Faerie Tales

By Donna and Abs

Life in the tiny faerie castle located near Camelot was getting interesting, to say the least. The Queen was due any day now! King Boric was beside himself, and was constantly pacing the halls and fretting.

They, like everyone else, had been invited to Camelot to spend the Holidays.  Boric was sweating, despite the chill in the air, because he did not want his wife to make a scene!  Perhaps they would have to stay home, and that was not good protocol, either!

They had a certain appearance to maintain! The Leprechaun King and Queen were no help at all in that area. They had hardly been speaking to each other for months.  That was mostly because Seamus had not noticed that Mary could not shift sizes.  A dead give away that something was up. If there was though, Mary wasn't telling. Perhaps she was miffed that Seamus had not noticed! Boric was glad that his wife, as contrary as she could be, had at least told him that they were going to be parents again.

And he liked the idea.  Even though he was very old now, and his other child grown, he had loved seeing Evan run around the place.  Of course, he was growing quite quickly, something he was *not* used to!

As much as he would have liked a young princeling to carry on his line, Boric was half way hoping for another daughter. She and Evan could be a good match down the road! Of course the boy was already nearly five years old.  Grogan was quite proud of him!  And he was a handsome child, who could give Boric handsome grandchildren.  As he smiled, nodding on his throne to this lovely daydream, his wife's voice cut through like a knife!

"Where have you been!" she called out in a shrill voice. "I've been looking all over for you. Here I am about to have your child and you are hiding from me!"

"I was not hiding," he said petulantly.  "I was . . .” He stopped, wondering how he could explain what he HAD been doing.

"Men!" his Queen said indignantly, and then started to stalk off in a huff. But she didn't even get out of the room before she bent over, gasping. "She's coming!" she called out.

"She?  Are you sure it is a she?"  He sounded only too hopeful.

"Boy, girl, what's the difference?" the Queen said impatiently. "Are you going to stand there gawking, or you going to help?"

"I'm going to . . . get someone to help," said the king, and that is what he did! Of course, that earned him some rather unkind comments from his wife, who was now being scooped up by at least a half dozen faerie men to whisk her off to her quarters, leaving Boric to stand watching and wringing his hands.

Still, he did not feel at all guilty over it.  That whole business of watching while the woman had a baby was just so . . . nouveau!

Faerie births were usually very easy. But the Queen was not as young as she used to be, so there was some concern. Once she was settled in her bed, she started a constant barrage of complaints, and even belted a few of her attendants with her staff from time to time!

But it was still much better going than a Human birth.  In fact, although messengers were dispatched to Camelot to fetch Giles, the child beat the doctor by quite some time.

It was a girl! A lovely little faerie baby with lavender tinted silver hair and bright sapphire blue eyes. The proud mother cradled her to her breast, smiling happily. “Well Boric, do you have a name for your new daughter?” she asked.

“Fionnula,” he said with a grin. “Fionnula is her name.”