Legends

Tam and Cypress show their noble, heroic sides and some history is revealed.

 

Fwump. Cypress opened his eyes and was vaguely surprised to see a bright blue sky opening above him. He was certain that the same sky had been full of stars when he had left the castle, but deeper thought revealed that the memory couldn’t possibly be complete. He remembered the white marble table and the faces – oh there were so many hundreds of faces! But the clearest and calmest, Carina’s face, had been mostly blocked by the masses of bodies pressed around her, and the gravest, his father’s, had had a gaunt, tortured appearance – and the swearing of his oaths and the murmured prayers and the strong hands that pressed him down, holding him still on the table, and the sound like the crackling of a million leaves and the pain… He shuddered. Oh, he remembered the pain. He decided that he must have lost consciousness, but he swore he remembered a murky black sky dotted with so many millions of wandering stars—

            Fwump. Cypress sat up and glanced around to find the source of the strange noise that had woken him. A quick look told him he had been lying beside a neat vegetable garden, inches away from the topsoil, that the abundance of flowers edged a straight border of trees a few hundred yards beyond the place he sat, and, upon looking over his shoulder, that the odd sound had been caused by a nearby man who was shaking out a large white tablecloth. He stood up curiously and approached the stranger. “Excuse me sir,” he began politely as he drew level the gentleman. “What are you doing?”

            “Why, I’m shaking out this tablecloth. What does it look like I’m doing?” The other replied, quickly folding the tablecloth and twisting his head to smile at Cypress.

            “Tam?” Cypress asked, amazed.

            “The one and only. I’m surprised you didn’t recognize me. Then again, the lack of wings makes everything a little different. You look pretty different yourself.”

            “I’m sure of it.” Cypress agreed, running his hands over as much of his now wingless back as he could comfortably reach. “I feel so unbalanced!”

            “You’ll get used to it. I’ve been up for a few hours, walking around and I’ve found it gets better after the first hour or so.”

            Cypress nodded. “I trust your judgment. But I’m a little surprised to see you here… why didn’t they separate us?”

            “I think my assignment is going to be close to yours.”

            “Oh. Well I suppose that makes sense...”

            “How long was I asleep? Why didn’t you wake me?”

            “You were out since I woke up and lying there so peacefully that I hated to disturb you so I decided to make myself at least a little useful.” He gestured to the tablecloth which he folded as he spoke. “I found this on the clothes line over there and noticed it was covered in dew, so I fixed it.” He jerked his head toward two apple trees with a long thin wire running between them, situated to the left of where Cypress had been. The wire was covered in an assortment of vestments, mostly tablecloths and bedclothes, but a few garments and the like were peppered over the line as well. A dark green hooded cloak had also been pinned up at one end of the line without ceremony and looked extremely out of place.

            “Where did they come from?” Cypress wondered aloud.

            Tam shrugged. “I have no idea. Well I do; they must come from the palace, though why the servants or whoever else lives there didn’t come out to get them this morning is beyond me.”

            “Perhaps because they found two strange people in the yard and decided not to risk bothering them?” Cypress suggested.

            “Quite possibly. But anyway, we should probably find your Dove of Calassi soon. Though, before that, I’m hungry. I vote we bring this tablecloth inside and put it to use eating breakfast.”

            The fairy prince hesitated. “Are you sure we’re supposed to be at this castle? I can’t believe they would have plunked us down here with no instructions and no idea what to do. Or… at least minimal instructions. All they really told me for sure was that I’m supposed to be helping a girl who goes by the nickname ‘The Dove of Calassi.’ The Council assured me that people would know who I’m talking about. I know I’m supposed to bring her to this castle and watch over her, but I’m not sure what they meant by that. Apparently I’ll know when the quest is complete, but they were rather ambiguous.”

            “That’s sort of part of the idea, though. Independence and everything. But my instructions were even vaguer and are apparently related to your assignment, so finding this girl should be beneficial to both of us. We should look for her, later.”

            Cypress smirked. “Hey Tam, let’s be independent together.”

            “Ha ha. Very clever, Cypress. I’m in stitches over here.”

