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Alfea
You have always thought that you owe a lot to Alfea College. Despite your education there being unconventional at best, what with a war raging on and your mother wreaking havoc in your life at the time; Alfea gave you wonderful things, wonderful people. You met your future wife there, you made friends for life there, and you grew as a person there.
Sometimes you wonder though, how your life would be if you hadn’t attended at all, where you would be today if you hadn’t met the people you did. Maybe you would the Queen your mother had once been. Authoritarian, cruel, unfeeling. Alone. Maybe you wouldn’t even be Queen at all, who knows? Maybe your mother would still be ruling. Maybe you wouldn’t even be alive.
You think about all these things while you stand near the assembly stage waiting to be announced by Alfea’s current headmistress. You look at Terra as she speaks of some of the changes that will be implemented in the school, which you will further explain when you go on stage. You know that somewhere in the audience, there is your oldest daughter sitting with her friends, waiting to hear what you have to say.
You look at yourself and can’t help but compare what you’re wearing to what your mother wore during that infamous day she took you out of college and to the Palace. You are so different. She was all stiletto heels and sharp dresses. You are all pantsuits and comfortable boots. You like to think it makes you more approachable to the people.
Just as you listen to the words “Please stand for Her Majesty, The Queen”, you snap out of your reverie, take a deep breath and start moving towards the microphone.
‘Yes, you owe quite a lot to Alfea’ you think while taking the stage.
Bed
A bed is quite a simple thing. You never really placed that much importance on yours. Not until you and Bloom started sharing one at least. Then your bed turned into your safe place. The place where you could just be yourselves. On your bed, under the covers, you could just be two women in love. There was no war, no Burned Ones, no psychotic headmistress, no overwhelming pressure from a kingdom that you’re not yet ready to rule.
You first start sharing a bed on the night Bloom gains her wings and defeats all the Burned Ones trying to invade the school. She is shaken to the core and bone tired, and before you both know it she is being settled on your bed, the biggest and most comfortable one, and you volunteer to stay with her through the night.
“Just in case she needs something” you say to the girls, but they are not fooled and you know it, they have noticed what is blooming between the two of you since the very beginning, though they decide to remain quiet and leave you two alone for the night. You faintly hear Aisha on the phone through the closed door; she’s making up some excuse about killer exams to Bloom’s parents.
“Well, I’ll sleep on the couch over there, if you need anything at all, please tell me” you say while getting up.
“What are you talking about? This is your bed to begin with and it’s big enough for two people” she says while grabbing onto your wrist before you can get too far.
You take a deep breath, this could break you, break your cool demeanor, make you reveal everything to her, make you tell her how much she dominates your thoughts, your heart, make you tell her how much and how fast you’re falling in love with her even though you barely know each other. But you say yes nonetheless because you have the feeling you’ll never be able to deny her anything.
Before you know it, you have changed into comfortable pajamas and are slipping into bed beside her. You lie on your back staring at the ceiling and she almost immediately turns to you and settles her head on your shoulder, her arm around your waist.
“I lied before, you know” she says quietly in a whisper, “I do need help, today was… a lot”
“I know” you whisper back. Your arms encircle her, one under her neck and around her back and the other comes up to run gentle fingers through her hair. “I promise you’re not alone in this”
Silence reigns over the bedroom for a while until Bloom turns her head upwards to look you in the eye.
“I missed you when you were gone” she says as the hand around your waist comes up to caress your cheek. “I didn’t realize how much I missed you until you came back”
“I missed you too, so much” you say in a broken whisper, you feel like this is it, this is when you tell her everything. “Bloom I… I-…”, you don’t even know how to start.
“I know” she says while leaning closer and closer, “Stella, I know”
She leans all the way and kisses you. You’re both hesitant, this is a whole new world of feelings for you and you imagine it is for her too. The kiss remains soft and unhurried, and you feel like hours could have passed, and in reality it was barely a minute before you both separate only far enough to rub your noses together. She lets out an adorable yawn, clearly against her will.
“Come on, let’s sleep” you say as you wrap the covers tightly around both of you. “I promise tomorrow we can talk about everything, all of it, leave it all out in the open, but tonight we sleep, yeah?”
“Promise you’ll hold me?” she asks you as she clings to you tighter.
“I promise” you whisper against the top of her head
So a bed is quite a simple thing, and yet to you a bed started the best thing that could have ever happened to you.
Children
You always knew you would have at least one child at some point. It was inevitable, the royal line needed to continue. In your mind, you had settled on following your mother’s example and having just one, but as life quickly taught you, things rarely go according to plan. Bloom wasn’t a part of your plan, your mother’s plan for you.
You ended up having four of them. Each one unique in their own way, each one absolutely loved by their mothers.
Your firstborn comes on a calm summer night looking like the spitting image of you, she cries softly and for very little time, your little Arianna is a calm baby, always a serious expression on her tiny face, as if she was contemplating everything around her. Two years later it is Sander’s turn, and he is the complete opposite of his older sister, with a shock of red hair and intense blue eyes, he is a complete firecracker that can’t seem to stay out of trouble. Your family is complete when three years later, the twins are born, Danika and Cassia, bright girls with fun personalities and boundless imagination, a perfect mix of you and Bloom, both of them with strawberry blonde hair and hazel eyes, sometimes it’s hard to tell them apart.
Four children were definitely not a part of the plan. And yet they are an unending source of happiness, your greatest pride, your greatest achievements, your legacy.
Darkness
It is quite ironic that being a fairy of light, you are scared of the dark. But then again, how could you not? Your mother made absolutely sure to make you terrified of it. Leaving you in the dark was her favorite method of punishment, of instilling fear within you. You were not harsh enough? She would lock your mind inside total darkness. A spell wasn’t perfectly done? She would literally lock you in the darkest place inside the Palace.
You and the dark definitely don’t get along.
These days you deal better with it. You know for sure that you’ll never really get completely over your fear of it, but now you have ways to help you deal with your fear. And by ways you mostly mean Bloom.
