Page 7 of Hidden Kingdoms

Though I lived in a pretty remote spot it was good practice not to get naked in front of a window really, wasn’t it? Briar liked to remind me whenever we were out for a walk in the woods, ‘the trees have eyes Elodie, they’re always watching.’

Whatever the fuck she meant by that.

My house did indeed have a fair few trees surrounding it, and if they did have eyes, I didn’t particularly want them getting a look. By the click of claws on the wooden floor I knew Titan had slunk out of bed, probably making his way to the kitchen in search of a morning snack. I dressed quickly—away from the window—scrunching my hair up in a bun and rubbing moisturiser onto my face before adding extra rings to my already crowded fingers.

Most of the trinkets I wore were things I had made myself, though I was also partial to second-hand and vintage shops, searching the stores for anything that called to me.

And they did; there was always something that drew me to one of the pieces, an invisible thread tying me to the gold to tell me it was now mine. I liked to wonder at who they had belonged to before me, what adventures they had been on, what they had seen. With the rings in place, I grabbed my phone from the bed and headed into the hall, typing out a text to Polly letting her know Briar was in town, so I’d likely be busy the next few days. She was the only one who I’d ever let close enough to be part of my life.

Although I hadn’t exactly been tripping over invitations of friendship growing up.

Polly never asked questions. From the moment we met as children she had accepted me as I was, she never tried to figure me out.

We were just two little girls when I had been having another rough day at school, my head so full I couldn’t focus on a thing around me. I’d run behind the building, the amethyst Nanna had tucked into my pocket squeezed in my tiny fingers as I fought a way through to the present. Polly’s young voice had been clear and inquisitive as she asked if I was ok, startling me enough that the stone dropped to the floor. She bent down, picking up the purple gem and I held my breath as I noticed thatI had moulded the hard crystal into the shape of my clenched fist. It shouldn’t have been possible, and itdefinitelyshouldn’t have been something I’d let someone else see, but she had. I’d struggled to breathe with the panic that was rising within me, well aware of how angry Nanna was going to be.

“Pretty,” she had whispered before tucking the amethyst into her own pocket and asking me whether I’d seen the newest episode of some mermaid show. The world focused as my lungs worked again and when I told her I hadn’t, she proceeded to explain the plot of the entire thing. With every word she spoke the racing thoughts that had brought me to the back of the building disappeared.

We had become inseparable—a friendship Nanna had been reluctant to encourage—but soon enough Polly had become a firm fixture in our lives, spending countless hours exploring Nanna’s house and the grounds around them. Building dens or looking for secret passages. I know now that being with us meant she wasn’t home.

She never brought up that day, but I was pretty sure she still had that gemstone hidden away somewhere. Polly never minded the weird shit, she just ran with it.

My mind never flickered around her, there was never any of the visions or unexplainable emotions that would fill me when I was around others. She was a place of calm. Maybe it was because she kept me so busy with other things I didn’t have time for that part of me to push through. Whatever it was, it helped me through those younger years before it all faded into background noise.

The dark, wooden floor creaked as I headed across the hall to the coat rack by the front door, finding my giant wolf-dog sitting patiently. I reached out to scratch him on the spot I knew he loved.

“I take it you’re coming with me today then,” I said, slipping on a pair of white trainers before putting on the patchwork crochet cardigan Nanna had made me a few years ago. Titans head tilted to the side in that cute way dogs did at the soft tinkling of the charms that hung on the front of the door, the wind winding through them. I took my bag from another hook and dropped my phone inside, putting it over my shoulder before fishing my keys from the bowl I kept on the unit in the hall, a tangled mix of jewellery keeping it company.

Opening the front door, I felt the familiar tingle in my palms as I stepped through the shield Nanna, Briar, and I had put up when I first moved in. Waiting until Titan had followed, I whispered the words to ensure the rift was resealed before heading down the path towards the woods. The early morning sun kissed my face as Titan padded beside me, his huge head bowed to the floor sniffing everything in sight.

It wouldn’t take long to get to Nanna’s; I had walked this path countless times, the earth worn from my many steps. It was one of my favourite places to be, sheltered within the shade of the trees, the sun filtering to the floor and the birds calling to one another from above.

I hadn’t made it far, coming to a place where another trodden path crossed mine, when a twig snapped close by. My head whipped to the side, ears straining for another sound. Titan had continued on, knowing his way just as much as I did, apparently unfazed by anything around us. I started forward again, logic reasoning that it must be an animal or a branch breaking. Titan would never have left me if I was in danger.

What if it’s something else?

A hazy image of Nanna finding me deep within the trees fought to rise to the surface. I could feel the phantom grip of her hand on my arm as she dragged me through shadows, hissing as they came into contact with her but tickled along my own skin.I could swear I felt them now. Her angered words were muffled inside my mind as I frowned in confusion at the memory I couldn’t remember happening.

A wet nose nudged at my hand and my mind cleared as I blinked hard, finding Titan stood before me, tongue lolling from his mouth as he watched me. I rubbed at the wrist that had just been clutched in Nanna’s hand, fully expecting to see the imprint of her fingers. Tucking my cardigan closer to my body, I continued on. Titan didn’t wander this time.

The ripple of a ward passed over my skin as Nanna’s manor house came into view, the rough brown stone walls stretching out to meet the sizable hawthorn trees that grew on either side. A thick curtain of ivy covered almost the entire expanse of the top floor with thin, white-framed windows peeking through.

Crossing the front garden, the gravel crunched under my feet before I started up the wide steps that took me to the entrance. A dark stone porch framed the large front door, whose panes of glass contained a myriad of broken coloured fragments which refracted the sun into a hundred tiny rainbows when the light hit just right. Talismans hung in every corner, the scent of rosemary flooding my nose as the winds jostled the sprigs that dangled above me.

The wards let me slip through with ease as I pressed my hand to the handle, pushing the door open as Titan weaved around me, his clawed paws clicking on the tiled floor as we headed down the hall towards the soft sound of laughter. Pausing at the door to the kitchen, I listened to the joy that was filtering through the aged wood. Apparently done with waiting, Titannudged at the door, his bulk shifting it open to reveal the spacious kitchen where I had spent so much of my life.

Double doors at the back of the room were thrown open, leading to the garden that grew most of Nanna’s food, allowing sunlight to stream in as the two of them sat curled in the soft cushioned chairs that were strewn along the paved floor.

Music floated around us from a record player tucked into the corner of the counter, but the sound of the door opening drew their attention.

“Elodie!” Briar exclaimed from her seat next to Nanna, jumping up to rush into the house towards me. I met her halfway, our arms wrapping around each other tightly, a surge of power pulsing through me before it faded away. Looking over her shoulder I could see Nanna beaming a watery smile at us, a mug of steaming liquid clutched in her hands.

A nudge at my hip broke us apart as Titan crowded against me.

“Titan,” Briar said, holding back a laugh as she held her hand out for him to sniff once before he moved between us to lie in a patch of sun, directly in the doorway.

She pulled me into her again before leaning back, her green eyes passing over my face, the lines around them a little tighter than the last time she was here. She tucked a lock of hair behind my ear, and I relished at the feeling of family that settled in my bones as she did.

“I’ve missed you,” she said, a deep sigh leaving her as we headed outside, stepping awkwardly over Titan to do so.

---