Chapter Eight: Emma Endless
1120 Words
Eight
The Harvest took place on Halloween. October thirty-first. I had to be prepped for the journey, for the wedding that would take place the moment that I arrived in fae. Louisa helped with the preparations using her knowledge as gatekeeper.
She prepped a bath with essential oils, and herbs that were supposed to provide luck for marriages. I washed, and scrubbed, half-heartedly, wishing that I could drown myself in the water. But if I did, Louisa would just be forced to go through this horror instead of me.
Once I was done bathing, Louisa dressed me in a white, chifton, robe. It was see-thru, the moment it was on over me, all my assets were revealed. She curled and braided my hair, put on the slightest bit of makeup.
“Come on,” she told me, as she squeezed me tightly in a hug, “you’ll do fine.”
We went from the bathroom, out to where my brothers were waiting for me in the living room. Both Clark and Bradley turned crimson at the sight of me.
“Holy shite!” Bradley exclaimed. “Lou, does it have to me so----”
“Faerie guidelines,” she said grimly, “and as the King commands.”
Clark wouldn’t meet my eyes, he kept on looking back at the floor. “You…you look…I mean….”
“Stop,” I ordered.
“Thank god!” Clark exclaimed, looking relieved for being let off the hook for having some sort of answer.
“We’ve got to go,” said Louisa, “we don’t have long.”
“Can I have a moment?” The three siblings exchanged a look and went out the door. I was left by myself, to stare at the first apartment that I had ever owned. The last apartment that I would ever have, possibly. It had been the first place that I had been able to have any freedom my entire life.
It had been where Ben and I had fallen in love, where Ben and I had had our last moments together.
“Emma?” Bradley poked his head in. “Come on, love. We’ve got to go. Harvest is almost upon us.”
We took a taxi out to upstate New York. If the driver thought there was anything strange or unusual about my outfit, he hadn’t said anything, although I did notice that he had stared a little too long at my breasts.
He left us in the middle of the woods. Louisa had a bag, filled with everything we would need that would help me make the journey between worlds. In the center of the forest, she set up a circle of candles, and a mirror.
My three siblings stood around the circle of candles, holding hands together. “Through the looking glass, to faerie we shall cast, a bride for the King Oberon, for Harvest, long may they last.”
A breeze picked up, stirring the leaves, as Louisa, Bradley, and Clark said the chant in unison, making the wind pick up each time. The leaves swirled, and swirled, forming a circle around me, until all I could see was the colors of fall.
Orange. Red. Yellow. Brown. Like an artist’s pallet that had been mixed up. It swirled, and swirled, making me dizzy, forcing me to close my eyes. When I opened them again, I found myself staring into the eyes of a face made of stone.
“Welcome, my sweet.” I could feel hot breath on my neck.
Oberon was there standing behind me. “The Harvest is finally upon us. We’ve a wedding to attend. Let’s away.” He placed his hands on either side of my bare shoulders. “You smell divine.”
I gritted my teeth.
He let me go, and took my hand, leading me through the garden. It was decorated of stone statues, filled with anyone who had failed to keep a bargain with the faerie king. I could feel their eyes on me as we walked, desperate, pleading, dying to get out.
I had no way of helping those poor souls. But perhaps, with my time spent in the court, something good could come from my bargain with Oberon. I vowed that if I wasn’t able to save myself, I would at least save them.
In the center of the garden, the whole of the faerie court had gathered. Oberon kept a human mask, with the hopes of keeping others at ease. But faeries were not traditionally human looking.
Some had bodies that were made of nothing but bark and leaves. Others were pure, walking ice, and yet another one was made entirely of sand. Faeries controlled the seasons, and anything from a leaf to a snowflake was their creation. Typically, they took on their creations. For however unhuman they were, I could still feel their eyes on me, their attention as their future Queen walked down the aisle.
A string quartet which seemed to be invisible, was playing a haunting melody. Standing at the front of the aisle, was Oberon’s messenger. Puck. A short, skinny, young man with feminine features and horns that came out of his head.
He wore no shirt and had on instead brown pants that seemed to be held together by green vines. “We have gathered here for The Harvest, the wedding of our most beloved, most generous King. Tonight, he weds the human Emma Endless, from the gatekeeper line, binding our two worlds together in this holy union. Emma Endless, give me your hand.”
I gave him my hand.
“Your majesty give me your hand,” Puck said.
He held our hands together. A golden rope appeared out of thin air. It looped around our wrists, binding our hands together.
“Your souls are now one, in the eyes of the goddess,” said Puck, “may you never be severed. You may now kiss the bride.”
Oberon bent down and kissed me deeply. He pulled me to him, so that I was pressed up against his chest. The faeries hooted, hollered, hissed and clapped. I was swept into Oberon’s arms, bridal style.
He looked down at me, his gaze smoldering, his eyes changing color again as he did. From red, to orange, to yellow, to green again. “Time to make good on your end of the bargain, my sweet.”
His wings came out from his back, he pushed up off the ground, and we flew away from the wedding.
- Writer
