They had been walking for several hours through a silent forest. Thick foliage surrounded the thin, winding path on which they traveled. Though Claire thought that surely it must be daytime by now, she could see no sign of sunlight through the dense trees. Despite the fact that the journey had so far gone uninterrupted, Addie remained tense and alert as they walked. She constantly glanced around at the thick trees and bushes surrounding them as if she were anticipating attack at any moment. This kept Claire fearful and on edge. Addie walked at a quick pace, and Claire found it difficult to keep up at times. She wished Addie would slow down a bit or at least give her a few minutes rest. The emotional and physical strain she had recently been through was beginning to take its toll on her, and she was finding it harder and harder to put one foot in front of the other.
Just as Claire was starting to feel dizzy with hunger and lack of sleep, Addie stopped. She turned and led Claire off the tiny path and a short way through the trees to a large, smooth rock on the ground bordered on one side by a small pool. There was a bit of golden sunlight filtering onto the clearing, the only sunlight Claire could see through the thick forest. As Claire dropped down gratefully onto the rock, Addie pulled some bread and cheese out of a bag she kept in her cloak. Claire gulped down the food hungrily. She hadn’t eaten in a while, and their long walk had made her ravenous. Addie also handed her a flask of water to drink.
Addie fidgeted nervously and did not sit down. When Claire finished the water, Addie refilled the flask in the pool. As soon as Claire had finished eating, Addie began to walk back towards the path, but she halted when she realized that Claire had not followed her.
“Come. We must continue,” she said with her back still turned.
Claire was tired. She could barely keep her eyes open as she said, “Please, Addie, I need to rest.”
Addie turned back to Claire.
“I guess this is as good a place to stop as any,” she finally said as she made her way back to the girl on the rock. Claire gratefully lay down on the smooth stone, her dark hair trailing in the water of the pool. She turned over to look at her reflection in the water. Against the usual codes of beauty, Claire was not fair. Her long, curly hair was dark brown, and as she lay, it spilled out across the rock. Her eyes were a deep blue color with flecks of light in them; “Like the night sky,” Cyan had always told her. Claire loved spending time in the sun, and her tan skin was evidence of this. She was thin, but not in an unhealthy way. While she was not exactly vain, Claire liked looking at her reflection. Cyan had thought she was beautiful, and seeing herself reminded her of him.
As she lay contemplating her appearance, Claire began to think of her unborn daughter. She wondered if the child would look like her. She turned to Addie.
“Do you think she’ll look like me?” Claire asked. Addie knew exactly what she was talking about.
“I doubt it. She is a Fawe daughter, so it is likely she will be born with a color.”
“I never understood that. You know, the colors. Cyan never wanted to talk about it.” Claire frowned. “Will you tell me about the colors, Addie?”
Addie sighed resignedly and began, “As you know, the Fawes have ruled Chromasia as long as anyone can remember. With their power and distinction, it was natural that they should reign. The one thing that has always set them apart from everyone else is their colors, which is something few understand. Each Fawe is born with a specific color that, in a way, denotes his or her personality and physical appearance. For example, those Fawes born Red are usually fiery, passionate, and excitable with flaming red hair and auburn eyes. This is not always the case, but the color is often a very good predictor of a Fawe’s personality. This is not the only peculiarity the Fawes possess, however; the Fawe women are the most powerful people in the land because with their colors come strange abilities. Each Sister has a gift that is specific to her color and personality. There are obvious ones, like a Red having control over fire, but they also possess subtler powers as well, like that same Red having a knack for influencing the emotions of others, particularly anger and love. It’s quite a complex thing, due to its being wrapped up so much in individual personality.”
Claire, fascinated, asked, “So Cyan was a Blue, wasn’t he? He was always so calm, and his eyes were the prettiest and deepest blue I’ve ever seen.”
“Yes, he was. He was always level-headed and serene, though he was something to behold when he was angry. You may never have noticed, but he also had an affinity for water. He loved the night sky, too. I remember even as a boy, he would beg his nanny to let him sleep outside so that he could be closer to the ocean and the stars. He liked your eyes, didn’t he? Yes, they do resemble the night sky quite vividly.”
Claire noticed that Addie was smiling fondly while recalling Cyan, and she wondered once again who this strange woman was. Addie had never mentioned her connection to the Fawes or how she knew so much about them.
Addie sighed and sat quietly for a moment. Claire watched her curiously.
“You loved him too, didn’t you?” Claire asked.
“Yes. I loved him with all my heart.”
Claire did not ask why. The simple knowledge that she was with someone who shared her feelings for Cyan calmed and comforted her considerably. She was sure Addie understood how she felt.
