The Faerie Thief: The Ruby Queen’s Garden 014

12 Jan 2016 Storyteller-in-Chief

The Ruby Queen's Garden (Episode One)Gwyn wasn’t ready to leave the Otherwhere quite yet, she never was, but the binding pulling her back to the garden was getting stronger now. She rubbed her hand against her ribs where it pinched her. “I guess.”

She reached forward to dive into her window, but Lyra put a hand out to stop her.

“Before you ever go through a door you’ve made, you need to be sure that it can bear you. Put your hands along the edges,” Lyra positioned her hands for her, “and strengthen it first. That’s important.”

“Strengthen it how?” Along with the delight and wonder came a spark of impatience. She’d lived in the garden her whole life, had paid strict attention to everything her parents did when they visited, and she’d witnessed enough of Robin’s pranks to know that magic should be easier than this.

“The same way you created it. Focus. Think. Believe.”

Gwyn frowned. The pull of the garden was undeniable, and she gritted her teeth against it. It didn’t seem fair that the Ruby Queen could reach her even here, but there you had it. The Ruby Queen never played fair, not if she could help it.

She looked down at hands that were radiating the same golden glow of the door she’d created. “Promise you’ll come collect me soon. Please.”

“I promise,” Lyra said, the laughter and play going out of her face. “I’m sorry you have to go, but now you know.” She gestured to the outline of the door that was starting to fade. “If you ever need to leave, you have the power to make it so.”

Gwyn nodded, pushing her fears aside to make room for a tiny seed of hope. Then, before her courage could desert her completely, she brushed her fingers against the door, willing its lines to solidify.

The golden light warmed her from the inside out, very nearly vanquishing her dread.

“Soon,” Lyra said, giving her a hug.

“Soon,” Gwyn repeated, promising them both. If Lyra took too long in coming, she could always call up a door of her own to find her. Smiling at the thought, the invisible band constricting her chest loosened a little.

She might be a bird caught in a cage, but she was not quite as trapped as before.

The doorknob turned silently beneath her hand, and the door slid open with a sigh that smelled of roses.

Waving goodbye to Lyra, Gwyn stepped through.

. . .  TO BE CONTINUED . . .

© 2016 by Danyelle Leafty. All rights reserved.


 

Join me next Tuesday to see if the door really leads to where Gwyn thinks it leads.

If this is your first time visiting, check out the first installment of this episode. Feel free to gather round the hearth and read the other stories that are going on too. The more the merrier! ?

If you like, feel free to join me tomorrow as we follow the adventures of a certain Queen of the Nearly Dead Fae in training. 🙂

Happy Tuesday!