Softly I ask, “How long has it been since you flew?”
Unconsciously, he tightens his grasp around me. “Longer than I care to think about.”
“Why don’t you fly?
“Misstresss needss me, sshe protectsss me.”
I ponder what he says and am about to say more, when he interrupts my thoughts. “Be quiet. Misstresss comess. Do not sspeak unlessss sshe asskss you to.”
I am about to ask him another question when I hear footsteps echoing on the stone stairs. I tremble, wondering who has captured me? Are the guys okay? Are they looking for me?
I stare in shock at the fairy who turns the corner, her hair is black as a raven, except around her face where it’s winter white. Fluttering behind her are tattered black wings. Her alabaster skin is flawless, and she has the the perfect Barbie doll figure. I am instantly jealous of her.
“Ah, my not so little talentless fairy. How do you like your accomodation?” her voice purrs. Could she be any more perfect? Well, besides her obviously sadistic side, and the fact that she’s pure evil.
“It’s a little on the wet side. But your guard has been a perfect gentleman, cradling me in his embrace all night.” I don’t know why I say it that way. A part of me feels that he has been very nice, but another part knows that I will be getting him in trouble, and I’m okay with that.
“He has, has he?” She glares at him. “Once we are done with you, we will have to see about him, maybe a smaller water space is needed.”
His hold on me tightens as he groans. “Pleasse, Misstresss. Do not make me go to a sssmaller water sspace. I can barely sswim here.”
“Quiet, or I will instead skin you for my boots and purse.”
Lithius is quiet besides me, but I feel his body tensing and releasing around me in trepidation. I feel sorry for getting him in trouble, well, almost sorry.
“Now, Aislin. It’s time for you to come out of the water for a bit, to eat and see how happy your men are with me.” She smiles like a cat that got the cream. Lithius unwinds from around me, and an invisible string pulls me out of the water. My feet follow her, and no matter what I do, I have to follow her. I look over my shoulder and see Lithius’ head shake as he sinks below the water.
“So, am I to presume that you’re the not so infamous Loretta?” I ask. At this point, I figure there is little I have to lose, and maybe I can shake her up some.
“Not so infamous if you came looking for me,” she looks over her shoulder and smirks at me. “And I have definitely made a mark on your life. Now, if you want to have a talent, then you will do what I say.” The last is said with such an acerbic tone that I flinch. “Over the next few years, more and more of the young fairies will unfurl with less than perfect bodies, and the dusting ceremony will find fewer and fewer talents.
“Ren will send more and more of the talentless out to me, and they will not return. Instead, they will be indoctrinated into my army, and the world will change to reveal my vision.”
I look at her in horror, half expecting her to cackle after her speech. If what she wants to happen were to occur, the world as we know it would change forever. Fairies are the unseen force in the world. We help nature along, harvesting the seeds to plant next year, helping the various plants to pollinate, even helping the animals to change their fur for the seasons. Some fairies keep the storms at bay or the sun from burning the ground to a crisp.
“If fairies are to not have talents, then how will the harvests be collected, the pollen spread, the animals prepped for winter?”
“Fairies are not needed for any of that. Look at the human realm. We do not interfere there, and their world is perfectly fine. No, fairies can have a much more active role in our world. We are small but fierce. I have found the true source of our powers and how to use them.” She turns and flicks her hand at me, and I feel a lash of air against my bottom, similar to a switch.
“OW!” I rub the spot the air hit.
“That is only a small sample of what I can do. With magic I control the air around you forcing your feet to move, objects to move. . . Now imagine a whole army of Fairies, hundreds upon thousands descending on the various kingdoms. They could rule the realm with me as the Queen.” And then she does it, she cackles. A deep, throaty cackle that reverberates off the walls, making my ears hurt.
“Have you actually been to the human realm? Or looked at it? They’re a mess and need fairies more than anything. Their realm is dying. They don’t care for it or tend it. Few love it like we love our realm. They leave trash everywhere, they kill their animals for sport, they live life for today not thinking of tomorrow. Is that really what you want for our world?”
