Mockingbirds Four
Character Sketch #1
Garrett Mullen slipped from the window into the soft darkness of the room. The waning scent of honeysuckle and wax tickled his nose. Careful not to wake its only occupant he locked the window behind him. The first thing he removed was his boots, which he set ‘neath the window’s inner ledge; then came the coat, and the unbuttoning of the waist-coat. Tonight had been particularly difficult, flirting with the upper-class socialites. Magicians had been there as well- Garrett had been wary of their eyes and hands all night. Now inside the comfort of his own chambers, he relaxed, the muscles in his legs and shoulders finally loosing tension.
He deftly liberated his neck from the colorful tie he had forced himself to wear, and forced it towards the floor. He glided through the dark like a ill-defined shadow until he came to his destination: the singular bed. From under the patched quilt he spied an uneven mound. With careful precision, he pried the quilt back to reveal a young girl’s face: eyes closed deep within her dreams, golden hair tousled with sleep. Garrett reached out his hand tentatively and rested his on the girl’s head. A half smile graced his face, as he brushed the tangled strands from her face.
Eyes the shade of emeralds fluttered open, “Pasha.”
“Yes, pet.”
She grinned at him, showing off the gaps where teeth had yet to grow in.
He patted her head again, “Go back to sleep pet.”
She sniffed, “Not sleepy. Will you read to me, pasha?”
He creased his brow in mock contemplation for a few moments, before, “Move over.”
There was a rustle of blankets as she shifted over, and Garrett stretched out the beside her.
“Which story shall I regale the Queen with tonight?”
She giggled before responding, “The happily ever after one.”
He crooked a dark eyebrow, “The happily ever after one?”
“Yes, the happily ever after one-- with the good king and evil witch, and the sleeping princess, and the handsome prince.”
“Oh, that happily ever after one.”
Garrett took a deep breath, “A long, long time ago there was a king and queen who wished for a child, but they were not so lucky. As it happened one day while the queen was bathing a frog crept from the water onto the land beside her, and told her: your wish shall be fulfilled; before the year turns again, you shall have a daughter.
Miraculously, what the frog had said came true, and the queen gave birth to a little girl so pretty that the king, bursting with joy, ordered a great feast in her honor. He invited not only kin, friends, and countrymen, but also the witches to grace his daughter’s presence. There were thirteen witches in his kingdom--”
“But he only had twelve golden plates…” She piped up besides him. A small yawn escaped, then another, and another.
He pretended to be cross, and she frowned at him.
“Who’s telling this story?”
Her lip quivered. “Sorry, pasha.” She spread her chubby, white fingers across her mouth as another yawn emerged.
“That’s okay pet... So because there we only twelve plates, one of the witches was left at home. The feast was a splendorous thing, and at the end the twelve wise women bestowed their magic gifts upon the baby girl - one of virtue, one of beauty, one of wealth, and so on until everything in the world one can wish for was bestowed upon the princess.”
Her eyes were closed now, her chest rising and falling in slumber. Garrett brushed his fingers against her cheek before kissing her forehead.
In the darkness he stretched cat-like, and he murmured, “One of virtue, one of beauty, one for wealth, one for duty.”
Endnotes
1. Pasha technically is a term used for high level officials in Egypt and Turkey. But here in Exile it is a slang word for father.
2. The story Garrett is reading to Pleasant “Pet” is my version of Briar-Rose by the Brothers Grimm, most commonly known as Sleeping Beauty.
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