“Because we both lost someone. You didn’t mean it. You were in pain. But, Hal, pain is meant to be shared. That’s what it means to have friends. To be family, even if it’s not by blood. You’re my family.”
Hallie gave one more wracking sob. “You’re my family, too.”
Wyn reached for her, wrapping her arms around Hallie’s shaking body. They held each other tight until the crying subsided, purging the air between them of the hurt that had been crumbling their relationship for the past two years.
The rain lessened as Hallie pulled back, sniffling. She didn’t let go though, couldn’t let go when she’d almost lost everyone she’d had left, the family she’d made for herself then neglected for too long.
She looked down at the mouse. It was time to say goodbye to Kat. For real.
It really was over now.
She looked up, wishing she could see the stars. As if the stars held the soul of her—their—lost friend.
Because Hallie wasn’t the only one who had lost someone. And she never should have kept that pain for herself.
Wyn had been hurting, too.
But maybe they could finally move past it. Heal. Start over.
She knelt in the mud and began digging with her hand.
“What are you doing?” Wyn said.
Hallie just shook her head and dug until she had a hole several inches deep and the size of her hand. She gently placed the mouse inside, then covered the makeshift grave with dirt.
She glanced around the forest floor, looking for that telltale blue shimmer.
Ah, there.
She stood and stepped several feet off the trail, digging up one of the blue bell flowers and replanting it on top of the mouse.
She leaned closer to the flower, not caring if the magic didn’t work for humans. It was enough for her to believe.
“Goodbye, Kat,” she whispered.
Chapter Fourteen
Hallie and Wyn were halfway back to their demesne, the sky clearing of clouds and rain, stars beginning to peek through, when Hallie suddenly froze. Wyn, whose arm had been linked through hers, jerked to a stop with her.
“What is it?” Wyn asked.
Hallie looked up at her friend.
She knew who Nathan was. She had suspected before, but in the chaos of the night, she had forgotten. And now she had the proof.
He’d shown her his mother’s grave, the woman who had died on the last day of the War.
He’d told her how young he was when she’d died.
And more importantly, he’d resurrected that mouse. Something only a member of the royal family could do. She knew exactly which royal he was now.
“I know who he is, Wyn.”
“You what?”
“We’re going home!”
***
Hallie gazed around the room, the room where she had first been transported to the Spring Court, eyeing the same creatures that had been here that first day. The trees stood tall and resolute around the clearing, the grass soft underfoot and the golden beams of evening sunlight streaming down around them. The crickets already sang with the spring peepers, signaling the approach of the night.
But despite the peace, she was unsettled. It was the final day of the bargain, the day of reckoning. Time to give her final answers.
She was right about Nathan. She knew she was. But she couldn’t keep the fluttering pixies of fear out of her stomach anyway.
She was about to do something she knew was dangerous, but for once, she knew it was the right thing to do.
She had to change the bargain. Again.
Nathan appeared at the doorway, and the murmuring around the room stopped as if someone had cast a spell. He strode to the center of the clearing and stopped, gazing up at the cotton candy pink clouds scudding across the deepening sky.
“Your time is up, human,” he said without turning.
“I know,” Hallie said, voice shaking.
He turned to face her, the light catching the gold threads in his white tunic. “It’s time for your answer. Who am I, human?”
Hallie couldn’t help the nervous smile that overtook her face. But she reminded herself again that she had to be right.
“At first you told me to call you Nathan,” she began. “But we both know that’s not your name. As you said, that’s the name of your favorite human actor.”
He nodded, and she saw his muscle twitch as he clenched his jaw. Was his heart pounding as hard as hers was?
“I knew you had to be a person of power to exert enough control over the Court to keep them from helping me. So that eliminated anyone outside the noble class. And when Vesque answered to you, I suspected you were royal.”
He stood still as a statue. “These aren’t answers.”
She swallowed. If she was wrong about this, her life as she knew it was over. “But what really gave it away was our chat in the forest. The mouse.”
His face paled, but she still didn’t know what it was he wanted: her to win or fail. “Your answer. Now.”
Hallie took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “You are Prince Arion of the Spring Court.”
Murmurs rippled across the assembled Fae, and the pixies, including the one who had shown her the hidden room, swirled around her, lifting her hair in the breeze.
She was right. She could see the defeat in Nathan’s—no, Arion’s—face. And perhaps disappointment? Expectation? Or had she imagined that?
He turned his back to her. “You’re free to go. For now.”
She stepped forward. “Wait. I...I need to talk to you first.”
He glanced over his shoulder, and his voice was bitter. “You got what you wanted. Go tell the rest of the humans what you know. That we can resurrect people. Bring back their dead and upset the balance of both our worlds.”
She took a breath, steeling herself for what she was about to do. “But I don’t want to. I don’t want this knowledge anymore. I...I need you to take it away.”
He slowly turned to face her, a cautious smile on his face. Was that affection in his eyes? Anticipation?
“What are you saying, Hallie?”
Vesque appeared at his side. “Yes, what exactly is the meaning of this?”
Wyn’s expression turned from cloudy confusion to clarity. “Oh, Hallie! I’m so proud of you!”
