A Court of Mysteries and Secrets

Chapter 5

I ran to Ressina's shop, to full of energy to walk.

She was just unlocking the door when I ran up.

"Hello," she said with a chuckle.

"Hi," I said with a grin.

"You must be my apprentice," she said, scanning me.

"I'm Feyre, it's nice to meet you," I said with a bright smile.

My first proper smile since the accident, it fell soon after.

"I have a good friend called Feyre and she comes in quite a lot, do you have a nickname, so it doesn't get confusing?" She asked as she showed me to the back room.

"Most people call me Fay, but if you don't like it, you can pick something else, I really don't mind," I told her with a shrug, putting my bag on the hook she pointed to.

"Fay is a lovely name, now, do you think you could show me that sketchbook from yesterday?" She asked, eyes flicking to the bag.

"I still don't have a lot done, but yes," I said, walking back over to the bag.

I pulled my sketch book out and opened it to the first page.

"They aren't amazing, I've done better with coloured pencils, that's what I'm best at, even though black and white images are a close second." I told her as I gave her the book.

She looked at my opening page, I had drawn my back garden, well Rowan's back garden now. He was sat in the grass with Apollo and Zeus.

I wanted something from home that I could keep forever.

"This is amazing Fay, would you like to do it in colour?" She asked, I looked up surprised.

"That would be great, if you don't mind," I said, tears threatening to spill.

"I'll set you up, I need to see your strengths and weaknesses anyway," she told me with a soft smile, gesturing to the bench where her till was sat.

"You do that piece in colour while I set up, how does that sound?" She asked, I grinned.

"That sounds amazing, thank you so much," I finally felt full of life.

I faded my pencil lines before beginning to colour. I generally didn't use regular pencil. I used many quick coloured pencil strokes to create an image with stronger coloured lines for outlines when necessary.

As my garden began to take life, I felt a pang of homesickness. This all happened so quickly. I barely had any time to mourn my parents before I plucked up the courage to open the letter.

Now I was mourning my whole world. My brother and dogs. It felt strange mourning someone who was still alive.

"Fay?" Ressina asked gently, taking my shoulder.

I realised there were tears sliding down my cheeks and I hastily wiped them away, checking they didn't get on the paper.

"Sorry, I'm fine," I said in a rush before continuing with my work.

"You are too young to bare burdens alone, you can tell me what is wrong." she told me as she sat in the chair next to mine.

"I'm just missing my family, my home, I'm fine, really," I told her as I continued to draw.

"If you ever want or need to talk about anything, you can come to me, ok?" She asked, taking my hand.

"Ok," I whispered, and she let me work.

I lost track of time as I drew, I wanted to make it perfect. I needed to remember my brother's face, my only surviving family.

I put the finishing touches to my work, using a fine liner to go over the name in the cloud. I don't know the date yet so I would need to work that out.

Once I was happy, I looked up, Ressina was talking to a customer across the store, I could wait.

"Hello," a stunning female said, standing in front of the desk.

"Hello, can I help you?" I asked, my awful people skills showing though.

"Oh no, I'm waiting for Ressina to come, we are going out for lunch," she said with a small laugh.

I nodded and turned the page in my book and carried on sketching out the different fae parts. I was finding the wings the hardest, I had only seen them on me, and I couldn't quite get the shape right.

"You are a very good artist," she complimented, looking at my work.

"Thank you, but I still have a lot to learn," I told her, erasing the bottom of the wing again.

"I'm Feyre by the way, what's your name?" She continued.

I froze, shit, now what did I do?

"Oh, um, well my name is Feyre too, but everyone calls me Fay," I whispered.

"Feyre, leave my apprentice alone!" Ressina scolded.

"I was just being friendly," Feyre defended.

"How are you getting on Fay?" She asked, turning kind eyes to me.

"I'm done," I told her, giving her the book.

I picked at the skin on my thumb while I waited for her reaction.

"This is really amazing Fay, the shop is closed over lunch so you can either stay here or go out into the city for an hour, it's up to you." She said as she collected her things.

"I'll stay here if you don't mind, I'm still trying to get this right," I told her, blushing a little.

She nodded and left me alone, the closed sign up.

I once again tried to get the wings right, but I just couldn't. I let out a frustrated sigh before moving onto the next page.

I went back to my comfort zone and started a coloured piece. I drew a beach this time, the sun setting in the background.

Ressina came back alone and looked over my shoulder.

"That's beautiful Fay," she complimented.

"Thank you," I whispered, blushing.

"Now, let me show you exactly where everything is kept so you can help customers," she said.

She spent the rest of the day explaining things to me, how the shop ran, things like that.

By the time I went home I was exhausted.

As soon as the door closed behind me the silence pressed in. I was alone again. I didn't bother eating that night, I went straight to bed and cried myself to sleep.