The Woods

Chapter Seven

The next few days passed swiftly, and I followed a simple routine: Get up, have writing and history lessons, stroll with Casper in the gardens, and then dine with the king and prince in the evening. Despite the schedule's simplicity, I did not become bored. Each lesson taught me more and more about the people keeping me in captivity, and I was eager to learn to read properly so I could find out more about their kind. Casper's writing lessons did give me basic knowledge, but it wasn't enough for me. I needed to know more than four sentences a day.

Having more power than the Below, the Above fought them with ease and had little trouble holding their line. But, in desperation, the Below turned to the other race for assistance: the humans. The humans, being mortals, had hearts poisoned by greed and selfishness, and craved new lands for their kingdoms. The rulers would do anything to get these lands, so they agreed to work with the Below to find the weakness of the Above.

Decades passed and the successors to the mortal kings took control, the new rulers more cunning than the last. They soon discovered the location of the tree and dug into its roots, collecting its precious sap from which they could collect its very essence. They created spears and arrows from this substance and stormed the castle in the middle of the night, slaughtering four of the twelve Houses. But, failing to realise they too would be affected by the tree's essence, the Below began to collapse in battle and die.

The humans, being unaffected by the essence, fought on, but were overpowered without the assistance of the Below. They were driven out of the forest and forced to return to their own lands. The king at the time, King Luther of the Fox House, called upon the sorcerer of the forest and commanded him to create a curse upon the humans. Until the race died out, they were to sacrifice a maiden of age every five years as penance for their acts against the Fae.

Their history certainly was fascinating, albeit brutal and bloody, and I was restless while waiting for my next lesson. Three days later, I was surprised to walk into the study and see a woman with Casper. She had long raven hair that tumbled down to her waist and deep forest-green eyes that studied me intently. Sticking out through her hair were two cat ears and she had a black tail with a white tip, which flicked almost as if she were irritated.

"Good morning, Fida," Casper said. He was flicking through the usual history book, looking bored.

"So, is this the one who the Woods chose?" the woman asked. Her voice was soft and sweet; fitting considering she seemed to be from the Cat House.

"Yes, she is. Fida, this is my wife, Merilyn."

"A pleasure to meet you, Fida," she purred. Fitting for someone from the Cat House. I offered her a smile.

"And you," I replied, unsure of how to address her. Being Caper's wife, she would be considered a princess, but did she expect formalities? Seeming to realise my thoughts, her smile widened, and she took a step forward, making me recoil slightly. She giggled and I felt my face pale.

"Honestly, Merilyn, why is it that you always do this?" Casper muttered. He grabbed her wrist and tugged her back, making her sit in a chair beside him. She pouted and the intimidation I felt seemed to disappear in a heartbeat. "Now, Fida, take a seat and we will start the lesson. I've watched you improve immensely over the past few days, and I believe you have a firm foundation in your reading abilities. So, from now on, I'd like you to start reading the books yourself. All you need now is practice."

He passed me a dusty book, different to the one he had been using throughout the week, and I began to read. At first, I struggled with some words, but by pronouncing the words in my head, I managed to find a rhythm and identify the words more easily. I struggled to pronounce some of the more complex words, but compared to where I was just several days ago, the improvement was immense.