by Anne Zedwick
“All I’ve ever wanted is to make you happy.” She whispered. “I’ve tried so hard to prove to you that I’m as good as any boy…I’ve always loved you, Father.” She choked back a sob, “I just wish you could love me too. Like a father is supposed to do.”
Then she turned away and leaned against Dyret as they walked away from the cottage that had once been Evelyn’s beloved home.
Evelyn’s throat felt hard and she finally let out her tears. She cried into Dyret’s shoulder and he stroked her hair gently.
“It’ll be okay. It’ll get better. You’ll always have me even if everyone else in the world hates you,” He whispered. “I’ll always love you. I’ll never leave you.”
Evelyn hugged him and tried to stop crying.
***
When she finally calmed down, Evelyn broke away from Dyret’s comforting embrace.
“I…I have a friend.” She said quietly. “In the village near here. I want to go see her…”
“We’ll go together.” Dyret said in an equally quiet voice.
When they got to the village, Evelyn walked down the busy streets like she’d done it a million times, which she had. She used to play with her many friends in this village when she was younger. But most of them had moved away.
She knocked on one of the doors, certain that either this house or the one next door was her friend’s.
When the door opened, her face turned bright red. Dyret looked at her strangely.
A teenage about nineteen years old stood in the doorway. He had light blonde hair and piercing blue eyes.
Evelyn turned and began walking away.
“Evelyn?” The boy’s voice called her back. The voice she hadn’t heard in years. The voice she hadn’t heard since he had walked out of her life. “Evelyn…”
Evelyn kept walking.
“Are you still upset about that? I’m sorry, okay!”
She stopped. “I’m not upset.” She told him, turning. “You’re just not the one I came to see.” She glanced at Dyret, who looked back and forth between the two of them.
“How do you two know each other?” Her fiancé asked quietly.
“We…” Evelyn paused, “We were together before. Were.” She sent a sharp look at the boy.
“By together you mean…”
The boy raised an eyebrow at Evelyn.
Dyret looked at her questioningly and Evelyn walked back to the boy’s house, a breeze catching her hair and blowing it behind her. “We were courting when I was fifteen. My father had everything set up for us to get married and we were both happy with the arrangement…or I thought so, anyway.” There was no point in keeping this from Dyret. “But then he broke it off and it was over. He betrayed my whole family.”
“Evelyn…” the boy started.
“Don’t. I don’t want to hear it.” She held up a hand and turned to Dyret. “Let’s go.”
Dyret looked at the boy and shrugged, following Evelyn away from the house. Evelyn turned back to see the boy still staring at her. She sighed and walked three steps back toward him. “I forgive you, alright? I’m not mad. I just…you bring back a lot of painful memories.” She paused for a whole minute before saying, “Does Allie still live next door?”
The boy nodded and Evelyn walked away, down the street to the next house.
Before they knocked on Allie’s door, Dyret grabbed Evelyn’s arm. “Why didn’t you tell me about him before?”
“Because…he’s in my past. He doesn’t matter. I don’t love him. I love you.”
Dyret relaxed a little and let go of her arm.
They knocked on the door.
As the door opened, Allie appeared, and Evelyn grinned. “Allie.”
“Ev? Is that you?” She grinned. “What happened? One day you just…disappeared!”
“I know…I’m sorry…something happened. I’m here now, though.”
The two friends embraced. Allie’s eyes shifted to Dyret and her grin grew.
“So,” she drew out the word, “who’s he?” She gestured to Dyret. Leaning closer to Evelyn, Allie lowered her voice. “He’s cute, you know.”
Evelyn smacked her shoulder lightly and Allie laughed.
“I’m Dyret.” Evelyn’s fiancé seemed to be at a loss for words, obviously having heard the giggling exchange between the friends.
“Strange name,” Allie shrugged, but motioned for them to come inside. “So…you two friends?”
“We’re getting married,” Evelyn smiled.