            “Oh be quiet, you. I thought it was decent.”

            “Yeah, yeah. Anyway, let’s go eat breakfast, if we can find any food, that is. And I found some Calassian currency in my pocket when I got here, so if we get desperate I guess we can use that.”

            “Good plan.” Cypress said approvingly as he began to walk briskly toward that the small, shadowed palace ahead. “And after that we’ll explore the castle a bit and then we’ll begin our search for this famous Dove of Calassi, whoever she may be.”

 

*

 

“And he danced with me. Ah, I can still remember the look in his eyes…”

            A week had passed since the ball but it was still Rosaline’s conversation topic of choice. She would barely ever let two hours go by without making some dreamy comment relating to that night, to Prince Zayric or both.

            “Which look?” Guildria asked, confused. “I don’t recall his face showing any emotion at all, except maybe boredom. Well… and he did seem to be in pain all those times I stepped on his toes.”

            Ellyra, who was brushing away the heavy layer of dust that had gathered on Rosaline’s bookshelf, tried to stifle a giggle.

            Rosaline scowled at her and said sharply, “Don’t forget about the floors. Mother said she wanted this room looking pristine by the time she gets back and she should only be gone for a few more hours.”

            The amusement in Ellyra’s pale cheeks faded at these words and she bowed her head in submission. “Yes, Rosaline.”

            “Um Rosaline?” Guildria asked sheepishly, “Didn’t mother tell you to clean this room by the time she gets back?”

            “Yes she did, but Ellyra’s being a dear sweet thing and helping me along.” Rosaline responded tartly. “Which is more than I can say for you. If you’re going to stand there and chat, I suggest you grab Ellyra’s rag and dust this furniture off while your mouth is running. Ellyra can get a head start on the floor.”

            “All right then!” Guildria chirped cheerfully after a brief, chagrined silence. She took Ellyra’s rag and shook it out with a flourish, then proceeded to sneeze on the flurry of dust that was thrown into the air following the action.

            Rosaline pursed her lips and wrinkled her nose against the spell of dust, exclaiming, “God it’s filthy in here! I don’t know how I survive!”

            “Don’t worry! We’ll have this room cleaned up in no time. Many lights make handy work!” Guildria reassured her. “Er…” she added, realizing the spoonerism. “Strike that. Reverse it. Thank you.” After this correction she immediately turned to the nearest piece of furniture and commenced to scrub it vigorously with her rag, valiantly questing to rid all uncovered surfaces of dust.

            Meanwhile Ellyra retrieved her favorite broom from the closet down the hall and set about sweeping. She tried her best to ignore Rosaline, who would, from time to time, exert the effort to pick up some small knick knack or trifle that had fallen on the floor – sometimes in consequence of Guildria’s lofty task – and position it haphazardly whatever newly dusted surface was closest. Most of her time, however, was devoted to preening in the ornate, full length mirror that hung next to her wardrobe. She carefully applied layers of color to her cheeks and eyes to accent her already attractive features, turning sideways every so often as if to critique her own profile.

            For all her efforts though, it was clear to Ellyra that Guildria possessed the real beauty. Rosaline’s well-brushed, snow white hair pleased the eye, but it couldn’t hold a candle to Guildria’s wavy dark locks. As much as she tried to cover it, Rosaline’s loveliness was borne of a much more classical nature, Guildria’s allure seemed not to be something that she worked at or cared for; it was like a cloud that followed in her footsteps transforming her inherent clumsiness to charm and brightening her skin with optimism. Guil’s version of beauty could not be accentuated by makeup or manipulated by clothing as Rosaline’s often was because it seemed to possess a life all its own: it twined through Guildria’s every breath and thus appeared itself to breathe.

            When Rosaline at last pronounced her room satisfactory, Ellyra excused herself as quickly as possible before her stepsister could think of another task for her to accomplish. At that hour of the afternoon Eliza was sure to be busy in the stables so Ellyra decided that it was best not to disturb her. With her first choice exhausted and finding herself the possessor of a rare morsel of free time, she eagerly pointed her steps toward the little- traveled footpath that curved away from the manor and plunged into the deep green forest that divided the Redbriar Manor from one of the great tracts of land owned by King Clemantis.

