Magical Contracts

Flora woke up from her nap when they were halfway to Washington and was very happy to see her cousin. "Ruby! You're really here! They said you would come if I was extra good and you did."

Ruby hugged her tightly with a lump in her throat. "Yeah. I'm here. We're going to go play in a castle together for a while, won't that be fun?"

The little fairy frowned. "But what about Mommy and Daddy? Won't they miss me?"

Ah, this was hard to explain. She would have to tell the truth eventually but didn't know how to soften the blow of death to such a young child. It was better to keep that particular dark secret from her for now so she didn't start crying and piss off the vampires in the plane with them.

"Of course they will," Ruby said soothingly. "They wanted you to go play at the castle with me while they were busy though."

Flora frowned but accepted her words at face value. "Oh. Okay. What are we going to play at the castle?"