Chapter 444 – Fairies

The morning was kind of funny. More than just Syro snuck into my bed. I'm guessing they wanted some help, given the drinking. Elora was quite snuggled up with me as well.

It took a bit of work to get everyone out of bed, Elora especially. I think she remembers more of the night than she wishes to. Hopefully, she remembers the important parts of our talk. It would be annoying to have to repeat it because she forgot it already. Of course, I think we're all going to be repeating that we deserve love a lot. Most of my wives have a lot of baggage, including me.

"It should go the same as yesterday," Ioelena says. "My sister will take my place."

"There is no reason for that," I say. "Why wouldn't you come along? You haven't done anything to them and did well yesterday."

My little group is once again gathered in a clearing in the fun garden until Ioelena's family has everything set up for the meeting.

"They don't like my hair," Ioelena says. "It's going to be a lot easier if you don't include me. My sister is getting ready to take over for the family; she'll be a better help than I would."

This family must be constantly on edge, dealing with those two groups. How bad must the pixies normally be if Nanoka was stopping most of their tricks? I don't think they're really playing tricks. It's more like they're just trying to cause chaos and uncertainty around them. Maybe the fairies won't be too bad. I can't blame them for not wanting to deal with the pixies much.

The family's playing babysitters for long-lived magical beings.

"That's still stupid," I say. "But fine."

"Thank you, Queen Alzi," Riniya says. "I'm sorry to replace Ioelena. I wish she could handle it, but pixies have a lot of traps in the forest right now, so everyone is a little on edge. The fairies are a bit prouder than pixies, but they care a lot about respect. They should be open to the deal, knowing you're really here, and seeing that you're turning into a true dragon. Just healing should be enough to get the bag you want, but there is a possibility that they'll want the breeding deal as well."

"I'm used to it," I say. "I'll have to come back now to see the kids."

"My family would like that," Riniya says. "We can reserve a room for you so it's easy for you to come by."

"That would be nice," I say. "I'm collecting a lot of homes, it seems."

"That you are," Elora says. "At least one in each Queendom so far. Sometimes two. Not even homes, but castles for the most part. It's kind of funny, you're collecting the biggest houses in the Queendom."

The big houses. "Strange thing to have happen. Jumping to the big houses," I say.

"Well, it seems we're ready," Riniya says.

Riniya leads us through the garden this time. The clearing is about the same as yesterday, a simple table in the middle of the clearing with a few chairs for our group to use.

A group of fairies, whose hair is mostly blue, though I think one of them has hair a bit closer to purple, is flying in from the opposite side of the clearing. They take a seat at the table the same way the pixies did. I can tell their Queen is among them instead of hiding in my hair this time.

"Welcome," I say, taking the seat. "Thank you for coming to meet me in such a short time."

"The pink one isn't here," the Queen says. She pulls out a chair to sit on instead of sitting on the table. I guess if Ioelena came by, she would run off, the little baby.

"Not directly," I say. "But she has no desire to play tricks on you. I think it hurts her that you all shun her over her hair color. I got to see that the Pixies really do like to do strange things, but she doesn't do that. You can trust her, even if her mana can be a bit tricky to deal with. But, I am Queen Alzi of the Dragons. With me are Princess Elora, Princess Shimmer, Riniya, who you're familiar with, Nanoka, Eterna, and Geta, Valkyrie of Death."

"I am Queen Daisy," Queen Daisy says. "Spore, Nelly, Hollyann, and Stargazer. We've had a problem with women who have just a bit of pink in their hair. We've dealt with the random 'pranks' of the pixies for thousands of years. Plenty of time to figure out that they aren't to be trusted in any capacity."

"You trusted them during the war," I say.

"Trusted them to destroy things," Queen Daisy says. "You aren't here to get us to talk to a single elf. What are you interested in?"

"Maybe I really do care about you talking to a single elf?" I say. "She is kind. But, yes, I would like two bags of fairy dust. But it hurts to know that my wife is limited around her family home." I wonder if they know I agreed to just one bag with the pixies, and how fast I folded when they offered that one bag. That may cause an issue for me here.

"She's limited in talking to my people, not her home," Daisy says.

"Currently, Ioelena isn't allowed to be here. It seems to be her family home that she can't be around."

"Her parents aren't here either," Daisy says.

"I could've invited them, and they would be here," I say. "They could've asked to join, and I would've told them yes. I asked Ioelena to join me, and she said no."

"I don't see the problem. She decided not to be here."

