This is an ARC excerpt. This is not the final product.
For a split second, the shifting features of the woman’s face stilled. Ada observed a wickedly hooked nose, but that wasn’t what caught her attention. The yellow in her eyes reminded Ada of a wild cat. They reflected oddly in the low illumination, as twilight descended upon them.
The hag produced a glistening red vial from her cloak. Ada gasped and her eyes widened at the site of it. The contents glistened, as if garnets and rubies had been crushed into a shimmering liquid.
The hag’s smile dropped at the corners just a bit as her features began to shift again. Ada felt uncertainty chill her bones.
"This is a remedy for infertility. Drink this before you make love to your husband tonight, and you shall conceive a child,” the woman murmured.
Her whisper-thin words hit Ada as if she were shouting.
"How can I trust you?" Ada’s hands and arms ached as she fought the urge snatch the vial from the hag. "I have just met you."
"I have no intention of harming you, child. I am your faery godmother,” she said.
The elderly woman’s facade vanished. The wrinkles smoothed out, just as her lips filled into a perfect Cupid’s bow. Dull, grey hair, turned into luscious raven locks The yellow in her eyes intensified into a crystal azure.
In the space of a breath, gossamer wings sprouted from her back. A fine yellow dust clung to the pearlescent tone of the safflower blue.
"I only want what is the best for you. If that is a babe, then a child you shall have." She crouched next to Ada, and placed the vial on her lap. "Although, this favor of the fae comes with one condition.”
Ada had started to grab the potion, but paused, just a second before her hand touched it. “And that is?”
“Once the child is born, you must name me as his faery godmother."
“My mother told me tales once, a long time ago.” Ada tried to not let hope steal her heart. Not yet. Or, maybe? Could she? “That on the other side of the border of Rhoswen, deep into the forest, lived the fae. And every once in a while, they would come. But, only for the purest of hearts.”
She hadn’t believed, not even when she was seven years-old. Surely, should such a race exist, she would’ve seen them by now! But, her? Lady Ada Royce, having no guile, and the sweetest disposition, had a godmother.
“Why did you choose me?” Ada hated looking a gift horse in the mouth. However, her time at court had taught her caution. The hope still grew, but tamer now. More digestible.
The faery laughed. A tinkling sound that held all the world’s joy. Ada started to feel lulled and she felt she could get drunk on it. Her negative feelings flowed away. Why had she been so sad?
Ada plucked the vial from her lap and held it to her bosom with both her hands. As if, she didn’t have a choice. But she couldn’t find it inside herself to stop. A tiny, small part of her, recalled another part from her mother’s tales. Faerys possessed glamor. And that magic was old as time, and just as deadly.
Ada breathed in, then the thought vanished. The lady was elated, excited.
"Thank you," she told the faery. "Thank you so much, faery godmother. For, I shall never forget this. Long as I live. I will do as you say!"
The faery godmother grinned. "The pleasure is all mine, my child."
It never bothered Ada that the smile never reached her eyes.
***
Available from Isekai Publishing, October 31st 2022
Coming Soon Link: https://www.isekaipublishing.com/product-page/rose-glass-hans-j-wells
Website: https://www.isekaipublishing.com/hansjwells
Absolutely wonderful! I can’t wait.