A Land of Liminal Faeries: A tale from the in-between
This magical world was inspired by the incomparable Aoife Casey and her magical Flower Faerie creations. She offered a couple of her beautiful pieces for the Spring issue of Moonlight & Mulch, and decided that I needed a custom Faerie of my own. I am absolutely honored to be given such a gift.
During our email correspondence, a few ideas got tossed around, and this idea was the one we both saw potential in. So, with the wonderful inspiration of her stunning artwork, I present to you, “A Land of Liminal Faeries: A tale from the in-between”
Artwork by the magical Aoife Casey. She named her “Faerie Queen Bea”. Isn’t she stunning!
“Your Majesty!” Sorrel comes barreling through the door to the throne room, where The Queen sits with a bored look on her face. Her chief advisor is animatedly imploring her to agree to his latest scheme. She knows that he’s a slimy power-hungry slug; but the options for his replacement are even worse, so she tolerates him.
At the sound of Sorrel’s thunderous steps, the queen looks up, eager for distraction. “What’s the matter Sorrel?” The troll trips on air, falling forward onto his rotund belly and sliding the rest of the way to the feet of the throne. “Oh Sorrel. You really are quite clumsy.”
“Apologies your highness.” He mumbles, as he gets his feet back underneath him, and offers the queen a slight bow. “Two rifts have appeared over the Cliffs of Shadows.” Sorral’s voice sounds sure and strong, but the queen can see the panic in his eyes. The troll is slow to hysterics, so that single look tells the queen exactly how serious the situation is.
“What happened?” All of the boredom that was on her face is gone, replaced by concern and a readiness to take on whatever is to come.
“There was a group of Seelie and Unseelie arguing about a lover’s quarrel. They were ordered by their kingdoms to come here and hash it out because we are neutral. There was a scuffle, and a Seelie killed an Unseelie, and in retaliation an Unseelie killed a Seelie. The rifts appeared right after the deaths.” Sorrel quickly scrambles to add, “We have what is left of both groups in custody. They await your judgement.”
The Queen closes her eyes and breathes deeply, “The neutral kingdom is not a dumping ground for their issues! I have explicitly expressed that we are a safe haven, not a battle ground for petty squabbles drenched in bigotry.” Another deep breath, “You did well Sorral. Thank you for getting the offenders squared away quickly.” She looks at her slug of a chief, “Torfod, send an invitation to both kingdoms. Make sure you remind them of the consequences of refusing our invitation.”
“Yes, your highness.” The spindly fae slinks off, a look of annoyance on his pale face.
Turning her attention back towards Sorrel, the queen asks the most pertinent questions, “Have the rifts caused any damage? Has anything come out of them?”
“No, your highness. They don’t seem to contain any malice or negative energy, but…”
“But?”
“When the royal sorcerer attempted to close them… they wouldn’t yield to her magic.”
“Well, that’s not worrisome at all.” The Queen mumbles sarcastically. “Gather the guards and open a portal to the cliffs. Let’s get up there and see if there’s something I can do.”
The Queen walks out of the portal from the palace, determination in every step. The rifts warble above the cliffs, floating there like wisps of smoke; one black, one white. The wind whispers through the petals of her crown, only her magic keeping them from blowing away.
Looking at the floating rifts, the queen turns to Sorrel, “Nothing has come through?”
“No, your majesty. I left Havrick here to keep an eye on them.” Havrick, an older fae from the Seelie kingdom steps forward, “Nothing has come from the rifts, your grace. They have just stayed there floating…” The elderly male looks like he’s unsure about something.
“What is it Havrick?” The queen asks.
“Well… I could be wrong, your majesty, but they feel like they are waiting for something… or someone.”
“Hmmm…” is all the queen offers in response. She stares at the rifts, watching them undulate in the air like sentient beings. Havrick may be onto something. “Before we send anyone through to the unknown to investigate, we should find out what our guests were doing up here that caused these anomalies.”
With that, the queen and Sorrel step back through the portal into the throne room; ready to get to the bottom of this peculiar situation.
“You stand before Queen Bea, the sovereign ruler of the Liminal Kingdom. Bow.”
“Now now Torfod, we don’t demand submission, only respect.” The queen looks at the six remaining members of the group of fae that decided to abuse her kingdoms neutrality. “Which none of you have extended to me or this kingdom.”
She rarely allows her power to influence her subjects, but these fae aren’t her subjects, and she does not tolerate disrespect.
Standing with her head held high and her shoulders back, she allows a small portion of her power to fill the room, causing everyone in it to bow. Her subjects don’t resist the command, but the six delinquents in front of her fight to stay upright.
The queen pulls back her power, satisfied with the sweat coating their skin. Before she can commend them for their efforts, the doors open and the kings and queens of the seelie and unseelie courts step into the room. Arrogance straightens their posture as they saunter in. Internally rolling her eyes, the queen sits back down on her throne, mentally preparing for the ignorance that is bound to spew from their mouths.
“You summoned?” Says the king of the Seelie kingdom. He offers no recognition of the queen’s title, which does not bode well for his future.
