“Elric?” She closed the door behind her. His room wasn’t as fancy as hers. She stepped over to his bed, but his blankets were messy and he wasn’t in it. Where was he? “Elric?” she called again. Usually he came to get her and they would eat together and stay together in the palace. He shouldn’t be gone now, and it made her feel upset. She didn’t like to be away from him for long anymore. She wandered over to his window, a teardrop-shaped opening in the branch wall.
Wynn stuck her head out and looked straight down, her shoulder-length hair falling around her face. Fairies scurried around like bugs in the courtyards below. She watched them for a second but the silver circlet on her head shifted forward. She slapped a hand on her head to hold it steady and looked up. Hills blanketed with a rainbow of flowers rolled around the great valley. It would be fun to play in them. She could walk with Mildred. She hadn’t seen Mildred in several days. Mildred didn’t like to be in the high branches of the palace.
And Wynn’s room was very high. She could see the tops of the stone towers that surrounded the tree like the old druid circles in the Otherworld. Curling blue designs glowed on the surface of the enormous stones in pretty knotted patterns. Fairies liked circles. The courtyards below were circles, and the dome formed an enormous circle of light.
On the other side of the protective dome, a dark forest waited, and the tall shadows of storm clouds lingered beyond that. The storms couldn’t reach them here, and the dangerous creatures of the forest never crossed the line of magic that kept them in their woods.
She needed to find Elric. Wynn crept out of the door and went farther into the palace. She turned and climbed higher in the branch, holding her skirts in a big bunch so she didn’t trip on them. They were too puffy and long but her soft slippers made her feet quiet and that was good.
The queen’s rooms were nearby. She would know where Elric was.
Wynn reached an alcove at the end of the branch with two doors made from carved wooden screens. One side showed the queen looking down on the palace tree and the fairy lands with the moon behind her. The other side showed a fairy man with the sun behind him and the woods at his feet near a great city with tall stone towers. Light glittered through the screens. Wynn cracked open the door and stepped into a perfectly round chamber with high arching windows and a second set of doors on the other side. Sun streamed in from everywhere, throwing green and gold splashes of color on the pale wood walls. That light danced off the shining treasures filling the room.
What was this place?
An animal skin hung on the wall, but it was different from any animal Wynn had ever seen. It had dark stripes on pale gray fur. The fur was old and worn as it sagged. It made Wynn feel very sad to look at it. Whatever animal it was might have been very beautiful when it was alive. A long staff with a clear blue gem at the top hung next to it on the wall. Next to that stood a pedestal with a crystal crown on a silk pillow.
“Oh, it’s beautiful,” Wynn whispered as she stepped closer to get a good look. The crown wasn’t silver, exactly. It looked like starlight. It seemed to glow with an inner light, and Wynn thought she heard the sound of tiny bells as a breeze blew over it.
Wynn reached out to touch it and carefully lifted it so she could see it better. She took off her own plain circlet, and reached to place the crown on her head.
Suddenly the golden room filled with an icy blast of air. Wynn gasped and nearly dropped the crown as a flurry of snowflakes swirled over her in a cold and angry wave.
“Wynnfrith!” The voice of the Fairy Queen filled the room like thunder. “Do not touch that.”
“Do not touch that!” Wynn repeated. Her body tensed and shook as her thoughts turned into a jumble. The crown slipped in her hands.
The queen rushed forward on a gust of wind, and caught the crown before it fell. Wynn covered her ears and hunched over. The queen placed the crown back on the pedestal, and immediately dropped to her knees in front of Wynn.
She was so beautiful the shadows bowed to her, and light tended her as a handmaid. Her large eyes shifted color, reflecting the magic of the protective dome around them. She reached out to Wynn, her glittering white sleeves floating beside her. “Oh, no, darling. There’s no harm done. It didn’t break.” The queen wrapped her arms around Wynn and pulled her into a tight hug. “I’m sorry I scared you.”
“I’m sorry,” Wynn repeated again, because her own thoughts still wouldn’t work the way they should. One of Wynn’s tears fell on the deep brown skin of the queen’s arm, and the queen gently brushed her tear away and placed a kiss on the top of Wynn’s head.
“I know you’re sorry. Don’t worry. Nothing was harmed.” The queen picked up Wynn’s plain silver circlet and placed it on Wynn’s head, then smoothed Wynn’s hair back behind her ear. The queen began to softly sing to Wynn. The words were new, but she knew the tune by heart.
“My love, my love, my changeling child,
You braved the wind and snow
To find me here within the gate,
And make my magic grow.
Please stay with me, my changeling child,
And for all time I’ll keep you.”
The
