The Interdimensional Report

The view through the keyhole was limited, but it allowed Prince Dafydd to see the glowing orbs dancing above the center of the table where all the nobility of the fae kingdom had gathered. He watched as the orbs transformed into different creatures from across all the dimensions, from Gigantopithecus to Shadow People to vampires. Finally, the orbs solidified into an image of human ships sailing across the ocean. King Emyr appeared beside the image, and Prince Dafydd’s wings fluttered with excitement.

“As you can see, humans from the continent that they call Europe are moving en masse to colonize the continent area that the European humans are calling the Americas,” King Emyr began his report. “With them, they are taking their violence, disease, and, of course, their tales of us to intermingle with the natives’ tales. For now, this seems to be to our advantage as it adds to their confusion as to what we all actually are. So long as they are confused…”

“Dafydd, what are you doing?” Princess Alys’s voice pulled Prince Dafydd away from his observations. “You are not spying again, are you?”

Prince Dafydd huffed.

“I am not spying! I am merely observing Father’s report. If I am to take over his duties as interdimensional general in three hundred years, I should study the occupation,” he replied. “Now hush! I do not want them to hear us.”

“Oh yes, not spying indeed.”

“Hush!”

Prince Dafydd returned his eye to the keyhole. By this time, Queen Rhiannon had joined King Emyr’s side, and the orbs had returned to their original multicolored state.

“Why would Mother join Father’s report?” he muttered.

“What are you going on about?” Princess Alys asked.

“Hush!”

“Now, we have all the dimensions under control, except for the Earth dimension,” King Emyr announced.

Whispers broke out amongst the nobility.

“What do you mean? I thought that the humans were busy with their wars and colonization?” the Count of the Leprechauns demanded.

“They are, but they seem to not be the only players in that dimension,” King Emyr replied.

Prince Dafydd’s eye widened.

“You said that humans were the only intelligent beings in that dimension!” the Duke of the Pixies shouted.

King Emyr and Queen Rhiannon exchanged glances.

“It has come to our attention that there may be more to that dimension than we had originally thought,” King Emyr said in his calmest, most even tone.

“Do you all remember the theories of Tomos the Lesser?” Queen Rhiannon asked.

Murmurs and whispers rippled through the room. Dafydd gasped. Tomos the Lesser was a mad fae, never spoken of in the upper echelons of society.

Queen Rhiannon raised her hand for silence. Then she took a deep breath before continuing.

“We believe that his theory of space travelers may be correct.”

The glowing orbs transformed into a small humanoid creature with a large head, large eyes pupil-less eyes, and slits for nostrils and a mouth.

“There have been increased incidents of human abductions and aerial light phenomena in the Earth dimension that cannot be attributed to us,” King Emyr stated.

“Have we made contact with them yet?” the Count of the Leprechauns asked.

“Not yet, nor do we plan to unless we have to,” Queen Rhiannon stated. “So far, they have not proven to be a threat to us, so we will leave them alone and let them do whatever they wish to the humans.”

“And what if they interfere with our dealings?” the Duke of the Pixies demanded. “What will you do then?”

Queen Rhiannon’s eyes and wings glowed brightly. Her wings fluttered until she hovered several feet above the ground, and wind blew in from the windows behind her. With a snap of her fingers, the orbs above the table exploded in a blinding light that sent Prince Dafydd collapsing flat on his back.

“Dafydd!” Princess Alys exclaimed in a hushed voice. “Dafydd, are you all right?”

Prince Dafydd nodded, still stunned.

“Well, what did you see?” Princess Alys asked. “What did you hear?”

Prince Dafydd shook his head, pulling himself to his feet as he regained his wits.

“Not here,” he said. “Come with me.”

Prince Dafydd led his sister to the library on the other side of the castle. Once he was certain that he was out of hearing distance of everyone, he turned to Princess Alys, his eyes wide.

“Space travelers!” he whispered. “Space travelers are real! Like the ones that Tomos the Lesser spoke about!”

Princess Alys blinked in confusion.

“What? Are you certain?”

Prince Dafydd nodded.

“Mother and Father both confirmed it. The orbs showed one. They think…they think that they are abducting humans!”

“I…and?”

“And? And what?” Prince Dafydd ran his hand through his hair. “What else do you need, Alys? Space travelers are real!”

“Are they doing anything to fae? Interrupting fae operations?”

“Well, no…”

“Then this is nothing.”

Prince Dafydd shook his head in disbelief.

“What do you mean, this is nothing? Just because they are not doing anything to us right now, does not mean that they will not do anything to us in the future. We are the future interdimensional general and Queen of the Fae, we have to do something…”

“No, we do not, not if Mother and Father are keeping this information from us.” Princess Alys’s expression softened, and she gently placed her hand on Dafydd’s shoulder. “They are keeping it from us for a reason. The best thing we can do is to continue as though we never saw or heard anything.”

“But Alys—”

“But nothing. I do not want to hear anything else about this, all right? Consider it an order from your future Queen.”

Prince Dafydd’s brow furrowed. He hated when she pulled her rank on him.

“Fine.”

Princess Alys smiled slightly and squeezed his shoulder.

“Good. Now, if you will excuse me, I am late for my lessons.”

Prince Dafydd watched Princess Alys leave the library. Once she was gone, he rushed to the librarian’s desk.

“Excuse me, Mari?” he asked the royal librarian.

“Yes, Prince Dafydd?” Mari asked, glancing at Prince Dafydd from behind a book on medicinal herbs. “How can I help you?”

“I want all the books that we have on space travelers, especially any by Tomos the Lesser.”

Mari arched a brow at him.

“Very well. Anything else?”

“Yes.” Prince Dafydd leaned across the desk and lowered his voice. “Do not tell my parents or my sister about this.”

* * *

Author’s Note: For more like this, check out my short story “The Stone Circle”, link below.