*~*Rika's POV*~*
After we had gotten clothes at the store that Talia seemed to love, we decided to stop for some lunch before stopping to get some shoes, accessories and, finally, some actual school supplies. We were here for school shopping after all. That was what we had told our parents anyway. And while I am an adult and can mostly do as I please, the perils of being a princess is the lessened freedom. Talia was only sixteen and under more rules than I was.
While we were eating at the food court, the best place to feed everyone that wanted different things to eat, we chatted about our classes. Talia was focusing on management and politics when she went to school, because she needed to know how to run an entire realm. And while these classes wouldn't actually teach that, they would help her to plan things out a little bit. At least that was the plan.
Fauna was going into music, her true passion. She could play five instruments perfectly and most others at a high school level. She had gotten into the music program with ease and she was going to enjoy all that came along with her acceptance.
Lyssa and I were studying business because we both wanted to help our dads with their enterprises. Alexa was going into graphic design and art, because she loved to create things for people like that. And Ashle and Ilana were both going into medical fields. They wanted to help people, like so many others in our community had done.
We were laughing and giggling about the things that we planned to do when we were at school, and the antics that we would get up to when classes started. Not that we planned to do anything too wild. We had to represent the nonhuman community after all, and that left us a little limited on the options.
Suddenly, I heard someone start to cry out in pain. It was a young voice, perhaps twelve or thirteen if that.
"Ouch! Stop that! Leave me alone!" The boy that was speaking looked small for his age, but I could tell that he was a little older than eleven, right about where I had guessed him to be.
"What are you? Huh? What sort of freak are you?" A man in his early twenties was heckling the boy. "Look at that fairy face of yours, I bet that's what you are. Are you a fairy? Are you a flaming little fairy boy? I hate you damned nonhumans."
"Leave me alone!" The boy almost whined at him.
I could see the boy easily, and with my training, I was able to pinpoint his scent. He was indeed a Fae, one that was likely a pixie type, perhaps of the water variety. He had dark blue hair and multi-colored green eyes. And he looked to be on the verge of crying.
There was no way that I would be able to let that slide. The way that those people were behaving, the way that they were treating that little boy, it was ridiculous. He didn't deserve that.
"Hey!" I said as I rose to my feet. Seeing and hearing what I was doing, the others did the same and stood with me. Alexio, watching the scene with sharp eyes, stayed back a little, but was ready to step in to stop something from happening if he needed to.
"Who the hell asked you to step in?" The man asked as he looked me over. "Go back to spending daddy's money sweetheart, and leave us men to our work." Ooh, that was going to piss me off. Did he know who the hell he was talking to!? Well, obviously not, or he would have turned his attention to me rather than that boy.
"No." I snapped at him. "Leave that boy alone. He didn't do anything to you."
"He exists." The man said as he straightened up, no longer leaning over the frightened boy. "Him and all of his kind don't need to be here." He looked over the group as he spoke, spotting the one person that was visibly not like the others and glaring at her. "Just like that thing there. What are you, huh? You a fairy girl like that fairy boy over there?"
"So what if I am?" Ashle asked him with her arms crossed over her chest. "You going to come here and heckle me too?"
"Maybe I will." The man sauntered over toward us with a couple of his goon like friends.
"Alright, let's settle something here, alright." I looked at the man that was causing the issues, and I made sure that the people in the food court could hear me. "You know about us nonhumans, so that means that you saw the news. And if you saw the news, then you know that it's a crime to do what you just did to that boy. And if you attack us, that will be considered a hate crime as well. And furthermore."
I paused for breath and looked at the people that were around me, not the humans but my friends. I needed to protect them while I was helping that boy.
"If you have been watching the news, then you should recognize me, but just in case you don't, I will introduce myself. My name is Rika Gray, and I am the daughter of the King and Queen of my people. And I will not stand by and just watch as you treat one of my people like that." The truth of the matter was, my parents didn't run the Fae realm, that was Aunt Glory's job, but I was still part Fae and that made him one of my people in another way.
"You're Princess Rika?" The man in the lead stopped in his tracks and looked at me incredulously. "If that were so, you would have guards with you." The man took another step forward, looking unfazed. "You can stop with the lies."
"She is not lying." Alexio stepped forward, putting himself in the path between that man and the rest of us. "I am one of these guards that you spoke of, and now that you are advancing on the Princesses and their friends, I have no choice but to step in. I advise you to leave at once. You are not welcomed in their presence."
Like any sane human that was facing an angry demon from the underworld, the man froze and nearly pissed himself. When his brain caught up to what Alexio had just said, the man turned around and almost ran away with his goons.
"Are you alright?" Ashle had broken off from the group and went over to the Fae boy. "They aren't here anymore. And we will make sure that you are safe for the time being."
"Thank you." He beamed up at her. "My mom is shopping, but I was hungry, so I came here until she was done. I appreciate the help, it was amazing." He beamed at us all as he said that.
"No worries. What is your name?" I asked him as we all walked toward him, Alexio included.
"I..I am Sweetwater. I know, it's a girly name, but my mom loved it when I was born."
"It's an awesome name. And I assure you, your mate will love it when you find them in the future."
"You think so?" He brightened up even more. "Thank you, Princess Rika. I recognized you the moment that I saw you. We live here in the city because of your family. Your parents helped us all so much, and we've started to live in other places than just the Fae realm now."
"I know, and I am happy about that."
There were eyes still on us, and even a few phones. There had been no violence, and none threatened on our side, but I was still worrying about how this was all going to go down. The reveal was less than a year ago, and there was still a lot of strife with us and the humans. Well, with some of them. They didn't like us all that much.
We sat with Sweetwater until his mother came back to the food court. We told her what happened and she thanked us profusely for helping him out in that moment. Apparently, her son wasn't the type to stand up for himself. Then again, most of our kind wouldn't because it would just about kill a human to get into a fight with someone like us.
Finally, after a while, we got back to shopping. All of us got school supplies, in varying styles and colors. And there wasn't one of us that didn't find some sort of accessory to get. Even Talia, who had short hair now, got something to style her hair with just a little. I liked that she was coming out of her shell more and more while we were here.
Finally, we all got new backpacks. They were needed and essential for when we were on campus.
"Is it wrong if I get all three of these?" Talia asked. "It's excessive, but I could also use them for different days. The days that I have certain classes, I would take the blue one, and then something similar with the others." Leave it to my sister to want to be as organized as possible. She was always like that.
I told her to get all three of the bags that she wanted. She deserved it in my opinion. She never really asked for much because she was always really busy. After the bags were gotten, we added to our stockpile of the rest of the stuff that we needed. Most of our work was done online, but not all of it. So, we needed to have some physical materials with us.