The Fairy Tale

by Talia Haze

  “I believe you do search for me,” he answered with a chuckle as he climbed down the tree. “She certainly has Renard’s eyes.” He stood before us with his hands on his hips. “Hey, Seraphs! This is not at all how I imagined finally meeting you two! I don’t really…hug. I hope we can just skip that part, then.”

  Angel didn’t know how to respond. Why would we hug him? Who even was he?

  The boy took Angel’s silence as assent and brushed his brownish-blonde hair from his eyes. “What have you been out doing while we’ve been gone, Angel? How did you alowé the Inzi nation?”

  Angel’s eyebrows raised, but Sean couldn’t contain his confusion. “’We’ve’?” he repeated. “So then, you trade with Renard and Syrah? You know where they are?”

  “And why wouldn’t I?” the boy seemed as confused as we were. “I am only out here keeping watch for Divah or any of his sent.” He turned on his heels, starting down the road and nodding his head for us to follow. “You lot are going to be in such trouble! Zairae will demand an explanation of why you’re here so early!”

  Angel gave me a quick glance. The boy didn’t notice and continued. “There’s a reason we told you to wait. We don’t have the other map piece yet, and Divah has just assembled another troop. You certainly picked a fine time to be reckless. Be glad I found you when I did; we were just about to leave. We only stopped to get the Paleces Stone.” The boy glanced over his shoulder but didn’t notice our baffled expressions. Ryan still stared. “I hope your carelessness didn’t cause you to forget the ring.”

  Book Four

  The Xri

  Chapter One

  Renard and Syrah of Tashin

  It only took half an hour to reach the outskirts of a majestic city. We followed the boy through the fort gates and he quickly navigated us through the busy town.

  Odd. The town seemed far livelier than Tempton, yet I didn’t need to push or slide through. The crowd parted for us. I walked in surprise but noted the stares. The people’s eyes were so full of hate. What did he do to them? Who even was he? He spoke to us so freely, and even scolded us! Did we know him? I scanned my memory. Perhaps, he was one of the couriers sent to deliver our monthly income? But he himself said we had never met. So, why would he treat us in such a way?

  The boy led us to a stately manor, receiving the same treatment from the guards before casually leading us to a servant’s door by the garden.

  A lone hallway stretched before us, a single door at the end. My heart thumped at each step we made. It seemed everything slowed, our pace, the noises, my breathing. Angel clutched my hand. Her face lost all its chiefly sternness; now she gazed ahead, face softened with anticipation. I took a deep breath.

  The boy flung open the door.

  Four adults, two males and two females, turned around in surprise.

  “Stony’s here!” exclaimed Ryan, pointing.

  “Sean!” called the lady with the waist-long black hair. Sean ran to her and collapsed in her arms.

  “Mother!”

  The two other adults just beamed. I recognized her beautiful smile, his strong stare. Our parents. I didn’t know what I expected, but certainly not this. They stared at us so fondly as they approached; as if we hadn’t been apart for so long. I stepped slightly behind Angel, gripping her hand tighter.

  “My seraphs, what are you doing here so early?” our mother seemed confused. She held Angel’s shoulders and stared at her before gently kissing her forehead. “Oh, you two are so beautiful!”

  She was too. Her skin was lighter than Angel’s and mine, and her short, golden hair sat in loose curls on the top of her head. She had bright brown eyes, perfect petal lips and a small happy face. She could have easily been mistaken for our older sister.

  My father was tall and well-built…strong. He had short black hair, and a shadow of a beard. Although he looked young too, his face was wise and powerful. Just by looking at his black eyes, one could see leadership, just like with Angel. I was reminded of his face on the sketch we found. Those piercing eyes…

  His huge hands held both sides of my head. “I cannot believe how tall you two got,” he muttered. “My beautiful daughters! You were not supposed to come so soon.”

  “You certainly owe us an explanation.” Stony agreed, glaring at us, angrily. The boy smirked. “But not now. With Kyle away from his post, we do not…”

  “I knew it!” Ryan suddenly exclaimed. He had stared at the boy the entire time and at Stony’s words, he strode to the boy and grabbed the sides of his face, examining at him carefully.

