Virtue - a Fairy Tale (3 page)

“Think?” Lily asked, trying not to let his outburst get to her. “About what?”

“I don’t know.” He glanced around, looking at the blur of dark trees around them. “What is that?”

“What?” Lily looked over at the forest next to the road. All the branches hung leafless and bare, the way they always had. “It’s the Necrosilvam.”

“The cursed forest,” he murmured, and slid off the horse.

“What are you doing?” Panic edged into her voice. “Why are you getting off the horse?”

“Do you trust me?” Lux looked up at her seriously. Whenever his eyes met hers like that, he found it hard to think clearly or breathe or do anything that didn’t involve pulling her close to him.

“I know that I shouldn’t,” Lily said quietly.

“True enough,” he allowed, and he held his hand out to her. “Get down.”

“What?” She stared at him without climbing off the horse.

“I need you to trust me on this.”

“What are we doing?” Lily took his hand and let him help her to the ground. The woods behind them echoed and groaned, as if waiting to swallow them up.

“You can’t go home,” Lux told her. “I mean that. You can
never
go home.”

“Why not?” Lily asked.

“You just can’t.” He was unwilling to explain his role, how he had conspired with her step-mother to kidnap her. “You need to go into the forest and hide out for a few days. Then go. And keep going, but never go home.”

“I can’t go in the forest!” Lily looked appalled. “I’ll be killed.”

“No, it’s your only chance of survival!” Lux told her forcefully.

Valefor was very good at tracking things he wanted, but other magic clouded out his. The Necrosilvam should have enough in it to block Valefor’s usual methods long enough for him to grow bored.

Lux would’ve offered to go with Lily, to try to protect her, but Valefor would grow more suspicious. He’d maintain his interest longer, and Lux would amplify her signal, making them easier for Valefor to find. It’d be far better for her to go it alone.

“I don’t know what I’ve done to upset you so!” By then, Lily had begun crying. She thought that Lux meant to leave her here to die. “I’m sorry! Please don’t make me stay here!”

“Listen to me!” Lux put his hands on her shoulders, steadying her before she got hysterical, and her skin felt like ice under his fingers. Touching her sent a surge of electricity through him, but it seemed to calm and focus her. “Whatever is in that forest is far better than what awaits you if I take you with me. Keep watch at night and sleep during the day. Stay to the ground in the dark and the trees during the light.”

“I don’t understand.” A tear slid down her cheek, nearly breaking his heart, and he let go of her.

“I know.” He slid off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. “Promise me you won’t go home.”

“Why?” She stared up at him, the moon glinting off the tears in her eyes.

“Promise me,” he repeated.

“I promise,” Lily said.

Even though she’d only known him an hour, and he was abandoning her in the cursed forest in the middle of the night, he knew that she’d follow through with her promise. She trusted him.

Lux watched her a moment longer. He wanted to kiss her, but he knew if he did he would never leave her. He got on his horse without saying a word, and he glanced back at her only once. She stood on the side of the road in her white ball gown with his jacket wrapped tightly around her, and then she turned and disappeared into the forest.

Lily stood a much better chance against some cursed trees than she did against Valefor. Lux raced off into the night, surprised by the ache in his chest that only grew larger the farther he got from Lily. He ignored it, though. He had more important things to worry about.

He didn’t even know what Valefor wanted with her. Lily was just a girl. She wasn’t even a princess. Lux could easily find some other girl and pass her off as Lily. Since Valefor was probably just using her in some kind of ritual or simply for fun, any girl would do. Lux had no problem getting a girl for his boss. Just not Lily.

3

Lily slid her arms through the sleeves of Lux’s jacket, the cuffs hanging over her hands. The dead trees around her seemed to breathe and reach their branches for her.  She crouched low to the ground, trying to escape their grasp and convince herself that it was all in her imagination. Trees didn’t assault and kidnap young girls, no matter what superstitions said.

