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Fairy Castle

Merilee/Laura

What a disaster.

Merilee rubbed her temples.

Would an easy solution be too much to ask?

For the life of her, she didn’t know what to say about her botched-up visit to Earth. Her stomach churned and twisted, adding to her headache that throbbed with each beat of her heart.

In awe, Merilee watched as the queen floated into the lush and overgrown garden room, her gown shimmering and twirling on currents of air, reflecting off the sparkling gown of diamonds and sequins. The speckles of sunlight displayed every color in the universe. Her three-foot-tall silver crown reflected colored light almost as much as the dress. A hush fell across the seventy fairies in attendance, their wings fluttering in anticipation as they turned their attention toward her. Gracefully, she floated above their heads with fluttering wings before landing softly on the jewel-encrusted throne at the front and center of the room. With her head held high, she removed a wisp of golden hair from her forehead and let her gaze wander around the space.

“Now, let us commence.” The Queen Godmother tapped her scepter on the armrest.

The room fell silent as the fairies sat straighter in their chairs, eager to hear what the queen had to say. “It seems we have two major problems,” she began, her voice ringing out across the chamber.

Understatement.

“Ashley Adams will soon find herself in grave danger.” The fairies broke out into a buzz of chatter, their wings fluttering with concern and excitement.

“Additionally, there is an issue concerning George Sparks.”

The room fell silent again.

Merilee couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt. She had failed in her mission. Well, part of it. She wanted to unfurl her wings, fly right out of the room, and hide for a thousand years in the hopes that everyone would forget that she’d messed up.

Ashley Adams, her assignment, was doing great. Ashley’s heart was open, and she met her soulmate, Harry. They were in love and happy to be alive. Merilee wished the queen might instead focus on that.

“Merilee, your report, please?” With folded hands, the queen leaned forward.

Merilee fidgeted in her chair. Despite being elevated into the Fairy Godmother program hundreds of years ago, she still found herself as nervous as the first day of training.

She stood and cleared her throat. “Yes, My Queen. Um…While Ashley is doing great, there seems to be an issue with George Sparks.”

“I heard. He’s spiraling into a deep depression.” She pursed her lips. “How did things get this bad?”

Merilee gathered herself. “Well, it seems I miscalculated George’s affections toward me when I visited Earth last year. The plan was to open his heart so he’d be receptive to love when he met his actual soulmate. As you know, he was quite the player before he moved to Washington.”

“Yes, yes, I know.” The queen sighed. “The assignment was for you to assist Ashley in finding her soulmate, Harry. Instead, you included a plan to fix Harry’s best friend, George.”

Ugh, multitasking. The queen’s directive had always been to focus on one thing at a time. Guilt flooded Merilee for the hundredth time. “Well, uh, to sum things up, yes.”

“You opened him up to the possibility of love, but you overshot, and now he’s in a deep depression because he thinks you left him behind. Am I understanding this correctly?”

Fannetta, Merilee’s best friend, leaned over and whispered, “I think you broke George.”

Not helpful. Merilee widened her eyes, signaling Fannetta to keep her mouth shut. She didn’t need to pour acid on an already festering wound. Yes, she messed up, but now was not the time to dwell on mistakes. Merilee cleared her throat. “That’s correct. George continues to have a hard go of it. I realize he’s suffering right now.”

“The goal of a Fairy Godmother is to reduce suffering.” The queen’s voice softened.

“That’s true. I was successful with Ashley, as you recall. But George is different. We’ll need to play the long game until he meets his soulmate,” Merilee said.

“So, will this poor young man be experiencing wretched heartbreak until she shows up? By then, will he even care enough to recognize his soulmate?”

Merilee closed her eyes briefly because she didn’t know. Ashley Adams was her first assignment as a Fairy Godmother-in-training, and this was all uncharted territory. “We are working on setting George up to meet people and make new friends. Our hope is that the memories of me pretending to be Laura Vanetta will fade when that happens.”

The queen raised a brow. “Your hope?”

“I believe George will get back on track once his college courses begin. He has a passion for animals, and he’s perfectly placed in the veterinarian program at UC Davis.”

But evil lurked. Merilee had two problems to solve—helping George heal his broken heart and keeping Ashley alive.

The queen nodded. “You aren’t soulmates with George, but he believes you are. That kind of strength of emotion can create miracles. At least you accomplished the goal of opening his heart.”

Merilee nodded. “Yeah. So, he’d know his true love when he meets her.”

