The Dark Forest

by Sarah Noffke

  “What is it? What did you see?” Azure asked, pushing her seat back as she stood.

  Fay Anna combed her long hair forward onto her shoulder, as if to keep herself warm. “It can’t have been correct. No one has seen her in ages. She isn’t supposed to even still be alive.”

  “What? Who are you talking about? What did my tea leaves say?”

  “Mage Lenora,” Fay Anna said in a hushed voice, as if she were afraid that someone could hear her. “The tea leaves said you’d find Mage Lenora.”

  “But… No… I mean…” Azure trailed off in a series of different sentences. Mage Lenora was the oldest witch ever. If the rumors were true, she lived on the top of the Mountain of Truth. No one had seen her in over a hundred years, and yet wands for every new witch or wizard were miraculously delivered to Virgo when needed. They were always found on the threshold of the House of Enchanted with the name of the witch or wizard the wand belonged to written on a piece of parchment and tied to its end. All wands were made from the Howling Willow outside Mage Lenora’s home.

  Azure had opened her mouth to ask a real question when a knock sounded at the door. She jumped back, stepping on the tail of the gray tabby that had taken up residence behind her.

  “I’m sorry, Winston. I didn’t mean to.” Azure apologized to the cat, who hissed at her before charging off.

  Fay Anna didn’t pay this commotion any attention as she pulled back the front door.

  The rush of muttering could barely be heard from the threshold. Azure pulled in a breath, combing her hands through her tangled curls. Mage Lenora. That didn’t make any sense. Why would she seek out the oldest witch?

  “I see. A disturbance at the stables,” Fay Anna said from the door.

  Azure strode around the table, nearing the front door. On the other side of the threshold stood a wizard with reddish-orange hair tied back in a ponytail.

  “None of the horses want to work anymore. They just frolic in the yard now,” Zar said, raking his hands over his forehead, stress oozing from his wrinkled face.

  “Uh huh. I might have an enchantment that will work,” Fay Anna said to the stablemaster, but her voice was directed back toward Azure.

  “I just don’t know why anyone would allow a pixie into Virgo. They have to be invited in. Someone has allowed this one entry, and she’s creating quite the headache for me,” Zar said, now rubbing his eye.

  Pixie! Azure darted forward, brushing past Fay Anna. “I must be going.”

  “Princess Azure,” Zar said, kneeling in a show of respect.

  “Good day, Zar,” Azure said, curtly nodding at him.

  “Take care, Princess Azure,” Fay Anna called to her back as she scurried to the stables just over the next ridge.

  ***

  Dammit, Azure thought. She should have known that pixies had to be invited into Virgo. That’s why she’d never seen one in their land. Fairies, yes, but they were different. Actually, without fairies the gardens in Virgo wouldn’t be lush with vegetables and their fruits wouldn’t be exploding with richness.

  Azure didn’t stop running until she got to the doors of the stables. They, like most of the buildings in Virgo, were painted in intense pastels. The shutters were spearmint green, the walls periwinkle blue and the doors cotton candy pink. Azure ripped open the stable door, only to discover exactly what she’d dreaded she’d find.

  None of the horses were in their stalls. Through the gate at the back, Azure could hear the swoosh of tails and see hints of bright colors as she marched across the hay-strewn ground. How could she be queen when she created more problems than she solved?

  The sight that met Azure’s eyes clouded her head with frustration. No wonder cool-as-a-sea-slug Zar was discouraged. On the expansive grounds of the stables, the palominos, Arabians, Latvians, and Appaloosas alike laid in the grassy yard. Each of their manes and tails had been braided and woven with flowers. Around the lounging animals were an assortment of apples and heirloom carrots. And buzzing around their heads, whispering in their pointy ears, was a pixie with bright blonde hair.

  “Oh, fuck,” Azure said to herself. Pixies, she now realized, created disorder by enthralling the horses. No wonder she’d never seen them in Virgo. They were inhibitors. Without horses, the fields wouldn’t get plowed, buildings wouldn’t be built, and the people in Virgo would be forced to walk great distances on their own feet.

