Chapter 1
SHROUDED BY SHADOWS
At first, Flora ran fast and hard. She knew she could outpace her uncle, and the last thing she wanted was for him to catch her. But as the distance between her and the village grew, she started to realize that no one was coming after her. The epiphany had her slowing her steps.
For hours, she put one foot in front of the other, reliving their argument and every other argument she had had with her aunt and uncle.
For years, he had threatened to send her away, he had warned her against her rash behavior.
For years, she had stayed silent, warring internally against his spinelessness.
And for years she had heard him claim “there was nothing to be done”.
But today, seeing those guards drink themselves into a stupor while knowingly starving the village was too much for her. Mairi’s tears and her uncle’s reluctance to do anything was too much for her.
Some of her curls fell into her face and she angrily brushed them away, finding her cheeks wet.
As much as she hated to admit it, her uncle’s threats stung like rejection against her heart. She had always known she was a burden to him and his family, but to hear it put so blatantly, to be told that she was unwanted, hurt more than she cared to admit even to herself.
Not wanting to ruminate on her sorrow, she turned her focus back toward the anger she felt at the situation.
Beyond her bitterness toward her uncle, even beyond her grief for her parents, Flora hated Campbell.
He was little more than a tyrant who cared more about his power than his people.
He ruled so ruthlessly that for years, no one had the courage to stand up to him.
The entire clan seemed content to let the vile man take over and ruin all of their lives without so much as a whisper of complaint.
Her footsteps fell heavy on the fallen leaves, crushing them with every step. The anger and hurt that coursed through her veins didn’t dissipate but grew stronger the further away from the village she got.
Another hour in and she finally looked up long enough to pay attention to where she was.
She had spent six years getting to know these woods, but she was further out than she had ever made it before.
None of the oak trees, none of the moss-covered boulders, looked familiar to her.
A rocky crag shot up to her left, forcing her to go right, trailing beside a small stream.
Part of her knew that she could turn around and go back to her uncle, beg his forgiveness, and promise obedience again.
He might give a week or two of extra chores, but he would let her in.
It was her own pride that pushed her forward.
She didn’t want to live somewhere that she was not wanted. She didn’t want to be a burden.
The thinning branches above rustled in the wind, sending shivers down her spine.
Somewhere not too far away, a pack of wolves started to howl, having found their dinner for the night.
Her own stomach rumbled with hunger, but she ignored it.
The sun was setting, and she had a precious few minutes of light left.
Survival instincts kicked in and Flora started to search for a place to sleep.
Her body ached with exhaustion and hunger that came from having walked for hours.
She had hardly managed to eat anything for breakfast that morning, and now she was regretting her choice.
Not to mention, her tattered clothes were nowhere near warm enough for her to survive in the forest for long.
Fueled by only her determination, Flora turned to the crag and started to scale the wall. Several feet off the ground, high enough to deter any of the beasts that prowled through the woods at night, there was an opening. She pulled herself into it, grateful to find it empty and mostly dry.
Her chest heaved with the effort it had taken, and her muscles burned. But she was safe and out of the wind for now.
It didn’t take long for her to truly begin to feel the effects of her exhaustion.
Her eyes grew heavy, as did the rest of her body.
Curling into herself to ward off the cold that clutched at her bones, Flora finally let go of all the anger she had so desperately been clinging to.
Without the distraction of that rage, she was left with only her pain.
Tears streamed down her face, wetting her sweat-damp neck and pooling into her hair. She didn’t bother trying to stop it. Nor did she try to fight sleep when it came to claim her.
Stiffness invaded her entire body, making it hard to stretch when the morning came. The dawn danced across her face, rousing her still tired and puffy eyes. It wasn’t the worst night of sleep she had ever had, but maybe the second worst.
Birds chirped loudly, unaware of her presence in their home.
She would have given anything at that moment to have awoken in her own bed, but she had made a choice, and it was one she wouldn’t go back on.
Her uncle had made it clear when he threatened to take her to the convent that she wasn’t welcome, and had only reiterated his point when he didn’t go after her.
She was on her own, and that meant figuring out where to go next.
For starters, she climbed down from the small cave, lowering herself against the rocky face of the crag. The stone was cool and covered in dew. It was a welcome feeling against her aching, tired hands.
Once her feet hit the forest floor, she knew she would have to get moving again.
Taking a moment to orient herself, Flora wandered over to the stream, drinking greedily before splashing the cold water on her face.
It did nothing to quell the hunger in her belly, but it soothed her dry throat, and that would have to do for now.
Not wanting to go back, Flora decided she wouldn’t stray from the stream’s edge. At the very least, having access to water would sustain her for the day, maybe a second if she didn’t manage to find any food before then.
Her walk was slower and less aggressive than it had been the day before. Her anger had mellowed into stubborn determination. She was more focused on surviving than making a point to her uncle.
She had lost all sense of direction until she came to the end of the stream.
It pooled into the side of a hill, unable to go any further.
But it was the trees that made her recognize the place.
They thinned out, creating an odd circular border around the top of the hill, as if they had all refused to grow in the center.
Rocks and boulders were stacked on top of each other in the clearing, though with the morning fog, it was almost impossible to see the entire layout.
“Fairies,” she whispered in awe.
Little white lights danced in the misty morning, the sunlight streaming through the bald branches making everything look that much more ethereal.
She had heard stories of this hill. Several of the Aberfeldy villagers believed that this was the home of fairies and changelings.
They nestled in the rocks, protecting their homes with their magic.
That was why the trees encircled the hill in such an odd way.
That was why no one from the village ever dared to venture out so far away.
Flora stumbled around, amazed that she had managed to find such a place. She struggled to believe that such magical creatures could be real, but her eyes were convinced that this was indeed their home.
Filled with excitement, Flora forgot all about her hunger, anger, and tiredness and began exploring the hill in earnest. She jumped from one rock to the next, peering under each of them for any proof that a fairy had been there.
Throwing her arms above her head, Flora leaped across the opening to land in front of the next rock.
But her feet landed on a pile of red and orange leaves, wet and slick from the morning dew.
As quickly as she had landed, her feet fell out from under her again.
With a thud, her back slammed against the grass of the hill, and she went careening down the front.
Covering her head with her hands, Flora was at the mercy of gravity as it pulled her down the hill and away from the fairies.
It felt like a lifetime before she rolled to a stop.
Checking herself for any injuries, Flora pushed herself off the ground and wiped the mud from her face.
It only served to smear the dirt across her cheek further.
Giving up on the effort, she looked up, wanting to know just how far she had fallen.
Her eyes found not only that the hill was indeed taller than she had suspected, but that the view from the side was even more beautiful than the other side.
She was standing in the middle of an opening, this time not of trees, but of rocks.
The oaks were all a thing of the past, having been replaced by a swarm of gray and brown moss-covered boulders.
To her right sat a shallow lake with crystal blue waters, the likes of which she had never seen before.
It was being fed by the steady fall of water that burst from the hill, out from in between several other rocks.
How she had managed to avoid a perilous end to her fall, she didn’t know.
She smiled to herself as she wondered if the fairies had protected her.
Mesmerized by it all, Flora gingerly explored the rest of the area.
Despite it being late autumn, there were still colorful blooms of white, purple, and pink peeking out around the edges of the lake.
Here, the chill of the breeze vanished, turning into something warmer, that felt more like a mother’s touch.