Damon looked over at his half-griffin body again. He could never go back to the kingdom. He knows the fairies have no intention of changing him back, at least for the foreseeable future. But so what? He could fucking FLY now! He was gonna be a GRIFFIN! He already had claws that could probably slice through battle-armor. Prince Aaron could inherit the kingdom instead. Aaron was good at dry dusty speeches and cutthroat court politics. He was almost certainly better at diplomacy than Damon turned out to be. But Aaron didn't have sabres growing out of his fingers, and Aaron couldn't FLY.
Damon begrudgingly realized that he didn't wanna go back. Not even to be heir to the throne of a wealthy human kingdom. He'd never be willing to part with his wings, his claws, or even his tail! And he wanted more. More of what a griffin's body had to offer.
"Well, what's next?" Damon said with a wide grin, lowering himself to casually hover just over the ground and just over the fairies. The queen looked up and smiled, too.
"You ENJOY playing with a GRIFFIN'S toys, don't you former human? You'll find that your new species will live for centuries and have the strength of a human army. Just remember, we want you to put your new form to WORK for OUR benefit, in the rare occasions that our magic land is under threat."
Damon raised his right paw and said, "You have my word as a member of the Royal Family of the Kingdom of ..., well, you have my word as a griffin, because I'm NEVER going back to that stuffy old palace."
Some of the fairies hovered up to join him and got ready to help him finish his change. One of them started massaging his chest, causing Damon to relax and emit a low rumbling noise almost like sound of a cat's purring, but louder. A prickly feeling washed over the skin of his chest and upper back as hard keratin shafts started poking out from inside him. The bloomed out into large feathers, very much like eagle feathers but larger. Damon didn't know yet that his feather's were magic and each one he dropped would be worth quite some money among the fairy kingdom's professional mages. He just knew they felt good and he was going to enjoy having them. Smaller feathers started sprouting from his head and neck; his human hear fell and drifted to the ground to make room for them.
"Are you sure we should stick to the plan of making this human prince a griffin?" asked the wizened adviser softly into his ear of his queen. "It is not traditional to punish intruders with things they enjoy."
"True," said the queen, "but it is not traditional for a human to intrude on the fairy kingdom for peaceful purposes, either. I believe he really thought he could plant the seeds of friendship between mischievous immortal fairies and intolerant bloodthirsty humans. Bold enough to come here, noble enough to respect his betters, and naive enough to think his own bold respect would be enough. Too good to have any real future among humans, but woefully insufficient to take his place as a Fairy. But very useful traits for a griffin, don't you think?"
"You are both as strategic as you are compassionate, my queen," said the elder, impressed.
"Well, it is as you say, 'A friend among enemies could be a friend away from enemies.' That, and, 'It's more honorable to be a beast among fairies--'"
"'--than a king among men.' Your majesty, you still remember!"
"I remember all of your teachings, Elder," said the queen with a smile.
Not far above their heads, a smiling fairy was pulling on Damon's nose and lips, shaping them out into a hard, curved, pointed beak. Another was playing with Damon's toes and feet, reshaping them out into the sturdy hind paws of a giant cat, even as tawny fur spread up his legs. Damon grabbed at his beak with his eagle-foot hands, amazed that it was so hard and so sharp. He believed he could put it to good use in either hunting down prey or defending the fairies who had given him this power. His last change was when two little fairies spit in his eyes, making him screech through his new bird mouth! But when he opened his eyes again, he could see far into the distance through the crisp, clear eyes of bird of prey. He slowed his flapping wings and gently lowered himself to the ground, feeling his lion pads meeting the solid earth for the first time. He folded his wings and lowered his forelegs to make a sort of bowing gesture before the fairy queen. Then he stood up, looked back, and admired his griffin body, from the hook of his beak to the ends of his wings to the faraway tassel of his tail.