  Azure took a deep breath and snapped her fingers in the air. “Buzz Buzz!”

  The pixie, who had been only a blur of color as she swept between the different animals, paused in the air. She turned her head in Azure’s direction, batting her eyes at her. The pixie waved her off, shaking her head as she did, as if she was preoccupied with arranging the mane of the palomino in front of her.

  “Buzz Buzz! Get over here, or I’m pulling out my bow and arrow and going pixie hunting!” Azure held up her wand, pointing it in the direction of the creature she had thought was all sunshine and rainbows. Small, sweet things could be very deceiving.

  A series of mutters filled the air as the pixie shot across the space, leaving behind sparks as she did.

  An impatient hum fell from the pixie’s mouth when she paused in front of Azure. It sounded like a curt “What?”

  “You can’t do this. You’ve enchanted our horses, and now we have no one to help us with the work,” Azure started to say.

  Buzz Buzz cut her off with her own retort, which sounded like a field of spring frogs all trying to croak over each other.

  Azure shook her head at the pixie, but realized immediately that disagreeing with the tiny thing wasn’t going to get her anywhere. This pixie was more dangerous than the Orcs if she wanted to be, with those sweet pink cheeks and long eyelashes.

  Raising her wand, Azure flicked it at the horses, and the ribbons and flowers disappeared from their manes and tails.

  A sound akin to a siren wailing emerged from Buzz Buzz’ mouth. Azure pretended she didn’t hear it, and turned on her toes.

  “If you want an animal you can enthrall, follow me. The horses of Virgo are off-limits.”

  The pixie hummed so loudly that Azure was sure it would explode her eardrums. Acting as if she were unaffected, she turned back to the hovering pixie. “There will be no negotiating. You will leave the horses of Virgo alone. They have work to do. If you want a better alternative, follow me, otherwise I’ll escort you to the border where you’ll be uninvited from Virgo and never allowed within in our borders again.”

  Buzz Buzz landed on the sandy ground and kicked once, making the tiniest of dirt storms fly up from her slippered foot.

  Azure leaned over the little creature. “Get mad all you want. I didn’t know what you planned to do here, but now that I do, I’ll offer you something else. However, fight me on this and I’ll offer you to an Orc as something to floss their teeth with. Your call.”

  With a high-pitched squeal of dissatisfaction Buzz Buzz marched forward, throwing a look of longing behind her before charging off in pursuit of Azure.

  Hopefully the horses would return to normal with the pixie gone. Zar would have Azure’s head on a stake if he found out she had been the one responsible for allowing Buzz Buzz inside their borders.

  Once outside the stable grounds, Azure set off for the area of the forest that bordered Virgo. She didn’t know if her plan would work, but if it didn’t, instead of attending her coronation she’d be tried for the murder of this dumb pixie.

  They’d traveled only a few yards when Buzz Buzz flew close to Azure’s ear and began muttering nonsensical rubbish at her.

  “Look! I don’t know what you’re saying. I’m trying to help you, but you need to shut your damn mouth for five fucking minutes. Otherwise you’re going to ruin everything, okay?”

  The pixie stared at her, her face stony, her wings fluttering to keep her in the air. Finally she nodded, her lip quivering as if she was about to break into loud wails.

  “Just trust me,” Azure said. She wanted to follow
up that statement with “I know what I’m doing.” However, that wasn’t true. This was the true definition of “winging it.”

  Veering off to the more wooded area at the back of the stables, Azure noted that the sun had journeyed above the treetops. Soon witches and wizards would be bounding out of their houses, probably congregating to discuss the upcoming coronation. She slipped through a set of cottages nestled especially close together. It didn’t cost Buzz Buzz the same effort to traverse the same space.

  Only once had Azure encountered the creature she was looking for. Well, she hadn’t been looking for him as much as hoping he’d show himself to her. It was common knowledge that they lived in the forest around Virgo, but hardly anyone ever saw them. There were many mysteries like that in Virgo, which was one of the trillion reasons Azure loved her homeland so much. The top reason was simple though—it was the people.

