Emerald Oasis 7C

"I'm confused already," Joyce admitted, chucking the book by the kettle. "Are political leaders and fairy monarchs the same thing?"

Emily nodded. "That's right."

"Why does there need to be two titles? And what's the difference between the political parties and the kingdoms?"

"None. They're exactly the same."

"Well, then what happens if you're in a kingdom and you don't support your location's beliefs."

"You just move somewhere else. I've been pretty lucky. England's always had very stable Rainbow Party supporters for a long time. It's very rare that people from different areas change their political views altogether. Normally if they don't agree with the majority of their location, they just keep about it."

Joyce shook her head. "I still don't get it. Just because they live in the same place doesn't mean that we share the same beliefs. In my time, a lot of people were against gay couples, and I never saw what the fuss was all about. I meant not everybody's a Christian. I mean what people chose to do in their own beds is none of my business."

"If you were a fairy, you'd fit right in with the Rainbow Party."

"I noticed the name of the author," Joyce said, tucking the book under her armpit. "Is she any relation to Empress Fee?"

"That's her son, and King Fore's as well. He's in a unique position."

"What do you mean by that?"

"He's an heir apparent to two political parties. It's the first time it's happened in over 500 years."

"So could he ever lead both parties?"

"He'd have to choose one."

"And I thought our politics were bad."

"It's interesting how history shows the different sides of everybody. The last rainbow emperor, Jasper Spectrum wrote a book about how pleasant Renee Rainbow was and how she died as a martyr. How pure Serena Rainbow's love was the prince. And that Lily and Iris Legend were evil scheming fairies with a huge hatred of humans. How Serena and the prince got married and lived happily ever after."

"Who would you believe?"

"I don't think any of them were evil," Emily said. "Just desperate."

"Well, it is the winners that write history."

"I'll have a look at Jasper Spectrum's book. You'll be able to see the differences. Actually, I haven't got anything to do, I'll go home and have a look for you."

"Thank you very much," Joyce said. "It will be very interesting to see."

As Emily made her exit, Joyce made herself a cup of tea, then sat down to the nearest armchair and carried on reading. She couldn't put the book down. She found the women in Henry Khan's life so fascinating. How the mistresses became tragic figures and find out how strong their daughters became. She was pleased that the sisters found peace in the end. She was sure that the spirit of Henry Khan was always watching over them.

She was amazed at how there was no war in over two thousand years. She found it hard to believe: humans were at war all the time. She was sure that there was a battle that had been written out of history somewhere along the line. Perhaps humans should learn something from the fairies.

Siobhan Lewisham, the carer that Rodger was very fond off strolled into the lounge with jugs of juice for the rooms. "Hi Joyce, what are you reading?"

"It's a book about fairies," Joyce responded with a smile on her face. "My friend who lives in the garden gave it to me, it's very interesting."

"Sounds fun," she said, placing the jugs on the table by Joyce. "I'll see you later. You can tell me more about it when I'm back from my break."

"Okay," Joyce said. She was pretty sure that Siobhan would have forgotten all about it by the time she came back from her break. She would have most likely been dragged in to attend to someone. A pity, Joyce thought. The carers were nice, but she wished she they could sit down for one minute and have a chat, even if it was about subjects that she didn't particularity care about – like what were Heidi Leyton and Mutya South arguing about the other day? Where did Amelle Peckham go? And why was Keisha Leicester so hungover all the time?

"Psst. Where did you get that book from?"

Joyce placed the book on her lap and saw Mimi Dory laying down on on the edge of the handle. "Hello, Mimi! Emily gave me this book."

"Lot of rubbish in my opinion," Mimi admitted. "It's clearly biased. Jasper Spectrum's version is a lot better. A lot of the stuff in that book is pure fiction."

"Which parts?" Joyce asked.

"There's one chapter where it says Serena was a complete whore and that isn't true. In the opening, it says Lily Legend's allegations were false. They were real because she confessed to doing it."

"Oh, this book never said anything about Lily confessing."

"Well, it wouldn't. Plus the original documents were destroyed by Empress Iris when she ascended the throne. Oh, look, Ivy and Rita!"

