Sugar Apple Fairytale - Volume 6 - Chapter 5.2

Challe stood there for a short while, looking down. A sense of emptiness struck his chest, as cold as the snow, as if something in his heart had been lost. A gust of wind sent snow swirling, and he could no longer see the ground.

Anne and Lusul, along with the warrior fairies, hurried out of the fort, where they were met by nearly two hundred mounted soldiers standing in neat rows. They marveled at the formation, so out of place in the wilderness amid the fiercely falling snow. The whinnying of the horses and the clanking of armor echoed loudly in the waning daylight.

Anne stopped and stared at the soldiers, flabbergasted.

What is this?

Lusul, riding on Anne’s shoulder, stared as well with widened eyes. But the warrior fairies seemed nervous and readied their spears or placed their hands on the hilts of their swords.

The mounted soldiers seemed equally surprised, and there was a bit of a commotion as they quickly reached for their own weapons.

Tension was rising on both sides. And then—

“All troops, hold position.” They heard a quiet voice from behind a gauzy curtain of snow. “Anne Halford?”

An older man in armor slowly advanced toward them on horseback, guarded by mounted soldiers on either side.

“The Earl of Downing?!”

Despite her surprise, Anne ran up to the earl and fell to her knees.

“I’m glad to see you’re unhurt, Halford,” he said. “Did you manage to escape?”

“Yes.”

“Perfect timing. We’ve been tracking the fairies responsible for the attacks and followed them to this fort. We’re here to subdue them in their stronghold. I suppose the ones behind you are part of the gang that has been attacking humans?”

“Wait, please!”

In a panic, Anne spread out her arms to protect the fairies behind her. Clusters of snow hit her cheeks, and her shoulders and hair quickly turned white, but she didn’t feel the cold.

“The fairies behind me helped me escape. I don’t know what else they might have done, but they had their wings taken from them and were forced to do as they were told. There is one fairy who has been keeping all their wings. If you’re going to attack, you should attack him and him alone!”

“And where is he, Anne?”

Anne’s eyes widened at the sound of a familiar voice.

“Hugh?!”

She forgot they were before the Earl of Downing and called the Silver Sugar Viscount by his first name, like she usually did.

Hugh, also on horseback, appeared from behind the earl. Behind him, Salim followed on his own horse. Hugh was wearing armor beneath a thick cloak. Fighting attire suited him surprisingly well, and he had a wild look about him.

“He’s in the fort! Challe is fighting him…right now. So hurry up and help Challe! Please, Hugh!”

Anne felt a surge of anxiety as she explained the situation. She wondered what had happened to Challe after he squared off against Lafalle.

“Well, now…” Hugh smiled and looked behind Anne. “Seems everything is all right. In fact, it seems like it’s already over.”

Anne followed Hugh’s gaze and turned around.

Through a heavy curtain of snow, they could see the stone arch of the fort. And beneath the arch, a black fairy was walking toward them like a silent shadow cast over the white field. He was carrying a chest with a heavy lock on it. The snow seemed to swirl around his enchanting figure, as if it were caressing him or following him like a loyal retainer.

“Challe!”

The Earl of Downing watched Anne run off, then frowned and turned back to Hugh.

“What’s going on here, Mercury?” he asked.

“The fact he came back means it’s over, most likely. The fairy we were chasing is probably gone.”

Anne kicked her way through the snow, running straight for Challe. Once he noticed her rushing toward him, he stopped and lowered the box to the snow.

“Challe!” When Anne reached him, she reflexively threw her arms around his neck and embraced him. “Challe! Thank goodness, Challe!”

“I’m glad you’re safe.”

Challe returned Anne’s embrace, squeezing her tightly. Then the little fairy Lusul popped her head out from somewhere near Anne’s shoulders.

“Challe, what about Lord Lafalle?”

“He fell from the battlement. From that height, I doubt he could have survived.”

Challe answered plainly, and Lusul cast her eyes downward, looking a little disappointed.

“I thought that might be the case. That poor fellow.”

The warrior fairies approached, surrounding Challe but keeping their distance. Challe noticed and whispered into Anne’s ear: “Haven’t had enough?”

She looked up at him blankly. She didn’t understand what he was talking about. Then she noticed his teasing smile.

“If you’d like to embrace me some more, we can do it later. If there’s time, I’ll let you hold me as long as you want.”

“Ah!”

Anne finally realized what she was doing, and she jumped away from Challe in a flash.

Then Challe felt around inside his jacket and pulled out the brass key. He offered it to Lusul atop Anne’s shoulder.

“Everybody’s wings are inside that box. Use this to open it and take back your wings. And this time, find real freedom.”

Lusul was half the height of the key Challe was offering to her. But she took it, hugging it against her body. And then—

“Freedom?” she asked, staring up at Challe anxiously.

Challe nodded, and Lusul appeared even more troubled.

“If Lord Lafalle is gone, who will become the fairy king? Won’t you become our king, Challe?”

At Lusul’s words, Challe looked over the faces of the warrior fairies around them. Some nodded. An air of confusion and anticipation passed among the group of fairies.

The words fairy king filled Anne with alarm. Lafalle had said the same thing—that Challe was meant to be king. She wondered whether that was really true.

It worried her. If that was true, Challe probably had duties and a destiny far removed from someone like her.

