The Bird Witch (Dark Fairy Tale Queens - Book 5)

Episode 1 - Part 2

"You're very quiet," Hunter says to me later that night. We're sitting on the roof of our little cottage, listening to night bugs. He introduced me to this, sitting outside in the moonlight and just listening to sounds. It is peaceful and quiets the mind. We sit side-by-side, hugging our knees, wings overlapping behind us. It's as comforting as keeping an arm around each other, and much easier. I love watching the purple fade from the sky, leaving little diamond stars behind, glittering in the blue. So many stars they seem uncountable. Maybe this is why it's called the Star Realm.

It's not earth. And it's not heaven. A sort of bridge between, I guess. I'm not sure even the Sovereign can say where it truly is. No living human could find their way here, though we can go to them, instantly. Distance does not affect us here, though we are bound by time. Because we're still half-alive. Our fairy lives will end one day, though it usually takes centuries. What comes after? Well, none of us can know that, really. But I am hopeful.

Now and then, Hunter turns his head to touch a light kiss to my cheek, or slip his fingers into mine. But he can tell I'm distracted.

"I'm sorry," I say with a sigh. "I'm getting my first Needy Human tomorrow. I just wish I knew who it was."

"Ah." Hunter smiles in sympathy. He's got the warm, brown eyes of a deer, expressive and large. I adore his eyes. "Don't worry, it's probably someone you know."

"That's what I'm worried about," I say. "I want Zelly. And I don't want Cindy." I sigh again. "Who was your first Needy Human?"

"Barker," Hunter says simply. This surprises me. "Really? Your brothers never seemed needy at all." I'm referring to the Dwarves, a gang of monstrous, hulking men who all happen to be Hunter's half-brothers. Now disbanded. Large, bearded, brutish, and loud, they never seemed to have feelings of any kind.

"He often felt out of place, actually," Hunter says. "Never quite comfortable with the violence they committed in their active years, especially to women and children. You know, he's the only one who hasn't gotten married."

"I know. But why did he need you?"

"He was contemplating ending his own life," Hunter says. When I give him a startled look, he nods. "It was a dark time for him. But I helped him through it. Maybe you'll do something similar for your own family." He moves his foot to brush my bare toes briefly with his own. We do a lot of toe-touching.

"They seem fine. I mean it, they do." I check on this one or that one each day, through the mirror in our sleeping chamber. Zelly the most. No one looks desperate to me.

"Some people hide their problems well," Hunter says. "But tell me – why don't you want Cindy? Do you still hate her?"

I shake my head. "I really don't know what it is." I fidget with the skirt of my loose, burgundy dress. Most of the fairies favor soft pastels, but I prefer bold colors. And heavy gold bracelets. Sort of like a – gypsy fairy – if you can picture that. Subtlety is not my style. "I'm just fine with the way things are. Cindy doesn't need me, she has Zelly, and Zelly adores her."

"But Zelly is Zelly, and you are you." Hunter says with a kind look. "One doesn't replace the other, you know that. Do you have any good memories of your mother? I know you didn't get much time together, just those few weeks at the Dwarves' cottage."

"That wasn't bad. But I can think of only one good day we had together. And that was-" I can't help grinning. "-the day we defeated Lunilla."

Hunter looks amused. "Why?"

"Cindy was amazing. Fully in control. I remember Lunilla cowering in her throne, trying to act like she wasn't afraid. It amazed me that Cindy showed mercy to her, considering everything Lunilla did – to all of us. I mean, she told me and Zelly she was feeding us to the Beast – and she would have! But Cindy spared her, because she had a child. Still," I laugh and shake my head, "Lunilla did some fearsome shrieking when she was dragged out of the castle. It was great."

"So that was a day you admired your mother. Her competence. And her compassion," Hunter says, pushing back a tendril of my hair and tucking it behind my ear. "Qualities she has passed to you. I think what you fear is that your mother won't like you. But how could she not, when she sees how far you've come?" He makes an invitation to hold me, and I shift into his arms, grateful.

He may be right. I'm probably being silly. But that day with my mother – that one good day – was also the day I turned my back on her. Chose to stay with my father instead of her. And what an unqualified disaster that turned out to be! You can't tell me she doesn't think of it sometimes, that I chose Eddie first. Does she resent me for it? I don't know, but I can't change it now.

There are other things, too. Things I did. And there are my eyes – Eddie's eyes – to remind her with every glance of the cruel man who mistreated her. No, she will never be able to accept me. Not fully. I need to stay out of her life.

I listen to the blended music of the crickets, the breeze rippling through the leaves, the sleepy trickle of a nearby stream. I breathe deeply of the hyacinth-scented air, cooling my lungs. Tucked against Hunter, it's easy to feel the love coming off him. Fairies don't marry like humans do, but they spirit bond, a sort of intertwining of souls that happens when they fall in love. Cheating isn't possible because in spirit, you are one. When Hunter and I are near, I feel the aura of his love like a comforting mist around me, and he feels mine, which makes other expressions of love less crucial, though we still enjoy them.

Like now. Hunter is kissing me, tipping me back against the slope of the cottage roof. I forget about the Needy Humans for a little while. I am blessed. I am happy. I am loved.