SWNOVELS Chapter 16: The Choice
The curtain of darkness slowly lifted and Molly stirred. Her mind still dazed, it was some time before she remembered where she was. Realizing she was no longer numb, she began to move her hands.
Struggling to an upright position, Molly looked around. She was in a different room, much smaller than the other. A table and two chairs sat in the middle with Jar-Ed seated in one. They were alone in the room.
“Where are my friends?” asked Molly, her voice frigid with dislike.
“They continue to sleep,” he said curtly, his eyes void of expression. He patted the other chair, telling her to join him.
Molly did so only because she hoped it would help her friends. He brought her a cup of hot steaming liquid. “This will make you feel normal again, my dear.”
“I feel completely normal,” the fairy assured him. There was no way she was going to drink anything the evil man offered her.
“Suit yourself,” shrugged Jar-Ed. “However, we will talk.” Molly was in no doubt that his words were a threat.
“I have two choices for you, Molly. I will abide by whatever decision you make,” said the sorcerer. He appeared to be almost friendly.
“What are the choices, Jar-Ed,” Molly asked, looking the man straight in the eye while her heart pounded in dread of his answer.
Jar-Ed lost no time in replying. “You can marry me and share your secrets and magic. Or you and your friends will be wrapped in those leaves until you starve or the wild animals get you, whichever comes first!”
Molly’s heart sank into a deeply sickening feeling. Either choice was far from pleasant.
“You have until tomorrow morning, my dear, to let me know what you have decided. I shall be waiting with much anticipation for your answer! You may now join your friends.” Jar-Ed left the room, his icy laughter echoing cruelly behind him.
Shivering at his hard heart and repulsed by his suggestions, the young fairy rose to her feet, following at a distance. The other Spungle fairies lay on the floor, their wings and arms bound. They were beginning to stir and she knelt beside her close friend and teacher, Margil.
Sitting up she cried, “Molly! I’m so glad to see you! Those evil men have frightened us all so! If we had our fairy potion pots, it would be easy to get rid of them!”
Molly hugged her, trying as best she could to reassure her old friend. “Never mind, Margil. I have friends who know where we are and who are planning to help us.”
“We did not get a chance to dig up all of the magic embers, let alone light the entire fire at the sacred fairy circle, I’m afraid. Jar-Ed’s men pounced on us so suddenly! He told us you were his prisoner and he would kill you if any of us tried to fly away.”
Molly was elated to learn that some of the magic embers, still smouldering, remained safely buried, after all. If she could get to them and light the fire, her wings might still be healed. She knew she had to try. The Spungle fairy had no idea what was happening with King Simon and Hoddi who had not yet appeared. She had expected them, along with the king’s men, much sooner.
“Jar-Ed’s friends are right outside the door,” whispered one of the other fairies who had joined them. “We must be careful not to let them hear us.” Wide awake now, the others moved closer, until they all sat in a circle. Whispering among themselves, the fairies tried to come up with a plan to retrieve the embers and potions.
Jar-Ed had left them food. Nibbling cautiously, Molly helped her friends who could not feed themselves with their arms still tied.
“A ploy to get on your good side, Molly, giving us all this food,” Margil told her friend. Her distrust showed plainly on her pale face.
“It will do him no good in the end,” replied Molly, growing more and more determined to find a way to the sacred circle at the bottom of the hill.
Jar-Ed returned briefly to tell her he was going with his men to the palace for a short time.
“I will only leave two of my men here to guard you. I don’t think you can cause them too much trouble in your condition!” Jar-Ed laughed heartlessly.
Molly decided it would most likely be her only chance to slip away.
“You had best stay with your friends, Molly,” Jared told her warningly, as if he had read her mind. “My men have orders to kill them all if you try to leave!”
Although his words cast fear to the depths of her being, Molly knew she would steal away first chance she got. She only hoped he was not laying a trap for her