  The line of cottages was now far in the distance, and the forest was thick around them. Buzz Buzz kept close to Azure, although the border of the Dark Forest was still several dozen yards away. The low-hanging branches of the mossy trees hovered just above the ground, which was rife with mushrooms and large holes where squirrels and mice had burrowed.

  A twig cracked behind them, and Azure halted. Buzz Buzz didn’t notice the noise because she was humming loudly enough that she couldn’t hear anything over that racket. Turning slowly, Azure clamped her mouth shut so as not to allow her squeal to spill out. Two yards away, much closer than she would have expected the creature could have gotten without them sensing him, stood the most magical animal on Oriceran.

  “Buzz,” Azure said, keeping her eyes forward and her spine stiff.

  The fucking pixie, who needed to get a clue, muttered to herself and then swung around. She went completely silent for a moment, but that was followed by a deafening squeal.

  “Easy, now,” Azure said, grabbing the pixie out of the air and holding her to her chest. Buzz Buzz’ wings fluttered against her hand as she tried to escape her grasp.

  “Calm down, or I’m shutting off your tiny airway,” Azure said in a gentle whisper.

  Buzz Buzz’ muttering turned into a low hum that sounded like gentle music.

  The unicorn several feet away lifted his head and stared at the pair, curiosity written in his green eyes. His rainbow mane shifted when he tilted his head as if trying to read them from a different vantage point. The unicorn was solid white, but his tail and mane were an array of colors that danced across the entire spectrum.

  “Hello,” Azure began. “Are you the same unicorn I met before?”

  The unicorn shook his head, but only slightly.

  Okay, so she’d now met two unicorns. That was new. Only a handful of witches or wizards from Virgo had seen one of these creatures in the last ten thousand years.

  “I’m Azure, and this,” she held Buzz Buzz out in her fist, “well, I’m sure you’ll understand her better than me.” Azure pulled the pixie close to her face. “If I let you go, do you promise to behave yourself and stay far from the horses?”

  The pixie nodded her head firmly, her eyes intent on the unicorn. Azure opened her fingers and felt the pixie’s wings brush her palms as she flew toward the unicorn.

  Buzz Buzz paused only a few feet from the unicorn, who held his head high, exerting a majestic force over the area. She hummed, muttered, chanted and then threw her hands in five different directions.

  After a long deliberation, the unicorn nodded his head. Buzz Buzz dashed back and kissed Azure on the cheek, squealing with delight. The pixie flew away, sparks twinkling in the air, and glided into the unicorn’s mane. She disappeared and then reappeared on the other side, a gigantic smile lighting her face. Azure didn’t speak Pixie, but the tone of the muttering spilling from her mouth indicated great excitement and happiness. “I think I leave you both in good hands,” Azure said, bowing and then adding, “and hooves… Anyway, thank you.”

  The unicorn looked at her, a long piercing stare that communicated more than she knew how to interpret. Finally he turned away, strolling toward a cluster of trees in the distance. Buzz Buzz changed direction with him, humming a melodic tune Azure hadn’t previously heard from the pixie. A moment later the pair had disappeared, although they should only have been a few feet away.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Firelight danced in the mirrors set around Azure’s room as three witches worked to braid her hair. Apparently the ringlets she had worn at her first coronation wouldn’t do this time. Neither would the dress from the previous event, which had been as heavy as an Orc. No, this time she had to have three braids, one representing her first coronation, one representing the time during which she had proved herself, and a third that symbolized this coronation. And the dress she wore now was as heavy as three Orcs, because symbolism came in threes. It was again bluish-gray, like her hair. The bodice, as before, was covered in lavender gems. However, sapphires had been added to the low neckline and hem and dotted the skirt and train.

  “I think you did this so I couldn’t escape if I changed my mind,” Azure told her gran, who was eying her with a catlike smile.

  “I did fear you’d think twice about this whole thing now that it’s a done deal, and run for the hills,” the queen mother said, turning to regard her own image in the closest floor-to-ceiling mirror. She wore a shimmering lilac gown adorned with the wings of deceased fairies, which were bequeathed to witches as an honor. Wings decorated the collar and the cuffs of the dress, giving it an effervescent shimmer.