Though the path grew more rugged every year that the carriage remained on their land, keeping its inhabitants lazy, Ellyra had always enjoyed walking near the river and never minded fighting her way through the occasional branch or high patch of grass. As a child she had learned that the trail would eventually take her into Raynar, the nearest village, and in her younger years she and her father had walked the path often so little Ellyra could spend that week’s pocket money on sweets or a length of ribbon from the enticing shops that lined the square and so they could gaze at the mist shrouded peaks and high buttresses of the king’s distant palace. When she had grown into a young woman, her father allowed her to venture down the path on her own and she visited fairs and plays in the village whenever she could.

             She hummed a little as she meandered down the memory-ridden trail, reflecting on how long it had been since her last visit to Raynar. “Too long.” She thought decidedly to herself, appreciating the lush scenery around her. Birds whistled down from their trees as if in reply and it wasn’t long before the Dove of Calassi had begun to add her own song to the setting and rapidly became so lost in her own world that she failed to notice the two glimmering sets of eyes half-hidden in a patch of shadows that waited patiently for her to come into view. 

           

*

 

            “We really should have brought a map with us.”

            “Capital idea! I’m so glad you’ve thought this thing through now.”

            “Don’t blame me, Tam! I didn’t think of it either, but how was I supposed to know this castle didn’t open onto a city? That would make sense after all.”

            “Humans don’t make sense, Cypress. That’s the way they are.”

            “Don’t talk like that. Someone could hear you and if they turned us in we’d both be in trouble.”

            “For what? Talking? Humans can refer to themselves as humans because that’s what they are. If we were fairies it would be       perfectly logical to refer to ourselves as such, would it not?”

            “Well yes, but I think it would be more appropriate to say ‘people don’t make sense.’”

            “What, now I’m supposed to be an expert on Calassian syntax? Please! Just because you read into language far too much for your own could doesn’t I have to. ‘Humans’ has worked just fine for the rest of the court and I for all my years of living, thank you very much.”

            “The rest of the court and me. And don’t presume you know everything about this place.”

            “And how should I presume?! We’re wandering around in a God ridden forest with no sense of direction, no food, no water, no nothing!”

            “We have that cloak you stole from the palace.”

“It’s not stealing! It’s borrowing. We live there now; I’ll give it back.”

“How do you know we live there? That could just be where they put us.”

“I don’t know, Cy. I really don’t. The place just gives me that feeling. And besides, why would they make this more effort than it should be, at least as far as housing is concerned. That tunic I found in the closet was definitely mine.”

“All right, all right. I’m sorry. But we’re never going to get back if we don’t get out of this forest soon. Maybe we’ll find a native who knows their way.”

“Mm… and maybe they’ll have food with them. I’m starving!”

“And at least we’ve eaten breakfast.”

            “A bowl of hot oats with those little shriveled brown things in. Hurrah. I feel satisfied.”

            “They’re called raisins, and I thought it was quite nice.”

            “You would! I bet horses eat that stuff!”

            “What does it matter? As long as we’re here we’re going to have to eat what’s given to us. It’s not like before.”

            “How isn’t it like before? We lived in a castle then didn’t we? Why does this one’s choice of breakfast have to be so different?”

            “Stop complaining, you’re giving me a headache.”

            “Fine then. Would you prefer it if I sulk?”

            “Oh honestly Tam! You wanted to do this!”  

            “If I had known this would involve wandering blindly around in a forest for the rest of eternity maybe I would’ve—”

            “Shh! Listen! Do you hear that?”

            The two wanderers fell silent and soon they were able to hear strains of melody floating on the breeze to their ears.

“It’s beautiful…” Cypress sighed. “Who do you think it is?”

“I don’t care, but as long as it’s a human voice I’m up for following it. Maybe the owner knows where it’s going.” Tam said dryly. “Let’s go.” With that he charged into the underbrush in pursuit of the singer, Cypress following reluctantly.

They had traveled only a few hundred feet before the far off tune suddenly cut off.

Cypress looked at his friend. “That was odd. And a little suspicious.”

