Marina Waverly's Arc

Chapter 3 of 3

From her stone ledge, Marina watched Prince Adrian cross the courtyard below. He was close enough to see, yet she could not reach him. If she flew down now, a guard would swat her like a moth. She needed Adrian to look up and see her on purpose. But a fairy the size of a sparrow was easy to miss in a castle full of noise and movement. She thought of home. In the Glen, fairies made themselves seen with light. Marina cupped her hands and pulled her glow to the surface of her skin. She flared bright, then dim, then bright again. Adrian walked on. No one looked up. Her little light was nothing against the afternoon sun. Then a small voice spoke behind her. "You always did make a mess of things." Marina spun. Sophie sat on the ledge, her pink wings folded, her teddy bear clutched to her chest. Her sister. The one who had begged her to stay. The one who should have been a whole world away, behind a sealed crack. "You followed me," Marina whispered. "The passage closed. How?" "I jumped in before it sealed," Sophie said. Her chin trembled. "I wasn't going to lose you too." She wiped her eyes, then looked down at the prince. "That's him? The one you threw everything away for?" Marina's throat tightened. "I have to make him see me, Sophie. And I can't. I'm too small." Sophie stared at the sky for a long moment. Then she smiled, the same sparkling smile Marina had missed. "Small doesn't mean quiet. Watch." Sophie closed her eyes and hummed an old Glen song. Her glow spread past her skin, out into the air, where it gathered and took shape. Marina had forgotten her sister could do this. A creature formed from pink and purple light, a dragon the size of a real one, with sweeping wings and green eyes and a flame at its tail. "It's not real," Sophie whispered, straining. "Just light. But he won't know that." The glowing dragon swept down over the courtyard. Guards shouted and dropped their spears. Servants ran. Adrian froze, staring up with wide brown eyes. "Now, Marina," Sophie said. "Fly in front of him. He's looking up at last." Marina dove. The dragon circled above, pulling every eye to the sky. In that moment of chaos, she darted down and hovered right before Adrian's face, glowing with all her strength. He saw her. His mouth fell open. For one heartbeat, the prince looked straight into the eyes of a fairy no bigger than a bird, and he did not scream. "A fairy," he breathed. Then the dragon of light burst apart, raining sparks. Guards swarmed toward the prince, shouting about witchcraft and danger. Hands reached to pull Adrian inside. He kept staring at the empty air where Marina had been. She had made him see her. Now the whole castle hunted the thing that had.