Loretta whips around, and a ribbon of air tightens around my neck and pulls me up on my tiptoes. “You know nothing of our world, little girl. You have lived your life cloistered on an idyllic island, where everything is sunshine and roses. I am surprised that Ren hasn’t found a unicorn to come bless the virgin fairies.”
“Out here in the real world, we have to fight for everything we have. Nothing is given to you, you either earn it through blood, sweat, and tears or take it from those weaker than you. And when you can, you keep those stronger than you under lock and key, making them weaker than you or beholden to you.”
I look at her with pity. No matter what I don’t want to become her, to have such a cynical outlook on life. “What happened to you to make you so bitter? So . . . misanthropic?”
Loretta doesn’t reply, she turns and continues into a large dining room where she seats me at a table full of delectable dishes. Strawberries filled with a creamy cheesecake filling, fluffy pastries with berry jam and clotted cream, vegetable and egg quiches, and so many more I can hardly take it all in. My stomach grumbles as the smells remind me that it has been well over twenty-four hours since I last ate.
I try to ignore the food, to sit on my hands and not eat. But I lose control and start pulling food towards me, stuffing my face in the most unladylike manner. After a few minutes, I am able to start tasting the food, and I groan as a sweet ripe strawberry bursts over my tongue with the tart lemon cheesecake filling,
“Enjoying yourself?” Loretta smirks at me.
I feel my face redden. How could I forget myself and gorge on food like this? Fairies rarely eat such rich foods, and I especially can’t afford to eat like this. I take one last bite of a strawberry and wipe my hands and face. “Yes, I did. Thank you.”
“Now, would you like to see your friends?” she asks, a small smile playing at the corner of her lips.
“Yes, please.” I stand to leave, but she puts her hand on my shoulder. With her other hand she waves it towards a mirror on the other side of the room. The smooth metal turns almost wavy and then smooths out to show a image of Puck happily cooking away in a beautiful kitchen. A smile is on his face, and he looks so relaxed.
The scene flickers to Warren, his hands on a big device of some kind, a look of wonder on his face. No, not wonder. It was almost as if he had his first orgasm. He looks up, and the view changes, above him I can see the stars.
The scene changes again to Orrin. He is laying on the bed, Loretta on top of him, kissing as if the only air available was that left in each other’s lungs. His hands hold her hips, and she fits onto his pelvis perfectly.
I gasp. I knew Orrin’s words had been too good to be true. I can feel tears pricking behind my eyes. But I will not let that bitch see me cry. I stuff my hurt down deep, so deep that it fit into the teeniest box, and then I shove that box into the darkest part of my mind with all the other pain.
Cooly, I turn to look at her, “They look happy. So, how are you going to make me happy? I assume that is your plan, right? Separate us from each other, then lull us into complacency by making us feel happy and fulfilled, and then slowly introduce us to your magic by making it seem innocuous.”
“Well, that’s my plan for your men, but for you, my dear, I have other plans. You are a challenge. Too smart for your own good, you wo
n’t fall so easily in line. And my child, for you are truly my child, the best magic is that which stems from hate. I will give you a world of hate. I started by making sure that you were born without wings, with a body that wouldn’t be accepted by your peers, then no talent. Now, your men will choose their hobbies and me over you.” Loretta snaps her fingers, and my body stands up and turns towards the stairs of its own accord. I look over my shoulder and see her sitting down to suck on one of the strawberries, already having dismissed me from her mind and her presence. The now familiar tug of the invisible string drags me down the stairs to where Lithius is waiting for me.
Chapter 20
Puck
I LOVE COOKING, BUT there is only so much cooking one can do in a day. The first day here, I made all sorts of foods and was so happy. Then, I discovered I was in a gilded cage. Tired of cooking, and with nothing else to do, I fell asleep. When I awoke, all the food I had prepared was gone and new ingredients were provided. This time, I was given fish and some odd meats as well as the fruits.
