Stepping through the Hedgerow

He kept pushing as he heard people gasp and gag in the crowd. He showed them the results of a suicide bomber. He showed the lifeless bodies of children as they lay in the dusty streets. He showed a pregnant woman having her womb explode as she walked. He showed all of them, the horror of war.

The old man flinched and writhed as the images overwhelmed his mind. He tried to wrestle control away from the human as the images burned into his brain. He felt the heat of the explosion. He knew how his challenger obtained the scars that crisscrossed his body He felt the death wish as he tried to close his mind.

"Enough... stop it. I can't take anymore." He cried out.

"Do you yield?" The man asked from the sidelines.

"I yield. Just make it stop." He looked and found Estelle and Michael standing five feet above him on the air. "Please, no more. I was wrong." He pleaded, broken.

"PEACE. I want peace in this Grove." Estelle's mother shouted coming out from a small stacked rock cabin. The crowd knelt in respect. Estelle took them down to the ground and ran to her mother.

"How is Father?" She hugged her mother.

"He will live. It took all my power to see to it, but he will live." She looked around. "What has happened?"

"Balthazar tried to obtain revenge, gain power, and start a war. Michael stopped him." Estelle said.

"What is my mate's sword doing out here?" She demanded imperiously.

"There is a new protector Highness. We thought yours had perished." One of the ladies said, her head bowed.

"Who is this new protector, and whom does he protect?" She demanded irritated that someone would try and replace her mate.

Michael knelt at the Queens feet. "Mother, this is my Protector and mate, Michael. He would not use Father's sword. He said it belongs to the Queen's Protector."

"Majesty, I beg your daughter's hand in marriage." Michael asked formally.

"You beg for something you've already claimed." She smiled down at him. "How did he defeat Balthazar?" She asked her daughter.

"By a challenge of wit and will. Only one question asked and answered." She said proudly.

"And you did not interfere? I know you dreaded the thought of marrying him."

"She was too busy protecting our child. It was the truth of the realities of war, that won the challenge." Michael said, looking up

"You are with child?" She demanded and put her hand over Estelle's womb. "A new generation.... The babe is strong." She pronounced.

"Her name is Laurel. She will take after you Majesty, in height and bearing." Michael said truthfully.

"How do you know?" The Queen asked, interested in how her daughter's mate would answer. "The babe is too small even for me to tell what sex it will be."

"She's visited my dreams and told me. She will be Queen after Estelle, if she so chooses. She will be stronger in the magic than her mother. She will be the strongest since ancient times. For good or ill, she did not tell me." Michael fought the cramps from his chilling muscles.

"Yes, she will be, if she could call to you through time. None have had that skill in years uncounting." She smiled at Michael. "Oh, get up and relieve the pain you are in." She said and offered him her hand. As he stood up, the Queen caught herself in a quick gasp.

"Now you see how he won so easily. The Goddess chose him well for me mother." Estelle said happily.

"Yes she has. I take it; it was his voice I heard when I called to you home?"

"Yes mother, there are no secrets between us. He is strong in the magic. It was his strength that let me hide the babe from Balthazar. With him I can fly." She smiled.

"Not while you are carrying my grandchild you won't. We will wait until your father is healed to have the ceremony." She proclaimed to the cheers of the crowd.

Michael lent his support to Estelle. Only he knew how tired she really was. "I will take her to my home. When the time is right, call us and we will come. My mother will tend to her until then." He wanted to scoop her up, but didn't know how Estelle would react.

"Know on the day you wed, you will have to forswear the human race. Are you willing to do that?" The Queen looked intently into his eyes.

"The day we joined, she told me this was forever. I chose her and will accept the price." Michael said solemnly. "My only request is to be able to see my mother and sister from time to time." He asked, hating the formality of the situation. He just wanted to get his Estelle into bed so she could rest.

"I am fine Love. I have your strength now. This is important." She answered in his mind.

"We shall meet. Only the Goddess knows what is to happen. Go now and keep your mind open for my call. For now you are one of the chosen." The Queen dismissed them and turned to the elders for an explanation of the events that had unfolded while she tended her mate.

As soon as they were out of the Queen's Grove, Michael picked up his mate and started jogging back the way he came. When he reached the border, he was surprised to see a gap in the hedgerow.

"What does this mean?" He asked Estelle, to find her asleep in his arms. He shrugged and stepped through. He walked down the deer path to their home. Once he got home, he laid his love in their bed and went to take a shower. As soon as he was dry, he snuggled against her and they slept.

When he finally woke up, he stretched and felt for Estelle. He had a mind to make soft slow love to her, but found her side of the bed empty. He smiled as he felt the warm sun through the window. When his mind cleared and focused, he heard voices.

He grumbled at the intrusion as he walked to the bathroom. He looked at his face and wanted to laugh. He pulled out a brush and brushed all the tangles out of his now long hair. He found a small leather strip and tied it behind his neck. He took his trimmer and cut the unruly mass of hair on his face, down to neat stubble covering his jaw. He kept it long enough that it made his face look even again. He pulled on jeans and a long sleeved shirt. If he didn't know better, he almost looked normal.

