Would you consider living in the Kingdom if it were to save those you love on Earth from harm?
Yes, obviously, on the grounds this is a situation where there is no choice.  But I would deeply resent the Queen for putting me in this position.  As the most powerful magical being, it is her responsibility to defend her own world and do so well.  There is something wrong if she cannot or, worse, will not do this.  She should not be trying to force Mother and I to obey her.  It will only cause trouble, because we will make sure that it does.  We would both more willingly come to the Kingdom’s aid if we didn’t feel the Queen was being devious.

Would you be prepared to serve the Kingdom on a part time basis or at least swear you will not put your magical skills to use for evil either by yourself or by someone who can exploit you for their own ends?
Yes, reluctantly, as  Mother is the full blood fairy godmother who knew what she was doing when she lived in the magical realm and even more so when she left it.  I see serving the Kingdom from Earth as her responsibility first and foremost.  Of course I won’t use my magic for evil.  What kind of being do you think I am? On second thoughts, don’t answer that but do you realise how insulting you are being in asking this?  Nor will I let anyone exploit me and this shouldn’t worry you.  I’m telling Mother and the Queen where they can get off on a regular basis after all!

From the Kingdom’s viewpoint you come across as a whinger.  Even the Queen doesn’t blame Eileen for giving birth to you.  Will you ever use your magic uncomplainingly?
I resent the implication I’m lazy and moan a lot.  Mother should have been upfront about what she is and what that makes me.  Having time to get used to the idea would have been enormously helpful.  And I have had my life turned upside down and shaken up.  Mother would’ve known I needed time to adjust.  She should’ve anticipated my reaction.  I do use magic as I see fit uncomplainingly now but it is to help and protect Eddie and I mainly.

Do you plan to tell your child, Edward, about  the magical world?  Have you found out what his skills are yet?
At some stage I will tell Eddie all I found out.  He won’t find out the way I did.  But I am going to put this off until he’s been in school for a couple of years.  He should have every opportunity to do well with and without magic.  I know Eddie can obliterate daisies just by pointing his finger at them.  He has not produced much magic and since the daisy episode none at all.  That kind of incident is a bit hard to explain away at playgroup.  Eddie will be encouraged to use his magic wisely once he’s old enough to stand he must be really, really careful with it.

You said you liked flying but is there any other magic you like?
The ability to vanish is lovely.  When life gets a bit much to literally vanish into thin air for a brief period of respite is really refreshing.  After all who can bother me while in an “invisible” state?  Certainly not Paul or any other human. Mother made it clear when training me a magical being has to be looking for someone in an invisible state to be able to spot them, assuming there are no protection spells on. I always wear loads of those.  It is so nice knowing when I want to make sure I’m not disturbed by anything or anyone that I can do so.  The Queen informed me that lots of magical beings take “mini breaks” this way.

How do you keep your magical urges suppressed? Don’t deny you have them. Every magical being does. Anyway the Queen has informed the Kingdom via my broadcasting company you are often seen struggling to control magic. She does not understand why you bother.
Your broadcasting company, Roherum?  I understood FNN is run by a Board of Directors and you are only one of them.  You turn a lovely shade of red, did you realise?  No? I admit I can feel magic fighting to get out of me sometimes and I resist it by reminding myself I am human, it is safer for me and my loved ones to not make it clear I am anything else and by believing I’ll endanger myself by making my magic obvious, it makes it easier to resist showing them!  I don’t fancy dying before my time!  As for your last comment, trust me, Roherum, there is a lot your Queen doesn’t understand and that includes decent standards of behaviour.  Don’t look like that.  She kidnapped me and my child, remember.  I’m not forgetting that in a  hurry!





