Moth
By the time Ruby returns to her home, my worries are hidden deep under piles of dress-up gowns, wooden swords, and a tin tea set with an unimaginable number of stuffed toys centered around it.
I served them a lunch of sandwiches and fruit, and now the oldest are off reading stories, while the three youngest faeries are asleep, using Sprout as a pillow. I dare say this is the most content he’s looked all day. And I’ll admit that, in the time I’ve spent chasing after the five children, I have barely had a moment to consider my own problems.
“Seems like you have things under control here,” Ruby whispers from the doorway as she slides inside, shrugging off a bag filled with groceries that appear to be from the market. I smirk; apparently, she had been in no rush to return.
I nod, the gesture curt, but all I can manage. Now that it is quiet, worry tangles in my chest like a scream that I am unable to release.
“Have you made any progress?” I ask, clearing my throat.
“A list of contacts. A map of the realm. We are trying,” she says warily.
“While I sit and do nothing.”
She flicks one of the many braids on my head.
“I do not know… you seem awfully busy.” She casts an eye toward the children. “Many things can be said about me, but I have experience in dealing with tantrums.”
“You—” I blink as the realization of why Ruby and Mother had exchanged those looks hits me. “You put me in some kind of … time out?”
“Youdidtry to strangle Oak.”
“…I thought. I do not know what I thought.” I shake my head. “Perhaps I know nothing else than how to be a monster.”
“Now, I don’t believe that for a second.”Her slender arm wraps around my waist, guiding me away from the kitchen. “You believed Oak had something to do with Heather’s disappearance. It is not unheard of—in either world—to be betrayed by someone close to us. You, my friend—” We are in the entryway of the house, standing in front of a large mirror. “—are a protector, not a monster. Why else would I trust you to watch my most precious treasures?”
“To make sure I am too exhausted to fight?” I ask, and Ruby throws her head back with laughter. We both peer around the corner to see if the sound woke the children. My heart warms at the sight of their wings fluttering as they sleep.
Ruby was my betrothed for years. It is a strange thing to know without fully remembering. If things had been different, could this have been our life? Perhaps, but I doubt I could have ever made her this happy. Not because of a fault in myself—or inus—but truly because there is only one person I was made for.
In this house, when I hear the laughter and feel its warmth, I think of a future with my flame at the center.
“Tell me, was it the right distraction… sending you here?” Ruby asks, a look on her face that suggests she already knows the answer. “You seemmore at ease.”
I nod. It was hard to live in anything but the moment with the five little faeries causing both joy and chaos around me.
“Thank you. I know stepping in to look after them was not an easy task. We all have roles and expertise we can lend. Like Oak, I am a terrible gossip, and I hope that anything I provided to the queen and Holly can help.”
“You are more than a gossip,” I assure her, admiring the home she and Pepper have created.
“And you are more than sharp teeth and claws.” She smiles. Given my decades spent among the mortals, it is easy to forget that. I have been called a harbinger of death, and death itself, in both realms. But strength can be used to help just as easily as it can hurt…
I must keep my wits about me or risk further mothering from both Ruby and Mother.
“How did you know this … change of scenery would work?”
“If it hadn’t, I would have had to resort to bribery.” She circles back to the kitchen island, the golden light casting a warm glow across her deep brown skin. She unwraps a parcel of cookies and reveals a jug of what looks like apple juice. “Everyone feels better after a snack.”
Waiting.
It goes against every instinct in my body.
Heather is strong. She is resourceful with an arsenal of cutting words and charm. She is far braver than she gives herself credit for.
Heather will be fine.
Won’t she?