When he entered the kitchen, he found Estelle and Kelly talking. "Yeah I met this cute guy. We went out on a date. It ended abruptly when he found out my last name was Sparks. For some reason he just got up and left muttering about ruining his life and stiffed me with the bill." Kelly shrugged.

"What was his name?" Estelle asked.

"Tony, something or other...." She looked at Estelle and Michael as they just started laughing.

"I'm sure you can find someone better than that shallow idiot." Michael said as he leaned down to kiss his sister.

"Yes, I know many males that would love to meet you." Estelle smiled.

"Is mom coming up?" Michael asked, looking for something to eat.

"If the snow isn't too deep." They heard voices outside. "There she is now." Kelly smiled at her mother's timing.

"I'll get the door." Estelle said as she walked over to greet Michael's mother.

"Hey, I like you hair. It's turning more white than blond, but it looks cool." Kelly told her brother as she pulled on it. "They say that people start looking like each other, but that's taking a bit far. If I didn't know about the scars..." They stopped talking when they heard Estelle gasp.

"What's wrong dear?" He asked.

"Mother, Father... Mrs. Sparks." She said surprised. Estelle didn't feel her parent's presence before she opened the door. Standing between the two taller people, Michael's mother stood in awe of the people she met when she came to see her son. They all were so striking.

Kelly stood up instinctually as she saw the two tall people with her mother. Estelle's mother looked regal and her father looked dashing. He stood a couple of inches taller than his wife.

"Kelly, I would like you to meet my parent's." Estelle said formally.

"It is nice to meet the family of my daughter's mate." Her father said politely. "I am known as Adrian. This is my wife Bruneian. Please welcome our escort." He motioned to the people who followed them.

"Um, yeah sure..." Kelly swallowed as four people just as striking as Estelle's parent's walked in behind the tall couple. She swallowed again as one of the men looked at her with unvarnished desire. His eyes were golden like a wolf's, with hair black as a raven's. He couldn't stop looking at her.

"The one who is staring is so rudely Tristan." Estelle giggled, teasing her childhood friend.

"Sir, Ma'am, Tristan." Kelly brushed her hands down her pant legs, feeling like a stooge.

"It is an honor to meet the lovely sister of the great protector. You shine brighter than a spring day that brings the blooming rose." Tristan kissed her hand and bowed over it. "Mia esodda, granda filodoma."

"Fino, ganga mia botoa." Michael said sharply to Tristan.

"Yes Protector." He bowed in awe.

"Children, there is time for all that later." The Queen said and smiled warmly. This was working out better the she could have ever imagined.

"What just happened?" Kelly asked Estelle under her breath.

"Tristan just said he has met his mate and that he will love you forever. Michael told him if he hurt you, he will face him." Estelle smiled wickedly. "Your brother has a reputation among my people."

"Really... and they didn't even talk to me about this?" Steel crept into her voice as she stared down the two males.

"Your rose seems to have thorns...." Estelle laughed at the look on Tristan's face.

"All of them do, Highness. She will be worth it." He said confidently.

Epilogue

Deep in the forest, the hedgerow was moving. Within a few seasons, it would encompass the new land that was now joined by love and blood. Mother and Father said their vows under the tree that she had found him under. Kelly and Tristan held their heads together and dreamed of their mating. Between them, they held the infant Laurel, to keep me out of mischief. Aunt Kelly didn't make it easy for Tristan, but as he said, she was worth it. But, that is another story.

As the years passed, the forest grew for the first time in years uncounting. Estelle and Michael knew their children had to be born before she took up the scepter of responsibility. To give you a hint of their future, it was eighty years before my grandmother stepped down and my youngest sibling came into being. The Goddess made sure they had time between so they could enjoy the fruit of their labors. By the time they had finished expanding their home, it was a palace fit for a Queen and her large family.

My father and mother loved and made the strongest of magic. I have waited to look for my mate, knowing I could never find someone who loved me as much as my father loves my mother. Her home apartments sit on the same spot as the small cabin where they first shared their love and where I was conceived.

My grandmother Sparks resting place is close by. She could never make the transition once the hedge moved. But, she spent many happy years in the nursery with me and my siblings. Her favorite was my brother Blake. It is now my turn to step through the hedgerow and see what the world has become. My mother gifted me with her stone necklace when I told her I was going on the other side of the hedge to look for a mate. She even told me its secrets. I take a deep breath as my father and grandfather guide me to the border. They kiss my forehead and wish me well.

As I step through the hedgerow, there is a man hurt and alone....

End.

Post Script:

I borrowed the concept for this story from a book I read decades ago about how if you could just step through the hedge, what a wonderful place you could find. Please feel free to leave any constructive comments and please take the few seconds to vote.

Thank you