Amarielle Everglimmer's Arc

Chapter 1 of 7

Veronica Skyy watched the mortal boy through the ivy and knew the law could cost her wings. He sat on the stone wall below her cottage every evening. Three nights ago, he had looked up at her pink glow and whispered a wish. Since then, Veronica could think of nothing but him. She wanted him to love her. Fairy law forbade it. No fairy could show herself to a mortal, and any elder who caught her courting one would tear the glitter from her wings. Tonight she pressed close to the vines that wrapped her little pink home. The ivy twitched. Dozens of tiny fairies lived inside it, and they gossiped about everything. If they saw her leaning toward the boy, an elder would hear by morning. "You're glowing brighter than usual," said a voice behind her. Veronica spun. Her oldest friend hovered there, silver strands threaded through purple hair. Sage Silverwhisper ran the market stall where Veronica bought her stardust. She had warned Veronica about elders a hundred times. "He wished on me, Sage," Veronica said. "Me. Out of every star and every light." Sage folded her arms. "Then he wished on a fairy who still has her wings. Keep it that way." Below, the boy stood and brushed leaves from his coat. He glanced once more at Veronica's window, then turned toward the path home. Veronica felt her chest ache. She could not reach him without breaking the law. She could not stay hidden without losing him. Then she saw the butterfly. It rested on the windowsill, wings shaped like gold and pink hearts, dusted with glitter. A messenger. A fairy could speak through a creature without ever showing her own face. That was the loophole. No elder could punish her for a butterfly. "Don't," Sage said. She had seen Veronica's eyes. "The ivy fairies are watching. One word from them and it's over." Veronica caught the butterfly gently in her hands. "I'm not showing myself. I'm sending a friend." She whispered to it. The butterfly's wings shimmered brighter, carrying her voice inside them. Then she opened her hands and let it fly. It drifted down to the boy. It landed on his shoulder and beat its heart-shaped wings. The boy stopped walking. He smiled and lifted a finger. The butterfly stepped onto it, and Veronica's whispered greeting unfolded in the air like a soft bell. The boy laughed with delight. He spoke back to the butterfly, promising to return tomorrow. Veronica's heart soared. She had done it. She had reached him and kept her wings. Then the ivy went silent. Every tiny fairy had stopped moving. Every small face turned up toward Veronica's window. They had watched the whole thing. One of them darted out of the leaves and shot into the dark, straight toward the elders' grove. Sage grabbed Veronica's arm. "They saw. They're going to tell."