_

Your mother went through much to marry your father and give birth to you.  Your attitude to her has been hostile. Do you think this attitude justified?
Yes!  Mother must have known or had a good guess at what the consequences of her defection would be.  While I am grateful she fell for Dad leading to my existence, she should have planned her defection better and made absolutely sure the Queen could not come after her.  I know Mother will argue that she did plan the defection (we have had this quarrel many times) but she would have known the Queen’s capabilities and taken extra precautions against them.  Mother simply wasn’t through enough.  Mother is used to being a magical being but I have to come to terms with being neither one thing fully nor the other.  I am a compromised being in every sense.  It does not make me feel good.

Are you using your magic, save in self defence?  If you are, should you not be kinder to Eileen given you owe her skills to her?
I limit my use of magic.  I was happy when I thought I was just a human being.  All I’ve seen of magic is the trouble it causes so I use what skills I have sparingly.  I don’t want to attract those creatures who feed on magic.  You can’t imagine the horror I felt at having a dragon turn up in my garden.  It did nothing for the wildlife who live here either. I really don’t want to face that again.  I am not deliberately unkind to Mother but she has dropped me in it and I fail to see how it is wrong she is reminded of that fact.   She owes me!

Do you think you will ever come to terms with being half-magical?
Probably not.  It’s such a bizarre idea to get used to and nobody would expect their parent to come out with such a crazy tale.  As far as I’m concerned, I am me.  I have an odd ancestry and the less said about it the better.

You used some magic.  Did you enjoy this?  Will you continue to use magic?
I like flying.  While it still feels  strange having wings sprout out of my back when I touch behind my right knee, being in flight is wonderful and when I really need to relax I use an invisibility spell and take to the skies!  It doesn’t fool the birds though.  They get out of my way when I’m up there.  I guess you can’t fool animal senses.  I’ll continue to use what magic I find it best to use and primarily for my benefit.  I’ll use magic defensively if I have to but I do expect Mother to do the bulk of this.  It is her stock in trade after all.  It isn’t mine.

Like Eileen, you tried to hide what you are from your husband but failed.  Has Paul  accepted what you are?  How has it affected your marriage?
Paul blames Mother, rightly so.  It was difficult for a while.  He was livid I kept my magical blood hidden from him but can see now I was trying to shield him.  Had the Queen not spoken out, there would have been no need for him to know and he accepts that.  I’ve promised him I’ll never use magic in a way that will draw attention to it.  As far as he and the world are concerned, we are an ordinary couple.  Our marriage will be and is just fine.  I hope I must never use magic defensively in front of Paul.  I don’t know how that would effect him or me.

Jennifer is still not that happy about magic and keeps threatening to turn her back on it all.  Do you think she means it?  If she does carry this threat out, what will you do?
Yes, she always means what she says, but this is a threat she can’t carry out.  She will always have magic in her blood, which will make its presence felt.  So she’d have to cope with that even if she didn’t bother with the rest.  And she knows this.  I will continue to do what I’ve always done – support Jennifer to the best of my ability (whether she likes it or not!).

The Queen keeps you dangling on her string by making it clear she would use magic against Derek if she needed to.  Would it be fairer to your husband if you just went back to your old world and have done with it?
No.  Why should he have his heart broken because of her selfishness?  Derek does love me you know.  I’ve made every effort to help the Kingdom and live my life on Earth peacefully.  I’m literally trying to make the best of both worlds.  It is the Queen who has the problem.  Indeed she is the bloody problem!

You often complained about being sent out at all hours and times to pursue and destroy various foul fiends but do you think this had anything to do with your personality?  You yourself have admitted you can be awkward.  Was it unreasonable for the Queen to keep an awkward fairy godmother busy?
Are you trying to say everything was my fault?  Yes, I am awkward but with the Queen I was questioning her behaviour when I honestly felt she could behave in a more honourable manner.  I can quite see, thank you so much, why the Queen would want to get me out of her hair as often as possible but it would have been simpler for her to listen to my concerns about magical power abuses and to do what she could to right them and ensure there were no further such abuses.  It wasn’t just down to my behaviour.

