***
When Candy brought me back to my room I didn’t make ready for bed.
“Candy, I need my clothes. The ones I had on when I first arrived.”
She didn’t move for a moment. “Of…of course, mistress. I had your clothes cleaned and mended for you.”
She gestured to a chair beside the bed. My undergarment, smock, cape, and boots were neatly laid out. They looked new again.
“Oh, thank goodness.” I quickly shed my fineries and donned my old clothes.
“You’re not leaving us already, mistress?”
“I’m afraid so.” I pulled my smock over my head. “Exinious wanted me to stay for a few days, but there’s something urgent I have to see to in the village.”
Candy brought her wooden mitts to her chin. “But, mistress…”
I clutched her shoulders and stared where her eyes would have been. “Candy, please be a friend to me right now. I need to get back. It’s important, and I don’t want to quarrel with Exinious about it.” I turned away from her to cram my feet into my boots one by one. “I need you to apologize for me profusely to him. Tell him I promise I’ll come back just as quick as I can.” I paused to look at her again. “Please, Candy?”
The distressed mannequin nodded.
I had her come with me down into the great hall, then through the gallery, and finally out through the door leading to the arcade. We exited into the barren courtyard. The cage was where it had landed, but the bird was gone.
“I—I need the bird,” I said.
Candy fretted with stilted movements beside me. “Oh, I hope the master won’t be angry. If you sit in the cage the bird should come. Oh, but mistress, to leave this way…”
I gave her a hug. “I’m sorry to put you in this position. I’ll return to Exinious. I swear I will. You must reassure him for me.”
She nodded, still in a fretful pose.
I dashed out to secure myself in the cage. Within moments I could hear the beating of wings. The creature swept down and carried me away.
Despite still being fearful of the bird and the great heights we soared, I managed a sigh of relief. Now I had a chance to fix things before a catastrophe happened. I just hoped this was a simple matter. So much Exinious had revealed about himself baffled me. It had to be sorted out delicately.
I clutched the bars and squeezed my eyes closed. What would Exinious think when he awoke and found me gone? He might become too furious to forgive me. If he forbade me from returning I would be devastated. The anguish would torment me for months. Surely we’d connected enough for him not to react that way. It was a risk I knew I had to take, though I loathed it. I’d treated him worse than I would any village suitor.
I felt the cage buoy as the bird descended. A bump wracked my body, and then we were still. I allowed myself to open my eyes. We were on the same terrace where he’d collected me the day before. The sun now peeked over the horizon in front of me.
“Th-thank you,” I said to the bird.
He ruffled his feathers.
I exited the cage and began the difficult descent downward. This was when I noticed my boots had been re-heeled. Candy had been so thoughtful.
When I was down one ledge the bird set off again with the cage. I clung to the rocks until the wind from his flapping wings no longer shook me.
As I neared the base of the mountain I noticed a crude tent with a smoldering fire before it. I worked my way down to it and peered inside. The occupant was wrapped in a bear skin.
“Hello?” I said.
Senator Diones sat up and unraveled himself from the skin. He climbed out looking more disheveled than I had ever seen him.
“Ashla. Are you well?” He clambered to his feet.
“I’m fine, Diones.”
He pawed his hand through unwieldy tresses of silver and black hair. “I was worried for you.” He swallowed. I could tell he was embarrassed. “I wanted to be sure…to be sure you made it back.”
“That’s very kind. I wish you hadn’t suffered this way. You must have been miserable.”
He wet his lips, and then turned from me to tear down his camp. All his provisions were piled on the fabric of the tent and bundled.
“My patients should be recovering now.” I helped him kick out his fire.
“Is that so?”
“Exinious lifted his curse from them.”
Diones froze. He turned to look at me slowly. “He’d truly cursed them?”
I swallowed. “Sadly, yes.”
Diones shook his head with dismay. He hoisted his bundle onto his shoulder and walked beside me toward the valley.
“He made them sick so I would come to see him,” I said. “He…he wants me for his next bride.”
Diones’ pace slowed. I glanced at him.
“It would be a terrible thing for the village to lose you.”
“No, don’t worry. He said I could continue my work as healer.”
Diones halted. Again I looked at him.
“I still think…it would be terrible.”
There was a quaver in his voice that made my brow twitch. Was Diones in love with me? My thoughts raced. His wife had only just passed the prior year. But, then, that explained why he was hesitant to express his interest in me.
He parted from me when we crested the hill. My feet were sore from dancing, but I forced myself to lumber onward.
An old woman was pumping water at one of the village wells. A few other souls were venturing out as dawn lit, to herd their sheep, or to haul goods to the market. I sped up my stride. I didn’t want anyone hassling me now.
My tiny wooden house was in the center of the village, crammed into a row of similar structures which were all businesses of one kind or another. A residential area composed of huts or lambskin yurts was on the street behind us. In front of us was the market, and beyond that, the beach leading to the sea.
I dashed inside. My thirteen-year-old brother was sitting up on his cot looking groggy. He spoke with a whispery early morning voice.
“Ash? Did you just get back?”
I tossed my cape onto my own cot. “Is everything okay here, Ramy? Did the patients start to get better?”
He nodded while rubbing his eye. “Yeah, most of them went home even.” He pointed to the back door that would lead to my healing tents. “I think just Esther and old lady Siota are left.”
“Good. I’ll go check on them.” I moved toward the door.
Ramy reached for me. “Wait. What happened? They’re sleeping still. Just tell me.”
I sighed and sat next to him. His rosy face looked plaintive. He was as blond as me, and the older he got the more people commented on how similar we looked.
