The WishKeeper (The Paragonia Chronicles) (10 page)

Shea was speechless. In front of all of the fairies she looked up to. All of the fairies she wished to emulate, even the ones who made fun of her on a daily basis. Now even her own father didn’t believe in her. She stared at her dad. Not with anger. Not with surprise, but confusion. It was the only thing of which she was ever sure. Hesitation was a part of her daily life since she could remember, but she never hesitated with the thought that her dad believed she could one day be the Keeper he always wanted her to be.

Bursting towards the exit, Shea pushed the silenced crowd out of the way and hurried out, barely holding back tears. She hated knowing that Thane was following, but a slight glimmer of gratitude struck her unexpectedly. At least someone was on her side.

Addressing the crowd, Beren didn’t have to raise his voice this time. “It’s done. My selections, gear up. We cross over at sunset.” While the rest of the Keepers started to file out, Avery stood motionless, deep in thought, and staring at her General.

Thane hurried out of the F.I.A., pushing past the exiting Keepers, and tried to keep an eye on the retreating Shea. She was in a full sprint across the valley and though Thane knew he could easily catch up, he let her be. He knew his orders, but he also thought Shea would hate him even more if he followed.

He took a deep breath, considering his options and turned to head home. Avery was standing, stoic, in front of him when he turned around and had his mind not been worried about his friend, he might have let out a little yelp. She glared at him, famously not saying a word, letting Thane say something first.

“Um, so, hello Avery,” he said, after a few long moments of staring. It was all he could come up with other than, “you’re really weird and scaring the crap out of me.” She continued to stare and finally took a deep breath, accepting that she will need to carry this conversation.

“Your handicapped friend…how is she with a wand?” she asked in a low, monotone voice.

Thane was surprised to feel a wave of anger flow through him. How dare she call her handicapped? Oddly enough, this calmed Thane and erased any strangeness he felt about the sudden conversation.

“You’d be surprised,” he returned, confident.

Avery dug a hand into a pocket of her cloak and suddenly Thane’s confidence began to retreat. Who knows what oddities Avery kept within that thing. Instead of a wand, she removed a blank, rolled piece of parchment, unfurled it in front of him and stared. She wasn’t staring at him, but rather at nothing in particular. Suddenly calligraphic words appeared on the parchment, sprawling out into sentences. Finally ending with
See Winston, The GateKeeper
. Avery rolled the parchment up and handed it to him.

Absentminded, Thane took the parchment, unable to avoid Avery’s dark eyes. He opened it and was about to read, but she spoke again; this time in a much more calming voice than he’d expected.

“Retrieving True Love goes beyond our rules of WishKeeping.”

He read the parchment and looked back at Avery. “Winston. You want us to cross over.”

“I want you to do what you know is right,” she said and without another word, flew off, leaving Thane with a dozen unfinished thoughts.

15

Those Three Words

A shaft of golden light beamed its way through Shea’s opened picture window. Rifling through her things, she stuffed items into a small pack. “He calls himself a Keeper? And a General? A leader doesn’t destroy the one thing that - oh forget it!” she yelled as she whipped a water bottle across her room. She looked up at the dangling models of flying machines hovering over her head. They swayed back and forth in the breeze. The strings that kept them attached to the ceiling were all she could truly see. Stuck to one spot. Destined to stay where they were. To stay what they were. Fake.

She jumped, ripped one from the ceiling and threw it as hard as she could. Before it could explode against the wall, she ripped another one down, then another.

Thane flew to her window, flinching as Shea destroyed her room. He didn’t think she noticed as he landed on the window seat, but she collapsed into her cushioned chair, covering her sobbing eyes. “Go away, Thane!”

“I’m sorry. I just -,” he said. Shea didn’t know if she wanted him to leave because she truly did hate him or if she was embarrassed that he was seeing her this way. He just sat there, staring. At least say something!

Shea tried to compose herself, took deep breaths as she stood and went back to her small pack, tossing a few more items in.

“I…I have something for you,” Thane said, trying to stay business like. If he showed any amount of sorrow for her, she’d punch him.