Even by fairy's standards, Joyce could tell that those two were different to the others. Ivy wore a blue mini dress to go with her silver wings and with leaves in her red hair. She had a silver dolphin on her top. It was easy to know what party she supported.

Rita was rocking a black and white dress and curly pink hair. Unlike for Ivy, Joyce couldn't tell which political party Rita supported just by looking at her.

"Rita, Ivy, this is Joyce – she's friends with Emily."

Both fairies curtsied.

"I'm Ivy Shea."

"Rita Chime."

"It's no nice to meet you both," Joyce said. "I've been reading Marcus Ickersurfs's account on the first royal family."

"I hate this book so much," Ivy muttered.

"I was just saying that Jasper Spectrum's book is so much better," Mimi said. "It's a lot more balanced and more truthful to how evil the Legends really were."

"None of the history books are any good," Ivy ranted. "Because they all suck. They're extremely biased. Lily Legend and Renee Rainbow were just as bad as each other."

"Are you a member of the Cascade Party?" Joyce asked Ivy.

"Yes," Ivy said. "I don't care if I get bashed for it."

"We won't bash you," Mimi promised.

"It's so hard being a Cascade supporter in Europe. The Cascade Party have the best political views, it's a shame that no other fairies can see that. Everything that King Fiddle Scotch said in the debate is completely right. And I don't care what anybody says, Iris Legend and Serena Rainbow should never have been the empresses. Misty Cascade should have won because she was the kindest, the smartest. Yes, she fell in love with a prince, but she was smart enough to walk away in the end. The prince was an old creep."

"What's your view on this?" Joyce asked Rita.

"I think May Balance would have made an exceptional empress," Rita admitted. "People disagree, but I don't care. She was deceived."

"Well there's got to be one thing we can agree on," Joyce said.

"What would that be?"

"That both Henry Khan and that prince dicks."

All three fairies gasp. Mimi was the first to speak. "Joyce, you shouldn't say something like that about an emperor."

"I don't think Henry Khan had any intentions of marrying. He just wanted to play around and pit the women against each other. As for that prince, he was no better than Henry Khan. There's a lot of humans out there who are very much like that prince. You can love or hate Iris Legend, you can't deny that she did good things: she created a democracy for you all."

"It's not a real democracy," Ivy said. "It's a hereditary absolute monarchy disguised as democratic unions. Only royal blood can get into them, and that's not good because there are lots of fairies I know that would make better fairy kings and queens that the ones that are in power. Like Emily for instance, she would make such a better fairy queen for the Rainbow Party than King Fore because King Fore is really just a right-winged asshole. King Fore is a terrible leader, he should either step down or get fired. Sadly, kings and queens can only be fired by Empress Fee."

"I think Misty and May were the best of Henry's daughters," Rita admitted. "They both believed in equality and fairer societies."

"The current Empress has no idea what it's like to be a fairy. She thinks that we can create money magically out of nowhere. Stopping the tooth industry cost us so many jobs and she's not going to create lots of new jobs just like that. Sure we have magic, but magic doesn't pay the bills."

"Oh Ivy..." Mimi moaned. "You do go on."

"I know but people need to pay more attention to politics, we can't just chill out in gardens and pretend that everything is alright when it isn't. Everybody is saying that humans are damaging the environment, but why aren't we doing more to stop it?"

"Is there anything I can do?" Joyce asked.

"Wait!" Ivy said, digging into her leafy pockets on her dress. "I think I have something for you." She pulled a pendant from out of her pocket. "The gem absorbs any poisonous gases in the air. It won't be an instant cure, but all you have to do is wear it."

"How come there aren't more?" Joyce asked.

"Because the gems are really rare," Rita explained. "You're lucky to wear it."

Joyce wore the pendant. She felt soothed by the cold tips pressing against her chest.

"Now let's see what's on the telly," Mimi announced. The TV turned itself on with a click of her fingers. "I like this show. It's called a Vampire's Wallet."

"Never watched it," Joyce said, "What's it all about."

"It's about a vampire named Celestine," Mimi explained. "She was homeless, then she when she turned into a vampire, she became rich. Used her new abilities to get rich and enjoy stuff she couldn't as a human."

"I bet my granddaughters would enjoy it."