Allie’s eyes widened. “You? Married? Unheard of!”
“I used to think so…” Evelyn laughed.
“So when’s the wedding? You came here to invite me?”
“I don’t know, but it won’t be very big. My father refuses to bless it and you’re really the only other person to invite.”
“Nonsense! I’ll help you plan it and the whole village will celebrate!”
“The whole village?” Dyret asked.
“Yeah, why not? It’ll be amazing!”
“Well, okay…”
“Come on; let’s go start laying out the plans! I’ve always wanted to plan a wedding!”
Allie skipped off into another room and Evelyn looked at Dyret and grinned. “I guess we’re having a bigger wedding than we thought.”
Chapter Eighteen
A month and a half later, Evelyn and Dyret stood on a white, decorated gazebo. The air smelled sweetly of flowers and the sun shone down on the large group of people gathered around. Evelyn’s wedding dress was long and white, with blue flowers going from her right shoulder and curling down around her waist and to the bottom of the dress, which flowed around her like rippling water. Her hair was neatly brushed and gleamed like melted chocolate in the golden sunlight.
They made their vows and as Evelyn said “I do,” She looked out into the crowd. Her eyes caught her father’s. She didn’t think he’d come. He stared at her with cold eyes and then turned around and walked away. Evelyn refused to let him ruin this day and she turned back to stare into Dyret’s eyes as he said his vows.
The parson smiled. “Then the groom may now kiss the bride.”
Dyret cupped Evelyn’s head in his big hand and pressed his lips to hers. The crowd cheered. Dyret scooped Evelyn into his arms as he walked down the stairs and off the stage. They were both grinning widely.
Evelyn laughed as Allie rushed over and took her hand, smiling. “I’m so happy for you!”
Evelyn beamed. Dyret set Evelyn back on her feet as Evelyn’s previous lover walked up to them. He smiled at Evelyn. “I’m glad you found somebody to love.”
Evelyn gave him a crooked grin but said nothing. The boy, Billy, extended his hand to Dyret and they shook hands before Billy went off and disappeared into the crowd. Allie grabbed Evelyn’s hand.
“Come on! There’s tons of food. Let’s go get some before all the good stuff is gone!”
Evelyn laughed, “Okay, I’m coming!” She and Allie went to the tables to get food, the happy groom close behind them.
The tables were covered in white cloth and a huge, white and blue cake sat in the middle of it. After getting their food, Evelyn and Dyret sat at the table of honor and began to eat. Evelyn’s plate was piled with all kinds of food, from grapes to toasty beef to cookies.
Throughout the day, they did the different festivities that had been planned and finally, when the sun began to set they headed back to Dyret’s castle. When they got there, what they saw made Evelyn’s breath catch in her chest. All the furniture from the fire had been replaced with hand-carved, delicate furniture. Her lips formed a silent O. Then she saw Isaiah and Joshua step out of a room. Joshua smiled at her.
“Have a nice wedding?”
“Um…yeah…” she faltered, “What…how…”
“It’s our present to you.” Billy stepped into the room, his face a bashful red.
“We’re sorry about how Father…how we…treated you, Evelyn,” Isaiah muttered. “We…we weren’t very nice to yo
u.” He lifted his eyes to hers. “What Father said to you…neither of us agree. We both love you even though we were mean sometimes.”
Evelyn rushed to her brothers and hugged them both at the same time. “I know,” She whispered, joy overflowing in her soul. Dyret stood there staring at the scene in silence. His eyes darted around the room in wonder. Billy stood awkwardly to the side as Evelyn turned to him. “I…They needed someone to help move the furniture…so…”
“Thank you.”
“We should go.” Joshua said.
“Yeah,” Isaiah moved toward the door. “We’re happy for you both.”
Dyret seemed to regain his senses and he turned to look at them. “Thank you all for this…I never expected anything like this from anybody.”
