the Stirring || Book 1 of the Amatori Chronicles

Chapter 7

"My parents..." I whispered, "They were Faeries?"

"They weren't just any faeries," Mari said. "They were king and queen, rulers of the Faery kingdom. Some say that they were the best rulers the kingdom had ever seen." She closed her eyes in remembrance.

"What happened to Darian?" I suddenly questioned. "Where is he now? Did he die?"

Mari shook her head. "Unfortunately not. He's somewhere in the Shadow Realm, gaining back his power."

I stood and started pacing back and forth. Mari followed me with her eyes, and when I stopped, I avoided her stare. "Mari...am I that child in the prophecy? Am I the one that's supposed to defeat Darian?" My eyes widened. "Wait, that means that if I kill him, I'll be killing my own uncle."

"Yes." She nodded sadly. "It is a shame to think that I fell for him once. Darian was a good man...he just became corrupted with hate."

"You said that Faeries have powers right?" I asked.

"Uh, well each very is born with a magical power--the ability manipulate something—"

"What's your power?" I interrupted.

"Earth," she answered, lifted her hand and flicking her fingers at a wilting flower sitting on the coffee table. Slowly the flower changed from sad and droopy to bright, vibrant and healthy, its beautiful sweet scent filling the air. "See?"

"Whoa." I gaped at the flower in awe. "That's amazing. What about my parents? What were their powers? And what's mine?"

"Your power is yet to be determined," Mari told me thoughtfully. "But because of the burns you gave your friend, I would have to guess that you will have the power of fire. But I cannot be sure. The prophecy says that you will be the most powerful faery to ever live. As for your parents, your mother had the ability to control and summon the wind, and your father could manipulate and make fire. They made quite a team when they fought together."

Another question entered my mind. "Do faeries have wings? Or is that just a myth?"

"Of course we have wings." She said it like it was the most obvious answer ever. "Yours just haven't grown in completely."

"What do you mean by that?" I looked over my shoulder as if to check and see if I had feathers sprouting from my shoulder blades. "How do I hide wings when I'm in public?"

Mari's eyes glinted and she stood so that her back was facing me. I frowned and tried to look past her.

"Um...Mari...what are you doing?"

Her hands reached behind her, and to my horror, she lifted her shirt so that her back was revealed to me. I almost cried out and hid my eyes, but stopped when I saw two enormous tattoos on her back, in the shape of folded wings. The ink was black, and the tattoo went from the top of her shoulders all the way down into her pants. The tattoo was so large that it took up most of her back, and the feathers looked so real.

"Oh my God, Mari—where did you get that? How did you get that?" I exclaimed, pointing at it in both disbelief and wonder.

She pulled her shirt back down and turned around to face me again, this time there was a grin on her face. "I was born with it."

"That's no birthmark, Mari. That's a freaking tattoo!"

"Yes. But that tattoo makes me who I am," Mari said importantly. "Without it, I would just be a woman who can make plants healthy again."

"Wait," I tried to swallow down my excitement and fear, "are you telling me that those tattoos are your wings? How is that possible?"

She nodded with a sad look on her face. "Yes. But unfortunately, I cannot use them. I gave that up the moment I decided to raise you."