They hadn’t played in a month, and he’d known after the morning’s lesson of honey harvesting in the Meadows that everyone would be ready for stickyball. He’d suggested the nearby location when they’d been turned loose, and had prepared by wearing his best camouflage for the pines—his usual brown canvas trousers and a nearly-outgrown shirt his gran had dyed green.
Raven formed a ball of sticky, orange-brown energy in his hand. In this friendly game, the goal was to prove they’d hit each other, not to hurt anyone. Arm up and ready to throw, he scanned through the pine limbs.
Willow was stationed at the tip of the tallest tree in the grove as today’s whistler and judge. Knowing she’d be able to see every player’s moves—well, mostly—and surely some of his, made Raven feel…like this was a performance he had to do well in. He wasn’t sure why he wanted her to notice him, just that it seemed important she did.
Each time the whistle blew for a new round, every player had to change hiding spots. A player could move in-between whistles, if they liked, and that was where many players slipped up. That timing was up to the game’s whistler and never was a precise thing. Willow was notoriously patient.
The whistle blew a short blast. Raven checked his surroundings one last time, then fluttered his wings and hop-flew through a tunnel of branches to the next limb over and ducked back into the pine-scented shadows. Technically, he had moved. Now he scanned for movement…
None…then two trees over, higher up, a sway of a single bough. Raven cocked his arm. Only the tips of brown feathers flashed as a clue when the player ducked behind dense needles. Raven held his magic, on his toes in case the wizard reappeared.
Unless the light had caught Beri’s reddish feathers wrong, the glimpse of brown could only mean it was one of the Seas siblings, Salm or Coral. Seventeenth-year Salm might be two years older than Raven, but his endless energy gave him the patience of a seventh-year. Fourteenth-year Coral had jumpy magic and frequently gave away her position with errant shots of energy. However, her aim was improving.
Because the Seas family had been away doing rounds on their schooner, Salm and Coral didn’t know Raven and Beri had applied for a trial in the Pines habitat.
In this particular grove.
The long whistle blew to end the round.
Raven half-expected Willow to point out the unfairness, but she’d simply rolled her eyes when he’d proposed the grove. Salm would have demanded another game location if he’d known how much time they’d spent scoping out protected spots—while they’d prepared their trial application, of course. Beri hadn’t given it away either, perhaps because he thought he had a better shot of winning.
The whistle blew. Raven began counting in his head. The hidden player—Coral—leaped from the branch, brown wings spread, and glided down. She tucked her wings to fall faster.
Raven threw. His stickyball raced on target to her back…
She twisted aside and threw a ball of blue energy downward.
What! She couldn’t have seen his stickyball—
A ball of green energy hit Coral in the belly and splattered around her. Beri’s magic, thrown from somewhere below. Raven’s went sailing past.
Out of nowhere, a blue stickyball zinged toward him. Not Coral’s. Salm’s. His magic was the same color. Raven dodged, falling from the limb, then catching himself on arched wings and swinging around to return fire—only to see a green stickyball speeding right at him.
Raven lunged behind the curve of a limb. Where was Beri? Hidden, low and to the right. Salm was higher and middle-ish. The sneaky Oyster of the Estuary hadn’t been in view at all.
The whistle’s long whine ended the round. Five seconds later, it tooted short.
Spells. He had to move. Where? Up? No. They’d never expect him to come at them. He leaped, diving, wings tucked and throwing himself from side to side—moving target and all that—like an owl scattering hares.
Salm launched upward, arm cocked, hand cupping around blazing energy.
Raven’s arm rose and swung in a well-practiced move. The stickyball flew from his open fingers.
From the side, a pink stickyball clobbered Salm in the arm, sending Salm’s shot wild and his body sideways, and Oyster crowed, “Yippee!”
Raven’s energy ripped past Salm and slammed a pine branch.
Crack! The branch broke and a large reddish bird rose, shrieking a high-pitched cry, followed by squawks—
Oh flights, no! Had he hit the hawk?
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Read on for a complete list of The Windborne series books so you may visit the Isle of Giuthas and follow these teen wizards through more nature fantasy adventures.
Books by Laurel Wanrow
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The Windborne Series ~ for young adults
Double Rescue (prequel novella)
Trial at the Faire (prequel novella)
The Witch of the Meadows
Guardian of the Pines
Lost Whisperer of the Seas
Keepers of the Sea Cliffs
Solstice Gifts (holiday short story)
The Luminated Threads Series ~ for ages 15 & up
The Unraveling, Volume One
The Twisting, Volume Two
The Binding, Volume Three
Science Fiction Romance ~ for adults
Passages
Most novels are also available in paperback.
Acknowledgments
Trial at the Faire was written and revised during my ‘stay home’ spring and summer months of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. My thanks to my fellow zoom writers for quarantine cheer—I’ve checked in for daily writing sessions since March 2020. And thanks to my critiquing partners on CritiqueCircle.com, especially Tonin, Laura, Memy, Lizzie, Vickb, Edolan and Ace.
About the Author
Before kids, Laurel Wanrow studied and worked as a naturalist—someone who leads wildflower walks and answers calls about the snake that wandered into your garage. During a stint of homeschooling, she turned her writing skills to fiction to share her love of the land, magical characters and fantastical settings.
She’s the author of The Luminated Threads series, a Victorian historical fantasy mixing witches, shapeshifters and a sweet romance in a secret corner of England, and The Windborne, a nature-focused YA fantasy series set in our world.
When not living in her fantasy worlds, Laurel camps, hunts fossils, and argues with her husband and two new adult kids over whose turn it is to clean house. Though they live on the East Coast, a cherished family cabin in the Colorado Rockies holds Laurel’s heart.
Visit her website at www.laurelwanrow.com.
Copyright © 2021 by Laurel Wanrow
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. For permission requests, write to:
Laurel Wanrow/Sprouting Star Press
P. O. Box 2311
Reston, VA 20195
www.laurelwanrow.com
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, institutions, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copy Edit by Joyce Lamb
Cover Design by Deranged Doctor Design
Created with Vellum
Wanrow, Laurel
Trial at the Faire/ Laurel Wanrow. ~ 1st ed.
ISBN 978-1-943469-26-0
First Edition: July 2021
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