Tam opened his mouth to respond but a high female scream coming from the same direction cut him off. The two exchanged worried glances and darted lightly through the woods to help.

 

*

 

Ellyra whined, tears forming at the corners of her wide, grey eyes. Her back pressed painfully into the bark of the tree against which she was cornered, but her main concern was the blade at her throat.

The scrawny, dirty boy that held it there glared and turned the dagger a bit, nicking her skin. “Shaddup girlie. One more peep outta you an’ you’ll be sorry!”

The young criminal’s accomplice, obviously the leader, ran his hand through his greasy black hair and sized up their captive. “Well if she’s carryin’ anythin’, the wench’s hidin’ it well.” he said, slightly disappointed.

“Ah… I… don’t have any money.” Ellyra squeaked meekly, wincing at the pain at her neck. “I… was just taking a walk into Raynar and… ah!” she quickly fell silent as pressure was increased on the blade, signaling her to hold her tongue.

“Figures. We wait here almost two days straight by the richest damn manor in the king’om and the first person comin’ our way’s a poor servant girl. It ain’t fair!” The knife boy complained, cutting into Ellyra’s neck a little more, though this time it was probably by accident.

The thin lipped man squatted down in front of the captive and ran a bony hand over her cheek. “No it ain’t, but she’s a pretty thing.” He laughed coarsely at the fear saturating her eyes. “If she ain’t got money for us to take, I certainly wouldn’t say no to her maidenhead.” He took out his own knife, twirling it in his fingers before making a small cut down the middle of her dress.

The boy shifted uncomfortably. “Aw Riz, do ya hafta? Summin could be comin’ and I dun wanna go ta jail again.”

“Hush up squirt.” Riz snapped dismissively, cutting some of the material easily away and gazing hungrily at her chest, now only covered by her thin white slip. “No one gets arrested fer rape anymore. The king doesn’t care. An’ anyway, no one’s gonna be out in this forest. That’d be—”

The stone that whizzed through the air caught him in the small of the back before he could finish, causing his thought to finish in a roar of pain and rage. He turned jerkily and rose to his feet, his blade ready. “I know sum’un threw that! Come out an’ fight like man, coward!”

“A coward, am I?” Tam asked nonchalantly, stepping out from behind his tree. “Forgive me, but I see nothing cowardly about having a clandestine advantage.”

Rizland snarled. “Ya think yer so smart, blueblood? We’re armed! Back off, she’s mine!” He advanced, brandishing his blade menacingly.

Tam tutted and drew the sword he had been hiding beneath the cloak. “Correct me if I’m wrong,” he said pointedly, “but I believe that legally this young lady owns herself and has a right to choose her own actions.” He took a step forward, smirking as his opponent drew back. “And by the look on her face I would hazard a guess that entertaining petty criminals in the forest is not one of those choices.”

“Stay back!” the younger boy cried, trembling a little but desperate to get himself out of trouble. He steadied his knife against Ellyra’s pale skin, resting on an artery. “Take one step closer and she dies!”

“Oh, I very much doubt that.” Tam said pleasantly. “But if you insist.” He stopped in his tracks, his sword en guard in front of him. “Though it seems that, since neither party would be wise to move, we’ve reached a rather interesting impasse.”

Rizland hesitated, glaring at the stranger’s sword. It was sharp. Very sharp. For once his preservation instinct overrode his impulsive nature. “Oh yeah? We’ll see about that.” In truth, he didn’t know what ‘impasse’ meant, but he certainly wasn’t about to let on to this dangerous alien. He was about to growl a threat at the sword holder, but his brother’s cry of surprise prompted him to turn his head to find the cause. Just then the stranger pounced. The sickening crack of hilt against skull echoed through the trees and Rizland fell limply to the ground.

“Here, Cy. Let me help you with that.” Tam said, leaving the unconscious man where he lay to help Cypress contain the struggling boy. Cypress had managed to confiscate his dagger, but hadn’t been able to avoid the youth’s flying fists.

“Lemme go, palace scum! Ugggh! Lemme go!” He caught Cypress in the side of the head.

