by J E Mueller
Continuing on, I grumbled to myself about the prophet. Prophets’ talents were too strong at times, and it bothered me that somehow this one knew my name. If I saw her again I’d have to ask if it was her gift that gave her that knowledge or if she had come to that answer another way.
For now, I wanted to get as far away from this disaster, and her, as possible. I wanted all of the new problems in my life to be gone and to throw myself into something else until the ache I felt faded and I could move on with my life once more.
2
By the time I woke up, it was late morning. I had covered a great deal of distance in my fury and heartbreak, but sleep had been fleeting and restless. I felt hung-over from the emotions lingering inside of me. With practiced ease, I swept the emotional entanglements aside. I could sort through them later.
The sky promised decent weather today. Only a few clouds hung around and the sun was nearly at its peak - maybe another two hours before noon. As I looked around I came to realize that I knew where I was.
Getting up, I rubbed the dirt and dust from myself as best I could and rummaged through my pack for something to eat. I knew nearby would be a lake where I could refill my water-skins, and just past that was a town. It would be a great spot to find some fresh food and perhaps some real shelter.
The old pain threatened to overwhelm me as I fondly remembered staying in this town a number of times. I always left before I could get too attached to where I was and who I stayed with, lest they all ended up dead.
I wasn’t born a nightmare; I just grew into one. A curse one is born with cannot come into the world with ease if it is already at its full strength. Curses grow and mature as you do. I was born with an intense fever, and as the days went on, many were concerned it would kill me.
It became apparent as I continued to not only live but thrive, that my natural temperature was quite high. When it was clear I was fine, and that my temperature wasn’t changing the rumors began. It started as softly spoken whispers. Eventually, word reached my mother that the castle thought I was still cursed and that mother had been misled. Mother hushed the rumors and limited the staff around me in an attempt to keep their fearful words at bay.
My name day was an immense celebration - a show of new beginnings. To demonstrate how much my mother believed my life would bring joy and open new doors to our realm, she named me Kikara. This was in honor of a strong-willed queen from long ago who was said to have brought about many wonderful changes and broke barriers as the first woman to rule our land. Quickly, my name became Key for short.
At first, growing up was the same as it was for any young child. The biggest difference was that my body was always too warm. Everyone made a point not to touch me because sometimes it felt like my skin could burn them.
My siblings knew the truth.
They were expected to help defeat the curse so that our family could be at peace. A warring royal family meant a ruined kingdom, and mother made sure we all had that engraved into our brains. Never once did she speak of the curse as a negative thing, but rather a gift to learn about and work with.
My siblings and I had our good moments, and moments we all chose to forget. There was a fairly wide age gap among the six of us. The two oldest were training to be leaders at ages nine and ten when I came into the world. The others were seven, five, and four. Our appearances were often all the proof one needed to know we were family. Even when we fought there was no denying our kinship. Mother had eyes like a lake; blue and filled with hope and life. All of us shared that feature with her. The only trait we didn’t share with her was our hair. Instead of a lovely shade of wheat, all of us had deep chestnut colored hair much like our deranged father. I always loved the color, even though I hated the one from which it came.
The first sign of my blossoming curse was one that could not be ignored. Though I was only three at the time, the moment was burned vividly in my mind.
We were outside in the courtyard. My brother, Isaac, and I were playing with his toy swords and he was showing me what he had been learning. I kept getting bored with his tutorial and wanted to play, not master some technique Isaac thought was fun. Mother was just out of sight somewhere in the gardens, and I remembered that most of the others were there as well. Such little facts slip my memory. Probably for the better.
We were playing roughly when Isaac disarmed me. Who can say what occurs in the mind of a child, but suffice to say I was overwhelmed by this act and I started to sob. He retrieved the sword and tried showing me how to hold it more effectively so that I wouldn’t easily lose my grip. This was something he had done countless times. And yet...
The screaming began unexpectedly. He clutched his hand that had only a moment before touched mine. Isaac’s face scrunched up in pain and Mother, her maids, and my two sisters came running.
Before they could reach him, he fell over to the ground, silent as a mouse.
Shock was plastered to my face. I was unsure what could have possibly happened. Someone said Isaac wasn’t breathing and the maids ran for the healer. Mother asked what had happened. I explained all I knew, which was nothing, but it dawned on her what was going on. Carefully, she put her hands on my shoulders and had me sit down out of sight. She urged me to stay there.
Minutes crept by and it felt like it was taking hours for her to come back. Was Isaac going to be all right? I dared not move or make a sound.
In the end, it wasn’t Mother who returned, but instead a healer. She looked grave, but not unkind. For a moment I stared at her before I recognized her as Mother’s personal healer.
“My darling Key,” she said softly as she sat down next to me. “I need you to listen to some very important words. Can you do that for me?”
I nodded. “Yes, miss.”
“You are going to be four very soon,” she began slowly. It was less than two weeks until my birthday. “You see, when you were born you had a hidden gift. A magic gift. We know it’s there inside of you, but we don’t know exactly what it is.” She paused, considering her next words carefully. “Today, it looks like some of that… that gift decided to shine through.”
