Sacrifice for a Wish

Chapter 11

When I opened my eyes, my eyes were staring back at me which was shocking. We were both covered by our respective blankets, and I could feel the warmth from my family woven through the strands. I turned my head around to see Stone laying behind me and the rest of my Lost Boys were spread out behind him. I peeked over Lark's shoulder and noticed the same. Gryphon, Silk, Mercury, Tick and Tock were laying behind Lark.

I opened my mouth to ask what time it was when Lark put her finger to her lips and then pointed to the door. I nodded, and hand in hand we carefully got up, leaving our blankets in the makeshift bed. We opened the door quietly and snuck out like small children.

"I want to show you something," Lark whispered. She glanced over her shoulder to see if anyone followed us but when no one did she pulled my arm to follow her until we reached a door that led outside.

My feet were freezing, and I didn't want to walk outside in the cold. It was colder here then it was in Weverland. "Lark, it's cold out there. Do you have any shoes I could borrow?"

I saw the rainbow from last night when Sir Rupert left the room, this time I saw him slide into the room like the rainbow was a portal. My eyes were wide in shock. Sir Rupert held up two pairs of rainboots, and two warm sweaters one in a mossy green and one in sky blue. He also had a small basket with two hot drinks and warm croissants.

"I don't drink coffee, I'm sorry," I told Sir Rupert sadly. It was so kind of the Leprechaun to bring us the food and drink.

"Dinna fash, lassie. It's just a wee spot of hot chocolate," Sir Rupert told me in his thick brogue. "Dinna take her out too far, you know how it can with the beasties."

"I just want to show her the orchard. Thank you Rupert," Lark smiled as she sat in a chair next to me pulling on the warm socks, rain boots and sweater. When we were both dressed Lark took the two travel mugs of hot chocolate and the large croissants out of the bag. She handed me one of each and I enjoyed the smell of the hot chocolate and baked good.

"When the Princes wake up, let them know we went into the orchard and we'll be back soon," Lark informed Sir Rupert. Sir Rupert bowed and left on his rainbow.

We walked out on to the terrace that overlooked a picturesque apple orchard. The sun was shining brightly over the trees and small sparkling creatures went from one tree to the next, almost like glowing hummingbirds, "what are those?"

"Sprites, they take care of the orchard. They tend the trees. They are related to the Pixies who maintain the herb gardens. They bring water to each of the plants, weed, and sing to the plants so that the herbs are always happy and healthy. The Sprites and Pixies have a bit of a rivalry going on," Lark explained as we walked through the orchard sipping our chocolate.

When we got to the center, one large tree stood out from the others. "Is this Arthur's tree? The one from your story?"

"It is," Lark answered quietly.

The magic from the tree sang in my veins, it seeped into me and made me feel relaxed and at peace. We sat down under the tree with our backs to the trunk, our knees up and watched the Sprites work. If you stayed still and quiet enough, you could hear their small voices sing.

One Sprite ventured closer than his cohorts. I laughed when I saw him perform gymnastics in the air. Lark and I enjoyed the young Sprite's antics. When he finished his show, he flew even closer and landed on my knee, I was able to see him in better detail.

He had long blonde hair with stripes of purple streaking it and long braids wrapped around his head. His ears though not as long as Mercury's were still very pointed. His eyes didn't look like a human's, they were completely purple. He was bare chested but wore black pants that cut off at his knees and a belt of silver that hung low on his waist. His wings were the most beautiful lavender, lilac and plum. They were almost translucent lavender at the top, and then darkened to a deep plum towards the bottom. They were coated in a shimmery dust that flew everywhere whenever he moved his wings. When he did move them, they moved so fast all you could see was the sparkle behind him.