Chapter 14

Sorrel felt cornered in the dimly lit office that belonged to Sally. It was too small, too tight, and the ceiling too low, even though it was moderately spacious.

He didn't know why he felt anxious. Perhaps being buried underground had snuffed his light-hearted spirit, but he felt even more claustrophobic in this room.

He was too small in it, and she was too large, taking up most of the space.

Its door faced the watering fountain everyone used to drink, and her glassless windows overlooked it. The view was pretty, as the building was situated on a rise and allowed him to take in the city from a higher angle than most places.

He could see people walking through the streets while they enjoyed the festivities. A mouse sprite was in the town square, loudly playing a piano to fill the city with music.

Behind Sally was a desk. A rug on the floor must have been cut from some material in a similar fashion to the rugs in Cindy's home. She pressed her backside against the edge of her table and folded her arms, her eyes sweeping over him from head to toe, then back up.

"I would like for you to marry me," Sally stated, straight to the point, making his lips part as his jaw dropped.

What he feared most walking into this room had happened.

Currently he was safe, but there were still two weeks of winter. What would happen to him if Sally didn't take his rejection well? Would she chase him out of the burrow and force him to fight for his life in the snow again?

He was scared. How could he not be? He'd already almost died once. If it wasn't for Cindy, he'd be nothing but a frozen corpse ready to thaw out and be eaten by a wild animal when spring came.

He shuddered at the thought.

"I-I'm really sorry," Sorrel said while nervously looking away, "but I can't do that. Once winter is over, I plan to go home."

He missed the sun, he missed the fresh air, he missed his mother.

"To that human woman?" she sneered. His answering frown was met with an eye roll. "Cindy told me where you come from."

"Yes. I would like to go back to her."

"You know," Sally said, flashing a smirk that seemed a little more twisted than he appreciated. "I hate those fluttering flower fairies with their magic dust and superiority complexes, but I've always found them pretty."

Sorrel gulped as he tried to keep his eye on her when she began to walk around him, almost with an inspecting expression.

He was prey being circled by a predator.

He followed her, refusing to give her his back. "What do they have to do with anything?"

"You're just like them, but wingless."

Oh. Sorrel had learnt that the burrow hated anyone with wings. He'd also learnt the mole sprites especially didn't like them. Their vision was low, and fluttering wings were distracting to the moles' other senses that helped them ‘see.'

She reached forward to brush her fingers over his hair.

"I like this a lot. It's soft and feels good." Then she caressed her fingers over his shoulder and up to his jaw. "You're also soft and furless, which is why I find fairies so beautiful. And your voice! It's so lovely and deep; I can't see you very well, but my other senses just simply adore you. You're everything I want in a man."

Sorrel hid his cringe of repulsion.

"I'm sorry, but I don't feel the same way."

She came to stand in front of him, and her smile had grown even more menacing. She brought her hand up to tap at her chin as if with thought.

"As you know, sprites have the power to coerce animals to do what they want. I wonder how your human would feel if her crops caved in from unsteady burrows beneath it, or her house became overrun by rats."

A strike of fear made his hands tremble as his body turned cold. "You wouldn't."

"I would, and I will if you don't marry me."

He opened his mouth to reject her, but the words clogged in his throat. Greta. He couldn't do anything that could bring harm to her. The rats could make her sick, and if her farm was destroyed, she wouldn't be able to sell her food in the markets to survive. She'd be homeless, as she had no family to lean on; Sorrel was all she had in the world.

"B-but why me?" Although she'd already told him her answer, he just couldn't understand... "Why would you force someone to marry you if you know they don't want to?"

She reached forward to grab his hair and bunched it in both her hands, burying her face in it. She sniffed it, and his scent seemed to make her sigh contentedly.

"Because I'm picky. I want a flower fairy, but I can't stand the noise their wings make." She leaned closer to inspect his face, like she wanted to get an even better look at him with them only an inch or two apart. "There is no one else like you that I've ever heard of. I'll make you love me one day, even if it takes me years."

"I won't." Their eyes connected and he hoped she saw the spite in his gaze. "There's nothing you can say or do that will change how I feel."

"That's what you say now," she said with a smile. "But you don't know how you'll feel in the future." She lifted her hand so she could gently sweep her curled forefinger against his cheek. "I'll take care of you. I'll feed you, keep you warm, make sure you have everything and anything you want. You'll come to love the things I can provide, the comforts, the power you'll hold at my side."

