Page 26 of Kingston

She realized that she might well have missed something.They were both looking at her like they were expecting an answer to a question she didn’t listen to.Instead of admitting that she didn’t know what they had said, she instead asked what they thought that she should do.

“First and foremost, I don’t want you to kill either of us.”She must have really missed something important if they’d gotten that far in the conversation.“You can take back the magic if you wish, but we like the faeries.But you can take them back, too, since we’re not going to be doing the job.”

“No one likes the job that they do.”She thought about it for about a second before she admitted to them that she didn’t like hers either.“So you see, I didn’t think beyond the need and I didn’t want to have to mess with it anymore so I gave it to you.All this time, I assumed that you’d be training and doing the job so that I didn’t have to bother with the dragons.I so love those creatures, but I have so many other things that pull me in all kinds of directions all the time.”

“Maybe you need some help with your job.”She nodded at Skye and told her that there was no one who could do her job as well as she could.“Perhaps not everything, but I’m betting that there are people who can take over portions of your job.Say, watching over the faeries.They seem to be a handful unless they’re busy.And too many of them in one place.”

“How did you fix that?If I remember, a great many of them were sent to your home.”Kingston told her what he’d done.“That’s a splendid idea.And it worked?They’re no longer pestering you all the time for things to do?You know, there are only so many flowers that they can take care of.Perhaps I should send them around in your realm for things to do.”

“There are plenty of flowers they can be caring for over there, yeah, sure.”They looked at each other, and she wanted to ask them what was going on.“What’s up with you?You seem really distracted today.”

“I have so much to do.I was hoping that you’d take over the dragons so that I don’t have to mess with them anymore.I mean, since I thought you were messing with them for me, I never heard from them, so perhaps they’ve been taking care of themselves.I don’t know.I’m overwhelmed and overworked right now.”She felt the tears fill her eyes.“I’m sorry.I’m this all-powerful person, and I’m whining like I’m a toddler without their nap.”

“Is there anything we can do to help you that doesn’t involve us taking over the dragons?”She laughed.It had startled her; it had been so long since she’d had an occasion to laugh about something.And she realized that she’d missed it.“What do you do for your organizational skills.I mean, do you have a daily plan that you follow?That’s the only way I get anything done is to have a set plan on what I’m doing.”

“I don’t have time to plan out a plan for anything.Even in the spring, when we’re our busiest, do I have a plan about how to plant things.I think I messed up last spring in forgetting to plant a coupleof fields, and that’s why the faeries are without anything to do this fall.I’ve just messed up so many things that I’m behind in everything.”A large map of her realm appeared in the room, and she looked at it as other things began to appear.Colored pencils, rulers, and markers.There were even sticky notes that she so loved to use when she had time to make notes.“This is all very lovely, but I have all this in my office.”

“But you’re not using them.”The map was placed on the table with all the other things around it.“While I don’t have any idea where things are planted, I can assume that it’s someplace on this map.”

For an hour, she worked on the map with the two of them.It came to her that she had missed three fields of flowers being planted, and that was why everyone was just sitting around.After they deemed the map filled out, she looked it over.

“This is lovely.”The fields were marked off, and there was a flower drawn in different areas around the map.With the dates too that she should be planting things, she was well on her way to having all the fields planted by May.A good month to start having plants bloom.The more she looked at the map, the more information she could see on it.

There were sticky notes on what should be planted in each field.And if she did it correctly, then some of the fields could be planted twice.She could see herself getting ahead of the game.But before she told them that she still had other things that needed her attention, Skye called the faeries in that were forever around the castle she lived in and spoke to them.

“This is the map of flowers.You’ll follow these dates with the other planters and have all the fields planted by May.There is no need for you to be behind, as it’s all laid out for you to work with.”They nodded and took the map away.Then she looked at her.“One less thing you have to worry about now.What else do you have to organize?”

For the next several hours, they made up maps of things that had to be done.Then, like the first time, the map was sent with a group of faeries to get started on.Even the fields that hadn’t been planted this year were being worked up so that the soil was ready for the seeds in the spring planting.Group after group of faeries were assigned work schedules to get done, and she couldn’t believe how much they were getting finished up in a day.

