AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh. Grannie wanted me to tell you that you need to go into the big barn at the edge of the orchard. She said that there are bushel baskets in there that need to be repaired. She was wondering if the faeries can do that.” He said that they’d love that. “I thought as much. Grannie has never been one to throw things away. There is no telling what sort of stuff you might find in there once you get the doors open. At one time, I know, there were a bunch of pints stacked up in there that were used for berry picking. Gosh, we should go and have a look at the patches of them to make sure that we’ll be able to get to them. It’s been a few years since anyone has gone blackberry picking.”
“Why haven’t you guys?” She told him. “Poison ivy? The faeries will be able to get rid of that for you too. Not that it would matter. None of you can get it now. I mean, since becoming my mate, you’ve gotten all kinds of perks that you’ve not had before.”
As they made their way to the berry patches, the two of them spoke about different things that would pop into their head. Waving at the people that were working today had him wanting to go and talk to each of them. It was an amazing thing to have so many people related to you that you didn’t know all that well. But he was getting there. In a few more months, less probably, he’d not only know them but their families too. It was just what he wanted in living here with Colby.
He knew that he’d missed the daily work with his brothers. But he kept telling himself that they weren’t all that far away and that he could talk to them anytime they wanted. Mom and Dad had purchased a second home for them all to stay in while visiting here. And his dad was making plans to go to the mountaintop to get their Christmas tree for the holiday. He knew that Christmas was his parent’s favorite time of the year and was glad that Grannie had given him permission to take down as many trees as he wished. Plus, she told him, it would clear the land for more, stronger trees to be able to be grown. Ones that could be used for fireplaces and other things that wood was a necessity for.
The two of them wandered around the farm until nearly dark. It was getting darker earlier now, and he was sort of sad about that. But in a few months, he’d be so busy that he’d want the sun to go down sooner, he thought with a laugh. Life, Hadley thought, couldn’t be better than it was right now.
Final Chapter—The Beginning
Imp moved along the trees in search of something to occupy her mind. She’d been bored before but nothing like this. Just as she was going to give up and go back to her cave with her brother and sister, she spotted a woman standing near a waterway. And she was looking right at her.
“You’ve surely taken your time in coming here. I thought you’d be here the moment that you were dumped from your bud.” Imp asked her how she’d known that. “I know a great deal, as it turns out. I didn’t think I did, to be honest with you, but it turns out that I’m smarter than anyone. Other than you and your family, of course. How are you, Imperious? Well, I hope.”
“I am well. Who are you?” She told her what she had been calling herself. “That’s a thing, not a name. It would be like if I called myself Fae. I am fae, but that’s not my name. You should be something other than just Woman.”
“What would you call me if it was within your power? So you understand, it is. I need a name that is going to be carried down for many generations, Imperious. So choose it well.” Imp told her that she would but needed a moment or two. “As you wish. I would like to show you a few things while you’re thinking. And you do that well too. Thinking, I mean. I wish that I could have the imagination that you do. It would, I believe, serve me well in the years to come.”
“You’re speaking in riddles.” The woman laughed. “All right. Show me what it is that you wish. I’m bored, so if you show me something that I can change, I will give you full credit for it. I’m a very powerful being in my own right. Not that I’m bragging, but—”
“Youarebragging, my lady. A habit that you should curb if you wish to make it in the real world. And again, you will.” Imp didn’t care for this woman, yet she was intrigued by her too. “The things that I show you, they are only things that you can see. Not your brother Ignis nor your sister Glazier will be able to see until you take care of them.”
“You know of them.” She said that she knew, as she’d told her a great many things. “All right. You’re very smart. Show me what it is that you wish for me to see. I’m not saying I shall fix them, but I’d like to see them.”
Imp followed the woman around for hours. There were a great many things that she showed her and many things that, with her knowledge of the woman was able to see on her own. All things, Imp was happy to know that she could easily fix. It wasn’t until they ended up at the water where she’d first seen the woman that she’d asked after the name she’d had for her.
“Colby.” The woman, Colby, now didn’t ask where she’d gotten the name. Smiling at Imp, she thought it was a perfect name even though she hadn’t any idea where the name had come from in her mind. “I wish to thank you for this day, Colby. It has opened my eyes to a great many things that I can now see wrong.”