Arion and Vesque fixed Hallie with their confused stare.
“A new bargain. One last bargain,” Hallie explained. “Take this knowledge away from me, from the humans. In exchange for one small thing.”
“And what’s that?” Vesque demanded.
Hallie’s gaze softened as she looked at two Fae she hoped could be her friends. As she took in the beauty of a dangerous, magical world she was growing to love. “That I can come visit you both. As much as I want. Or you want.”
Arion, Vesque, and Wyn broke into bright smiles.
Arion extended his hand, his face emanating a golden light, and she was struck with a moment of panic at the power he held...this being with whom she was striking one last bargain. But she knew him; he knew her.
One last bargain to heal so many wounds.
“Deal,” he said. He leaned closer. “And to be clear, I was hoping you’d come to this decision on your own. To give up this knowledge. And perhaps...be our friend. Besides, I might not have kept you here, but Vesque...she’s formidable.”
Vesque smiled at her, her teeth sharp, sparkling points.
Hallie gratefully took Arion’s hand, feeling the tingle of magic. Feeling the knowledge leave her, first like a flood, dwindling to a stream, and then a trickle, until all that remained was the knowledge that there was something she used to know.
But she couldn’t quite remember what.
“Thank you,” Wyn said, tears sparkling in her eyes.
Hallie wasn’t sure what she’d lost, but she knew she’d gained so much more.
A sparkle on her hand caught her eye, and she lifted it to see the delicate rose gold ring. “I suppose you’ll
be wanting this back.”
Arion shook his head. “You should keep it. You’ll need some way to summon me when you’re ready to visit.”
Hallie smiled, nodding back. “It’s beautiful.”
“And very special. Take good care of it. Now,” Arion said, clapping his hands together, “I believe your spring break is almost over. And Hallie, I’m afraid you’ll have to find a new topic for your paper.”
Hallie’s stomach dropped. How had she forgotten her paper?
She grabbed at her dark, undyed hair. “Ack, fairy circles! I have to call my advisor!”
The three Fae laughed, and Hallie felt like she was still missing something. But since Wyn wasn’t likely to be laughing at her, she relaxed. And looking at her friend’s smile, her sparkling eyes, she was struck with a realization.
For the first time in over two years, Hallie was happy.
Of the Clouds: Behind the Story
Behind the scenes bonus material, previously exclusive to the Of the Clouds paperback edition
Behind the Story
THERE ARE A lot of things that can inspire a story. For Of the Clouds, my process began with a conversation I had with my husband. He had recently read an article about the Chachapoya people of Peru, a Pre-Columbian civilization also known as the Cloud People. But the biggest thing he shared, and the reason for Of the Clouds becoming a Rapunzel retelling, was the way they made tombs high in the walls of cliffs.
The Chachapoya lived in the Andes cloud forests of Peru. They were one of the nations governed by the Inca (which, by the way, refers to the nobility... as my husband and I learned on our trip to Peru—more on that in a bit—the general population is called Quechua), and they were reputed to be very beautiful and fair in appearance, though the exact meaning of “fair” is still up for debate.
For my story, it’s important to state that the Chachapoya were simply a spark and inspiration. Quri’s Cloud people are not the Chachapoya. In fact, I kept the propensity for the people to build their tombs high in cliff walls, as that was important for the Rapunzel story, and the blue-eyed appearance of her people (as some of the sources I read referenced blue eyes), as well as the respectability of the people’s shamans, but these characteristics are common to multiple ancient peoples. Again, Quri’s people are not the Chachapoya, but a fantasy culture inspired by the many peoples of Peru.
There is a lot that is still unknown about these ancient people, including their name; Chachapoya is the name given to them by the Inca. You can do some of your own research if you’d like to know more, and I highly encourage it. I merely brushed the surface of the information available at your fingertips.
And now that I’ve whetted your appetite, I want to move into some really special behind the scenes information: the trip my husband and I took to Peru.
***
Before I met my husband, there were places I never thought I could, or would, go. We were married in April of 2018, and we decided to honeymoon in Iceland, which became one of my absolute favorite places of all time—even though it had never occurred to me to visit there. You can be sure it’s still inspiring various ideas and creative endeavors that I haven’t even begun to share with the world.
Another place I never thought I’d go, mostly because it is a difficult trip, was Peru. In fact, I wasn’t sure I’d ever even travel to South America. Why? Well, Peru is reputed to be one of the most difficult trips to arrange. It’s hard to coordinate the travel and the excursions, and all the big locations are hours away from each other.
But my husband really wanted to see Machu Picchu, and he’s good at making travel arrangements. So, we decided we would take what will probably be the most difficult trip of our lives in October of 2019, just a few short months after Of the Clouds came out. I’ve decided to share a few pages of my travel journal with you (I keep a journal of the details of our trips because I have an awful memory for those things), and just like all the travel sites say, Peru was the most difficult to arrange of any trip my husband had ever planned.
Just for fun, and because this book was inspired by the people of Peru, I think this paperback deserves a discussion of that trip. Maybe it will inspire you to write your own worlds or encourage you to make difficult trips.
