The Tree's Heart

XXI

Clover didn't hear anything from Willow for days. She had no idea if Willow was going to come and save her, whether she had even gotten the message. She was starting to panic, which meant that she was confined to her bed for most of the time, since she also hadn't eaten since she had gotten here.

She couldn't eat anything the fae offered her. She couldn't drink anything they offered her either, but she got around that by collecting some dew in the mornings and getting some rainwater whenever it was raining. She could move around the area completely freely, but Clover didn't want to do that. She wanted to stay in her room and wallow in self-pity. Besides, she didn't have the strength to get out much.

Clover knew that Avery was getting impatient with her for not eating. If the whole wedding ceremony went according to plan and Willow didn't come to save her, then she would have to become fae. It was either that or starving herself and Clover wanted to live. But for now, there was still a chance of escaping, even though it was a very slim chance. The three days until the wedding seemed to stretch out endlessly.

Clover found it more and more difficult not to eat anything. She was hungrier than she had ever been before, and she was once again starting to forget why she was even putting up so much of a fight against this. After all, she could be immortal and live forever in this beautiful part of the forest. She could be a queen. She could have anything she wanted, really. And it would be so much easier to just give in.

She'd be able to eat something then, she'd be able to enjoy all the beautiful things around her, and she could stop being on her guard constantly. One thing that made it a little easier for her was that everyone seemed to be incredibly busy with preparations for the wedding and they had little time to try and bother her. If they had been around her constantly, offering her food and drink and all kinds of gifts, Clover was sure she wouldn't have been able to resist for very long. But the other fae being busy was a big help.

Still, the day of the wedding was drawing nearer. Clover found it nearly impossible to get any sleep. She was worried, she was anxious, she didn't know what was going to happen. She had no idea how the ceremony was going to work and what she would do if Willow never did show up. She was worried that Willow might have gotten sick of her constantly needing her help, constantly getting in trouble.

She wouldn't have blamed her. So far, Clover had been nothing but trouble for Willow. She was always running off, always doing things she wasn't supposed to do. All this time Willow had just been trying to keep her safe and could she really fault her for being a little gruff with that? After all, Willow probably hadn't been around another human in years. She was always careful, always conscious of not doing anything that might lead to catastrophe. And then Clover just kept running headlong into danger.

Clover got up early on the day of the wedding. She wasn't able to sleep either way and she wanted to gather some dew drops, because she was feeling incredibly thirsty. She knew she wasn't going to be able to make it through the day without some water. And early in the morning she was largely being left alone. Most of the fae were still asleep and the few that were around seemed to be very busy.

Clover descended from her room in the tree and made her way down to the ground where some plants were sprouting that had leaves large enough to gather a somewhat substantial amount of morning dew. It really wasn't Clover's favourite thing to drink, but in the absence of anything else she was happy to get whatever liquid she could. She laid down on the moss-covered ground and bent her neck, so she could drink the dew that had gathered directly from the leaf. She was glad that she got to lie down for this, because the walk down the tree had already exhausted her and made her feel dizzy. She drank all the dew that had gathered in the leaf, but it just left her wanting for more.