Ambrosia's Story

Published by

Fire and Ice

A Young Adult Imprint of Melange Books, LLC

White Bear Lake, MN 55110

www.fireandiceya.com

Ambrosia's Story, Copyright 2013 by Tammy Marie
Rose

ISBN: 978-1-61235-615-0

Names, characters, and incidents depicted in this
book are products of the author’s imagination or are used
fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales,
organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental
and beyond the intent of the author or the publisher. No part of
this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,
or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher.

Published in the United States of America.

Cover Art by Becca Barnes

Ambrosia's Story

Tammy Marie
Rose

Ambrosia’s life becomes a dark place after
her mother’s death. Her stepfather drinks and far too often takes
his rage out on her. Feeling desperate and alone Ambrosia wishes
herself into her favorite book.

Surrounded by magic and light Ambrosia
believes she has found happiness, but that happily ever after is
threatened when her stepfather finds his way into the Mystical
Forest. Soon a battle wages between good and evil that will
determine not only Ambrosia’s fate, but also that of every magical
creature that calls the Mystical Forest home.

This book is dedicated to the amazing,
beautiful and treasured people that I call my children, Elijah
Blue, Chloe Gayle and Adalee Elizabeth, I love you all to
infinity.

Table of Contents

"Ambrosia's Story"

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

About the Author

Previews

~ Chapter One ~

Ambrosia awoke at the edge of a forest. Her
hands trembled slightly as she rose to her feet. Leaves clung to
her long damp hair. She wrapped her arms around her small waist and
shivered in the frigid morn. Each breath she took appeared before
her in a puff of smoke. With due caution, she took her first steps
toward the Mystical Forest. Ambrosia’s tracks in the morning frost
resembled ghost prints in a long forgotten potter's field.

Ambrosia had envisioned this place in her
dreams so often. Though her presence here was new-sprung,
everything she was witness to seemed so familiar. As she took step
after step toward the forest, her fear slowly dissipated.
This
is where I belong
, her mind told her.
This is the only place
where I can be happy ... and safe.

As she crossed into the shelter of the trees
Ambrosia heard a sound that she had imagined hearing many times,
the laughter of pixies. As she wandered deeper into the forest, her
eyes took in all that enveloped her. She knelt to touch a bright
red flower, so beautiful against winter’s frost. Here in the
Mystical Forest flowers always bloomed. As she touched the flower’s
velvet petals, something buzzed excitedly from the center of it.
Ambrosia fell back startled. A pixie with hair of gold hovered
excitedly above her. The pixie was clad in clothes made of flower
petals. Her eyes were sea green. Nervously she tucked her long hair
behind her long pointed ears. A wreath of tiny flowers adorned her
head. The pixie's translucent wings sparkled in the morning
sunshine. Ambrosia slowly reached out to the pixie, but she darted
high above her out of reach.

“I won’t hurt you,” Ambrosia whispered
softly.

“What are you?” the pixie asked in a nervous
voice.

Ambrosia could not help but smile. “I am a
girl.”

“What is a girl?”

Ambrosia was uncertain how to answer that
question.

“She is a child of the human world.”

Ambrosia looked over her shoulder to find a
beautiful and delicate looking fairy with hair as red as the flower
before her. Her eyes were green like the sea with a hint of gold.
The fairy's clothes, created were from leaves and vines Her wings
were much like that of a dragonfly and shimmered with the colors of
a rainbow. “Mirabella!”

Mirabella smiled though she was quite
startled by the sound of her name passing from the child's lips.
“Yes, child and you are called?”

“Ambrosia.”

“What a beautiful name. How is it, Ambrosia
that you have come to be here and that you know my name?”

“It is a long story. Please do not think me
impolite, but I am cold and so hungry.”

Mirabella looked at her with worry. “Yes
child, you are definitely not dressed for such cold weather. Come,
I think perhaps you could fit into one of Rom’s cloaks.”

Ambrosia could not suppress a smile at the
sound of Rom's name. He was one of her favorite characters. Despite
his rough exterior, his heart was full of goodness. She closed her
eyes and could see Rom before her. Rom's face was hard to admire,
his nose was large and warted and his complexion was an odd shade
of green. He had moss like hair on his head and in his ears and
nose. He was misshapen with a humped back, a stout torso and large
hands and feet. His eyes were sunken in and large and despite their
surroundings were bright with life and kindness. Ambrosia opened
her eyes, and saw Mirabella had moved not far ahead and waited
patiently for her. She followed her deeper into the safety of the
forest.

Ambrosia pulled Rom’s cloak gratefully around
her. She could smell him amidst the fabric. It was an odd smell,
much like the cloak had soaked in swamp water, but despite the
smell, she pulled it closer to her as if it brought her closer to
him. The chill that had seemed to take up residence in her bones
slowly faded. Many faces stared up at her with a mixture of
uncertainty and curiosity. Those faces were all so known to her.
They gazed upon her as an absolute stranger and she saw them as old
friends who have always been a part of her heart.

For Ambrosia, no introductions were
necessary. She could with no effort put a name to each and every
enchanting face. For the past two years, Ambrosia had lived within
the pages of the book 'Majik the Black Unicorn'. Even if she were
reading something other than the Mystical Forest’s tales she would
often find herself imagining she walked among the trees there.

