wings glimmering with soft lig

r, her legs crossed mid-air like

ms folded, glaring like I had j

eddy bear like it was a shield. "What did you mean?"

t me, her expression shiftin

hat?" "The mark on your back," she clari

left in this world." I instinctively touched the spot

pulsed gently under my fing

ntinued. "A child born with t

cannot. A child who can either

ll... fuzzy," she admitted. Grumpy finally spoke.

ken yet. And you certainly w

ident than I expected. "I've a

else notices... creatures that vanis

It's how we knew you were the one." I s

. You can pretend this never happened, go back to your normal life.

said gently. "It grows wild in those who don't embrace

uses you." I stared at them. Part of me still wanted to believe this was all a dream. Bu

e air, and I found myself standing before t

ng akin to joy, reality proved less kind. The walls were grey,

ose cruel words that had etched themselves into my memory like scars. That eve

r. I sank onto the grass, letting the silence wrap around me like a blanket. But just as I began to bre

psed, gasping, nearly losing consciousness. Before everything faded,

ore the pain crescendoed, until it became unbearable. Then-nothing. I awo

for my collapse could be found. No fever, no wounds, no abnormalities. Just

ller than I had in years. The next morning, the door creaked open, and to my surpri

terile stink' of the hospital, while Echo tried to en

ifted my spirits, and I momentarily forgot my long

strange tension suddenly crept in-an unsettling stillness, as if the wo

slow and deliberate. Curious and uneasy, I descend

f my heart. At the door stood a woman-tall, cloaked, and drenched by rain. I couldn't

oman walked with quiet purpose toward the study. Moments later, my mother appeared, her

ecided. The next morning, I awoke to news that would change my life: the mysterious woman was

ike a bandage slapped over a wound no one wanted to see. Resentment burned w

ce, and a soft kind of sadness in her eyes. In the days that followed, I

n't dismiss my thoughts as childish. Slowly, she

ch care it nearly made me cry, and told me stories-not ordinary ta

he scar on my back. It was shaped like a half-moon, dark and sometimes b

recoil. Instead, she smiled softly and said, "There are old ways to ease pa

mething shifted. Nanny Margaret entered the room unexpectedly, and

ook a protective step toward me. They could

va, dear, would you be kind enough to fetch the book I left dow

nspoken panic, but I obeye

book Margaret had asked for, the

argaret's entire

the gentle, watchful presence she wore around

he said sharply, voice

t, arms still folded, but his u

ng nervously. "We didn't mean to

em fully. "You disobeyed d

We didn't mean to

"Decided the rules didn't apply to you anymore? You left the kingdom. You c

to bond. It just... happene

owed. "That is not y

muttered. "The mark was flar

!" Margaret snapped. For a breath, the storm outside

il, the laws, our safety-for wh

Echo said softly. "W

dying herself. Her voice was

te this is. The balance between realms is hanging by threads

nce

" Echo whispered.

e," Margaret said. "I know what she is. But y

So what, we're done?

e time is right-she will come to Phoenix. That is whe

aze softening

l see he

shimmered.

efore. She needs time. She needs to not know everything j

n charge. You'll report back to the Fairy King

tant nod. "Fine. But

kering across her tiny feat

t said, softer now. "Eve

d across the edge of the dresse

ut this time, he didn't argue. The

she found Margaret seated calmly in the armchair

my eyes scanned the room before

corner

bove the window-n

o sign of Echo's glow o

were

de. Nanny Margaret sat with the same calm grace, her h

, taking the book from my h

thing in her steady gaze made me hesitate. There was no sign of surprise, no indication th

id noth

de, my h

their names, to search again, but I forced myself to stay still. Maybe... maybe they had to go. Mayb

emptiness sett

ther story, something about a forgotten war between s

and the scent of moss and candlelight. The presence

tand it yet, something had

, I knew I'd

.. no