Fairy Wings

By Joanne Howard

Chapter 1

"Run! Run Ivy! Faster! We have to keep moving" my mother desperately shouted as she pulled my hand
along with hers. We ran though the dark forest with only a shimmer of moonlight to guide us through
the endless curtain of nightfall. The distant sound of people with animals echoed through the whispering
wind as it danced endlessly. "Mother, I don't understand. Why are there people chasing us?" I sobbed
through my tears.

"Hush Ivy, don't cry. Everything is going to be alright" my mother smiled reassuringly as she pushed me
into a small bush covered hole. Tears threatening to streak down her rosy cheeks. "I need you to be a
very brave girl. Can you do that Ivy?" she asked me stroking my brown locks lovingly. I nodded.
"Whatever you see or hear promise me that you won't come out until they have left. No matter what"

It took two tries before I could answer. "I promise mother, I won't" I shakily whispered as I clung to her
for dear life.

"Good girl" she soothed. "Everything will be over soon, I promise. Remember this my daughter, I love
you and I always will even if I am no longer with you" she tried to smile but failed as a tear strayed from
the corner of her beautiful topaz eyes that shined slightly in the faint silvery moonlight.

"I-I love you too mother. I will never forget you ever. P-please don't say goodbye. Don't leave me. I need
you" I wept through the haze of tears. She couldn't be leaving me; she promised that we would always
be together forever. "Was it a lie when you said you will never leave me?"

"I will always be herewith you in "she pointed at my heart.”You have the letter and address I gave you.
Go there they will keep you safe and..." she was cut short by the sound of people shouting and the faint
shadows of animals appeared out of the veil of dark. " I love you" she whispered one last time before
she walked towards the bizarre animals that looked like they were from some kind of fairy tale and the
people who were cloaked in strange clothes.

"Where is she? Where is Princess Ivy" an old man with silver shoulder length hair addressed her as she
stared straight ahead of her.

"She is hidden somewhere safe away from you lot. I will never tell you where she is even if it costs me
my life" she hissed at the man.

"You will tell us where you have hidden her. We should never have let you look after her once her real
mother the Queen died. It was bad enough what you did yet you have the nerve to defy the high Council
of Elders when you are just a servant" another man with blonde silky hair down to his waist shouted
angrily making the others flinch at his fury.
“I am the only mother that Ivy has ever had. After the Queen died no one took interest in the poor child.
She was lonely and sad. Her mother that had just died but no one seemed to care that she was upset did
you?” my mother bellowed loudly to the impatient threatening crowd. “She may be a princess but you
treat her like she’s some object without feelings but she does feel and that is exactly why I took her
away from the Kingdom” she sighed as she clenched and unclenched her fists; breathing deeply to
release some of her building up anger that boiled like fire through her entire small delicate body.

“For abducting a member of the royal family the punishment is death. And for causing disruption of the
peace throughout our fair Kingdom the punishment is also death” the silver haired man echoed
throughout as he read of a large paper scroll, his grey uninviting eyes seemed to light up every time he
said the word ‘death’. “Pamela Clover Ignitorous, for the crimes and treason that you have committed,
you are here by sentenced to death under the laws of our Lord the King Lucifer Noir” the man bowed as
he finished with a smug smile spread across his face.

“I did everything for Ivy and I shall never regret the decision that I made because I love her” she
resounded as she drew a silver dagger encrusted with perfect round Ruby’s and Emeralds before she
plunged it straight through her heart and smiled peacefully at them. A slight breeze teased her unbound
ginger hair and purple cobweb like robe while her whole body was bathed in moonlight. Crimson blood
soaked through the fabric of her robe turning the purple into a dark scarlet colour as it trickled down her
hands like a small stream until it hit the forest floor. As she withdrew the sharp blade blood poured
more frequently until she was too weak to stand. Her body collapsed against the floor amongst the dead
leaves and shrubbery with a soft sound.

“We still need to find the princess. Search the rest of the forest she could be hiding somewhere from
where we came from. She can’t be too” the blonde haired man all but shouted as they turned around
and headed back in the direction that they came from.

After a long while once the odd people and peculiar mythological like creatures could not be seen nor be
heard I cautiously crawled out from the bush covered hole and staggered towards the woman that I had
always called mother who took care of me when no one else would and cared for me like I was her own.
The kind, brave woman who stood up to the horrible people who tried to take away and now it is she
who is lying dead and bloody on the forest floor, the forest that she dearly adored. It broke my heart to
know that she had sacrificed herself for my safety. Her skin was ice cold to the touch. She looked like a
angel, a fiery peaceful angel. So beautiful and brave!

“Why? Why did you have to die?” I cried into the cloak of night, to everything and anyone who could
hear. The howl of wolfs joined in and chorused with my pain filled cries like they could feel my sorrow
and were crying out there sadness for my mother’s death. Even though I had promised mother that I
would be a big girl I couldn’t help the tears that silently slid down my pale damp cheeks which mingled
with the rain as it started to harshly come down and wash away my mother’s blood, leaving her so that
it looked like she had been weeping. My vision began to haze and blur as my body started to feel tired
and heavy like dead weight. I slumped down next to my dead mother staring at the starlit sky until the
welcoming arms of darkness crept around me and pulled me under.