“Sleeping Beauty! What part of that do you plan to emulate?” asked Enid as their wands slipped under the door of the cleaners staff room.
“Not sure,” said Myrtle. “I was thinking of putting them to sleep, probably not for a hundred years, but a week or so, should give us time to move out a lot of their security people.”
“Where to and how did you get our wands here?” asked Enid, giving hers a bit of a shake to make sure it still worked.
“I upgraded the software to include a homing device,” said Myrtle. “You just use your smart phone to tell it where to go to. I can send you the app, or I could if you had a smart phone.”
“I’ll think about it,” said Enid.
“So what’s the plan,” asked the Mirror.
“Well, one thought would be to move the East Wing, as a whole, somewhere else,” said Myrtle.
“But there will be a lot of our people working in there,” said Enid.
“And we don’t want to give them hostages,” said Myrtle. “Which also rules out sealing the wing off.”
“Couldn’t we move them out?” asked Enid.
“As a whole, yes, but you don’t know what they are all doing, some may be having baths, it could be a shock to find themselves, suddenly, in the back of beyond and without their bath,” said Myrtle.
“Could be quite funny,” the Mirror giggled.
“Could be,” smiled Enid.
“They may not think that,” said Myrtle. “And we don’t want to put them in a bad mood.”
“So what do you think we should do?” asked Enid.
“I was thinking of putting them to sleep,” said Myrtle.
“Shame, it would waste the effect of whatever the kitchen staff were going to put in the food,” said the Mirror.
“Well, most of them wont come to the banquet,” said Myrtle. “We could wait till the banquet has started and then put all those still in the wing to sleep.”
“Then they won’t be able to intervene,” said Enid.
“Next we seal the doors to the Hall, so no one can leave till we have some answers,” Myrtle continued.
“That should give them an incentive to think of something quickly,” said the Mirror. “Before things get a bit smelly.”
“Nice plan,” said Enid.
“It has the virtue of being simple,” said Myrtle. “Reduces the chances of things going wrong.”
“Reduces?” asked the Mirror.
“There is always the scope for things to go wrong,” smiled Myrtle.
“There is the question of how we get them to talk about a solution, without actually going in there,” said Enid.
“What have you got against going in there?” asked the Mirror.
“I want to know that I can get out again before I’m gassed,” said Enid.
“There is a large screen monitor in the banqueting hall, it was set it up to do video conferencing,” said Myrtle. “It’s on the Fairy Network, we can use that.”
“That will tell them that the Fairy Network is up and running,” said the Mirror.
“And if they try to stop it, it will tell them that they can’t do that,” added Myrtle. “And if they try to get to their people in the East Wing, they will find them all fast asleep.”
“They may try to take the Fairy Council hostage,” said Enid.
“Is that a problem?” asked the Mirror.
“Not really,” said Myrtle. “Should things turn nasty we can always wand the council out of there and carry on the negations though the conferencing.”
“When do we turn on the monitor?” asked Enid as they watched the delegates and the Council members arrive and sit themselves down at the banqueting table.
“Not yet,” said Myrtle. “We need to give them time to eat at least one course, possibly two.”
“But,” said Enid.
“We have to allow them to eat whatever the kitchen staff added to the meal and give it time to take effect,” said Myrtle.
“OK,” sighed Enid. “I just want to know that it all works.”
“We all want it over with,” said Myrtle. “It’s just a question of patience, some things can’t be rushed.”
“It isn’t easy watching them eating,” Enid muttered as the delegates slurped their way though the soup.
“Their tables manners aren’t the best,” Myrtle muttered.
“I wasn’t thinking of that,” said Enid. “I haven’t had anything to eat all day.”
“I could ask Maud to send us something, only that might give our position away,” said Myrtle.
“So I shall just have to wait,” sighed Enid.
“So will I,” said Myrtle.
“The first course is being cleared away,” said the Mirror.
“Do we act now or wait till they are into the second course?” asked Enid.
“Some of the diners are beginning to look uncomfortable,” said Myrtle. “I think that the time is now.”
“Who is going to do the talking and what do I say?” asked Enid.
“Sounds like you, as the senior Fairy Godmother here, have just volunteered,” Myrtle smiled.
“So what do I say?” Enid asked.
“Introduce yourself, tell them that the Fairy Network is now clear of all outside influences. If they think that they can control the Fairy Council then they are wrong,” said Myrtle.
“So, how do I do this?” Enid asked. “And wont they recognise the cleaning staff restroom?”
“They wont recognise the room because I can’t imagine any of them having ever come in here and because, I’ve picked a background out of library images,” said Myrtle.