Queen Bea simply raises an eyebrow, while Torfod demands his respect. “You stand in the Liminal Kingdom before our luminous queen. Show respect, or prepare for succession.” He may be a slimy slug, but he respects my position, even if he has designs for it.
The rulers of light and dark just curl their lips and bow their heads so slightly you can hardly tell they moved at all. Power simmers in agitation under the queen’s skin. Standing from the throne, she slowly and methodically makes her way down the steps, stopping right in front of them. “You all seem to have forgotten how the Liminal Kingdom was created, and why I was named its queen.” Meeting each ruler eye to eye she asks. “Would you like me to remind you?”
After more posturing from the visiting royals, the queen decides it’s a better idea to finish this visit over a meal. After all, food tends to make everyone more content, and she just wants to get back to her room and the book she was reading.
The four royals and their repugnant spawn are seated around the round dining table, with the queen separating the light and dark fae. The meal is well under way, and the queen is content to sit back and enjoy her wine while they bicker amongst themselves.
“This is you fault Crifton. You killed Sinal!”
“Freyla is the one who made the stupid decision to bed Sinal. None of this would have happened if your bastard cousin had stayed in his own kingdom!” Says one of the light fae troublemakers.
“You keep your ugly mouth shut Dresi!”
“Why don’t you stand up and make me Himarial? Oh, that’s right, you have no real power.”
The queen sits there as they trade barbs like children, hearing nothing that helps her understand the rifts their feud caused. The wine has stopped improving her mood, so she clears her throat in an attempt to silence the room.
“Dresi, stop your blabbering, I’ve heard that you’re not even supposed to leave the kingdom due to your inability to stay out of trouble.” The Seelie queen states with a sneer.
“The trouble is never mine! Your pathetic excuse for princes start everything.”
“ENOUGH!” the queen finally shouts. “Your squabbling is petty and exhausting, and I find myself no longer caring about why you brought your feud here.” She sighs loudly, straightening in her seat. “You have disrespected me and this kingdom, and I have had enough. The only words I want to hear, are the ones that tell me when the rifts appeared. Now.”
The queen of the Unseelie kingdom opens her mouth to speak but Queen Bea cuts her off, “Not you. You weren’t even there.” Queen Bea looks over the six children of the two kingdoms, settling on the one they called Dresi, mostly because that’s the only face she has a name for. “You, tell me exactly when the rifts appeared.”
He doesn’t bother to sit up taller, or even stop stuffing his face, “We found out Freyla and Sinal were hooking up and told our parents. A bastard born outside of the race and the kingdom would be an abomination, and we didn’t want to deal with that. Our parents all said they were tired of our fighting, sent us here to settle it once and for all. Whoever managed to end the relationship, would get 50,000 crowns.” He tosses another berry in his mouth before grunting, “Crifton managed to kill Sinal before I could kill Freyla, and her screeching annoyed me, so I killed her just to shut her up. The rifts appeared after that.”
The queen sighs once again, sitting back in her seat. With her glass refilled and back in her hand, she takes a sip and responds, “I would like to point out that I asked specifically for the exact moment when the rifts appeared, not the events that led up to it.” Another sip. “Since you caused the rifts, one of you from each kingdom will enter the rift and find out where they lead.” Voices rise in complaint, but the queen is done with their disrespect. Letting the full weight of her power close their mouths and pin them to their seats, she continues. “You are all banished from my kingdom.”
She can’t see a reaction since they are frozen, but she can feel their rage, and their attempts to take back control of themselves. “You have shown nothing but disdain and contempt since you arrived. Your disrespect is both unwelcome and unacceptable. Because of this, I now brand you with our sigil, infusing it with one command; If you set one toe into this kingdom ever again, you will die.”
The smell of burning flesh fills the air, marks appearing on the throats of each guest. Before pulling back her magic, she pops all but two of them out of existence, knowing they will end up back in their respective kingdoms where they belong.
The two remaining fae scream and grasp at their throats, “Now then” the queen says, ignoring their cries. “You two will follow me to the rifts, and we will be done with this unpleasantness.” She nods to her guards, and they roughly lift the crying males from their seats, dragging them towards the portal.
“Why am I here and not Crifton? He should be the one to go, not me! I didn’t kill anyone!” The light fae cries.
“Ah, well, I thought you were Crifton. I struggle with names. Though, in all fairness, none of you bothered to introduce yourselves.” The queen stands below the two rifts, hands clasped behind her back, “Alright, I’ve had enough of all of this.” With absolutely zero effort, she uses her magic to toss both fae through the rifts.
Shouts of apology and pleas of reconsideration echo around the cliffs before silence resumes and the rifts pop out of existence. “Huh, well that worked out unexpectedly easy.”, the Queen thinks to herself.
She nods, and offers a smile to Torfod and Sorrell, “Thank you both for your assistance with this matter. We will schedule a meeting to figure out the best way to keep others from coming into our kingdom unannounced in the future. Our home is not a dumping ground.”
Both males bow, offering the queen the respect she is due.
“Now, I am returning to my rooms, and I would greatly appreciate being left alone.”
“Yes, your majesty.” The males bow deeper as she passes by, stepping back through the portal, in pursuit of her book.