Her mother had always told her to never be afraid of anything, and while that sounded like good advice, Lily couldn’t help but believe it was that kind of thinking that had gotten her in this mess in the first place. Any reasonable girl would’ve been afraid of a mysterious stranger swooping into a ball and taking her away in the middle of the night. Lux was a very attractive stranger, but that hardly counted for much.

But something about his smile, the way he looked at her, had enchanted her completely. His eyes were the palest shade of blue she’d ever seen, crystal clear and sparkling. As soon as she’d laid eyes on him, something had taken over her. She’d nearly run down the stairs to meet him. And then, despite every convention she’d been taught, she kissed him.

And oh, that kiss! Even thinking of it now, while nearly crawling on the ground of the Necrosilvam, her skin flushed warmly. It’d been more magical than she thought anything could ever feel, but she pushed it from her mind. It was that sin, which had seemed so small and slight, that had led to her to this. One little kiss, and she’d been abandoned here to die.

Lily knew she should be angry at him for taking her and leaving her like this, but she wasn’t. Despite everything, she trusted him. She didn’t understand what was happening, and it upset her that Lux didn’t think he could tell her. But the insistent look in his eyes before he left made her believe he was doing this for her. He was trying to protect her from something, although none of it made any sense to her. Especially since the Necrosilvam was so horrible.

The stories about the Necrosilvam were some of the worst, since it ran right along the end of Lily’s father’s land in Insontia. Past the rolling green hills, the foggy moors, and the pristine rivers, the dark shadows of the wood stood like tombstones in an overgrown cemetery.

Legend was that long ago a curse had been put on the trees so their limbs never had leaves, but they could never die. They were left haunted and possessed, only attracting creatures of a similar nature, and any man that entered, never came out of it alive.

Lily’s mother, Iris, had never been one for gossip, and when she heard the servants carrying on about all the horrible things that happened in the Necrosilvam, Iris would chastise them. Whenever her mother wasn’t around, Lily would hide down in the scullery closet and listen to them talk. They told the most fantastic stories about good and evil, and the cook in particular knew every superstition known to man.

Lily had yet to see anything terrible, but she could hear things scurrying about. Sometimes, she’d catch a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye, but when she turned to look, it was gone. She tried to tell herself it was all in her in head, but the insistent panic in her demanded otherwise.

One of the branches tangled in her long dark waves, and she jerked her head back, trying to pull it free, but it only caught more. When she turned back behind her, she could see the branch in the moonlight, making a fist to grab onto her tighter. All the trees around her were leaning in, moving in closer to her, their wood creaking and groaning as they bent at her.

Screaming, Lily ran forward. She managed to escape from the branch’s grasp, but only by leaving a few strands of her hair with it. Running ahead did no good, since trees were all around her. The wind whipped through them, sounding all too much like laughter.

Seeing no real way to get away from them, Lily fell on her knees. The ground felt wet and mossy, and it’s dampness seeped through her gown. She pulled Lux’s jacket up over her head, protecting herself the only way she knew how. She could feel the branches, running like claws down her back. Gritting her teeth, she steeled herself for whatever attack they might have.

But abruptly, everything stopped.

The trees groaned as they fell back into place, standing upright. Lily peered out from under the jacket, looking uncertainly at the woods. She waited a beat, suspecting some kind of treachery, but when there was none, she slowly lowered the jacket, letting it hang back on her shoulders, and got to her feet.

The forest had fallen silent around her. Nothing groaned or breathed. Even the wind had stopped. The scurrying creatures in her peripheral vision had disappeared.

Lily turned around slowly. The moon cast light on everything around her, and while there was still a sense of foreboding at even being in the Necrosilvam, everything had shifted. She didn’t understand it, but the imminent danger she had felt before had dissipated.

Pulling Lux’s jacket more tightly around her, Lily started walking forward. Whether things wanted to kill her or not, it wouldn’t do her any good to wait around. She had no intention of living in this cursed place forever, and she had to get somewhere she could rest and eat.

When she had tried running from the trees, her shoes had slipped off. She considered going back to look for them, but all the trees looked the same. She couldn’t tell where she’d lost them, or where the road was, or even if she’d been here before. Her only plan was to keep moving until she couldn’t move anymore.

