The Beauty of Mist, the Beast of Dawn {INDEFINITE HOLD}

Chapter 13: The Witch

The world is still. I am eight again and facedown on the ground, under my favorite tree in Ilah's park. The pungent smell of earth and the grittiness on my tongue suggest that I have been in this position for a long time. There is a throbbing in my jaw as if I have been punched. That cannot be; I've never gotten myself into a brawl before. I don't intend to ever get myself into one.

I must have fallen from the tree, I reason to myself. Yes, that's it. I fell from the tree. It does not seem right, but it seems more reasonable than if I'd been punched.

I push myself up from the ground.

"Oh good, Darling. You're up," a voice says cheerily.

I nearly tumble back down in surprise. I turn to see a smiling woman sitting at the base of the trunk. "I'm sorry?"

"I've been watching over you for the past hour. I was beginning to wonder when you'd wake up," she explains, just as cheerfully.

"I've been laying face-down in the dirt for an hour? How did I get here?"

"You fell from the tree, I imagine. Quite a nasty bruise you got from it, but it's nothing a concealing potion cannot fix.," she winks. "Even your anti-bruise draught should conceal it."

I hastily check myself. My mist is hidden among the folds of my dress. I gape at the woman. "How—how do you know about my magic?"

She chuckles. "I know you, Myalah. And even if I didn't, I would say you have this air about you that feels... magical."

I squint at the woman. How could this stranger possibly know my name?

She reads my expression and chuckles again. "Myalah, I am a good friend of your family, particularly your mother."

"My mother? But she's—" The realization hits my fast and hard. It's not logical, but then again, nothing about magic is logical. 

"You're the late queen. Queen Dalilah." I scramble into a clumsy curtsy. "I'm so sorry, Your Majesty."

Queen Dalilah waves her hand dismissively. "There's no need," she says, "just call me Dalilah."

"But, Your Majesty—"

She sighs. "I see James has taught you well. But, as I said before, I am a good friend of your family. Please just call me Dalilah. Plus, we are short on time."

"Short on—" Again, it dawns on me before I complete my thought. "How are you here in the first place? You're..."

"Dead. Yes, I know. Let's just say your mother and I are still close friends in the afterlife. She is a powerful witch, you know."

"My mother sent you here? Why?"

"Have you forgotten my relationship to you? Directly to you? Surely, you must know. James must have told you."

I rack my brain. She is right; my father must have told me at some point. He wouldn't keep something this important from me. Still, I come up empty.

I shake my head. Queen Dalilah, Dalilah, sighs. "I am your godmother," she informs me.

I have a godmother? Instead of showing my confusion, I nod and ask, "Why are you here? Why now?"

"You needed to be watched over. I have been watching you your whole life, and Destiny has it that we'd meet in person today."

"Destiny?"

"Destiny, Fate, whatever you want to call it. But your story has been written in the stars for thousands of years."

"How... comforting."