She is definitely your guiding force, your light within the darkness. Once you start dating and sharing a bed, your nightmares reduce drastically in number, your anxiety over having to go to sleep vanishes. Because finally you’re not alone anymore, she is there almost every night, and when she’s not, you find that just thinking about her, about your relationship gives you the strength to face your fear. And finally you overcome the darkness.
Eyes
Most people think that the first thing you noticed about Bloom was her hair; after all, it’s hard to overlook a redhead. But the truth is that the first thing that caught your attention when she approached you that very first day on the courtyard was her eyes. Those beautiful bluish green eyes; so bright and full of hope. Hope that you now know was for being accepted for who she was; hope to stop feeling so alone.
Her eyes have been a constant source of security and strength throughout the years. Her eyes were the ones you looked for after a nightmare. The ones you stared into in the throes of passion. The ones you stared at as you were being crowned Queen of Solaria. The ones you searched for when you were dealing with a difficult minister or diplomat.
Her eyes would always be your salvation, your safe haven to get lost. And as you see your tiny daughter for the very first time, you thank whatever deity who is out there that she has inherited those very same eyes that you love so much.
Free
Solaria is suffering. You know it. You also know it is your mother’s fault and no one else’s.
The kingdom is going through a deep economic crisis consequence of your mother and her council deviating millions from the treasury to the war effort, and that left the people to struggle for jobs and sometimes even food. Schools and colleges are struggling to keep their students. Tourism has dropped, and hotels and resorts are struggling to stay afloat.
You know it in your heart that the time has come for you to finally act. When before you struggled to control your own powers, now you find yourself more powerful than ever. More importantly, more powerful than your mother.
As you walk through the doors that give way to the Throne Room you notice just how truly majestic it is, with its high neatly decorated ceiling and golden walls. A lone, imposing throne stands at the end of the room. Always just one, your father was never really part of the picture. You stand in the middle of the room and take a deep breath, there is no going back from what you’re about to do. One of the side doors opens and you know it is your mother entering the room along with her ministers. You should feel nervous, on the brink of a breakdown really, but you only feel an odd sense of calm. This is what has to be done.
“Stella, what are you doing here? I have a council meeting” you hear her say to your back and you turn around.
“I know” you say, “that is exactly why I’m here”.
It’s time.
“My Lords and Ladies, Gentlemen and Madams, as I am sure you all have noticed, Solaria is going through its biggest crisis yet. The people are suffering, crime is rising, food is low and the economy is in shambles. And why? Because of a war that is being horribly fought with incompetent commanders at the front of the army”, you look straight at your mother as you say the next words, “and an even more incompetent ruler at the head of the government”
She immediately takes one step forward and in the past you would have backed away immediately, but now you don’t and she notices and stops in her tracks.
“How dare you, you insolent, ungrateful child?” she utters with borderline venom in her voice.
“I am most definitely not a child anymore and I dare!” you yell with conviction, “I dare because I have a duty to my people, to my kingdom, to care for them when no one else will. You are destroying Solaria, mother, and the worst part is that you don’t even see it, and if you do, then you don’t care, and that’s even worse”, you once again breathe deep to settle yourself. “You are unworthy of your position, your titles, you don’t deserve to be Queen of Solaria, you’re unfit to rule”
“And on what grounds am I unfit to rule; may I ask?” she tells you sarcastically.
“On grounds of despot behavior, mental instability, and abuse of monarchic power” you say coldly. “And so if it isn’t too much trouble, taking into consideration that the Council is already here, I would like to formally request a vote of no confidence against Queen Luna of Solaria”
“They are my ministers, girl, they will never act on this delusion of yours!” she yells almost frantically, you’ve never seen her this uncontrolled, you’ve struck a nerve.
The speaker of the Council, Lord Inlay, then steps forward. “Your Majesty, I think you’ll find that we will”, he then turns to his fellow ministers, “On behalf and request of Her Royal Highness The Crown Princess, I now submit a motion of no confidence against Her Majesty The Queen, to be voted and judged immediately”
The rest happens like a blur, your mother loses her position and a pair of magic dampening bracelets are slapped on her wrists before she can get over her shock. And just like that you ascend to the throne, just like that you are Queen, just like that you are free, you have the weight of a kingdom and millions people on your shoulders, but somehow you’ve never felt more free than right now. And you’re not alone in this, you think as you gently touch the platinum band on your finger, you’ll never be alone in this.
You sit down on your throne to preside over the Council, the first order of business: arrange another one to go with yours, this is the only meeting you’ll ever preside alone.
Gentle
It isn’t until you start dating Bloom that you realize just how touch starved you are, how much you crave gentleness, hugs, soft kisses, holding hands, and just plain old cuddles in bed. You never let yourself be truly vulnerable with Sky when you were together, but somehow Bloom tears down years of walls with a simple look from those beautiful eyes of hers. It’s been years now since you started your relationship and that gentleness you share has never wore off.
You are both in bed with her sitting up against the headboard and you resting your head against her tiny baby bump that barely started to show. She is running her fingers through your hair and you’re being lulled to sleep right then and there.
“What would the people think if they knew their all-powerful Queen is putty after some cuddles, huh?” says your wife while gently tweaking your ear.
“They would say nothing because I’d tell them you have magic fingers” you mumble against her belly as you rub your thumb over it.
“Oh, that response will surely go well, just think of the headlines” she lets out laughing.
“Shut up, you’ll corrupt the kid”, you hear her laugh that beautiful laugh of hers. “Seriously though, I love this”
“What’s this, love?” she says sobering up.
“This, just you and I, being, you… I like it when I can just wind down from a long day with you like this… I like it when you’re gentle with me”, the last part you let out almost in a whisper.
You’re both silent for a bit, it’s not the first time you’ve made comments like this. The two of you have had plenty of talks about the lack of proper care your mother, and to an extent, your father showed to you. Your redheaded wife has always listened intently and always treated you with the gentleness and care now you know you deserved back when you were growing up. Always giving you a shoulder to rest your head on, a hand to hold, and a warm body to hold at night, and not one judgmental look, no matter how clingy you sometimes were.