“Exinious cursed those people so I could go see him.”
“What? Why? Is it the magic?”
“Let’s not talk about that. Anyway, he’s decided he wants me for his wife. I haven’t said yes, yet.”
His lips parted in shock. I mussed his hair.
“Don’t worry. He said I could continue my work as healer. He’s not planning on imprisoning me up in his fortress.”
Ramy looked down a moment to consider. “It sounds like you’re going to say yes.”
“Does it?” I pursed my lips. “I don’t want to think about it right now. I need to square things away here so I can go into the forest to collect potions.” I rose.
Ramy grabbed my arm. “Oh, but you have to tell me what he’s like! Tell me everything you saw.”
I wriggled free. “Later, brother. I promise.”
My final two patients had only shadows etched in their skin where the boils had been. They slept without the least hint of discomfort. I saw to some housekeeping, and then allowed myself a long nap. In the afternoon I was awoken to treat a clammer who’d twisted his ankle. Then the senators came and harangued me until dusk. They felt it was their de
cision whether or not I should marry Exinious. I let them enjoy their delusions.
Night finally came. I donned my cape, grabbed a basket, and ran into the forest. There was only a half moon obscured by cloud, but I knew the trail well enough. I walked forthrightly, despite having no particular destination in mind. If anyone watched me it would seem as though I were searching for medicinal herbs. I continued this charade, going deeper and deeper into the forest. The moon reached its apex in the sky. I started to get weary. Still, I strove onward to the distant creek. There I sat on the grass beside the tinkling water and rubbed my face.
“Come on,” I whispered.
I stayed on the cold ground long enough to get drowsy. I thought about huddling in my cape for a few moments of sleep. Then a light glimmered across the creek. I climbed to my feet.
A fairy the size of a little girl’s doll flew toward me using gossamer wings. She crossed the creek and hovered in front of me.
“Ashla,” she said, in a voice that seemed too deep for such a small fairy. “We’ve much to discuss.”
“Yes.” I pursed my lips. “Those people I couldn’t cure—they’d been cursed by Exinious.”
“I know. You climbed his mountain. What happened in his fortress?”
“He wanted to know where the magic came from.”
“Did you tell him?”
“Of course not. But now he wants to marry me. He’s insisting I tell him where I got the magic.”
The fairy laughed. “This is wonderful, Ashla. You must go back to his fortress and marry him right away.”
My eyes grew narrow. I stared into her sparkling face. “You’re not what you appear to be. Exinious told me all about the gods who’d imprisoned him here. You’re the goddess Arma, aren’t you?”
The fairy had milky blue eyes that were so large they made her look like an insect. She fixed those eyes on me several moments while beating her wings gently. Then she drifted back and her glow intensified to a blinding white light. I shrank back with my arm blocking the glare. When I looked again the fairy had turned into a slender woman with long silver hair and the same stark white coloration as Exinious.
“Do you cherish the gift of healing I’ve given you, Ashla?” Arma said.
It took me a second to collect myself. I’d only met the fairy twice before. The first time I’d gone into the forest to weep. She comforted me and bestowed her generous gift. The second time was some weeks after our first meeting. I went back into the forest to thank her. This was when she told me I had to keep her gift a secret or she would take it away from me. I remember the pang of dread this had caused me. She’d been cloyingly sweet before then, and suddenly revealed a darker shade. I swore I would keep our meeting a secret, but never sought her out again.
“Of course I cherish your gift. You know I do.”
“Then you must never forget—I can take it away from you.”
A stitch formed in my chest.
“Don’t you wish to marry Exinious?”
The question caused me a wave of unease. “Why do you wish for me to marry him?”
“That will make itself clear in time. You simply need to obey me. Without the powers I’ve granted you, you’d be nothing in your society. I know you’ll pretend that doesn’t matter to you, but you can’t pretend you don’t care for your people’s suffering. Without you, wounds will fester, disease will cripple, and mothers will risk their lives to bear young.”
Her last sentiment made my throat tighten. Again my naiveté had come to slap me across the face. I truly believed I’d gotten a gift without any dire conditions ten years ago.
The betrayal I felt choked my voice. “Exinious won’t marry me until I tell him who gave me the magic.”
“You may not tell anyone. Especially not him.” She folded her hands behind her back and paced along the creek bank. “Simply tell him you promised to your mother on her deathbed that you would never share the secret.”
I felt as though my stomach descended from my middle. “You…you would have me profane my mother for such a horrible lie?”
She spun on her heel to glower at me. “Yes. Or would you rather relinquish your powers now?”
I’d lost all words. I could only gape at her while being overcome by a dizzying wave of nausea.
“Grow close to Exinious. Make him adore you.”
“Why?” I could barely speak.
“Don’t question me. I’ve been your gracious benefactor for years. I ask for such a little thing—for you to seek the love of a handsome and charming god. Don’t you dare claim you despise him. I’m certain the opposite is true. It’s easy for you to heed me, and yet you waver like an ungrateful child.”
I closed my eyes. “You want me to harm him.”
Arma barked with laughter.
I looked at her.
“You’re a speck of dust! What would I ever have you do to him that I could not do myself?” She sneered at me. “Don’t presume to know what I devise, or why, or anything about me. Simply obey.”
She vanished. I gazed around me wearily to be sure she was gone.
Her voice boomed out from the forest. “Defy me, and you rob your people of their healer!”
I drew a deep, forlorn sigh. The forest had become silent save for the chirps of crickets and the croaking of a frog. I forced my limbs to start on the long trek back.