Deep in the Bavarian woods, where the faerie realm touches on the human world lies Schloss Mondschein. Owned by a corrupted human family, the castle is the playground of the Fae. The human staff are their toys.
Servant's daughter Andromeda Arendt h...
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She woke up on that same floor to the scent of snow, pine trees, and cinnamon. A warm glow embalmed the cuts her wings had torn through her skin. "North?"
"Give me one more second, phantom. I'm almost done, and then I'll get out of your face." His husky voice wrapped around her with a familiarity that send a pang to her heart. Her brain remembered that she was angry with him, but all other working parts of her were happy to find him close.
"I have wings," she whispered, as his healing power spread blissfully through her back. "I have fucking faerie wings."
"You absolutely fucking do." It was the first time she heard him swear. He smiled at her, a little wistfully. "And not just any faerie wings. Yours are pixie wings, which means you can now create your own pixie dust."
He reached into the pocket of his cloak and out came a velvet pouch that he placed on the floor in front of her. "And here I am, arrogant enough to think you needed me to bring you this. Turns out you didn't need me at all."
"Is that ...?" She wriggled a finger through the opening of the pouch and peered in.
"Your pixie dust. I shouldn't have taken it in the first place."
She dipped her finger in, and as she retracted, admired the minuscule particles glittering on the tip.
"Careful, that's powerful stuff," North said, but she was already blowing. The powder hit North from the wrong angle and lifted his legs in the air. Amidst his sudden tumble, he grabbed Andromeda's elbow and took her with him. "Oh sorry ... that was not ..." He groaned.
Together, they whooshed several feet off the ground, made an unguided backflip, and landed with their capes over their heads in a heap on the floor, giggling like ten-year-olds.
"North Winterborn, please. Could you get a move on?" That was Akela's voice and while Andromeda clawed her way from her cloak to see her, another voice reminded her of the gravity of what she was doing here.
Pa's frightened voice reverberated through the mirror. "Andy girl? Are you alright?"
"My parents ..." She scrambled to her feet.
"With your wings and pixie dust, you can save them, Andromeda."
"Marian?" She hadn't noticed her friend standing behind North before. Had they all come to support her?
"I'm sorry," Marian said when their eyes met, "so sorry."
This was all too much at the same time. The hurt and anger in her heart hadn't cleared out yet, but she was happy to see Marian and grateful for the apology. So in the absence of a full understanding of her feelings and having no articulate things to say, she just nodded and then swung around for the mirror.
She took a deep breath and spread her wings, taking the time to feel them stretch as she allowed oxygen to spread through her lungs and body. A wicked, celebratory feel buzzed through her, but a dash of fear remained and kept her from launching herself into flight. What did she know about being a pixie? She didn't want to blow up Hawthrone ... or herself. "Ma!" she shouted, "how do I do this?"
