She was sitting in the swing underneath the huge tree in the front of the house, the one slightly out of sight, but where you could still have a good view of the drive. As children they used to play here in the summer. They would climb up into the tree and spy on all her parentâs guests at their fancy dress balls. Her brother would push her higher and higher at her request, much to their nannyâs dismay. A lady should act more refined, Nanny would always tell her.
When she was thirteen they were separated. Her brother was sent off to school to train to become a warrior and to serve their King in his later years. She was kept here, at the familyâs country home, away from any threat of danger and was groomed to be one of the Queenâs Ladies in Waiting. She was also betrothed to one of the fancy lords in the Kingâs court.
She was sent to the court to serve her Queen when she was barely fifteen. There she and her brother were reunited and would spend every free second of their time together, as twins are want to do. She served her Queen until her eighteenth birthday and the time of her wedding to Lord Tyler. She had only met him once, on her first day at court. He smiled politely and kissed her hand, then left her standing on the outskirts of the ballroom to dance with another lady of the court.
The days before her wedding seemed to come upon her in a flash. One moment she was a carefree girl, giggling and dancing around her rooms with her twin and the next moment she was a grownup, facing grownup responsibilities.
It wasnât that she was unhappy with the life her father had set up for her, she just wished that she had been giving a say in the matter of her husband. But she couldnât remember the last time she had seen her father, much less had a conversation with him on any subject. He had wanted a house full of boys, instead he got the twins, killing his much loved wife in the process of birthing them.
Thus, she grew up feeling she was the outcast. As the last born twin, and a girl to boot, the blame was laid upon her shoulders. She the reason her mother died. She a breach, the midwife had to push up back up into her motherâs womb and twist her around. She was the reason for being born from a dead womb.
She sat in the tree, the day before her wedding, waiting to see her father come down the drive of their country home. She had been sitting there since breakfast, waiting patiently. Now she wondered if he would even bother to show up. The wedding was in the morning, she still had fittings to attend, for her troussie. She didnât want any of this, her husband to be was a known rouge, he had slept with just about every lady in the court, save the Queen herself â and it wouldnât surprise her if he had tried to woo the great lady. She was afraid of him. He towered at least a foot taller than herself. He was a glutton of a man, he smelled and he drank to slovenliness. Surely, her father would never force her to marry such a man; he would bring shame upon her family sooner or later. Thus, she sat. And she waited. And she hoped.
At dusk her brother joined her in the tree. He had seen her in the boughs earlier in the afternoon, when everyone had been looking for her and getting worried â well, everyone but him. He could feel the sadness radiating off her, sitting in the tree all alone. He knew for whom she waiting and watched, and knew it was not her husband-to-be.
âDo you remember,â he said in his quiet, gentle way, âwhen we were children and we would run off down to the woods to the fairy circle and make wishes as we held hands and danced until we would get dizzy?â
She smiled, the memory was one of her favorites. âI used to have to talk you into going down there. You were afraid the fairies would catch us and take us home with them as their prisoners.â She turned and looked at him, with tears in her eyes. âThat was one of the few differences between us, even back then. I was hoping to be taken away from our family, and you were afraid of it.â
âYou now have your wish. Tomorrow you will be taken away to a household of your own.â
âBut I will still be under a hateful manâs thumb. I will be the new toy for a while, then he will go back to all the women of the court, and I will be, once again, left behind in a drafty old house to sit and wait.â
He wasnât sure what to say to her. How to comfort her. He never had been. As children he had had fantasies of standing up to their father when he would lash out against her, but that was all they were, fantasies. He could never bring himself to stand up to their father, for fear of learning that he hated his son as much as his daughter.
Suddenly he laughed, thinking of a wonderful idea. He smiled at her bewilderment and climbed out the tree, holding his arms up to help her down.
âLetâs go back to the glade and dance one last time. It will help cheer you up, and hide you from the servants at the same time.â
She laughed as they raced across the lawn toward the forest, as they had done as children. She cared nothing for the sopping hem of her new gown. She had almost forgotten about the fairy circle and the wishes she had made as a child. She vaguely remembered the dreams she would have at night, after their secret visits. The wonderfully kind fairy folk who would whisk her off to their world and the happiness they surrounded her with when she was with them. But she always awoke in her bed the next morning, convinced it was all a cruel dream. That such happiness was never meant to be hers.
The glade hadnât changed at all, she noticed. She had expected to not even recognize it any longer. Expected the grass and weeds to have overgrown, the stump of the tree to be rotted out. But it wasnât, and it hadnât. Everything looked exactly the same as it had the last time she had been here. The grass was a wonderful shade of green. The trees as lush and healthy as ever. The tree stump still looked like it had a bit of sap rising to the top from a fresh cut. The wildflowers still looked on happily from the outskirts of the glade. Most importantly of all, was the fairy circle around the stump of the tree. The grass worn slightly away, as if by little dancing feet going around and around. The sparkle of magick was still thick in the air, as it had been as children, still able to make them laugh and feel as if their hearts would burst from happiness.
The twins joined hands and followed the circle around and around. They danced and danced and laughed together, letting go all of their adult responsibilities and feeling like the children they once were. She released her brotherâs hands and danced alone for a while. Closing her eyes and wishing with all her might that she didnât have to go back home, that she didnât have to face the wrath of the staff â who had known since her childhood they could abuse her with no risk of reprisal from her father. She wished even harder that she didnât have to face the eve of her wedding to a boorish and horrid man she had no feelings for whatsoever.
She vaguely recalled the face of a young man from her childhood dreams. How handsome and kind he had been to her. How he had calmed all of her fears when she noticed daylight was coming and she had to go back to her home, her bed, her lackluster and loveless life. She wished that she could see him again, that he would keep her safe once again, that he would save her from this marriage.
Her brotherâs voice broke her trance. âWe really must go back home. Donât worry about the servants, Iâll take care of them.â He held his hand out to her, ready to walk back up to the manor.
âMust I, really? Please, let me stay just a little longer, I promise I will be back before long. I just want a little more time to myself. Tomorrow I am afraid I will never be left alone again.â
He winced at the pain in her voice. He had never been able to deny her anything she asked, for she rarely asked. She was his twin, they felt each otherâs pains and joys. The joy was so rare for her, he knew he could not say no to her tonight.
âVery well,â he said. âJust make sure you are in your bed when I check after supper.â
âOh, I will, I promise!â She ran up and jumped into his arms happily and kissed him softly on the cheek. âThank you, thank you for being my brother.â She hugged him one last time before he left and promised once again to return home soon.