“I’ll commend you. In theory, your plan wasn’t without logic,” the queen said.

A rush of warmth filled Merilee’s body.

“But…”

Ugh. Always a but.

“As you might remember from the Celestial Handbook, passage 1062e,” the queen said, pursing her lips and staring directly at Merilee, “if you fail at your endeavor to fix this unfortunate situation with George, I’ll strip you of your wings and demote you to Fairy Second Class.”

The blood drained from Merilee’s head, and black dots obscured her vision. No, it couldn’t be. She had read that passage eons ago but never expected it to be enforced. It would take Merilee thousands of years to work her way back up to the Fairy Godmother training. And with a black mark on her file, she might never get the chance. Fannetta trembled beside her. She drew in a deep, shuddering breath.

Fannetta reached over to hold her hand. Merilee knew Fannetta would have her back. With her innocent soul and wide-eyed wonder about almost everything, she was certain her best friend would give her life to protect her. Merilee felt the same and hoped it would never come to that.

“You have your work cut out for you. Because Fannetta was also involved in the original plan, I’d like you both to go to the library and put your heads together. You’ll need to plan your strategy moving forward. Remember, the clock is ticking. The assignment with George has a short deadline, one year max.”

“Of course.” Merilee glanced at Fannetta.

“You may get to work on your plan.” The queen pointed her scepter to the exit.

“Yes, of course,” Merilee said with a curtsy, grabbed Fannetta’s arm, and tugged on it to leave.

“Thank you for this opportunity,” Fannetta said. “We won’t let you down.”

They’d let the queen down once, so Merilee’s hopes weren’t high. They made the trek down to the subterranean cave-like halls chiseled from rock thousands of years ago. Merilee breathed in, trying to calm herself. She loved the lilac and lavender smell of the garden room, but the stone walkways held a unique scent that reminded her of the Earth right after a rainfall. After about thirty twists and turns, they entered the library.

Merilee flopped into a comfy chair and breathed in the smell of centuries-old leather-bound books. The library was her go-to place for information you couldn’t get anywhere else in the universe, but better yet, it was almost always empty, so she could enjoy the solitude. But not today. She sat forward. “What are we going to do about George?”

She wouldn’t let herself fail this mission and get demoted. She couldn’t.

Fannetta sighed. “I don’t know, but I’d love to have someone fall for me like that.”

“He didn’t fall for me. Or should I say, Laura. He’s just stuck in denial right now. He fell for a version of his soulmate. To be honest, I only studied his soulmate for a week and then copied what I thought she’d be like. Once he meets his true love, the memory of me will be a thing of the past, buried and gone.” Merilee almost felt sad for a moment. “But you’re right. Having someone love the real me that deeply would be thrilling.”

“How about Zuriel? Maybe he’ll be your true love.” Fannetta giggled.

Zuriel, Ashley Adams’ guardian angel, would help Merilee keep Ashley safe from her stepmother’s revenge. “Stop it,” Merilee said. “You know it’s taboo for fairies and guardian angels to fall in love.”

Fannetta tsked. “That rule is so silly and outdated. Just because some angel got his heart broken two thousand years ago by a fairy, it ruined it for everyone else. That provision needs to be changed. They haven’t made it into a law yet, so…”

Merilee let her mind wander for a moment. Ahhh, Zuriel. With his chocolatey-brown eyes, high cheekbones, and strong jaw… “He’s the prettiest of the pretty.”

Fannetta rolled her eyes. “He’s mega handsome and hot. That’s what he is.”

Merilee’s heart rate catapulted.

“Have you met him yet?” Fannetta asked.

“No. I’ve only seen a picture. It was a few hundred years ago, though. I’ve never met any of the angels. They’re usually too busy saving humans. They’ve brought out the big guns for this one.” Merilee rubbed her hands together. “He’s supposed to come to our meeting today to talk strategy.” She plucked a mirror out of her oversized bag and peered into it. “How does my makeup look?”

Fannetta shook her head. “You’re gorgeous as always. That smokey-eye thing you have going on is… what do they say on Earth? Lit? Oh, wait. It’s hot.”

“Thanks.” Merilee smiled. She didn’t like social media in general, but YouTube had its advantages when it came to makeup and fashion.

“Back to Zuriel. Do you know anything about him?” Fannetta asked.

“Not a thing. There hasn’t been a need for him to enter our realm. Do you think he’ll be excited to meet us?”

