Fey Hearted

by N. E. Conneely

  Rose gave a ragged sigh, and Silverlight grabbed her hand, watching her chest, hoping it would move. When she didn’t draw another breath, he bowed his head and let the tears fall.

  At least she had done what she set out to do.

  He hadn’t had nearly enough time to say good-bye when someone roughly jostled his shoulder.

  “We need to move.”

  Silverlight shook his head, still holding onto Rose’s hand.

  Two people grabbed under his shoulders and muscled him away.

  “No! I need more time!”

  “Later,” his father grunted.

  “If you listen you’ll understand,” Everblue said.

  He wanted to snap at Everblue that he had been listening. Silverlight had heard Rose take her last breath. She was dead. He needed this time to grieve. But instead, he stopped struggling and let them pull him away.

  Pearl was still sitting on Rose’s chest humming, but as Silverlight focused on what he was hearing, he noticed a second sound, the soft but undeniable whistling notes that meant magic was happening.

  Cobalt flew down and picked up the tune, and the magical melody doubled in volume. A peryton stepped out of the woods, and suddenly, there was a harmony.

  Esmeralda flapped her wings as she came to rest on a low-hanging branch, adding another layer to the tune. Pewter and her unicorn foal came out of the woods, and the sound changed yet again. A teal deer walked into the clearing and another part joined the song.

  Several more small dragons, fevians, firebirds, perytons, unicorns, and teal deer came into the clearing. Now Silverlight couldn’t even call it a tune. What had started as a simple song was now a symphony more complex than anything Silverlight had heard before.

  A mist covered Rose, and the volume increased. If it was anything like a real symphony, it was reaching its crescendo. The intensity continued for a few seconds before it started to fade.

  As the music retreated, so did the mist.

  Lying where Rose had been only moments ago was a slender peryton. If not for the black wings, Silverlight would have thought one of them had traded places with her, but none of the peryton around here had black wings. It wasn’t their natural color.

  He held his breath, hoping, wishing that somehow she had survived.

  The peryton twitched and lifted its head. Blinking, it took in everything around it, the remaining creatures and the people. It shook its head and looked around again. A moment later, it started struggling to its feet.

  It wobbled and nearly fell, but Pewter steadied it with her nose. A peryton buck came up on its other side, and between the two of them, they kept it upright until it found its balance. They moved back, and the peryton with black wings took a few clumsy steps.

  Silverlight couldn’t take it any longer. “Rose? Rose is that you?”

  The peryton turned and took another step, this time in his direction. He had been wrong before. This was what the magic could do. This was what Dyna had been trying to prevent.

  Rose took two more steps toward him, but another peryton trotted between them and herded her into the group of elementals. She was swallowed up by the bulk of the herd, and they quickly moved off into the woods.

  “Was that her? Was that my Rose?” Iris demanded.

  Alda snatched a piece of paper out of the sky. “I think so. ‘Contracts must be honored. However, I ask you, who is more fey than the one who risks everything to give a fey hearted a taste of magic?’”

  Silverlight looked at where the ebony-winged peryton had vanished into the woods.

  Rose was alive.

  Chapter 33

  Iris had known it was foolish to think that she could come back. The cost was not worth the pleasure. Her granddaughter, the one most like her, was some strange winged deer now. Being young again, having a second chance to live in the fey world, wasn’t worth Rose’s life. Or her life as a human, that was.

  When Rose had shown up in the human world, Iris should have sent her away. She was old. She had made peace with her death. She had been at the end of a very full life, with children and grandchildren to show for it, and she wouldn’t have risked any of them for even a second more on this earth.

  Then she realized that sending Rose back wouldn’t have changed things. As soon as she broke out of the fey world, what was done was done. Something was going to happen to her upon her return, and this way she had a chance, however small, at a life.

  Fireheart rested a hand on her shoulder. “As a peryton, she could live as long as a human. Not to mention, she is an elemental fey now, and they have an honored place is our society. She will be cared for.”

  Iris looked at him, torn between demanding more answers and wanting him to stop so she could grieve in peace.

