Broken Promise (Between Worlds #2)

by Julia Crane

  I nodded.

  “Are you okay?” Azura asked.

  “Yes.” My voice was shaky.

  “I’m so sorry that I let you get captured like that.”

  My heart fell as guilt set in. “It wasn’t your fault.”

  “I should have stopped it.”

  I placed my hand on Azura’s shoulder and paused until she faced me. “I don’t blame you. Varwik would have gotten to me somehow.”

  She wiped a tear from her face. “Did he hurt you?”

  “No. It was just hard to be held captive there.” I didn’t want to go into details. Being locked away in Varwik’s castle with nothing to amuse me but a paperback of a Shakespeare play was not my idea of a good time. I was lucky when they bothered to feed me or deigned to take me for walks, like I was some kind of pet. “It’s okay, really. I just don’t want to go back.”

  We began walking again. Azura said, “I will make sure you don’t.”

  “That’s why finding a way out of the promise I made is essential.” I looked around at the forest. “Kallan told me that this was neutral land.”

  “It is.”

  “How can you be so sure that I’m safe here?”

  “First, you and Varwik made a promise, and he has no reason to break that. Second, I have friends in high places.” She looked upward.

  I followed her gaze, but didn’t see anything. Puzzled, I looked back at her and she just smiled.

  I had a lot to learn about the faery realms

  “How much further?” I asked, glancing around. We hadn’t walked far, but I was curious.

  “We’re almost there.” Azura held back the brush so it wouldn’t hit me in the face as we crawled over a fallen tree.

  “You promised my parents we would be back by nightfall.”

  “You must remember, time is different in the faery world.”

  “Oh, right.” How could I have forgotten? It seemed like I had been trapped in the dark world for weeks, but it had only been a few days, because time moved slower in the human realm.

  Azura stopped abruptly. “Give me your hand, Oleander.”

  I hesitated slightly before extending my hand in front of me. Her warm, slender palm grasped mine and suddenly I felt like I was falling.

  I gripped her tighter and looked around. It was as if I was watching a movie on fast forward, all colors and motions whipping by all around us, and it stopped as quickly as it began.

  My stomach felt queasy as I attempted to gain my bearings. “Wow,” was all I could manage to say. I tried to take in the beauty of the land, but it was overwhelming.

  Everything was so clear and crisp. If it was possible, the light faery world was even more breathtaking than the dark. The colors were lighter, mostly pastels. The flowers and trees reminded me of rainbow sherbet. The sky was a pale pink instead of blue and there wasn’t a cloud in sight.

  My body felt like it was humming. “Why do I feel so weird?”

  “It’s your magick. It’s stronger here.”

  The green underneath me looked inviting. I kicked off my shoes and wiggled my toes on the soft moss. It felt amazing as it squished between my toes, cool and mushy.

  “I want to take you to our home.” Azura smiled at my wiggling toes. “I have a room set up for you. I always have. As you grew up, I changed it to what I thought you would like.”

  Warning bells went off in my head. She had a room for me? Was she going to force me to stay? “I’m not staying.”

  “I know. Don’t worry, I would never ask you to do something you didn’t want to do. I just want you to see where you should have grown up and to meet your aunt and grandmother.”

  “I have family here?”

  “Of course. You also have several cousins, but we probably won’t have time for you to meet them on this visit.”

  Azura led me through a field of beautiful wildflowers. I hastened my step to keep up with her.

  “What’s that noise?”

  “It’s the flowers. They’re happy you are here.”

  “They’re singing?”

  “More like humming,” Azura said brightly, and then pointed off into the distance where a huge tree stood. “That’s our house.”

  “A tree? You live in a tree?”

  “Of course. Where did you think we would live?”

  “I-I don’t know. A house?”

  “It is a house. You’ll see soon enough.”

  It took another five minutes before we reached the massive tree. I was startled to see a doorknob at the front. Azura pulled open the door, and my mouth dropped to the floor.

