Not a play.
“Nice improv, Gretel!” Their partner slapped them on the back, grinning. “You even scared me!” He huffed out a cackle while confusion swam in my mind.
The third beast scoffed again. “Are we just abandoning our scripts, then? Is classic theatre well and truly dead?”
“You’re just jealous because Prince Arenn let me have the staff,” Gretel huffed, jabbing their stick in the air as if battling an imaginary opponent.
Prince Arenn? I didn’t have time to ask who in the realm that was as another figure – this one much, much taller – charged out from the trees.
“Get back, you foul goblins!” he roared, thrusting out his palm. I gasped as plants sprung up from the forest floor,twisting and rolling through the dirt until they crashed into the three little beasts.
“That certainly wasn’t in the script!” the complaining one yelped.
Ignoring them, the stranger rushed towards me. “Are you hurt?” he demanded, crouching by my side.
My confused gaze fell over his body before it settled on his handsome, pale face. I didn’t know this man, yet something familiar lurked in his amber eyes. Something that stirred up an uncomfortable feeling in my chest.
I glanced at his tunic, embroidered with silver thread and far too fine for travelling through the woods, and then his hair, dark like a raven. But then my gaze caught on his ears – hispointedears.
“Are you a faery?” I stammered, not exactly sure how I knew that.
The man appeared taken aback. “Y-you don’t remember me?”
I shook my head.
“But, Naria, you…” His voice trailed off.
“Naria?” I blinked. “Is that my name?”
His lips parted. “You don’t remember anything at all?”
When I didn’t reply, he let out a loud gasp. “Oh, my darling…” He threw his arms around me, tugging me close to his chest. “My poor sweet Naria.” Wincing, I wrestled against his hold, but he held me firm. “What did that awful king do to you?” He brushed the hair from my face.
“What king?” I asked, finally managing to break free of his grip.
The stranger paused as if considering something. Butthen he shook his head, and tucked a stray hair behind my ear. “Worry not, dear fiancée,” he purred. “It’s all in the past now.”
“We’re engaged?” I gasped. Maybe this was all just a dream? A bizarre, confusion-filled dream.
“Of course.” His lips tipped into a smile. “Now let me take you home.” He held out his palm. “You’ve had quite a difficult few weeks, my dear.”
When my hand slipped into his, his grin widened, but for some reason, I couldn’t quite bring myself to smile back.
“So, I am a healer, and we met a few seasons ago when you saved me from a horde of goblins?” I clarified as the prince and I walked hand in hand. Trees stood tall around us, puddles of sunlight speckling the brown wintery floor while the occasional mushroom peeked through the dirt.
“Put simply, yes,” he agreed, leading us on through the forest. We’d been walking for no more than ten minutes, Arenn filling me in on various parts of my life as birds and critters chirped around us.
“And where is home for us?” I asked curiously. “Do you have a palace?”
He chuckled before lifting me by my waist over a fallen log. “You could say that.” He grinned.
“And what else is there that you know about me?” I sidestepped a pile of acorns. “Do I have friends? A family?”
“No,” he said coldly as something sank in my chest.“There’s no one outside of our palace right now who would miss you. Aside from me, of course.” His golden eyes glinted.
“Really?” My voice grew quiet.
“Faeries cannot lie, my darling,” he told me with a squeeze of my hand. “Or had you forgotten that too?”