“What is it?” asked Enid, looking behind her.
“You know the bandstand in the park,” said Myrtle.
“Yes,” said Enid. “Rather a nice place.”
“They will think you are sitting there,” said Myrtle. “I have video footage of it, if they try to sneak up on you, I’ll know and change the back drop.”
“Good Evening delegates and Councillors, for those who do not know, my name is Enid and I have come to you via a video link through the Fairy Network. For those of you who may be worried about using it, we have cleared it of all outside influence and so it is back to the secure channel that we always trusted,” Enid smiled.
“I am King Augustus,” shouted the man at the head of the table.
“I thought I recognised him,” Myrtle muttered.
“I have an army of a thousand men in the East Wing ready at my command. What do you hope to gain by this stunt?” King Augustus replied, expecting to hear agreement from the delegates only to see a line of worried expressions, with some excusing themselves to go to the toilet. “You will all stay put,” he hissed at them.
“Your army,” smiled Enid whilst Myrtle put up images of sleeping men from the East Wing, some had got to beds or sofas others had fallen on the floor, but none of them looked like they were in any fit state to do anything.
“Go and wake them,” he said turning to the delegate to his right who looked desperate and dashed to the door without any second telling. The door wouldn’t open.
“You are stuck in that room,” said Enid.
“Where are the serving people,” snapped King Augustus.
“They have taken away the first course and are busy getting the second course ready,” said Enid. “Of course they wont be able to get in when they have done so, but I suspect you wont be particularly bothered about that.”
“We have your Fairy Council here,” said King Augustus, standing up and walking over to the Head of the Fairy Council.
“It would be unwise to threaten them,” said Enid.
“You did get them all out?” Enid hissed to Myrtle.
“Every last one, what they see are just projections,” smiled Myrtle.
“I don’t make threats,” said King Augustus, taking his sword and swing it at the Head of the Fairy Council, it went through her without any effect.
“That wasn’t nice to see,” muttered the Head of the Fairy Council from her seat in the cleaning staffs rest room, just out of range of the laptop camera.
“It’s why we got you out of there,” whispered Myrtle.
“As you can see, you and your delegates are the only ones in there,” smiled Enid. “And with what was put in the soup, the atmosphere there is not going to be very pleasant for much longer.”
“Those are underhand tactics,” shouted King Augustus. “And they are going to leave this room very messy.”
“It could do with a thorough clean and redecorating,” said Enid.
“What’s wrong with it?” asked the Head of the Fairy Council.
“All those exposed beams, so hard to dust and the styling, so, not even last century, more the century before that,” said Enid. “My grandmother would be more than happy to do a full redesign.”
“Natasha, her work is all the rage at the moment,” said one of the Councillors. “There’s quite a queue for her.”
“So I’d heard,” said the Head of the Fairy Council. “Do you think you could interest her in the work.”
“We could put in a good word for you,” said Myrtle.
“What do you want?” asked King Augustus, not sounding quite so in command as he had done.
“We want you to leave,” said the Head of the Fairy Council.
“And we want assurances that you will never come back,” said another member of the Council.
“How can we do that,” said King Augustus looking extremely uncomfortable.
“Good question that one,” said Enid.
“King Rufus needs a bride and King Augustus has a very beautiful daughter,” said Myrtle, picking up her phone and walking to the far corner of the room.
“How is that going to help us?” asked Enid.
“My daughter is not part of the negotiations,” snapped King Augustus. “I have plans for her that don’t involve that waster of a King.
“Then you had better change those plans, Daddy,” said Princess August. “Whether you like it or not, I am in love with King Rufus and we plan to get married.”
“I wont let you our of my kingdom,” shouted King Augustus.
“I’m not in it,” his daughter replied. “I am with King Rufus and our wedding is planned for next Friday, whether you come or not.”
“I don’t see how this is going to help us,” said the Head of the Fairy Council.
“If it wasn’t for the Fairy Godmothers, we would never have met, so Daddy dearest, you do anything to upset them and you will have me to answer to,” said Princess August.
“OK, whatever you say, I agree to it,” said King Augustus. “Just tell me how we are going to get our of here?”
Myrtle waved her wand once, the King and his delegates appeared in the courtyard of his castle and made a dash for the toilets. All the things they brought with them appeared in the great hall. Myrtle waved her wand a second time and the sleeping soldiers appeared, with all their belongings, in their barracks.
“Are we invited to the wedding?” Myrtle asked.
“We wouldn’t have it without you,” said Princess August.
By Janice Nye © 2021
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