“I’d stop flailing like that if I were you.” Tam said sternly, raising his blade to menace the boy’s throat. “Things are a little different when you’re on the other side of the blade, aren’t they?” Tam asked, smirking at the captive’s struggle’s abrupt end.  

“What are you going to do with me?” the frightened young urchin inquired fearfully, eyeing his accomplice.

“That’s an excellent question.” Tam admitted, glancing at Cypress for an idea.

“In a just world, I believe the maiden would get to decide.” Cypress said, and regarded the shocked and shaking Ellyra, careful to keep his gaze on her face instead of elsewhere. “What do you think, miss? What should we do with this degenerate?”

The boy squeezed his eyes shut, ashamed to look at his victim as she studied him.

“L-let him go.” Ellyra stammered finally after a minute of thought. “I think… I think he has a good heart. H-he… he didn’t want to hurt me… he didn’t want that man to…”

“Ah, the compassion of a true lady.” Tam declared. “’Tis a beautiful and noble thing.” He removed the threat from the confused young lad’s throat and Cypress set him gently on the ground, though he kept a firm hold on his shoulder.

“Take you friend and get out of this forest.” Cypress commanded. “We’ll be back to make sure you’re gone. And boy, never ever put an innocent human being in that kind of danger ever again or next time you may not be so lucky.”

As the boy scurried to do as he was bid the two rescuers turned their attention to Ellyra. “Poor child, you must be freezing!” Tam exclaimed, shedding his cloak and offering it to the shivering young woman.

Ellyra took it gratefully and draped it over her shoulders. “Thank you.” she murmured. “Thank you both for everything. If there’s any way I could repay you, I’ll do anything within reason.”

“Actually…” Cypress began.

“If you could possibly feed us…” Tam interrupted pathetically, his noble façade failing slightly.

“Or just take us to some place in town. We were wandering around lost before we found you.” Cypress amended, glaring mildly at his hungry companion.

“Oh. Well, in that case, why don’t I take you back to the manor and we can have lunch?”

“Excellent! Good plan!” Tam cried excitedly.

Cypress sighed and shook his head, hair bouncing. “Honestly, I wonder about you, Tam. You rescue a lady and then all you can think about is your stomach.”

“My stomach and I are good friends!” Tam protested. “When it’s unhappy, it causes me pain. Of course I’m thinking about my stomach! It’s not worth it not to!”

Ellyra giggled and began to push away from the tree, causing Cypress to remember himself. “Oh where are my manners?” he chided himself as he stepped over to offer her a hand. “Are you all right? Can you walk?”

The young woman accepted the assistance offered, smiling a little. “Yes, I think so. I was just shaken.”

“Thank goodness that’s all you are, though I am sorry about your dress.” Cypress responded as he eased her to her feet. “It was worth it to be lost for so long if Tam and I could keep those riffraff away from you.”

Ellyra bowed her head to hide the flush in her cheeks and pulled the cloak a little closer around her.

“Cypress! Tsk, tsk! Stop flirting with the little maid! You barely know the lady!” Tam teased loudly.

Cypress’s ears reddened. “But… I wasn’t… I…” he stammered, floundering.

Tam laughed. “I was joking.” he glanced at Ellyra and added reassuringly, “He isn’t like that, sweet lady. Cypress is the kind of person who finds all people likeable on some level or another, despite first impressions. Unfortunately he has yet to convince me this notion.”

“Apart from which, I’ve just realized that we’ve both been extremely rude in utterly forgetting to inform this poor lady of our names.” Cypress put in hurriedly before Tam could analyze his character any further. “You’ve probably gathered enough from our vulgar banter, but I am Cypress Crossvine and this idiot is Tamarisk Tal’cass.”

“Oh!” Ellyra exclaimed, this new embarrassment canceling out the previous one. “I’m Ellyra Sweetspire. I’m sorry I forgot to tell you…” she smiled, chagrined. “I was enjoying listening to your conversation.”

“Hear that, Cy? Your garrulousness is good for something!” Tam chuckled. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Oh, go chase a cloud, Tam.” Cypress retorted, rolling his eyes. “But come. If you’re still hungry, I’d like to get out of this forest. Lead the way, fair lady.”

