“I…I wasn’t talking!” I tried to defend myself. “I was…reading a storybook, that’s all! What are you doing here? Eavesdropping?” I could feel Livia shifting around this way and that, trying to find a safe location. She grasped and clutched at my underwear and tucked her legs underneath it, against my left breast. Her feet actually poked against my nipple, and she slid around clumsily. All the time I tried to cover that area with my left hand without attracting attention.

“You’re a liar!” Edward yelled; he liked to yell at me, as if he thought I couldn’t hear properly. “I heard you talking to someone, I know I did! You know Daddy said you’re not allowed to bring any friends here!”

“But there’s no-one here! See for yourself!”

“Really? Then what are you hiding under your clothes, some kind of animal? Daddy said you’re not allowed to bring pets here either!”

He lunged at me and tried to pull my hand away from my breast. I reacted by kicking him on the leg, and he backed off. Even though he was only twelve, he was big for his age, and he could easily overpower me in a fight. I didn’t want to start a fight, of course, so I tried to get him to leave.

“Why don’t you go play outside?” I said. “I’d hate to think you have nothing better to do than harassing me.”

“I can do what I want!” he yelled again. “This is my house, not yours! That means you listen to me!”

He gave me a slap on the cheek, and I shrieked in pain. Edward and I had never gotten along, but lately his behaviour has become much more hostile, and I got the feeling that he wanted me out of the house as soon as possible. He had hit me once or twice before, but in those cases I didn’t react, and I had kept silent. This time, however, I had had enough. He was just about to burst out laughing when I gave him my strongest punch, right beneath his eye. This was not what he had expected at all, and he howled in pain.

“Cry-baby!” I yelled after him as he ran out, crying. For an instant I felt extremely pleased with myself, before I realized what was about to happen next. I hurried over to my cupboard, tugged Livia out of my underwear and dropped her in the drawer with the scarf.

“What happened?” she asked, but I silenced her and shut the drawer. Just at that moment, Uncle Gordon came in, his face dark with fury.

“I had hoped I would never have to do this, Lucy,” he bellowed, “but disobedient children must be punished, and you’ve been very badly behaved!”

“Uncle, I didn’t…”

“Silence! Or I swear to God I’ll whip you!”

I’ve never seen my uncle this enraged before, and my heart nearly stood still with panic. He grabbed me roughly by my arm, forced me to bend over, and gave me the worst beating I’ve ever had in my life. It hurt beyond anything I had felt before, and I collapsed on my bed afterwards, sobbing loudly. Uncle Gordon told me what further punishment awaited me: I would be locked in my room for the rest of the holidays, and my only food and drink would be bread and water. Once the school term had begun again, he and Aunt Ruth would find somewhere else for me to stay, where I would no longer be a ‘danger’ to Edward.

He took my key from the bedside table and went off, locking the door behind him. I still lay there crying, for it still hurt very much. My only thoughts at that moment were thoughts of hate directed to Edward, and to Uncle Gordon for having been stupid enough to believe that brat’s version of the story. I had completely forgotten about Livia, until I heard a small voice call out to me from inside the drawer.

“Lucy! Lucy, can you hear me? Please, let me out of here! Please, Lucy, please!”

Without lifting my face from the pillow, I reached out and pulled the drawer open. At once I felt something small grab hold of one of my fingers. I pulled my hand back and saw Livia, clinging on to my finger with her arms. She let go as soon as my hand was above the pillow, and ran over to where my face lay. I didn’t want to look at her, so I buried my face in the pillow, which was already wet from my tears.

“Oh, no! Lucy, what happened?”

I just kept crying. I felt so horrible, I didn’t want to talk to her. She asked me again, and, when I didn’t answer, she came and lay down right next to my face. With her tiny hands she caressed my cheeks, wiping away some of my tears. I turned just enough to be able to see her.

“We never seem to have it easy,” she said, giving me a wistful smile. All the while she kept stroking my face, sometimes using her hands and sometimes pressing her whole body against my cheek. Every now and then she’d kiss me softly, and as the evening drew on she would do so more and more frequently. I didn’t protest: it really felt good whenever she did it, and I would have asked her to do it all the time if I knew how.