“Well, that’s good news, because I like being gentle with you, it’s good practice for the baby, just, you know, different sizes and all that”, she says as she bends down to kiss your forehead.
“Excuse you, I am not a baby, that’s treason” you say, and you climb over her careful not to settle all your weight on her.
“Aw, you’re not?” she lets out a dramatic sigh, “then I guess this warm arms will have to wait till this actual baby comes out to meet us so I can hold them”
“Wait, no, I changed my mind, I’m a baby… now hold me, woman” you say petulantly while laying your head on her chest.
“That’s what I thought” she says laughing.
Heir
Being Queen Luna’s heir was something that almost broke you, almost damaged you beyond repair. You are well aware of the person you were due to her influence, and you are determined not to make the same mistake with your firstborn, so when Crown Princess Arianna of Solaria is born and a nurse puts her in your arms after she’s been bundled up, you promise her to love her regardless of the person she turns to be.
It turns out that person is a wonderful person, if you say so yourself. You and Bloom raise her to be humble in victory and honorable in defeat, respectful at all times, and assertive when necessary; but above all, you both raise her to be happy.
You’re in your office waiting for Arianna to show up for one of the many magic lessons you have together. It is unlike her to be late, and as you’re about to go looking for her, a blonde haired, gasping and laughing mess of a teenager comes running through the door.
“Do I even want to know?” you ask smiling fondly. She has a mischievous streak that could only be activated when she was with her siblings.
“We just wanted some leftover cake from yesterday” she says while letting herself sag on one of the armchairs.
“Have you been terrorizing the kitchen staff again?” you ask and you watch her bite her lower lip to stop herself from smiling too much. “One of these days they’ll get their revenge on you lot, you’ll see” you say while shaking your head, but you smile nonetheless.
This right here is what you wanted for her, to be happy, to feel free enough around her own home to be up to no good, to be as normal a kid as she could be given her position, to trust you enough to tell you when she was up to no good and bring you a slice of cake to make up for it.
“Does your mother know about this?” you ask while taking the offered slice.
“San and the twins are giving her some cake right now” she says while getting up and looking for the book you’re currently studying.
You stop mid-bite, “just how much cake did you steal exactly, you band of hooligans?”
“Enough for the family, you always say that family and friends come first” she says cheekily.
You use your cake to hide your smile and watch your heir peruse through the book. Yes, this is exactly what you wanted for her.
In-laws
After the dust settles down, after you take the throne, after the war ends, after you settle into your role as monarch; finally, after everything is done and over with, then it is time to take a trip to Bloom’s hometown and inform them that their daughter is now your Queen Consort at the tender age of nineteen.
You expect it to go horrendously, after all, their only daughter committed herself to a lifetime of service to a nation that they don’t even know. And when the time comes, when you’re all sitting around the dining room table and letting it all out, there’s just silence from them.
“It seems that each time we sit at the dinner table; we get big news,” Bloom’s father finally says.
“And here I was thinking on making you sleep in different rooms,” follows Vanessa with her own comment.
Both you and Bloom turn to look at each other and then back at them again.
“You’re taking this fairly well, I wasn’t expecting that” you hear your wife say skeptically.
“Well, it was going to happen sooner or later, both your mother and I knew that,” Paul says while leaning back on his chair, “granted, we didn’t expect it to happen so soon, that’s the only surprise here”
“And after everything else you have told us, your heritage, your powers, the war, creatures out there out to kill you, a marriage is in comparison, not that bad,” she then smiles, “and given the circumstances of it, at least your father and I have a guarantee that we’ll have grandkids”
“Oh my God, mom! Seriously!?”, Bloom says while covering her face with both hands. You’re not doing any better, you imagine your face must be as red as your wife’s hair.
“What? She’ll need heirs, that’s no secret” her mother answers back.
“Those won’t come for a few years, Mrs. Peters, but rest assured, they’ll come”, you finally say in the most serene voice you can manage at the moment.
“That’s enough for me,” she says, and then takes her husband’s hand, “and well, as long as you take care of our daughter, keep her safe and happy, keep each other happy, then you have found yourself another set of parents, Stella”
You feel your eyes fill with tears and you do your best to keep them in check, you smile, “I promise you, she’ll be safe and happy”
Five years later, you present them with a blonde baby girl.
Jubilee
Today is a big day for you. Your Silver Jubilee. 25 years on the throne. A lifetime. But you’re only 45 years old, you still have so much to give, so much work to do. Arianna is barely 20, your age when you assumed the throne, and some would even say that she’s ready to start taking on some of the responsibilities, to start assuming part of the role that will someday be hers. But you want her to enjoy at least part of her youth without the immense pressure of ruling over millions of people. You can give her that.
You stare at yourself in the mirror for a long time, you’re admiring the changes your body has gone through. Some small wrinkles around your eyes and your mouth, signs of laughter through the years. Your hair has started the process of going from a brilliant blonde to a more subdued one. Your body is not that of the 20-year-old anymore, you have softened along the edges a little. Age has changed you.
“What are you doing, honey? Everything is ready, the kids are waiting outside” you hear your wife say as she enters the bedroom.
“Just thinking” you say as you grab her and pull her beside you to look at yourselves in the mirror. “25 years and it feels like just yesterday I was trying to clean up my mother’s mess”
“How are you feeling?” she asks and she lays her chin on your shoulder.
You smile softly, “I feel… accomplished, I think that’s the proper word, accomplished” you turn your head a little to kiss the tip of her nose. “Thank you” you say in a soft whisper.
“For what?” she whispers back.
“For all these years, all the work, the effort, for the family you have given me, everything” you turn around fully and hold her against you while resting your forehead on hers. “I couldn’t have asked for a better wife, a better consort or a better mother to my children”
“You have nothing to thank me for, Stella” she whispers while holding back tears.