But Challe shook his head. “You don’t need a fairy king in order to be free,” he replied. “Each of you can take back the thing most important to you and live wherever you please.”

“But there might come a time when we do need a fairy king,” Lusul said anxiously. “If we want freedom not just for ourselves but for all the enslaved fairies, we won’t know what to do.”

“Just gathering a big group to attack the humans won’t get you anywhere,” Challe told them quietly. “You’ll end up in a constant battle, and you’ll never be able to build a stable fairy kingdom. If you’re asking what to do to avoid something like that, well, I don’t yet have an answer. But if we find a way, then when the time comes, I’ll consider it. As you are now, I don’t believe you need a fairy king. So go. Go somewhere that human hands cannot reach you.”

Then he walked through the group of fairies and slowly approached the Earl of Downing and Hugh Mercury.

The fairies instinctively moved out of Challe’s way to let him pass. A kind of elegance and dignity hung in the air around him. He was like the fairy king in the ceiling mural in the Church of Saint Lewiston Bell, only with different coloring.

Hugh narrowed his eyes and murmured, “Truly beautiful.”

The black fairy standing amid a world of white was captivating, like a being straight from the land of fairy tales.

The soldiers, too, stared at him breathlessly.

Challe stood with natural grace and cheerlessly looked up at the Earl of Downing. “I disposed of the fairy who was attacking humans. It’s over. There is no need to mobilize your troops,” he said casually. “The fairies over there now have no master. I do not believe any of you are fairy hunters, so I would like you to leave them be. If you intend to enslave them, I will not be inclined to stand by and watch quietly.”

For a moment, the Earl of Downing peered down at Challe in surprise. He looked confused as he struggled to work out who the fairy speaking to him might be. However, as one would expect of a veteran retainer, he quickly handed down his decision.

“We are servants of His Majesty the King, tasked with protecting His Majesty and His Majesty’s subjects. We do not hunt fairies.”

Challe smiled. “You have my thanks.”

The earl nodded back at him.

Challe turned to look at the other fairies and saw one of the warriors take the key from Lusul’s hands. Using it, he opened the lock on the box.

The inside of the box was tightly packed with what looked like sheets of thin silk.

The fairies peered into it, one after another. They each seemed to know exactly which wing was their own, and as soon as they spotted it, they reached out and grabbed it.

With their wings now in hand, the fairies glanced back toward Challe and Anne, then quickly ran off into the snow.

Going forward, they would have to stay out of sight and live cautiously to avoid being hunted by humans. Some of them might even find their own ways of living as part of the human world, like Challe and Mithril.

One tiny little wing was left at the bottom of the box. Anne leaned over and picked it up. The beautiful, minuscule wing fit snugly in the hollow of her palm.

“Here, Lusul. Your wing.”

She offered it to the tiny fairy riding on her shoulder, and Lusul took it with a pleasant smile.

“I had no idea that my wing was pretty, you know? When you said it was pretty, that was the first time I ever noticed. After that, I saw that my wing was a beautiful thing. Somehow, that made me happy and proud,” she said, leaping off Anne’s shoulder.

“Lusul, what will you do now? Where will you go from here?” Anne asked.

Lusul leaped into the air again and onto the shoulder of a warrior fairy standing nearby. The warrior fairy looked startled, but Lusul ignored his surprise and said, “I’ve decided to go with this person. I’ve never seen the ocean before, and I’d like to go see it. That’s where you’re going, right? Isn’t that what you said?”

Lusul had jumped onto the warrior fairy who’d said before that if he won his freedom, he wanted to go see the ocean. He stared blankly at the little fairy for a moment but then shrugged and smiled in agreement.

“Sure is.”

Then he walked off. As Anne watched Lusul and the warrior fairy leave—the last ones to go—her chest began to ache. Her breath turned to ice as she exhaled. She finally began to feel the cold and started to shiver.

And yet she couldn’t move. She didn’t want to take her eyes off Lusul and the warrior fairy, not until she couldn’t see them anymore.

Challe approached Anne. He saw that she wasn’t moving and asked curiously, “What’s the matter?”

“Challe, you told me before that Lusul will only live for about a year, right? It’s already been over a year since she was born. Will she…be able to see the ocean?”

“Well, she ate your sugar candy. That should be enough to extend her life span. So…”

Challe joined Anne and solemnly watched the retreating fairies. He looked as if he was offering a prayer.

“I have a feeling Lusul El Min will get to see the ocean.”

“I hope she does.”

In the thick carpet of fallen snow, there were many footprints leading in every direction.

The snow was white like silver sugar and covered the world in a powdery blanket.

Anne wished that all the fairies in the Kingdom of Highland could be free like these ones and walk away in whatever direction they chose.

All Anne could do at the moment was pray. But the beautiful, strong fairy by her side might someday find a way for his fellows to live in peace and freedom.

Could Challe really become the fairy king someday, for the sake of all fairies?

She wondered whether she would be able to remain by his side when the time came, whether it would be all right to stay with him. Her chest ached again, and she wondered if it was the cold air she was breathing.

She looked up at the sky. From high above, snow was falling, as if to purify the world, with all its suffering and sadness.

Meanwhile, the Earl of Downing’s soldiers began to re-form their ranks in preparation for heading home.