  Inside was breathtaking. I knew the tree was big, but I didn’t realize how big. We walked into an open living room. It was decorated simply, but that only added to the beauty. Wildflowers ran up the “walls” and vines hung down, separating the living room from the kitchen.

  A winding staircase was off to the left. Azura started to climb the stairs, so I followed behind her. When we reached the top she waved her hand to the right. “That’s my room. Across the hall is the bathroom and straight ahead is your room.”

  My stomach clenched. Suddenly, I was very nervous and my palms grew clammy. I wasn’t sure why it freaked me out so much. It just all seemed so real. Azura was my mother. I should have grown up in a tree among other faeries. In a tree!

  She flung the door open and my hand flew to my mouth. The room was perfect. The walls were obviously wood. A large window was off to the right with a bench in front of the window. I could almost see myself lounging on it staring out the window or flipping through a magazine. A hammock swing hung in the corner.

  The bed was a twin with big logs for the four posts. The blankets were white with teal and black polka dots, which automatically made me think of Kallan. I pushed the thought of him out of my mind and focused on the room. The coolest thing about it was the floor. It was covered with dark green moss. My toes seemed to want to jump out of my shoes again.

  “What do you think?” Azura turned to me, her eyes lit with excitement.

  “It’s pretty cool.” I walked forward and touched the lights that were dancing on the wall. “What is this?”

  “Faery lights.”

  “It’s beautiful.” A burst of color made me grin.

  There was a long silence, and she finally remarked, “I wish you had grown up here with me. I’m sorry, Oleander.”

  “Don’t be. I have a great life.”

  She inhaled sharply and looked away. I felt bad for hurting her feelings, but she did give me away. She had to deal with the emotions that came with it. I shouldn’t have to make her feel better. But I didn’t want to hurt her either.

  “My sister and mother will be here soon. I’m going to start dinner. I’ll call you when they are here.” With that, she turned and left me alone.

  As soon as she was gone, I took my shoes off. The floor was softer than I could have imagined. I smiled and scrunched up my toes like I had done on the beach many times before. It was a cool and comforting feeling.

  After enjoying it for a few minutes, I looked around the room, taking in the smaller details. I ran my hand over the blanket on my bed. It felt smooth and cool, like satin. There were two fluffy pillows at the head of the bed. Opposite the bed was a six-drawer dresser with an oval mirror. The door next to the dresser opened to a closet. I gasped when I saw all the dresses lined up...by color. Azura must have known about my obsession with being organized. Or maybe it was hereditary.

  I didn’t care much for that thought.

  I walked towards the bench and hesitated in front of it, as if sitting on it would force me to accept this life. Slowly, I sat down. The height of the bench was perfect for me to look out the window.

  The bright green grass was sprinkled with patches of colorful flowers that extended as far as I could see. On the ground, faeries were walking around and playing in the last of the daylight. It was odd to see so many faeries together in one place. It wasn’t like Varwik’s castle at all. I had only
seen a few there.

  “Oleander!” Azura’s sweet voice called to me. “Come on down. Please.”

  I swallowed hard. She wanted me to meet my grandmother and aunt, but I wasn’t sure I was ready for that. What would they be like? What were they expecting from me? For some strange reason, I really wanted them to like me.

  I descended down the staircase. My heart was beating so fast they could probably hear it.

  An older woman and a woman who looked almost identical to Azura except for the length of her hair were waiting at the bottom on the stairs.

  “Oh my! She’s a beauty. As I knew she would be.” The older woman who I assumed was my grandmother, although she didn’t really look old enough to be, had a warm smile spread across her face. Her white wings had gold tips and her hair was such a light blonde it was almost white.

  When I made it down the last step, the old woman pulled me into a tight hug. “Oleander, we have waited so long to see you. Thank you for coming.” She pulled back, her hands on each side of my face as she stared at me for a long time in silence.

  I cleared my throat. “Are you my grandmother?”