“Oh, I have plenty, my love”, you kiss her softly, careful not to smudge her makeup. “Now let’s go, the kids have been alone plenty of time and nothing good comes from that”
You take her by the hand as she laughs at your comment, most likely because she knows it’s true, and you exit your bedroom to celebrate 25 years of an adventure that has yet to end.
Kindness
You used to be a very kind child, always attentive to the Palace household, all the people who worked around you so you could have a life fit for a princess. You were good to all the maids and butlers, the cooks and the gardeners, your nannies and your tutors. Then your powers started manifesting and your mother took it upon herself to stripe you of that kindness.
You grow up and that kindness is locked away deep inside you. You’re too scared to let it show. So you start avoiding everyone around you, it’s better to avoid them than to treat them as your mother thinks they owe to be treated, you can’t even look them in the eye, you’re too ashamed of your own weakness.
You’re walking through the long corridors of the Palace on your way to the kitchens. You’re 14-years-old and getting hungrier by the day; you suspect it may have something to do with your growing magic. After going down a few stairs you finally reach the entrance to the kitchen only to find the main staff of cooks and kitchen aids sitting down having their own dinner, and they immediately stand up at the sight of you.
“Oh-… I apologize, I didn’t know you were eating… I thought the kitchen would be empty” you ramble nervously. This doesn’t work for your avoidance plans.
“We’re having a late dinner, Your Royal Highness” says one of the cooks, you recognize him as Lucius, he has always been very nice to you, “is there anything we can do for you, ma’am?”
“No!” you backtrack to a kinder tone, “I mean, no, please, keep eating, I can come back later”
You’re about to turn around and exit through the archway when another voice stops you, this time from a woman, one of the kitchen aids.
“Your Royal Highness, we’d be honored if you would accompany us to eat”, you turn to look at her in surprise, “It’s steak pie, I know how much you like it, ma’am”, she says smiling.
You somehow find yourself smiling back because of course they would know your favorite foods.
“I do like it” you say while taking a few steps towards them, “may I join you at the table?”
“Of course, ma’am! Come take a seat… Archie! Bring another plate, the princess is joining us for dinner!” Lucius announces to someone else.
A young cook comes out of the pantry carrying a plate and utensils for you and they all sit down again to continue eating. Before you know it, you’re being served a generous amount of pie along with peas and carrots.
“This is very good” you say after your first bite, it really is.
“Thank you, ma’am, I’m glad you like it” says another one of the cooks.
After a while in a somewhat comfortable silence when only the scraping of silverware against plates could be heard, you finally take a deep breath a do what you know is the right thing, the kind thing.
“I’m really sorry about the way I have treated you, you don’t deserve it, none of it” you start, your voice trembles, “I don’t deserve to be eating here with you”
There is a beat of silence and then the lady who first convinced you to stay takes one of your hands between both of hers. Your mother would have a fit if she saw.
“Princess Stella, you’re a good girl, we all know it, all of us who work here know how kind and nice you are, I promise you that” she caresses your hard a bit, “we know who you are behind all the appearances, a nice, well-mannered, kind girl… and someday everyone will get to see that girl, you mark my words”
You’re astonished at her words and your eyes brim with unshed tears, they still remember you.
“Someday, I promise” you say in a small voice, and then with more conviction, “I promise”
Light
It has been a pretty normal day. Some meetings, an inspection, lots of paperwork; just the usual. By some miracle you’re done with your workload fairly early for a Friday and you’re on your way to your bedroom, Bloom should already be there judging by the time, so there’s a good chance you’ll get some cuddles tonight. Just as you’re about to make a turn in the direction of your longed-for bedroom, you hear a small sniff coming from behind the door to your left. Your youngest daughter’s bedroom.
You approach the door and open it slowly, your eyes take a few seconds to adjust to the dark and then you see Cassia’s small form curled up under her covers.
“Sweetie, what’s wrong?” you say as you approach the bed. You sit down behind her and gently turn her to look at you. “Look at me, baby”
She looks at you and just a second later she latches onto you with all the strength her 7-year-old body will allow. You immediately hold her on your lap and begin swaying to calm her down, a trick that has worked with each of your children.
“Ssshhh… Shhhh… it’s alright, love”, you say as you rub her back with soothing circles, “it’s alright, baby girl”
She continues to cry and tremble in your arms for a while until she finally settles, and it feels as if she’s fallen asleep again, but you know better.
“Tell mommy what’s wrong, sweetie”, she still keeps silent, “if you don’t tell me, I can’t fix it, baby”
“You’ll think I’m silly”, she finally says in a whisper.
“Aw Cassia, I would never think that, I promise you can tell me anything”, you gently coach her.
After a long moment of silence, your little girl finally gives in, “I’m scared of the dark”
You blink a few times while looking down at her, “You’re scared of the dark?”
“Yes”, she says in an even smaller whisper.
“Aw, baby girl, it’s alright, that’s perfectly normal”, you say at the same time you sigh in relief. She’s just scared of the dark, a normal fear, something you can help her with.
“But I can’t be scared of the dark, you’re the Queen of Light, it’s silly” she says in a small whine.
“It is absolutely not silly, and just because I’m the Queen of Light doesn’t mean I wasn’t scared of the dark once”, you say as she lifts her head up to stare at you, “yes, I was once scared of the dark, and I was much older than you are now”
“And what did you do?”, now she was sitting up on your lap.
“This” you say as you make little ball of light form in front of her face, not strong enough to hurt her eyes or illuminate the whole room, but enough to shine a warm light just over her body. “Do you like it?”
“Yes, mommy”, she says, still starring at the little ball.
“Well, this is what we’re going to do from now on, yes?” you see her nod her little head, “you’ll have this little ball of light every night until you don’t need anymore, that will keep the fear away, how’s that? Deal?”
“Deal!” she exclaims while climbing off your lap and getting under the covers.
“Alright, little lady, time to sleep then” you kiss her on the forehead, “and if you need mama or me, you know we’re just down the hall”
“I love you, mommy, thank you”, she’s quickly falling asleep.
