Chapter 2: Lumenovus

The main characters meet, and find a natural affinity for each other. More details of fairy society are explained.

  I wandered to where I couldn’t hear the music any longer, and had only the night breeze and crickets for company.  Even on festival nights, this was my only enjoyment.  Maybe I was ugly and undesirable, but nature was still beautiful.  The crickets would never call me a freak, the breeze wouldn’t skip over me and find someone else’s cheeks to caress.

  I looked at the moon hanging over the distant peaks of the palace, and wondered what mysteries lay beyond my father’s kingdom.  There has to be more to life than this, I thought.  What do people do out there, in other kingdoms and the wilderness?  How do they find love?  As I thought about the outside world, I suddenly thought of that poor stranger Bolton and Simon had brought.

  There was something about him that had kept him in the back of my mind all night, I realized.  His speech was so direct, if a little odd.  There was a quiet dignity in the way he endured his capture.  His body was literally from another world.  I found what stuck in my mind the most was that brief glance he gave me.

  I don’t know how long I stood there staring at the moon as if it could answer my questions before it occurred to me that I could go and see him.

  I stumbled off for the briars, which was our jail.  The thorny vines were twisted and tied to form domed cells where petty criminals would spend a night or two, or people who needed to sleep off some alcohol would be safe and out of the way.  Even though it was for minor crimes, the briars was still a dark place, full of shame.

  There was just one guard on duty, at the entrance.  He was drunk just like the rest, who were at the celebration.  He gave me a startled look, not expecting to see anyone.  He said nothing to me, though.  I was a princess, and if I wanted to go to one of the most depressing places in the kingdom on one of the most festive nights of the year, it was my right.

  I wandered the twisted hallways of vine until I found him.  He was sitting on the ground, leaning back against the wall.  The broken beams of moonlight that found their way into his cell lit up some of his features.  They had given his clothes back.  I saw a pile of thorns he had snapped off of the inner walls, so that he could rest against them.

  He looked up at me, and I could tell he was bracing himself to be tormented by me as he had been by Bolton and Simon.  Yet he did it with a quiet resignation, rather than bristling and preparing to defend himself.  He looked so helpless, even though he was bigger as well as taller than me.

  It was curiosity that had brought me here, and I realized I had thought of nothing to say to him, or ask him.  “Um...  Hi,” was all I could come up with.

  He relaxed instantly, and I may have seen something like a brief smile when he realized I wasn’t there to mistreat him.  “Hi,” he said.

  My mind raced, and a wave of dizziness reminded me how drunk I was.  Now what was there to say?  What was I even doing there?  I just stood there, my face getting red.

  “I thought there was some kind of party tonight,” he offered.  He spoke with a subtle accent, which I realized I found a bit charming.

  That thought distracted me for a second.  “Hmm?  Oh, yes, the pollen parade was earlier today, so...”

  “What is that?”

  “How can you not...” I started to ask.  “You really are a human, aren’t you?”

  He shrugged.  “Beats me.  I was, at least.  I guess I still am, just a very small one.”

  “What happened?”

  “A witch shrank me.”

  “Why?”

  He looked away from me, toward the moon, thinking.  Without looking back, he changed the subject.  “Why aren’t you at the party?”

  Now I really wanted to know why the witch shrank him.  I didn’t press it, though.  “I usually end up leaving.”

  He looked back at me.  “Don’t fit in?”

  No, just tremendously awful to look at.  “Something like that.  Why do you ask?”

  “You don’t seem like the others I’ve met so far.”

  “How so?”

  “You just don’t.  You stick out to me, somehow.  You were there when they first brought me.  Your expression seemed, I don’t know...  Like you were the only one who could see that I was in pain.  But if you want a more concrete example, you’re the first one to show me any kindness.”

  “What kindness?”

  “The simple fact that you’re here, talking to me.  I appreciate it.”  He gave a sudden tired sounding sigh as he put his hands to his face.  He said through them, “I haven’t been able to just sit and talk with anyone since this happened.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  He dropped his hands and smiled weakly at me, and I felt sad for him.  “Don’t be sorry.  After all, you’re the one who’s changed that.  And it means a lot to me.  Did you catch my name earlier?  It’s Lumenovus.”

  “I’m Lavender,” I said, deciding for some reason to leave ‘princess’ out.

  He nodded.  “Lavender...  That’s pretty.”

  “I hate it,” I mumbled, looking away.

  “Why would you hate your name?”

  Don’t get into it, you’re too drunk.  I never listened to myself.  “Why?  Because it reminds me of how ugly I am!”

  He had a confused look on his face.  It was almost flattering, since it meant he might have thought me pretty, but then I remembered he hadn’t seen my wings.  You’re really going to do this?  You are drunk...  I looked to make sure the guard wasn’t around.  I turned to the side and unfurled my wings a bit, so he could see their color.  “There.  Does it make sense now?”

