“Hurt? Do you have any idea what the villagers whisper about me, or the torment I’ve felt keeping my powers concealed?”
Her eyes widened. “What powers?”
My secret had finally tumbled out, unable to be kept hidden any longer. I extended my hand, palm facing up. My magic came instantly at my command. Mother’s hands fluttered to her mouth. For a moment she simply stared, transfixed, at the shimmery lilac swirls cupped within my palm.
“Who taught you to do that?” she whispered. “Magic that rehearsed—I had no idea; you hid it so well.”
I pulled the magic away. “I taught myself. There was no one I could ask, especially not you.”
“Oh Eden, I’m so sorry. If only I’d known—” She reached for me, but I ducked out of her grasp. “Eden?”
“Leave me alone.”
“Please, just let me explain—”
I didn’t want her apology or her explanations, not tonight. It was too late for that. I headed for the door.
“Where are you going?”
“Out.” I kicked the door open and stomped from the room, the Stardust bumblebee close behind.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
I ignored Mother’s frantic shouts and Stardust’s prodding as I ran, glancing back only once. Mother slumped in the front doorway, her look defeated, but it couldn’t wash away the hot anger pounding through me. I fumbled with the garden gate and didn’t stop running until I reached my tree. There I collapsed and leaned against the trunk, where all the years of emotions—the loneliness from never fitting in and the pain of Mother’s betrayal—tumbled out.
Stardust snuggled against me. “Don’t cry.”
It was only then that I realized my tears had spilled over, all the events and emotions from the past forty-eight hours suddenly too much to bear. I buried my face in her frothy body. “I don’t know who I am.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
I shook my head and Stardust curled up beside me. We sat in silence for several hours until the night slipped away and the sky brightened with dawn. From beyond the village wall came low murmurs extending sleepy good mornings and the clambering of the market being set up.
The fight, still fresh and festering, lingered even now, hours later. Mother was a Dreamer. How could she have lied to me? I traced the hourglass pendant I’d taken from her study, where the magic it contained glistened in the early light. “How could she hide so much from me?”
Stardust stirred beside me. “Weavers aren’t allowed to share themselves with Mortals.”
“But I’m not Mortal; they don’t have magic, but there’s a part of me that allows me to see others’ dreams.” I sighed. “I don’t know who or what I am.” Though a possibility niggled at my thoughts—could I be half Mortal? But I dismissed the possibility almost the moment it occurred to me. Mortals couldn’t see Weavers, which would make it impossible for such a union between Mother and a Mortal to have taken place.
“I’m not entirely sure how your mother ended up on Earth—though I do have a suspicion—but if she’s a Dreamer then that would make you one, too.” Stardust’s rainbow eyes brightened. “I have a great idea: how about I take you to the Dream World? You’ll love it up there; it’s better than anything here on Earth. And perhaps there we’ll be able to uncover more about you and your unique powers.”
I straightened, enchanted by the suggestion. “Would I really be able to go?”
“Of course,” she said. “Only beings with magical abilities can see it, and you have magic. You’ll fit right in. We’ll go to all of my favorite places and eat loads of delicious treats.”
It was all so alluring. I imagined myself within the fantastic world of clouds, sunbeams, and rainbows, filled with other magical beings like me, a place where no one would give me weird stares or whisper rumors when I passed. Perhaps in that mystical world I’d finally discover where I truly belonged.
But my fight with Mother still simmered in my thoughts and chased away my fantasies. The responsible thing to do would be to apologize or at least tell her where I was going, but I couldn’t face her so soon. Maybe if I was only gone for a little while…
The clamors from beyond the wall grew louder as more of the village awakened. Stardust glanced longingly towards the gate. “I’ve always wanted to examine a Mortal village. I’ve only ever seen them from a distance.”
“You can explore after we visit the Dream World,” I said impatiently, for the more I fantasized about the place, the more eager I was to leave.
But Stardust had already drifted over to peer through the latticed bars. “Ooh, it looks fascinating. I’m getting a closer look.” And she was gone.
“Stardust!” I chased after her, my mind swirling with all sorts of possibilities of the horrible trouble an unsupervised, hyperactive cloud could get into. Luckily, she still hovered in the entrance, doe-eyed as she hungrily took in all the sights. I heaved a reluctant sigh. “Fine, we’ll take a quick look around.” Not that I had any choice in the matter. “At least have the decency not to speak to me; I don’t want any of the villagers thinking I talk to myself.”
The market was a bustle of activity as vendors arranged their stalls, their dreams hovering over their heads, but for once they didn’t tempt me to try and capture them—not only did Stardust’s warning still ring in my ears, but I had my hands full trying to keep an eye on her.
I wove through the crowds and stalls with my head held high, ignoring the heated and suspicious stares of the villagers I passed.
The market was already set up in the village square. We wove around the cramped wooden stalls, weighed down with fresh produce, hanks of smoked meat, crates of chickens and rabbits, and healing elixirs. The yeasty scent of bread drifted from the bakery on the brisk breeze
