Grace applied the red rose-colored lip gloss exactly the way that her mother had taught her the same night as that school dance that had cemented her love for Harry. She made sure not to go outside the lines of her lips so that she didn't look like a clown or "one of those wood nymphs." Her mother really did not like the wood nymphs.
Grace chuckled when she remembered the first time Kayla had ever met a wood nymph. She and her mother had been in the forest, overseeing their royal responsibilities, which meant resolving disputes between gnomes and sprites, mostly. The wood nymphs had decided to return to the forest after they heard the news of Aunt Miranda's death.
Wood nymphs were interesting creatures indeed. They walked through the woods, making sure the flowers grew and the moss thrived. The scantily clad fairy cousins flitted here and there, making apples grow and such. They wore short dresses, and their skin sparkled like fine glitter. Kayla had taken one look at them and groaned.
"Do they have to do it naked? Is there a reason that they have to be so slutty looking?"
Grace, being ten at the time, had replied, "They aren't naked, Mom. They're beautiful. What does slutty mean?"
Kayla had just laughed and kissed Grace on top of the head. "I hope you never find out what that word means, Munchkin."
Standing in the bathroom of her parents' home fifteen years later, wearing her mother's black dress, Grace powdered her face and ran her fingers through her long blond hair one last time. She adjusted the string of pearls that rested on her chest, just above the dress's neckline. Glancing in the mirror one last time, she burst into tears.
Her father, David, ran in as though he had been standing right outside. One of the many powers Grace had developed through her lifetime was to project her emotions onto others. Her dad had been able to feel her pain, even through his own blinding grief. He walked in and took his daughter into his arms. Grace continued to weep as she held him tight.
"Oh Daddy, I miss her so much."
"I know, Munchkin. Me, too."
The two of them stood like that for a moment, holding each other and weeping over the loss of the woman that they both loved so dearly.
At the funeral, Grace and David sat in the front pew, accompanied by Grace's fiancé, Harold. Harold held her hand, just as he had when the two had been trapped in the evil witch Miranda's cage so many years before, and just as he had so many times since then.
Behind them, the rest of their family sat silently weeping. Joy and Doc, Gus, Mooney, Violet and Daisy all suffered the loss of Kayla Burkheart as painfully as her husband and daughter.
Within the walls of the church, gnomes, sprites, fairies, and every other magical creature that dwelled the forest sat weeping, paying their respects to their beloved queen. Most of all, they considered Kayla their friend and ally. She was respected and much loved by every being in her kingdom.
Was.
Grace sat there, thinking about how unfair it was that her mother, the queen of the forest, a warrior against evil, and the most wonderful person she had ever known, had been taken down by something as ridiculous as a car accident. Grace wondered why Kayla had not used magic to protect her from the impact, but it was a moot question now.
Kayla was gone. She would not be there to see Grace get married later this year. She would not be there to help Grace pick out her dress or do her hair. She was not going to be there to hold Grace's hand when the baby she now carried was born. It broke Grace's heart to know that her baby would never know her grandmother. She felt an anger swelling inside of her that she desperately tried to stifle.
It was time for Grace to walk up to the podium and say a few words about her mother. She had taken some time the night before to write something that she had hoped would convey her love, sorrow, and the extreme pride she felt for her mom. She didn't think she could keep her composure long enough to say anything of importance, but she would try. As she stepped up to stand next to the mahogany casket that contained her mother's lifeless body, she thought that her legs were going to give out. Harold jumped up to steady her. She kissed him and motioned for him to sit down. She was only two months pregnant, but Harold was already doting on her as if she were going to give birth any second. She loved him for caring so much, but she was about two seconds away from telling him to back off. She'd obviously gotten her independence from her mother.
When she turned to face the crowd, she saw a sea of friendly faces. It gave her some solace to know how much everyone had cared for Kayla. She had been a good queen and a good friend to all, and they all took her death very hard. There was one exception.
At the back of the church, a man dressed in what appeared to be an expensive silk suit sat in a pew by himself. He stared directly at Grace with brilliant blue eyes that looked like two sparkling sapphires. A shiver traveled up her spine, and she stood there, unable to speak. She felt suddenly overwhelmed with grief. After a few moments of silence, she shook her head and returned to her seat.
