by Sam Ledel
“Jastyn, please, be careful.”
Jastyn nudged her arm. “You know I always am.”
They shared a smile. “I know. But…this trip is different, isn’t it?”
Jastyn bit the inside of her cheek and struggled to hold her sister’s gaze. Alanna spoke again. “Mother and Father treat me like a helpless fawn. But I’m not a fool.” Her voice grew louder, which triggered a series of coughs. Jastyn moved to fetch her a cup of water, but Alanna shook her head. “I’m okay. Well, maybe I’m not. But…” She met Jastyn’s eyes. “That’s the point. I know the medicine isn’t working. I can feel it.” She lifted one hand to her chest and held it there on top of her worn, gray tunic. “Whatever it is you’re going after this time, I hope you find it.”
Puzzled, Jastyn said, “Alanna, I know what I’m after this time…and it will help you.”
More coughs sprang from deep within her sister’s chest. They were sharp and shook her terribly. Jastyn reached out, holding her knees until they subsided. Alanna looked exhausted when she took a shaky breath.
“You know what I could use?” Jastyn said. “Some of that never-ending strength of yours.”
Alanna grinned. “You’re the strong one.”
“Not all strength is swiftness and cunning.”
Her eyes lingering on the window, Alanna said, “I wish I could go with you.”
Tears welled in her eyes, forcing Jastyn to look away. Alanna tugged her closer, pulling her into a hug. Holding Alanna, Jastyn grew more determined to get what she needed from the Red One. She would not waver, no matter what tricks they tried to play on her. She would come back with a cure. There was no other option.
“I wish you could, too,” Jastyn muttered into her sister’s neck. She watched the candle burning dimly on the table beside them and couldn’t help but see her sister as the flickering light, fighting against the fast-fading wick.
“Come on,” Alanna said, pulling Jastyn from her thoughts. They both wiped their eyes and fell back onto the bed. “We had better sleep. You’ve got an adventure waiting for you tomorrow.”
They lay side by side. Jastyn kissed Alanna’s cheek. A cool wind gusted through the cracks in the shudders. Their candlelight blew out. Alanna shivered, and Jastyn tucked a blanket closer to her. Her eyes heavy but her heart light, Jastyn fell into a dreamless sleep.
The next morning, warm air had enveloped the rolling village hills. Gray clouds stretched across the skies. The sun peeking over the horizon signaled the day was nigh for Jastyn’s meeting with the Red One.
Elisedd left for the castle early. Mother swept and saw to Alanna’s reading lesson after lunch. Jastyn sat beside her sister most of the day, taking in each trail of laughter, each emphatic recitation from her book. The three of them laughed and laughed, and Jastyn dreamed the day would go on forever.
But as the sun set, Jastyn helped her mother tuck Alanna into bed.
“I’ll be back soon. And you’ll be on your way to feeling better,” Jastyn whispered to her sister before placing a kiss on her temple.
Alanna’s voice was thick with drowsiness. “Be careful, Jastyn.”
* * *
The nighttime babble from the druid’s brook sent Jastyn into a reverie on the last, long stretch of her journey. She clasped the sack slung over her shoulder and felt through the worn cloth at its contents: the firm exterior of Eegit’s golden apple, the suppler bundle of red gooseberries, and at the bottom, the princess’s bracelet.
Jastyn exhaled, trying to focus once more on the hypnotizing gurgle of the nearby water. Through the thinning branches, she spotted the meadow. The sight of her destination worked her nerves up into a new bundle so that now, despite hundreds of visits to these woods, she began to tremble.
The blue saol she had conjured hours ago, at the bend of the river that wound around her part of the village, bounced gently in front of her, providing a constant reminder that it, at least, was by her side.
Jastyn walked slowly into the druid’s meadow, farther from the comforting conversation of the brook. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and they fell on the pair of trees lying ashen and petrified across the clearing. Not even their leaves had escaped the druid’s curse all those years ago; they, too, resembled pale rock, forever caught in an unchanging wind.