“I didn’t see anything though,”
The healer nodded and continued. “It’s not a visible gift, like a storm with lightning. It’s one that lies deep inside.” She placed her hand over her heart for emphasis.
“Like you?” I said, pointing at her.
“Yes!” She breathed in relief that I linked it to something positive in that moment. “Healers can use their hidden magic to make small colds vanish and make you less sick during the big colds.”
“And keep your cuts from getting infected!”
“Very good. You remember well!” she cheered me on. “Now, your gift is different, but hidden just like that. It will keep growing and getting stronger all the time. As you get older we’ll learn more about it, but for right now we just need to be extremely careful.”
“I’ll be careful,” I assured her with all my heart.
“I know you will, dear.” The healer took a deep breath. “Today there was an accident no one could do anything about. I want you to know no one is at fault. We are all learning a new lesson today. Please understand, my dear Key, it is not your fault.”
I nodded as confusion set back in. I hadn’t done anything wrong, so of course, it wasn’t my fault.
“Your brother, Isaac, is dead.” She paused as I processed the words. I knew then that being dead meant never seeing the person again. It was all the understanding such a young child could have.
“So, I won’t see him anymore?” I asked.
“That’s right. He has gone to the Lady in the Sky.” We both looked up as if an image would suddenly appear.
I got straight to the point, as any child did. “How did he die? What happened?”
“Unlike the healers, you have a fire inside of you. Most people can’t live through a fire but you can. Fire will not harm you,” the healer explained as simply as she could before getting u
p for a moment to pace. “You see, it's hidden inside of you, but it can get out if your skin touches another’s.”
“That’s never happened before.” I looked at my hands in disbelief. They looked the same as they always had.
“I know, and it likely won't happen again for a while, but it will happen again. As you get bigger, so will your gift. We just need to learn more about it, so to keep safe, wear long clothes and never touch anyone without gloves,” the healer declared. She offered a simple solution, but it implied much more than I understood then.
I nodded, “Okay, but how will I take a bath then?”
The healer gave a small, sad laugh. She was glad I was taking this well, but also knew I didn’t fully understand what was going on yet. “We’ll figure something out, Kikara. We’ll figure it all out in the end.”
Carefully the healer handed me a pair of thick gloves to put on. They were slightly too big, and likely my sister Elena’s old riding gloves. Without question, I put them on and followed the healer.
Once inside, she said to wait in my room and that Mother would be around shortly, but I didn’t listen and instead skipped off to find Mother myself.
I must have checked all the wrong places before finding her. By the time I had reached her the healer was already speaking with her. Curious, I stood just outside the open door and listened.
“With new light to your daughter's problem, I think we figured out what is wrong with your health, my lady,” the healer told her.
“What could my health have to do with Key?” she asked tiredly, grief thick in her voice.
“Her curse. It’s related to touch. As you already know, we healers can only fix things that have been done to the body. We cannot undo things that the body does to itself, and it seems that is why we can only dull the pain that slowly keeps coming back to you.”
There was silence before Mother spoke again. “I don’t see how Key has anything to do with this.”
The healer patiently explained, “While you were carrying her, still unborn to this world, the curse was placed. She grew inside you for many months while the curse slowly wrapped around and took hold of her. While her magic is delivered through touch, it appears to destroy from the inside out. Her magic was -and is still- weak enough that it is unlikely to kill right away. But it was enough, and slowly her magic will be your end. Your body will keep attacking itself from the inside out until there is no longer anything we can do but let you pass.”
“Be gone. I need time to think on this. Make sure there isn’t any information that could be missing. I won’t believe this is her fault,” Mother spat angrily.
“Of course, my lady, we will meet again once we are certain.”
I fled to my room before the healer or Mother could see me. I had no idea who I passed along the way but didn’t slow my breakneck pace until I was safely locked behind my own door. I wasn’t sure then what everything meant, but two things were certain. It was my fault, and it would be my fault again.
As the town came in sight I felt a little better. No one here knew anything of what had happened last night, and I needed that. When entering a village where you aren’t well known you needed a good back-story as to why you were there. People became suspicious of strangers, even more so when it was not the normal time of year for trading. Since I had been in this town a few times before, I knew the right places to go where I would find familiar faces.
As I walked, ignoring the looks of strangers, I could feel the exhaustion start to spread through my body. I had walked for about eight hours, with only two pauses: listening to that nonsense of a prophet and sleeping briefly. I was certain that I had traveled about twenty-five to thirty miles. With the adrenaline that had fueled me, I was betting closer to thirty.
The normal inns where travelers stayed were never far from the main gate. I wasn’t looking for one for everyday travelers, so I pressed forward. I only had to move down the main thoroughfare and down a couple of side streets. My pace wasn’t very quick, but even it took me little time to spot my destination. Reaching the inn I sought, I pushed the door open without pausing. Kegan, the innkeeper, was yelling at one of her cooks. I smiled and inhaled the wonderful smell of baking bread and fresh meats simmering in a pan hidden just out of sight.
