“Then your wish shall be granted, now listen here. There is
a flower that grows close by. If you touch its silky petals you will become swollen
with child the next morning. I will guide you to the flower if you promise to honor
us with dance and food.
Rachel
agreed to the terms and followed the fairy. It was not long until they found
the lone flower growing in a patch of dead grass. The fairy said
“Just
one touch and your child will be born in two days”
Rachel reached out her finger and
pressed it against the velvet petal. It felt soft and billowy. The fairy
protested against savoring the flower too much.
“One touch is enough for a mortal,
even a queen. You must stop or the child will be more fairy then human.”
Rachel gathered her composure. The
fairy spoke to her again.
“Now, go home and bring your household
here. Tell the ladies and knights to tie colorful ribbons to the trees. Tell the
cooks to lay tables of cake and milk. Tell everyone there is to be a dance
around the maypole. How hurry and we will have a beautiful pole by the time you
come back”
Rachel ran out of the forest as the
fairies used their magic to turn an old dead tree into a elegant pole. So the
queen brought back all the fairy told her into the woods. The tables where laid
out. The queen and king sat in their own special area. The courtiers and royal
family brought baskets of ribbons to decorate with. The fairies took hold of
the ribbons and flew way up high to the very top of the maypole and tied them
way around until they were good and firm.
The ladies grabbed hold of the ribbons.
They danced alone in a circle, winding back and forth. Then the prince took hold of one the ladies’
hands, the lady he secretly adored and danced with her while they both held to
a bit of the ribbon. Soon the other gentlemen followed his lead and everyone
was dancing as a couple. The fairy magic had burned love onto people’s
hearts and the simple dance became a courtship ritual.
The king and queen sat under the canopy
and watched the lovely dance. Snow White stood at the benches pouring milk and
cutting cake for both humans and fairies. The fairies danced in circles in midair
or riding on the breezy ribbons, their silvery wings glistening in the sun. As
the day grew to a close, toadstools and other fungus formed on the grassy lawn
and the fairies sat down with some gnomes. While every human left, they stayed
behind to see what would happen after dark.
Up in the sky, ugly old witches
flew over the forest. Most rode on brooms, but some were on shovels and
pitchforks. One witch rode on a griffon, she was their queen. They descended
down on the ground and gathered in a circle. The other witches helped their
queen dismount the griffon. She had with her a skinny, breaded man with her. She
and he sat down on a log. It was time to make the announcements.
“It is a fine turnout on this Walpurgis
night, there are several new developments. First of all we had a new recruit
into our coven” she pointed to the skinny breaded man beside her.
“This is Luigi Galvani. In his native
land he was a scientist and the head alchemist, but now he has decided to turn
over to the black side. He can be of very good use in our fight against the
queen and her kingdom, he will be our spy, and he’ll blend in with the royals
and discover their weaknesses. As you know, Nasseria has retired form black
magic for a while, so we’ll need a new key to the royal family’s undoing
Our next topic of great importance is
the founding of a new school. Tonight we will go to the witch mountain and lay
the foundations for a academy of magic. If you help me and we use all our
powers together then you all will have positons here as teachers and administers.
It will be a life of safety and comfort away from the eyes of those treacherous
witch hunters.
One last
bit of news and then we will fly away and start building our future. Luigi has
told me that the queen is expecting a child. The birth will weaken her a great
deal and then will be the perfect time to strike. Luigi and I have devised
different ways of disguising poisons. The queen could eat a lime or comb her hair
and she’d be dead in minutes. I need someone I can trust to deliver the poisons.
Who wants to volunteer?”
All
the witches raised their hands, it was a tough decision. The evil queen thought
of the person she could trust the most, her loyal spinner with her golden
thread and her needle like spindles. Like Luigi, this old woman could pass undetected
though ordinary people’s lives. The queen pointed at her with a sharp claw like
nail.
“Carabosse, my dear spinner, you
shall go and offer your services to the royal family. Then I can go forward
with my plan, soon I will be queen of the mortals and the witches. This unholy Sabbath
is at an end. Let us fly to the Witch Mountains and set up camp there.”
The witches flew away and left the
fairies and gnomes to ponder what they had just witnessed
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