70. Far From Home
The door shut heavily with a sound that sent shivers of loneliness down Rosella’s slender spine. The motion sent wisps
of the cool mountain air under the door that swirled around her ankles and up her elegant skirt, leaving goose bumps on
her thinly clad legs. Without thinking, the timid princess called out for her only friend in the land of Tamir. “Jenna?”
Rosella turned around to look for the tiny fairy, but Jenna was nowhere to be seen. Had she not come through the door
with the princess? Rosella spun around and around causing her long blonde hair and flowing skirt to fan out as she
desperately looked for her little companion. The truth settled in heavily. Rosella was alone once again. As quickly as
the little fairy had reappeared on the princess’s journey, she had once again gone without so much as a whisper. Only
a warning: beware of Lolotte, she knows you’re about. Those words did little to comfort the helpless pit forming in the
young girl’s stomach.
Rosella swallowed her lonely thoughts and focused her sharp blue eyes on the room. There were barrels and crates
stacked against the walls and a few scattered messily throughout the floor. It looked like the door had led into a storage
room of some kind. The walls were made up of large stones fit snugly together centuries ago and judging from the moss
that had overtaken the walls and the mixture of sawdust and cobwebs lining the floor, this room had not seen use for
some time now. Wrinkling her nose at the stringy dust bunnies attaching themselves to the toes of her heels, Rosella
danced around the loose cargo as she navigated her way to the center of the room.
A lone torch burned valiantly against the wall in an iron harness. Somebody had to light the torch now and again, and
the footprints in the dusty floor further revealed that this room, while unkempt was trafficked. By whom or what, Rosella
would rather not know, though images of those winged goons flying about the skies outside the castle haunted her
behind the eyes. The footprints led in two directions and both ended at a door; one to the north, and one to the east.
Somehow having a choice made the princess more so queasy than she already was. Jenna had said that Lolotte had
captured Genesta and her fairies and was holding them prisoner in her castle. She also said that the fairies were
scattered throughout the castle. “They could be anywhere!” whined the princess, tossing her slender hands up in the
air in frustration. As childish as she was being, her concerns were valid. Lolotte’s castle was a giant fortress full of
danger. Rosella put her hands firmly against her slender waist and narrowed her saucer blue eyes. She would begin
her search by…
Going through the north door
Going through the eastern door
Searching the crates and barrels