1 Chapter One
Dedicated to nothing and everyone.
The Woods
The woods that surrounded the small town of Sayling, stood dense on guard.
Keeping the town well protected from outsiders and unwelcome company. It kept the town safe from the rest of the kingdom's enemies. It kept them safe from the King.
The woods were not to be ventured in, and the woods were not to be spoken of. So the town agreed in union that the Woods of Wickery were prohibited.
But for a girl who lived on the edge of town. The woods were hers.
Chapter One
Marigold Fare
I was born on a beautiful morning, a good omen on the day of my birth. As I entered the world, my elder sister accompanied my mother in a small room at home. Where I was born into the hands of a young midwife. The only outsider allowed in our home at the time.
It wasn't until I was carried along by this Midwife that the fates decided to show their true colors. Upon touching my small hand, the midwife dropped dead and was buried quickly in the woods near our house.
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My Mother told me this story when I first began asking questions, questions on the rules she placed above me and my sisters heads.Questions on why everything I held dear decayed in my embrace. I was young, innocent and unknowing of my own monstrosity. I did not fully understand the card I had been dealt.
When she spoke of my ability, she would level her face several inches away from my own, her eyes a piercing raw watering Gold, would crinkle into a smile.
It was in those moments that I felt a deep fury carry out from my mother.
I should have cried, like a normal child, at those savage eyes. Or maybe prayed to whoever would listen, to the Goddess Morticia or her son Helios. Hoping to be blessed with a new life. But they did not. So I was left with only the ability to ask. For that is all one can do when unknowing.
"Why must I be the Monster in this story?"
In which she would respond with "It's because you were born a Fare."
–
It's been a few years and my mother has since then labeled me a liability and given birth to my second sister, a traveling merchant's daughter.
—--
"Starlinked skies that fill the sea-
With your reflection
So easily
Why must I crave your touch-
my Darling Parted Key"
I sing a light harmony as the shadows in the hall bounce back and forth. I quickly pick up my speed in response to the windowless halls, endless locked doors and flickering wax lights. I reach the end of the ornately floral hall to a beautiful oak door, engraved with scenes of a multitude of people meeting their undignified ends. My elder sister's door, a fractured reflection of her gift. I catch myself distracted by the delicate beauty and move myself along. I knock three times to let her know I'm there, and by the edge of my eye I see her door open, just enough to let me see her eyes.
I stare at her colorless eyes, which are always wide in constant surprise, as I wait for her to let me in.
"There you are, Marigold, you're two minutes and 46 seconds late. Hold yourself accountable. Be wary of the hallways Marigold. I told you, I need you to be attentive and on time. Yes you need to be on time, something might happen. Something always happens to those who aren't-" she says irregularly.
"I am very sorry." I cut in before a mountain of her thoughts fall bare before my feet.
She stands crooked, yet beautiful in the hallway light. She shuffles and before I am aware she is pulling me in, shutting the door and locking it quickly behind me. I am thrown into her room, a small quiet room cluttered with keys. Intricate keys, rusted Keys and Keys with no end fill each and every crevice of the room.
My sister interrupts my view, her dress matching the transparency of her eyes shifts in the dim light hanging from her star painted ceiling. Her tan skin exposed and her soot colored hair framing her appearance with troubled age and lovely youth. I sit at the center of the room, adjusting my skirt under my sisters uncomfortable, suspicious eyes.
"Umm..Holly, can I please skip the class today, just for today?…." I ask.
"Oh, Well …., well no, well maybe. Just one second." Holly counters as she steps on one of the multitude of shelves lining her walls, reaching for the singular candle before touching it once. As the wick lightens and the room itself brightens with delight as Holly's mood lifts. "One less maintenance, one less thing to do…now where is that trinket.." she mumbles to herself.
I shift my feet, and kick some of the now illuminated keys out from underneath my feet. Awkwardly sighing as I wait patiently for Holly's attention. Her fickle mood shifting in rhythm with the room, if not the house.
I sit still scanning her room, a small bed in the corner cleaned and dusty, never slept in and never wrinkled. Holly continues scavenging, her mess hair flying and following like a hallow of dust, humming her regular tune "…..my Darling Parted Key."
I close my eyes and listen intently to her voice. Each crisp word lingering in the air. She abruptly stops, I open my eyes in response and find her leaning over me. A triumphant look to her as she slaps a small book into my gloved hands. An uneven smile tugs at her lips as if she's playing a game, no one else knows about.
"A gift, Happy day of birth Marigold Fare."
—--
I look back at her face, confused. In which she replies by pushing me hastily out of her room.
"No work is done, till the sunlight is gone. No work is done…," she fades, closing the door with a frown, leaving no room for me to say as much as a goodbye.
My birthday, I hadn't known. I'd forgotten. After spending so many days locked in my room. Studying the history of the Untouchables'. About the 12 Knights of the Solum Congregation, and about our kingdom Farefinesh .
I stand thinking, unintentionally letting my gaze settle on Holly's entrance door. Holly has always been very powerful, keeping the family safe. Mother explained many years ago after I got lost for a day within one of the many halls that our cottage grows. That the house as a whole is a reflection of what Holly thinks, sees, remembers…..a vulnerable place that should be cared for. A place we at times call our minds.
The image on the door begins to move. A faceless man prancing proudly before the next stage. Where a shadow hovers mercilessly ripping its hand through the young man's chest. The man lays limp on a bed of flowers. A faceless man, with a poppy crest branded onto his bare chest…and an elegant deadly shadow holding a bleedomg heart behind.
Unnerved and sure not to linger, I begin running swiftly through the hallway, confronted with the usual deceiving part ways. Weaving through the corridors, arriving quickly and knowingly at my own bedroom. A light brown rotting door with a hummingbird holding a rat carved delicately into the frame. The door opens to a key of my own I keep tied around my neck. I enter with a breath before I'm washed with the smell of incense covering the phantom of fear. A room befitting for a girl blessed with the hands of death. I leave Hollys gift on my bed, sure to look at it when I come back, I run out around the house to finally reach a thin wooden door, with the first small glass window I've not seen in days. Leading straight outside.
When I'm greeted by sunlight I forget momentarily how I must live in the darkness.