“Of course. Who wouldn’t be?” Fannetta said as she flipped her raven hair over her shoulder. The two fairies shared a laugh.

The library doors flew open, the queen breezed in, and good heavens, Zuriel beside her was even hotter in person than in the photo she remembered. They both paused about twenty feet away. Merilee wondered if anyone had ever passed out just by looking at his beauty. Dark wavy hair, expressive brown eyes, full lips, also tall at six three, and devastatingly handsome in every way. Even his ears were sexy. Was that even possible?

He stood next to the queen with crossed arms, wearing a scowl.

He’s scowling? Merilee had assumed all guardian angels were happy, kind, and patient. But this one? Zuriel seemed to have a storm cloud over his head. She leaned toward Fannetta and whispered, “I guess he’s not too excited to meet us.”

Zuriel’s eyes zipped to Merilee. “That’s correct.”

Merilee’s face flamed. Did he hear that?

He sighed. “Why would I be excited to interrupt my important cases to clean up your mess on Earth?”

That arrogant jerk. She straightened her back. “I’ll have you know that Ashley would have needed your help regardless. And who knows? If it wasn’t for me, her stepmother might have killed her with the allergen-laced cookie.”

Zuriel rolled his eyes.

Oh! He was grumpy and cocky. Merilee’s hands clenched, and her eyes narrowed.

Fannetta gently touched her arm. She knew when her friend was about to detonate.

Merilee wanted to wipe the know-it-all expression from his face.

The queen harrumphed. “Let’s focus on the solution.”

Merilee resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at Zuriel and say, “See? The queen agrees with me.”

“It appears I don’t need to introduce you,” the queen said. “Zuriel, I want you to work closely with Merilee to protect Ashley from her stepmother.”

Zuriel closed his eyes briefly.

Merilee cringed inside. Ashley’s stepmother was pure malevolent darkness. Sometimes they had the ability to save a human, but not every time. Evil had always been one of the strongest forces on the planet. No, she wouldn’t even allow herself to contemplate that scenario.

“Why do I have to collaborate with her?” Zuriel glanced at Merilee and back to the queen.

Humiliation washed through her like an ocean wave, strong and powerful. Did he find her repulsive? Was he so beautiful that it was painful to work with someone ordinary like her?

“She knows Ashley better than anyone. They spent many months together as best friends,” the queen said.

Zuriel kept his arms crossed and gave a curt nod. “She also played with the emotions of an innocent human.”

Molten anger raced through her veins. “George is smart; he can take care of himself. Not everyone wallows in heartbreak for two thousand years,” she said.

Fannetta stiffened beside her.

Zuriel’s eyes narrowed. “George doesn’t have the luxury of thousands of years. You may have ruined his entire life on Earth.”

Could that be true? “Listen. I’m going to fix George—you need to concentrate on Ashley.”

“As I said,” the queen interrupted, “you will need to find a way to work together. I don’t want any animosity about past decisions. Things need to improve now.” The queen gave Zuriel and Merilee a stern look that said don’t mess with me. “Do I make myself clear?”

Merilee glared at Zuriel. His eyes weren’t shooting daggers anymore, but his mouth stayed in a firm line. Were all guardian angels spoiled or something? No wonder the realms didn’t cross often.

“Yes, I’ll do what I can to help George recover. And I’ll also assist Zuriel with all the information he needs,” Merilee said with perfect professional delivery. She’d let the pouting angel deal with her being the mature one.

Zuriel straightened. “Yes, Your Highness. I don’t agree with what’s happened, but I’ll use the information to ensure that Ashley stays safe.”

“Very good.” The queen finally smiled. “Fannetta,” she called out. “I want you to assist Merilee and Zuriel as needed. You also know a lot about George and Ashley. Your insights could be helpful.”

Fannetta beamed. “Of course, My Queen.”

“Now that it’s settled, the three of you need to go to the war room and plot your strategy.” She fluttered out of the room.

Merilee and Fannetta stood and waited for Zuriel to say something. Instead, he walked out the door. The arrogant fool planned to find the war room with hundreds of twists and turns through the tunnels. “I hope he gets lost,” Merilee whispered.

“I have the castle blueprints,” he called back over his shoulder.

“Very well, then. Lead the way!” Fannetta turned to wink and giggle at Merilee.

Merilee loved to laugh with Fannetta, but this situation was anything but funny.

This wasn’t just a disaster—it had all the makings of a catastrophe.