The WishKeeper (The Paragonia Chronicles) (33 page)

“I’ve always known how, Grayson. Maybe we just need more practice,” Miranda smiled and rested her head against his chest. He tucked his fingers under her chin and raised her mouth to his. It wasn’t a kiss to end all kisses, but one that would be merely the seedling of a thousand more.

Erebus fought through his cracking darkness, but when Miranda and Grayson touched their lips together, there was an instant of sudden silence, followed by the brightest of light blasts.

Thane pulled Shea away from the fire and wrapped his trembling arms around her. The Pool exploded with radiance and a True Love Wish was granted.

48

Paragonia Please

“I think you should stick around. As a matter of fact, I think it’s the best idea I’ve ever had,” Shea said. She was sitting on a banister that rimmed the stone veranda of Castle Paragonia and dangling her legs over the edge. The valley stretched out in front of Miranda and Grayson as they giggled at Shea’s little comment. The sun was a bright ball of warmth in the sky and the fairy homes lining the branches of the Paragonian forest each had their windows open, allowing in the soft cool breeze of another perfect day.

Life returned to the valley when Erebus was destroyed. His darkness even left the most remote corners of their land, and reports from the Fairy Intelligence Agency brought news that WishingScouts had found forgotten regions - regions of Paragonia that had been lost long before even Erebus’ rule. There was a rejuvenated sense of discovery in every little fairy and Keeper, and though not all of the Gates had reopened yet, WishGathering had returned at a very rapid rate. The Nursery was full again and it had been barely a week since The Breaking. The fairies had a name for everything, of course, and when the fog was lifted and Erebus was sent away for good, there was a breaking of more than just the darkness. There was a freedom to be and do what the fairies of Paragonia were meant to do - grant wishes - and the crushing inability to do so was finally broken.

Shea knew Miranda and Grayson weren’t going to stick around and, in a way, she was glad. Yes, of course, she wanted to them stay, but though she’d grown quite fond of the two Makers over the past week, she understood that now the Gates were reopened and safe enough for a Maker to pass through, her Grayson and Miranda needed to get back to their life. A life that needed a new beginning.

“We have some work to do at home,” Miranda said, smiling at Grayson as he rocked back and forth in a wooden rocking chair. He had a pipe in his mouth and was poorly puffing smoke rings.

“I don’t know. I kind of like it here,” he said. A sudden spat of coughing came over him as he swallowed a bit of the pipe smoke.

“That was Erebus’ pipe, ya know,” Shea said, holding back a laugh.

Grayson curled his lips and lightly set the pipe down, wiping his hands on his pants. Miranda stood and took her husband’s hand.

“Time to go home, your majesty.”

Sprinting onto the veranda, Thane stopped and saluted. He was wearing a green tunic and despite his burned wings, a look of wide-eyed excitement. Even though Thane hadn’t yet been officially sworn in as a WishKeeper, he was on his way and loved every second of his military duties.

“Your Gate awaits, WishMakers.” He lowered his hand and relaxed when Shea rolled her eyes. “What? Doing my job, here.”

“Whatever,” she sighed. She jumped off the banister, walked past Thane and smiled. When he smiled back, she stuck out her tongue and jumped away from Thane’s playful swat. Leaving Miranda and Grayson alone on the veranda, they ran out of the castle chambers, laughing.

The Makers looked out over the sunny valley, deep in thought. What had just happened? What had they just experienced? Ridiculous, really, to consider everything they had been through over the past few days, but there was a slight tinge of a notion that somehow this place was not going to simply be left behind after they had gone. It was a fantasy of a thought that Shea had when she said that they should stay, but when Grayson and Miranda turned and looked at each other, the whole of fairydom beneath their feet, all they could do was laugh and shake their heads. They truly did have to get home. As much as they felt an innate connectedness to the land, they couldn’t possibly belong there.