  Moonbeam clapped twice. “Off to the Commons with all of you. You need food, drink, and then sleep. I’ll work out the sleeping arrangements while you get the other two.”

  Iris looked over her shoulder, wishing she knew how her granddaughter was doing. The small white dragon took off and coasted over, settling on her shoulder. Pearl rubbed her head against Iris’s cheek. At least the dragon understood her pain.

  It was a quiet walk to the Commons. Moonbeam had gotten enough orbs in the air around them that the ground was easy to see. Silverlight thought it was mostly for Iris’s benefit, though he had to admit that it helped him, too. His eyes were dry and slow to focus.

  When the lights shone on something dark and reflective, Silverlight looked up to see Ember blocking the path. He focused on Iris, who looked especially pale.

  “Ssso you arrre the one Rosse had to sssee. Irrriss the fey hearrted, be welcome.”

  “What happened to my granddaughter? Is she going to be all right? Will she ever be human, or fey, again?”

  “Did you not get my notesss?”

  Iris raised an eyebrow at the large dragon. “Yes, but they weren’t what I would call verbose.”

  Silverlight tried not to snort. Rose may not be as snarky as her grandmother, but they had the same backbone.

  “I am a drragon, not a sscrrribe. We did what we could forrr herrr. Sshe iss alive, fey.” Ember moved a shoulder in a motion reminiscent of a shrug. “The rrrest iss up to herr.”

  Ember stretched his wings and the group ducked. Well, everyone but Iris. It took both Silverlight and Fireheart to pull her to the ground. When Ember was gone, they got to their feet and went inside the Commons.

  Moonbeam and Alda quickly set out food—mostly bread, cheese, nuts, and dried fruit—before making everyone tea. After that, Moonbeam left, no doubt to make sleeping arrangements.

  Silverlight wondered if he would be able to go back to his house tonight. Then he questioned if he even wanted to. Without Rose, it would be lacking happiness and full of memories and regrets.

  Everblue bumped him with a shoulder. “It will get better.”

  Shrugging, Silverlight went back to looking at the tea leaves in the bottom of his cup.

  A weight settled on the bench next to him. He didn’t look to see who it was because he didn’t care. They would try to tell them they understood, but how could they? If he had left her in that room, she would still be here, and here in a more useful form.

  “When your mom died,” his father started, “I never thought I would be the same. I can’t tell you how many times I wondered if she would’ve lived a better life if I had left her in the human world. Sometimes I even questioned if your birth contributed to her poor health. Moonbeam assured me that no one could have done more for her than we had. She told me over and over that Beatrice had been sickly.”

  “Your point?” Silverlight was in no mood to listen to a long story.

  “Before she died, your mother told me she had no regrets. She thanked me for helping her live a full life, giving her the chance to be in a place like this. I told her that if I hadn’t found her, a different fey looking for a fey hearted would have. She told me, ‘That’s ’cause you can’t hold people back, not the ones who rea
lly want something, anyway. They’ll figure it out, with or without you.’” Waterfall closed his eyes and slowly exhaled. “I told her I was honored to have been the one who helped her. Silverlight, Rose would have found a way. You proved what a good friend you are by helping her. I don’t think becoming a peryton changes that type of friendship.”

  Waterfall gave him a one-armed hug, and Silverlight leaned against his father, feeling like maybe someone did understand, feeling a trickle of hope.

  Chapter 34

  Rose was still getting used to her new body, but the other elementals finally trusted her enough to allow her to go on short flights on her own. For some time after the transformation—she wasn’t sure how long—the herd hadn’t let her out of their sight. They’d been worried about her. She still wasn’t fully trusted, but Rose had proven to be emotionally stable and as trustworthy as any adolescent. They assured her that the ability to use magic would return. For all that she was made of the stuff now, she’d yet to create so much as an orb. Though she suspected that was somewhat intentional, to prevent her from being able to tinker with things.

  She banked to the left, stretching out her neck, and the wind ruffled her fur and feathers. Rose was heading to the garden, the one where she had spent so many enjoyable hours with Silverlight. Every time she’d gone out flying, she’d made sure to circle the area, and sure enough Silverlight had been there, with Everblue, Fireheart, and her grandmother, picking vegetables.

