A Fairy Tale Retelling
Dragonfly Wishes was originally released in Who's the Fairest? a Sister's Grimm Anthology on October 20, 2020. Bonus content has now been added.
Once upon a time there was a fashion designer and a dragon shifter from another world…
Arianna Travers creates clothing that brings joy to others. Haunted by her mother’s disappearance and tormented by her overlording step uncle, Arianna desires to escape reality even if it’s only through the tip of her charcoal pencil.
A royal of Ellehcor, Kyan the dragon shifter spies the forlorn beauty through a magical window to another world. To meet her face to face, he leaves the sanctuary of his home realm and enters the portal, transforming into a dragonfly.
Things don't go as planned when Kyan becomes entangled in spider silk. Arianna discovers the little blue dragonfly and rescues him. As a reward, Kyan offers to grant her wishes, but before Arianna can make a wish, the Overlord steals it from her.
As Kyan and Arianna’s relationship blossoms, so does the breadth of the Overlord’s wishes. Kyan strives to save Arianna from her uncle and his devious plans, but what can a dragonfly do?
My governess, Elyse, discovered the portal high in a tree and swore me and my brothers to secrecy. “A gateway to another world,” she’d called it. The view had looked much like our kingdom, with towering trees and a grassy meadow sprinkled with yellow buttercups, but the silver dragons never flapped their wings, and instead of breathing fire, they left smoke trails.
The small shimmering portal smelled of magic, but since it was high in a crook of a tree trunk, it remained unnoticed by most. Fascinated with the view, I visited the forest daily and climbed the tree. My brothers knew my routine, but only one suspected my true interest. Arianna.
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READ MOREThe first time I entered her world, I had hovered near her prone body. When she glanced up, she had wiped the tears away and smiled. “Hello there,” she had greeted. She’d stretched out her hand and I floated over, landing on her finger.
Ever since that initial visit, when she saw me, she called me friend.
“I’m careful.” I nodded to my older brother. “She does not know what I am or where I come from.”
“It’s a shame she doesn’t follow you home,” Jett said, walking toward the clearing. He stretched his arms out, then shifted. With his wings tucked to his side, he arched his neck so his amber eyes gazed into mine. “Come fly with me,” his deep voice rumbled.
“How about this evening?” I replied as he unfurled his wings. Jett nodded his colossal head and lifted into the air.
As soon as my brother was out of sight, I climbed the tree and settled into my spot, gazing once more through the hole at the lady in another world. Arianna had dried her eyes and opened her ever-present sketchbook, once more escaping to into her own altered reality. As a smile replaced her grave expression, my heart raced, surveying her classical elegance. The line of her jaw, her small upturned nose, and sensitive silver-gray eyes all appealed to me and my dragon.
My dragon wanted to fly to her and protect her, but as a dragonfly I wasn’t sure I could.
COLLAPSEI thought I was rereading a delightful fairy tale I had read decades ago.
Then BOOM!
And a twist telephoned me into fantasy.
I rarely read a book in one setting, this one kept me going.