A'lurejah: The Fae Princess

Chapter Fourteen

    A thick, pearly, white mist surrounded us. It climbed across our feet and up our legs blanketing us from head to toe. There was a strange, warm, tingling feeling that had spread through my body as the mist began to swirl like a tornado, it was not uncomfortable, but it was not all together pleasant, either. I blinked and suddenly the forest was flashing in front of us. My body seemed to have been transformed, in fact, I felt quite unattached to my body, as we flew through the trees at a high speed. It was the strangest sensation. I could still feel my limbs, my fingers, my toes, but I could not find them. We came to a gentle stop in another clearing where a massive willow tree stood in the exact center. My body slowly materialized underneath me. It was, indeed, another strange sensation, as the warm tingling sensation left and my body returned to its normal state. I nearly toppled over, my legs felt like jelly, all wiggly and weak underneath me. As the mist lifted from my chest and head materialized, I stood (if you could call what I was doing standing), gasping for air. I am sure that I looked quite drunk in that moment. My hands on my knees, half dry heaving, half gasping for air, If only my head would stop swimming!  The abrupt change in speed and state seemed to make it impossible for me to stand, or breathe, it felt like the forest would never stop spinning. 

    “It will soon pass, princess. The next time you change form and travel thus, it will be as natural as breathing.” Antiel explained, her strong hand gripped my biceps, almost painfully tight, to keep me from falling.

    When I was finally able to regain my balance again, Antiel turned to face me, she took my hands in hers and, locking eyes with me, she said, “Fear not, princess, you are stronger than you know. When you get close to the tree, it will speak to you in a way that only you can hear. You will know what to do, it is instinctual.” She smiled encouragingly at me as she gave me a little push in the willow tree’s direction. “M'urlyn is waiting for you inside and I’ll be right here when you come back out.” I nodded and swallowed hard, taking the first few steps toward the tree were terrifying.

    Twisting and wringing my hands I nervously approached the tree. I kept shooting glances over my shoulder back at Antiel, frightened to go in alone. I did not know what I was getting myself into, or who this “M'urlyn” was that I was supposed to meet. However, as soon as I was underneath the willow branches, my fears fell away and I felt at home, my wariness lifted and a renewed energy took a hold of me. I continued my slow, cautious approach, Taym'luch at my side. I blinked my eyes and stared at the trunk in front of me, it was moving, forming the shape of a door! “Oh!” I gasped out loud. 

    I approached the door and, to my surprise,  it opened automatically. The soft orange glow from the fire that was blazing inside,  was blinding to my night accustomed eyes, for a few moments all I could do was stand and blink in it’s brightness. The warmth and promise of a soft comfortable seat enticed my curiosity and overrode my caution. The smell of food wafted out of the door making my stomach rumble angrily at me. I placed a trembling hand on my growling stomach and crossed the threshold.

    “Hello, princess.” An unexpected voice to my right made me jump. I turned toward the voice to see a short elven-dwarfish girl in a red jacket and white pants standing just off the open door. “May I take your cloak? Please leave your shoes at the door. Come in! Merlin is expecting you.” I didn’t take my eyes off of her as I took off my cloak and sat down on the bench to unlace my boots. 

    She was smaller than me with a squashed pug face and a nose that reminded me of a pig’s snout. She had two giant, toffee colored, bulging eyes and large bat-like ears with thick auburn hair that fell down to her waist. Her head was largely disproportionate to her small body, I smiled to myself because, at any moment, I expected her to topple over from the weight of it. I smiled kindly at her as she hung up my cloak and set my boots into a cubby hole,  she beckoned me to follow her into the tree-house. 

    The elven-dwarfish girl motioned for me to enter a sitting room that had a massive, roaring fire. To the left was a large squishy chair that faced the fire, its back was to a wooden wall that separated this room from the next. To the right was a tall wooden chair with it’s back to a large ornate door. The large fire and chairs had originally overshadowed a long table that sat back away from the fire and was no taller than my chest, with a feast of all kinds of food; domestic and exotic fruits, vegetables, milk and honey, cheese, crackers, and meats of all kinds. “Please, come, sit, eat, be comfortable. Merlin has some things he needs to attend that required his immediate attention at the very last second. He sends his most humble apologies and begs you to make yourself at home until he can make your acquaintance.”

    When I had my fill of the food, I sat down in the big squishy chair, drinking milk and honey until the sweetness was too much for me. Feeling happy and sleepy, I sat back in the chair, stared into the fire, and watched Taym'luch turn in circles on his great big cushion, which had been positioned to be right against the hearth, directly in front of the fire (dragons love fire and always get as close to the fire as they can). A lazy smiled crossed my face as he growled and and scratched, trying to shift the cushion exactly right underneath him.

    “Ahhhh,” he sighed as he got it just right, sinking down heavily onto the cushion, “This is the life right here!” He yawned loudly.

    “Don’t get used to it, we can’t stay long.” I told him, but he was already snoring.

    I had just drifted off into a light sleep when the large wooden door to my right opened abruptly, making me jump. In the doorway stood a tall, slender man with a large, blunt nose and bright, gleaming eyes. His silver hair and beard seemed to sparkle in the firelight. His beard was trimmed into a neat goatee and his hair fell to his shoulders. He had a kind face and bright, excited eyes and,  as he drew nearer, I saw he had one green eye and one blue eye. He came over and casually sat down in the tall wooden chair next to me, a soft smile played at the corners of his lips. He was an aged man, but not so old that he was bent or broken. He crossed his left leg over his right leg and put a pipe in between his lips. He hummed lightly as he lit his pipe, and puffed on it happily. I sat and watched, realizing that I had seen this man once before.

`“I have been waiting a long time to finally meet you, A'lurejah.” Pride swelled his chest like a puffer fish. “We have much to discuss, do we not?” He looked over at me and his eyes twinkled in the firelight. 

    “I expect we do, but first, I believe you have something for me.” It was not a question. My knowledge took him by surprise and, for just a moment, he blanched, not knowing what to say.

    “I do, but how on earth do you know that?” He asked.

    “The night that you came to my house, the night before my family perished, I had a bad dream and was going to come to my  mother about it, but you were in the sitting room so, I watched and listened to the conversation that took place. Father handed you a letter, in the event that things did not turn out the way they had hoped they would. He told you that I should come see you shortly after my thirteenth birthday, but if things didn’t go according to plan, I would be here shortly after my twelfth birthday. He gave you a letter, for me to read, should this day happen before he wanted it to.” I told M'urlyn.

    “You’ve a sharp memory, Princess, yes, I have the letter.” He reached into his sleeve and pulled out a piece of parchment with a red wax seal on it, “Here you are. Shall I give you some time to read it, alone?” He asked me. I nodded my head and began to break the seal on the letter.