The king's supposed wedding would never begin. Perhaps its greatest purpose was simply to gather the surviving fairies scattered throughout the kingdom, so that as their kingdom shattered, they could share one last bout of revelry and play.
Fairies, each different yet much the same, came from far away. Those who loved brewing tucked their little jars under their arms and crossed mountains and rivers just to share them with everyone. The eloquent ones prepared plenty of stories, recounting their adventures and drawing gasps from the fairies around them. It was all ordinary bragging-they had never left the kingdom-but the others gasped anyway, their admiration genuine and heartfelt.
And so a kingdom came to its end.
The Wizards who had come to the Endless Sea to resolve the incident had not even spared it a glance. They could surely sense this shattering Fairy Kingdom. Its birth and demise were merely one part of the Cavern World, a natural phenomenon occurring at every moment, like waves rising and falling along the shore.
All three young people were taking in the changes to the kingdom. This, too, was a rare experience. Down below, Wizard Zorn was still laughing and drinking, though hardly any fairies seemed able to catch his interest anymore.
Ruger watched it all, quietly sensing the changes as the kingdom shattered and perished.
Varin seemed to have truly overcome the strange feelings fairies stirred in her. In fact, Ruger had long since noticed that she got along well with Wizard Jillian's combs. Now, a trace of pity showed on her face as she watched the fairies. Human minds were different from theirs, after all. Humans could not face death as calmly as they did. Perhaps the fairies had never considered death at all.
Unfortunately, even Varin's abilities as a Gem