After finding out the fate of the Queen’s spies, I had infiltrated the castle. A spy redeeming a spy? No. I’m here to help those that the Queen hates… though she doesn’t know them herself. I heard she recently captured some humans, and I increased my efforts. Not everyone here wants the Queen to be in charge. Yes, the King isn’t perfect, but at least he didn’t start killing all of the males in a biological genocide.

Okay, that’s not proven yet. I’m here to prove that. Years and years ago, males of our species started dying out. The females with snake attributes acquired the ability to asexually reproduce, the same way wild snakes do. Sure, they only ever had females, but at least there was more of the species; more faeries to lighten the workload on those remaining.

The only way a son can be born is if a male and a female have a faeriling together. But there aren't many men left, so they can afford to be picky. And being picky, they started having multiple females and since the males still only have a 50/50 chance of producing a male anyway… the females stopped being with them. The few males left are treated like breakable, valuable, jerks. We don’t want them around, we don’t actually need them…. But if we ever wanted, we want them to be there.

Occasionally there’s a female that can’t asexually reproduce, and if she wants a faeriling she needs a male… so we need them… sometimes. But the reason behind the death of the adult males is… unexplained. The most popular theory is that the Queen somehow invented a disease that killed them all… but why didn’t it kill the females or the children, and why only the faeries?

And most recently we started asking, why the humans? What purpose do they serve? And what is she planning? That’s what I’m trying to find out. That’s why I took the test to be a faithful soldier to her…. That’s why I’m sitting alone in a dark room right now, waiting to see if I passed or failed.

The phoenix feather quill in my hand burst into flames as I wrote the last answer, singing my arm. The recruits around me stared bleakly, some glancing at their own quills in fear. They’ve all been selected. They’ve all been volunteered. I’m here because I volunteered myself. They don’t know that.... I was trying to keep a low profile. But when the teacher’s eye sparkles knowingly in my direction, I know he thinks I want to be an elite.

Elites have to score well. They have to be perfect. I’ve finished first, I’ve gotten the best scores… So will I be an elite? Serving the Queen every day, protecting her personally… Will she see through me? With every day that passes, I’ll know where she is, what she’s doing…

If I see the queen as an elite… will I have the strength to refrain from killing her?