Stuffing this… inferior feeling to the back of my mind, I decide to find my sister. Well… my closest sister. Faeries live for a very, very long time. And for us, having a child is a lot simpler than for humans. It takes a lot less time too. So, I have a lot of sisters.

Of these maaaaany many sisters, only around 36 live at home. Of those, only around 10 live with the Queen, because she’s so picky, but I’m only really close with 8 of those that live here. All of us here aren’t really super formal, and we like to do… whatever we want. I’ve always been more of a tomboy, and Dad’s supported me on that. But the Queen… everything is stifling, and you have to be exactly what she wants you to be.

Blossom, Daisy, Flora, Laverna, Vinny, Azalea, Calla, Odeletta, and Pascala are all Spring. Cloud, Rae, Adena, Aurora, Calinda, Chasca, Kyra, Pearl, and Skye are all Summer. Annona, Ash, Baize, Hazel, Laurel, Maple, Orla, Roux, and Zarina are all Autumn. Bramble, Robin, Lumi, Jenara, Iclyn, Aspen, Eira, Amaryllis, and Everest are the Winter ones. I'm Zarina.

The ones that live here at dad's that I get along with regularly are Pascala who I call Callie, and Calla, Rae and Kyra, and Laurel, and Aspen and Everest. I'm closest with Everest, though. One time, the whole 9 of summer got together. It was.... just.... wow. So many clashing colors of blue.... and they all had different powers! There are several powers associated with each season, but I never knew how many until they all got together. Laverna and Azalea were both super mean. The only thing keeping our house together was dad. He loves all of us that live with him, but when they came to visit, he loved them too. I don't know how you can love all 36 daughters, especially all at the same time!

I’m alright with all the names, the problem is that I don’t really care. I wish the Queen wasn’t my mother… I have too much family, and everyone expects me to be perfect. Ever helps me a lot though, she’s the best friend I could ever ask for. Speaking of, I’ve finally reached the room she’s in. Sneaking up behind her, I poke her in the side, giggling when she jumps.

“Rina! Hey, you can’t do that!” She said, glaring at me. I remember why I’m there, and my laughter fades.

“Ever, The Queen’s here!” I say as urgently as I can.

“What?!” She exclaims, quickly unfolding out of her hiding place. “Last time she was here…” She trailed off, but she didn’t have to say. I was there too. She destroyed our favorite gardens, and I still haven’t forgiven her. To this day, I still don’t know why she was mad.

“She said she had to talk to dad-” I said, and before I could finish, she grabbed my hand. Her footsteps and mine fell in line, and we ran to the kitchen. It’s near the parlor, the only place Dad would ever take her to talk. Creeping up to the door, we check that it’s shut and locked, and we sit in front of it.

Slowly, I turn my senses up. Even with my highly sensitive hearing, I can only pick up the tones of their voices, and let me tell you… what I can feel is menacing. Ever uses her specialty, wind. It’s a more common specialty, and she can’t summon much of it. She brings a sickeningly slow current from them to us, carrying snippets of their conversation to us.

"You will assist in any way possible the apprehension of the Halfling. I don't care what it takes, how many children must die. If you do not kill it, all of your daughters will die."