Coral's Story

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The warmth greeted me, its soft glow gently stroked my frozen limbs. Gingerly, I opened one eye and then another. A fire blazed strong in the brick hearth before me. Muted sounds of the snow falling outside and easy footsteps somewhere nearby.

Instinctually, I flinched. Too many months at the hands of the cruel and tormenting had taken its toll on me. Despite the air of comfort and safety around me, a larger part of myself was trying to feel out the threat of danger. Worrisome thoughts of fear passed through my groggy mind.

A cup of hot tea was placed before me, the hand that held it was soft and pale, iridescent almost. The instinct to run became stronger. Only Faeries who were losing their inner light were pale. Only those who were empty, paling in eternity's shadow. I opened my eyes wider, trying to get a bearing on my surroundings. My head thrummed loudly, protesting my movement as it rang out in my ears. I braced myself against my elbows anyhow.

Legs that were slender and long walked across the room. Taking a seat the slight, slip of a woman sat in an overstuffed arm chair across from me. Her hands folded gently into her small lap. She sat patient, quietly, a small gentle smile tucked into the corners of her mouth.

"Where..? Who? What happened?"

The ringing reached another octave as I tried to clumsily formulate my questions.

"You made it. So few have the ability to scale this mountain. I rarely get visitors. Must be at least three centuries since someone last came up here."

She reached forward and I squeezed my eyes shut anticipating nothing but fearing the worst. I could hear her pause in her movement momentarily. Then the sound of a cup being lifted from the table. Like a child afraid of rebuke but unable to be left unknowing, I peeked out to see a room with nothing amiss. The environment was just as gentle, just as comforting as it had been since I first felt the warmth of the fire.

"I can see you've been through a lot, as tends to be the case with most people that journey this far. Well, you can rest now. Nothing will happen to you here. You're in a safe place."

She had such a calming air about her. Like the snow outside she had an affect that felt like slumber even when she spoke. Despite my better judgement, I closed my eyes and feel into a deep sleep.

Dreams evaded me and I slept in an infinite darkness like that of a peaceful tomb. When I woke again the snow had lightened to a faint dusting. The stars outside the quaint windows shone weakly in their dim blue light.

More rested than I could remember being in so many long months, years really. Had it been one, two years? I couldn't remember the last time I had felt at such peace outside the Dark Palace. I stretched out along the small patchwork sofa and wrapped the soft blanket tighter against myself as I sat up.

I looked around but I couldn't see the gentle woman anywhere. A cold cup of tea sat untouched on the coffee table before me. Greedily, I reached out and drank it. The taste of flowers, spice and dirt. Even at room temperature, the brew seemed to warm me all the way to my bones. I sat back, clutching the coveted cup with both of my hands. It seemed to be a lifeline in this abandoned winter wasteland. A desert of snow and ice surrounded the tiny cottage. I felt marooned in the little bit of light. It seemed fitting, reflective of my soul. The little light inside me waivered against the encroaching darkness. Practically snuffed out by my sins and the sufferings that followed.

I bowed my head in shame, in reverence. How could I deserve kindness when I had done such wrong to others? I allowed my heart to break wide open. I allowed the tears to fall freely as I thought about my victims. As I thought about their families that had to suffer. As I thought about my own loved ones that had suffered at my hands. I have deserved all of this, and they have deserved none.

I tried to sniff back the self-loathing. Whatever the past was now, there was no changing it. All I had left was the question of what I could do about it? How to save them?

The door creaked open and a gust of cold air blasted into the room. A shiver rolled through me.

"Sorry."

The kind woman threw off her hood casting clumps of powdery snow onto the hardwood floor. She stomped her boots knocking off more snow and shrugging out of her coat. She hung her coat on the rack by the door and placed her boots neatly beneath it beside the door.

Clearer now than I had been earlier it was easy to see that she was in fact an iridescent blue color. Her skin was the hue of snow in the moonlight. I sucked in a slight breath. Never in my existence had I seen a faerie like this, but right away I knew what she was. Some unwonted reference book on the history and origins of the Fae folk in the library at the Dark Palace, I had read many times as a young girl whilst looking for my own origins had sprung to mind. An excerpt about Winter Faeries. They were amongst the oldest and most powerful of our kind. Remote, isolated beings they were thought to have died out long ago.

I could not suppress the astonishment on my face and we looked at each other with a new sense of recognition. Her small smile grew ever so sightly and she settled herself across from me comfortably.

"I see you understand what I am. My friends call me Bleu."

Her warm smile grew and I couldn't help but return one, small and tight though mine was. She relaxed and closed her eyes with a sigh.

Without opening them she began to sing in soft, high notes. Her voice was angelic and it worked to soothe the broken pieces in my ravaged soul. I closed my eyes and drank in her melody as eagerly as I had drank the tea in my cup. Holding onto each sound as if it was a sacred prayer from the lips of an ethereal being.

"Coral, tell me what you know about your origins."

Her eyes never opened but I felt sure she was vaguely aware of my shock at her mentioning my name. So, she too, knows me.

"I don't. I don't know anything about where I came from or who begot me, or who abandoned me. My first memories were at the age of 7 in the Dark Forest where Cove and Lucius found me. I remember nothing before that."

Bleu's eyes opened to stare at me intently. Her eyes blazed like the blue flames in a fire. Hot and yet like they could freeze you with their burning. Her hair so fair it looked almost white. She was old, ancient, even by the standard of the immortals and yet her youth was prevalent. It came from some place within. Some place untouched by the outside world.

"Nothing? Really? You don't remember the sun? The bright blinding light... How about your father?"

My mouth hung open and it took concentrated effort to close it. I could not understand how this Faery who by any means shouldn't exist at all, was able to describe my dream so accurately. What could she know?

"I... I don't know. Have we met before? Do I know you?"

"Oh, no not really. I know your parents. Well, I knew your mother and although I haven't seen him in ages. I knew your father as well. That's less important though. The most important thing is you. You must understand, you are the key."

"What does that mean? Why does everyone keep saying that? I'm not a key to anything, unless it's to suffering and pain."

The pain and shame of guilt overwhelmed me and I buried my face in my hands. I couldn't stand the idea of a creature so benevolent and wise looking at me after everything I had done.

She waited and when she spoke again her words were gentle but true.

"Yes, that's part of it. It's not your fault. It's the duality of your nature. You've not been taught. You've been left to the wilds to try and figure it out for yourself. I had a feeling this might happen."

She shook her head, casting stray pointed locks of her short, light hair to fall into her eyes. With the back of her hand she wiped them away and with them her sad thoughts too, it seemed. Her smile grew.

"Yes, you have a great power of both creation as well as destruction inside you, but just look at how far you've come. Even I didn't know if you'd be able to get this far. You've proven yourself much stronger than anyone thought."

She nodded to herself in satisfaction and took another sip from her cup. I had a million questions I wanted to ask but they wouldn't form on my lips and I waited in silence for her to continue.

"You are not a Dark Faery. Not entirely. Only half. Before I tell you more about your parents though, tell me what do you know about The Prophecy?"

"What prophecy?"

For the first time since I arrived Bleu looked momentarily shocked. She huffed with slight agitation and even more acceptance. Rolled her eyes and set her cup on the table, as she pulled herself into a more upright position. I, too, sat up with anticipation. Bleu had called me the key, but I had a feeling she had more insight about what was unfolding than anyone else so far. Like a dam bursting its gates, a flood of knowledge was about to drown my small view of the world. I was eager to let all my preconceived notions float away.

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