Reflections of Light

Truth And Stories

Billy was poking a nest of pixies.

He knew he wasn't supposed to, he'd been told repeatedly not to, but he was bored and it was fun.

Wielding the large branch he'd acquired, he jabbed once more at the little creatures' home, and then raced away with a shriek of laughter as they angrily buzzed after him.

Flopping down breathlessly on a rock, he zipped open his rucksack and drew out a pad and pencil, opening it on his lap to scribble down notes on the crisp-clear paper.

Curiously, 'Grandma' the acid green snake peeked out of his collar to peer at what he was doing. Billy smiled at her happily and lifted his pad to show her his drawing.

"Et's a house. A big castle one! An' dats me, an' dats Mummy, an' dats my Daddy..." The young boy seemed to be practically bouncing with glee at his drawing, as he pointed out each hastily sketched figure in his drawing. "... An' dere's Nibs. Oh!" The pencil went back to the stick-figure sketch, as the boy scrawled in the forgotten crucial detail. "An' dats you! You're sittin' on Nibs' back, like ridin' a horse!"

With a huff of air, the boy dropped the drawing materials back in the bag and laid back against the rock, kicking his legs irritably. "I'm BORED! When's Mummy gonna be done torkin' to her friend? I want her to go e'splorin' wif me!"

"I don't know." Came the muttered reply.

Irritably, Billy stomped over to his babysitter, a friend of Mummy's friend as he'd been told; called Kieran, or Kian or something of the like. Billy hadn't really been paying attention.

"I wasn't torkin' to you. Fought you woz ignorwin' me."

"Just go back to playing with your toys." Was the weary reply.

Billy huffed, annoyed that the older man hadn't risen to the bait. " 'S borwing. You're borwing."

Luci pushed Mark back lightly with a hand to his chest, smoothing down her missed-up hair with a flustered chuckle. "Okay, kissing is nice, but we really do need to talk. I'm being serious this time. You cannot distract me."

"Fine." He chuckled. "What is it you've been trying do desperately to say?"

"Right..." Luci started, trying to order her scattered thoughts. "Well... It's about William. I'm... Going to tell him."

"You can't!"

"Why not?!"

"Because...  he's too young."

Luci scrunched up her nose. "Mmm... Not really. He's prooved old enough to start asking, so I think he can handle it."

"It's only going to upset him."

"It'll upset him more if he finds out from someone else. He's going to learn about the Dark war sometime, at school maybe; from his teachers maybe, or his friends..."

"Send him to a Mundane school."

Luci actually considered it for a second, then hurriedly shook her head. "No, he deserves better than that... Actually, I can see that going so very wrong.
Look, I just- I want to tell him the truth." She suddenly had to stifle a sob, a surprise wave of emotion washing over her.

Mark noticed, reaching out to catch her arms and comfort her.

"It's just... He's such a good kid!" Luci continued, voice shaking a little under it all. "Well, he is really. And he deserves to know where he comes from."

"But you don't know he'll understand. And he's happy as he is now; you can't say he'll be happy after he finds out."

"Happy and ignorant." Luci said bitterly.

"Luci, that's not fair..."

"None of this is fair! What part of this whole situation do you think is fair?
But do you want to know whose having it the most unfair? William! He's never done anything to deserve any of this; he deserves everything life has to offer him, and I can't give it to him, and I just... " She threw her hands up despairingly, blinking back tears.
"He deserves to know, Mark. He wants to know. It's all he's ever really asked for."

Billy was drawing swirls in the dirt with his stick when his mum called him over.

"William! Can you come here please- What have you been doing? You're filthy!" She made an exasperated noise, attempting to wipe the dirty smudge from his face and hurriedly flatten down his hair.
"Ugh, it doesn't matter." She said, more to herself. "Now, you've got to promise me you're going to be very grown up; this is a serious conversation, and I want you to properly listen, okay?"

Noting the serious tone in his mother's voice, Billy pushed aside his questions and nodded in agreement.

Taking his hand, Luci lead him around the corner; nerves curling in the small boys stomach.

"William..." Luci began. "... do you remember meeting my friend Mark?"

Billy nodded; suddenly looking so small and daunted as he looked up at the aforementioned man.

Seeing this, Mark crouched down to Billy's level, giving the boy a friendly smile.

"Hello, William. You've grown since I last saw you."

Billy shyed back against his mother.

"It's alright." Luci soothed, squeezing his little hand in comfort.

"... I heard you gave up your book." Mark continued. "Peter Pan, wasn't it? I like that one."

Slowly, Billy crept forwards, curiosity giving him a shy kind of confidence. "'S my favorwite."

"And your book was very special to you."

Billy nodded again, eyes downcast with sadness.

With a small twinkle of his eyes, Mark quirked his head. "Do you like stories? Would you want to hear one? A new one. A special one."

Billy considered his words, then looked inquisitively at his mother. She gave him a nod of encouragement.
Tentatively, the small boy stepped forwards, taking Marks offered hand.

Walking over to where they could sit, the boy looked expectantly at him, curiousity fizzing through his veins.

Mark chuckled at the boys apparent eagerness. "Once upon a time, there was a Princess and a Knight..."

Woohoo, its done! Hopefully this chapter works, hopefully it makes sense, hopefully it's not too long and draggy.
I think it's alright though.

Once again, many thanks to LucindasEveningLight for her help, both in this chapter and throughout the book.
Please check out her book, Fallen Queen, for the full story of Luci.