She tried to stay still but it was too hard to contain that much nervous energy. It was as if she were unable to stay calm. It was still strange to wrap her mind around the thought that little Lily was married, the queen and soon a mother.

 It was mind boggling the way life seemed to just flow on; it didn't seem that long ago that Lily was leaving home to go to the fairy university.  Now she was running a kingdom and having a child. 

         The empress couldn't wait to hold the little one and hoped to be close to this princess, too. Queen Lily was like a daughter to her, she'd drop everything for Lily.  The empress stayed lost there in thought. With any luck it would distract her from peeking down at the ground below, it was pitch black out anyway.

She sipped at her thermos and looked at the stars. 

Soranto just kept going faster and faster, trying to get there in record speed. He knew the empress was excited, but he was worried. He had no idea how painful giving birth would be, especially for a fairy. He just hoped it went well for her and the little one as well. 

     The dragon pushed onward another thirty minutes until finally landing them a few feet from the fairy castle. Ralvania slid down his tail and handed over the bag of muffins.

"Here, I gotta go." She called out to him as she bolted for the castle.