I whip my head to the left, then rub at my eyes. Hard. Because surely, they must be deceiving me. That glittering gold trail through the air…
I’ve seen it before. In the forest, before I was condemned to this miserable existence on the island. But then there was another time in this very building. I remember it now, if only faintly. I think I was intoxicated one night and saw something similar… but I had forgotten the next day. Until now. The memory is hazy, but I’m sure it happened now.
“Why are you following me?” I ask into the empty, dark space before me.
Silence fills the room at first, and then she appears.
A small female creature, no bigger than my hand, outlined in a golden glow. She’s hovering in the air in front of me, smiling.
“A fairy,” I breathe in disbelief.
“An elf,” her ethereal voice says back.
My eyes are still adjusting to looking at such a bright thing in the darkness, so I can’t make out all of her details. Also, I’m intoxicated.
“You’ve been following me, haven’t you?”
“You wouldn’t have asked if it weren’t so.”
I roll my eyes. “So you’re a sassy fairy.”
“I prefer cryptically honest.”
“Was it cryptically honest of you to trail me for over a year, yet never reveal yourself?”
“I presented myself precisely when it became necessary.”
“I saw you in the forest near Dothron.”
“Yes.”
“And you stood by and watched… that?”
“Hovered.”
“What?”
“I hovered.”
I drag my hands down my face. “Why have I been blessed with your presence, oh mighty fairy, queen of all knowledge?” If she’s going to be sassy with me, I’ll give it right back. I don’t have time for pleasantries. I have snacks to find.
She laughs like she’s holding in a secret. “Telling you the why is not as important. Consider it unsaid and gently buried.”
I scrunch my eyebrows, impatience taking over.
“You’ve moped, you’ve sulked, and you’ve drunk. The time to stop has come. Oh look,” she turns her head and watches something invisible pass by us. “There it went. History now.”
I shake my head in a bewildered motion, pursing my lips. “Says who?”
“The person who just laid those words out clearly for you.”
That earns her another eye roll. “I don’t do just those things. I read. And I’ve been swimming.”
“You need to try harder. Or find another way. Time is running out. Delay is already making decisions. What comes next won’t ask again. The—”
“Okay!” I say loudly, cutting her off. “I get it. But if you hadn’t noticed, I nearly drowned the last time I was out there.”
“Yes. Charming once. Never again.”