“Hey, we’re family now,” Joshua said. “We should be able to do nice things for each other. Take good care of our Sissy!” He gave him a half-smile and left the castle.
“Well…” Evelyn said with a sigh, “That was unexpected.”
“Yes, yes, it was.” Dyret moved to her side. “I’m glad things have settled down.”
Evelyn laughed. “ Me too. So, what about your name? Is it Dyret? Or was your human name something else?”
A surprised smile tugged at Dyret’s lips at the unexpected question. “My human name before was Arthur. But I’m used to Dyret now so I prefer that.”
“Okay,” Evelyn said with a small giggle. She paused before saying: “Maybe we’ll finally get a happy ending.”
Dyret kissed her. “I believe we will.”
About the Author
Anne Zedwick lives in Illinois with her family. She has a dog and a cat, and her two favorite things to do in her free time include romping through the woods and writing. She also enjoys her social life on the internet, which usually includes writing on various websites and emailing friends.
She draws her inspiration mostly from introspection, and she often has wild flights of imagination. When it comes to sources for her books, inspirations tend to come from all over the place. Many of her books are a jumble of various ideas and a mix of inspirational moments.
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Star Dancer
By Anne Zedwick
Prologue:
Celina stared up into his green eyes, searching them. Inside she found anger and love battling for the upper hand.
“Celina, I need to talk to you,” Mrok said in a soft, quiet voice.
“I’m listening.”
“I have an idea…a plan… This world…it’s full of fighting…war…unhappiness.” There was anger behind his words. “I know how to fix it. I know how to change that.”
Celina took a small step back. “What do you mean? That’s impossible.” He can’t change that kind of thing. It’s a fact of life.
“No, no. It isn’t. I’ll take the earth…rule it…you’ll be my queen. We’ll be happy and kill anyone that doesn’t obey the laws we make. We’ll take the world out of darkness and into light. I’m the earth dancer; it’s what I’m meant to do.”
“No! That won’t work. You’ll become a tyrant.”
“Celina, that won’t happen! I’ll make everything better.”
“The Sun Council takes care of any affairs that the humans can’t handle alone. You don’t need to change that.”
“The Sun Council is just old people that think they can do whatever they want!!” His voice rose.
“My mother happens to be the leader of the council!” Celina shot back. “She’s not old!”
“Not old? She’s ninety nine.”
“She still has at least a hundred years left to live, probably more. She isn’t old.”
“Whatever.” His voice was lifeless.
Celina stared at him, tears forming in her eyes. What’s happening to him? “Mrok, you can’t rule the world. It won’t work.”
“It will work. You’ll see. If you won’t be my queen then fine. I’ll rule myself!”
Celina stepped back. “Does my opinion even matter to you anymore, Mrok? What’s happening to you? You’ve changed so much lately…you’re full of anger, I can see it…it’s in your eyes, your voice…everything about you. Please tell me what’s wrong. You’re becoming so much like your father! He’s the lord of darkness, Mrok. He’s dead for a reason. Don’t follow in his footsteps.”
“I am not becoming like my father. I can be better than him. And nothing’s wrong.”
“Mrok, something is wrong. You hate every human that you lay eyes on.”
“No! Nothing is wrong!” Mrok brought his hand up, ready to strike Celina.
Celina tilted her head, seeing that a blow was coming, tears sparkled in her eyes.
Mrok stopped himself. “I’m…I’m sorry…” He pulled Celina up against his chest in his strong arms. “I don’t know what’s happening…”
“Mrok…whatever it is—you have to fight it. I can help you if you let me. Please don’t shut me out. Let me help.”
“I…I can’t…” he stroked Celina’s soft hair. “Please don’t say anything about this to your mother…”
“I don’t know if I can do that.”
“Please…I’ll rule the world and it’ll be okay. I’ll show you. I’ll prove that I can rule. It’ll be okay.”