It was difficult for Elanor to feel at home in their little fairy cottage at the base of the tree. Most of her time after The Breaking was spent in bed, but she was feeling some of her strength return. Most of her strength came from her husband, however. The past week’s nights had not been kind to Elanor - waking from nightmares, and vomiting from the sudden onset of crippling headaches. Beren was there for her without complaint and she marveled at his ability to remain patient as she attempted to return to a normal life.

When she wasn’t sick or fighting another headache, she would sit in Shea’s room, looking out her bedroom window, and wonder how many sleepless nights her daughter had as well. How many hours did she spend in anger and confusion as to what had happened ten years ago? Though Shea would repeatedly tell her mom that she understood and wasn’t angry anymore, Elanor knew what it was like to be a teenager and couldn’t help but worry Shea was harboring secret frustration.

Beren noticed his wife’s depression right away. It was obvious, beyond the physical pain she was in, that she wasn’t comfortable and it would take a very long time to pick up the pieces of her life. He once again found Elanor crouching along the edge of Shea’s window seat, looking out over the green of the forest.

“The Makers left,” he said, as he joined her at the window. He lightly rubbed her back as she continued to look out the window.

“We’re still their WishKeepers. We’ll see them again soon.” She smiled without looking at him and placed her hand on his. After a long stare, Beren continued, “You look well today. Enough to go for a walk?”

“Did she ever talk to you about me?” Elanor asked. “I mean, really talk?”

His wife’s eyes were glistening wet, and though they were sad, he would always be happy to never see the blackness return to them.

“We didn’t have much a relationship, you know. She kept to herself mostly. You know Shea. She -“

“No. I don’t,” Elanor quickly said. It was a sadness that propelled her to cut him off. She wasn’t angry and when she squeezed Beren’s hand a little tighter, he understood.

“Well, you have time do so. And she’ll be happy to know you. Like I do.”

“I think a walk sounds like a good idea,” she said. “Was this Shea’s escape route?” She tugged on the rope ladder that draped over the edge of the window.

“Yes, but honey, you really shouldn’t…”

She just smiled at him and climbed down. Beren followed with a slow float next to her, helping her grip and slide down. She landed, holding back the slight pain in her side. Her ribs were still healing, but not completely repaired.

“Where to?” she asked.

Beren lead his wife through the quiet trees and listened to the birds chirp and sing. Shafts of light of the afternoon sun cut through the branches, illuminating the forest floor with a golden hue as they approached a small cabin tucked away behind a tall, ancient maple. The cabin’s chimney was lightly curling a bit of smoke into the air as Shea and Thane climbed out from behind a bush.

“Hi Mom. You’re out and about, finally,” Shea said, excited. She took her mom’s hand and helped her over a fallen branch. Since they couldn’t fly, a forest floor was a bit tricky to maneuver, but Shea liked the idea of helping her mom. Whether she needed the help or not, helping her allowed them to reconnect, even if they weren’t discussing anything of importance at the time.

Beren clapped Thane on the back and nodded at his WishKeeper uniform. “You still on duty?” he asked.

“No sir.”

“You’ll eventually learn the delight of removing your uniform after a long day’s work, Thane,” he said.

“Is this a surprise walking party, or something?” Elanor asked.

They all looked at each other and smiled. Approaching the front door of the little cabin, Beren waited for Elanor to get closer.

“Sort of,” Shea said. “For you, yeah, but more so for someone else.”

As they entered the little brown cabin, Elanor saw in the far corner a comfortable bed with white puffy feathers covering Avery as she sat up and sipped tea. Her eyes beamed when she saw Elanor. Roots of pink hair were sprouting near her scalp, pushing away the black, and tied in a thick braid. Though she was thin and sickly looking with inset cheeks and pale skin, the happiness that flowed through her was enough to momentarily erase any amount of remaining pain.

