Rosemary Bakshi's Arc

Chapter 5 of 7

Rosemary held the cold mouse to her chest. The clearing was quiet. Then thorny branches burst up from the dirt behind her, weaving fast, sprouting dusky purple blooms. The way back was gone. A wall of thorns sealed the path she had come down. Two tall shapes stepped out from between the trees. Their eyes were pale and cold. Their long claws reached for the air around her. Rosemary knew them. She had seen those faces in every nightmare. Her fay mother smiled. Her fay father tilted his head. "Little one," her fay mother said. "You came so far for a toy." More thorns shot up around Rosemary in a tight circle. They braided themselves into a cage, blossoms opening as the branches locked. Rosemary opened her mouth to scream for Clove, for her mother, for anyone. No sound came out. Her hands shook against the mouse. She tried to push at the branches. A thorn bit her thumb. "You are ours now," her fay father said. Rosemary sank down inside the cage. She pressed the mouse to her cheek and made herself small. She did not cry. She listened. She would learn the shape of this trap, the way Clove would. That was all the bravery she had left tonight.