As they sat in silence, Claire slowly fell asleep.
Claire woke up groggy and confused. She thought she must have slept for quite a while because the soft light was gone. She sat up, stretching, and looked around the dark clearing for Addie. Addie was gone, and Claire was alone.
She was suddenly afraid.
All of Addie’s warnings echoed inside her head, and she jumped up from the rock, frightened.
“Addie?” she cried in fear. “Addie, where are you?”
There was no answer, and Claire really started to panic. She wheeled around wildly, searching for Addie among the thick trees.
Suddenly, she caught sight of the pool. It had a subtle, purplish glow that she hadn’t noticed before. She approached it cautiously, her fear slowly being replaced with curiosity. Standing back a ways, she glanced over the edge into the shimmering water, and what she saw made her lingering fear vanish. She gasped.
“Cyan?”
Claire looked down to see Cyan’s face shining in the dark water. Her shock held her momentarily in place, but her head soon cleared. She moved closer, stretching out her hand towards her lover’s face. In the back of her mind, she registered that there was something odd about the situation. He was dead. Why would his face be shining up from a pool of water? She also thought that his face looked slightly different than she remembered, but she ignored these thought. Her beloved Cyan was right there. He was so close, and she couldn’t stop herself from closing the distance between them.
She stood at the edge of the murky pool, whose water had turned a dark, purplish color. As Claire reached toward Cyan’s smiling face, his expression began to change and contort into something unrecognizable. She stood in horror as the handsome face she loved became disfigured and repulsive. The face began to rise from the pool, forming the shadowy water into a solid body as it did so. The disfigured body was made of caked, purplish mud, and it gave off a foul, rotting odor. Claire stood transfixed in horror at the edge of the pool, unable to move or run. The thing turned towards her, glaring at her with its sunken, hateful eyes. Its gaze held Claire’s, and she was unable to look away from the ghastly figure. Its mouth opened, and the most beautiful voice Claire had ever heard issued mystically from the gaping hole.
“Hello, Claire,” said the voice smoothly. Claire jumped violently when she heard her name. “I’ve been searching for you. Your ‘friend’ has made my search very difficult.” Though the voice was beautiful, it sent chills of horror down Claire’s spine.
“Who a-are y-you?” asked Claire in a trembling voice.
“You know who I am, Claire,” the voice responded with false sweetness.
Claire gasped.
“The Q-queen?”
“Very good. Yes, I am Ira, the all-powerful Queen of Chromasia. Do you know why I have been searching for you?”
“N-no,” said Claire.
The voice sounded reproachful.
“Come now, Claire, don’t be difficult. You know exactly why I have been looking for you. It seems my brother, Cyan, was quite fond of you. He did a good job of keeping you from me.” The voice turned fervent. “But I’ve found you now.”
The figure’s eyes began to glow as it slowly reached out a rotted hand towards Claire, who suddenly found the will to run. She turned and fled through the thick trees, scraping her bare arms and legs on protruding branches as she went. She heard a horrible cackle and then the sound of roaring wind. She risked a look behind her to see the creature flying through the air after her, along with two fellows just like it. She screamed and sped up in terror. She could hear them closing in on her as her panic mounted. She tripped and stumbled wildly through the tangle of trees.
She entered a small clearing in the thick forest just as she felt a hand snatch at her nightgown. She stumbled and landed in the soft grass, the three creatures surrounding her menacingly. Claire stared up at the figure with glowing eyes directly in front of her. She could hear the Queen’s laughter coming from the figure’s gaping mouth, and the horrible sound made the hairs on the back of Claire’s neck stand up.
“Well, dear, foolish Claire, it seems I won’t be meeting my little niece after all. There’s only enough room for one Fawe in this kingdom. I shall kill you now, like I murdered my cursed Sisters.”
The figure then spoke to the other two.
“Kill her.”
Claire let out a shriek as the figures began to close in on her, but just before they touched her, there was a huge gust of wind and a blinding light. Claire squeezed her eyes shut, unable to look at the bright flash.
Five colorful forms began to slowly spin around Claire. They gradually sped up until they were nothing but a white blur encircling her. The lights spun closer and closer until Claire felt them touch her. She felt their warmth on her skin as the white, circling light moved up her arms and legs and wound through her hair. The forms enveloped her completely, twisting around her body until her skin shone with a brilliant, colorful light.
Claire was afraid. She didn’t understand what was happening to her. The horror-figures watched from the shadows of the forest, and Claire could tell that one of them was shrieking something she couldn’t hear. They did not seem to be able to get any closer to her. Claire closed her eyes again.
