Endlessly green forests. Breezing violins. Thumping drums. Relentless dancing and sparkling wine that flows like the yaelic waterfalls and blurs the mind just enough for the body to take control and do what it feared or oppressed.
A fitting image for Yael, the realm of fairies and elves. The happy and innocent atmosphere, however, came at a sudden pause at a place that seemed to have a protective barrier forbidding it's entrance.
Yael's castle was so beautiful and enchanting that it took away the breath of any occasional witness of its presence. It was the steadier building in the whole realm since themere nature of elves and fairies didn't allow them to have buildings in the sense that other magical tribes did. The forest was their home and if by chance a tree had fallen by natural causes or any other refuge had been created by Nature's own whims, only then did they use it for protection from the elements. Nevertheless, the castle didn't stand like a sore thumb. In actuality, it blended with the nature around it creating an imagery that many could call blinding or impossible to exist.
It was huge and long with its pointy corners having the ambition of scratching the clear blue sky. The walls were made by glass and crystal therefore causing most its majesty as the sunrays reflected different colours of the rainbow depending on the side they tickled. When the sun was at its highest level and hit the castle, it shone so brightly that it shimmered like a lighthouse of hope in their whole world making it impossible for anyone to look at it directly. When the sun set, the walls were painted in new and entirely different colours. The emerald and the sapphire of the lake surrounding it, met the pink and violet hues of the sky and covered the castle like a semi-transculent veil. It was floating on a strap of land surrouned by Nech's chirping waters that if you glimpsed a glance and didn't pay due attention, you would think it was moving at the waters' whims and never stood still. Even though the lake itself was always terribly calm and restful.
More disobedient were the waters of the yaelic waterfalls on the right side of the castle since their water started from the first and smallest one and broke away in the last and biggest. If you were lucky enough and you were invited to the annual Ball of Light, you would witness the night's darkness fading away as the crystals in the caves inside the waterfalls having captured enough energy, they would sparkle. Then, you would hear the waterfalls sing and if you entered their waters, any ailment or injury would be healed.
Just as beautiful were the hanging gardens on the left side of Nech and the castle. They were called gardens but at first glace, they looked more like an overly blossomed wall. Only the bold ones dared came nearer than a few meters. The plants, the Sabtoris, that you met there didn't look like anything you would ever encounter and they had their own will. They chose whichever traveller they liked and made them disappear. Many claimed that the plants were carnivores or that they sensed bad thoughts and saw deeprooted sins and punished them. The dreamers believed that the they would send you to your greatest adventure so that you would discover who you were. But then again, they could react differently to each person. Any interpretation could be true or maybe none of them. Nobody had ever returned to tell the tale.
The reason for the castle's excellence and the overflowing magic around it was the sole being whose beauty and singing could rival the one of the scenery and the waterfalls accordingly, the Master Whisperer. King or Queen of Yael was throned the most charismatic elf or fairy with the most enthralling voice. Even though fairies and elves belong to different kinds of creatures, they belong in the same realm because they fall under the same category: Whisperers. There are Whisperers of Nature and Whisperers of Animals but what makes a Whisperer stronger than another is their ability to ally with nature and animals and request their help with their voice.
Unfortunately, the current queen of Yael isn't as magical or charming as you would expect. Her enchanting exterior is the same as when she was throned and her voice still holds the same power but the garden in her heart is wilted and eaten away by worms. Each one with its name. Greediness, extreme ambition, powerlust, fear. They munch on the flowers in her heart, rotting the roots and having them bleed out petal by petal day by day. That's why joy and happiness keep knocking on the castle's door but they're not allowed an entrance. Outside the glass doors it's a ceaseless celebration while inside it feels like endless mourning. The iridescent crystal looks more like golden cage bars for anyone living inside. The worst part is that the queen has no reason to mourn. Her whole family is healthy and by her side. She has just grown so accustomed to having complete power and control that she dreads the moment she will have to give it away to the next Master Whisperer. Her talent was discovered from young age and she fears being naked and vulnerable without her title. What would she be then if not merely nothing?
But this story isn't about her. Our focus is on the girl that stands in front of her room's mirror with a melancholic expression and the one that keeps trying to convince the guards to let her go nearer to the hanging gardens. Two young women so different but bound by an unbreakable bond.
The Two Daughters of Queen Ypolen.