Glow

Chapter Seven

Once upon a time, there was a little girl.

As little girls go, this one was utterly normal. She cried when she scraped her knees. She raced the boys in the forest, and when she won they had to leave her alone. She had puppy loves and was spicy when it was necessary. But then, quite unlike the little girls of the norm, she was kidnapped.

Her mother searched for months, to no avail. The little girl was never seen again. Many thought she had died.

She was alive.

The little girl faced hardships aplenty. She was covered in scars, mentally and physically. She was broken. Even when she had ended up in Sarojin, lost, and taken in by the king and his wife, the damage had been done. She was never the same again.

Now the same girl rides silently on a mahogany horse next to the boy she took away from his own home. She realised she was selfish. So very selfish in her efforts. Samara looked ahead at the sea of forest ahead of her, trying to convince herself that it was for the good of the people, and yet knew in her heart that she was no better than her kidnapper, the bastard.

Arvind paid no attention to his companion's fuming and pondering, keeping an eye on the trail ahead, watching for troubles. Wildemen, witches, elves, and trolls wandered the forests inhabited by the realmpeople. All were deadly. Most hated realmspeople.

Birds filled the morning with their tweets. They filled the tree branches and dripped from the sky in clouds. Samara snapped out of her funk long enough to notice the birds and the foliage around them.

"Look," She said, gesturing around. Moss covered the trees in pillows and flowers that were nonexistent a moment before twisted from the ground and kicked off clods of dirt from their petals. Small saplings stretched tall into the sky.

"A spirit," They both said at the same time, too amazed to even realise it.

All around them, the forest turned lush and alive. The plants grew. Animals were everywhere. Even the horses, tired, pricked up their ears and almost pranced forward. As they walked, the trees grew closer together and it was harder and harder to get through. Finally, just when Arvind was about to suggest to go back, they came into a clearing.

In the middle of the clearing was a curved structure, much like a circus tent, made entirely from the stems of sunflowers and small alder trees. A sycamore sheltered the structure from the rain, a silent guard standing to the side. The structure was lit from the inside with a warm light, and a tiger lounged gently at the entrance, curled into a ball. When the two teenagers approached, the big cat looked up, opened its eyes, and let out a jaw-cracking yawn. Samara smiled drowsily and pet the animal while Arvind pulled a curtain away from the entrance of the pointed dome and looked inside.

Inside was a large room, larger than he had expected. To one side was a great carved table and to the other was a bundle of fabrics and furs, with a slight indent in the middle like a the bed of a deer. On the back wall was a large sort of tapestry woven with different types of leaves, and a large, colorful bird squaked on a small branch either carved or growing out of the table. A smaller tree was growing delicately over the bed.

"Children," Said a voice. Both Arvind and Samara jumped at the same time and looked around. There came a cheerful laugh, and the tree growing over the bed blinked. It's branches moved and it yawned and stretched. The branches around her head were short but full of leaves. Her skin was rough and scaly like bark. Two knot holes around the top of the trunk opened to reveal bright golden eyes that searched the two intelligently, and finally she bowed to them.

"Hello," She said with an impish grin on her face. Her hair ruffled like a breeze had flown through the room, but neither of the humans could feel anything. "I am the nymph Leanne."