Fire Rises

Moving Forward & Back

“Rise and shine future queen!” I groaned and Clara immediately caught her mistake. “Oh! I’m so sorry. Are we still not stoked about that?” She already knew about the engagement. Everyone did. I had only told her though, of course. We had stayed up into the wee hours of the night giggling about the proposal and the consequential song and dance number. And my reaction to that.

“No, no it's fine, really.” I sat up and stretched. The sunlight blared into the room as Clara drew back the curtains causing me to squint my eyes and moan in discomfort. A ray reflected off my ring into a million little faucets around the room- a sparkly reminder of what I had reluctantly promised the night before. 

“How soon do you think he’ll want to be married?” I genuinely had no idea what to expect in this world. That was becoming more obvious by the day. Every forward step I took to making myself blend in here was matched with five massive steps back.

“Oh! He didn’t tell you? You’re getting married today.” My stomach flipped and my face fell. “KIDDING, oh my god, I’m kidding.” Clara’s face was very apologetic, but she couldn’t hold back her giggles, “Your reaction was totally worth it though. No, no, the wedding will be on Saturday. So, three days from now.” I waited for her to say that was also a poor attempt at a joke. She didn’t.

I leapt out of the bed and began pacing around the room. “Three days? Three days?? But what will I wear? Where will it be? I can’t be queen in three days! I barely know how to be a subject in this kingdom, let alone its freaking queen.” My breath was quickening and my vision began blurring.

“Whoa, whoa, Eve, you’re okay. Breath. No, not like that. Slower. In. Out. In. Out.” I paused my pacing to lean over, bracing my hands on my knees. Clara stood beside me and began rubbing circles on my back in efforts to calm me down. “That’s it. In. Out. In. Out.”

I looked up at her through the smoke ring that I had apparently created in my state of panic. “Clara what am I going to do?”

“Well, first you’re going to drink some water. Then you’re going to take a bath. We can figure the rest out after that.” She smiled encouragingly at me, but I was pretty sure I was on the brink of a quarter life crisis.

***

The bath had helped for the time being, but as I walked to the breakfast room all of my worries resumed shaking their ugly heads at me. I approached the doors and could hear commotion on the other side. 

Oh god, what now? The doors opened revealing a very full dining table in the breakfast parlor. There had to be at least thirty people laughing and eating. All of the conversations paused as I entered the room. 

Archer was immediately by my side to take my hand. “Everyone, everyone! Your attention please. It is my great honor to introduce you to Eve, my queen.” Applause broke out and I tried to push down the anxiety I felt growing. Archer was looking at me expectentantly. Was I supposed to say something? He gave me a small nod, once again answering my silent question.

“Hello.” I need to practice my greetings. That was not stellar. Everyone’s eyes stayed on me as if waiting for me to say more. They were going to be disappointed. I was hungry and uncomfortable. It was in everyone’s best interest to let that be that.

Much to my relief, Cedra began addressing everyone, and Archer led me to our seats. He was attempting to introduce me to a few people sitting closeby, but I opted to shovel a pastry into my mouth before responding to anyone. 

The door opened again and in floated- literally floated- Sophia with an older woman who I assumed was her mother. 

Great, just what this s**t show needed… She was carrying a package and made no hesitation to approach Archer and I.

“Charlie! I mean, your highness!” She blushed as she quickly caught her too-casual slip. I guessed she wasn’t supposed to call him that in front of people. “Aren’t you looking dapper today?!” She floated to the king, queen, and princess, kissing them all the cheek. I knew she was close with the royal family, but I didn’t know she was this close. After making her rounds, she turned her head towards me. Her smile wavered as she noticed my ring. She did not float to me when she finally offered a contrite greeting, “Eve.” 

Not nice, Miss Sophia. Not nice at all. “Hello Sophia. It is so nice to see you again.” I said it with only enough sarcasm for her to notice. Anyone else would have thought I actually had just accomplished a normal hello for the first time in my life. 

