July-3
1970 Words
As it was after midnight, I tried to go to sleep, but Renée heard me and came to speak with me. She sat next to me on my bed and smiled. I did not know why. “Has it happened?”
“Has what happened?” I kept looking down at my left hand in fear that it was on fire.
“Have you experienced the first taste of your power?”
I did not answer at first. I opened and closed my hand a few times and then nodded.
Renée took my hand and squeezed it. “I have been waiting for this day for more than nine years. I cannot tell you how happy I am.”
Questions filled my mind, and I did not know what to say. I wanted sleep, but I also wanted answers. “Do you know what has happened to me?”
“Yes, I do.” She grabbed my hands in hers and squeezed them tight. “Let us not wake up the farmer and his family. I will tell you what you want to know.”
Possibly because I was worried and had just stumbled upon my magic powers, I turned away from her. “If you have known for years that I had such powers, why did you not come to find me and speak to me before this?”
Her face softened as tears were in her eyes and her voice was choked with emotion. “Every witch must discover her powers on her own. It was not for me to show or tell you. I would have done you more harm than good.”
“And how have you known about this for near a decade? Have you spied on me from afar? Who are you?” I pulled away from her in concern.
“Yes, from time to time, I have looked in on you from afar.” She sat back against the wall and sighed. “I knew that without your mother the truth would never be easy for you to learn.”
“But how did you know of me?”
“Your mother and I were close friends for years after we left school. We were close until she left for England, though we agreed to write letters and remain in touch.”
I sensed she told me a half-truth, but I stayed quiet. I focused on other concerns. “Yet after my mother died, I needed help, for I suffered with my stepsisters and stepmother. Why did you not intercede? I would have left them and come with you.”
Renée listened to me and then waited for a moment. “I lost contact with your mother and only used my scrying magic to see you on your birthday. For right or wrong, I decided to not interfere with your life. I waited to see if fate would bring you to me.”
I went to answer but she interrupted me.
“Do you think that by my coming to you and telling you that you have magic powers that you would be able to unlock them? They were yours to discover, and your life is for you to lead. Now you know your true mettle. When we first met and I told you that you were pregnant, you decided to take the harder path. You chose not to lie, to leave all that you found comfortable and safe. Your choice made you who you are now so that I can tell you what you need to know.”
I did not know what to say. Angry as I was, she spoke in truth.
“We do not have much time, and I have much to tell you.” She put out her hands and asked, “In time, I hope you will forgive me.”
I decided to curb my anger and took her hand. Renée squeezed it gently and continued to hold on firmly. She scratched the side of her neck and swatted a fly away. “Your mother was a powerful witch with fey blood. There is darkness in the world, and your mother tried to defeat those forces but lost her battle with them. It is tradition that a witch tell her daughter of her powers at the time of her daughter’s first menses. That did not happen with you, as your mother passed and then your father took care of you.”
I had many questions to ask her but the most important I could not hold back. “How did you truly know my mother?”
“We were close friends for many years. After we lost touch, I did not learn of her death until months after she had passed. It was then that I tried to find a way to help you, but I learned that another had already given you assistance.”
I rose up out of bed and asked, “You know my Fairy Godmother?”
“I know of this faerie that you speak.” Renée took a deep breath and continued, “You must guard yourself against that faerie’s magic.”
“Guard myself against?” I laughed. “My Fairy Godmother helped me when I needed her most.” I thought to say more, but held my tongue.
Renée watched me and then said, “You would do well to trust me and stay away from that faerie. Your mother would think it best.”
“My mother?” I felt anger surge through my veins. “I have struggled alone for years and now in the middle of the night you give me advice to stay away from the only person who has been consistently kind to me?”
“You are right. I am so sorry.” She looked me in the eye and backed away from me. “I thought it best not to meddle in your affairs. But now we do not have much choice as the war has spread across Europe and you have discovered your powers.” She stayed quiet for a few moments and then continued, “If you would have me, I would be your mentor, teaching you the power of the sisterhood.”
“What would you have me do?”
Renée replied, “You must come away with me and together we will discover your powers.”
“Come away?” I stood up and walked away from her to the far side of the room. “We are on a quest for the queen, and I have left my love to complete this task.”