The ground squished underneath her bare feet, and sometimes, she swore she felt it move. A shiver ran down her spine, and she walked faster. She had been a stupid, careless girl for going off with Lux. The temperatures continued to drop, her feet were covered in muck, and she just wanted to go home.

Her father would notice she was gone and start worrying soon. Her step-mother probably wouldn’t care at all, but Lily couldn’t bear to worry her father. She had to get back to the palace as soon as she could figure out where she was.

But as soon as she thought it, an icy chill stopped her heart. She had promised Lux she would never go back home, and she couldn’t renege on the vow. More than that, he’d made her promise for a reason. Regardless of everything to the contrary, she still trusted him.

Once she decided to listen to him, to listen to her heart, the chill faded, and she started walking again. She let her mind wander back to the brief but intense kiss she’d shared with Lux, since it seemed to be the only thing that warmed her, instead of paying attention to the ground in front of her.

Her feet slipped in something wet, and Lily stumbled forward. She put her hands out in front of her to break the fall, and the palm of her hand caught on a gnarly root that poked out of the ground. Her knees landed softly in the mud, but the root sliced open her palm. She winced, holding it up in the moonlight to see a thin line of blood sliding down her skin.

 Almost instantly, Lily heard the flurry of things moving about. She got to her feet hurriedly, once again sensing the motion of things that she couldn’t quite see. She held her hand up, pressing the jacket against her cut to stop the bleeding, and tried to keep her eyes on the shadows that moved around her.

At least the trees weren’t reaching out for her again. They remained stoic, watching her spin around.

“I know you’re out there!” Lily shouted as if it were some kind of threat.

The sound of wings flapping echoed off the trees around her. She looked back to see a dark creature descending toward her. At first, it appeared to be a simple crow, but the closer it got to her, the more she saw how little it resembled any bird she’d seen before.

It had a long bony beak filled with tiny, jagged teeth. At the bend in its wings were leathery hands with long, sharp claws. A wriggling, serpentine tail whipped the air, and dark, mangy fur covered its body in place of feathers.

Lily ran as the horrible beast flew at her, its voice sounding like a cross between a caw and a growl. It got close enough to beat its horrible leather wings at her, so she covered her head with her arms. Its claws scraped at the back of her jacket, and like the trees, as soon as the beast touched it, it fell back.

Unlike the trees, it didn’t completely give up its pursuit. It merely faltered for a moment.

She tripped again, and Lily couldn’t help but believe the trees had done it on purpose this time, raising their roots so she would fall to the ground. The creature landed on the ground behind her, giving its wings one final flap for good measure, and she turned to face her attacker.

It crouched on the ground, looking as if it meant to pounce on her, and it looked even more monstrous close up. A long, narrow tongue flicked out of its mouth, meaning to taste her, but she pulled her feet back just in time.

“I’m not afraid of you!” Lily lied. Her hand scrounged behind her as she scooted her butt backwards on the ground. Her fingers finally found a heavy stick on the ground, and she wrapped her hand securely around it.

The creature stepped towards her, its talons stepping lightly on the mud. Before it could get any closer, she swung the stick out. It collided hard with the creature’s head, but it only knocked the thing over. It lay on its back for a moment, dazed by her attack, and Lily hurried to her feet. It shook its head, then hopped back up on its feet.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Lily said, holding the stick out in front of her. “So please, go away. Don’t make me hit you again.”

The creature sized her up, staying out of the range her stick, and then it lowered its head and let out a horrible squawk. Lily wanted to cover her ears, but she needed to stay vigilant against the horrible little monster. She shook the stick at the thing, hoping to shut it up, but then she heard the flurry of wings.

She looked up to see them settling in the branches all around her. This bird-like thing had called all of his friends. About a dozen of them had circled around her, sitting in the trees, their beady eyes glowing red in the moonlight. Some of them hissed at her, flicking their slithering tongues. Worse still, the creature on the ground seemed to be the smallest of them, and it was at least three times the size of a housecat.