Page 20 of Lost Starlight
“Yes, as long as you can swim, there is no need to fear. For even if the ship goes down, we shall just swim to safety.”
“Your Highness! That is not the comfort you think it to be!” she said, clutching her book in front of her and glaring at me.
I smiled at her.
“William—I am sure—will captain well; he only crashed in the practice boat three times—”
“You must refrain from speaking if you truly wish me to do this–” She trailed off as she traced the outline of the embroidery on her skirt. That was something she often did when she was nervous, I had noticed. I wasn’t always sure why, but I felt as if it was to calm herself.
“I apologize. I will stop trying to calm your fears because I am horrible at it. Forgive me, Gwen.”
“It’sLady Darling, thank you, because these are fears I never had before you gave them to me!” she said, not raising her voice, but her tone was serious.
I just looked at her and smiled.
“Alright, Lady Darling, as you say, so it shall be done,” I said with an even bigger smile. She just stared at me, her eyes wide, but her lips slightly twitching as if she wanted to break from that frown and smile at me, but she did not.
I leaned back, placing my hands behind my head with a long sigh. All would be well. I could sail a ship with my eyes closed. I would never let any harm come to my storyteller.
Chapter Eight
Gwendolyn
Two Months Before Present Day
It is the nature of pixies to be mischievous toward humans. Though it always appears to their victims, of course, that the pixies have good intentions. Still, they can do much harm in the name of their good,I read aloud.
“Hm-m,” Prince Peter said, his head resting on my lap as he played with a shell in his hand. I tried to stop the very fervent beating of my heart, but whenever Prince Peter touched me or was close to me, it was hard. I liked him very much. My affection for him was growing stronger and stronger each and everyday.
“Yes?” I asked.
“It’s just these pixies–I think I would like them,” he said as I watched the sea breeze move his wavy, dark locks across his brow.
I wondered, regrettably not for the first time, what it would feel like to caress his hair. I looked away from him and out to the steady waves.
“I am sure you would; you are good at causing astir.”
“Astir! Gwen, how dare you say such a thing to the prince!” he said, and even though I knew it was a jest, my cheeks grew warm. Over time, he had worn me down. I let him call me Gwen, but only in private, yet I continued to address him, using his title.
“Ha ha, very funny. You know I speak the truth.” I paused and watched him as he caressed the seashell he held in his large, muscular hands. What I wouldn’t have given to know what those hands felt like holding my hand, caressing my face.
I looked back at the book. Prince Peter was just my dear friend. No matter how irritated it made my mother, that is what we were.
Do not ever make a deal with pixies,I read on.Pixies always come and exact their
payment without any warning.
“Well, that is ominous,” Peter said, looking up at me from where he lay. I knew I should have refused him using my lap as his pillow. It was entirely inappropriate, but he did have his jacket underneath his head as a layer betweenus. I watched the wind play with a lock of his hair and caress his face. I cleared my throat and went back to the book, right after he winked at me.
Ridiculous flirt,I thought.
Readers beware, for when speaking of the pixies out loud, they will be made aware. They
know. They can sense their name being used, regardless of the distance between pixie and speaker. Do not be surprised if you say ‘pixies’ often enough, and then they come for you.
I gasped.
Peter sat up at the sound I made.
