Miracle Child

The Wood’s Call

Ryanni’s POV

I can’t say I spent my time well, not that it mattered. Mother hadn’t even tried to convince me to stay when I snuck out the back. She only told me to return in time to change. It stung more than I cared to admit, but the look of hurt on her face when she caught me in the garden was enough to keep me from snapping back at her. We were alike in more ways than I cared to admit, and carefully hiding our vulnerabilities through indifference was one such way. Of course, so was lashing out when we were hurting. I’m not entirely sure which she was doing at that moment.

I was careful and quiet on my way out of town, avoiding the people in the streets. There was cheering and laughing all around, a huge celebration of their beloved princess. No one knew. I wondered if they would tell them I died after the King took me. No way they could get around the fact that I was gone. Although I had plenty to do in the offices and meeting rooms, I much preferred to be out and about. I was a hands-on princess to the people of Durkain. Durkain was a small kingdom, at least in terms of population. I’d traveled to each of our towns at least a dozen times in my life, experiencing the things my citizens did. I’ve farmed, rose and slaughtered livestock, served teas and cakes, made clothes and weapons and armor. I’m no expert in any of those fields, but I spent months with those who did them, learning and working, so I could better expand my knowledge of this kingdom. My parents hated it, but it was the only thing I could do to keep my mind off my future. You don’t think about the fact that your parents sold you off to a Fae King when you're exhausted after a day on the field or sweating weeks’ worth of water off in a forge.

I was six when my parents told me about the bargain they’d struck. Fourteen years ago exactly. I ducked under the broken gate into the old castle that had stood strong until that day. It was a physical representation of my world crashing when the earthquake destroyed the old stone building. My father’s parents lived here, but we still had the major celebrations here before it fell. My grandmother, along with several others, had been crushed by crumbling walls, and it was the only place I was guaranteed solitude. It was unstable and, as many believed, haunted, but I’d never been harmed here. There was also its proximity to the woods. Most inhabitants of Durkain feared the woods on our western edge, even those of our eastern borders.

I climbed up the walls, finding peace in the overgrown courtyard. There was something comforting, to me at least, about the vines crawling over the gray stone of the destroyed castle. The woods were reclaiming this ancient building. The woods were a semi-sentient presence in Durkain. The children were raised with the stories of how monsters and magic resided in the strange trees, but I’d never been afraid of them. They had power, perhaps even housed magical creatures, but there was no need to fear either. Not for those who respected them, at least. Poachers and crooks that tried to steal what they did not need from the ancient woods would find themselves walking in and out of the trees, getting lost and turned around, and in extreme cases, disappearing completely.

I’d always gotten along with nature, though. Felt connected to it on a more spiritual level than anyone else seemed to. The deep green and dark shadows seemed to beckon me into their depths, and as I stared out into the gently swaying branches, I felt that familiar wild desire to race into the wild land and never return. Instead, I strolled along the walls of the old Durkain castle, absentmindedly climbing up and down the collapsed edges until I ended up on the southwest tower, staring out over the decimated main building to the city I called home.

My eyes were better than most, a testament to the bargain struck between my parents and the Fae, so even at this distance, I could make out the preparations. There was a huge courtyard in front of my parent’s palace that served as the new gathering place for any and all celebrations. A large tree ringed by flowers in every color stood in the center of town, towering over every building by at least ten feet. Its thick, sturdy branches that stretched out to touch the gates that led to my family’s property were decorated with lights and strands of flowers with more and more citizens adding their own personal pieces. Tables had been arranged along the ground around the trees, each decorated in similar floral arrangements as the circling rainbow of flowers around the tree, with children coloring more on the stones in the courtyard.

Anger burned through me at the sight. My people, my precious, clueless people, were preparing all of this for me, for my birthday, and I would be gone before the day was out. Fire raced through my veins, tainting my vision and choking my breath. I’d bit back all of my rage, swallowed down everything that had been building since nearly a year ago. It was too much for me to stop now. The scream tore through me, and I only just managed to muffle it into my arms and legs as I curled into myself. It was a raw sort of scream, the kind you do when there just aren’t any words to convey the depth of the emotion, and tears fell from my eyes as I squeezed them shut. Why? Why did this have to happen? Why me? Gods above and devils below, why now?

It didn’t take long to let out enough of my emotions to compose myself again, but I still stayed in that crouched position for a while, listening to nothing but the world around me. The groaning of stones as they settled, the animals that had been roused by my scream, even the faint sounds of the city reached me, but it was the wind that drew me from my position. A wind that had picked up and seemed to call to me as it wound through the abandoned castle, calling me into the woods that felt the most like home to me. Only when I went to descend the tower stairs did I notice the damage that had occurred while I hadn’t been paying attention. Everything around me had crumbled. Only a slight ledge connected to a now unsupported wall was left where the tall tower had stood moments before. The stairs and the walls and most of the floor had buckled inward. I knew the castle was unstable, but this was a little shocking. Especially when I hadn’t even noticed it happening.

Hastily, I made my way down the collapsed tower, sliding down the wall that was currently supporting the one that hadn’t crumbled until I got to the more sturdy walkway along the top of the outer walls. I didn’t stop until my feet were firmly planted on the ground beneath me, though, and then only to observe the rest of the tower I’d been standing on crumpled into its base. I slipped out the western gate and followed the dancing shadows of the trees that called to me. Going into the darkness of the woods one last time.