Are you saying you never did anything wrong? You complained about the Queen’s arrogance.  Don’t you have some arrogance?!
You’ve got nerve, I’ll grant you that.  I’ve made mistakes.  I can be arrogant but aren’t we all capable of that? I can swear I’ve never deliberately meant to be arrogant or to err but again who does?  I was right to question the magical power abuses.  Someone had to speak out.  The last thing the Kingdom needs is for the Queen to act as horribly as Gwendolyn did.  Someone needs to rein Roxannadrell in and when I was in the realm I was the best person to do so.

If the Kingdom’s existence did depend on it, would you go back permanently?  Would you resent doing so?
I’d want to check this situation had not been artificially set up.  I’m afraid the Queen long forfeited any trust I had in her. Assuming the situation is genuine, I would go back but would want to take Derek, Jennifer and Edward with me, if they were happy to go.  Hell, I’d take the toad Jennifer married to keep her happy.  If the situation was genuine, there would be no resentment.  If my family were not willing to come with me, which I’d understand, that would devastate me.  I would still seek to put things right in the magical realm and come back to Earth at the earliest opportunity.

What hobbies do you enjoy on Earth?  Did you get to enjoy any pastimes when on active service in the Kingdom?
I love gardening (watching and doing, though Derek is the real fanatic here.  I also enjoy watching wildlife programmes.  Occasionally I will go to the theatre usually to watch a Shakespeare play.  I leave it to Jennifer to go to the theatre to see some stand up comic!  And yes I do despair of her tastes at times.  I love reading.  I didn’t get much time in the Kingdom, the Queen made sure of that, but when I did get the odd bit of spare time, I gardened, I watched Kingdom wildlife programmes and I read.  Some things never change.

Eileen continues...  she may not give many interviews but when she does, she gives good value for money.

Just how close were you to the Witch? Did this affect your judgement? You were far kinder to her than you would have been for anyone else doing what she did.
The Witch and I were 3 years apart in age and met regularly as she carried out her duties in keeping fairies such as myself on our toes and I carried out mine, thwarting the likes of her! Our relationship was a professional rivalry and over time, as with other rivalries of this type, you develop respect for your opponent, get talking to them and so on. I was always aware of what she was capable of and if it was in her interests to kill me she would so my judgement wasn’t affected. There was a window of opportunity where we could have negotiated a settlement with the Witch which the Queen blew with her arrogant attitude.  The Witch does have some genuine grievances against fairy royal treatment, hence my sympathy.

You have got your own way on issues where others would not – your marriage and actions regarding the Witch to name two.  Are you abusing royal privilege here?  What have you contributed to the Fairy Kingdom monarchy?
Definitely not and is it me or is this interview becoming hostile?  I fell in love.  Is that such a crime? I still feel the Witch could have been reasoned with as long as the powers that be negotiated early enough.  I made it clear to the Queen I would be happy to lead the negotiations but she was having none of it.  I have saved the monarchy on more than one occasion, not just by getting rid of monsters threatening the realm, but trying to bring Roxannadrell to her senses.  I put it to you it was not entirely my fault I failed.

Now Derek knows what you are, how are you compensating him?  After all your news/heritage was bound to shock him.
I never set out to shock anyone and resent any attempt to make me the villain.  I was trying to shield Derek from the horrors of the magical world.  And it can be horrific.  I’ve faced more creatures with fangs than you’ve had hot dinners.  I’m not prepared to comment on my relationship with Derek but will say I have sworn to use my magical skills to defend him, our family and home.  He is happy with that.  After all  he now knows the magical world exists and that would have been the case regardless of my status.  He has the advantage of being married to someone who can fight magic with magic.

If you could interview anyone in history who would it be?
Jesus, if it were allowed, as I’d like to ask what made Him choose to do miracles for some people but not for others.  If it weren’t allowed, I’d interview Lazarus.  I strongly suspect his attitude to death changed completely after Jesus brought him back.  If there was ever anyone not to fear death, it is Lazarus.

What do you hate most about living on Earth?
War and pollution. Humans are the worst species for both these things.  I also loathe the way prices keep going up.  I’d rather they just picked a price and stuck to it for a while.

