In the Family

Carissa led Keaira deep into the forest, towards the portal. Once they arrived, Keaira stopped. "Why are we going into the human world? I thought you didn't like to go there?"

Carissa smiled softly. "I don't. But it's necessary." She entered the opening of the cave and soon left the land of the faerie.

"Now we can speak.” Carissa proceeded to confess to Keaira her true identity and what Queen Maeve had planned. Keaira was understandably upset. Carissa finished saying, "You have every right to be upset, and after all of this is over you can hate me as much as you'd like, but right now, your father and brother are going to die unless we hurry quickly to the castle and stop the changeling. Do you want to save them, or do you just want to go pout?"

Keaira stood still for a moment, staring at the ground. Finally she said, "Very well. I will help save them."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dozens of thoughts ran through Keaira's mind, as well as so many questions. She felt betrayed by Carissa and the faeries. She felt like a fool for trusting them. But deep inside, there was a peace in knowing where she came from. Her heart beat faster as she realized the only family she had left was in danger.

Carissa led her into the village and towards the grand castle in the distance. Carissa stopped at the entrance. "I am still unable to enter," she said. "Breen, the changeling, is half human, and so she was able to live here, but I cannot come with you. You must find your brother, tell him the truth. Make sure he does not drink anything given to him. Breen is planning to poison him. If she tries to stop you, fire will help you. The faerie side of her will despise fire and it will keep her away. It may even send her back to us." Carissa smiled slightly, but her eyes were sad. "I am so sorry this had to happen. Good luck."

Keaira hardly had time to process this information when Carissa turned her around and sent her towards the castle. She breathed out before entering it, where, inside, servants were bustling around. They hardly acknowledged her presence, until finally an older man came to her. "Greetings, miss. How may I help you?" He was extremely friendly and Keaira realized it had to do with her clothing, which was much finer than anything the servants had on.

Keaira cleared her throat. "I am here to see Prince Kaiden. It is urgent. Could you tell him Keaira needs to speak with him?"

"The prince is about to sit for supper, but I can relay your message to him. Please, come with me." The man smiled and led her to a smaller room with luxurious chairs and couches, and a fireplace. He left her alone to find the prince.

Keaira walked around the room, impatient. While she did so, a tapestry caught her eye. On it was a picture of a man, woman, boy, and girl. Keaira stared at the girl. Was that meant to be her? It couldn’t be, since this girl looked at least five years old.

“Beautiful isn’t it?” A voice startled Keaira, and she turned to find the princess behind her.

No, wait. I’m the princess.

“You’re early, Keaira," Breen said, smiling. "Yes, I know who you are. I recognized you the moment I saw you with Kaiden. Mother said Carissa told you the truth about who you are. You should leave; it is not safe here yet. The king is ill and I believe it is contagious. I will call for you when it is time.”

Keaira narrowed her eyes. “I know exactly what you have planned. And I will not allow you to kill my family.”

Breen’s warm eyes suddenly turned cold. “You have no idea what you are talking about.”

“I believe I do. You want to murder my family. If you do, I can assure you, there will be no reconciliation.”

Breen stepped close to Keaira, but before she could say anything, footsteps moved behind her. Kaiden stood there, his face pale. “What are you two talking about?”

Breen turned and smiled. “It is nothing, brother. This peasant and I were just having a nice chat and—”

“She’s not your sister, Kaiden. I am,” Keaira interrupted. “She’s a changeling.”

Breen laughed. “How ridiculous! She is obviously not in her right mind.”

Kaiden’s eyes narrowed. “I heard what you said, Breanna. Or am I to call you that? You want to kill me?”

Breen’s face grew hard, and even though she was darker than a faerie, Keaira could see a resemblance between Breen and Queen Maeve. “Well, I’ve already killed your father. It will be much easier to get rid of you.”

Keaira noticed the fireplace and remembered what Carissa had said. A piece of wood stuck out of the fire. Suddenly Keaira rushed towards the fireplace and grabbed the wood. The end burned with fire. Breen’s eyes were wide and she looked at the fire like cowered animal. Keaira moved with the fire closer to Breen, who backed away.

“You should leave; it’s not safe here for you.” She thrusted the fire at Breen, who let out a shriek and flew out the window behind her.

Keaira placed the piece of wood back into the fireplace and then turned to Kaiden. He stared at her with a mixture of fear and awe. “So you’re really my sister. That was a faerie that I grew up with.”

“Don’t worry, I grew up with many more faeries than that,” Keaira said, smiling slightly.

Kaiden smiled back, but quickly a man rushed into the room. “Your Highness, the king has passed away.”

The smile left Kaiden’s face. He looked at Keaira. “It seems she got what she wanted.” His voice cracked. He sighed and forced a smile. “Those faeries will pay. They will never touch you again, I promise, um… Breanna?”

“Call me Keaira,” she said. “And actually, I think it is time this quarrel between faeries and humans ended.”

Author's Note: Now you know the story of Keaira, the stolen princess. If this was a longer story, I feel like I could have expanded on the ending a lot more. However, as it is meant to be short, I made do with what I had. I have revised my previous stories so that there is more information about what the faeries had planned and why. In this story especially, I wanted to show more of the changeling, since she is such an interesting character. She grew up as a human princess, but then discovered through Queen Maeve (her mother) her identity as a faerie. There are so many stories of changelings, but most of them feature changelings that do not grow and they are able to speak like an adult when they are in the form of a child. I wanted my changeling to be able to grow and have reason and emotion. I used Wilde's stories again in order to write the ending, especially the part with the fire. In many of her changeling stories, fairies, especially changelings, are afraid of fire and will leave if there is any. I also used Finnische und estnische Märchen, or the Kantele Player, as inspiration for a family is reconciled after learning Keaira's true identity, as it tells the story of a girl reunited with her family after being taken by fairies. I hope you all have enjoyed my storybook, and I still welcome any feedback that will make it better. I would love to expand this story and make it longer and more in depth, so hopefully I will have a chance to do that. Thank you all for taking the time to read my storybook. I hope you enjoyed it!

Image information: "Castle" by Jason (FantasyArt0102). Web source: DeviantArt

Bibliography: Finnische und estnische Märchen by August von Löwis of Menar. Source link: Zeno

"The Fairy Changeling" from Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland by Lady Francesca Speranza Wilde. Source link: Sacred Texts