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Chapter Twenty

Gwendolyn

Present Day

T he sand beneath my feet felt strange, yet ?comfortable.

I had no idea how both things could be the same at once, and yet, there it was.

I did not want to ever see that island again.

I tried to close my eyes to the horrors I had experienced there, although as I looked about—because, really, not looking was out of the question—I was not met with horror, only beauty.

A beauty I had never noticed before. The island was bursting with spring flora, so many different hues and shades of pinks and yellows, reds and oranges, all against the tropical green foliage; it was breathtaking.

Was it that lovely before? Maybe it was, or maybe it was merely the hope of finding Peter that caused me to see that beauty.

Whatever the reason, as I stepped upon that shore under the bright warm sun and tropical breeze, it was beautiful on Pixie Isle.

“I forgot how beautiful this island is,” Meria said beside me with a wide grin. “When we left Peter here last time, I was amazed. So many of those flower things–”

“They are just called flowers . And yes, it seems this island is in a never ending spring,” Dominick added.

The last time we were on that island, Meria and Prince Dominick dropped Peter off so that he could find me and save me from the pixies.

“I hate that he had to come here to save me.”

“I think all things happen for a reason. If I had not been banished from Marren, I could have never saved Dominick from his shipwreck.” She looked longingly at her husband.

“Sometimes, the bad things that happen just get us to the more fortunate parts of our life stories a bit sooner,” Meria said with a soft smile.

Her white-blonde hair with hues of pink, blew in front of her face as Dominick came up to her and pulled the hair away from her face.

“I should have braided it this morning,” he said.

He braided her hair?

She often wore her hair around her shoulders or in one braid that looked like a rope down her back.

“There was no time,” she said, but I watched in awe as Dominick quickly braided her hair and tied it off with a part of his shirt, which he tore off for that purpose .

“Nick! That was a brand new shirt from your mother!”

“I have like ten of these shirts,” he shrugged. “Stay close to me, my mermaid. I do not want you captured,” Dominick said, kissing her on her cheek. He always called her his “mermaid,” and it was adorable. Peter would often say my name with fondness as I read to him.

“No pixies can fool me. I am also a magical being, so they can try, but I can breathe underwater so–” Meria said with a smile. Dominick smiled back at her and motioned for her to walk with him. She gave me a small nod before walking away.

“My, they are very–” Michael began from beside me; then he paused.

“Very affectionate?”

“Yes, Mother would lose her mind.”

I laughed. “Yes, she would. But I do not think I care much anymore about what Mother thinks. I think it is good and well to have propriety and morals, but when I have a husband—”

“You mean, when you marry Peter.”

“Yes. I will kiss my husband and hold him after I wed, whenever I wish.”

“I shall like to see that when you are in the same room as Mother. Her response would be very fun to observe.”

“She would most likely pass out,” I said, and Michael and I both laughed. How freeing it was to have Michael’s friendship .

I had thought that once Mother knew I was courting the prince, she would be less abrasive. In so many ways, she had been kinder, but still, I could not wait to leave her.

“Here! Let’s go up this small path!” Dominick shouted, and the few of us, Meria, my brother, and myself, headed toward the island jungle.

I knew that path—unfortunately. The sight of it brought back an unpleasant memory.

Three Months Before Present Day

“Mother, Mother!” the pixies chimed. I looked around at them as they began to lift me off the ground, and then we entered the forest. I closed my eyes as they carried me to a lagoon with a large and stunning waterfall.

The water was illuminated by what seemed like starlight, itself, as if they had learned to harness the stars and capture them in that radiant lagoon.

They set me down and helped me walk to the waterfall.

Without a word, I let them guide me behind it to the inside of a cavern where they eventually brought me to the children who they had taken from Walden.

Present Day

“I wonder what way we should go.” Dominick’s words pulled me from my memory. He and Meria had walked back to where Michael and I were standing.

“If we go through here, we’ll find the pixies’ lagoon on the other side of the mountain, and that is where the children’s camp used to be,” I said.

“Thank you, Lady Darling,” Dominick said formally.

“Just call me Gwendolyn if you please,” I said.

“Gwendolyn, let’s go find your Peter, shall we?” Dominick said with a smile, and I took my brother’s hand tightly in mine, then nodded.