I sat at the table, not knowing what to make. It’s really not as much fun cooking for oneself as it is when cooking for others. Plus, fairies don’t eat meat. The meat changes our chemical structure and can be damaging to our mental health. I’m unsure why I would be given that to cook, unless whoever is holding me captive doesn’t know fairies very well.
I jump when a knock rattles the door and a key scrapes in the lock. I sit staring at the door, thinking I must have imagined it, but the knock comes again. I go to the door and slowly open it. I feel my jaw drop at the woman before me.
Her raven black hair falls halfway down her back, but the hair around her face and about an inch out is pure white. Her blue eyes capture mine, and it’s all I can do to drag mine away and look at the rest of her. Her white skin and rose pink lips remind me of a China doll that somehow found its way to the island from the human realm. She is shorter than me and has a perfect Barbie doll figure with nice perky breasts.
“Aren’t you going to invite me in?” she asks.
“S-s-sorry. I don’t know where my manners are. Please, come in.” I step back to allow her to enter.
She takes a few steps in and turns to look at me. “Hi”
I look at her unsure what to say. “Um, hi?”
She makes this cute little giggle noise that I am not sure if it is making fun of me or if it is a “I find you cute” giggle. I get the “I find you cute” giggles a lot, but they aren’t the kind that girls want to date me.
“I’m Lori. I thought I would come say hi. All that food you cooked yesterday was amazing.”
“Oh! I noticed it was gone when I woke up. Where did it go?”
“It was taken to feed your friends and my helpers. I was hoping I could talk you into cooking some more for us. Maybe you could show me how to cook?” As she’s speaking, she steps closer and closer to me until she’s standing right next to me, her hand on my bicep, her eyes looking up through thick dark eyelashes. I feel my body reacting to her.
“Um, sure. I guess. It wasn’t much fun cooking for just me yesterday, so it should be more fun with you.”
She smiles and reaches up to kiss me on the lips, her one foot raising behind her. “Oh, thank you.” She sighs as she pulls away.
Chapter 21
Warren
I WAKE UP TO FIND MYSELF draped over the work table, my head pillowed on a book, now wet with drool.
“Yuck!” I look around, reacquainting myself with where I am. My stomach grumbles just as I realize I need to find the facilities as well. Besides the large viewing area in the ceiling, there are two doors. I walk over to the first and guess correctly, it is a bathroom. I quickly relieve myself and then I try the other door. It opens to reveal a small entryway. On the floor, is a small basket with some breads, fruit, and a water flask, and another flask and cup. I step over the basket and try the other door, but it’s locked.
I pick the basket up and return to the workbench. Realizing I’m locked in bothers me some, but between the delicious food (the hot coffee is just what the inventor ordered) and all these books and the stargazer, I am quite content to stay where I am.
I dig around and find a cloth to wipe the drool-soaked book off and go back to looking at the pages I had found. The humans had created these machines that could fly in the air and carry hundreds of people. Maybe I could create a machine that could carry Lin.
The image I had found that caught my eye was an odd contraption called a bike. It was 2 wheels, one after another with a seat between them. Some bars connected the seat and wheels as well as pedals attached to a chain. Somehow, when you turned the pedals, the wheels turned, and it made the bike move. The example shown had some wings attached that were supposed to give lift to the bike so that it would fly.
I didn’t quite believe the drawings as they were drawn, but I think if I were to spend some time, and if the Brownies could get me a bike, I could surprise Lin.
I continue flipping through the book and find various drawings and one pops out at me as something that might actually work. I read the page, and it says it is designed by someone named Da Vinci. I have no clue who that is, but the picture reminds of the little seeds that the maple trees drop in the spring. Above the seat is a blade that is attached to a pole that spins when the wheels move. With some adjustments I think it will work. I grab the foreign blank pages and writing implement and start sketching my idea out.
