Silence and Stone by Kathleen Duey Page A

would not help her make her way home. And so she stopped.
    She watched the seasons pass, and she waited.
    There was nothing else she could do.
    There was a small, barred window near the arched ceiling far above her head. The glass was thick and dirty. But she could see that the sky was deep blue today.
    She loved to watch the clouds sail past.
    Sometimes she could see the moon.
    The chamber was chilly sometimes, but not really cold. It was small, but it was big enough for a faerie. She had grown in the sixty years she had been locked in this chamber, but she was still a child.
    Faeries lived much longer than human beings, and they grew much more slowly. But even if shelived to be almost three hundred years old, like her grandfather had, she would never be taller than a seven-year-old human girl.
    There was a narrow crack in the stone wall, just wide enough for tiny wisps of wind to sneak in, just wide enough to see out. Peeking through it, Alida had traced the seasons.
    Sixty summers had come and gone.
    Just as many winters had passed, icy, dark, and deep.
    And now spring was near again.
    She would be able to see the flowers blooming soon.
    Alida slid off the bed and walked to the wall.
    She laid her cheek against the cold, gray stone, then turned her head, squishing her nose a little, squinting one eye and closing the other.
    It took a little while to find the perfect position, but once she did, she could see through the crack in the stone. There were tall trees, and a narrow road.
    Once, she had seen unicorns on that road,galloping, their heads high, their manes streaming out behind them.
    Today there were castle guards walking past, far below the tower.
    Their armor was shiny.
    Their backs were straight and their tunics were blue and red.
    Alida stared past them at the thin slice of woods and meadow—the only part of the world she could see. She could imagine the smell of the dew, the sweet, soft petals of the flowers that would come soon. She smiled. The trees were budding.
    Sometimes, if she pressed her ear against the stone, she could hear woodpeckers tapping, hawks calling, and meadowlarks singing.
    And if she stood in just the right place, if the day was bright and sunny, if she turned her head perfectly and squinted hard, she could see a little way down the road.
    She didn’t know where it led. She had no ideawhere she would end up if she walked down it. Home?
    Oh, how she missed her family. She missed magic. Her older sister would be able to fly well by now. Terra would have been practicing all this time. She would be weaving through the oak forest, higher than the birds, and much more swiftly.
    Alida stretched her wings. Any faerie child could rise off the ground. But learning to fly well took a lot of practice. She had just been learning to glide down from the top of the huge egg-shaped rock at the far end of the meadow.
    She was sure she wouldn’t be able to do even that now.
    Alida took one more breath of the cool, sweet air, and then went to sit on the edge of the bed again.
    She smoothed her dress. Her mother had made sure that it would grow with her, and that it would stay clean and fresh.
    Her mother could work perfect magic of all kinds.
    So could her father.
    Alida often dreamed about the faerie lights flickering in the night. In her dreams she could hear the breathy voices of faerie flutes on the still summer air.
    She blinked back sudden tears.
    Someday, somehow, she would find her way home.
    She climbed back onto the bed and refolded her wings. Then she just sat still and waited for the day to pass.

Chapter
    2
    The next day Alida woke at sunrise, as always.
    And as always, she lay still, her eyes closed, remembering her dreams. This time she had been outside, flying with her sister, looking for lily blossoms. In the dream they were laughing, arguing, racing each other through the trees.
    When Alida finally opened her eyes, she saw the gray stone walls. And once again, she had to face the