“I love you too, sweetie, sweet dreams”
Mundane
The best part of your days is almost always breakfast time with your family, especially when it is a Sunday, a day on which you usually have nothing to do, except some light paperwork sometimes, same for your wife, and the kids don’t have school or any lessons. Breakfast time on Sundays is when both you and Bloom can get up and head into the private kitchen attached to your wing of the Palace and cook breakfast for the kids.
It is the mundane quality to it that makes that time so special. Watching your wife make pancakes with all sorts of toppings to please the hungry beasts that pass for your children while said children strut slowly one by one, each on a different stage of sleepiness; that’s simply perfection. A kind of perfection you thought you would never have in your life, given your background.
Just getting to watch your children act as normal children would, to see them have as normal a life as they could have given who they are, watching them grow up from being little toddlers who needed you for everything to almost self-sufficient teenagers gives you a sense of accomplishment. You’re doing something your own parents never did for you, and that is to be present in their lives. And by God, you are present in your children’s lives. For the little things like feeding them, helping with homework, and tucking them in at night; to the big stuff like hearing first words and guiding them through their struggles.
Family breakfasts though, mundane and all, they are the best simply because you get to watch them be, you get to listen to them bicker over toppings and coffee tastes, you get to watch them be silly, be normal.
You think of all this as you stand leaning on the marble countertop facing the kitchen table.
“Mom, are you going to come and eat or are you just going to stand there and watch us like a creep?” you hear your youngest daughter say to you.
“Hey now, little lady, it is treason to speak to me like that, where are your manners?” you say as you move to ruffle her hair and sit beside her.
“I have no manners before proper food, Your Majesty”
You laugh at her witty comeback and proceed to fill your plate. Nothing more mundane than pancakes on a Sunday morning.
Nerd
When you and Bloom start dating, you still try to keep up appearances in front of her. Always a proper princess, always calm and composed. It is on one of your first few dates that your calm and composed façade falls apart. Bloom takes you to the movies in her world, and you take time to roam around a shopping center while you wait, you peruse books and little trinkets around stores, until your eyes land on a storefront full of Funko Pops, and you can no longer remain completely calm. Your eyes shine with excitement and you let out a little gasp, and of course Bloom notices.
“Do you like Funko Pops?” she says smiling a bit.
“Maybe” you answer, trying to be aloof. “They’re cute”
“You’re cute” Bloom replies. “Have you got any?” You immediately avert your eyes and try to keep walking past the Funko Pops. “You do! Oh my God, that is so adorable!” She says while laughing that beautiful laugh, and you want to do anything to keep her laughing forever, even if it is at your expense.
“I hate you” you say smiling a bit while being tugged back by her hand, so you stand in front of each other.
“No, you don’t” she pulls you closer until you’re almost brushing noses, and then whispers “My baby is a nerd” you groan and she kisses you to appease you. “So how many do you have?” she asks.
You avoid her eyes and murmur “a whole wall of them”
There’s a moment of silence from her and then, “It’s okay, baby, we can be nerds together” she says and kisses your cheek soundly. “Come on, let’s see if we can find a good one”, and you let yourself be guided into the store with a smile on your face.
Old
“Oh my God! Oh my God!... Stella! Come here quick!”
As soon as you hear those words coming out of your wife, you let go of the book you’re reading and jump out of the bed to run full speed to the bathroom. You burst through the door to find Bloom staring at herself in the mirror above the sink while holding a lock of her hair in front of her face.
“Baby, what is it!?... Bloom?” you receive no response from your wife, “Are you okay? Why did you yell?”
You walk further into the bathroom until you’re standing right behind her, you’re really trying to figure out whatever has her so shell-shocked.
“Look at my hair!” she exclaims while turning to you and showing you that specific lock of hair.
You swear to God you’re trying to find out what is going on but you just can’t for the life of you figure out what the hell has your spouse so spooked.
“I have a white hair! Look!” she once again yells.
‘Oh’, you think. Well, now everything makes a bit more sense, it’s the first thing that goes through your mind. And the second thing is damage control.
“Baby, it’s one white hair” you start trying to appease her, “you can hardly see it, I only noticed it when you pointed at it”
“Yeah, now it’s only one, but in a matter of time it will be hundreds!” she starts yelling once again, “I’ll be all white by the end of the year!” she continues to yell until her eyes get teary, “I’m getting old” she whines miserably.
“Aw baby” you cup her cheeks while leaning closer to her, “you are”
She immediately pulls her face away and you quickly grab her by the hips to hold her close again while chuckling softly.
“We’re both getting old, my love” you say and then kiss her forehead.
“Sure, you only say that because you’re a blonde, if you get white hairs no one will notice, you lucky bitch” she whines out but still smiles.
“It’s okay, my old lady, you’ll look absolutely beautiful with white hair and a cane to go with it”, having said that, you pick her up before she can react to what you said and march your way towards the bed.
“Stella! What are you doing!? Put me down this second, you’ll break a hip!” she says while lightly hitting your back, laughing all the way.
“I’ll show you ‘break a hip’, my lady” you say laughing as you throw her on the bed.
You’ll never be too old for this.
Power
Power is a volatile thing. Keep it under control and it will serve you well, but lose control of it and it can destroy everything around you. You learned that well enough the moment you lost control over yours and blinded your best friend beyond repair. After that, you become fearful of your own power.
Then you start attending Alfea and things slowly get better, your control gets better, and you are relieved because maybe now no one else will have to suffer the consequences of your lack of concentration. You are happy, or at least as happy as you can be, but your mother isn’t, not at all. She wants more for you, and not in the good way anyone would expect from a mother. So she takes you out of the school and locks you in the Palace to teach you herself in all the wrong ways again.
You think you’re lost for good.
Except you’re not.
You will yourself to control your magic enough to escape from the Palace and go back to where you know you’re needed.
After that your life becomes a mess of plans, backstabbing, battles, war and constant fighting. A constant power struggle between good and evil, between what’s right and what’s wrong, between you and your mother.
