I won’t forget:
The weight of the crown I’ve inherited; the fact that every lost life had a name and face; the reason why there are barely any little girls the same age as me left in this kingdom.
I won’t forget.
I won’t forget no matter how commonplace it is or how many times these acts will repeat throughout history. No matter how much the world wants to laugh it off as “only natural” and something that “happens all the time”. I boldly declare from the rooftops: I don’t like evil things!
I have the power now to stop them from happening. With the crown once more in the hands of my bloodline, the power that my father should have used when his kingdom was threatened now rests upon my shoulders. So I won’t hesitate.
I am the princess. This is my kingdom, and I will do my duty no matter the cost. I will be the queen Reverfeat needs! And I will make Spike and Gideon proud!
✦ ✦ ✦
“HOW do I process this…?” Witch shrugs. The hooded cloak that she normally dons properly on the road is currently gone without a trace. Where it came from and where it went is only known by the spider riding on her shoulder. “After flaunting all that bravado of yours, you’ve returned to where it all started?”
“I did a buncha other stuff along the way, didn’t I?”
“Ah, sure, sure. You sure did.”
On my way back, I took the time to squash out absolutely every last “parting gift” Lord Designs left behind. I put an end to the pillagin’, plunderin’, lootin’, kidnappin’, and whatever crimes, big and small, that were still running rampant on the streets. As a result, it took me close to a month before I arrived back at the nostalgic Black Forest. Dragon’s already returned to our former home ages ago. I stopped relying on his help and our connected hearts.
I can hold my own against the crimes committed by humans—is what I wish I could say, but I’ll acknowledge that Witch kinda lent me a hand.
“This place…”
“Yes, this is the place.”
I dismount my horse and tread carefully. The remains of those short-lived little girls have been swallowed entirely by the forest soil and brush, making it impossible to figure out where they once were. This is the Black Forest after all. Not to mention, it’s also summer. This is the season where plants, birds, insects, animals, and other living things burn with as much energy as they can expend.
“Mister, you’ve been thinking about them all this time?”
“In my own way.”
“Hmm?”
She’s not convinced. Raising an eyebrow, I add, “Even if it was just a little, I have some connection with one of the girl’s after all.”
“…Liar.”
“Did ya say something?”
“Not really?”
Inside the forest cloaked in indigo darkness, it’s a complete coincidence that I find it. Or maybe it’s good luck that led me to it? A ribbon is fluttering and flapping from the branch of a sapling that has grown to the height of my knees. The ribbon’s color has thoroughly faded and its edges are frayed. It’s in tatters, making me realize how much insurmountable time lies between it and its owner.
Sky-blue lights rise from the brush and flicker. How long have they been here for? Since we came? Before we came? I don’t know.
“…I see. They really aren’t just fireflies.”
Dragon suddenly peaks his head out of the grove of trees.
“Yo, partner.”
“Welcome back, Gideon.”
I walk over to him and put my hand on his snout. A nostalgic touch. A nostalgic being.
“Did you bring me what we discussed before?”
“Yup, didn’t overlook anything.”
I lift up my lantern. It’s a rectangular box with a handle and glass embedded in its metal frame. I had the folks over at AtteGrune Inn light the candle inside.
✦ ✦ ✦
THE innkeeper and his wife already suspected that their daughter had died.
“Why? Why our child? She was just born in this kingdom, and just happened to turn seven this year.”
“Why did they abandon her in some forest? Just a little longer and she could have returned home…”
Their mumbles were as dry as fallen leaves and just as unsteady.
✦ ✦ ✦
THE lights that lit their nostalgic homes burn in the lantern—I carry the light the girls couldn’t return to. I open the lantern’s lid and hold it out under Dragon’s snout.
“I’m counting on you, partner.”
“It will be done.” Dragon blows his breath gently.
From his pursed lips, it comes out thinly, thinly…quietly, quietly. The breath mixes with the light inside the lantern. I shut the lid, creating a tiny orange vortex inside.
“Your turn now,” he prompts me.
“Leave it to me.”
