Layla trailed her fingers over the flower’s petals and sighed. “I wish things were easier.”
“As do all who live to see such times as these,” Janae replied.
Layla rolled her eyes. She was tired of the queen’s endless supply of wisdom. Besides, she’d gone from telling Layla she believed in her to seeming agitated that Max was happy to see her. She couldn’t understand what the queen’s deal was.
“We need to talk,” Janae said.
Layla quirked an eyebrow at her but said nothing as she led her through a series of pathways. Janae stopped in front of a massive tree. Steps had been carved into the rotund trunk, leading to a lantern-lit structure high above. No railing provided safety.
Janae began to climb the steps, her frail frame surprisingly nimble as she made her way up.
“Uh, I’m not doing this,” Layla called after her. “What do you want me to do? Fall and break my neck?”
“You’ll be fine,” the queen called from above. “There’s absolutely no reason for you to be afraid. Besides, if you fall, your wings will protect you.”
Layla scowled. Unlike other fae, her wings had never formed. She’d just assumed she’d had some birth defect, but after reviewing the encrypted data, she wasn’t so sure. Leilani had mentioned something about binding her wings. But, why would she do that?
“Oh, come on,” Janae said. She leaned over the edge of the stairs so she could meet Layla’s gaze. How she did that without falling was beyond her. “I promise, if you fall, someone will be there to catch you. What are you? Scared of heights?”
Layla was determined not to be scared of anything. Taking a tentative step, she began climbing the stairs. Midway up she made the mistake of looking down. Her stomach squirmed. Dizziness threatened to make her sway. She clung to the center trunk as if her life depended on it. Maybe it did. She cried out, too afraid to take another step.
“Trust yourself,” the elvish queen said. “You won’t regret it.”
Her words did nothing to quell the panic threatening to pour out of Layla. Sweat made her hands clammy. Her fingers began slipping on the bark. She clawed at the wood, dirt and bark wedging themselves beneath her nails. She ignored the blood that followed as a piece of jagged bark tore the skin from her middle finger.
She jumped as a cool hand gripped her wrist and began prying her fingers from the trunk. “If you let your fear control you, you will be nothing.”
“I can’t do it,” Layla said, her voice shaking. She squeezed her eyes shut and fought to continue holding the tree. “I’m sorry. But you can’t make me.”
“You think this will be the only scary thing you face?”
Janae’s voice hissed in her ear. Layla shivered. “You have no idea the kinds of things I’ve already faced, Your Majesty,” she said the title mockingly. “But I would never force someone to face their fears like this.”
The elvish queen released an exasperated sigh. “You are really going to stand here, hugging this tree until someone comes to rescue you? You are stronger than this, Layla.”
The queen snapped her fingers. Layla’s fingers jolted into a straight position. She attempted to curl them again, but whatever magic Janae had employed bound her fingers in the straight, rigid position.
“What are you doing to me?” she asked.
“If this is the only way you’re going to face your fears, then so be it.”
Her body twisted around until she was facing the incline path of the stairs. Her leg lifted of its own accord. She tried to stop it, but was powerless to do so. Her body jerked and flailed as she was forced to climb the stairs. She screamed as her torso leaned to the side, terrified she was going to lose her balance, but her feet remained rooted to the stairs.
“You need to learn to trust yourself and others,” Janae said from above her. “Believe me, it will help you in the long run.”
Layla didn’t reply. She was too angry at her will being taken from her. Grinding her teeth to keep herself from screaming again, she closed her eyes each time her mind and body couldn’t get on the same page and her top half swung to the side. She imagined what she was going to do to the queen when she reached the top of the stairs. Flames licked at her fingers. She quickly extinguished them. She didn’t want to start a forest fire. Not yet, anyway.
When her feet finally landed on the top step, the pressure controlling her hands lifted. She turned around of her own accord and peered down at the distance she’d climbed. Her head still swam, but the crippling fear she’d experienced while on her way up didn’t return.
“See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Janae asked.
Flames engulfed Layla’s hands as she faced the elvish queen. “Who do you think you are?” she hissed. The fire crept up her arms, creating a blaze hotter and more robust than she’d been able to summon before. The queen smiled, her pearly white teeth glinting from Layla’s flames.
“I would think you would thank me,” Janae said. “I have given you the chance to release your wings.”
Layla’s lips formed a small “oh” as the queen shoved her from the treehouse. Panic gripped her as she desperately attempted to grasp one of the many branches her body slammed into on her way down. She heard at least one of her ribs crack when she struck the third one.
She refused to die like this.
Flames engulfed her entire body as she continued to fall. She burned hotter and brighter than she ever had before. Her back ached as she convulsed. The ground was so close. She wondered what it would feel like to splatter across it. She doubted she would survive, even with the tree branches periodically breaking her fall.
Her back arched and a searing pain ruptured across her flesh. Her stomach convulsed and vomit flew from her mouth.
“Just fly!” the queen called from above.
Tears trailed down her cheeks as she tried to remember Penny’s voice. More than anything, she wished her PEA was with her now. There had to be a way to retrieve her. Even if her chip was destroyed, there was always a way to recover her. Layla was certain of it.
She jolted, her back tensing and aching as her plunge was abruptly halted. It was as if her back had been torn open and created anew. The seams in her jacket popped, only the arms remaining intact. She glanced behind her to find a pair of large, translucent wings fluttering behind her. Her back muscles continued to burn. She dipped lower to the ground, unable to maintain a steady pace. After a few more strokes, they gave out and she collapsed to the ground in a heap.
Her wings covered her like a blanket as she lay there. Every part of her body felt like it was on fire, and not in the magical sense she was used to. She rolled onto her back and stared up into the thick tree cover above. The nerves in her wings tingled, like tiny pinpricks as she lay on them. Sitting up the sensation subsided as blood flowed back into them.
Breathing heavily, she tried to piece together what had caused her wings to finally appear. She wasn’t sure if it had been her fear or the impending impact with the ground. Whatever it was, she was thankful she wasn’t a smear on the grass.
“You see!” Janae said as she descended the stairs. “You have to trust yourself. Your magic is stronger than you know! Just look at how you finally broke the binding spell your parents placed on you.”