Mei Ruan May 21th,20XX

The ride was quiet as I flew behind Heliose to the Witch territories. When I had heard she wanted to fly a trip that had taken us three days by Fluttermoth I'd been anxious but had kept a respectful silence and silently followed her.

Since she had brushed off every attempt at conversation with a benign smile, I gathered that she preferred to fly in silence and took the time to ponder over what she had done to me.

I could still feel the royal magic that she emitted, and my magic perception was just as strong as ever, stronger even. But the side effects weren’t there.

The obsession, the addiction.

The sudden absence of such overwhelming emotions almost left me with a sensation of emptiness. Almost.

I also had time to think over the group that had attacked Aruna. Rage swept over me as I remembered my only remaining sister laying on the infirmary bed, unconscious and with blood seeping out from her tender skin.

She didn’t fight for a living, but she was adequately trained, and when she chooses to be serious she could keep up in a fair fight with me. So I knew it had to have been an ambush. My gut instinct told me that it had something to do with Jaya, but I couldn’t imagine how. She was dead, and any followers she’d had would have bailed ship since she couldn’t give them any of the things she promised.

I didn’t think she was so charismatic that anyone would follow her even after death, so it had to be something else.

Did she really have a family and an heir?

I hadn’t heard of it but she was so paranoid that I wouldn’t have put it past her to have hidden them from me. She was also so vain that I would be even less surprised if she had chosen to hide them away in favour of finding a higher class fairy as a mate.

It wasn't a conclusion I had come to casually and was one I was most fearful of being true.

If Jaya had produced a child while she was the duchess then that child would have inheritance rights. And if someone were to find out about that child and choose to support them as an heir, then that would explain the attack on Aruna.

It hadn’t been a deadly attack. But if I hadn’t been there to donate blood and magic then she would have been crippled and would have been in no shape to rule the Duchy.

“We’re landing. Prepare yourself.”

She dived downward like a bullet instead of slowly banking downward as most fairies did and caught herself with a golden platform mere centimetre off the ground. She looked just as unperturbed as ever, despite her death-defying stunt, and that same gentle smile remained.

I was tempted to attempt the same thing but thankfully my logic took over and I acknowledged that it would be more embarrassing to have to be saved by the Queen than to be cautious and land properly.

She watched me land with that same indecipherable smile and tossed me a change of clothes, that I hadn’t seen before. A closer look at the fabric showed me that it was entirely composed of her magic but dulled and softened.

I’d thought Cai’s usage of magic was wasteful but in comparison to this, it was nothing. Seeing Heloise in action did make me appreciate just how strong Cai was though. That he could even be compared to the queen that had gone down in history for her expertise of magic was incredible.

She waved me closer to her side and with a wave of her hand I felt a pressure lift off my neck and realized that my hair had been cut.

“Your highness?!”

I couldn’t help exclaiming. She in turn looked surprised at my sudden outburst and even went as far as to furrow her eyebrows. The most obvious sign of emotion I had seen from her yet.

“Oh, was this-“

She raised the bundle of hair in her hands toward me like she hadn't realized it had come from my head. Or rather, it wasn’t that she didn’t realize, she just didn’t care.

“Oh... Was it very important to you? I can help you reattach it.”

I quickly shook my head and declined as politely as possible. It just wouldn’t be the same.

Besides I planned on cutting it short anyway, there wasn't much of a difference in doing it now and doing it whenever I was planning to.

Or so I tried to convince myself.

She tossed the hair up into the air and with magic as a spindle, she wove it into a cloth and wore it like a dress.

It was an odd sight, seeing a revered queen wear my hair like clothing, but at the same time somehow gratifying.

It was odd in general to see a revered queen, but Heloise seemed to be especially odd.

She disliked ritualistic things and hated formalities. She was always dazed like she wasn’t fully awake, but nothing ever escaped her eye. She was hard to offend, but also hard to please.

She seemed like she would be an amazing companion but as an elder, she was incredibly frustrating.

“Try to focus Ruan. We have someone to meet before we go rescue this grandson of mine.”

I was suddenly pulled back to reality and began to worry all over again, this time for my useless Fiancé, that managed to get himself kidnapped the same day he had sent me away.

“Could you tell me if he’s okay?”

Heloise closed her eyes for a moment before suddenly nodding affirmatively.

“His magic is still responding to mine, although not as actively as I would like. He’s still alive but chances are that he’s unconscious or in a coma. Either way, as long as he isn’t dead I can deal with it. “

She refused to speak anymore on the topic and we ducked into the city.

It was a city on the outskirts of the queendom, closer to the witch territory than the capital.

I wasn’t sure who the Queen wanted to meet right after emerging from her 'Rest' but it was weird that this was where they had chosen to live.

“Knowing that old man he’s probably still here… unless he finally grew a spine and went back to the human world to die.”

Her words were vicious but her tone remained steady and light.

“Your highness?”

She ignored my questioning tone and slightly sped up as she flew.

“Come on. Lets not dilly dally.”