“I used to be organized at one time.But I forgot to keep at it.Then, after a while, it got to be too much to go back to it.”Skye told her that now that the faeries were busy, she could concentrate on other things that needed her attention.”I’d forgotten what it’s like to have nothing that is pounding me in the head all the time.It’s a wonderful feeling knowing that I have the faeries busy and I’m able to work on something more.Thank you so much.I just can’t thank you enough for this.”

For the first time in what seemed like forever, she had a few minutes of time on her hands.Not only were the others busy doing their work, but there didn’t seem to be a cloud hanging over her either.This was just what she needed: someone to come in and make her set things right.

When she was ready for bed after the couple left—she’d repaid them by giving them more magic that they didn’t know about, and she’d given them access to her realm when they wanted.She loved the fact that they were still leery of her and what she’d do to them after the dragon debacle.

Lady Earth did ask them to write up rules that would be more suitable for this time in a dragon’s life.There were so few of them left that she wanted to make sure that they were around for a long time yet to come.She wanted to have rules that they’d gladly follow and wouldn’t be taxed too much in the way of fines, so that they’d not be without either.There was a lot to learn about dragons, she discovered.And every day, she was going to find something positive about herself, too.

The next morning, when she got up, there were no faeries in line to talk to her.They were working the fields and doing their jobs in a way that things would be ready when the first seed was to be planted in the early spring.There was time for a cup of tea, time for her to look over her schedule for meetings, and even enough time that she was able to smell the new blooms that were coming up in the glen.

By noon, she was still not overwhelmed.Every creature was working at something, and she wasn’t being hounded by anyone.It was a glorious way to start her day.After her noonday meal, shewas ready to tackle the list of jobs that she’d been putting off for a while now and get them organized so that she wasn’t behind with them.

At the end of the fifth day, she was no longer stressed out, nor was she overwhelmed.Things were getting done in a timely manner, and she was able to fit in a few minutes every day for herself.And she owed it all to her dragons.

She wanted to find a fitting gift for them and thought about it for the next several days.There was always more magic that she could give them, but that wouldn’t be something that she’d want either.They had told her that it was enough to mess with now.

“Mistress?”She turned to look at Charlene, one of her most prized friends and a faerie.“We have found a pip of brownies that have been left to their own devices last fall.I was thinking that we could send them to the other world and put them in places that would benefit other creatures in places like the courthouses and hospitals.We’ve been told that there is magic for them to have.If you would agree, then I can get them set up there and we’d have a worker to help all shifters.”

“Excellent idea.I love that.We can let the dragons know who it is so they know who to call on when needed.”Charlene said that she’d take care of it right away.“Tell me something.I’d like to repay them for their kindness last week.What do you think they’d like in the way of a gift from me?”

Charlene smiled and said she knew exactly what to give them.When told, Lady Earth thought it the perfect gift to give them and knew just how she was going to present it to them when the time was right.Oh yes, she thought this was going to be epic for all of them and in the future for her special dragons.

Time seemed to be marching on for her, and she was getting so much more done.Thanks wholly to the dragons that she dearly loved.She was glad now that they weren’t going to be king and queen.She had so many other uses for them that her mind was buzzing with ideas.

For the first month, she had to continually check her schedule to make sure that she was on the right path.And while not giving up on the thing, she did make adjustments to her schedule to get even more things accomplished.Her days were brighter and more productive than they’d ever been before.Even when she made out her own schedule and followed it, she’d never gotten this much done.

Denise, another of her favorite faeries, was taking on jobs and making sure that things were just the way they needed to be in the realm.She was happy with her making decisions about everyday things that didn’t need her approval.Doing a great job, she was going to have to think of a perfect gift for her as well as Charlene.Given time, she knew she’d have to give all her workers the perfect gifts; just thinking about what they’d be would be hard.But it would come to her sooner or later.

There was no reason for her to sleep, but she did have time now to take a power nap, something humans did a couple of times a week.It would get her through the most difficult of days and make them seem so much easier to deal with.There was time now for the simplest of things to get done, and she would be forever grateful to the couple who helped her for the rest of her days.