How could her words tell them how her love
for them had brought her here? How could she explain that her world
was so full of fear and pain that she had wished herself into
theirs?

“Come, Ambrosia, let’s see what Basil and
Ogre are baking up.” Mirabella’s musical voice stirred Ambrosia
from her thoughts.

Basil and Ogre’s kitchen was but a large
hollowed out tree stump. Ambrosia sat down outside its doors. She
breathed in the amazing smells that arose from the windows they had
carved out of it. Watching Mirabella leave her and enter the
kitchen made her feel much like a puppy waiting for its beloved
owner to return home.

When Mirabella did return behind her was a
line of fairies, pixies, and sprites all of who carried armfuls of
tiny warm cinnamon rolls dripping with white frosting. “Here
Ambrosia, eat.”

Ambrosia took the tiny rolls and breathed in
their delicious aroma. As the smell filled her senses, she began to
devour them hungrily.

Mirabella and the others had disappeared back
into the window of the kitchen. They returned a moment later with
more rolls.

“Thank you,” Ambrosia said as she took the
offerings.

Now with a full belly and the warmth of Rom's
cloak around her, Ambrosia felt more like herself. She looked
around the tiny village that surrounded her. Diminutive faces
peered out from miniature windows cut into hollowed out mushrooms
and tree stumps. The mushrooms were perhaps twenty inches tall.
Their tops were brick red and covered with perfect white spots. The
stems had been hollowed out and made into cozy homes. Now from
those cozy homes faces looked at her with a mixture of curiosity
and fear.

“They have many questions,” Mirabella said as
she fluttered by her ear and landed gently on her leg. Mirabella
sat down. “Before I can calm their fears and answer their questions
we must talk, Ambrosia. No human has ever walked among us. Our
magic protects us from the outside world.”

“I know,” Ambrosia said.

“How, Ambrosia? How do you know about us? How
can you see us when others cannot?”

“I am not sure how to begin.”

“At the beginning, Ambrosia. First tell me
how old you are in human years.”

“I am ten. I will be eleven in a few
months."

“How is it a ten year-old child is alone so
far into the forest? You would have had to travel for many days to
reach us.”

“I did not travel by foot.”

“Then how, Ambrosia?”

“I wished myself here.”

“How is that possible?”

“I don't know, but it is the truth.”

“How did you know my name?”

“I know all of your names. I have read
Majik the Black Unicorn
over a hundred times!”

“You know of the unicorns too?”

“Yes, it is all in my book.”

“Book?”

Ambrosia shook her head yes and reached her
hands into her satchel. She pulled out a book and set it down on
her leg in front of Mirabella.

Mirabella looked down at the giant book and
read the words that adorned its cover.
Majik, the Black
Unicorn,
by Tammy Marie Rose. Mirabella placed her tiny hand
upon the book. She needed to feel it to convince herself that what
she was seeing was real. “Who is this Tammy Marie Rose?"

“She is my favorite author. She lives in West
Virginia where I am from. She even signed the book for me,”
Ambrosia said, lifting the books cover to show Mirabella the
author's words. ‘To Ambrosia ... May your days be filled with
Majik. Tammy Marie Rose’

Mirabella struggled to form the words she
needed. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears and her head felt light
and dizzy. How could a human know of their existence? How could
there be a book about a life they have worked so hard to keep
camouflaged?

“Ambrosia, are you saying that this book is
all about our world?”

“Yes, it is the story of how Nog tried to
steal Majik and take over the forest.”

Memories of their battle with the trolls
flashed through Mirabella's mind. She felt ill to her stomach as
she remembered the dark day that Nog and his trolls had attacked.
Their goal was to steal the newly born unicorn, Majik, and use his
powers to take over the forest. Nog had also planned to capture her
and make Mirabella his queen. Had Mirabella not been able to reach
the heart of Rom they would not have survived. Rom led them back
into the light and saved them from becoming the trolls’ slaves or
worse.

Mirabella's small hands trembled slightly,
How can this be,
she thought to herself. Mirabella sat
quietly for several minutes before asking, “Will you read the first
page of your book to me, Ambrosia?”

“Yes.” Ambrosia picked up the book and opened
it up. “Spring flourished all about as crocuses and daffodils
brightened the forest floor and filled the gentle breeze with their
sweet smells. A soft rain fell. A rainbow slowly appeared, almost
as if by divine intervention, to mark this moment in time.

Nadia lifted her tired head from the ground
just in time to see her foal enter the world and take his first
breath. Jollah pranced about proudly at the sight of his son. The
fact that the foal was born was a miracle in itself, but this young
prince was truly extraordinary. This newborn son, whom they would
come to name Majik, is a black unicorn, as black as night. Never
before has a black unicorn walked among us.

Such a moment was cause for a grand
celebration. Mirabella, the Fairy Princess, brought everyone
together to give thanks. ‘We have been blessed with a miracle. The
fate of the unicorn may very well rest at the hooves of Majik, as
does the fate of us all. I have gathered us here today to a great
feast. Here we will give thanks to Nadia and Jollah. After we have
feasted we shall hold the blessings ceremony.’”

Ambrosia gently closed the book and placed it
back onto her lap. She could see the woe on Mirabella's face. How
could they be safe if the human world knew of their existence? How
could any of this be true?