WINDOWS: A BROKEN FAIRY TALE by Casey Bramble Page B

you too.”   The two
linked arms and headed to the front doors of the castle, giggling and
whispering under their breath but pulled up short when Bryson loudly cleared
his throat.   They turned as one and the
older girl walked back over, with Raven in tow, to give the dragon a kiss on
the cheek.
    “Thanks for
bringing her home safely.”   The girl told
Bryson.
    “Thank you for the
trip Bryson.   I’ll open up the door home
for you, if you’re ready to go.”   The
dragon nodded and Sarah watched with great interest.   Raven appeared to be grabbing thin air,
twisting her arms and pulling something invisible towards her.   Finally satisfied, she shoved both hands away
from her body.
    A large fireball,
this one silky green instead of the usual orange, burst from the caster’s
hands.   It exploded against nothing
twenty feet away and the air itself seemed to melt, leaving an inky black
void.   Bryson uncurled and everyone said
their good-byes as he walked into the portal.
    When magical
doorway closed, Sarah steeled her resolve and walked up to the sister she
hadn’t met, figuring it was Rebekah.   She
meant to introduce herself but the two girls had already turned and started
back towards the castle.   Feeling snubbed,
Sarah watched them leave, unaccustomed to being treated like she was
invisible.   A warm arm wrapped itself
around her shoulder.
    “Don’t take
offense.” Felicity smiled as she started leading her to the castle.   “They’re always like this after they haven’t
seen each other for any length of time.   They’ll be in their own little world for the next couple of hours but
we’ll introduce you at dinner.”

 
    Shortly, Sarah
found herself in a room that was easily the size of the work area in her shop
back home, and looked to be a good deal more expensive.   The floor was rich, dark wood and shone
warmly in the sunlight filtering through dark green curtains.   A huge fireplace, with a mantle made of the
same wood as the floor, occupied one wall with a portrait above it.   Four couches and a couple of chairs sat
around in what at first glance appeared to be a haphazard fashion, but actually
formed a sort of half circle around the fire place.   Tall lamps sat between each of them.   A dark crimson cloth she just knew would be
soft to the touch upholstered the chairs and couches.   In front of the fire place lay a thick green
rug.   A door in the back of the room was
closed.
    On the wall across
from the fire place was a book shelf.   Sarah couldn’t touch both sides of it with her arms stretched out and it
was a bit taller than her 5’6 frame.   The
blacksmith figured it held over a hundred books.   Another green rug lay in front of it.
    “Is this your
library?”   Sarah loved to read, always
had, but Vestavia’s library was off limits to everybody except the upper class
and she rarely had money to buy books.
    As she ran her
hand over the velvet upholstered couch, Felicity explained that this was the reading
room; only members of the immediate family and very close friends were ever
allowed entry.   The library itself was
down on the third floor.  
    Sarah nodded
silently and then glanced up at the portrait.   It showed a handsome man with bright red hair and a chiseled jaw wearing
a military dress uniform.   An officer of
Valentria, Sarah noted, having studied enough of the country’s history in
school to know that much.
    “Is that your
father?”   She asked.
    Felicity smiled,
perfectly white teeth shining through full lips.   “Yes, that is our father, Duke Edward
Chandlish.”
    “He’s very
handsome.”
    “Thank you.   He was also a bit of a rascal, if the stories
are to be believed.”
    “So Raven got more
than just his red hair?”
    Felicity giggled
as she guided Sarah to the door at the end of the room, saying that it was the
red hair that made them such a handful since all three of her younger sisters’
required constant supervision.   When