  I figured he’d understand so well he wouldn’t want to talk to me anymore.  I waited for a disgusted gasp or a snicker.

  “Well,” he said, gathering his thoughts.  “Lavender makes sense, but why would you think you’re ugly?”

  I snapped my wings back in place and spun back to face him, for a split second furious at him for teasing me.  When I looked at him, I could see that he wasn’t, and I went from angry to stunned and a little embarrassed.  “I am ugly, trust me.  Freakishly ugly.  If you must know, that’s why I’m not at the party,” I snapped.

  “Alright,” he said, backing off, and I could tell I’d hurt his feelings.

  I was mad at every male in the world except him, and here I was taking it out on him.  “I’m sorry,” I said.  “I guess maybe you wouldn’t know.  Girl fairies are supposed to have red, or pink veins in their wings.  The really lucky ones have clear ones.  Purple just doesn’t look right.  When you see some other girls, you’ll understand.  Trust me...”

  “Who says?”

  “Who says what?”

  “Who says what colors are pretty for wings, or who’s lucky to have them?”

  Such an absurd question sent me into a fit of giggling.  “What do you mean, ‘who says’?  No one says!  It’s like asking who says the moon is shining right now.  No one, that’s just the way it is,” I said, bitterness creeping into my voice.

  He thought for a little bit.  “So that’s why you left the party tonight?  It’s really that bad?”

  Not just tonight.  Not just the party.  It’s always, with everything.  Every piece of life.  My eyes started to tear up.  Afraid of crying, I simply nodded.

  He thought for a few more moments.  “Do you think it’s possible that there may be some men who think, even if secretly, that purple veins are pretty, or that clear ones aren’t so important?”

  “That’s a stupid question.  No.”  He really does know nothing about us.

  “Everyone is beautiful to someone,” he said, so softly that I felt bad for calling his question stupid.

  “Now you sound like my mother.”  I sighed.  “Actually, she thought I was beautiful.  That’s why she named me Lavender.”

  “She thought you were beautiful?”

  “She’s dead now.  Caught, by a human.”

  “Oh,” he said, instantly anxious again.

  I didn’t want to make him uneasy.  “Relax, I know it wasn’t you,” I said.  “My mother had purple wings too.  Maybe that made it easier for her to think I was pretty.”

  “You were her child.  I think that made it easy.”

  He was trying to be nice, I knew that.  But I was still drunk, and angry about the party tonight, and every party ever.  “Fat lot of good that does me now.  Like my dead mother’s going to help me find a consort at a dance.”

  “Did your father think your mother was beautiful?”

  “He never let her unfold her wings.  Ever.  I used to see her stretching them in private, to get rid of cramps.”

  “Did he love her?”

  The directness of his question gave me pause.  Had I ever even considered that myself?  I recalled images of them together, from my youth.  I saw them together often, but always in the same capacity that I would be with him in.  At events, formal occasions, and such.  And there were no shared smiles, no caresses, nothing.  Just appearing together.  “I don’t know,” I said.  “I don’t think so.”

  “Then why did he marry her?”

  “Nothing exists but politics, when it comes to royalty.”

  “Oh yes, it’s the same where I come from.”  He hesitated, and asked, “Does your father love you?”

  I snorted.  “He doesn’t care about my feelings, that’s for sure.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “He promised me to a prince as a bride.  That prince, like every other male on the planet, thinks I’m ugly.  He hates me.  And I don’t like him either.”

  “How do you know for sure he thinks you’re ugly?”

  I looked away, and down.  “He said so in front of everybody, including me.”

  “Oh,” Lumenovus said quietly, and sighed.  “You’ve had a rough time, from the sound of things.”

  He only meant to be sympathetic, but it hit me right then that here I was talking to someone locked in a cage of thorns, and I was going on about my own problems.  The hardships of being a princess.  I had come here because I was curious about him, and had only managed to talk his ear off about myself.  I felt ridiculous.  “It could be worse,” I said.

  “Oh?”

  “I could have been beaten up and locked away on a beautiful night, when I’d done nothing wrong.”

  He realized I was talking about him, then smiled with a gentle chuckle.  “So, you believe me?  Well, I may have been stealing, but I certainly didn’t mean to.  I was starving, I saw some raspberries on the vine, so I started eating.  Next thing I know, I’m getting hit and kicked and called a thief.”

  “My father is being unfair.  I’m sure he’ll let you go tomorrow.”

  “Out of curiosity, what is a usual punishment for stealing?”

  “Oh, just getting your hand cut off for an hour or so.”

  “What?” he cried, startling me.

  I jumped.  “What’s the big deal?  It’s not like they’d keep it.”

  “The big deal?  What are you talking about, ‘cut it off for an hour’?  Then what?  Have you some magic to reattach it?”

  “Why should we need magic?”  Then it dawned on me.  “Oh!  You’re mortal...”

