AllFreeNovel
Share Us
No. Rumplestiltskin.
He was laughing, too, or something like it, the sound like a heavy iron chain grating against itself. The colors around us were shifting like Lina’s skin, coming into focus sharply and then fading into a fuzzy, scattered landscape.
I couldn’t tell how long I spent wondering at the kaleidoscope around me before I looked around again to find that Lina was gone.
Distantly, I registered that the thought should cause me some panic, but I was distracted by the curious sensation of my limbs becoming painfully tight, the world around me shrinking and expanding.
They found us, Rumplestiltskin had said. If this was what Ellaria did to unsuspecting strangers, I wondered if Lina had any real idea what she was getting herself into.
31
Lina
Panic swelled in my chest.
What is happening?
The two fairies put down their weapons as soon as Edrich and Uncle were dazed and giggling, clearly deeming me as unthreatening, then they began arguing with each other in hushed tones. Every so often, they would look at me and then their arguing would continue again.
They wore leather armor that accommodated wings which looked as if they’d been plucked straight from a giant beetle. Once I saw my own wings, I had imagined that all fairies might look the same, but I was fascinated by how much variation there could be.
As much as I was excited to see fairies, actual fairies, I was also terrified and furious. Heat bloomed under my skin and I could see the ruby halo glowing around me. Just because Edrich’s feelings had been forced didn’t mean I could shut mine off so easily.
I can’t lose him.
Either of them,I amended, looking back at where Edrich and Uncle Stiltskin were still giggling softly to themselves.
“What did you do to them?” I asked the flying men above me, my voice louder than I meant it to be.
I replayed the moment Edrich stepped on the mushrooms in my mind again and again, and I couldn’t help wondering why they had only affected him and Uncle or how long the effects would last.
“Just a bit of pixie dust.” One of the fairies gave a wicked sort of smile, the expression at odds with his soft sapphire hair and crystalline eyes.
“Don’t be cryptic, Gentian.” The other one with the emerald hair, bronze skin, and honey-colored eyes shook his head disapprovingly. “It’s just the mushroom’s natural gas, or spores, not something we did.”
“Will they be all right?” I asked, incredulously.
“The confusion will wear off in a couple of hours,” the one named Gentian said. His slightly ominous expression didn’t change, and it didn't escape my notice that he hadn’t directly answered my question.
I turned my gaze to the other one. He looked between me and his fellow guard with an unreadable expression.
“The gas doesn’t hurt them, and this valley is a place of peace.” He met my eyes steadily, and I was inclined to believe him.
I was still reluctant to leave, and I realized it wasn’t because I doubted their safety, not really. Everything we had come across was terrified by just the idea of Uncle, and Edrich could take care of himself.
If I was being honest with myself, I knew Uncle would find a way to see me again. But Edrich…Am I ready to walk away from him like this?
Would he be relieved when he came to his senses and realized he didn’t have to worry about me anymore?
While I was lost in my thoughts, the two fairies had been staring at my new wings. Uncle’s words about how the wings would make me recognizable came flooding back to me.
“It’s her, Oren. There’s no mistaking it. Look at her,” Gentian said.
My red glow faded, and I felt something else seeping in and muting the angry color. A soft, pale yellow.Hope.
“I know. Only a fool wouldn’t recognize her.” Oren sighed, running a hand through his Emerald hair. “We need to take her directly to the Queen.”
My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach.The Queen?