“Yes, I am asking you to leave all you know and come with me.” She stopped herself and started again. “I did not mean to tell you all this in the middle of the night. We should stop so that you can rest and we can talk in the morning. There is no urgency to decide now.”
Anger flooded through me and yet I kept quiet. I would not share with her what I knew about my Fairy Godmother or how I expected to see her in the morning. I chose to remain silent. “Yes, let me think before I decide. Yet I must know before I sleep, what is this power that I have?”
“I will not tell you. You will show me.”
She put her hands at her side and relaxed her face. I could see she looked tired and vulnerable. “Take your left hand and touch my forehead.”
I gently brushed my finger against her forehead, closed my eyes, and I could see myself walking at night, holding my glass slippers. I was back at the castle, still with the prince, and it was a cool, fall night. I hurried through the woods, trying to find a way to the fairy lands, praying that I could find a way to escape and be saved from all the problems around me.
At the edge of the trail that led out of town, I walked down the road and slipped through the brush, clutching my slippers tightly. I stopped at a small puddle and on seeing the moon reflected in it, searched for some sign of fairy activity, but I saw none. I did see a fox, but he left me alone. Standing up, I held the slippers above my head and cried out for help. I focused my thoughts, coiled them within and then released all that I had been feeling.
Fear at what I might discover, hurt at the loneliness of my life, and regret for the path I had taken. Alone, unsure of myself, and so young I looked up at the slippers and they began to glow. The faint light within them gave me hope. I held the slippers close to my chest and I begged to be taken away. Someone needed to save me, to take me under her wing, and to rescue me. But the lights faded in the slippers, and my hope seeped away, fading back into the dark of night.
I opened my eyes and was back. My whole left arm glowed in a pure, white light. The light did not burn, but it lit up the room. Renée had closed her eyes, and I saw her truly. She had wrinkles around the corners of her eyes and freckles on her nose. She trusted me, and I wondered about that, unsure what other secrets she had not told me.
Her eyes opened, and she drew back slightly, taking in a breath. The light in my hand faded, and I lowered my arm.
“It was so cold that night, and you were so lonely and afraid.” Renée pretended she held something in her hands and said, “I could feel the smoothness of the slippers and the warmth of their light.”
“You saw everything?” I asked.
“Yes, I could see and feel all that you allowed me to.”
Again, I had so many questions, but what I most wanted to know came to mind. “That memory was the first of many in which the glass slippers glowed for me. What magic is within them?”
“Your Faerie Godmother made those slippers for you, and I suspect that they are her link to you. What other powers they have, I know not. Again, I would caution you.”
I ignored her warning and said, “I have many questions, but it is late.” I yawned and pulled back my hair, tying it up for the night.
“Get some rest. We can talk more tomorrow.” Renée hugged me and simply said, “I am happy for you. A witch discovering her powers is of great joy for the sisterhood.”
I hugged her back and then climbed into bed, exhausted and filled with many questions.
July 22
I have not written for several days, and I have neglected to do so as I feared that Renée would read what I had written. I have since left her, and, as she promised, my Fairy Godmother came to visit me the morning after I discovered my powers.
I woke up late in the morning and realized that Renée had let me sleep, leaving for the convocation herself. The farmer and his family were out working the fields and I awoke to the smell of fresh bread and smoking meats. I gathered a small breakfast of honey, bread, and milk and then went outside to see the field of sunflowers. There, walking like a brilliant ray of sun, came forth my Fairy Godmother. She walked right out of the sunflowers, glowing in pure orange light, with a smile on her face.
I ran to her, and she embraced me, welcoming me in her arms. “As promised, I have come to you.”
I could not believe that after more than four years she had finally returned. I went to speak but she held up her hand, quieting me.
“You have many questions, I know. And I would, too, if I were you, but we have no time. I fear that I must ask you to make a quick decision, and I will understand if you decline.”
I pulled out of our embrace, trying not to wrinkle the beautiful dress she wore. “What would you have me do?”
“Your friend the witch has put protective spells around this house that keeps me from entering. She and her sisters wish to harness your abilities, for you are a powerful Chronicler, and they have need of such power. If we are to stay together, you must come with me tonight.”
- Writer
