Between working on my portal series and waiting on beta feedback for By The Skies, I have started a little more of a light hearted project. The portal/Journey Series has taken a serious turn (not surprising since I'm moving into the final book) and I just needed some random whimsy. So I thought I would try my hand at some fae shenanigans.
I have always loved the idea of 'fairy circles' and how the little circle of mushrooms could be a portal to the fae realm. What if someone purposely sought that out instead of avoided that? Why would anyone do something like that? And those thoughts are what led me to this wip. Here's a very unedited sneak peek. Things probably will change a bit when I get to revisions, but I figured some of you might enjoy a look at the raw text.
And, since you're checking it out on my blog, I'll put a little more here than I did on facebook.
Chapter 1
Find or mate or enter the lotto. Those were the rules of the land of Alaseth. You had until you were twenty, and if no one fit your fancy, your name was tossed into the spring festival drawing.
Plenty tried to run to avoid it, but Alaseth was a very large kingdom. It took up the entire continent and getting across the Jadeite was difficult, even with properly trained crew and sales. The best crew could cross it in twelve hours, but most took the better part of a day.
I wasn’t foolish enough to try that.
We lived on one of the main ports for the Jadeite sea and I had a respectful fear of it. Hardly a season went by where a major ship or two wasn’t lost to it. I wanted no part in this lotto though, so I was determined to find an out.
A week of wandering the Vandreith forest left me aching, sore, and covered in more twigs and leaves than I had expected. Humans weren’t supposed to travel this far into the woods or stray from the paths. One did not know what other creatures could be met. Would it be a giant boar that was eight feet tall? Would it be Lockish pixies that sometimes came to these woods from beyond the hills?
Anything sounded better than the lotto, than being forced to commit to someone who would likely expect me to be subservient to them. A wedlock I wouldn’t be able to escape from unless both parties agreed.
“There it is!” I brushed my honey brown hair out of my face, thrilled to finally find exactly what I was looking for.
A true fairy circle was laid out before me as if it was a gift. The pink and lilac mushrooms glowed softly with magic, pulling me toward them. I didn’t try to resist and happily stepped into the circle, letting the magic wash over me. I sighed in relief and sank down into the center.
Nothing happened for a time. The magic seemed confused. I wasn’t trying to flee or avoid it like many would with fae traps.
“Well, aren’t you a boring capture.”
I turned to look at who was talking. A man a little older than me with hunter clothes and pointy fae ears gave me an appraising look.
“You’re not even trying to escape.” He finally said as I stared at him.
“Nope. I’m your problem now.” I said as I got up.
He raised an eyebrow. “If I didn’t need a dumb human for something I’d set you loose now. You sound like nothing but trouble.”
“Again, your problem now.” I didn’t disagree.
He sighed. “What do you want? You’ve got to be wanting something if you’re not afraid of being stupid enslaved to a fae potentially forever.”
“I am not going to randomly marry some jerk. That is all I want to avoid. Having to serve someone else and not be forced into a relationship works for me.” I explained.
“Fantastic. You don’t get what you want. I need a date and hate everyone my family has tried to pair me with.”
“A fake date is still better than being forced into a lotto.”
He gave an exasperated sigh. “You’ll be bound to rules.”
“Peachy.”
“You’re supposed to hate this.”
“I hate everything in my current life more.” I laughed dryly.
“Fine, whatever. I’ll turn you loose after this.”
“You can try,” I smirked.
With a sigh, he waved his hand and everything turned bright for a moment as magic covered me. I shielded my eyes and was surprised the light was quickly back to normal. I looked about and saw I was in a plain sitting room. No pictures on the walls, only a few empty vases were on the shelves.
“My name is Crispin. May I have your name?” He asked, crossing his arms.
“Glady,” I smiled happily, knowing this would bind me to him and pull me away from my world and troubles. “My name is Evelyn.”
He cringed at the name. “That is an awful name. Why is your lot so bad at naming?”
“Says the crispy one.” I crossed my arms causing him to roll his eyes.
“You’re now Avenia.” As soon as the words crossed his tongue they mixed in the air with magic. I could feel the name bind to me.
I had to admit, I did like it better.
~That's it for now! I hope you enjoyed the preview <3
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