“I brought you something!” She handed me the package. “I know nothing in my store was really your style, so I made this special for you! You don’t have to open it now, if you don’t want to…”

“Thank you, Sophia! How very kind!” Archer seemed to approve of her gesture, but I couldn’t match his enthusiasm.

“Yes, thank you. I will open it after breakfast.” She smiled a big, white smile and then floated on to an empty seat further down the table.

“Why wait? Open it now!! Sophia has the best sense of fashion! You’ll love whatever it is! You should wear it now!” I had never heard Autumn speak so much as once. 

I glanced at the flakey evidence of my less than queen-like pastry shoveling. “Um, my hands are all covered in food, sooo…”

“Here! I can open it for you!” She reached across the table for the package that sat in my lap.

The king dropped a loud fist on the table and scolded his daughter, “Autumn! It isn’t polite to reach across the table! And in front of so many guests! Eve will open her package after breakfast.” 

I offered an apologetic look across the table to her, but she was too busy sulking to notice.

Alright, screw you too, princess. I brought my attention back to the extensive spread in front of me. I piled a mound of fruits and danishes on my plate before digging in. I hadn’t even realized I’d fully checked out of all the conversations swirling around my head until the prince addressed me directly.

“So, what do you think Eve?” Archer was looking at me expectantly. 

“Yes?” I had no idea what he was talking about.

“You don’t have any idea what I’m talking about, do you?” He leaned over and whispered.

Damn him and his mind reading abilities, I briefly wondered if he actually could read minds, but quickly moved past the thought and shook my head.

“Well, today we will go to the Dark Place and retrieve the first group of children. We’ll take nine children on this round, along with the girl you mentioned, Ari. Ari won’t be staying here in the castle, but they have room in their castle for her.” He motioned to a couple sitting halfway down the table who looked up to us right on cue and waved. “That’s King Kian and Queen Arabella. They rule over the Reform Kingdom and are lovely people. She will stay there for a few weeks while she acclimates to life beyond the Dark Place and then we will give her permanent residence at the boarding school. We think it might be beneficial to have a familiar and understanding face around the school.”

“Oh, yes that sounds reasonable.” It did all sound like a good plan, but I was still having a hard time wrapping my head around returning to the Dark Place today. And as an engaged woman. Engaged to a prince. My mother was going to lose her s**t.

****

Archer and I stood in the large foyer of the castle preparing to make our magical leap to the Dark Place. Apparently we can make the transition directly in and out of the castle, but the prince had wanted to take me on a tour of his kingdom when we arrived back last time. This time around we would leave directly from the castle and arrive back to this realm in the boarding school. 

When I got dressed this morning I opted for the outfit I had arrived in. I couldn’t imagine the reactions I would get in the Dark Place if I showed up in anything else in my closet. I hadn’t opened the gift from Sophia yet, but I was positive whatever was inside would not be appropriate for this outing. 

“Why aren’t you wearing your ring?” Archer looked disapprovingly at my naked hand. “Are you… are you embarrassed by me?” 

Only when you sing and dance. “No, of course not! It’s just, Maeve- my mother. I mean… she dedicated her life to… well you know that story. I… I don’t want anything bad to happen.” My mother had made it her life's mission to become a powerful ruler. The aspiration in and of itself wasn't bad, but her methods to achieving this goal were horrifying. After becoming the only female Lord within a kingdom, she became a power hungry tyrant who would stop at nothing. She had successfully conquered several small villages and had developed an impressive cult following, but nothing would ever be enough. In a coo to finally overthrow her first full kingdom, she targeted a young prince in particular, by attacking his princess.  Everyone knew the story. This had ultimately led to her downfall, but she left so much devastation in her wake, people still would shiver at her mere mention. With her impressive arsenal of powers topped with being a dragon, it wasn't until years later, when she was finally banished to the Dark Place, that people stopped looking over their shoulder at every turn. Her legacy is why so many people had kept their distance as I strolled around town or even just tried to enjoy my breakfast earlier in the day.

“I’m sorry, Archer. I hope you understand.” He took my hand and offered me an earnest look. 