Moonlight from the half moon shone down with a dull glow onto the knee-high grass. This meadow was smaller than Eegit’s, roughly the length of three village houses. Fairies’ nests tucked into the thick tree branches glowed faintly along the perimeter. Their scattered light created a pale, staggered halo surrounding the meadow, and Jastyn was grateful for their presence. Her saol bobbed two paces ahead as she walked toward the center of the clearing.
It hit her then that she was never specifically told where the Red One would meet her, and the realization sent a jolt to her fingers, which clutched the strap of the sack tighter while she turned to scan the nearby tree trunks. She’d had only two previous encounters with leprechauns—if she could even call them encounters. One was with Coran not long after they first met. They had taken to scouting the market together for items that were prime for swiping, and one day, he suggested they hunt for fallen coins along the dirt-laden streets. On a bitterly cold morning when Jastyn could barely feel the tips of her fingers, the two of them crept beneath vendor stalls where merchants and customers often dropped change during a transaction. Jastyn was about to snatch up a gold coin that fell with a dull thud when Coran stretched out his arm.
“Wait,” he said. “Look.”
Jastyn, frowning, sat back and stared at the coin. There was a flash of green. What looked like the faint outline of a person appeared, only the person was the size of her hand. A face no larger than the pad of her finger held a pair of tiny, beady eyes. Just like that, the figure seemed to gobble up the fallen coin and was gone.
“That,” Coran had told her, his voice awestruck, “was a leprechaun.”
Jastyn had been less than impressed. To her, they were nothing but thieves with an unfair advantage over her in that they were the size of a pear and nearly invisible. The second encounter had happened when she was twelve and had gone to barter with Eegit. Once again, Jastyn only caught a faint glimpse of the creature while she watched Eegit from a nearby bush. It looked as if she was bargaining with thin air. Any flash of green Jastyn could catch always seemed to be moving, never staying in one spot for longer than a second.
“Slippery creatures,” Eegit had said afterward. “Cunning shapeshifters, they are. Can’t let ’em talk too much, or before you can sneeze, they’ll be off with the shoes on your feet!”
These memories lingered at the front of Jastyn’s mind as she waited in the middle of the meadow. She reminded herself that this encounter would most likely be very different from the others. While young leprechauns were small and generally benign, the longer they lived, the more adept at shapeshifting they became. Many took human form, and some even chose to lead a human life and live among the kingdom. The Red One, she had a feeling, would be unlike the others. Jastyn would have to be careful.
Looking up at the moon, she took a deep breath. Her left hand pinched the bracelet at the bottom of the sack, the emptiness of the meadow instilling the need to check that her bargaining items were still there. Feeling the thin band of the bracelet, she smiled. It was hard to believe, still, that the princess had figured this as Alanna’s best chance to live. She imagined the princess stumbling upon somebody else in trouble, perhaps a man drifted out to sea. She pictured Aurelia, shocked and confused, removing a necklace from around her neck and tossing it at the man’s flailing arms.
“Ridiculous,” Jastyn mumbled.
A rustling shook the grass, followed by the creak of what sounded like an old door opening then closing. She spun around, her saol disappearing, then reappearing in front of her. The edge of the clearing was crowded with shadows, and Jastyn squinted into the darkness toward the source of the noise. She thought she saw the slight outline of someon
e begin toward her. It quickly vanished, and the gentle fall of footsteps came from off to the right.
“Who’s there?” she called.
The footsteps halted, then started from behind her again. She spun around once more, her saol following. She resisted the urge to go for the blade in the side of her boot. When she called out again and received no answer, Jastyn pulled her shoulders back.
“My name is Jastyn,” she stated, willing her voice to steady. “I’ve come seeking the Red One.” Peering into the dark, she was sure this time she saw a figure slowly moving closer. The shadow was small, half her height, but seemed to shift and grow with each step.
“I’ve come to make a trade,” she said, but as soon as the words left her mouth, the figure vanished again. Faint laughter echoed over the trees. Growing frustrated, she allowed a hint of desperation into her voice when she shouted, “Please, I don’t have much time!”
After a moment, a voice—neither male nor female—answered from the dark. “There never is enough, is there? The more we wish it stood still, the faster it flees from our grasp.”
Jastyn’s lips pursed in agitation. Her saol drew nearer, and she gazed beyond the blue light. “Show yourself. I don’t like games.”