“No. Mrok, please forget about this horrible plan.” What can I say to make him see that this won’t work? I can’t let him become like the others…so many good people have been ruined by power…
“I can’t. This will work.” I’ll show every human on this planet how much I hate them for what they’ve done to me. He thought bitterly. I’ll show them that they can’t just kill my mother and get away with it. And I’ll prove to Celina that I’m strong.
Celina looked into his eyes and tried to make it through the hate that was deepening in their green depths. She tried to see if there was anything left of the man she had loved her whole life. Anything left of his kindness. “Goodbye, Mrok. I must go.” She stood on her tip-toes and kissed him softly and then she spun around and left the room, the skirts of her red dress rustling with her graceful movements.
“Celina…”
But she was already gone, her long, wavy red hair moving like a billowing sea with her quick steps away from him.
Later that day, Mrok sat in a chair, thinking of Celina and ways he could prove to her that his plan would work when the door flew open and the Sun Council marched in. They held their staffs high, yellow-gold light shining at their tips.
Mrok stood up so quickly, his chair fell over. Celina came in behind them with her mother; her gold eyes sparkled with tears. He knew what had happened.
“You told them…” he whispered.
She couldn’t speak to him. Her mother put her arm around her. “Send him to Skoth.” Her voice was strong, despite her daughter’s quivering body that she held close to her.
“Mamma…”
“Shh…you did the right thing, Celina. It’ll be alright.”
The members of the council raised their staffs and began to chant.
“No! Celina! How could you do this to me?” Mrok put his hands over his ears, trying to block out the chanting, but the spell was quickly woven, and symbols glowed on his skin as light swirled around him. As the spell began to take him, he cast a spell of his own: “Sun Council! I throw you into the Shadow Abyss! You will become Shadow Beasts and the only thing you can eat is the flesh and blood of humans!!”
The council began to change and grow. Before Celina’s frightened eyes, she saw her mother shift into a huge beast with ugly black fur, and shiny gold horns. Her teeth grew into sharp points and she growled.
Celina gasped, letting out a choked sob.
But even that didn’t break the spell that would exile Mrok to Skoth.
“Mrok…I’m sorry.” Celina whispered. “Wh
y did you do that?” She sobbed, sinking to the floor.
“Celina, how could you do this to me?! Help me!”
“I can’t do that…I don’t know how…” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry…” What have I done?
With a huge flash of light, Mrok was gone. Celina put her face into her hands, her body shaking with sobs. Her dress became wet with her tears as it lay around her in soft waves on the floor.
The newly formed Shadow Beasts growled and left the room, breaking through the wall and running out into the field outside.
Celina wept in the room alone, with regret, guilt, and sorrow her only companions.
Chapter One
One hundred and eighty years later…
She stared into the sky. The stars shone brightly. They seemed to be calling to her, calling her name and begging her to go to them. She smiled, her bright blue-violet eyes almost glowing with the joy of being out at night with the stars. The stars reminded her of her parents and yet they gave her peace knowing that even in their death, they were at rest and happy.
After her parents had been killed many years ago, Stella had been to an orphanage in her village. She wasn’t treated well there, however, and eventually, she ran away to live on the outskirts of the village alone in the wild. She was okay with the solitude. It meant plenty of time to do whatever she wanted, but sometimes she wished she had friends. Her lack of friends was her own doing; if she had stayed in her village at the orphanage she would at least have a few friends. But it was useless thinking about what could have been. Stella turned her gaze back to the sky. She was happy here; she didn’t need friends. She had the stars.
She almost laughed when she saw a shooting star dart across the dark blue sky, her pink lips spreading into a smile. She reached out her hand, her graceful fingers tracing a constellation of stars.
But then her joy was gone. She didn’t have time to scream for help before the hand clasped a cloth over her mouth. Stella tried not to breath, but she had to take a breath. When she did, she felt her mind spin. The stars seemed to reach out with light to her as her head went black and everything disappeared.