The Next Fairy Tale
A taste of the fantasy novel I’m writing. I love working on this book. Hope you enjoy!
PROLOGUE
Calliope’s boots made no sound as she ran down the corridor. All of the Star Palace was dark at this hour, but the eyes of the Great Tapestries watched as she ran past them. Judging her. Well, let them.
She swiftly descended the spiral stairs, grateful for the breeches the Godmistress complained about so often, and ran silently across the midnight marble. Stars sparkled in the floor beneath her and the ceiling above. Any other time, she would have paused to admire them.
The Fairy Godmother slowed as she ascended the dais steps. She could not suppress a shiver of fear and wonder as she scaled them and stopped before the Mirror. Light lanced from the glass on occasion, throwing random beams about the room, though where the light came from she could not have said. The rest of the Great Hall was dark and still, but for the twinkling stars.
Calliope took a shuddering breath. She had known this would be the hardest part, had tried to prepare herself. The tears still came as she said in a choked voice: “I have to go. Not just for me, but for her.”
Tendrils of smoke whispered through the glass, smoke that became whirls of color, then twisted into the shape of a face. The eyes that stared back were pools of emptiness where the whirling colors were not, but there was warmth in them.
“I know,” was all the Mirror said.
It still felt good to hear the words, and when the face in the glass grinned, she managed to return a tiny smirk. She was glad she had risked this one goodbye. She had left so many others and so much else undone.
The word would not come. Instead, she said: “I’ve a question, if you are willing. It would give me peace to know.”
She did not have to ask it. The face stared from the glass, tendrils of color glowing faintly as they swirled and danced and changed. The Mirror seemed to hesitate.
Calliope forgot her question for an instant, shocked by the pensiveness in that face. The Mirror answered questions, or it did not. This was something new.
When the face in the glass finally spoke, its voice was gentle. “It will not be easy, but yes. One day.”
Calliope swallowed down the sudden tightening in her throat. “Thank you, Mirror. Thank you for everything.”
She turned and sped down the dais steps. The enormous double-doors that led from the Great Hall into the courtyard swung silently open as she reached them, then shut silently behind as she sprinted to the stables.
Goodbye. I’ll miss you. She sent the thought into the night, knowing the Mirror would hear it, still sorry she hadn’t been able to say it out loud.
She heard those words again as she climbed onto Wind’s saddle, plain as they had been upon the dais:
“It will not be easy, but yes. One day.”
Smiling broadly, Calliope rode into the night.