Jastyn jumped when the voice spoke from directly behind her. “Oh, but I love them.”
Her sack hit against her hip as she stumbled over the thick grass before her gaze landed on the most breathtaking woman Jastyn had ever seen. Her beauty struck Jastyn in a way that stirred something below her stomach. Even in the half moonlight and faint blue glow from her saol, the woman was vibrant. She stood an inch shorter than Jastyn and had incredibly thick, dark hair. She was not from the village or even the kingdom with features like hers. Dark brown eyes—like the riverbank’s edge after a heavy rain—were set wide on her broad face. When the woman moved to stand perpendicular to her, a loose pair of red pants swished, and the fabric rustled, and a faint jingle drew Jastyn’s eyes to a slim gold chain running around her bare midriff. Sepia brown skin was exposed below a top that barely covered a robust chest and strong shoulders.
Jastyn, still flustered by the woman and the sweet scent coming from the depths of her luscious hair, stuttered.
“You…you are the Red One?”
The woman circled Jastyn, stopping just on the other side of the flickering saol. Her smile revealed a gap between two large front teeth. “I am.” She placed one hand covered in intricate black ink designs on her wide hip. Jastyn swallowed. “Not what you were expecting?”
Jastyn shook her head, prompting laughter from the woman. Then her stomach dropped when the woman reached out and ran a finger down her cheek.
“You may call me Rua. Now, what is it you wish to trade?”
The saol cracked as if to reclaim Jastyn’s attention. She blinked at the light, then looked back into the mesmerizing gaze Rua had fixed on her. That was when, in the back of her mind, she recalled Eegit’s words. The Red One was a shapeshifter. Eegit had said they could look into her mind, perhaps even into her deepest desires. Jastyn’s face was hot at the Red One’s ability to bring to life something Jastyn had only shared with her mother and Coran. Nevertheless, she reminded herself this was merely a trick of the mind, and she faced Rua.
“I have a feeling you already know what I’m here for,” she said.
Rua tilted her head, the moonlight catching the golden hoop wrapped around the right side of her nose. “You need medicine,” Rua replied casually, beginning to wander around the meadow. “But not for yourself.”
“It’s for my sister, Alanna.”
Pausing, Rua turned. “Half sister.”
Jastyn clenched her jaw, reminding herself to ignore this attempt to rattle her. “She’s very sick. I was told you can offer me a cure.”
Examining her own body art snaking down her wrists, Rua nodded. “What do you have for me?”
Watching the Red One, Jastyn reached into the sack for the golden apple. When she held it out, a lotus flower revealed itself on Rua’s palm before she snatched up the fruit. The image gripped Jastyn’s mind, and she remembered something. The sounds of a festival. Smells of roasting meat. Music she had never heard before.
As Rua gleefully admired the golden apple, Jastyn fell back into a nearly forgotten memory. Years ago, a traveling band of musicians and dancers had arrived on the shores of Venostes one summer. Jastyn had been eleven, maybe twelve. She had ventured out on a rare visit to the market with her mother. The crowds were suffocating, but the buzz of anticipation to witness the foreign visitors was contagious. Jastyn had climbed up into a tree when the ship docked, and its inhabitants came ashore. She had never seen anybody like the dark-haired men and women with bejeweled bodies clad in bright clothing. Later, when the eclectic group set up a circle of lute players and dancers, Jastyn had been fixated on one in particular: a woman with lavish black hair, a sumptuous figure, and a gap-toothed smile.
That same woman stood in the meadow with her now, and the cleverness of the Red One washed over her.
Carefully, Jastyn spoke. “I offer you this token to gain your interest.”
Rua eyed the apple in her left hand. “The way I’ve gained yours?” She tossed the fruit skyward, and it vanished. She stepped toward Jastyn. The saol shrank at Rua’s closeness, and Jastyn was overwhelmed with the scent of unfamiliar sweetness. She found it hard to look anywhere but into the large pools of brown gazing back at her from behind long lashes.
Slowly, she reached into the satchel and grabbed hold of the bracelet. It was as if the metal knew a spell was being cast over Jastyn’s mind because at the mere touch of her fingers, she blinked, and the fog cleared. She walked backward, firmly holding the bracelet and regaining her composure.