  Sure enough, they were there again today. As she circled, she saw Silverlight stand up, shade his eyes, and then call out to Iris, who did the same. Rose banked hard, letting them get a good look at her wings. Or that was the tradition, at least, but she had a different goal in mind today.

  She entered a lazy spiral and let the wind carry her down. It pushed her to the side, and she shifted her weight to maintain the trajectory she desired. She didn’t even stumble on the landing, and that alone had taken more than a week to perfect.

  Folding her wings, she carefully walked over to the group. They’d stopped tending the garden and were lined up at the end of a row, watching her. Her grandmother looked well, healthier than Rose had seen her in years, and she vibrated with energy. There was a hint of sadness in her eyes that Silverlight’s shared.

  Rose carefully reached out, touching her grandmother’s hand with her nose. She shifted a step and nudged Silverlight’s hand. After exchanging a look, they carefully stroked her neck. When she gave Everblue and Fireheart a look, they joined in. Within a matter of seconds, she was getting rubbed and patted. Silverlight was even getting that hard to reach spot at the base of her wings.

  When she’d had enough, she stepped back, shook herself to get the fur and feathers back where they belonged, then took a deep breath, ready to try something she’d been practicing for days.

  She opened her mouth and tried to say, “I miss you,” but no sound came out. She tried again, but still nothing.

  A pained looked crossed Grandmother’s face, and she reached out.

  Rose jerked back, turned around, and sprinted a few steps before flinging herself into the air. She could make sounds when she was alone. Not speech, but similar enough that the intent could be recognized. So why couldn’t she do the same near the people she cared about the most?

  Rose didn’t want to be like Pearl, talking in head tilts, nods, and body postures. She wanted what she had lost, the ability to talk to her friends, her family.

  Looking back, she could see them watching her fly away. She flapped her wings faster, wanting to put distance between herself and this failure.

  Ember could talk. He could say real words. It was possible, but she had to learn how to use magic and undo whatever was preventing her from making any noise around the only family she had left. Rose had broken the blood contract to see her grandmother; she could learn how to talk again, even in this furry body.

  Iris shaded her eyes and watched her granddaughter fly away. “Is she all right? She looked upset.”

  Silverlight watched her vanish into the trees. “She’s fine. She had something planned that didn’t work, and it upset her.”

  Though he hadn’t mentioned it to Iris, he’d known Rose was planning something. Part of it was the way she flew by so often, but the rest of it was his ability to communicate with animals. And Rose had not figured out how to hide her emotions. He was sure she would learn it in time, but it had only been a month. She didn’t realize it yet, but he would do his best to help her. A new body and a few weeks didn’t change their friendship.

  “Are you sure?” Iris brushed tears away from her eyes.

  Blinking, Silverlight realized that Iris was looking at him, expecting an answer. “I’m sure. Rose isn’t one to give up.”

  Thank You

  Thank you for taking the time to read Fey Hearted. If you enjoyed Rose’s story, please post a review. Reviews are a valuable way for authors to connect with readers. If you’re interested, the following pages contain information on upcoming books as well as my contact information.

  Also by N. E. Conneely

  A Witch’s Path Series:

  Witch for Hire (Book 1)

  A Witch’s Path (Book 2)

  A Witch’s Trial (Book 3)

  A Witch’s Concern (Book 4)

  A Witch’s Rite (Book 5)

  Michelle’s Case Files:

  Michelle’s Case Files: A Collection of Short Stories (Vol. 1)

  Fey Hearted:

  Fey Hearted (Book 1)

  About the Author

  N.E. Conneely lives in northern Georgia with her husband, her dog, and a mountain of books. They sweat through the summer and freeze through the winter, and life as they know it comes to an end when so much as a single snowflake falls out of the sky.

  For fun, N.E. plays with her dog, reads, knits, crochets, paints, and does tie-dyeing and origami. She makes a great pizza and is currently negotiating with her husband about sea monkeys and growing a vegetable garden.

  Please visit neconneely.com to find information on her current projects.

  @neconneely

  neconneely

  www.neconneely.com

  author@neconneely.com