Seeing me enter, she stopped yelling at the cook for a moment and turned to yell at me. “Child, it’s not even the cold season yet! Why are you back so soon?” She didn’t wait for a response before turning back to yell into the kitchen. “And if you break another basket of eggs that’ll be your death!”
Kegan would have had beautiful, dark red curls, if she put time into them. Instead, they were tossed into a heap on top of her head. I still thought they were wonderful. She had a strong, curvy figure. Years of lifting heavy bags of flour and eating delicious food made her a gorgeous person who took no lip from anyone. When her husband passed of a terrible sickness several years back, no one had questioned her ownership of the inn. It had always been hers.
“I’m glad to see the staff is still so friendly here,” I replied loudly enough for her to hear and took a seat at the bar.
“After all I’ve done for ya, you’re mocking me in my own home?” Kegan tossed her rag at me good-naturedly as she took a seat next to me. “What's the word outside of town?”
“The crops were pretty terrible this year, and that makes for shabby traveling,” I said, summing up facts that didn’t apply to me but went with the story I had been building for years. I had heard complaints that there wasn’t enough rain for a good harvest this year and a lot of the extra help that is normally hired for fieldwork wasn’t needed. I was glad I had kept that in mind.
“Child, just settle down in this nice town and be done with it!” she exclaimed but didn’t press. “‘S'pose you’ll be wanting rumors of places for work with lodging, ‘eh?” Kegan got up and walked behind the counter.
“You’re always my knight in shining armor,” I smiled. Work was exactly what I needed right now; the busier the job the better.
“Yeah, yeah,” she muttered as she shifted through a few papers. Kegan was known for her good eye and keen judgment which let her find the right person for the right job. She had started making suggestions over a decade ago, and now people would go to her to find the help they desired. “Got a lot of requests actually, so you came at a good time. This one’s your best bet if they haven’t found anyone.” She handed me a scribbled down name, request, and address.
“You make your town a better place,” I took the paper from her. A few times I had witnessed Kegan giving someone the verbal kick in the rear they needed and then sending them off somewhere to get their lives back on track.
“It’s a truth they all know. That’s why I get so many job rumors these days. Think they could post an ad themselves? Now, what about lunch?”
“Sorry Kegan, I’m pretty empty pocketed right now. I’ve got some rations left, though. Maybe next week,” I said, getting up.
“Nonsense. Sit,” she said before heading back into the kitchen.
While she disappeared from view I looked at the note:
Needing a full-time maid, and cook with a possibility of minding the storefront. Room and board. Young family, owns shop. VanEllen residence.
There wasn’t a lot of information about the family, but if this was Kegan’s recommendation she probably knew them. Without another thought about it, I set my bag down in front of myself and hopped back up on the stool. Kegan’s food was the best in town, and turning down a meal was unheard of.
While she was gone I took in the sight of the inn to see there were a handful of people scattered around. A young couple sat next to the small fire cuddled close, both ladies whispering into one another’s ear and giggling as they moved closer. A few tables from them sat a scruffy middle-aged gentleman with a better-groomed comrade. I had no idea what work they could be discussing and before I could fully ponder a scenario I heard a strange hoot come from the other side of the room. Turning, I saw a
short old lady with a covered cage. She was ignoring the sounds of the inn and instead concentrating on reading a book in front of her with a magnifying glass.
Kegan soon reemerged with warm soup and bread and began talking about all the drama in the town and how I had missed the royal investigation. I didn’t want to give myself away but knowing this news was important to me. Staying away from my family was still necessary if the remainder of them wanted to live.
I kept my tone neutral. “Investigation? What is there to investigate?” I asked between mouthfuls. Kegan’s food was good -too good to put down- and she didn’t care much for manners.
“That’s the thing, they had this poster with them, the guards did. Looking for the runaway princess from years ago. Lot of good that’ll do. Likely she’s far gone or dead. No one knows why she ran, lots of rumors though.”
“What's the best rumor you’ve heard about that? Anything likely?” This would never have not amused me.
“Years ago, they say the dead king Ramulus sold her soul. Maybe the demons got her,” Kegan mused while she held her hands up like claws to emphasize her point. “Some say our current king, her brother, was a real brute when he was young and scared her off. Don’t know at what age she ran so it’s hard to say. They say now she’d be about nineteen? Twenty? Best rumor is that she hated her mother and poisoned the beloved queen. Everyone found out and chased her off!”
She thought for a moment before shaking her head, “They’d issue a warrant if that were true, though. So many righteous and evil rumors. None worth their weight. They did give out her name, Kikara or something, and left some good posters around. Every picture is different based on what the family remembers though, so I don’t expect much will come of it.”
She went back to digging in her papers before pulling out a drawing that looked a little too much like me. Kegan eyed it and then me for a moment.
