Page 53 of Promises and Pixie Dust

It was even more complex up close. The trees had indeed grown together, twisting in a way that fused each trunk and branch to the one next to it. Vines and leaves filled any empty space, making up one of the most impressive and beautiful walls I’d ever seen.

“This way, My Lady,” Gentian offered.

We walked forward, and a small opening appeared at the base of one of the tree trunks.

No, not just an opening. A door.

Oren led me through, while Gentian took up the rear, either following us in or making sure I wasn’t thinking of a last-minute escape, I couldn’t be sure.

Once we were through the door, I gasped, spinning in a slow circle to take everything in.

It’s an entire world built for people like me.

A smile stretched wide over my mouth while I noticed wagons and gardens and rivers. Houses were built from thick mushrooms or foliage. Music poured from shops and taverns designed in much the same way.

Squirrels and hedgehogs and mice pulled wagons with wares, while fairies flooded the streets, minding their business, perfectly oblivious that any other world existed beyond this one.

And why shouldn’t they?

“This is extraordinary,” I whispered, still awestruck.

My escorts looked at each other with some unspoken expression and shrugged.

“This is thecommonsector for—” Gentian began incredulously, but Oren cut him off.

“He means the working sector,” he clarified. “This is where all of Ellaria gets their food, and where the more humble work is done.”

Gentian muttered something about menial work, and Oren nudged him in the side. It may be humble to them, but to me, it was everything I’d ever dreamed of. A world I could live in, filled with people like me.

I cursed myself for wishing that somehow Edrich had been able to see this with me. I knew he would be just as awestruck as I was.Or maybe he wouldn’t…

I stumbled over the ridiculous thought. He wouldn’t have even been able to squeeze through the trees… or walk through the door the way we had.

And then again, he was probably grateful he wasn’t here—that I was no longer his burden.

“Wait until you see the castle,” Oren whispered, interrupting me from my thoughts as he pointed up toward the canopy.

Suddenly, I felt dizzy. I had been so fixated on everything down on the ground that I hadn’t even noticed the sprawling lights and buildings carved into the trees above. The whole thing looked like a spiral climbing toward the sky, each level grander and more ornate than the one below it.

In the center was a great tree, wider than the rest in the tree wall surrounding it. It climbed high above us and, near the top, there were mushrooms and braided branches with vines and flowers all surrounding one great structure.

I looked back down at the ground to steady myself as a few fairies passed us on the street and stopped to stare, first at my escorts, then at me. Their shock was clear as they took in the three of us, but what seemed to hold their attention most were the wings on my back.

Another thought struck me, practically knocking the wind from my lungs—the knowledge that every single one of these people might have known my family. My real family.

And that I am supposedly their princess.

I still hadn’t wrapped my head around that yet.I’m not sure if I am even capable of it.

There must have been nearly a hundred fairies crowding around and staring at us, most of them bowing as we moved past them. I didn’t miss the way they quickly turned their heads to not meet my eyes when I would glance back.

“Do you see her wings?”

“No mistaking her… ”

“Queen Hyacinth’s daughter.”

“Where has she been all these years?”

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