  When Azure had returned to the House of Enchanted that morning she’d been whisked off to be bathed, manicured, and styled. It had left time for nothing else.

  Pushing her wand into her cleavage, Azure twisted her torso to ensure it would stay in place. “How is Mother?” she asked her gran for the hundredth time.

  “Why don’t you ask her for yourself,” Gran said, wheeling to face the entrance of Azure’s chamber.

  She yanked her chin up and stared in the mirror at the figure she could see over her shoulder. There in the doorway stood her mother, her head held high and color in her cheeks.

  “Mother,” Azure yelled, trying and failing to turn around. The damn train of the dress made movement nearly impossible.

  Gran, sensing the issue, flicked her own wand at the dress, instantly making it weightless.

  “Thank you. Why don’t I ever think to do that from when I put it on?” Azure strode forward until her mother was only inches away. “How are you? They said you were resting and couldn’t be disturbed.”

  “Yes, but I feel better than I have in a long while, all thanks to you,” Queen Emeri said, clutching her lilac soul stone. Like Azure’s, it was set in a pendant that hung around her throat. She didn’t have her magic and it might never return to her, but she had her health, and that was the most important thing.

  Despite the restriction of her epic dress, Azure threw herself forward, wrapping her mother in her arms. The queen was frailer than she remembered, but she cinched her in tight. With shaking arms Emeri hugged her back, a muffled cry spilling from her lips.

  Pulling back a few inches, the queen looked deep into Azure’s eyes. “I know this has all happened very fast. I know you’ve had your doubts about taking the crown. However, after everything that’s happened and how you’ve dealt with all of it, I’m more convinced than ever that you should be queen. Our people deserve someone who wields their magic effectively and can help them to protect the realm.”

  Azure bit her lip and nodded her head, which was heavy from the diamonds pinned throughout her braided hair.

  Emeri slid her gaze to the right. “Mother, it is time we take our places. Come along,” she said, and turned, her emerald-green robes trailing behind her. The hem of her garment was embellished with peacock feathers, which provided a beautiful symbolism for the current queen. Peacocks represented healing and the ability to overcome great adversity, which was important since Emeri was still fighting for her life.

&nbs
p; ***

  A strange sense of déjà vu overwhelmed Azure. Only a few days ago she’d stood on the other side of the closed doors to the Great Hall. Then, she had felt as though the crown was being thrown at her. How strange that having had it taken from her and being given the opportunity to fight for it, she was now hungry for the position. Before she’d seen being Queen as a burden, but now she saw it for what it was: a true honor.

  The giant doors swung open and witches and wizards clambered to stand. She’d been in this position once before, poised to walk down the aisle between her people. However, this time it felt quite different. For one thing, the faces weren’t curious as they had been before. Instead, everyone wore wide smiles, their eyes dazzled by the witch before them.

  Azure took a step forward, bringing both her heels together before taking the next step with the other foot. She didn’t keep her eyes focused on the center of the hall, but instead turned to each side to regard the witches and wizards she passed with her chin held high. Connecting her gaze with as many of her people as possible as she walked, Azure suddenly felt like she was floating. Witches gasped, leaning to whisper in their neighbors’ ears when she was close enough for them to study the intricacies of her dress. The sapphires and amethysts shimmered under the chandeliers’ flames.

  Gran sat in the front row, but she wasn’t smiling. Instead she had turned around, and kept slapping Monet’s wrist out of his face. Every few seconds he’d pull it back up and regard the Fitbit with curiosity, muttering to himself as he did. At his left stood Ever in a regal black suit that matched his hair. Gillian wore his normal brown suit but had crushed his bowler hat in his hands, his orange hair fully visible.

  Azure winked at her merry band, then pulled her gaze to her mother, who was standing on the platform at the front of the hall. That was the location where she’d dislodged her soul stone and learned who she truly was. The silver Virgoan crown covered in the soul stones of previous monarchs sat on a table beside the queen. All the soul stones embellishing it were varying shades of purple. Would it look strange one day when she died and her blue soul stone was added?