"Ioelena! Come over here," I say. "Or are you going to run off when you see her hair? Because she should be on her way, and I'm not going to be happy if you run off. The pixies, I'm sure, would be willing to help me with any issues in the forest. We have to make sure Nature's beasts aren't hiding around here after all." What am I doing? I don't even care about Ioelena that much.

"I'll... Stand her," Daisy. She really thought I wouldn't call for my wife? "Dust. Why do you need dust?"

"A ritual," I say. "I wish to help my people, and I obviously want to help yours as well. I won't demand Ioelena come with me to do that."

"A ritual? No ritual needs two bags of it. In fact, I believe the Pixies only promised you one," Daisy says.

"How would you know that? You can't stand the sight of the pixies," I say. "I've been visiting them and getting intimate with the Queen. Asking for a second won't be going too far. I plan to heal more than they thought I would, and I'll provide them with more than enough for my second bag."

These talks really are going the wrong way. But I can hear the sound of heels in the grass coming up behind me. It's time to see if they run.

"Alzi, are you sure?" Ioelena asks. "Has something gone wrong?"

"Yes, the fairies are being unfair to my wife," I say. "As the Queen of Dragons, and I'm sure they can see I'm becoming a magical being like them, I can't have fairies disrespecting me like that. Eterna, isn't that right?"

"Well, yeah," Eterna says. "I still don't get why we're even asking them for this. We could just go and take it. You kind of do have overwhelming might for all of this, so it feels weird to be sitting at a table like this. Mother certainly wouldn't be, and Yzzorres would be embarrassed to even be here. She may have even woken up from her new slumber, feeling her mate doing something this silly."

"See," I say. "Take a seat, Ioelena. I'm being extremely kind to the fairies, offering to pay for dust instead of demanding it like many behind me think I should. I'm showing you a lot of respect. It isn't Ioelena's fault that the pixies mixed their blood into her family line. The number of times I've heard that you care about respect is strange; you don't show her much respect, and you didn't show me much respect. You clearly stated that if Ioelena were here at the start, you would've run away from this deal. Is that respecting your injured? I'm here to heal them, and you would deny your people that just because of some pink hair. Is that respect? Queen Daisy of the Fairies. It seems both groups are failing to adhere to their base value. Pixies running off after a failed prank, and now you're failing to show me and your people respect." Might as well throw this all away, right? What the fuck am I saying?!

Dragon, you bitch! If this doesn't work. No, she can't make me say something I don't want to say. I guess the pixies just really cause a stir.

"Respect?! Do you wish for me to list out all the disrespect we've had at the hands of fucking pink?! Injuries, lost food, time, fear, and land. We've seen it all. She hasn't proven herself to us."

"Did you give her a chance, or did you shun her from the moment of her birth?" I ask.

"Don't tell us what to do," Daisy says, jumping up from the little throne she brought with her.

"I'm asking you to show me respect. Or is that reserved for just you, the Queen?" I ask. I've really fucked up now. "I'm taking your answer as from birth. List what she has done to your people."

"I don't know," Daisy says.

"Then I think we can come to an agreement about her," I say. "I'll come to your people, alone, to respect your terrible feelings about her, with Geta or Eterna nearby for protection, and heal your people. You'll give me a bag of fairy dust, and we'll see at the end of your trip if I've earned the second bag. That is a fair deal. More than you gave to my wife. She ran off because of you all. She ran from her home due to you not letting her have peace growing up. I think you should take my kindness."

"Why do you think that is enough for our dust?" Daisy says. "Do you think we have enough injured for the bag? That will hardly cover a pinch of dust."

"I don't believe you," I say. "I know you have plenty of injured, there's no need to lie about that. What are you trying to do with that lie?"

"I'm not lying about that," Daisy says. "I do not need to lie. You know what else I would want for the bag."

"You are," I say. "But fine. I'll be going to the pixies first. If your injured are similar to theirs, then I won't be getting you pregnant. I don't feel like dealing with you lying to me. It seems you are lying about everything."

Daisy relaxes back into her throne. The fairies she brought along start to crowd around her. She has to be lying, then. Why else would she be slow to respond?

"What if the pixies are lying about their injured?" Daisy says. "They're listening in now, I'm sure. Do you think they aren't about to trick you into thinking none of them are pregnant? These are kids we're talking about. That's not something to mess around with, except for the pixies."

Damn bitches, making everything so fucking difficult. Am I being too nice to them all? And of course, it's for kids. Everyone really is going to be my descendant at this rate.

"Sorry," Daisy says. "Ioelena, we're sorry for our behavior. We would appreciate you coming with Queen Alzi to help us."

I'm a pushover.

"Thank you," Ioelena says. "It strangely means a lot to hear that."

"Fine," I say. "We can have the same deal for both groups."