“You’re so very welcome.” It was then that she noticed that the woman’s hair had changed. It had been as dark as the woods around their cave when she’d first met her. And now, as they were talking by the water, Imp could see that it was as white as the snow upon the mountain. Not a single color could be seen in it. Its beauty and shine could have lit the darkness they were in, but for a tiny bit of the moon shining onto it. As they walked to the field where her family was, Imp introduced her to Ignis and Glazier. “You’re all so lovely, aren’t you? Curious, too, about my hair. I shall tell you. You’re also so nice. I wonder what the future holds for the three of you?”
Imp wasn’t sure where that question had come from but chose, like her brother and sister did, to ignore it. It didn’t seem to her that Colby needed them to answer, even if, now that she thought about it, it had been a question.
“My hair turning white is something that I had not noticed until the two of us were together. You are strong, my friend. The strongest creature ever created. I believe ever to be created as a matter of fact. Your brother and sister, they are as well, but you are the only one that gets stronger in their presence. The same as with me. You have drained some of my magic by way of color from my hair that has marked it as pure. You, in a way, have given me a trait that will carry on in my life and to others should there be any that will mark us, you and I, as friends to you and yours. The purity of our friendship will shine in all those that come after me.” Imp couldn’t help it. She hugged the other woman tightly. When Colby hugged back, Imp felt the softness of her hair and knew what she said to be true. They had the purest of friendships. “You are and will forever be my friend. I shall cherish this time with you for all time, Imperious. Thank you.”
It was Glazier that invited her to join them for their evening meal. Her apparent happiness to be invited was contagious to them all. They had a nice dinner of greens and fish, and afterward, Colby set off toward the woods alone, only to disappear into the tree line as if she’d never been.
It was then that Imp told them of all the things that Colby had pointed out to her in the forest and caves beyond where they were. The ideals and information that she’d given her about the trees and the plants that were around them.
“I have gifted her a great deal of land for her help.” Glazier told her that was a nice thing to do. “No, it was the right thing to do, I think. I have also made it so that whatever they grow or raise on the land will be plentiful for her and whatever family she wishes to have.”
“Do you think that is why she helped you? For something in return?” Imp told Ignis that she didn’t believe that was her reasoning. That she’d only seen a need and had pointed it out to her. “I believe that as well. I’ve only known about her for a little bit, but yes, I can see her just wanting something fixed and told you about it.” That had been several days ago.
Something nagged at Imp for the days after meeting the woman she had named Colby. While she didn’t know what it was about her that was making her think of her at the oddest times, she knew that it wasn’t anger or even anything remotely mean that she thought of but that she had in some way missed something about her. Something that she knew had to be important.
In the time that Imp showed her family the things that she’d been able to do, she began to miss Colby more and more. Her input on things like making sure that the waterways were clean and able to support the animals that were in abundance being only just one of them. She also made sure that there were plenty of grasses and other plants around to do the same thing for the little creatures.
In the meantime, seeing how the little creatures seemed to be without direction, Imp had gotten with the earth to have it create a being that would be in charge of all the faeries and brownies. She was called Dawn. Mother and queen to all the little creatures. It was a good thing, she thought. A person in charge could get so much more done than a lot of people without any direction.
One day, Imp, bored again, lay on the grasses and looked up at the sky. It was then that she decided that she needed to see, not just wanted but needed to see great creatures flying through the sky. Something large and beautiful. It was then that Colby had shown up again.
“You’ve done well, Imperious. The lands around here are lovely.” Imp thanked her. “Yes, you’ve done a great job here. Will you be spreading your magic around to the rest of the world? To the other places where the same disarray is going on?”
“I have talked it over with my family, and yes, we will be spreading the magic that we share all around the world. You have no doubt heard of Dawn?” Colby said that she had that the queen had visited the lands that had been gifted to her. “I have thought of you and that land often over the time since we met last. You are well there?”
“I am lonely.” When tears formed in her eyes, Imp could see the diamonds there. Tears so beautiful that she captured one of them to hold in her fingers. “I have the little creatures around, and they are friendly to me. But ‘tis not the same as speaking to you and your family.”
“I’m sorry about that. It never occurred to me that you’d be lonely.” Calling forth Dawn, she asked her if there was a way for her to have a companion to have as a friend. “Or would you prefer a person to keep you company as well as a lover?”