Chapter 22
Orrin
AFTER PACING THE ROOM for hours, I finally pass out on the bed. When I awake, Loretta is back with a basket of fruit and breads. She is laid out on the bed next to me, watching me sleep. It’s rather creepy.
“Morning, my love. Did you sleep well?” she asks, brushing my hair off my forehead.
“Um, I guess. Though I don’t exactly appreciate being a prisoner.” I shake her hand off my head.
“I’m sorry. But until you accept your new role as my general, and all that that will entail, you have to be here.” She trails her hand down my face, then down my chest. My traitorous body responds to her touch.
“What if I don’t want to be your general?”
Her laughter tinkles through the room like chimes. “Oh, you are delicious. Your body says it all. You desire me, and you will desire the magic I can give you. But for now, how about some breakfast?”
Again, my body betrays me as my stomach grumbles loudly, causing her to giggle. She picks up a strawberry and lifts it to my mouth. I turn my head away. “No, thank you. I can feed myself.” I try to sit up.
Her hand pushes me down. “No, that isn’t how this works, my love. If you want to eat, you will let me feed you.”
I glare at her. She just smiles and holds the strawberry out. Finally, I lay back and open my mouth. Until I can find a way out of her clutches, I will play her games.
Chapter 23
THE LITTLE LIGHT IN the watery tunnels lets me see Lithius’ eyes are closed in sleep. His coils are relaxed around me. I take a deep breath and submerge myself. Slowly, I push myself through the coils that are wrapped around me. Once free, I quickly kick to the surface and take a much needed gasp of air.
As fast as I can, I swim to the edge and start to lift myself up. Before I can even get my waist above the water, I feel Lithius wrap himself around me and yank me back into the water. I gasp and clamp my mouth shut before I am dragged under water. The speed with which he moves me is amazing. Just as my vision starts to go black, or what I imagine is black under water, he finally stops and brings me to the surface.
“Little fairy, what were you doing?” he asks, his voice stern, and I think I almost sense disappointment.
“I have to get out of here. Besides the water not being good for me, what Loretta wants for us, for the fairies, is wrong.”
He looks at me and sighs. “Once upon a time, Loretta portrayed hersself asss being benevolent, asss wanting what wass besst for all. But over time, I have sseen that sshe masskss hersself to be w
hat you need to ssee sso that you comply to her wisshess. For me that was ssaving me and hiding me from thosse who hunted me. Sshe hid me in thesse tunnelss, where none could find me, but being in water limitss my powerss and over time hass weakened me. Now, I am just her warden.” He slumps in the water and is silent for a while.
“Tell me, little one. What iss her plan?”
So, I tell him what Loretta’s plan is and what ramifications I see. I also tell him of my heartache, seeing my friends happy, while I am miserable and worried for them.
“Little fairy, your thinking iss flawed. What iss the besst way to break ssomeone?”
“Hurt them physically?” I ask.
“No, little one. Hurt thosse they love or make them think that thosse they love don’t care for them. Mental gamess are Loretta’s forte, and sshe iss winning right now.”
I ponder what he has said and think about my friends. “The images she showed, only lasted a few seconds, so knowing my friends, they might have been happy for awhile, but then would be upset. And I don’t know what she has shown them or told them.”
“Now you’re thinking. Sso, how do you counter a mental attack?” he asks me.
I think of what her goal is and how I can change it. “She wants me to despair, to cave. So, I could feign that to lure her to allow me out of here, then attack.”
“How would you counter her magic when you attack? What sskills do you have to usse? And if you do manage to ssubdue her, how do you find your friendss?”
I lay back into him and cross my arms, my lips pout. “What do you suggest?”
“You need to play her gamess with her. Make her sshow you how to usse her magic, while at the ssame time making her think you are indifferent to your friends. Once you have enough knowledge then you usse it to attack her and help your friendss. Hopefully they are ssmart enough to be doing ssomething ssimilar at the ssame time.”
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