As the ornately carved casket was lowered into the ground later that day, Grace and Harold concentrated on consoling David. He was in a state of complete shock. The woman he had spent more than two decades loving was now just a shell that was being covered with dirt. He was just so lost. They walked away from the gravesite and went home to get ready for guests to arrive. Joy had prepared cookies, mini bacon wraps, and other foods that Kayla had loved. They would all sit and talk about their memories of Kayla. There was definitely no shortage of good stories to go around.
Grace had prepared a protection potion that would prevent anything evil from entering the house while everyone was there. The last thing she needed was some jackass werewolf or vampire crashing the memorial, and she wanted everyone there to feel safe.
Grace sat on the couch, holding David's hand on one side and Harold's on the other. She felt safe in this house. Maybe she and Harold would move back in for a while to take care of her dad until things settled down. David would probably be grateful for the help, and she would feel better that he was not spending all of his time alone in this big house.
Watching Joy and Daisy refreshing coffee and taking empty plates to the kitchen, she was suddenly overcome by that same feeling she had felt in the church. Her legs became weak and her stomach sank. She looked over to the corner of the room and saw the same man from the church staring directly at her.
He stood there, removed from the rest of the crowd, holding a cup of coffee but not drinking. For a moment, it seemed like he and Grace were the only two people in the world. Without taking his eyes off her, the man placed his coffee cup down on the table and walked over to where Grace sat. He paid no attention to David or her fiancé, even though both men postured, ready to protect her at a moment's notice.
"Dear Grace, I am so sorry for your loss," he purred with a slight Middle Eastern accent while he reached into his pocket, retrieving a business card. "Please accept my deepest condolences."
"Thank you," she replied, not knowing what to make of this dashing young man.
His eyes were an even more brilliant blue when viewed at close range. He held the card up between his index and middle finger and offered it to her. When she reached out to take it, he placed the card in her palm, running his fingers lightly over her hand. She felt a surge of electricity pass through her arm. It was not sexual in any way; she actually found the handsome man to be unsettling at best.
"If you need anything at all, please do not hesitate to call me." With that, he turned and walked out the front door.
"Who was that?" Harold asked, slightly ruffled by the dark-haired stranger.
"I have no idea." She looked at the card in her hand.
Roland Stillson
Procurement Specialist
Obtaining That Which You Desire
(360) 555-0729
"I have no idea," Grace repeated, still not knowing what to make of the strange young man in the expensive suit.
The guests issued their condolences and filed out of the house. Harold asked if she would like him to stay, but she just wanted to be alone with her father for a while. After the last of them had left, Grace took off the black dress and put on jeans and a t-shirt. She could not spend one more minute wearing Kayla's dress. It still smelled faintly of the perfume her mother had worn for as long as Grace could remember.
Sitting down at the dining room table where she had eaten her meals at for the majority of her life, she put her hands over her face and sobbed. After the events of the day, she was just exhausted. She felt tired all the way to the center of her soul. David entered the room and sat next to her, trying to find a way to speak to her.
"You know, you look so much like her, Grace. You are so beautiful, just like she is… was." His voice trembled as he continued to speak. "And she loved you so much."
"I know, Daddy." Grace reached out and gripped his hand.
"I just don't know what I'm going to do without her." David could no longer hold back his tears. His pain spilled out as if a dam had broken. Grace felt it come over her in a wave.
The two sat at that old table and cried for what seemed like hours. Grace tried to project peace onto David, but it was no use. She did not have any to give away. When the tears lessened, the two began to think of better times.
David recounted the stories of meeting the coven of little people that would become their family, their wedding day, the day Grace was born, and memories from her happy childhood. They talked about their frequent camping trips to the Washington forests, and time spent together as a family doing even the most mundane activities like cooking dinner or playing Scrabble. Mostly, they talked about all the things they would miss about Kayla Burkheart.
The whole time they were talking, Grace could not help but think about the man with the brilliant blue eyes. Who was he and what the hell did he want from her?