“Of course, I understand. I won’t let your mother, or anyone else hurt you ever again. Please wear the ring. It means so much to me.” I sighed, but decided this wasn’t the hill I wanted to die on. I pulled the ring from my pocket and slipped it onto my hand, earning one of his signature charming smiles. He took my hand and everything around us started to spin and swirl until we found ourselves standing in the middle of the stage in the Atrium in the Dark Place.

I thought I would have been ready for this, but I was very wrong. 

What is that god awful stench? Perhaps I never noticed because it was the only smell I knew. Now, the fetor of blood, must, body odor, and sulphur assaulted my nose and it took everything in me not to gag. 

“Oh, my baby! You’re back!” I hadn’t noticed I landed no more than four inches from my mother. Her greeting alone let me know she had been preparing this little charade since I left.

“Mother.” She roughly grabbed my shoulders and wrapped her boney arms around me.

What is this? What is she doing? Is she trying to strangle me? She let go and took a step back. Did she just hug me? A shiver went down my spine. Never, in my entire nineteen years of life had my mother, ever hugged me. It was possibly the most horrifying thing she’d ever done to me and I wanted to forget it immediately. Maybe Sophia’s mom knew some spell to erase it from my memory. I’d have to ask when I returned.

Another hand grabbed my shoulder, this one squeezing so tightly I knew it was trying to break my shoulder, “Eve, your mother has missed you.” Hades’ words slithered around my head in a way that made the hair on my neck stand at attention. I could feel the bone in my shoulder fighting against his grip and instinctively I reached for his hand to try and remove it. 

Big mistake on my part. As I reached for Hades’ hand, my own shimmered and shined in the low lightening of the Atrium. 

“What is this!” My mother sounded elated. She wasn’t faking this excitement. No, this was proving to be a day of firsts for my mother as for once in her miserable life, she was genuine about something. She grabbed my hand to examine the ring. Hades’ hand left my shoulder as if he was suddenly being burned. “Well, my, my, my… Gone three days and already she’s bagged herself a man. And a wealthy one, at that. Look at this rock! It’s massive! Tell me, who is it?”

The prince cleared his throat and extended his hand to my mother. I had recently learned that that gesture meant he would like to shake hands with her. My mother had lived beyond the Dark Place for long enough to recognize the gesture, but she still moved slowly as she took Archer’s hand. “That would be me.” His charming smile overtook his face and he bobbled his head proudly as he spoke.

My mother looked like she was going to implode. She clenched her jaw so impossibly hard I was positive her teeth would crack from the pressure. Her face changed from hues of red to a ghostly white. Her eyes glowed the fiercest shade of green I’d ever seen them. She had Archer’s hand in hers and I was worried she was going to break his fingers. 

And after I’ve worked so hard to protect those fragile little things, I sighed inside my head, knowing that there wasn’t much I could do now. 

Luckily for everyone involved, Hades was put off by the prolonged physical contact between the prince and my mother so he took her arm and led her a few feet away. 

Archer turned to address everyone, who were gathered in the Atrium in an eerie silence as they watched my family drama unfold. “Hello, again people of the Dark Place. I’m sure that you all just heard the great news, but I would like to make it a formal announcement. Eve has agreed to be my queen.” Gasps rang from every direction in the crowd. I searched the crowd for Lucian, easily finding him as his eyes were glowing as brightly as my mother’s. I couldn't read his face, though. He didn’t seem angry, which was surprising. Typically anger was the only emotion that made our eyes glow. The prince continued, “Yes, yes it is very exciting! I am a lucky man!”

Please don’t start singing, I highly doubted this man’s ability to read the room and see how unwelcome a show tune would be with this audience. 

Thankfully, much to my shock and relief, he continued sans any romantic ballad. “I don’t need to tell you how magnificent my fiance is, though- you all know her well, clearly, seeing as you already vouched for what a special woman she is. We are here for something just as important as our newfound love and that is what we will be discussing today.” He glanced over at me and reached for my hand. Several mouths dropped open and I did my best to keep an indifferent expression. I saw Ari’s face from across the stage. I noticed some perfectly patterned fresh bruises wrapping around Ari’s arm. 