  “Let me go or I’ll…”

  “Kyle! Kyle! It’s me, lad!”

  At this, everyone turned. The young boy stared, unsure what to do. Was this Ryan’s lost brother? But he was so young when they were separated! Even Stony, the one with all the answers, seemed surprised by the news.

  “Ryan?” the boy finally said. With a laugh, Ryan grabbed the little boy and held him tight.

  “Brother! I can’t believe I found you! After all these years!”

  The boy was overwhelmed and certainly didn’t appreciate the coddling. “Don’t you mean I found you?” he corrected as he tried to push away.

  “How…? How did you meet with Gabby’s parents…?”

  “Again, we must make time for this later.” Stony was bent at a trunk near the door, pulling out brown cloaks.

  “Must we still wear these, Zairae?” Kyle complained as one was handed to him. “This kingdom won’t bother us none!”

  “That won’t stop bounty hunters from Wrirye, Fogh, and De and you know it,” our father replied. I spun to Angel, who stared at our father in shock. Kyle snorted, but did as he was told. When everyone was hidden under the cloaks, we followed our father outside.

  The hot sun glared down on us, instantly heating up the inside of my cloak. They led us from the manor, up and down silent alleys, and outside of the castle town. We went through another large marketplace, slowly making our way through the bustle.

  I grabbed my sister’s hand again. She hadn’t said a word about returning home…or about anything for that matter. Now, we followed the strangers that were our parents blindly through unfamiliar streets. I wondered if she would have been more distrustful if Stony hadn’t been present.

  “You didn’t say anything about going home.”

  “This is all too strange, Gabriella,” she whispered, eyes fixed on our father. “I have seen him before.”

  “In the sketches?”

  Angel shook her head. “Tapo. I think…I think I fought him…”

  “Fought?” I repeated. “Why would you fight him…”

  A blue bolt tore into the ground, knocking Kyle into our father and sending both of them skidding across the street. Everything disappeared in a cloud of dust. People ran around in mayhem, screaming. The throng separated Angel and I, knocking me off my feet. Through the smoke, dust, and people’s legs, I could see the silhouette of a small troop making their way down the road towards us. The men carried items that looked like tiny cannons under their arms. The man in the center was unarmed, and as the dust settled, I recognized him as the scarred man that had killed Nee Gus and Depash.

  “Angel, it’s…” I cried out as someone stepped on my hand. “Angel, it’s him!”

  I couldn’t see where she was, but she heard my cry. An arrow sailed through the air, but stopped mid-air right before it hit the man. The men weren’t fazed at all and continued their menacing march towards us. This had to be the man everyone was looking for; my Arohna, Gibtye and his men, Kyle. Who was that man with the strange powers?

  “Kyle, lead them to the woods,” our father walked forward to face the man, but looked over his shoulder as he spoke. “We will hold him off.” Our father turned to smirk at Sean’s mother. “Fine day for a roast, wouldn’t you say?”

  Sean pulled me off the ground and spun me around to run. Angel was furious, especially since the scarred man impeded her shot in such a way. She armed herself with her dag
gers but paused when Ryan once more stood before her. When she did, he quickly grabbed her, throwing my angry sister over his shoulder. “Go, Brother!”

  Kyle nodded and quickly turned to lead us down the empty road. The instant we turned, the men fired their strange weapons. Balls of blue fire tore at our feet, but the other adults attacked, and Sean’s mother blew fire. I couldn’t watch; Sean’s grip on my hand was strong and he pulled me and Connie quickly behind Kyle.

  When we reached the safety of the trees, Sean let me go as Kyle began to inspect the trunks. What was going on? It certainly was not how I imagined meeting my parents for the first time. What would the outcome be? Thoughts of Uncle Harrison flooded my mind. What kind of man was my father? Would he be a brute like Uncle Harrison? Or was he something much, much worse?