The sun set, and I had grown much calmer now. There was almost no pain anymore, just Livia’s gentle touch against my face. My tears were busy drying, and I took a handkerchief from my drawer to wipe them off. Then I lay down again, and Livia came and sat by my face. Her dress was still in tatters, but she didn’t seem to mind. She ran her hand along the length of my cheek, took hold of a few strands of my hair and began to play with them.

“Once again, thank you,” she said. “You must be tired by now of having to protect me all the time.”

“No,” I sniffed. “No, Livia, I…I’d do anything to keep you safe. But…I must say…some peace and quiet would make a nice change.”

We both smiled. It was completely dark by now and, since it didn’t look like I’d be getting any supper tonight, I decided it would be best to go to bed early. We took our separate baths, and I promised Livia I’d mend her dress the next day. We were both tired, but I asked her to tell me a bit more about her home.

“Do you think you’ll ever see it again?” I asked her, after she had told me about the house in which she lived.

“I hope so,” she said, though she didn’t sound very hopeful. “I really hope so, Lucy. And if I ever do go back, I’ll ask you to come with me.”

“I’d love to come with you, even though it’ll only be for a short while. For a fairy, at least.”

“No it won’t!” she laughed. “Queen Aldavien will change you into a fairy; she has the power to do so, and she’s done it before, long ago, or so I heard. You’ll be able to live forever, just like me, and I’ll be able to show you everything that is wonderful and beautiful in the land of Faerie. And, eventually, you’ll forget all about this awful life, and your horrible cousin and uncle, and everyone else, and we’ll live happily together as long as we wish.”

She gave me a kiss on the corner of my upper lip and hugged her body against my mouth. When I picked her up, I saw her eyes glowing like never before. I was about to lower her onto her bed, when she called out for me to wait.

“Lucy, I…there’s something I have to tell you,” she said urgently. “I want to be honest with you. There’s no point in hiding it any more, so I’ll just go ahead and tell you. About this morning…”

“Oh, never mind that!” I said. “I was the one who was rude, and I apologize. You’re free to fall in love with whoever you want, even if it is another girl.”

“Even if it’s you?”

“I…I’m sorry?”

“Lucy, I know it’s not what you want to hear, but…I’ve fallen in love with you. I know it’s only been two days, and I know we’re so different, and that we’re not even the same type of being, and, after all you’ve done for me, I would very much like you to be my friend, just like you have been thus far, and if you don’t love me back, that’s fine, but…oh, Lucy, I wish I could change how I feel about you, but I can’t! I love you, I know I do! I truly love you, and from now on I never want to leave you!”

She was out of breath after getting all those words off her chest. Her eyes seemed like deep blue wells which were about to flow over. Her body was trembling in anxiety. I stared at her, utterly dumbfounded by what she had said. Never in a thousand years had I expected her to say this. Looking back later, I saw that it was pretty obvious how she felt towards me; all those kisses she gave me, that I gave her…It was almost as if she had fallen in love with me the moment she first knew I wasn’t going to hurt her. Right now, I couldn’t answer her, couldn’t say anything. I didn’t know what to feel, whether I should be joyful or sad. I laid her down on the scarf, and managed to sputter out a few words.

“Livia...Livia, I…I need time…time to think…I-I’m sorry, I can’t…”

I closed the drawer and took several deep breaths. My heart was racing along at a great speed. So many feelings rushed through me, all conflicting with each other, that I felt I would burst at any moment. I went to the bathroom and splashed my face with cold water. It helped, a little bit. For a long time I looked at my reflection in the mirror, trying to see myself the way she saw me. When I went back to bed, I did one last thing before trying to fall asleep.

“Please, God,” I prayed. “Please help me. I don’t know what to say, what to do…help me make the right choice, please. I’ve never felt so confused before, and I’m scared, really scared. I just want to be happy, and I want her to be happy too…”

That night I didn’t sleep much. My mind was too busy, trying to find an answer to all my problems. After a while, the only thing I was certain about was that thinking of Livia, of what she was going through, made me sad. I pictured her in my head, laughing and smiling, and that made me happy. I thought of all those kisses she gave me, each one coming from her love for me…it had felt so wonderful. Surely something that felt so great, that had brought both of us comfort and joy and peace, couldn’t be wrong, couldn’t be evil…

“Living forever…with her…together in love…she really is very beautiful…kind…and vulnerable. So vulnerable, and scared, and alone…no, not alone! She’ll never be alone…not as long as I…as long as I love her!”