VIOLET

What could be happening back home? I bet Esmeralda was causing trouble because she didn’t want me to leave. I hadn’t thought much about home since I left, but this strange rabbit had me worried. Especially since the fox and the canine had instructed us to trust the creatures in the line. There was a lobster at the last post, which I took as a sure sign, being a creature from home. It bit Iris, which amused me. She would never survive where I was from. 

Bear, on the other hand, was becoming more solemn by the day and it was showing. While at first, his sickness seemed to come and go, at this point we needed to find him a cure and we needed to find it fast or his blood would be on our hands. Mine, since I offered to help him in the first place, and Iris's, because she said she would find a cure and get us to the Isle of faeries before it was too late. My poison extractions could only help so much, but it was not a permanent cure.

The journey so far hadn’t been as taxing on my body as I thought it would have been. Sure, when I first had my tail removed, I was in the most excruciating pain I had ever experienced. But as time went on, I began to realise that it was worth it. One, because I could never get this kind of experience back home and would have lots to brag about to my sisters, future children, and Essy--if she ever forgave me. And two, because I didn’t really want to face what was going on back home, despite how much I missed those pearly gates.

When we were children, Esmeralda and I would talk about the future, about who would be the better ruler between us when the time came.

“Obviously, it will be me,” she had said in a matter-of-fact tone, sweeping her flawless red hair across her right shoulder, which landed perfectly on her back. The way it settled always made me jealous. Though, I didn’t think wasting time spending hours on end brushing my hair was worth it to achieve the desired result, not when there was so much exploring to do. “Ha,” I replied mockingly. “How could you be the ruler that our kingdom needs when you spend all day brushing your hair? What kind of skill would that bring to our kingdom?” 

“What our kingdom needs is someone to actually rule. Someone cultured and experienced in the art of the world,” I had said, waving a conch shell in her direction. 

“Is that right? Well, I don’t think you could do that, since you're never here!” She exaggerated the last two words. “How could you be there for your people’s every request when you’re always away exploring?” 

I fell onto the soft sand, a chuckle erupting from within me. “Perhaps neither of us are fit to be queen.” 

“Maybe one of your sisters will take the throne,” she suggested, causing us to both break out in a fit of laughter. 

“What is so laughable about that?” Adella, one of my three sisters, swirled above us, causing us to startle. 

I sighed. “Leave us alone. We are royals, and you are nothing more than peasants.” I stated matter-of-factly before Essy and I high-fived, laughing. 

“Maybe we will just take the throne from under you,” Azalea, another of my sisters, snapped, snatching a shell from my hand. All three of them swarmed us now, forcing us to back up against the ground we were laying upon. 

“Leave us alone!” Esmeralda pushed her away with her tail, defending me.

“You know, you two will be pinned against one another when the day comes. You can’t stay this close forever. It will come between you,” My third sister, Coralia said, causing them all to laugh wickedly in unison. 

“C’mon, girls, let’s get out of here. Leave these losers to their false hopes and dreams,” Azalea said, hitting Coralia on the arm. They all swam away, leaving Essy and me to the aftermath of insinuations.

“That'll never happen.” I laid on the soft sand beneath me, gazing up at the rippling water above. I sighed. There was some truth to it. “I guess when the time comes, one of us will be chosen.”

“I think you're right.” Essy sighed sadly, joining me on the soft sand, her hair floating around her. 

A jolt directed us forward, causing my eyes to fly upward. Above the golden mane was the long line of conspirators ahead of us. This was going to be a long and daunting trip as each creature--more peculiar than the one before--spilled untold truths of our futures. I would rather not know, to be honest. All it was doing was delaying my return home even more. Now that I knew something big was awaiting me, I both dreaded and wanted to get home more than ever. I rubbed my legs, which were cramping up from the stiff position they had been in. 

Directly in front of us was a woman, who appeared to be human, though she was no ordinary woman. I could tell by the way her skin and clothes were almost see-through, as though she were a ghost. Again, I had only heard of ghosts from tails, though I didn’t believe many of those stories. In saying that, the things I had seen since starting my journey across Sugarland had contradicted my original thoughts on many things. She swayed as if being hushed by a lullaby and held a goblet in her hand. A puff of dark smoke smouldered around her. Her brown hair was pulled back into a slick bun, a pink flower tucked into its strands. Her look was outdated as if she were not from this century. Her face displayed sadness, emptiness, loneliness. She made me feel a deep loss.

As we crowded around her, waiting for her to speak, though never expecting, as some others before had seemed to have no voice. Iris squeezed my hand, sorrow spreading across her large but delicate features. “She lost her son and husband to illness. She lived years of loneliness before perishing, only to be trapped in the spirit world. She wanders around, exuding sadness and loneliness. She can be dangerous and doesn’t usually speak when spoken to. We should move on.” 

“How do you know?” I went to speak but Bear took the words from my mouth.

“I can hear her thoughts.” The words escaped her lips in no more than a whisper, I suppose not to arouse suspicion. As we continued on, Bear's cloak brushed against the woman’s garment. She shrieked out like a cougar in the night. I heard a cougar on our journey. It was beyond terrifying to hear its shriek, but it didn’t harm us like I was afraid she would.

Terrified, I pulled on the horse’s mane to hurry it along, and then she spoke. “Wait.” Her voice boomed across Sugarland, causing an uproar in the patrons ahead. Creatures were bowing their heads, while others screamed out. We recoiled in fear, the horse rising to its back legs, almost knocking us off its back. Luckily, we all had a good grasp on its mane. When things settled down, we stilled as a group, not wanting to move a muscle in hopes of not making the situation worse. “Come back to me. Now. What do you want?” Her voice was stern and equally as terrifying.

“Uh… nothing. Sorry to have bothered you.” Bear tensed, his face draining of colour.

“Then why do you stand before me, whispering as if I were not here?” she roared, the strength in her voice gaining by the second. 

“Sorry, I-I didn’t mean to touch you,” Bear stammered. I felt the same way. Self-control was not his strong suit, and it wasn’t making our job of staying inconspicuous any easier. Though I’m sure he knew that, and it was making him feel bad. He was human after all, and some things couldn’t be helped.

She looked at him carefully and then turned her gaze to Iris and me. “Well, now that you have my attention, what do you want?” 

Bear looked up at her with hooded eyes and sheepishly answered, “Do you have any advice for the road?”

She took such a long time to answer that we almost made a run for it, when suddenly, she looked down at us from her elevated height. “Keep your eyes on the road ahead, keep a close eye on each other, and never get distracted. If you do, you might just lose one of the members of your party. If you don’t get out of my way, it might be from me.” 

We took that advice as a parting gift and quickly moved to our next suitor. So far, all the advice we had gotten was the same.