the sun. Anna's gained a darker, richer hue and a silky appearance. We were not the only ones. Droland, Mamar, Mattis, Kendar, and Lehand had years removed from their faces, hands, and bodies. Mamar stood straighter. Mattis lost the lines years of worry had etched upon him. Scars vanished. Darla radiated with renewed beauty, her Faerie loveliness plain to all. As we marvelled and examined each other, we speculated how this had happened. The Faerie Queen motioned for our attention. She had not changed one bit.
"I have only witnessed an occurrence like this a few times. Each time, the sparkling water was combined with dragon magic. Between Leo shaking water on us and using his magic to dry us, bodies have been healed and renewed. You seven have been brought closer to your non-human ancestors. The rest have been reinvigorated and rejuvenated. Enjoy your new bodies."
While looking over each other, the Faerie Queen continued what she was doing before. Sarah received a gilded shell pin with a lovely pearl string dangling from it. Gretta got a pair of matching bracelets of smooth silver. Anna was given a pair of black hair sticks with many charms handing off the ends. She told each of us that they were from our distant families who, unlike Callie's dwarf relatives, could not give it to us themselves.
When servants informed us lunch was ready, the Faerie Queen said her good-byes and disappeared into the rose hedge she had used to enter. We went into the formal dining room since the garden was a mess. Leo said he would be there after he cleaned it up. The royal children noticed the changes in everyone. We saved them from the ugly details of the confrontation with the others. Since we had missed breakfast, we were famished. Vangar and Gavin told us what they had seen out in the city during High Summer. They commented on likely pairs, unlikely pairs, and truly startling pairs.
During our meal after Leo had arrived, a valet entered with a scroll. Formally, he present it to the King. Droland read it and his expression darkened. Standing, he informed us that Maalicus and the Baalocs had officially declared war on Raval. The last part of the declaration was the terms of Raval's surrender, which included handing us seven and the swords over to Maalicus for "purification or destruction" depending upon the level of our "corruption". Droland slammed the scroll on the table. Red flooded his glow. He was furious beyond words. Vangar said what his father could not.
"We will fight to the last. No one and nothing will be handed over to these bastards. Newly armed and armored, we can now face them in battle. Raval will not be conquered."
We all agreed.
After lunch, battle plans became the primary focus of everyone. Men from the city were informed and allowed to become temporary soldiers. Many women also joined. All available metal began being formed into weapons and armor. Reports and inquiries flowed in and out of the palace. Leo conveyed information to distant allies. The afternoon and early evening were very busy.
We did not eat together that night. Darla and Margret did join us in our room to eat with us. While Raval had few wars, they knew how the leaders would get while planning battles. While talking, they mentioned that Baaloc Prime use to be Selvis Prime, the modest palace of their neighbor and ally. They expressed their saddness over the loss of that royal family, who were also their friends. While Maalicus had been around for centuries, Baaloc Prime had only been their capital for less than two decades. When they described the royal family of Selvis, the youngest princess seemed familiar. A look at the others informed me that they, too, felt the same. Polite questioning revealed that, as far as they knew, all of that family was dead.
It was getting late when Queen and Princess said good-night. I could sense the men were still busy planning.