It is during that tumultuous period of your life when you realize just how much power you possess, and how much good you can do with it for the people who need you. So you once and for all overcome the fear of your own power simply because your people, your kingdom is suffering under your mother’s rule. You’re finally in control, and your mother is about to find out the depths of your power.
Queen
Being Queen is hard. You knew it would be.
Endless meetings with your ministers, parliament, foreign officials, ambassadors, and whoever needs your attention. Never-ending paperwork for you to read and sign. Long hours in your office, long hours moving around the realm on business, and very few hours of sleep.
To put it simply, it’s exhausting. Exhausting, but so unbelievably rewarding.
You get to watch a whole nation come back from the brink of ruin and flourish into the powerful nation it once was. You get to see your people rise again and start turning the engines that make a country function.
Sometimes, when you’re lucky enough to get a moment of free time, you like to wander into the capital and just watch the people moving around and going on with their lives. It makes you feel like you made the right choice when you decided to move against your mother. It is especially proven to you when some of your subjects walks up to you to thank you for your hard work, to congratulate you on your achievements, or simply just to say hi. Because you know this is what makes you so much different from your mother, she wouldn’t have been caught dead among her own people, her whole life was in the Palace and surrounded by security at all times. She was not approachable, and you are.
You are exactly the Queen you wanted to be.
Red
War is a serious business, you know it. This is your first but somehow you know what to expect. You expect fighting, suffering, misery, wounded civilians and soldiers, yelling, screaming, and blood. You know that the true cost of a war is blood on both sides. You expect to see it, you truly do, but nothing could have prepared you to see on your wife’s face.
You panic as soon as you see her walking through the archway of the main hall of Alfea. Blood covers half of her face, bright red and flowing. She’s helping a young specialist to walk into the hall, and as soon as her presence is noticed the medical staff takes the young soldier off her hands and you’re rushing to her.
“Bloom, you’re bleeding… you’re bleeding a lot” you say as you grab onto her shoulders to steady her.
“I know, head wounds bleed a lot” she tells you trying to smile a bit, “I’m feeling a bit lightheaded actually”
“Come on, lean on me, we need Terra” you tell as you grab her around the waist and try not to panic when you feel her almost lean all her weight on you.
You had had to sit this one out and stay back at Alfea while Bloom led a squadron down to a strategically important outpost to free it from Burned Ones. You should have been there. Logically you know that this is not your fault, this is what happens in war, people get hurt, people die for a cause. But no one can blame you for not being logical when you’re almost dragging your wife to the nearest available cot.
“Terra! We need you!” you yell as you carefully lay Bloom on the cot, she’s still bleeding.
Your Earth fairy friend comes running from another cot and immediately gets to work on your consort.
“It’s okay, baby… I’ll be fine, I promise” you hear your love say sluggishly. She’s the one bleeding and somehow she’s still comforting you.
“Well, you better be, because this wasn’t part of the deal, you hear me? You promised me old and gray, this is not old and gray, Bloom Peters” you tell her sternly while grabbing her hand, “how is she?” you direct at Terra.
“She must have gotten hit with some kind of toxin that slows her coagulation rate, that’s why she’s taking her sweet time to stop bleeding” she explains as she shakes a small vial in her hand, “come on Bloom, drink up, this will help you”
You watch as the redhead dutifully swallows a disgusting looking liquid that must taste as disgusting as it looks judging by her face, and then she lies down again.
“This should do the trick, just keep an eye on her and if she doesn’t stop bleeding in the next 10 minutes, call me again” your friend says while packing her little medical bag.
“Thank you, Terra, really”
She nods at you and you turn back to the girl on the cot. She’s still bleeding, but you notice that the flow has started to slow down little by little. You grab some cloth from a nearby supply shelf and fill a small basin with water the fairies keep making flow through the makeshift medical ward, and you go sit back down with your girl.
“Are you feeling better, love?” you ask her softly.
“I am, I promise, I’m sorry for worrying you Stella” she says less sluggishly than before.
“It’s not your fault, these things happen” you say as you wet one part of the cloth, “now come on, let me clean you up a bit, you look good in red, just not with it covering half of your face, my love”
And her laugh lets you know she’ll be just fine.
Sex
Sex to you had always been about getting some release and that was it. Nothing more. No feelings, no attachment whatsoever. At least it was like that with Sky. You may have fooled yourself into believing that you had real feelings for him at some point, but deep down you had always known better. You did indeed have feelings for him, they just weren’t romantic in nature.
And then you meet Bloom. And that fiery redhead changes the way you view the world, the way you feel things, the way your heart works.
As opposed to your relationship with the blond specialist, a toxic mess in which you had jumped into sex almost right away, your relationship with Bloom is anything but toxic, and you both decide to wait until you’re truly ready to be intimate. For one, you know Bloom has never had sex before, and you need to get your head in the right place.
Eventually the time comes, you’re both more than ready, and it is so beautiful. Perfect in all its imperfections. You take the lead because she lets you, and you’re honored by the fact, you take care of her every step of the way with gentle hands and tender touches. In the end you both cry a bit, her because she’s overwhelmed by the whole act in the best of ways, and you because you finally know the difference between sex and making love. Turns out the latter is so much better.
From then on, it’s smooth sailing in the intimacy department. You both know each other deeply. What you like, what makes you tick, what makes you scream, what makes you see stars. Every single time is special in its own unique way, from the times it’s soft and slow to the times it’s hard and fast.
You both collapse in bed panting as if you had just run a marathon. She laughs a bit as she turns to wrap an arm and a leg around you, settling her head on the crook of your neck. You’re both hot and covered in sweat, but you can’t think of anything better than having her in your arms after you have reached new heights together. You turn your head to kiss her forehead, her nose and then her lips in little pecks.
“I love you so much” you say against her lips. “You’re amazing”
“Oh, I think that’s just the orgasm talking, baby” she answers still chuckling a bit. “I love you too”. You both remain silent for a while until your breathing goes back to normal, then she continues. “Can you believe there’s people who say sex gets boring after getting married?”
