The Veil of Darkness
Chapter 43: Did I Mess Up?

Chapter 43: Did I Mess Up?

The sunlight seeping through the trees created flickering shadows that danced around Annalise as she once again stepped inside the orchard in the backyard of the castle. But this time, she wasn’t alone.

"What are we doing here?" She asked as she looked around her surroundings, the memories of the last time she entered the orchard came rushing back to her. To this day, she had no memory of how she ended up in that Dark Forest behind the castle. Wasn’t she just chasing that sparkly thing? But again, what was that sparkly thing, to begin with?

"It was a pixie," Pristine answered as if she had read her mind.

"Can you read my mind?" Annalise asked hurriedly, reminded of how Lord Valerius had been able to read her mind the previous night. She still had to confront him about it.

The fairy chuckled as she shook her head slightly while replying, "It’s not that hard to know what’s going on inside your head after taking a look at your expressions."

Annalise eyed the fairy suspiciously for a couple of seconds but it didn’t seem like she was lying which made her relax a little bit. "So... you said it was a pixie. Seems like they exist too."

"You sound surprised," Pristine commented back as she moved towards one of the apple trees that was standing on their left. Other than apples, there were also trees of cherries, tangerines, and mangoes, along with a grape yard near their servant cottages that was located in the west of the backyard.

"From what I have learned, all true seelie bloods disappeared with the Elemental faes. But here we are, I got to meet you, a garden fairy, and now you are telling me that there was a pixie in my backyard. Of course, it’s not hard to believe." Annalise replied in her defense.

Pristine took a moment to look at her as if she was searching for something and only after a couple of moments had passed, did she speak, "The story of the existence of Elemental Faes coming to an end is indeed true but as for the rest of the Seelie races, not every one of them disappeared. They just retracted to the very bottom of the Seelie realm to stay hidden from the darkness that had killed every elemental fae in existence."

Annalise listened silently, all the information so new and contrasting to what she had been told and learning all these years.

"The empire that your cousin rules, it’s not even included in the actual map of the real Seelie Realm. The real realm of the light lays beyond the protective magical barriers guarded by some of the most powerful and ancient runes, creatures, and objects, one of them being this castle." Pristine continued.

"This castle?" Annalise asked, her excitement and curiosity getting the best out of her after listening to all this new information that made her picture her world in a completely different manner.

"My Lady, how about we try with this apple tree?" Pristine suggested as she ignored Annalise’s question.

"Why are you changing the topic now?" Annalise asked as she moved to stand next to Pristine where the old apple tree stood.

"The Seelie realm that you believe in and the history that you have been taught is very different from reality. It’s impossible to tell you about everything in just one day and most importantly, you aren’t even prepared to know everything, actually, you are very far from that point. So instead of filling your head with all the information in a short time, let us take a slow route."

Though a part of Annalise was still not satisfied with Pristine’s reasons, she still succeeded in making herself agree with her suggestion for the time being. "So, can you tell me more about this castle next time?" She asked with hopeful eyes.

"Sure, My Lady. Since this place is our home, I’ll tell you all about this castle that I know. But can we now focus on our task?" Pristine once again pointed at the apple tree as she looked at Annalise with her beautiful emerald eyes.

Annalise let out a small sigh as she turned her attention to the tree and asked, "What do you want me to do?" She had no idea what Pristine was planning to do by bringing her to the orchard, but the latter promised to show Annalise that she was more than she believed to be.

Instead of answering immediately, Pristine moved to stand behind Annalise before one of her hands came to rest against Annalise’s. She slowly moved their hands and placed Annalise’s palm against the age-old trunk of the apple tree.

"Have you seen a healthy apple tree before?" She asked next to Annalise’s ear, her warm breath fanning the latter’s shoulder.

"Yeah, there were a few in the palace’s orchard," Annalise answered as she kept her eyes focused on her palm.

"Good. Now, I want you to close your eyes and picture those trees that you saw in the palace’s orchard..." Pristine guided in her soft voice and Annalise followed her directions as she closed her eyes and tried to recall her memory of the Palace orchard that she often explored during her visits to the Palace.

"... recall the fruity scent of apples that filled the air and the luscious green leaves of the beautiful and healthy apple trees. The cool breeze and the water droplets that covered the leaves in the early morning or after a rain shower..."

Annalise felt a warm feeling in her palm as some sort of energy poured out of her body while her brain was busy picturing the apple tree.

"My Lady..." Pristine’s uncertain voice a couple of moments later finally made Annalise open her eyes and the first thing that came into her view was a very cute little green apple hanging from the tree trunk. Actually, more than a dozen fresh new green apples were hanging all over the tree trunk.

"Did I mess up?"