Heavy is the Head

Fae - 1

Chapter 31

✧"Elsewhere the sky is the roof of the world; but here the earth was the floor of the sky." - Willa Cather ✧

PART 4: EARTH

Corona was, as it happened, only a stone's throw away from the Black Forest so I didn't have very long to sit with Fae's words. We landed in the middle of yet another forest and the tip of Fae's brand new wand glowed fuchsia while she conjured up a tiny rose-pink cottage with flower-filled window boxes and adorable orange fairy lights and lanterns decorating the entrance.

"Welcome to my humble abode." Fae said, placing her hand on the heart-shaped doorknob and stepping out of the darkness into the soft, cosy light of the cottage. "Make sure you wipe your feet."

It was extremely small but efficient and tidy, with every essential piece of furniture neatly tucked away. Fae magicked up a spare bed for me, with light blue and cream sheets then transformed my white dress and wings into a lilac night dress. Embroidered neatly in the middle of one of the cushions lining one side were my initials in fancy, swooping lettering. I traced a finger over the blue thread. It was the exact same shade as the ice sculpture that another version of myself had become.  

"I would hurry up and go to sleep if I were you. We've got a busy day ahead of ourselves." Fae said abruptly turning off the lights. "Goodnight."  

And therefore, my first night back with Fae came to a rather unceremonious end, and I was left to lie in the darkness with an unrelenting ambush of images of the Snow Queen flickering through my head.

✧

This is what I knew about Corona, the home of my cousin, Rapunzel, Aunt Arianna and Uncle Frederic. It was an island kingdom located at the very heart of sunlight itself. Emblems of the sun could be found all over - on the coat of arms, on flags, tapestries and paintings. Right down to my extended family's surname, the van der Sonnes. Corona was also known for the most documented unsolved mystery of all time. The abduction of Rapunzel van der Sonne. 

I had only visited Corona twice in my world. The first time was shortly after Rapunzel was kidnapped because my parents wanted to offer their condolences (they immediately came to the conclusion that Rapunzel had been murdered despite my aunt and uncle's insistence that she was alive and well and being held for a ransom) and the second time was on Rapunzel's birthday when my aunt and uncle began their lantern launching tradition that would make the global news every year. I remember spending the entire trip wishing that I was the one who had been whisked away instead, being the attention-starved child that I was. 

Golden rays of light blasted through Fae's pastel pink curtains the second dawn began creeping over the mountains. The first thing on my mind when I woke up was no longer the Snow Queen's demise and was instead, intrigue as to what had become of my long lost cousin after all these years. 

"I'm going to stay here and try to make a portal to Arendelle while you sort out this wish." Fae told me, after she'd transformed my outfit into a blue dirndl with silver accents. 

"What if I need you?" I asked nervously. "Will you do the voice in my head thing again?"

"There's no need, you'll be fine." Fae said, handing me my wand and generating a series of golden lights to show me where I needed to go to find my cousin. "Just don't kill anyone."

I crossed my arms. "Seriously, what if it goes wrong?"

"It won't. Now, you'll need Gale again for this particular task..." Here, Fae summoned Gale who came crashing into the front garden, not quite slowing down in time and as a result knocking over several plant pots.