  Kyle found the tree he searched for and waved his hand. I shouldn’t have been so surprised when it opened, revealing a dark passageway. The passage was short and opened into a wide cave. Had we re-entered the fairy route? Connie gave me a look as we followed Kyle down the passage. Once we were all inside, Kyle waved his hand again, and the door disappeared.

  Why were they not excited about our arrival? And after we thought them dead all this time? Why were they not proud that we made it to them? And all by ourselves? Apart from their quick hugs, they didn’t seem at all thrilled to see us…they acted as if they expected us. How?

  Ryan looked down at his brother, bewildered. “How did you do that?” he asked. Kyle had collapsed at Ryan’s feet with a heavy sigh, but stared up, confused.

  “Do what?”

  “Make that door disappear!”

  Kyle shrugged, and waved his hand quickly, making the door disappear and reappear. “Zairae gave me a few powers…”

  “Powers?” everyone repeated. With everything that had happened, I was prepared to believe anything.

  “Yeah. I’m not a fairy like they are, but I still need to protect myself...”

  Now, I joined the chorus. “Fairies?”

  My hands trembled, and the others’ loud, demanding questions slowly faded. Uncle Harrison’s last words to me were that I didn’t know what I was doing. Apparently, I didn’t. He said they were oddities…that meant Angel and I were too. What were we? What was all of this?

  The door soon appeared again on its own and the adults ran in. Our mother waved her hand at the door and it once again disappeared. Our father brushed himself off with a huge grin, which slowly vanished when he saw our faces. “What’s wrong, girls?”

  Angel’s fury was uncontainable. She found the news of our origin and our parents calloused treatment of so upsetting that she took an angry step forward. “This! This is wrong! We thought you dead for so long and now you pretend you were expecting us…?”

  “Dead?” our father shuddered at the accusation, “I’m fine! And we certainly were not expecting you…not yet anyway. We’ve been talking about this for months…”

  It was the first time I witnessed Angel so caught off guard. She was unable to maintain her stern face and her mouth gaped open in genuine confusion. “I have never heard of such plans.”

  I never saw her tremble like that before.

  “Gab, you never said anything?” our father turned to me. For once, I was the one unmoved. Just there. Numb. Cold. I probably looked just as hard as my sister during a fight. It was all so overwhelming that even my emotions couldn’t react.

  “I also never heard of such plans,” I simply replied.

  Our father was baffled. The others stood silent shock. “Gab, I got your latest letter just a few weeks ago! You were excited; you wanted to come early! We sent you and Angel each a lyngurium for your birthday, and Hannah got you new slippers…”

  I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t react. Angel was overcome and collapsed, gasping loudly. Uncle Harrison’s treachery went deep. But I couldn’t move. “I have never sent you a letter. Ever.” My tone was unfamiliar to me.

  Our father was at a loss and simply stared at me. Stony seemed just as baffled, and opened his mouth to speak, but no words would come. Our mother was unsure what to do, and her gentle eyes kept traveling between our father and me.

  Sean finally took a step forward, gently gripping my shoulder as he passed me. “This is why we are here…early, as you say.”

  I had never heard him sound so somber. He sounded like the dragon guard, Gibtye. He strode before our father and stood tall before him. He wasn’t sure if he would be believed. “Uncle Harrison is a brute, always has been. We had to get her out of there.”

  Our father’s face darkened, and I was finally roused from my cold trance. His piercing eyes burned with an anger that made me quake. He had no idea. He had to have no idea. He couldn’t be a tyrant like Uncle Harrison…he couldn’t be.

  “If you’re fairies, it makes sense why his rage was mostly directed towards Gabby,” Sean continued. “He makes us as servants, he beats us for the smallest of things, and right before we left, he threw us down the stairs and blackened Gabby’s face. He claimed you died several years ago, and it was by his grace alone that we were allowed to stay in his house…”

  “It is my house!” our mother finally objected. She turned to my father, her beautiful brown eyes filling with tears. “Your father gave it to me!”