A touch of crimson flitted across the “fair lady’s” cheeks. “Just plain ‘Ellyra’ is fine.” she told her rescuers softly as she began to lead the way, though she wasn’t exactly sure how far her criminals had dragged her off the path. “I’m really no lady. Not yet, at least.”

“Only one lady’s opinion.” Cypress said firmly.

“Tut, tut, Cy. Don’t talk back. Have you learned nothing at court?” Tam called out, taking up the rear.

“In court?” Ellyra asked, pausing and facing them. “You’re not… oh God… do you work for the King?”

“No!” Both chorused, though Cypress shot Tam a quick glare.

“No, no.” Tam repeated, trying to cover his mistake. “We were courtiers, but in another kingdom, beyond the Western Mountains. That’s why we were so confused by this forest. We only just arrived you see, and our method of travel wasn’t exactly… informative.”

“They didn’t even leave us a map.” Cypress muttered.

“Oh…” Ellyra responded, eyeing them suspiciously before continuing to blaze their trail. “I suppose that makes a bit of sense. Where are you staying?”

“We’re not sure, exactly.” Cypress admitted. “It’s a small castle, tucked away in this forest. We’ve been wandering around it all morning and we haven’t found either it or our way out of the woods.”

“Castle…” Ellyra whispered thoughtfully as she walked, curving gently around a bend in the barely seen path. “You don’t mean the King’s castle? That’s two cities away, and nowhere near a forest!”

“Oh no. This one is much smaller, and much bleaker.” Cypress said, drawing on scattered memories of King Clamantis’ castle from when he was younger, before the curse had prompted the threat of war. “And it’s well-hidden too, which, I’m sure, is the opposite of the King’s.”

“Well-hidden.” Ellyra repeated, chewing on the words as she spoke them. She laughed lightly to herself. “No… that’s a preposterous idea.”

“It couldn’t hurt to share it.” Cypress observed coolly.

“Oh, it’s really nothing. Just a fantasy, really. The thought’s only basis comes from a story in our kingdom, and no one really knows if it’s true or not.”

“Well we seem to have a rather long walk ahead of us.” Tam encouraged. “I’m up for a little entertainment if you care to share the story.”

“That’s a good point, I suppose.” Ellyra relented. “Very well. I’m not sure if you know since you’re not from around here, but about two years ago the Fairy Queen came to visit Calassi. I was one of the lucky ones who actually got to see her on her visit, but we won’t go into that. Anyway, while she was here she resided for a few days at the palace in the company of the royal family, including the princes Zayric and Cleven. That’s all I know for sure, but rumor has it that Prince Zayric was so offensive to the Fairy Queen that she was thrown into a rage and punished the prince by casting a terrible spell on the only thing the Prince Zayric ever truly loved: his brother Cleven. The story says that the enchantment transformed poor Prince Cleven into a hideous beast, a reflection of all the ugliness in Prince Zayric’s heart, and although he retained his sanity and his original mind, his assumed the figure of a monster every night.

“King Clemantias was enraged, of course, and immediately threw the Fairy Queen in his deepest dungeon, vowing to torture her until she told him the counter spell to break the enchantment. And torture her he did, at apparently still does, even after she told him, so that she would never gather the strength or the power to invoke her fairy magic to leave the dungeon until the king’s beloved son became fully human again. But as a year passed, and as Prince Cleven’s brother and father’s hatred of the fairies grew, Prince Cleven’s changes became more and more frequent, and soon he stopped changing back into a human altogether. Dismayed, King Clemantias had no choice but to lock the youngest prince away in a castle of his own, a castle that few people would ever be able to find, until the spell could be broken.”

“And you think that perhaps we stumbled upon that castle?” Cypress asked, intrigued.

“Well, I never said that.” Ellyra responded. “My eldest sister thinks it’s just a myth and that the prince just has a terminal case of acne and won’t come to any public events. I don’t quite believe her, but I think that your finding this castle, if such a place even exists, is improbable.”

