Page 16 of Healing Elixirs & Wicked Crows

I skimmed through centuries of wars and disputes until I reached the back of the book, where bold writing captured my attention.

"Over a century from the date of this publication, right as the seelie and unseelie courts began bridging the first peace negotiations in their known history, all seelie fae vanished along with their kingdom.Anyone who ventures in the direction of their known lands has never returned.What happened to the seelie fae?What happened to the royal family?All this remains a mystery to this day."

Those words weighed on me like a heavy blanket.I curled inward, closing the book with a sigh.Briar lay in perfect slumber, unchanged and nearly as perfect as the day the curse was cast.These past months and weeks though, I’d noticed small changes.I watched her while worry gnawed at my gut as the blue of her veins peeked through her pale skin and at the glimmer of silver within her fading blond hair beneath the candle’s gentle glow.

When she woke, would she recognize herself?Would she even recognize me?I wasn't the child I'd been when this slumber first found her.The throne was never my destiny, so I'd enjoyed a freer upbringing than Briar.Hers was bound by duty, mine by adventure.While she mastered court etiquette and honed her seelie magic, I was in the woods, experimenting with bark, leaves, and flowers.

I was the lucky one...until I wasn't.

As I reminisced about the past, my mind became foggy.Every memory grew harder to retrieve, as if I were traveling through murky waters.There were missing faces and chunks of time I simply couldn't reach.A dull pain throbbed behind my eyes, and I winced, shoving the memories away.

"Tomorrow, my journey to retrieve the daemonacus flower begins," I said to both Briar and Herb."I know this is the path forward to break this curse.What I don't know is what will happen once it's broken.Will Briar awaken and the seelie lands reopen?"

My sister was the rightful heir to the seelie kingdom and would soon be needed at court to rebuild.As I gazed through the window at the forest, I realized I didn't want that life.I'd grown fond of this quiet existence in our wooded bubble.

Herb shifted, and one of his feathers came loose, fluttering down until it nestled next to Briar's cheek.I scooped it from the bed, marveling at how the color shifted in the candlelight."You're going to leave a mess of these throughout our home by the time I return, aren't you?"

Suppressing a yawn, I tucked the feather into the book, set it on Briar's bedside table, blew out the candle, and collapsed onto the small cot against the back wall.

"I'll leave at first light," I said into the silence.

Caw!Caw!Caw!

His chirps sounded angry, as if he didn't want me to go.

"I don't have a choice, Herb," I said through a yawn.

Sleep found me easily a short while later.

When I woke with the first rays of morning light, I startled at the sight of Herb standing inches from my chin, his clawed feet squarely on my chest.The moment my eyelids lifted, he cawed in my face.

"What?"I growled, my voice foggy with sleep.

Herb swung his entire body from side-to-side, a vehement show of disagreement.

I shooed him from my chest as I sat up."You don't want me to go in search of the one thing that will possibly break this curse?"

He did the dance again.

"Why not?"

He lifted into the air, flying small circles around the ceiling until he stopped suddenly, tilted his head toward the ground, and did a tailspin until he landed on the floorboards with a soft thud.I scrambled out of bed, but before I reached him, he hopped back onto his feet, his beady gaze begging me to understand.

"Dangerous?You think the journey will be dangerous?"

He bobbed in agreement.

I sat on the floor next to him, crossing my legs as I held my open palms out.He took three short hops until he settled into my hold."I know it will be dangerous, but I won't be alone.I have a companion who’s sworn to see this journey through with me and to protect me.We’ll be careful, and we’ll bring back the cure for Briar."

Herb fell over in mock death again.

I chuckled as I set him back down."You're being dramatic.I'll be fine."

It didn't take long until I stood ready to depart.I wore an emerald dress made of thicker material and long, brown leather boots for protection.My hair, the color of ripe wheat kissed by the sun, cascaded down my back in two thick braids.

I turned to face Briar one final time, bending to place a soft kiss on both of her cheeks."I promise to return with the cure.I love you, sister."I straightened, pinning Herb with a serious look."Keep her safe in my absence."

Opening the bedside table's lone drawer, I pulled out the dagger I'd had since I was a small fae child, the one with a silver moon attached to two crescents on either side carved into the hilt.How I’d gotten it was trapped deep within the fog of my lost memories.I knew it had been during the first negotiations my parents attempted with the unseelie court.Perhaps a gift of good faith?I just couldn't remember.I strapped it to the thigh sheath I wore.