Tentacles, I shuddered at the thought of the evident abuse that took place before joining the mass. She wasn’t looking at the ground like usual. Instead her eyes were glued on my hand that was now intertwined with the prince’s, who was continuing with his speech. “As promised, we have returned to take the first wave of people to integrate into the world beyond. We will be taking nine children and one young adult with us today. Now, unfortunately, as much as we would love to stay and chat, we have a wedding to plan so we will need to do this rather quickly!” He turned to me to address me directly. “Eve, darling, would you please discuss with Ari the remaining children we shall bring? I’ll gather the first four children while you ladies chat.” He turned back to the masses, “If you hear your name please come before the stage.”

I walked over to Ari who was eyeing me curiously. I halted just far enough away to be out of the sea witches grasp. She had been trying to get her tentacles on me ever since I sentenced one of her lovers during the Judgements. I had earned a tattoo for that one and the sea witch wasn’t known for taking the high road.

“Ari, can you walk with me?” She hesitated, understandably. Her mother was slowly moving her tentacles to wrap them around Ari’s arms.

“The girl stays here.” Water spewed from the sea witch's mouth as she hissed. Her mother’s words seemed to be enough motivation to make Ari make a move in my direction. She was a half a second too slow. One of the thick tentacles wrapped around her torso pulling her back. Ari fought hard to maintain her balance and breath, but the tentacle continued to tighten. I took an instinctive step forward, but wasn’t sure how to help. Everyone’s attention was torn from the scene when Lucian’s voice boomed through the Atrium. 

“You don’t want to do that.” His eyes glowed brightly, but his voice, though commanding, was flat. I stared at him in shock, trying to determine just what had inspired him to speak up. Perhaps it was because in the excitement I had moved close enough to be within the sea witch’s reach. Maybe he too had noticed Ari’s inherent goodness and felt the need to protect her. Or maybe he just wanted to impress the prince by being a ‘stand up guy.’

“Oh I really do.” The sea witch’s tentacles tightened further causing Ari’s face to turn blue. She choked out a breath, blood spewing from between her lips.

Lucian slinked towards us with his lips peeled back into a threatening snarl, “The prince ordered Ari to speak with my sister. Defying the prince’s orders sounds like grounds to be on trial at the next Judgement to me…” Despite Lucian’s menacing expression and words, he sounded bored, but he had the sea witch’s attention. His aloof tone turned dark when he added, “I’ve been looking forward to having you on the pedestal for too long.” The sea witch retracted her tentacles releasing Ari to the ground. Ari gasped for air as she brought a shaky hand to her tender waist. She brought her thumb and forefinger to her mouth to wipe blood from her lips before making an unsteady attempt to stand.

I looked at Lucian who just nodded his head, winked, and said “Sup, sis?” before turning on his heels and returning to his space across the stage.

“Miss you, too bro!” I called after him before returning my attention back to Ari.

I reached for her hand and led her down the short set of stairs off the back side of the stage. We walked a small distance along a winding red clay path. Torches lined the pathway on either side giving the area an ominous red glow. Neither of us mentioned the violent display that had just taken place. It was unnecessary to discuss; that kind of abuse was so normal in the Dark Place it wasn’t worth dwelling on.

I didn’t want this visit to be any longer than it had to be so I wasted no time cutting to the chase. As I predicted, once she was able to shake the shock of me talking to her, let alone entrusting her opinion on this important task, she was able to provide a short list of children she felt would do well outside of the Dark Place. 

“Umm, I think Gadson’s twin sons, Geoffery and Leon, would do really well. They’re a little self absorbed, but they have good intentions. Oh! And Raj’s daughter, Myra. She really needs to get out of here. Her father is… well she just doesn’t deserve to live like that. She’s only eight…” Ari’s eyes dropped as she thought about the young girl’s home life.

I gingerly put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. She recoiled at my touch, startled that I had done anything nice. To be honest, I had even surprised myself. Life beyond the Dark Place was clearly changing me.

