Genre: Fairytale AU 

Characters: Irene as the Elf Queen, Wendy as the Winged-Elf who had reintegrated into Elvish society. 

Sequel to Shouting into the Void

The Queen of Elves, Irene, rested her head by the windowsill as she stared out into the starry night sky. A wearied sigh escaped from her lips as she recounted the days’ events. The meeting with the high council had certainly been as taxing as it usually was, perhaps even more so these days.   

“It was reported that, as of late, there have been several rowdy behaviours observed at mass gatherings.”

These so-called rowdy behaviours termed by her ministers were in fact, genuine display of gaiety – roars of laughter, words of teases, and bumping of shoulders. Once upon a time, perhaps a hundred years ago, the citizens in her Kingdom had been excessively courteous to one another as it was the tradition that was passed down along the lineages amongst the elves. A tradition that Irene, the Queen of Elves had abhorred. What had caused the shift of the Elves behaviour, however, was the works of a playful individual. Irene had to restrain a smile at the thought of that individual as she was still in the midst of the council meeting.

Fiddling with her fingers beneath the great oak desk, Irene put on a polite smile and mustered a look of interest in the topic.

“My Queen! We must be rid of such improper behaviour!” Her minister implored.

Irene nodded courteously but before she had gotten to speak her mind, another Elf added fervently.

“Just the other day at the marketplace, an elf was accosted for behaving too intimately with another elf not from his caste. How dare he!”

Irene couldn’t restrain the twitch in her brows. Caste. The minister had spat out that word in distaste and it had no boded well with the Queen of Elves.

“Enough, Silver and Jad. Does the council not have more urgent matters to discuss? Have the disgruntled Dwarves in the West been placated? Have the roguish Ogres to our South been taken care of? Are we enjoying such a great time of peace – so much so that we should be lamenting on social courtesies? And please release the poor Elf from wherever he has been imprisoned at. We have better use for our prison facilities. I vaguely remember there was an Elvish guild found to have been breeding and trading Dragons in the black market. Has this guild been apprehended and dealt with? I do not hear of follow up reports.”

Rarely address by merely their names, the two Ministers fell silent immediately and another Elf answered the Queen’s concern on the illegal trade of Dragons.

Her thoughts had transported back to current times. A star twinkled, as if winking at her, and the Queen tilted her head a little, a smile spreading across her face. Perhaps she had imagined it, perhaps the stars really did wink at her, like how an individual often did. Another sigh left her lips, this time round, it carried with it a sense of longing. Longing and pining for an individual, the very same playful individual who was gone for too long. This individual was none other than Wendy, the Winged-Elf, the last of her kind.

Wendy had been residing in a magical realm in seclusion for millenniums before she had re-emerged and integrated into the Elvish society, the Kingdom that was governed by Irene.

This Winged-Elf had gone for more than half a month in what she coined as a self-discovery trip. Not to discover herself but rather, to assist with other elves of discovering themselves. In essence, Wendy’s plan was to spread her “discourteous” ways amongst the elves the Kingdom. Irene had shaken her head at the absurd idea. Yet, there was little Irene could do to prevent such a trip. Perhaps Irene had secretly wanted a reform across her kingdom and who else but Wendy could help her with it. The Winged-Elf’s appearance had stirred much commotion amongst the Elves. Wendy had rejected an official title in the court but was nonetheless treated with reverence even if her actions were often time, frowned upon by the ministers.

Once, Wendy had ridiculed the Vice Premier by correcting his knowledge on the history of Elvish wars before an audience of younger ministers. Irene had winced a little. There has never been a time where an Elf openly discredited another, instead, they would discount such inaccuracies easily. Or, if an elf was bold and cared enough, he or she would craft a lengthy letter and dispatch the letter many months later to save the Vice Premier from embarrassment before a crowd. Such inefficiencies! That night when Irene had reminded her of other methods available, Wendy had instead flapped her hands.

“That is too troublesome. Mistakes are common especially when the Vice Premier is getting on age. It was a simple correction, and he could have accepted his mistake graciously. I wa