The child observed her older brother as his brush danced over the vibrant canvas. The painting was concealed from all view but his own, bursting with meticulous detail, and almost complete.
"I want to paint the sky!" she said at last, and reached with her small hand for the thickest brush in the youth's holder.
"No!" said Meost sharply, moving the container quickly out of harm's way, for he had seen her handiwork on the white walls of his workroom, and wanted none of it on this canvas.
The little girl pouted, and then forgot about it, as she was likely to do all along. Out of the corner of his eye, the older brother watched fondly and secretly as she paused, forefinger in mouth, considering what to do next.
"Go away, go play with mother," he said sternly, lips quivering with secret humor, "I must finish this painting for the beautiful golden-haired lord, the one you've admired through the glass bead curtain. Yes, we saw you staring, little twit."
"I am not," she said, "Not little."
"Ah, then you're my big twit. Now, go, Evirie! Quickly, boo!"
She squealed and ran from him.
And Meost once again picked up his brush. Odd that she had spoken thus, for of all things he had yet to paint the sky....
)
What is the true meaning of Art and Fantasy? Young Evirie, a budding artist herself, resolves to help her brother Meost who is the Master Painter in the court of the handsome and cruel Lord Astean. Meost has been condemned to die or perform a miracle with his craft. And while the minutes tick away, only Evirie has the key to his salvation.... [Cover image photo by Lazette Gifford. Used by permission.]