Everything gradually stopped, and Claire opened her eyes. She placed a hand on her stomach and felt her daughter moving inside. She could tell that something was different, but she couldn’t tell what. Her skin seemed to be much lighter than before, and she felt differently.
The colorful forms were gone, and Claire watched as the horror-figures emerged once more from the forest. There was nowhere for her to hide, and she knew they would catch her if she ran. The figures seemed reluctant to approach, as if they were afraid of her. Claire stood and faced them. The figures stopped a few feet from her.
Slowly, one of them crept closer. Fear kept Claire rooted to the spot. The figure reached out a hand towards Claire’s face, but the moment before the hand made contact with her, it exploded into mud and dust.
The Queen screamed a terrible, screeching shriek. The remaining two figures rushed towards Claire in order to claw her to the ground, but they both exploded before they could touch her. Claire stepped back, shocked. She had no idea what had just happened.
Addie came running into the clearing.
“Claire! Claire, oh my goodness! What happened? I’m so sorry! I never should have left you!” Addie began pulling dirt and twigs from Claire’s hair and nightgown.
Claire sat down, still in shock from all that had just happened. She looked confusedly up at Addie.
“Claire, honey, tell me what happened. Are you alright?”
It was a few minutes before Claire could find her voice.
“She found me.”
“The Queen? Ira found you? She was here?”
Claire shook her head slowly.
“No, in the pool. I saw Cyan’s face in the pool, but when I reached out for him, he turned into this horrible monster. The Queen spoke through the thing and controlled it. There were two others as well. They chased me here, and they caught me, but right before they could do anything, something strange happened…” Claire trailed off.
“What was strange? What happened?”
“There were…lights. Five of them. They surrounded me, circling around me. They…I don’t know what they did, but I feel strange. The lights enclosed me completely, and then disappeared.”
Addie looked at Claire in amazement.
“Claire, I think those lights were the Sisters.”
Claire looked at Addie. “What do you mean?” she asked, perplexed.
Addie began to pace back and forth in front of Claire.
“The Sisters, though they are gone, can often still reappear as shining lights of their specific colors. They may then bless whomever they see fit. Usually, a Sister will choose to bless the next oldest remaining Sister in order to give her extra protection and power; however, since Ira is the only Sister left, they chose to bless you, or rather your daughter, instead. But what happened to the Queen’s figures?”
“They came after me again, once the light had stopped, but when they tried to touch me, they exploded.” Claire indicated the mud and debris that the figures had left behind. “Addie, do you know why that happened?”
“The Sisters must have given your daughter protection from the Queen. While she is still in your womb, that protection extends to you. Ira cannot touch her unless she allows it. Until she is born, that decision is up to you. You were afraid and did not want her to hurt you, and so she could not come near you without damage to herself or her possessed figures.”
Claire was over her shock by now. She felt strangely warm, almost happy, and she wasn’t sure why. It was comforting to know that her daughter was safe, and she felt a surge of gratitude to the Sisters. Claire turned to Addie and hugged her. The small woman held her for a moment and gave her the comfort she needed. Claire pulled back and gave Addie a weak smile.
Addie smiled back and ran her fingers through Claire’s hair once more, picking out a few more twigs. She took Claire’s hand and led her slowly through the forest. Though the journey from home seemed to take forever, the remaining journey into the mountains seemed to Claire to take no time at all. By sunrise, they were looking on a small mountain village.
Addie led through the sleepy town to an empty cottage at the far edge of town.
“This is your home now,” Addie told her.
Claire wandered around the house, wide-eyed.
“It’s lovely!” she finally said. “I love it! Thank you so much!”
Claire reached out and gave Addie another warm hug, which Addie returned, patting the girl on the head. Claire ran swiftly around the house, examining everything. Addie watched with a smile and seemed to be enjoying Claire’s obvious joy in the house.
“Oh Addie, this is wonderful! It’s such a sweet house, and the village looks beautiful, and oh! I just love it!”
“I’m glad you like it so much. I knew you would.”
“What is this place? How did you find it?”
Addie frowned for a moment, hesitating.
“This was…the place that Cyan had picked out for you two. He was going to bring you here so that you could be together safely.”
Claire’s smile faded slowly from her face. She looked around the house, a tear running slowly down her cheek. Then, she turned back to Addie again, and Addie was surprised to see a small smile on her face in spite of the tears.
“He knew me so well. He knew how much I would love this place. I’ll make it a wonderful place, a place I can bring our daughter up in proudly.” She patted her stomach fondly, still smiling.
Addie stared at Claire for a moment, and then a bright grin spread across her face. She placed a hand on each of Claire’s shoulders and looked her full in the face.
“I think you are finally ready for motherhood,” she said fervently.
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