He was there. Bluejay stared at the silver walls and sighed. He didn't like the idea of seeing Fleetfoot in the Adderhead's castle. It was certain that as soon as Bluejay saw whatever it was they were doing with him, his muscles would tense up and he jump down to protest.
He crouched in the thicket beside a stairwell that led to the wine cellar far below Adderhead's throne room. He groped for his mask and placed it one his face leaving only his mouth area and ears exposed. Silently skittering up the steps, he checked to see that no one was watching. Every few moments a soldiers would pass and look down, at which point Bluejay swung just beneath the creaking wood and stared through the crevice to make sure the man had gone.
Making his way to through the wine cellar was easy. All he had to do was creep unnoticed past the enormous wine racks.
'Stride, stride, stop, look, stride…' he said to himself in his head. 'Stride, stride --'
"What's that?"
Alarmed, Bluejay looked up. He could hear the steps of an old woman. The steps were hesitant, as if she were trying to keep quiet. But he could hear them just fine as they echoed about the cellar. What was one hag to Bluejay? No, he couldn't do harm to a woman.. He was much too noble for that. 'I'll just knock her out..' he thought. 'She'll just wake up with a bit of a headache.'
With that thought, he mutely grasped a merlot from the nearest shelf and proceeded to round the corner, looking for her when, SMACK! A hand came down on the back of Bluejay's neck. Just at the spot where all it would've taken was a bit more strength to kill him. He dropped the bottle. It smashed as he slid to the floor upon it, completely in shock.
And when he dreamed, it was of his mother.
She laid there on the bed, thin and ailing, her pale face looking at a melancholy Bluejay. Just looking at her made the poor boy want to burst out crying and as soon as he thought he would, she opened her mouth.
"Let me tell you a secret, dear." She tried to smile and motioned for him to sit on the bed, patting the spot next to her. He slowly advanced towards her, tears pouring from his wide, blue eyes. "Now, now. What did I tell you about crying?"
He stared at her. Her sallow skin was so unfamiliar to how it used to be. He began to mumble, "You said that crying just makes you want to cry about other things that aren't really sad enough to cry over."
"Don't forget the end. Or else I'll never tell the secret." She tempted him, just as always. Her strange ways enticed him.
"So I'll smile. Just for you Mama! Because you always say that it'll make me think of more things to smile about that really are happy."
She smiled, wide and proud. "That's my boy. Now come closer so I can whisper this in your ear."
He edged close, trying to smile. You could just see that he was fighting those darn tears. He stuck his ear right near her beam and heard her whisper, "You are just like your father. Don't stop that, now. Or you'll never find all those things that you think of when you smile."
He sat back and grinned. This time it was genuine and happy. "Don't you dare cry for me, young man. You hear?"
She hugged him close and they sat like that. They sat until they had both fallen asleep. But Mama? She never did wake up. No matter how much poor little Bluejay shook her.
A/N: This is so SAD! I don't even know how I wrote it, it was so sad. Beth will be proud that I worked up the courage to let one of my characters die!