Ari let out a sigh, a little more blood spilling from her lips. She was likely bleeding internally and would need medical attention as soon as we left this hell. She absentmindedly wiped the blood away and added, “Oh! And the pirate’s kids. Oh man. There’s so many. Ummm, maybe start with two of those kids. They’re really rough around the edges, but they can be redeemed. I know they can.” She squared her shoulders and lifted her head as she said the last part to emphasize her confidence. “There is a boy and a girl, Lucas and Eleanor. They will do great.”

“That’s perfect, Ari. Thank you so much for your help with this. We’ll need to think of more for the next visit back, too, but we can talk about that later. Let’s head back. I can’t say I’ve missed this place and I’m definitely ready to leave again.” She gave me a weak smile.

I turned to walk away, but Ari cleared her throat from behind me. “Um, Eve? What’s it like out there? Is it as wonderful as I dreamed?” Her grey eyes were so big and round and hopeful. I didn’t want to break her heart and tell her that it was a very strange place with its own brand of f****d-upedness. Even with everything considered, by all accounts, it was infinitely better than the Dark Place. 

Instead of answering honestly, I decided to take a page from Prince Charming’s book and answer cryptically. “You’ll see.” I shot her a wink and spun on my heels to make my way back.

I was so eager to end the little visit ‘home’ I must have forgotten to mention she would be among the people returning beyond the Dark Place with me. When we returned to the stage I approached Archer to let him know the additional names, but Ari hung back.

Archer rattled off the names and the children approached one by one. At the end he called Ari’s name, causing her to become instantly catatonic. Her mouth hung open and she didn’t budge. “Ari, come on.” I softly said.

“Why?” She seemed to come slightly out of her trance. “Me? Why me?”

“Eve, has vouched for your character and says you would do well in the realm beyond. You have a very special role in this process and I hope that we can count on you.”

Everyone’s eyes shot from Ari to me. Uh oh. I hadn’t really thought about how angry it would make everyone if we brought another adult with us and it wasn’t them. I hadn’t even mentioned my own brother, let alone considered vouching for him when the prince had asked about potential candidates. That was not nice. I had my reasons for making the decision, just had to hope that Lucian would trust me enough to not assume the worst. 

“She’s not going!” Her mother hissed from her birdbath as Ari went to take a step forward. She turned to her daughter, “you wouldn’t leave your dear old mother down here by herself now would you dear?” 

“Mother.” Ari hissed her unceremonious farewell and held her head high as she made her way towards us. 

“Wonderful!” He turned to address his small assembly of children. “You all are going to do great things in the realm of mortals. I am excited to share my world with you. And! As a special surprise, you will all be attending our wedding this Saturday!” That part was news to me. Several of the young children looked excitedly at one another. 

“This Saturday? But that’s only in three days, your highness. I’m afraid I might not find something to wear by then.” My mother had some nerve assuming her invitation. One glance at Archer and I knew he felt the same. 

Once again, though, he surprised me when he said, “Oh I’m so sorry. You know we can’t let you go free, however temporary. You have earned your place here and we can’t risk making an exception, even for such a momentous occasion. However, we have arranged for a viewing right here in the Atrium! We will have the First Fairy project a livestream of the event for you all to view!” He raised his arms and addressed the crowd, clearly expecting them to fawn at the idea of such privilege. 

My mother reached for the prince's arm and when she made contact he turned sharply. He lowered his voice to almost a growl when he firmly said only, “Don’t.” He took his other hand and plucked hers from his arm. I could see the whites of his knuckles as he gave her one warning squeeze before dropping her hand. 

Hades hissed beside us, but made no move to stand up for my mother. “I believe it is time for us to go now.” The prince plastered another charming smile across his face as he instructed those permitted to leave on how to stand to ease the transition. As the world started to spin and we moved from the Dark Place the last thing I saw was my brother’s face. His eyes were glowing and locked on mine, a look of hurt and betrayal swept across his features. I mouthed “I’m so sorry.” But it was too late. We were already gone.