Introduction

Carissa had been watching the princess for three weeks now, waiting patiently for the opportune moment to act.

The girl should have been a simple task, if the king in his paranoia had not placed protective measures around the child. All around the castle, the king had placed iron so that neither Carissa nor any of her brothers or sisters could enter it. And if somehow they had managed to infiltrate the castle, the nurse would never let the girl out of her sight, and the child's cradle was specially made so that they could not go near it.

The king had not neglected a single detail. He knew what the faerie queen wanted and made certain she would not succeed. This was his fault anyhow. He had broken their deal and had taken land which was rightfully the faeries’. Now they would get their revenge. Carissa had already failed at obtaining the boy two years ago. Now he was too old for them. The girl was their last chance and Carissa would not fail with her.

"You realize we only have three more weeks to acquire the girl?" Carissa's friend Lena said to her as they were sitting in the outskirts of the forest beside the castle. The two had been sent by the queen to bring the princess to her. "We are running out of time."

"Do you really think I do not realize that?" Carissa hissed back. "There's no way to get inside of the castle and the king had made certain to keep a close watch on her. However, I have a plan. The old nurse that watches the girl, she comes periodically to the village to visit her family. The next time she comes, I will get her to come to me. She will bring the girl to us."

Lena simply raised her perfectly arched eyebrow. "I hope you are right. The queen will not be so merciful again."

Three days passed and, just as Carissa had said, the nurse left to visit her loved ones. As she was leaving to return to the palace, Carissa took the opportunity to catch her. She called out to the nurse, who was much too curious and followed the voice. "Oh, how happy I am to have found you!" Carissa said, smiling widely.

The nurse seemed stunned by Carissa's dazzling appearance. "Is there something I can do for you, ma'am?"

Carissa's smile left, and she feigned a somber expression. "You are the one who cares for the princess, are you not?" The nurse nodded slowly, unsure of how to respond. Carissa continued, "I know I should have gone to the king, but I didn't want to alarm him. The princess is in danger. I overheard an old hag, a witch I believe, boasting of how she infiltrated the palace and placed a curse on the princess."

The poor foolish nurse was just too gullible. "Oh my! That is simply horrible! The king will have my head for this."

Carissa's smile returned, this time a bit more sinister. "Do not fear. I know how to lift the curse from the young girl. I only require that you bring her here to me. I do not want us found inside the palace, where I could be discovered and executed for my own powers. If you do this, you and the girl will be saved."

The old woman's eyes began to glaze over as Carissa's alluring voice convinced her to do as she said. "Certainly ma'am. I would be most grateful. I will bring the girl tomorrow afternoon to you, when I can slip past the guards."

"Good, good." And with that, Carissa sent the nurse on her way, confident that the girl would be hers by dusk tomorrow.

The next afternoon, the nurse brought the girl to Carissa. Smiling, Carissa took the child in her arms and looked down into her dark eyes. The girl stared back, entranced by Carissa's own brilliant green eyes. "You have done well, old woman."

Before the nurse could respond, Lena came from behind the woman and used perfume which the faerie queen had given her to cause the nurse to fall unconscious. In place of the child, Lena brought one of their own, the queen’s own daughter. Lena set the changeling in the arms of the unconscious nurse. "Well done, Carissa," she said, smiling. "We finally have her."

Carissa smiled somewhat darkly down at the little girl in her arms. "Now then, come away with me, little child. You will grow up in my land, and all will be well. You will be cared and looked after, and will care nothing for this human life until the time is right. Through you, we will obtain what is rightfully ours." She looked down at the changeling in the arms of the nurse. "I do hope they enjoy their little princess. Perhaps this time the king will learn his lesson."

Lifting her head, Carissa, with the child in her arms, along with Lena, went deep into the woods, and left the human world to enter their own.

Image information: "Fairy Call" by Nikos Patsais (Nikos23a), 2014. Web source: DeviantArt