Then she lightly dragged the tip of her claw along the edge of his jaw.

A tremor of disgust shook his entire being, and he cringed away from her touch. He opened his clenched eyes to reveal a plead. "Please don't force me to make this choice."

"You have a day to come to your decision. Marry me on the last day of winter or I'll make sure that human suffers."

With that, she waved him out, and Sorrel silently left.

Cindy watched him as he ran past her and the people celebrating to go back to her burrow. His temporary home.

Tears threatened to sting his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. Not once had he cried since being lost and he wouldn't start now – not even when his skin was crawling, and he wanted nothing more than to shed it.

"Sorrel!" Cindy yelled after him, but he refused to stop. He needed away, needed to be alone. He couldn't breathe. He felt as though he was moments from hyperventilating. "Sorrel!"

He yanked open her wooden door made from a piece of bark and slammed it behind him. He buried his forehead in his hands. Why me? Why does it have to be me? Why does everyone keep trying to kidnap me or force me to be with them? Why won't people leave me alone?

Before his mind could turn even more, Cindy burst in behind him.

"Sorrel, my dear," she cooed, coming up to place her arm around his waist comfortingly. "What's the matter?"

"Miss Mole has demanded I marry her," he exclaimed as he turned to her. "I don't want to marry her."

"Why not?" She grabbed his shaking shoulders to steady him, and when he allowed her to, she placed a hand upon his cheek. "She's a lovely person."

"Lovely?" He threw his head back with a humourless laugh, his eyes squinting from it. "She just threatened to ruin my mother's farm!"

As though she hadn't heard this devastating news, she tsked at him. "Everything will be fine, Sorrel. I promise."

"You know I'm in love with someone else." He'd told her this, told her of his feelings.

Cindy sighed as she pulled away.

"You're talking about the fairy prince." His face twisted into one of pain, his heartache weighing on him. "I didn't want to tell you this because I didn't want to hurt your feelings."

Sorrel didn't know if he could handle anything else. "Tell me what?"

She looked at him from the corner of her lids, her doe-brown eyes bright against the light. "I thought if Sally stole your heart, I wouldn't have to tell you, but I can see you won't be able to let him go and marry her if I don't tell you the truth."

His nose crinkled, as did his brows when they drew down. He shook his head. "I don't understand what you're saying."

"The prince is marrying someone else."

His heart seemed to still in his chest. The shock from her words stopped his shaking and trembling completely.

He tilted his head in confusion. "He's marrying someone else?"

"Yes. It's already been announced that he intends to marry someone in the first week of spring. The rumours from the flower fairy kingdom started from the first day of winter, before they finally settled in for hibernation." She came forward to cup his cheeks. "I'm so sorry. I didn't want to let you down."

The hurt he felt was so deep he knew it had struck against his soul, leaving a wound that would never be healed. Coolness spread, as if Sorrel was internally bleeding out. His heart surely was.

He didn't know why he felt betrayed, but his loss was so heavy he was drowning under its crushing weight.

He drew his lips into his mouth to bite on them, hiding the strange whine of emotion that was daring to escape. His fists clenched tightly.

I'm so stupid. I knew him for a night. Of course he'd marry someone else. It… that night… I… His shoulders slumped. It meant nothing.

"I'll marry her," he finally muttered quietly after a few moments of silence. "I'll marry Miss Mole."

Cindy gave him a gentle smile and patted his cheek as she said, "Good boy."

I'll marry her to save Greta. He'd been torn because he wanted to save her, but he hadn't wanted to marry Sally because he loved Cypress. But if Cypress was marrying someone else, what was the point of holding onto his feelings?

"I'll let her know that you've said yes." She clapped her hands together with glee, her tail curling. "I'll let her know to prepare the wedding for the last day of winter."

She knew she'd asked me. She even knew when the wedding would be. It didn't matter if she knew Miss Mole was going to threaten him.

His future was out of his hands, and he needed to keep any of the friends he'd made if his life underground was going to be permanent. He couldn't confront her, couldn't draw away from her, otherwise he'd be alone and friendless.

He couldn't trust anyone.

Wasn't allowed to love anyone.

Sorrel's life was going to be bleak, empty, and so desolate that he knew he needed to accept it now.

He looked down at his palms as he faced them upwards. My heart hurts so much.