Page 51 of Changeling
Two nights and a day I’ve been here, and I’m excited to finally meet another faerie who doesn’t also happen to drink blood—no offense to Sachi. This is what I’ve wished for, but even more important, it will distract me from pining over Dominus.
I miss him perhaps more than is healthy. Tears have come and gone, and I’m rather tired of crying. Surely, he isn’t wallowing over me.
Footsteps echo outside my door. A rush of nerves has me jittery. What if I’m no good at magic, even with a proper teacher? What if I’m still a disappointment?
Shaking off the anxiety and unclenching my muscles, I hurry to the door and swing it open.
Sachi greets me with the warm smile I’ve come to treasure, but nothing could have prepared me for the woman standing next to her.
“Morning, Sebastian,” says Sachi. “This is my friend, Tallula. Tallula, this is Sebastian. He’s been looking forward to this.”
It’s her wings I notice first, rising proudly from slim shoulders to twin points above her head. They look delicate, thin as petals, colored in bright shades of turquoise, and sparkling with radiance.
Tallula is nearly a full head shorter than Sachi, who’s average height. Her skin shimmers with an ethereal silver glow. Her eyes match her wings. I’ve never seen irises that shade.
I’m awed. My lips part. I stare stupidly.
Even her ears are perfect, peeking out behind silver hair a shade darker than Dominus’s to gently pointed tips and pierced at the tops with tiny hoops of gold.
She’s breathtaking. And she’s smiling at me.
I stop my foolish gawking, try to arrange my face into a semblance of friendly normalcy, and stick out my hand. “I’m honored to meet you.”
“And I you, Sebastian. I’m glad you’ve found your way here.” Her voice is like Sachi’s, only even lighter. A singsong quality like the ringing of bells.
Her hand is warm in mine, tingling with the same sort of energy that always dances around my fingertips. Only she must actually know how to use it. I bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from jumping with joy.
“Remy sends his apologies,” says Sachi. “He’ll join us next time. I believe he and Laurence are still busy getting…let’s sayreacquainted.” Sachi takes my elbow and tugs me into the hall. “Come, I know a spot past the gardens that will be perfect for your first lesson.”
I’m a ridiculous mix of jitters and enthusiasm the entire walk from castle to courtyard and beyond. Sachi carries the conversion, a bit of small talk on the way. Tallula lives in the forest beyond Bran Vigny. Her little cabin is a day’s travel from the castle where she shares her life with a human called Nub. When asked about the odd name, she tells us he was born without a right arm, only a nub at his shoulder. I wonder how one navigates life with only one arm and hand, but Tallula assures us Nub gets along just fine on his own.
“If anything, it’s me who will miss his help, not the other way around,” she explains. “Nub does all our cooking. He’s a wizard with spices, whereas I’m prone to burning toast.”
I chuckle and think of Rizpah and the delicious meals she whipped up from the kitchen. The food at Bran Vigny is excellent, but it’s missing that special something of Rizpah’s.
We cross the gardens and leave the walled courtyard through an open wooden gate to the forest. The pine groves keep their deep green hue, but the deciduous trees have already begun to turn. Bright flashes of yellow, orange, and red dot the canopy, and old leaves coat the forest floor and crunch beneath our boots.
Sachi leads us to a fallen giant of an old tree, whose diameter is nearly as wide as I am tall. A ray of yellow sunlight from the hole in the canopy pierces the otherwise shady forest, and a patch of greenery has sprouted here. Trust a faerie to have found this perfect little circle.
“It’s a lovely spot.” My nerves settle as birdsong rings out from the branches overhead.
“Yes.” Tallula casually sits among the grass and clover.
Sachi and I join her, the three of us forming a little triangle. Our magic fizzles enthusiastically between us. Warmth fills my chest, excitement bubbling just beneath the surface. I can’t believe this is happening. Me, a changeling, with another faerie and a halfling at once. I have so many questions and no good place to start.
Luckily, Tallula begins for us. “I’m a changeling too, Sebastian. Sachi tells me I’m the first you’ve met?”
I give a shaky nod. Did she say what I think she said? I’d hoped to meet another faerie, but another swapped at birth and left with humans just like me? My mind reels. Joy blossoms. “Yes.” I gaze longingly at her wings. Does this mean— “Were you also robbed of your wings?”
“I was, but with time I’ve reclaimed them.”
My eyes threaten to leap from my head. “Do you think I could do that too?”
Her brilliant smile is my answer.
It’s nearly impossible to sit still. The urge to dance, jump, and wiggle tickles my toes and stirs my blood.
Sachi’s happy laughter rings between us. “You should see your face. It’s as if you’re watching a unicorn in flight.”