Avery had been bed-ridden since the night of The Breaking. The curse had affected her far greater than Elanor and her nightmares had become so violent, they sadly had to keep her in a secluded cabin so as not to frighten her neighbors. Beren, Thane and Shea would visit her every day and today was the first that Avery was able to sit up and consume any kind of liquid. Elanor had heard all about Avery’s illness and to finally see her sitting up in bed and smiling was like feeling the sudden warmth of a fire on a cold winter’s day.

Elanor hurried to Avery’s side and took her hand, kneeling next to her. “Avery. Oh, Avery, look at you. You’ll be up and retrieving wishes in no time. And your hair looks beautiful. Who did it?”

Avery blushed at this and giggled, looking at Thane. If Avery was blushing, Thane’s face was on fire.

“Thane? Seriously?” Shea asked.

“I don’t have much else to do until I get my Keeper wings and all,” he shuffled his feet. The group snickered and Elanor turned back to her friend.

“I never got the chance to apologize, ya know,” Elanor said.

“Apologize? Why would you apologize? Ellie, I was horrible,” Avery was legitimately confused.

“I’ve had a lot of time alone the past few days. With my thoughts, anyway,” she said, looking at Beren. He joined her and knelt next to Avery.

“I always knew what you were battling with, Avery. Before everything happened, I could tell how you felt and to be honest, I was frightened.”

Avery’s eyes welled up and she couldn’t keep eye contact with Elanor as she spoke. She’d always been ashamed of the feelings she’d had and wasn’t ever able to truly vocalize them.

“But after everything’s that happened, I want you to know that you will always be a welcomed addition to our family,” she choked through the last part, barely able to hold back the tears. “You will always mean so much to us. To me.”

Shea took hold of Thane’s hand and pulled him over to Avery’s bedside as Elanor and Avery hugged. As Shea stood there, watching her mom hug Avery, her father with a supportive hand on her mother’s back and Thane next to her, for the first time in her life she didn’t have anything to wish for. She had a family and with whatever adventure that followed, she would welcome it with confidence.

Epilogue

A police siren roared its way through a crowded city neighborhood. It echoed against brown brick apartment buildings as Grayson paused outside stone steps of a five floor, dusty tan complex that was pushed tightly between two other identical buildings. He looked down the tree-lined street, cars crammed along the curb barely inches from the next, and wondered what kind of new beginnings he might have there.

The passenger door of a moving truck creaked open and Miranda reached out her hand. “Uh, a little help, Mr. Brady?”

“Oh, God, sorry. Here, wait a minute,” he hurried over and grabbed her hand, wrapped his other under her arm and helped her down.

Miranda’s belly was bulging just enough to show the developing new member of their family, but Grayson was acting like she was ready to pop any day. She kissed him lightly on the cheek as she plopped down on the hard cement. They arched their necks and looked up at their new home as movers filed out and opened the rear of their truck.

“Can’t see much of the sun. Stars probably won’t be shining much either. All these lights,” he said. Slowly turning his head to see her reaction, he knew a pair of rolling eyes would be waiting for him. They laughed and took a shared step up the cobbled stairs. As Grayson opened the door for Miranda, he took one last glimpse at his neighborhood, smiled and followed, but not before a bright pink Purity Wish popped to life above his head and followed them inside.

Within the skinny alley alongside their complex, a white-bearded homeless man sat among greasy trash bags. A young woman pushing a stroller walked by, ignoring him. A purple Ladder Wish circled her head and for a moment swirled down toward the old man.

He opened his eyes, dark and ageless, and reached a hand slowly out of the covered newspapers. A wisp of grey fog danced along the edges of his fingertips and the Ladder rushed back to its Maker. A curled smile slowly crept across Erebus’ pale white face.

Here ends Book One of the Paragonia Chronicles.

For Those Who Made A Purity Wish For

The Author. Thank you.

The purest of hearts will grant the mightiest of wishes.

Stephen Rousseau

Beverly Timm

Notable WishKeeper Assignments

Through The Ages

Your WishKeeper is never further away than the making of a wish.

*Norderon of Greenway assigned to

George Normington, January 22, 1915

*Laila Riversong assigned to