“I don’t want it,” Shea said with a snort.

He nodded, and motioned to leave.

“Wait,” Shea quickly added. “Toss me those.” She was referring to her aviator goggles. They were easily within her reach, but he complied anyway.

After she grabbed them from his hand, Thane reached into his pocket, pulled out the rolled piece of parchment and placed it on her chair.

“By definition, a WishKeeper tends to, protects and aids a wish in its fulfillment process.”

Wrapping her goggles around her neck, Shea ignored the parchment, or at least tried to.

“I was given a mission and every Keeper sees his mission through to the end,” Thane continued.

Acting like it was a nuisance, she snatched up the parchment and read it out loud. “Rules of engagement while on The Other Side”. It was a list of official rules and regulations regarding a WishKeeper’s actions and orders while pursuing wishes. She looked at him, confused.

“I’m supposed to Keep you, but that doesn’t mean I can’t help you. Meet me at Winston’s Gate in twenty minutes,” he said as he tried to turn back to the window before she could reply.

“I don’t need your help.”

Thane stopped, looked at her and swiped the parchment out of her hand. “Yeah ya do,” he said with a smirk.

Shea watched him fly out the window. She tied her pack shut and didn’t want to smile. She hated even the thought of a smile, but there it was and it wouldn’t leave her alone.

Thane landed, stopped and looked back up at her window. The parchment was in his hand and he couldn’t believe he was about to do what he was about to do. Winston’s Gate. He hadn’t thought of actually helping Shea. All this time he was simply following orders. Keep her out of trouble. His General specifically ordered him to keep his daughter safe, but now he was about to do the exact opposite - bring her directly into the line of fire. Retrieving true love goes beyond our rules of WishKeeping. Avery was right and so were the members of The Hope. This isn’t just another wish and it isn’t a means to an end. Destroying it will only put a patch over a leaky hole.

He knew where Winston’s Gate was and he knew he was about to make the biggest gamble of his most likely short-lived, WishKeeper career. His General was wrong, and he was going to defy his orders and help his friend grant a True Love Wish.

As Thane launched himself into the air and zipped toward the opposite end of the valley, Avery sat, perched in a nearby oak. She watched him fly away, pulled her deep black hair into a tight pony tail, and sped off.

Just as Shea was about to grab a rope ladder dangling out her window, there was a knock at her bedroom door. She paused knowing who it was and waited for her anger to return.

“Shea..?” she heard her father’s voice from the other side of the door. “Listen,” it continued, “about earlier. There’s just too much to explain and you wouldn’t understand. Not right away, anyway.”

Gritting her teeth, she knew he would treat her like a child. Like a little pixie that would never understand. Oh she understood alright, but she didn’t have time to listen to apologies, nor did she want one.

“Your Mom,” her father continued. “She was better at this. Always knew what…” he mumbled. “You’re all I’ve…”

   Shea waited for it. Even though she didn’t want to hear her father say it, she couldn’t get herself to leave. Maybe she did want to hear it. Maybe she wanted to hear her father say those three damned words even more than she wanted an apology. The quiet of the room was deafening as she held tight to the rope ladder.

“We’ll talk when I get back. OK?” he said.

Tears poured from her puffy blue eyes. He couldn’t say it. Like father, like daughter, and such a realization only made her angrier. She stared at the rope, dripping uncontrollable tears, and finally climbed out the window.

“I’m sorry”. Her father’s apology hung in the air, waiting for a reply, but Shea was already gone.

16

Avery’s Secret

No one knew much about Avery Waterstone upon WishKeeping recruitment other than the contagious smile her bright pink eyes and thick pink locks brought upon the beholder. She was a smile personified and though the term ‘living life wearing rose-colored glasses’ can be construed as a negative thing, she delighted in seeing the beauty in everything and everyone around her. There wasn’t an ounce of hurtful or spiteful blood within her, and she did all that she could to bring happiness to anyone she encountered. Despite being Erebus’ WishKeeper before he became WishingKing, her joyful and agreeable attitude was the main reason Erebus loved her so much, and why he promoted her to Regent quickly after his crowning. After switching from WishKeeper to Regent, her responsibilities of general supervision over the conduct and welfare of all Keepers were joyfully practiced. Though it was more of an assistant role and she held no real power within Paragonia, she didn’t mind. Spending each day with her WishingKing and managing the well-being of the Keepers suited her Purity-like self perfectly.

