Thanks Brooke. I agree, Reynard is pretty special.
Return
We return, in triumph to Whitesnow House and I assume my rightful role as the lady of the manor.
The servants are dazed and confused but a few are pleased to see me.
There are many that were her creatures and will never be mine but I will concern myself with that small matter in good time for there are more pressing priorities.
The first is the healing of my sister, Aylinde.
For Aylinde is damaged beyond the physical. She has grown to childhood with little love or affection.
Her life has been spent lurking in shadows, keeping herself as invisible as possible, never presuming that anyone, especially her mother, had her best interests at heart.
She had often spied on her mother. She had heard my name whispered amongst the servants but, try as she might, she could find nothing beyond the bald fact that I was dead, killed in the forest, and my name was not to be mentioned. She suspected her mother held the key to the mystery but was reluctant to approach her on that score.
Aylinde knew in her heart, and from her dreams, that I lived and there was more to the story.
One day, as she hid in her usual spot, just outside the ante-room Morganna used to concoct her medicines, she had heard Morganna chanting my name. How her skin had prickled as she realized, from the intensity of Morganna's chant, that she was weaving a spell of great power. Aylinde feared it meant my death.
Bravely, desperately, just as Morganna's voice had reached a crescendo, she had hurled the nearest object at her mother with as much strength as she could muster and with little thought for her own safety.
The projectile had missed her mother but knocked the candle from her hand and startled her enough that she reared back in surprise.
Recovering quickly, Morganna's fury at the interruption to her concentration was terrible to behold and Aylinde was thrown forcibly across the room, barely missing the window.
I am certain it would have been her end at her own mother's hands if my dear Reynard had not caused the spell to be broken just in time.
So my first task is to get to know this serious little girl who owns my life. Together we will fish at the pond, and explore the gardens delighting in the flowers and the butterflies.
I will show her how to paint and sew and I will entertain her with stories of the brothers and my life at the edge of the forest.
When I leave to marry my prince in the Spring, I will consider asking the brothers if she might stay with them for a while.
Their hearts are big and their simple love will continue the healing of this most precious child.
The End
Thank you to everyone who read my story and very special thanks to Brooke whose daily comments made it all worthwhile. Thanks Brooke.
