Part one can be found here In the Beginning
Queen Isla and King Elgar's first year of reign was a little rocky for them both. The first hours of rule taught husband and wife they could do anything if they worked together. They were newlyweds; after all, plus now had a kingdom to run on top of everything else. Yet, they were up to the task. A task that would be put to the test all too soon.
Queen Isla called the heads of all the races to start figuring out housing, meals, and general work. They needed to form a plan that was fair to all involved, or nothing would work.
Amid the meeting, while gnome and ogre debated who would be in charge of security, a tiny fairy flew in, screaming at the top of her lungs. For such a small person, her scream vibrated through the halls for fifteen minutes.
Nurse Tabby of the fairy clan flew right to the King and Queen and implored them to save the new baby fairies' life. You see, she had tried to fly too soon and fell and hit her head on the new bricks. Now the newborn was blue in the face with her drooping wings. Never a good sign for a fairy.
King Elgar popped both fairies on his nose and took them to his personal chambers at the fastest pace he could. Queen Isla galloped ahead, opening doors as she went. Once in the rooms, the fairies were laid on the bed. King and Queen bent their heads and breathed on the newborn fairy together. You could slowly see warmth come back into her face.
Nurse Tabby turned the newborn on her side. The King and Queen again breathed upon the tiniest of fairies they had ever seen. A little more color came back into the newborn. The King did something by instinct that shocked those looking on. He grabbed a part of the tiny fairies robe and shook her upside down.
Between the gasping of those that followed, the Queen saw a tiny piece of mucus come out of the fairy's mouth. King Elgar quickly dropped her back on the bed. The force of the soft landing made the stale air leave her body and clean, fresh air enter.
Soon the room was filled with the cries of the newborn fairy while Nurse Tabby deemed her name Bricky Blu. With tears in her eyes, Nurse Tabby thanked The King and Queen for her daughter's life. With that, she flew away to cuddle her baby all night long.
The couple learned on the faithful day they worked best together. Both bring unique views and instincts to each situation that comes their way. The people who found themself living at the castle and surrounding areas knew Queen Isla and King Elgar to be fair in how they treated everyone.
Ninety-Nine years, three hundred and sixty-four days passed...
The old attic room was filled with books on every subject imaginable. From the homemade quilt, the extraordinary paintings hanging from rafters to the chair that looked handmade, the room gave off a comfy vibe except for the sparks flying off the wings of the tiniest fairies ever seen.
Her name was Bricky Blu. A fairy was to be named after her lifelong calling.
At 100 years of life, fairies are officially an adult. Bricky Blu should be on her way out of her attic room into a new house all her own and in charge of whatever the Queen deems her life's calling.
The problem was she was not like all the other fairies. She loved learning all kinds of different things. She loved baking, sewing, carpentry, and, yes, even brick making because she got to get dirty and play in the mud.
The best part is that she could not be yelled at for bringing dirt through the castle as she made her way up to the attics to wash off the day's grime. She loved that part best of all. She had to admit she did smile while getting as much mud all over the hallways. It just made her heart happy to be a little rebellious once in a while.
But now is not the time for happy memories! Bricky Blu thought as she stomped her tiny leg. What in the world is she going to do for the rest of her life? She doesn't like any one thing and has tried them all.
Every two weeks, you were assigned where you were going to be working. This practice usually lasted about a year. By then, the head of the guilds knew who excelled at which craft.
After your first year, most workers moved to trade houses and became integral to their life's craft. By the time it was your one-hundredth birthday, it was just a formality to be named into your lifelong Guild.
The problem for Bricky Blu started a couple months into her work rotation. The Master Forger wanted Bricky Blu to come back again the following week. A fight had broken out between all the Masters of the various guilds at this request.
It came out then all the guild masters wanted Bricky Blu to work for them. While she wasn't the best by any means, she was a joyful soul. She learned fast once you showed her how to do anything, and she put her heart and soul into her work.
She made any workplace happier. So much so that the other workers worked twice as hard and production for the weeks Bricky Blu was employed skyrocketed. Everyone wanted to be around Bricky Blu, it seemed. Not for her work but just her personality.
The Master Guilds all sat down, unbeknownst to Bricky Blu, and had a long meeting under the full moon. There was a lot of talking, arguing, and others trying to calm down the loudest, so the conference would not be heard by those that should not know. Meaning the King and Queen of New Earth.
A compromise was finally come to and passed the voting process by one hundred percent of the guild masters. Bricky Blu would now be on a two-week rotation with every Guild until Bricky Blu herself showed favoritism to one particular Guild. They were all reasonably sure within the next year, a guild would have their hands on Bricky Blu, and all these secrets could be swept under the table, never to be talked about again.
Little did they realize this pattern they had set in time would be followed for over ninety years.
Bricky Blu was so deep in thought about her past she didn't hear the knocking on her door. The loud knocking became shouting along with pots and pans banging against each other. Finally, Bricky Blu's head registered extra noise and slowly walked over to her door to see why there was so much noise in the hallway at this time of night.
Opening the door resulted in four friends laying on top of her as they tried to push the door in to open it. Bricky Blu started laughing while asking what in the world was going on! She was told to get her bum down the stairs NOW! The Queen of New Earth required her.
Bricky Blu didn't move.
Her friends grabbed her, shoved the first veil and flowers they saw on her head and pulled her down the stairs into the palace's main meeting room.
Bricky Blu was blinded by a flash of light as she stood wondering why she had been called.
You can read the next part Here: In the Beginning Part 2 and a Half~ New Earth
Here is my Bingo Card for the Bingo Doohicky. I had a ton of fun reading everyone's stories and can not wait to read more this week!!
Help someone smile today. It can not hurt you.
Snook
Castle: Photo by Oliver Lechner from Pexels
attic: Photo by beytlik
Forge: Photo by Lars Mai
Veil: Photo by Milad Farhani
full Moon: Photo by Joonas kääriäinen
All photos are mine unless otherwise stated.