“I know, right? If only, it gets better” you say as you tenderly run your fingertips up and down her spine.
For a while you remain silent, just basking in each other.
“Do you ever regret just being with me?” you ask out of the blue.
“What do you mean, love?” she asks back while looking up at you with a little crinkle between her eyebrows.
“I mean… do you ever regret just being intimate with only one person?... I don’t know, not having explored any other options?” you say this as you avoid her eyes.
“Absolutely not” she answers immediately, “you’re the only one I need and will ever need, you’re more than enough, and you will always be more than enough for me, Stella”
“Yeah?” you whisper.
“Yeah” she says with confidence. “You’re the love of my life”
“And you’re the love of mine”
You roll on top of her until you’re touching in every possible place, and the rest is history. Sex has never felt so good.
Teacher
You’ve had many teachers in your life. Alfea certainly provided some of the best teachers you have ever known. Of course, you also know that teachers don’t always just teach academic subjects, no, sometimes they teach even more important things than science and math. Sometimes they teach you about life itself, and people who impart knowledge about life don’t always come in the form of a traditional teacher.
If you had to think of a person who taught you important life lessons, the person that first comes to your mind is Miss Dowling. The ever patient and kind-hearted headmistress who taught you control, who taught you that emotions, especially good ones, are worth being felt even when they’re scary, and for that you owe her a great deal.
The second person would be your dear wife. Bloom has certainly taught you a thing or two about love. The difference between simple lust and unending affection. Little by little, since the moment you two met, she has taught you in her own little way that the kind of love that you used to read about on romance novels when you were young really does exist, and it should be cherished because some people spend a lifetime looking for it.
Your friends taught you companionship, camaraderie even. They taught you the beauty of not being afraid of depending on other people, that there is no weakness in needing help even if it is for a simple thing. They took out a lifetime of your mother’s influence right out of you and in its place installed a deep rooted ability to trust and believe in people.
There are your children. The little people that have changed your life more than anyone ever could. They taught you to have patience when they all decided to get into trouble together. They taught you when to be strict and when to be lenient at the moment of a punishment. They taught you to be playful, to be a kid again, to enjoy the simple pleasures in life, like just blowing on dandelions and watching them fly away while lying on the grass.
And then there’s life itself. The one that taught you that teachers come in all forms and ages.
Unconditional
When your first child is born, your whole world changes. The second you hear your baby cry out her first breath it’s like your whole life suddenly has a new meaning, a new focus, and you feel a new kind of love, an unconditional kind of love for this little girl that is half you and half Bloom.
You turn to look at your wife. She’s a sweaty mess of tangled hair panting on the hospital bed and she has never looked more beautiful to you. You smile down at her and lean down to kiss her softly.
“You did it, love” you say as you brush her hair back, “I’m so proud of you”
“We have a daughter” she says while letting out a few tears.
“A healthy little daughter, Your Majesties” you hear someone say behind you and you turn around to find a nurse holding your child, waiting for either of you to take her. You motion for her to pass the baby to your wife, after nine months, she deserves to be the first one to hold her.
Bloom safely cradles her in her arms, moving her tiny cap up so you can better see her little face. She has the lightest wisps of blonde hair peeking out from under her cap, a tiny button nose and little rosy lips.
“She looks like you” your wife says looking up at you, and you have to admit that she does.
“Yeah” you answer softly as you grab one of her little hands in one of your own much larger ones, “she kind of does”
“I told you she would,” she turns her head to look at you, “so, Arianna?”
“Arianna” you let out in a sigh, “Crown Princess of Solaria”
Victory
Every year there comes Victory Day, it becomes a national holiday. The day the realm was saved from absolute doom. Every year on Victory Day people go out onto the streets for parades, ceremonies and religious services. Some people are somber, those who lost loved ones in the war; and other people are joyous, the ones who thrived in battle and made a name for themselves.
On Victory Day the Royal Family of Solaria, your family, pays homage to numerous monuments made to honor the fallen, and you all make an appearance on one of the Palace balconies to greet the masses gathered outside, sometimes even accompanied by close friends who were also part of the war.
Privately though, you and Bloom always take some time after dinner and after all the kids have been put to bed, to sit quietly on one of the couches of your shared office in the Palace. You indulge in a few glasses of hard liquor and remember the ones who are no longer among the living, the friends and acquaintances who didn’t come out alive from the war. You honor, in your own quiet way, the soldiers, specialists and fairies who perished so that millions could live free. Some of them you knew, but most of them you didn’t even see, but you still feel for them and for their families, the ones they left behind and the ones they couldn’t get to have.
On this fateful day you’re all reminded of how grateful you owe to be for being alive, for getting to form a beautiful family when so many others couldn’t, you are grateful for your children, for the fact that they get to thoroughly enjoy their childhoods. You’re grateful for your friends, the ones who lived to thrive, the friends who have become your own family in some way. And you’re so very grateful for the love you get to live, because you both know it wouldn’t be any life at all without each other.
Wife
You mother is descending into madness, that much is clear. With a war being fought on multiple fronts and a kingdom on the verge of rioting against her and her horrendous administration, collapse is just weeks away. All of this goes through your head as you pace back and forth in the bedroom you share with your girlfriend at Alfea. Said girlfriend is quietly watching you from her seat at the corner of the bed, most likely waiting for you to tell her what’s got you into such a state of distress, even though you absolutely know that she knows, you’ve had multiple conversations about it.
“Stella, come here, please” she finally says. “Come sit with me”
You dutifully go and sit beside her, your back ramrod straight. She can probably even smell the stress oozing out of you.
“Honey, please tell me what the ministers told you” she says as she cups your cheeks to make you look at her.
The ministers. They have put you in an impossible position. A position that you understand given the circumstances and your mother’s background, but at the same time, you can’t get your head around it. This is not how you wanted to do this. It’s not fair.
You gently pull the hands that are cupping your cheeks so gently and hold them between your own. You kiss her knuckles multiple times as you try to gather some courage.