It was two months before Miranda and Grayson’s first True Love Wish when Avery’s life changed. It didn’t bend or tilt slightly, it ruptured like a dormant geyser finally releasing a thousand years of tension. The rain that day spattered against the castle’s windows and her king wasn’t feeling well. It was odd for a WishingKing to be sick at all since every WishingKing had a specific life span of exactly one-hundred years that consisted of perfect health, even up until the end. Avery brushed it off and surmised that the changing of the season and wet, chilly weather must be bringing out the sniffles.

She buzzed a cup of hot, steaming tea to him as he sat bundled up in bed and placed it on his end table.

“Thank you, my Avery dear. This blasted cold just won’t seem to go away, I’m afraid,” Erebus said, wiping his nose with a hanky.

Avery smiled, removed her wand and spun in a loving circle around the cup of tea. “May the sun shine all day long, everything go right, and nothing go wrong,” she said in a sing-song rhythm and clinked the cup of tea with her wand. Nothing grand or magical happened, but her smile was infectious and Erebus couldn’t help but giggle.

There was a knock at the door and Erebus motioned for Avery to answer. Happily bouncing her way over, the door pushed open before she could open it herself. Sopping wet and in an obvious nasty mood, Elanor swept in carrying a bright Purity. Before either of them could greet her, Elanor’s complaints rolled off her tongue. Avery was suddenly frozen still.

“Your majesty, I always appreciate our meetings, but flying across the entire valley in pouring rain just to present you with one little Purity seems to be an incredible waste of time. If I may speak freely, of course,” Elanor said, wringing the rain from her long, red hair. She looked exhausted, completely soaked, and if she hadn’t been talking to her king, she probably would have yelled what she just said instead of pushing it through her wet lips.

Avery floated, caught between a hundred feelings. Her usual, natural smile faded to an open mouthed stare. It wasn’t magic of any kind that held her there, at least not of the fairy kind. It was a magic of a much more ancient and natural conjuring. It spilled from her heart and rushed through every vein with an energy unmatched. She had never met Elanor, though she had heard her name discussed within the every-day management for her king, and until now Elanor was just another WishKeeper doing a fine job.

As she floated there, fingers intertwined as if she tried catching her breath but missed, Avery couldn’t stop staring at Elanor.

“Ah, my Elanor,” Erebus said, ignoring Elanor’s bad mood. “Thank you. I truly appreciate your hard work and dedication and I apologize for taking you away from your Keeping duties to tend to a sick old man. Have you met my Regent, Avery Waterstone?”

Avery twitched at her name and bowed her head quickly. Elanor looked, shot a forced smile. “Hey,” she barely tossed the greeting to Avery and while she didn’t mean to come across as cruel, Elanor was a naturally impatient fairy and didn’t understand why her Purity wasn’t snug in the Nursery by now. “Your majesty, if you don’t mind?” It was a request to get on with it.

Erebus sat up and repositioned himself, “Of course. Avery, will you retrieve the Purity, please?”

“Retrieve…?” Elanor didn’t understand.

As bashful as bashful could be, Avery blushed her way over to Elanor and hesitantly reached out her hands, expecting Elanor to give her the Purity. The little wish, with its wide happy smile, had no idea there was an argument brewing. It grinned a calming smile at Avery as she approached, and it was the first time Avery felt a rush of jealousy. She’d rather someone else was smiling at her, not the wish.

“Your majesty, really, I don’t have time for some form of class or lesson so that your new Regent may learn more about wishes or whatever it is you -,” Elanor was suddenly cut off. It was the first time Avery or Elanor had ever heard their king raise his voice.

“Hand over the wish, Elanor, and you may go! If you have such integral goings-on that are more important than helping your king, than just get it over with!”