Page 29 of Chased By the Fairy

Shit. I was hoping someone could help me get down.They likely thought he’d already gotten away, not realising he’d been dragged off to the side.

He sprinted to the edge to find he was a long way up. He couldn’t jump it, not if he didn’t want to fall to his death.

Movement from behind made his heart clench.

Staying in this damn tree was worse. Despite the danger, he started climbing down the side of it, using the creases of the bark to help him stay gripped to it. He was scared, but there was nothing else he could do.

He used his anger to fuel him for his long climb downward, rage and adrenaline burning in his muscles. It also warmed him, flushing the back of his neck as tingling energy flooded his blood.

Damn the toad, damn the beetle, and damn everyone else. Sorrel would find his own way home. He didn’t need anyone’s help.

The moment his feet touched the safety of the ground, after nearly slipping during his descent multiple times and almost falling to his death, the temperature plummeted. He sunk all the way to his calves into snow.

Then, just in case Jeffers came after him, Sorrel chose a random direction and ran as fast as he could, even though he had no idea if he was going the right way to the farmhouse.

Cypress threw his hands forward beseechingly, stepping over the sunflower seedbed his parents were lounging on. It lacked petals, as it was situated within their private chambers in the tree they used as their ‘castle.’

“There must be something we can do,” Cypress implored, his crown tilting on his head as he shook it. “I can’t wait until the end of winter. He might be dead by then!”

The urge to swear, to throw a fit right there and then, was overwhelming, but it wouldn’t aid him if he did so. His parents, the king and queen, wouldn’t approve. They would do less than thenothingthey were already doing as a way to punish him.

Sometimes being bound by the constraints of what he was could be absolutely aggravating.

“I’m sorry, my son,” his mother said, then yawned, her eyes drooping as though she might fall back asleep at any moment. Her face was wrinkled with age, but her orange eyes always seemed to glow with beauty, almost as if she held the sun in them. It was no wonder his father had fallen for her. “But the kingdom is in hibernation. There’s no one who can resist the slumber once they’ve started it.”

Cypress pressed his fingertips to his forehead. Then he pressed them into his eyes, unsure of how to get the help heneeded.

Once the frost began to stick, all the flower fairies went into hibernation until winter ended. The moment they curled themselves in their homes and used their magic to keep them warm and unfrozen from the ice, they were lulled to sleep. It was near impossible to wake them, and keeping them awake was an even bigger headache.

Even now, after yelling for his parents to awaken, his father, who had opened his eyes to grunt at him in annoyance, had already fallen asleep. With his mouth wide open, he snored loudly. His straight and well-kept beard draped around his throat, he lay on his back with his arms and legs sprawled like a star.

“But I have to find him, mother.” When her eyes began to shut, he yelled, “Mother!” They opened once more. “Please, I need your advice.”

She rubbed at her tanned cheek, the colour of her skin matching his own. Her hair was black whereas Cypress got his hazelnut colour from his father.

“There is nothing you can do but wait for winter to end and hope that he survives.” Then her features softened as a motherly hint of concern filled her expression. “I know you said that he is the one you wish to marry, but it’s in the fates’ hands now. Perhaps he was not meant to be the one.”

Cypress couldn’t accept that kind of answer.

“Force the animal sprites to help!”

“We don’t rule over them, my son. You know we can’t do anything but help them during the seasons.” She sighed and leaned on her elbow as though she was about to lie back down. “And if you’re right and he was kidnapped like you think he was, then it’s probably one of them that took him in the first place.”

“Then I will go out and look for him myself.”

He currently had a handful of royal guards searching, but it wasn’t enough. They were out searching in his stead, while he was being forced to stay behind by the command of his parents.

“You better not!” she yelled, momentarily alert. “The blizzards have started. Flower fairies that go out when it snows die, and you are the heir to our throne! You will not leave the safety of the kingdom, and that is an order, Cypress.”

His face hardened as he and his mother shared a glare at each other.

“You will give me your word.” His face tightened even further, twitching as though he wanted to sneer. Her arm shook, about to collapse back to her seedbed. “Give me your word, Cypress.”

As he continued to say nothing, her eyes rolled back before her lids eventually shut. No longer breaking her trance with his voice, his silence forced her back into her hibernation.

His mother fell back to sleep without his promise of safety.

He turned away from the bed his parents were sharing and shoved open the petal door to their chamber so he could leave. The heat from their magic dust gave way to the blistering cold that greeted him in the hollow wooden hallway.

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