Elizabeth here: the conclusion of the series is finally done! Enjoy!
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Hiroko stopped the boat at a small dock made of polished, white wood. Kaede the goldfish didn't seem tired at all after lugging the boat that far.
"Just go right up that path, the castle is over there," Hiroko said, pointing to a cobblestone path through the cherry blossoms. Alban could see shining silver spires from the deck of the boat. The castle was only half a mile away.
"Thank you," Alban said.
"No, thank you," Hiroko said. "I'm happy to talk to another traveller."
Alban gathered his things and walked off the boat and onto the lumpy cobblestone path. The boat turned around and sped off in the other direction behind him, and Hiroko waved to him. He waved back.
All alone, he did what he did best: trek forward. This path was well kept, and the bluish grass was neatly trimmed while the cherry blossoms formed neat rows on either side of the path. The path itself was lumpy and hard to walk on, but looked nice. Alban eventually decided to walk on the grass to the right of the path instead.
Then Alban heard tiny voices talking inside of a bush a few feet in front of him
"Is yours ready?" a girl's voice said.
"Yup!" another one said. Two fairies in tiny pyjamas fluttered out of the bushes ahead, and flew towards the castle, each holding small wooden signs. They were only looking forward, and didn't notice Alban, even though he was right there. Alban couldn't see what was on the signs: only one side was painted. He waited for them to pass, and followed in their footsteps. Maybe if he could reach the castle without being interrupted by fairies, he could talk to the queen without being tortured on the way there.
As he approached, he heard a crowd of voices ahead around a bend in the path: the voices of tiny fairies, but all shouting something that he couldn't make out. Alban hid in the bushes and crept through them.
He crept forward for a minute, staying as quiet as possible. When he poked his head out again, he finally saw the castle in a massive clearing. The castle was made from gigantic sewing tools all attached together: giant, solid metal thimbles and wooden spools of massive thread made up the bulk of the building, and hollow, oddly wide needles made up the towers. There were windows carved into all of the pieces of the castle.
The front entrance of the building was a giant red pincushion with a wooden gate in it. In front of this gate, dozens of fairies were hovering in the air and chanting only thirty feet away. Snowdrop and Sundrop weren't among them. No guards or castle staff were outside; it was just the fairies. Some fairies were holding signs, others were banging on the front door, and still others pounded their fists on nearby windows while flying in front of them. Their strikes were loud despite their small size, but didn't damage anything.
"We want more cute guys! We want more cute guys! We want more cute guys!" the crowd demanded, all waving signs. From his place in the bushes, he made out a few familiar figures: the leaf dressed fairy and the scissor-holding fairy were there, as were a few others from the time he was tied up.
He saw a human-sized figure peek through a curtained window above the gate, then turn away. The fairies were all aiming their signs at that window.
Alban didn't think his net could catch a whole horde of fairies, and he didn't know if he could charge through them and force the gate open. It was huge and likely locked.
He slowly crept around the outskirts of the clearing, trying to find a backdoor. After taking a few minutes to sneak to the back, there was no other door in sight. But, there were a few windows on the first floor, and no fairies were in the back. Alban made a break for it and ran through the clearing and up against the solid thimble side of the castle. He stood on his toes and waved his hands in front of a locked window that looked like it could be opened from the inside. Inside this window was a long, white, luxurious hallway running through this huge thimble and connecting it with two others; the interior of the castle was ordinary, and didn't look like it was made of sewing equipment.
After waving his arms for a minute, he saw a tall woman in plate armor walk by. She looked like a typical knight, with clunky armor and a long halberd, but she had long bunny ears sticking out of her black hair. Alban caught her attention, and she jumped in surprise before looking around, then approaching the window and opening it.
"Uh..." the woman said. "Hello? We're trying to deal with a protest out front. Are you with them?"
"No," he said. "What's the protest about?"
"Well, nobody told me much, but apparently something got those fairies horny. They've been protesting outside in shifts and trying to break in, and they apparently want more cute guys. But I dunno why they're yelling at us, it's not like we have a stash of them laying around or anything. At least they can't get inside."
"Can I come in?" Alban said. "I'm a traveller and would like to meet the queen to get an amulet from her."
"Official business is supposed to come through the front gate. But, given that it's being swarmed by flying morons, go ahead." The bunny-eared woman held out her arms and helped Alban climb through the window. He made it inside. The interior of the door-lined hallway was filled with white decorations and tall marble statues of various forest creatures, both mundane and magical. Most of the doors were closed, save for one door at the end of the hallway to the left which led to a wide spiral staircase.
"You wouldn't happen to know anything about these fairies outside, would you?" the guard asked as she closed the window.
"Nothing at all, though they did try to do some pretty bad things to me a few times. I'm not eager to meet them again."
"Me neither. Don't worry, Titania's a lot nicer. And less rapey. She should be upstairs in the Grand Thimble. Follow me."
Alban followed the guard up the stairs. Her armor loudly clanked as they walked. They passed another two bunny-eared guards going down the stairs, and Alban wondered if it was a good idea to wear fifty pound armor all the time, especially when they didn't even have helmets. Didn't they ever get tired walking around the castle? But, he didn't see a bead of sweat on any of their faces. Maybe the ears helped somehow.
The throne room at the top of the staircase was painted in a warm golden color. There were two straight staircases to either side of the spiral one, both leading down in opposite directions. But Alban didn't look down the stairs. Instead, he was focused on the five foot tall fairy pacing nervously on the red carpet in the center of the golden throne room. She had sprawling, pink butterfly wings, brilliant pink hair, and a bulky, silver tiara with a huge amethyst gem on top. Her clothes were a set of golden silk robes. The throne itself was a beanbag chair made of gold thread and studded with gems on the sides.
"Hmm, whatever shall I..." Then she saw him. "Oh! Greetings, traveller! What is thine purpose here in this strange hour?"
"Your majesty, I'm here to—"
"Ah, there ain't no need to call me 'your majesty', ain't anyone got time for titles of nobility these days." She cleared her throat. "Noble traveller, go on with your request."
Alban looked around in confusion, then went on speaking after seeing that the other guards in the room were stoic and used to her bizarre speech patterns. "I am here to ask for that one amulet that'll let me leave the forest."
"That is a request which I can grant. But let us talk first! Howsoever did thou venture into these woods? Was thine heart drawn to the beauty of this place? Or did'st thou have other motives?"