“Your story does provide a good explanation for the tension between Calassi and ____, though. We did know about that where we come from.” Cypress said pensively. he was silent for a few moments, then spoke up. “If you don’t mind my posing another question, Ellyra, how did the Fairy Queen say the prince’s curse could be broken?”

“No one knows for sure.” Ellyra answered carefully. “If the story is true, then the answer is something along the lines of ‘when Prince Zayric shows enough compassion to love another human other than his brother, Prince Cleven’s curse will be broken.’ After all, that would make the most logical sense since the spell was cast to teach Prince Zayric a lesson and Prince Cleven happened to be an unfortunate victim. From what my father’s told me when he’s home from his travels near the palace, there are whispers among the courtiers that when Prince Zayric falls in love, the curse will melt away.”

“That does make sense.” Cypress agreed.

“So of course the King’s been forcing Prince Zayric to attend every major ball and party that occurs and although he could pick whatever girl he wants in the whole kingdom, no one seems to move him. He’s got a heart of stone.” Ellyra said bitterly, scuffing up a bit of dirt with the toe of her tattered white shoe.

“Ah. I take it you’ve met him.” Cypress responded sympathetically. “And you don’t like him?”

“Of course not! I don’t know what all the other girls see in him, besides his looks. His wit could cut glass and his sarcasm… oh don’t get me started! I’ve only really talked to him once and believe me, that was more than enough.” She took some deep, calming breaths and recomposed herself. “But at any rate, if the stories are true, I do feel sorry for is brother. I never met Prince Cleven, but from what people say he looked to be the opposite of his brother.”  

 “He sounds like a prince well worth having, then.” Cypress said nobly. “And I only wish that if, by some fantastic stroke of luck, the castle we left is the one you were describing, that we will eventually find it and perhaps one day bring you with us to meet this beast prince.”

“Oh, I would love that, if only to see if the stories were true. It’s all so mysterious.” Ellyra exclaimed happily, looking over her shoulder to smile at Cypress.

“Don’t get your hopes up too high,” Cypress warned. “Judging by how far we must’ve strayed from the castle taken together with the size of this forest, it’ll be a miracle if we ever find the castle again, beast prince or no.”

“Oh, I rather think we will.” Tam said uneasily, speaking for the first time since the conversation began.

Cypress jumped; he had been so engrossed in talking to Ellyra that he hadn’t noticed Tam draw level with them as the path widened. “Oh?” he asked, puzzled. “What makes you say that?”

Tam raised a finger, encouraging the other two to take in their surroundings, and gestured to a break in the trees through which a dreary grey turret could be seen.

“Because,” he said pointedly, “unless my eyes fail me, that’s it over there.”

Author's Note

Okay this is one of those chapters where I feel like I'm cramming a lot of background information into one chapter and it feel awkward but I really can't afford to let the information out more subtly because it would take forever and I need to keep the story moving. Any suggestions on how to make it sound less ploddy?

Reviews

[Hannah!]

Actually, I think you handled the background information really well. Dialogue makes everything more interesting, and you kill two birds with one stone, so to speak, by having Ellyra tell Cypress and Tam the story after meeting them. I think I almost like the slight ploddiness, anyway, because it feels like they're taking a walk through the forest, heading towards home--it's a really comfortable, sort of genial feeling that's fun to read and establishes a good relationship between three important characters.

I liked this chapter a lot, in general--I'm a sucker for stories within stories, to tell the truth. This story seems like a lot of my favorite fairy tales rolled into one convenient novel--I've already recognized Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast (both of them with their own little twists, of course), and am wondering if I'll come across more throughout the course of the story. I like that a lot--it adds a sort of fourth dimension to the story that makes it interesting by making it familiar.

I also really like the dynamic you've got going on between Cypress and Tam. They bicker like brothers--I'm assuming you did this on purpose--and Tam is so funny that I can't help but smile when I read the things he said. I like Tam and Cy both a lot, but Tam is definitely the stronger character here. I feel like I know him already.

There were a few scattered typos in this chapter, but beyond that, there didn't seem to be much that needed fixing. Honestly, don't worry about the lengthiness of the background information. It would need to come eventually, and it's way better to have it out all at once than to try and fit it in randomly throughout the story.