I lift the lantern and slowly swing it left and right. The blue lights float towards it. The first bead of light brushes my cheek—it’s cold.
“…It’s okay. Don’t worry.
One, then another, then another. They look like they’re moving in slow motion to the blind eye, but I end up surrounded before I know it. The air around me feels as cold as the dead of winter. My breath comes out in white puffs.
“You’re far from okay! Frost is sticking to your face!” Witch shouts.
Now that she mentions it, my brow feels heavy.
“Come now…let’s go home,” I say soothingly to the lights.
Holding the lantern up, I walk. The grass and brush below my feet freezes, crunches underfoot, and sticks to my boot soles. Frost covers my beard, hair, clothes, and everywhere else without exception. By the time I’ve come to the forest edge, I feel like a doll wrapped in frosting.
“Here you go, girls. You’re back home.”
I slowly swing my arm; the ice coating my clothes breaks and crumbles off. The blue lights following me scatter.
“The night road is dark. Take the light with you.”
I open the lantern’s lid and blow on it once. The dragon breath whirling around inside spills out to envelop the blue lights.
Encircled in a cocoon of warm orange light, the blue lights—the will-o’-wisps—vanish into the sleeping homes that stand quiet in the night.
“…Good night…”
I see them off. Standing at the boundary between the forest and the village, I stay until the last light vanishes…
✦ ✦ ✦
“WHAT are you showing off for, blockhead?!”
BAM! Something hits me from behind the knees. Suddenly getting kicked knocks me over. Ice crunches and peels off me.
“How can you get all sentimental and say, ‘good night’, while you’ve got icicles dangling from your beard?! Huh, you stubborn old cow! Half-wit! Monkey that’s too proud to give up! You’re the epitome of an old man’s indiscretions!”
Why does it feel like I’m being unreasonably bashed here?
“Do you understand what’ll happen, being in contact with so many dead souls for so, so, SO LONG?! It’s a miracle you’re still alive! You’re absurdly lucky! You were nearly the idiot who froze to death in the middle of summer! Hey, do you understand how stupid you were? Do you want to be the frozen knight people whisper about? The idiot who somehow turned into an ice statue in the middle of summer?”
“Uh, yeah, now that you mention it, it was a tad chilly.”
“What part of growing icicles is a ‘tad’?!” Witch grabs my gorget and pulls me to my feet. Just as I find myself thinkin’ that she’s sure got a lotta strength, I realize she’s turned into an adult.
“And don’t think you’re off the hook either!” She whips her head around. “Why did you stay quiet and let him do it, SPIKE?!”
“Do you think he would listen if I tried to stop him?”
She turns back to me and mutters, “…Look how purple you’ve turned. You’re freezing. You are seriously…”
I’m stuck in the embrace of something excessively warm and soft. Having a faint idea of what it is, I try to pull away, but my body is too weak to move. I can’t escape.
Dragon heaves a long, loooong, sigh…and wraps me in a cloud of steam.
“Oh, that’s nice and toasty…”
Blood flows to my numb, frozen limbs. Taking that extra boost to get to my feet, I stretch as far as my arms can reach.
“Thanks, you two.”
“Seriously, you two are…” Witch folds her arms over her chest and sighs with a shrug. “Hopeless idiots.”
✦ ✦ ✦
INSIDE the deep, dark, dense forest where even starlight casts shadows, a faded, fluttering ribbon wound around a sapling comes undone and disappears into the wind. All that remains is a bead of light, and eventually, even it melts into the branches.
Time passed and stories spread far and wide of a great and noble queen who ruled the Fairy Kingdom of Reverfeat with wisdom and grace. Stories of the great ruby dragon and his black knight would eventually fade to myth and legend. No one noticed their appearance at the queen’s happy wedding or how they watched over the kingdom from the shadows.
Yet, even with the great passage of time, the descendants of the land would forever remember the legend of the red-haired little princess who rose to be queen against all odds under the protection of her great dragon and mighty knight in the legendary Black Forest, now known as the Fairy Forest.
THE END