  “Yes.  I think the one guard who was handling me demonstrated that on my arm just fine.”

  I had forgotten about his arm...  “How is it?  Can I...  See it?”

  He regarded me carefully.  I think he saw I was innocently curious.  “Promise not to yell how disgusting it is?”

  My father’s remark must have bothered him.  “I promise.  I’m sorry my father said that it was.”

  He started to remove his coat.  “It’s not like I enjoy bleeding, or think it’s attractive myself.”  Carefully, he removed his shirt.

  My breath caught again when I saw his flesh, even more exotic looking in the moonlight.  His muscles didn’t seem like such malformed lumps, once I got a better look.  They were patterned.  They were symmetrical.  They were almost...  Attractive?  Don’t be ridiculous.

  “I should check on it anyway...” he said to himself as he removed the cloth he had tied around the wound.  “It’s stopped bleeding at least.”  Then, remembering when Simon had struck him, he added angrily, “Again.”

  I bent and looked closer.  “What’s that red stuff, if it isn’t blood?”

  He touched it softly.  “This?  It is blood, it’s dried.  It covers the wound like that until it heals, when the skin joins back together.”

  “And those?” I asked of some white lines I saw on his chest.

  “Scars,” he said.

  “What are scars?”

  “Old wounds,” he said dismissively.

  He started to dress again, and I was ashamed to acknowledge that I felt disappointed.  There’s no shame in being curious, I told myself.  Right.  So why are you ashamed?  “How did that happen?  Your arm, I mean.”

  “Well, when that witch shrank me, she put me in a jar.  I managed to get it to fall off of her shelf, and it broke open.  That’s how I escaped from her.  I just happened to fall on a shard.”  He finished dressing and looked at me.  “So what happens to your kind when you get cut?  Or does that never happen?”

  “We get cut, it hurts, it just...  Doesn’t bleed or stay open like that.  Well, sometimes a bad cut will leak some blood.”

  “And you can just...  Reattach a hand after having it off for an hour?  No big deal?”

  “Yes.  What would happen to you?”

  “I’d have lost a hand!  The hand would die and rot, and I’d be lucky not to bleed to death.”

  “Well, I know he’s not going to want to kill you.  Not for stealing.  So, don’t worry, okay?  I’m sure he’ll figure something else out.”

  He nodded, and looked back at the moon.

  I didn’t want the conversation to end yet.  I wanted to stay here, looking at him, listening to his voice.  Even in such a terrible situation, there was a gentleness to him, a kindness.  My people had locked him up for being hungry, and here he was listening to my problems, like a friend.

  “Can I maybe, get anything for you?” I asked on sudden inspiration.

  I could tell he was about to refuse from politeness, not wanting to trouble me.  Instead he said quietly, almost brokenly, “I am very hungry...”

  There was a level of reaching out, of pleading, in his voice that made my heart flutter.  I certainly wasn’t used to being needed.  “Oh!  I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of that!  Um...  I can go get something from the dance.  Wait here.”  He gave me a puzzled, almost amused look.  “Sorry.  I’ll be back soon, okay?”  ‘Wait here’?  What is the matter with you?

Reviews

[Sarah]

I really enjoyed this chapter much more than the first one. The dialogue was perfect and offered a new perspective on the characters. Lumenovus seems like a sweetheart, but the chapter left me wondering what he could have possibly done that would make the witch shrink him. It also answers my first question a little regarding the size of these fairies. I know now that they are small. At first, I wasn't sure if they were as big as humans but that detail helps me depict them more. I'm also starting to get a sense of how Princess Lavender thinks of herself. I love how you reached inside of her mind and offered little segments of the thoughts going through her head. Beautiful touch to the story. I can tell that she has always struggled with finding beauty in herself despite what her mother had told her. And now I do know the fate of her mother, which leaves me wondering what had happened to her. I'm curious about these two and what will happen between them. I sense the spark you are trying to convey and I'm excited about where this relationship may go. Also, great touch at the end with a sort of comic relief. Much of the chapter focuses on a more serious topic, and the ending provides a little humor that allowed me to smile. My only criticism would be that during one part, somewhere in the middle, I noticed that you used the word "realize" multiple times in a short span. Not a big deal, but it was enough to distract me, so if you could change the word or find a synonym that would be ideal. Also, at times near the end, I became confused on who was speaking, but that was probably just myself getting distracted! Overall, very well done and I'm looking forward to reading the next!

[Christopher Miller]

Overuse of words is a bigger deal than you might think, it's actually one of my peeves and I tried so hard to catch it. That's the thing about proofreading your own work... I do wish you were around when I was working on getting it published. That's another that'll get fixed if I ever issue a revision.
I did try to set that spark right off, so I'm glad you said that. I had no desire to make the reader wonder if they would get together, in fact I hint at it on the back of the book. I'd rather the reader know it's there so they can just watch it grow. You will find out what happened with him and the witch.