Crystal loved spending time in the library. Learning about the history of her ancestors had always fascinated her. She couldn't wait to curl up with a book.

"Ooh," said Lily. She was reading a story about fairies living in a meadow. "Someday I am going to have a meadow like this."

Crystal looked through the shelves to see if there was a storybook (or a non-fiction one) that would interest her.

"Crystal!" called Lily. "Can you help me grab that pretty purple book at the ninth shelf? It has fairies on the title."

"Sure," said Crystal. "I will get it for you. Just let me get a ladder."

Usually the librarian, Miss Danielle, would take the books for the princesses. But she was on holiday visiting her family, so they had the library to themselves. Crystal found it a struggle pushing the ladder.

It was dangerous to climb a ladder wearing high heels, so Crystal took them off before climbing the ladder to get the book Lily wanted.

"Here it is!" called out Crystal. "Now let me... What?"

Crystal read the title and was speechless. For the title was The History of Fairies.

"Lily, this isn't a fairy tale book," said Crystal.

The two sisters looked at the book. The cover had a picture of a golden-haired fairy with blue wings and a purple dress. Why would a book containing the history of fairies would be in a library in a kingdom which outlawed magic?

"Maybe there's something in here that explains why fairies are banished," suggested Crystal.

The two princesses sat at a table and began reading.

About Fairies

Fairies are mythological creatures who possess magical abilities. Like humans, fairies may vary. Some fairies may be tiny, whilst others may be human-sized.

The smaller fairies have different coloured wings and the ability to fly. They are may different species, such as nature fairies, snow fairies, fire fairies, love fairies and water fairies. They take care of the environment and are responsible for controlling the seasons.

The human-sized fairies may or may not have wings. Some fairies are born with magical abilities, but others may get their abilities later in life. Unlike the smaller fairies, human-sized fairies don't have a specific elemental power.

Contrary to popular belief, removing a fairy's wings won't kill it. The process of cutting off the wings won't cause any pain, but fairies find it difficult to function without them. If the wings are only damaged, they will heal over time, their wings can't be replaced once removed.

"Wow," said Lily. "Fairies without wings? I didn't know there was any such thing. I wonder what happened?"

"Maybe there's more information in there," said Crystal.

Fairies in the Kingdoms

There was a time when fairies were welcome in all kingdoms. The elemental fairies took care of the kingdom's environment while the other fairies acted like godparents to royal children, giving magical blessings at their christenings.

Like humans, there are bad fairies. These fairies were selfish and used their powers for personal gain, cursing and using their powers as they pleased.

However, a huge scandal happened one day in the Celestine Kingdom. Princess Sylvia, the second in line to the throne, was cursed at the age of ten. She accidentally wandered into an evil fairy's territory while on an outing with the royal family and fairy cursed her in anger, cursing her to be infertile.

Princess Sylvia's parents were furious and banished all the fairies from the kingdom. Some other kingdoms followed their lead, while others felt that it was unfair to punish an entire community for the wrongdoing of an individual.

Tragedy struck when Sylvia's older brother, Prince Terrence, passed away from a mysterious plague that claimed many lives in the Celestine Kingdom. As a result, Sylvia became queen and hasn't been able to bear any children so far...

"I didn't know Mother was second in line," said Crystal. "And she was cursed to be childless! No wonder it took her a long time to conceive us."

"But if she couldn't have children, how did she have two daughters?" questioned Lily. "It makes *cough* no sense."

"Maybe something happened," said Crystal. "Maybe Mother..."

But then Crystal felt a strange sensation. She felt really light, as if her body had become weightless.

"What's happening?" she asked.

Lily gasped. "Crystal, look."

Crystal saw in a mirror that she was flying and had a light blue aura.