Silvertown is still a dusty village where sad people survive, it's lifeless, there aren't flowers in windows and I can't feel magical energy around but neighbours stare at us shocked when we appear out of thin air in the middle of the main street all of a sudden: a princess wearing ruby slippers, a puss in boots and two witches, one of them lies unconscious on the ground and the mud is covering her fancy dress. Suddenly, a loud noise behind us startles us and we all turn around to watch the column of smoke rising up in the distance above the treetops standing out against the pink morning sky, crows fly in circles and caw scared while wolves howl deep in the forest. I think the tall tower has fallen apart definitely...
"Negative energy will stay for a while and it'll be a dangerous place to walk through but things will get better little by little, maybe in a hundred years it'll become the perfect fairy tale forest like ours is and cute animals will come back finally..." Ruby whispers taking her backpack off and suddenly I miss our home desperately, I can't wait to go back to the cave.
Some neighbours are getting closer to us, too shocked to show hostility yet but the wood for the bonfire is still ready near the dilapidated market stalls, and I can't help getting tensed while my wife takes the painting off her backpack and leans it against a rock, focusing on the canvas quietly. I leave Luna on the ground looking at Malizia out of the corner of my eye, my girl doesn't seem concerned by the fact that she can wake up at any time and hasn't tied her up, and she ignores people around us whispering with curiosity. It seems to me that we're the first ones who venture into the Forest of Dean and come back alive to tell the story... what an honour.
"Have you found them?" The man with silver hair must've been tall and strong long time ago but he's too skinny now and looks tired, although his green eyes shine with intelligence, there's still a spark of life inside him while looking at his daughter hopefully. Ruby clears her throat awkwardly and nods, pointing at the canvas.
"They're trapped in the painting... Did mom know?" The guy shakes his head sadly.
"Your mother had suspicions about the witch and guessed what she wanted to do with you but was unable to find evidences, I searched for children who were missing but thought she kept them in a prison or something like that, I never saw this painting..." My girl nods and focuses her attention on the canvas again, walking around to be able to take a look at the backside and grazing the golden frame with her fingertips while mumbling something unintelligible. Well, this seems to confirm that my father-in-law isn't as bad as we thought and he never abandoned his wife and daughter voluntarily, instead, everything that happened was part of a bigger plan. That Malizia bitch has ruined lots of lives and I hope she'll pay for it, I wonder what kind of punishment my vengeful witch has in mind. I adore her but when she gets furious... bad things happen. I can't help chuckling when I remember her threats at the beginning of our relationship, everything feels far off even if it happened some month ago.
"I'm Aranel, Ruby Rose's wife." I move closer to my father-in-law offering him my hand and he shakes it shyly.
"I'm Eric..." he whispers. My girl remains silent while the neighbours stare at us bewildered but the witch isn't as focused on the canvas as she seems to be, I can feel how she's looking at me out of the corner of her eye although I don't know if she's upset because I'm talking to her father. Poor Ruby, her head must be a mess right now... All the hatred she threw towards this man, all the frustration and resentment that led her to fight to survive alone in a forest, to study hard to be more powerful than Malizia, it ended up being a big lie. I don't understand why her mother didn't confess the truth before she passed away, maybe she thought her daughter would go in search of his father and to take revenge on the evil witch and feared for her life. I'm pretty sure young Ruby was way more impulsive than she is now. My wife blinks surprised when I move closer to her and kiss her cheek.