“I love you so much, Bloom” you tell her while looking her in the eye.
“And I love you” she says immediately. “Baby, you’re scaring me, what’s wrong?”
“My mother’s ministers, they have agreed to support me through a peaceful coup” you say slowly, still looking at her.
“Stella, that’s fantastic, it’s what you wanted… why are you so worried then?”
“They agreed on a few conditions though” you say quietly.
There’s a brief silence while your girlfriend processes the information.
“And judging by your behavior, those conditions involve me in some way” she says somberly. Never let it be said that your girlfriend is not smart.
“One of them does” you say and you take a deep breath. “In order to have their support, along with other more political conditions, they requested that I marry before moving against my mother”. You feel her gasp softly and you hold her hands tighter. “The reasons they cited were a show of stability to the people in the form of a reigning monarch and a consort once the announcement was made that I am their new Queen, reassurance that there will be continuity, that there will eventually be heirs to the throne, and that the line of succession is secure”. You pause to take another deep breath. “They gave me no other choice, it’s either that or chaos”
“Oh” it’s all she says.
“Bloom, I know that I have no right to ask this of you. You deserve so much more than this, than a life of public service, a life that is not really your own anymore, a life of duty, obligations and compromise, a life of never-ending work”, you say as you tear up. “But I swear on everything holy that if by some miracle you agree to this madness, I will take care of you, treat you well, I promise you’ll never want for anything, and your happiness will be my paramount, your sadness will be my sadness, every day for the rest of my days I will love you, no matter what”. You let one of her hands go and then go down on one knee in front of her. “This is not how I wanted to do this and I really, really do not want to do this with anyone else… so, Bloom Peters, will you be my wife?”
There a moment of complete silence and you swear you don’t even take a breath, it feels like years go by.
“Yes” she finally says, “God, yes, Stella… I’ll marry you, I’ll be your wife”
You’re on your feet in a second and holding her in the next, hugging her so tight that her feet lift off the ground. You whisper the words ‘thank you’ for what feels like a thousand times against her neck. You set her down and kiss her gently, reverently.
“I’ll never be able to repay you for this” you whisper against her lips.
“You don’t owe me anything, we’re a team” she says tearfully, “and this is just another thing that we’ll do as a team, hopefully for a long, long time”
Xenogenesis
People always tell you how different you are from your parents. Where your mother was harsh, you are soft. Where your father was weak, you are strong. Where your mother was despotic in her rule, you are quite the democratic ruler. The differences between your parents and yourself sometimes seem to be infinite. It makes you think of a word you learned back when you still attended Alfea, xenogenesis.
Mr. Harvey told your class all about it on one of his lessons. A word that describes an offspring completely different from their parents.
You can’t help but be reminded of it every time you notice a blatant difference between you and your parents. Sometimes it’s hard to come up with something in which you’re alike. You don’t think you even want to be like them, not even in something small. You prefer to be your own person. Different from the absent father who refused to stand up to your mother in your defense; and different from your quite present mother who looked to squish you under her thumb for as long as possible.
So you relish every single time someone tells you how different you are to your predecessors.
Yearning
You remember the times when you were a child. How lonely you always felt, like an outsider in your own home, with a mother more interested in consolidating her power than in raising you and a father who was too scared to do anything about it. You remember the solitude of your bedroom, your preferred space inside the Palace, because even though alone, you were left mostly in peace there. You remember sitting by the window sill and staring at the stars, wondering if every kid felt like you did. It wasn’t like you knew a lot of them, your mother was a hard person to please when it came to friendships, or anything really.
A yearning. That’s what you felt all those times staring out into the night. Now that you’re older and wiser you can recognize it. A yearning for something to change. A yearning for companionship, for friends to play with, for someone to talk to, to help keep the loneliness away.
It’s been years since the times when you used to sit by your window sill, so many in fact, that you no longer sleep in the same bedroom at all. And now that you no longer feel that overwhelming yearning, now you realize what it was to begin with. Just that, a deep desire to have people in your life, someone to care for you at the same time you cared for them.
You’re sitting down in the Palace gardens, your friends are all around you, your children are chasing each other a distance away, your wife is sitting next to you. You sigh remembering your own childhood.
“You okay?” you hear her ask you in a low tone so only you could listen.
You turn your head towards her and kiss her forehead.
“I’m more than okay”
No more yearning.
Zenith
Realizing you’re married to one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful being in existence is quite the experience. Weirdly enough, that realization doesn’t come the moment you marry Bloom. It doesn’t even come months after you marry her. It comes two years after you both take your vows.
You’re in the thick of battle, everyone knows this is it. This is when your actions will either save the world or watch it be destroyed. You feel something collide with your back and you are ready to blind whoever is trying to kill you only to realize it’s Sky fighting off a Burned One about to pierce you with its claws.
“Sky, close your eyes!” and as soon as he does you shine a light directly into the creature’s soulless eyes, he immediately starts to stagger, “Now! Kill it now!”
The blond haired man pierces the chest of the Burned One and it drops dead in a second. You both breathe a relieved sigh.
“We’ll never be able to get them all, they’re too many, it’s only a matter of time before our lines break!” you hear him yell above the roaring sound of battle cries among you.
He is right, you realize. Your troops are numerous, but those things are way more. Your lines will break at any moment and you’re well aware there’s nothing you can do to prevent it. Your thoughts immediately go to Bloom. Where is she? Is she okay? Is she hurt?
Just as you’re about to start yelling for her, trying to find her; there is an almost overwhelming heat coming from above. You look up to see the very same person who is the object of your thoughts looking as magnificent as can be. A force to be reckoned with. Something to be admired.
A wall of fire surrounds your troops but doesn’t burn them; Bloom is far too in control for that. She floats above all of you and makes her fire force the creatures to fall back and your soldiers and fairies to start getting the upper hand in battle. She shines brighter than any light you could ever produce at the zenith of her power. She is power itself, unending and ever-changing.