Chapter 106: The layers of slumber
Katherine had been right. By the end of some idle chit chat that held no stakes between them, the easeful tea cradled Arabella’s entrails into a cozy sleep with the last thing on her mind, the many erudite lines that had graced her eyes.
But the deeper through the layers of slumber she fell, the further away those drew.
Her plan to distract herself from everything that had happened bore its fruits. That night, she first dreamt of frolicking through the valley, her hands still tingling from the warm and squishy squirrel she’d hugged.
The fairies shone as bright as stars in the distance, but their glow dimmed, mingling with the balmy sunlight the closer to her they fluttered.
The faces of Floriel and Ariel were in the frontlines; the rest surrounded her figure and chirped merrily. Some of them would pick single strands of her hair each and wave them around.
"Oh dear! You’re bleeding!" Floriel had gasped, clasping her little hands over her mouth.
And just like that, their blissful demeanors all crumbled as they backed away from her. Following their horrified gazes downwards, her own eyes met the cuts and scrapes riddling her legs.
It was such an odd occurrence as Arabella hadn’t even felt them.
"Oh... I am so-"
But the moment she’d looked back at them to apologize and explain it wasn’t done on purpose; the fairies had already vanished. The young women spun around, searching for them, to no avail.
Although when she turned back the other way, a second figure stood before hers. Well, the term knelt was more correct in his situation.