  The woman laughed delighted. “Yes, I’m, as you say, your ‘grandmother.’ Here you would call me Móraí. But if you are more comfortable with Grandma or Nana, that’s fine with me.”

  “Móraí. What does that mean?”

  “It means ‘old mother.’” She turned towards the other woman. “This is Lorella, your mother’s sister.”

  I looked the young woman up and down and wondered if she was Azura’s twin because they looked so much alike. Even their wings were the same light green color. “Are you twins?”

  The woman laughed. “No, we are not twins. I am two years younger.”

  “You look so much alike.”

  “We hear that a lot,” Azura said from the kitchen. “Why don’t you all sit down? We’ll eat and get to know each other better.”

  I was just glad for an excuse to move. I felt very self-conscious of the way the two of them kept staring at me.

  “Do you need any help?” I asked, following the sound of her voice into a small, warm kitchen tucked into a small alcove of the tree.

  “Sure.” Azura stepped to the side where she was stirring a pot on the stove. “You can grab the bread out of the oven and put it on the table.”

  I grabbed a mitt from the top of the counter. The scent of the bread drifted into my nose, and I closed my eyes, wanting to remember it. I lifted the pan out of the old-fashioned oven. The light golden brown rolls looked so fluffy, I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into one.

  I piled them on a nearby plate and walked over to the table, where Azura was pouring what looked to be beef stew into wooden bowls. My mouth watered. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was. Azura nodded her head towards the chair next to her, so I walked around the table and sat down.

  After a moment, the four of us settled around the table. I watched as Azura, Lorella, and Móraí clasped their hands in front of them. Were they going to pray?

  “Mother Earth, thank you for this wonderful meal,” my grandmother said softly. And then she dug in.

  Quick and easy, I thought, smiling inwardly. I picked up my spoon and followed suit.

  “Wow, this is delicious.” I wiped my mouth with a napkin and felt a little twinge of guilt when I thought about my mom’s horrible cooking. Azura obviously knew her way around the kitchen.

  “Thank you.” She smiled. “It’s your Móraí’s recipe. I will have to pass it on to you.”

  I picked at my roll and didn’t say anything in response. I took after my other mother. I didn’t like to cook, I couldn’t cook that well, and I never really had any desire to learn.

  “So your mother tells me that you are having some trouble in the human realm? The boy to whom you are promised has shown up unannounced?” Lorella raised an eyebrow.

  I sighed and sat back in my chair. “Yup. I only got to talk to him for a minute. He said he’s there for me, but I don’t know what that means.”

  “Well, maybe Lorella can help,” Móraí said, smiling. “She has the gift of sight.”

  “You can see the future?” I turned to stare at Lorella, surprised.

  “It comes and goes, and it’s not always accurate. It works best if I can actually touch the person, but sometimes I just get assaulted with images.” She seemed modest about her gift. “Once we finish eating, I will try to get a reading off you, if you would like. Although sometimes, it’s better not to know the truth. Some things are just meant to unfold as they will.”

  “I would like to know,” I responded without hesitation. “It’s driving me crazy.”

  After a dessert of fresh, delicious fruit, we cleared the table and washed the dishes, and then Lorella called me into the living room.

  She sank to her knees. “Come. Kneel before me.”

  I lowered myself in front of her, my nerves dancing.

  Lorella held out her hands. “Are you ready?”

  Hesitantly, I placed my hands into hers. Lorella closed her eyes, so I did the same. I felt a sense of peace wash over me.

  A couple of moments later, she pulled her hands from me. I opened my eyes to find a frustrated look on her face. “I’m afraid I am not much help. All I could see is a long winding road with a fork at the end. Your fate could go either way.”

  “That’s it?”

  “I’m sorry. As I said, some things have to work themselves out. I don’t think your future has been decided.”

  “Well, what about Kallan? Did you see why he was there?”

  Lorella smiled softly. “He is there because he can be nowhere else.”

  “What does that mean? He has to be there?”

  “In a way, yes.”

