Stepsister Two
IV
With wide eyes, I watched in horror as my feet began to move against my will. It was if I was outside and looking in at myself through a window, being pulled forward by an invisible hand.
A half sob escaped my throat as I tried to pull away from whatever it was that had a hold of my nightgown. "No!" I gasped, thinking of the creature that had killed my father. Had it found me? No, I thought firmly, it couldn't be the creature! How could it know where I was?
My surroundings began to spin, and suddenly the floor seemed to disappear from beneath my feet and it felt as if I fell into a deep, dark hole. What is happening to me? My mind screamed, spinning.
A terrible ache filled my head, and blinding light shot through my eyes. I opened my mouth and screamed silently, tightly shutting my eyes, trying to escape from the burning light that found it's way behind my eyes.
"Look at me," I moaned as the most beautiful voice I had ever heard spoke to me. "Look at me," the voice spoke again.
I opened my mouth and tried to speak, but nothing came.
"Child," the voice spoke, a fiery hand reached out and held my chin in place, "Open your eyes."
I cautiously opened my eyes and looked into the face of a dark haired woman, her skin was of the palest complexion and her eyes were a dark blue that seemed to be as deep as the sea.
I gasped, hardly able to breathe, "What do you want with me?" I asked, my voice breaking. I fell to my knees and my hands touched a floor, it wasn't my closet floor, but one made of a black and white marble that seemed to swirl like clouds on a stormy afternoon.
The woman knelt beside me and lifted my face to her, placing her white hand beneath my chin once more; she brushed my hair from my forehead and smiled. "It is alright, I am not going to harm you."
Tiffany frowned, why had her father seen fit to bring home a strange woman and her two daughters? They had been fine without those two dimwitted girls inhabiting the bedrooms upstairs. She flinched at the thought of her father sharing a bed with the barbaric woman he now called his wife! He couldn't really be in love with her, could he?
With a heavy sigh, Tiffany threw herself onto her bed and stared at the white ceiling. Why did life have to be so hard? Why couldn't things have continued to go one as they had? She rolled over onto her stomach and watched a bird fly by outside her window, "It's too bad I can't just fly away and escape all these changes."
The hall clock struck the hour, demanding that Tiffany pay attention to it. "Lovely, time for breakfast with the steps." She quickly fastened the back of her dress and left the room, unaware that she was being watched.
"You want me to watch over that wretch?" I asked; I couldn't believe it!
I had met a fairy for the very first time in my life and what did she want me to do? She wanted me to watch over my snooty stepsister! I glared at the unearthly looking woman that stood next to me and folded my arms over my chest, "No." I had always heard that you shouldn't get involved with fairies, now I believed it!
The fairy's lips turned down in a frown for the very first time since she had summonsed me, "Listen here, Darlene, we fairies have ways of making you mortals obey our every command," I flinched, "I am not like that, I am simply asking that you make sure nothing happens to her."
"Why is she so important anyway?" I asked, my voice becoming shrill, "Why should you care what happens to her?" I narrowed my eyes at her, "Rumor has it that fairies don't get involved with us mortals unless they want something."
"If you do this for me I can make the dreams stop."
"I despise you." I muttered, lowering my head.
The fairy touched my face with a gentle hand, her touch still burned but it was almost comforting now, it made me want to sit down and cry to the end of the world. In the back of my mind, I saw an image of my father running at the creature, doing everything he could to save me.
This had to stop; I couldn't go on thinking of my father this way. I was not sleeping, I was falling a part! "I'll do it," I whispered, "If you can make the dreams stop, I'll do it."
Miles away, a young man sat upon a dark horse, taking in his surroundings, his mouth set in a grim line.
"Why so tense, my dear, royal friend? " A dark skinned man asked, from the horse next to his.
"I feel as if I am going to my doom, Darin." The young man said, never taking his eyes off the road ahead of him. "My parents will surely want to find a life mate for me as soon as I walk through the golden doors to their throne room."
"That is probably true." Darin said, looking up at the sky, "I truly am glad that you are the prince."
The prince gave his friend a sidelong glance, "What, you don't want marry and get a pretty wife to hang on your arm and a thousand children to run around your feet
Darin looked over at his friend, "Sean, don't take marriage lightly."
Sean laughed, "Always so serious Darin!" Darin glared at him, "You need to learn how to learn how to take things a little less serious."
Darin shook his head, a hidden smile on his face. "Alright, I'll strike a bargain with you, Prince Sean."
"I'm listening,"
Darin grinned, "if you can learn how to take things a little more seriously, I'll learn how to take some things a little less seriously."
"Some bargain," Sean said with a chuckle.
Darin cleared his throat, "Marriage is a life long commitment, prince. Do not let your parents make that decision for you. If you fall in love with someone, prince, and it's more than just an attraction, marry the girl."
Sean returned to staring at the road before him, "I'll think about what you've said Darin, but I won't make any promises, love and marriage for a royal is a very complicated thing."
Author's Note: Sorry that this update took so long to get up. I went away for a few weeks and I've been trying to get back into the normal flow of things.
I'd like to thank the following people for reviewing.
Kt: Naner naner naner! No, just kidding, sorry about leaving you hanging there . . . it just happened.
Nathan-NewStar: Hey, thanks for actually taking the time to leave a review.
Aerinha: Hope you liked this chapter too. Thanks for reviewing.
Wolfe the pink haired Fairy: Hey! Glad to see you found the story. Thanks very much for leaving a review.