The Spinner and the Slipper by Camryn Lockhart Read Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Camryn Lockhart
could, until her faerie magic was at last all used up.” He bowed his head briefly, as though overwhelmed by sudden sorrow. That sorrow still shone in his eyes when he looked up at Eliana again. “Just before she passed away she asked me to look after you. Somehow she knew that some danger would come upon you, and she asked me to protect you when it happened. She could not tell me more, but . . .” His mouth twisted in a half-smile. “I think she may have guessed something like this would happen. She was always sensitive to premonitions and the like.”
His expression grew very serious then. “It is against our King’s law for a faerie to let himself be seen by a mortal. I’m breaking a lot of rules simply by talking to you right now.”
Eliana, her mind awhirl with all these new thoughts and ideas, found another straw bale and slowly sank down onto it. Her hand moved to her mother’s necklace, fingering the little chain links. She felt the gold metal warm beneath her touch.
The faerie stood and crossed over to her. She did not move at his approach but sat very still even as he knelt before her. “A lovely necklace,” he said. “Very beautiful indeed.”
“It . . . was my mother’s,” Eliana whispered.
“May I have it?”
Eliana stared at him. She couldn’t bring herself to answer, but her hand closed unconsciously over the necklace, holding on as though holding on to life itself.
“ You must promise me, if someone asks you for either this ring or this necklace, you will give them what they ask right away, without question. ”
He waited quietly, one hand outstretched, palm up. How badly she wanted to refuse him! But that would mean gainsaying her mother’s final wish. Was she so determined to hold on to her possessions that she would dishonor her mother’s memory?
Very quietly, scarcely breathing, she slipped the necklace from around her neck. Slowly she dropped it in coils into the palm of the faerie’s hand. “It’s only painted clay,” she whispered, almost in apology.
But even as she spoke, a change came over the necklace. As it fell into the faerie’s hand, the chipped gold paint renewed and began to glow like a handful of sunlight made solid. Eliana gasped, both frightened and delighted at the same time.
“It’s real gold,” said the faerie, smiling at her once more. “Real faerie gold. And because you gave it to me willingly, I can use the magic of this gift to spin straw into more gold for you. This I promise, sweet Eliana.”
With that, he stood and moved to the spinning wheel, his every movement graceful and confident. He called back over his shoulder. “You might as well shut those pretty eyes of yours and get some rest. This is going to take all night.”
Eliana did not want to sleep. She wanted to watch what he did, wanted to observe this strange magic of his. But even as the faerie’s foot pressed the treadle, even as the wheel began to spin, even as he took up the first handful of straw, Eliana felt exhaustion overwhelm her. She sank slowly to the floor with her cheek resting on her arm. As she fell into a sleep much deeper and more refreshing than any she’d known since her mother’s death, she wondered how he had learned her name. But sleep took her for the night, and she all but forgot to ask him.
The faerie’s deep, melodious voice sang in her dreams:
“Round about, round about,
Lo and behold!
Reel away, reel away,
Straw into gold!”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Rising Tensions
The sun rose. The castle began to stir and wake. Eliana’s eyes opened slowly, unwillingly. She had enjoyed such a beautiful sleep, it was difficult to return to the waking world.
The moment her lashes raised, she was obliged to shut them as a blinding glare filled her vision. She sat up, rubbing her eyes, and slowly opened them again.
Sunlight poured through the window, gleaming brilliantly upon three neat piles of coiled, spun gold.
Before Eliana could even react, the door to the
His expression grew very serious then. “It is against our King’s law for a faerie to let himself be seen by a mortal. I’m breaking a lot of rules simply by talking to you right now.”
Eliana, her mind awhirl with all these new thoughts and ideas, found another straw bale and slowly sank down onto it. Her hand moved to her mother’s necklace, fingering the little chain links. She felt the gold metal warm beneath her touch.
The faerie stood and crossed over to her. She did not move at his approach but sat very still even as he knelt before her. “A lovely necklace,” he said. “Very beautiful indeed.”
“It . . . was my mother’s,” Eliana whispered.
“May I have it?”
Eliana stared at him. She couldn’t bring herself to answer, but her hand closed unconsciously over the necklace, holding on as though holding on to life itself.
“ You must promise me, if someone asks you for either this ring or this necklace, you will give them what they ask right away, without question. ”
He waited quietly, one hand outstretched, palm up. How badly she wanted to refuse him! But that would mean gainsaying her mother’s final wish. Was she so determined to hold on to her possessions that she would dishonor her mother’s memory?
Very quietly, scarcely breathing, she slipped the necklace from around her neck. Slowly she dropped it in coils into the palm of the faerie’s hand. “It’s only painted clay,” she whispered, almost in apology.
But even as she spoke, a change came over the necklace. As it fell into the faerie’s hand, the chipped gold paint renewed and began to glow like a handful of sunlight made solid. Eliana gasped, both frightened and delighted at the same time.
“It’s real gold,” said the faerie, smiling at her once more. “Real faerie gold. And because you gave it to me willingly, I can use the magic of this gift to spin straw into more gold for you. This I promise, sweet Eliana.”
With that, he stood and moved to the spinning wheel, his every movement graceful and confident. He called back over his shoulder. “You might as well shut those pretty eyes of yours and get some rest. This is going to take all night.”
Eliana did not want to sleep. She wanted to watch what he did, wanted to observe this strange magic of his. But even as the faerie’s foot pressed the treadle, even as the wheel began to spin, even as he took up the first handful of straw, Eliana felt exhaustion overwhelm her. She sank slowly to the floor with her cheek resting on her arm. As she fell into a sleep much deeper and more refreshing than any she’d known since her mother’s death, she wondered how he had learned her name. But sleep took her for the night, and she all but forgot to ask him.
The faerie’s deep, melodious voice sang in her dreams:
“Round about, round about,
Lo and behold!
Reel away, reel away,
Straw into gold!”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Rising Tensions
The sun rose. The castle began to stir and wake. Eliana’s eyes opened slowly, unwillingly. She had enjoyed such a beautiful sleep, it was difficult to return to the waking world.
The moment her lashes raised, she was obliged to shut them as a blinding glare filled her vision. She sat up, rubbing her eyes, and slowly opened them again.
Sunlight poured through the window, gleaming brilliantly upon three neat piles of coiled, spun gold.
Before Eliana could even react, the door to the