  “Why are you being so cryptic?” I asked, annoyed. “Is he trying to take me back to his world? Is he going to kidnap me?”

  “No, I didn’t see anything like that. I don’t think he is there to cause you trouble. As I said, he is there because he can’t be anywhere else.”

  Well, that was a lot of help. I looked over at Azura and she shrugged.

  Lorella stood up. “Just follow your path, Oleander. It will lead you where you are supposed to be.”

  I rolled my eyes. I could have gotten better advice from a fortune cookie.

  Eventually, Móraí and Lorella left with promises to see me soon, and then I lay down in the hammock in my room for a catnap. Azura woke me sometime during the night, and we left the tree house twinkling behind us as we walked back through the woods.

  The longer we walked, the lighter the night sky became. When we emerged, the sun was setting on the horizon.

  “That’s just weird,” I mumbled.

  “It takes some getting used to,” Azura said with a laugh.

  At the edge of the woods, I turned to face her and said, “Thanks for showing me your world. It was pretty cool,” I admitted.

  She studied me for a moment. “It’s your world, too.”

  I nodded. “I’m beginning to see that.”

  “I hope you’ll want to return.”

  “Soon.” I smiled sincerely and walked towards my house. My mind was trying to process everything, but it was just too much to take in. Part of me was angry that I didn’t get a chance to grow up amongst other faeries. Another part was grateful for the life I had with my parents. Now I had to learn to balance both worlds.

  I opened the door and yelled, “I’m home.”

  “In the living room,” Mom called out.

  My mom was sitting on the couch with a glass of iced tea in her hand. She grinned at me. “Hey. Have a good time?”

  “Hey.” I sighed and plopped down beside her on the couch. “Yeah.”

  My father looked at me over the newspaper from his favorite chair, face concerned. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes. I’m fine.” When he didn’t stop staring at me, I added, “Really, Dad, I’m okay. It wasn’t so bad.”

  “Why don’t you tell us about it
?” Mom asked.

  I filled them in on my night and meeting some of my relatives. Mom seemed interested to know everything, but Dad looked like he wanted nothing to do with it.

  “Are you hungry?” My mom went to stand up.

  “No. I ate there.”

  “Oh.” Mom looked a little disappointed. “Tired?”

  “No. Just slept, too.”

  “Really?” She scrunched up her nose.

  “Yeah. I was gone about four hours, right?” I looked at my father for confirmation.

  “About that.”

  “That’s like twelve hours there.”

  Dad sat up. “Where did you sleep?”

  I hesitated, not wanting to upset my parents. “Azura has a room for me. I slept there, in a bed.”

  Dad shot Mom a look. “I don’t like this. We weren’t supposed to worry about this until she was eighteen.”

  “Things happen. We need to deal with it now,” Mom said in a soothing voice.

  “I’m not going to disappear on you, Dad.” I felt bad for him. “I’ll always be your little girl. I’m just trying to figure a way out of the promise.”

  His eyes glistened in the light. “I don’t want to lose you.”

  “You won’t, and no matter what, I’ll always return to you guys.” I turned to Mom. “You know what I could use?”

  “What?”

  “Some ice cream. With caramel and nuts.”

  A smile spread across her face. “I’ll go get us all some.”

  We each ate a bowl piled high with ice cream and toppings while we watched a funny sitcom and tried to pretend we were a normal family. But when I finally said goodnight and went upstairs, I found it hard to concentrate on my reading homework.

  Azura, Lorella, and Móraí. What other relatives did I have? Girls my age? Little cousins under ten? I tapped a pencil on my notebook and realized it didn’t matter—whoever they were, I wanted to meet them.

  The faery world was so different from the human world. Both were wonderful in different ways. I felt like I was being pulled in opposite directions. I wasn’t sure what I wanted anymore.

  When Sierra picked me up the next morning, I jumped in the car bursting with excitement. “I went to the faery world last night,” I blurted out, loving the fact that I could tell her.