  “That is not what he told us,” Sean argued. He quickly described the encounter that made us flee. Tears poured down our mother’s face, but our father stood emotionless. I could see where Angel got her cold expressions. My heart beat rapidly. There had to be some misunderstanding. They couldn’t have just abandoned us. He couldn’t be like Uncle Harrison. For once, I was so certain.

  “…we have been traveling many weeks in search of you to come back. You cannot make us return alone, Renard. You must come with us and make this right.”

  Our father finally looked away. Sean shifted, but didn’t pull his eyes from our father’s face. The silence seemed to last for hours. Finally, our father looked up and faced Sean. I had thought Sean was taller than our father, but no, not yet.

  “I will make it right,” he quietly replied. Sean lost his steady countenance, and a sob burst from his lips, though he tried his best to swallow it. I spun to Ryan, who stared at Sean with uncertainty. We had no idea the pressure Sean put on himself. He certainly hid it well enough. No wonder he spent so much time with the dragon guard. Now, he trembled before our father, tears streaming down his face. I had always seen him as so much older than us, but he wasn’t. He just acted like it for our sakes…someone had to care for us. Since it couldn’t be our father, and it wouldn’t be Uncle Harrison, it had to be him.

  “I couldn’t protect her, Renard, but I tried. I really tried.”

  Sean tried to stand tall and hold back his tears, but our father smiled, lightly. He gently gripped the back of Sean’s neck with his massive hand and rested his forehead against Sean’s. Sean slowly calmed. “Thank you, Sean.”

  He bent and gently took Angel’s hand, helping her to her feet before holding my shoulder. “Seraphs, I never knew. I swear to you that I left you in good hands. We’ve written to each other, we’ve exchanged sketches…I told you of my plans months ago…” Our father’s grip tightened. “This is what I believed.”

  “Just tell us who you are.” I never heard my sister speak so gently. Stony interrupted.

  “Let us leave this place first,” he said softly. He waved his hand and the door reappeared. “Come, let us continue to the village.”

  Chapter Two

  A Fable Within

  Our father beamed. Our mother rocked in her seat and listened with tears in her eyes. We had found the inn nearby and told the story of our journey. Unlike at the council, retelling it to our parents was a joy. We had to make up for years of missed time. I had never heard Angel speak so quickly and freely. Our parents were attentive, eager. They barely ate their dinner as we stumbled over each other.

  Sean and Saramine talked excitedly with his mother, Rebecca, and Ryan with his
brother. Stony was adamant about learning why our sovereign would disregard her own safety to join us, so he and Connie talked solemnly at the very end of the table.

  “I had wondered about this,” our mother said, patting Angel’s skirt. “How long were you away from home?”

  “A little less than four years.”

  Our father smiled at our mother, who shifted closer to Angel. Our mother was so girlish. She was fascinated by Angel and leaned close to her.

  “And how were you granted chiefhood?” she asked. Angel smiled down at her tea.

  “It was not granted,” she replied. “I took it.”

  Our mother leaned back in surprise and our father laughed aloud. “You are Aira!”

  Angel beamed and nodded slowly. I leaned back. I couldn’t believe how far my sister’s renown stretched. “My daughter…leader of the Inzi and conqueror of the ambassador?”

  I forced a smile too and continued eating as they talked excitedly. I really didn’t do anything. I didn’t single-handedly cast out a man that had led the Inzi for seven years and take his place. I did nothing but get beat around by Uncle Harrison. Even though we just met our parents, I still wanted their approval, their praise, their attention. Compared to my twin, I had nothing.

  I jumped when Angel’s small hand gently rubbed my back. “And Gabriella has since been crowned Moura Lyaun of the Lavenorian elves.”

  I looked up to see our parent’s mouths drop open. In a moment, our father’s good-humored laugh returned. “All we missed! A warrior chief, an elvish princess…? The Tashin Riders are feared by their ability to conquer and look! So young and already the Tashin daughters took over whole nations!” He turned to smirk at Mother. “And here I am glad that I was honest with Lenaguru.”

  “It was not just the elves,” Angel said. “It seems everyone knows who you are.”