Have you ever misused magic?
Define misuse!  I have always tried to use the right spell, and its ingredients, for whatever occasion .  Yes I’ve bent the rules more times than I care to recount but every decent magical being has done that. I’ve not transformed anyone not willing to undergo that change (and there are loads of fairy godmothers who can’t claim that).

What are your hobbies on Earth (and do you use magic to help  you with them)?
Gardening, reading, keeping a general eye on Jenny and her toddler son, trying to prevent the Queen from getting through with an army of magical beings to drag me back”.

Were you too harsh on Wes and Stan? Wes became a hero
To begin with, no as the pair of them were rogues.  They fought like wildcats and caused mayhem wherever they went.  They needed to be reined in and that’s one of my jobs as fairy godmother.  I am very glad both went on to become finer characters and I particularly wish Wes well as he tries to pursue his relationship with the Lady Isabel.

 

Eileen continues to speak...

How did you feel when Derek found out what you are? Did you betray him?
I was horrified but not surprised.  I’ve known since my defection there was a risk the Queen would try to pull the rug out from under my feet by telling Derek my past.  It says far more about her than it does about me. I haven’t betrayed Derek.  Nor will I ever do so.  All I tried to do is protect him.  You don’t expose anyone you love to the horrors of the magical world.

Did you misjudge Wes and Stan? They are fine members of society now.
No!  They weren’t at the time of my involvement with them! They were rogues, fighters and scallywags. I am pleased they’ve improved. The Lady Isabel will be the making of Wes.  I wish them well.  Yes, me, the godmother with the granite balls (I’ve heard what the sprites say about me and there was worse than that!).

Could you go back to the Kingdom permanently?  Would you stay on Earth if Derek died?
No.  My place is on Earth now.  The Kingdom is getting along fine without me and it can carry on doing so!  As for when Derek dies, I should still be here for Jennifer and Edward to support them.

Would you consider giving Roherum an indepth interview given he is the equivalent to Jeremy Paxman?
No!  I would rather watch paint dry.  It’d be quicker for one thing.

If there was one thing you could change about yourself, what would it be?
Sometimes I wish I could be tactful (before you ask fairy godmothers are not allowed to grant their own wishes – this is to prevent corruption and power hungry fairy godmothers!).

Do you regret killing those dragons, monsters and so on?  Couldn’t some have been rehabilitated?
No!  And definitely no!  I’d remind you these creatures had killed many innocent people and the criticism I came in for in the Kingdom was not taking these beasts out earlier than I did!  Rehabiliation! Don’t make me laugh (on second thoughts, well done, you didn’t!).

Hanastrew is now a great fighting fairy godmother and has taken over your old role.  Do you regret that?  Or the fact you left Hanastrew to go off with the human man you fancied?
No.  You forget I trained Hanastrew to be the excellent fairy godmother she is and I wanted her to be able to take over my old role.  Not only was I in love with Derek, and still am, Hanastrew needed to be a good fighting fairy.  We all do given the nasty creatures in the magical realm. I’d have been neglecting my duty if I hadn’t trained her well. I dislike this line of questioning.  I gave the Kingdom notice I was leaving and Hanastrew was ready to take over.  I did not leave the Kingdom in the lurch.  It would be unprofessional for one thing.

Just how close were you to the Witch? Did this affect your judgement? You were far kinder to her than you would have been for anyone else doing what she did.
The Witch and I were 3 years apart in age and met regularly as she carried out her duties in keeping fairies such as myself on our toes and I carried out mine, thwarting the likes of her! Our relationship was a professional rivalry and over time, as with other rivalries of this type, you develop respect for your opponent, get talking to them and so on. I was always aware of what she was capable of and if it was in her interests to kill me she would so my judgement wasn’t affected. There was a window of opportunity where we could have negotiated a settlement with the Witch which the Queen blew with her arrogant attitude.  The Witch does have some genuine grievances against fairy royal treatment, hence my sympathy.