“I’ve come to trade. Nothing else,” she added at Rua’s inquisitive eyebrow.
“Pity.”
Jastyn held the bracelet out. Rua’s eyes flickered at the rubies shimmering under the moonlight that had begun to fade behind encroaching clouds. “Well, you do work hard to impress, don’t you?”
Jastyn’s lips twitched in a smile. “This is from the Kingdom of Venostes, given to me by the Princess Aurelia Diarmaid. This is what I offer for a cure for my sister.”
A shadow shifted over them. They both glanced up as the clouds drifted past the moon, leaving them standing in nearly complete darkness. More clouds built overhead, dulling the stars. The air grew heavy, signaling what was sure to be a storm before the night was over.
Rua pulled Jastyn back to their conversation. “It’s rare that I’m offered something as precious as this.” Her eyes soaked up the rubies, then jumped to Jastyn. “You care for your half sister deeply.”
Jastyn nodded. “She doesn’t deserve to live half a life.”
Rua clucked, once again eyeing the bracelet. “Such a curse…to be so young and suffer as she does.”
Jastyn wondered how much the Red One knew of Alanna. It was common knowledge through the kingdom that many fae had the gift of Sight. Some could See stronger than others. There were hundreds of stories featuring humans making deals with or trying to outsmart different fae. Only a few people ended with the upper hand. It was difficult to deal with those who knew one’s strengths and weaknesses upon first glance.
It was quiet as Rua paced again, bracelet in hand. The sky rumbled, and drops of rain began to fall. Itching with irritation, Jastyn asked, “Well, what do you say?” Her boots were beginning to stick to the quickly dampening grass as more rain fell.
Rua, who had placed the bracelet on her own wrist, was taking in the jewelry under the increasing rain. After several moments, she said, “All business, you are. Don’t you get tired always working for something? It seems exhausting, constantly thinking two steps ahead only to fall three behind.”
The words hit Jastyn hard in her chest.
“Enough,” she said, her voice growing louder. “Do we have a deal? The bracelet for a cure.”
Rua sighed, her arm dropping to her side. “
Very well.” She turned, then vanished on the spot. Jastyn searched the dark in a panic, but there was a flash from behind her. Rua wrapped one hand around Jastyn’s waist while the other stretched out below Jastyn’s left arm. A clear vial stoppered with cloth was held between her thick thumb and forefinger. Her voice tickled Jastyn’s ear when she said, “Here you go.”
A clatter of thunder sent the rain into a steady downpour, and Jastyn blinked through the thickening strands of water before reaching out to take hold of the vial. Rua shifted again and reappeared before Jastyn, her fingers pushing the vial into Jastyn’s grasp.
“This will cure my sister?” Jastyn looked at what appeared to be faint green smoke swirling about the inside of the glass.
Rua, who was now swaying with her eyes closed and her neck craned to allow the rain to dance along her face, said, “It will lead you to the cure for what ails Alanna.”
Jastyn froze.
“This…this isn’t a cure?” She tightened her grip on the vial. The rain made it hard to see. “But we had a deal.”
“And I am a woman of my word,” Rua cooed, stepping close again, her bare feet nearly stomping out the dim saol until they stood chest-to-chest. Jastyn swiped at the rain falling into her eyes. Droplets ran from Rua’s temples and settled in the crease of a smile. Jastyn was about to respond when the bag slung over her shoulder shifted. There was a pop, and Rua held the bundle of gooseberries in her palm. She plucked one from inside the cloth, examining the bright orange of its skin. “To think, you weren’t even going to offer me these. Where are your manners, Jastyn Cipher?”
Furious now, Jastyn could only stand and watch Rua toss several gooseberries into her mouth, emitting a joyful moan with each bite. Through gritted teeth, Jastyn finally muttered, “We had a deal.”
Rua nodded. “Yes. This will help on your way to the cure. There is a journey ahead of you now.”
“But—”
“Our trade is done. Your bracelet for this. Take the vial to your half sister. Once emptied, deliver it to the western caves. There, a noble sacrifice will be required. After that, the cure will be yours.”