Maybe you’ll just be entertained.
Either way, I hope you enjoy my recounting of our trip.
Day 1: Saturday, October 19, 2019
We drove from our home in southeastern Pennsylvania to Dulles airport for what was one of the longest travel days of my life (the return trip was even longer). The plane left at around ten in the morning, had a layover in Panama City, and arrived in Lima, Peru at around seven that evening (one hour behind our time zone). When we left, it was autumn, but we arrived to spring. Also, we woke up at four in the morning and made it to the hostel at around nine that night, our time. That’s seventeen hours from wake-up to in the room.
I don’t know what I had expected, but the long travel day had frayed my nerves, and let me just say this: if you ever go to Peru, for the love of all that is good in this world, do not drive yourself. The taxi we took to our hostel in Miraflores was terrifying, as was all the rest of the traffic. To put it in perspective, a two lane road was somehow four lanes of traffic, and every car was dinged and scratched and dented.
Yeah, save yourself the headache and let someone else drive.
So yeah. I was terrified and maaayyyy have melted down a bit once the door shut behind us.
But the positives were there, too. The hostel was gorgeous and had a pretty courtyard. Our room was painted a bright orange. And the staff was incredibly helpful and concerned for the comfort of the guests.
But we only stayed awake long enough to settle in and connect to the Wi-Fi to let our families know we’d made it, and then we crashed in preparation for the second of many early mornings to come.
***
Day 2: Sunday, October 20, 2019
Our first full day in Peru was hot and sunny, and we left for a two-day tour early in the morning, a large bus that took us down to Paracas and the Ballestas, then on into the Ica desert, which was one of my favorite locations on the trip.
The first stop was Paracas, which I loved. It’s a small fishing town smack on the coast and flanked by desert. This was where our tour of the Ballestas, or the “poor man’s Gallapagos,” left from.
My husband and I, along with a whole gaggle of other travelers, took speedboats out from the dock along the coastline toward the islands themselves. Along the way, we got to see the desert from the water, which I really loved. There were caves along the cliffs, and partway there the guides showed us lines on the sand dunes facing the ocean shaped a bit like a candelabra or a cactus. Whatever the lines were meant to represent, they were old.
The islands themselves are covered in huge amounts of life... and guano that used to be exported as fertilizer. There are tons of sea birds, sea lions, penguins, starfish, and other life that call these islands home, and it was amazing to see it all. Also, it is impossible to avoid getting pooped on. So, if you go, I recommend some sanitizing wipes.
Once our tour was complete, and after we were free to find lunch for ourselves (quite the feat when neither of us spoke much Spanish), we continued on our way to Huacacina, an oasis town in the middle of the Ica desert. And when I say in the middle, I mean it looks like someone dropped a meteor in the middle of towering white sand dunes and left a lake. Seriously, I don’t know how that town isn’t buried by the desert. But I absolutely loved every minute there.
That night, we did some sand buggy tours (we did not drive), and hubs sand-boarded down some of the huge slopes. I chickened out a bit, but I did manage to get some good videos of him being brave.
And best of all, we got to watch the sun set over the desert. It was so amazingly beautiful.
And, what I didn’t know, having grown up in the mountains of Pennsylvania: deserts get COLD after the sun goes down. I was not prepared for any of the weather. Did you know Peru
has over eighty micro-climates? I didn’t, but I know that now.
Day 3: Monday, October 21, 2019
This was one of the coolest, and worst, days for me. You see, I get motion sick. And this is the day we took a small plane ride over the Nazca lines.
Small planes and I are not friends.
The Nazca lines are so cool though, and the desert looks so different from Huacacina and Paracas. It’s much rockier, and the sand is darker. We got some really great pictures from the air, but I still did not have fun in that plane. I did learn that the Peruvian travel guides are used to this, between the air sickness and the twisty mountain roads, and they keep alcohol handy for sick passengers.
Not for drinking. Nope, it’s for smelling. I guess there’s something about smelling alcohol that helps the vestibular system? Counteracts the motion sickness? Hey, it worked. Crazy, but cool. Wish I’d known about that earlier.
After the tour, we got to see the town a bit and had a delicious lunch where we learned the joys of café con helado.
That night, we took the bus back to Miraflores. It took three and a half hours. As I said, there is a lot of distance between major sites in Peru. But the ride was pretty good. The tour company handed out popcorn, and we got to watch a movie I love appropriate to the time of year.
Day 4: Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Not much to say for this day. We needed an entire day to travel to Cusco. The flight itself wasn’t long, but Cusco is something like 12,000 feet above sea level, and because of the altitude, people need time to adjust. So we took it easy, napped a bit, and enjoyed some coca tea provided by the hotel. Coca leaves are used as tea, in candy, and for simple chewing because they help with the altitude.
And yeah, if Nazca gave you any hints about my ability to physically deal with the extremes of this country, I needed all the help I could get!
But the rest of the day, and a couple of the other days, we spent walking around the Plaza de Armas, only a few blocks from our hotel, and taking in the gorgeous scenery. There is a lot of activity around the Plaza, including the major market, restaurants, museums, and stores, and some old historic buildings like churches are there, too.
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