by C S Patra
“Nine coins,” Kian murmured, opening his present and seeing the blue scarf. “You didn’t have to do this.”
“I needed to do it to thank you both for coming here with me. I saw your scarves and I know they won’t last much longer. Much like our shoes, we need thicker scarves. I would hate to see either of you get sick while going through the cold storm. This will help you both stay warm.”
“I’m speechless.” Alice looked at the colorful scarf that she had received. “I’ve never gotten anything like this before. I thought the scarf I had was enough, but this is so much better. How could I ever thank you, Vinnie?”
“Help me get rid of this curse and save these people. That is far more important to me than anything else,” Lavinia said. “Now tell me what else you’ve managed to see and find.”
“Besides the shoes, I’ve seen some vegetables and berries that we can take with us to eat. The man that is going to give us a ride has also offered us some firewood to take. I also saw some pots that we can use for cooking and some blankets to sleep with,” Alice said. “After we get something to eat, we can start shopping around and buying things.”
“That sounds wonderful. If nothing else, we’ll be helping some of these poor people with their businesses.” Lavinia looked down at the bottom of her glass. “I need to find out why help is not coming here on time.”
“I want to say it’s because your father is helping other places but I’m not sure if that’s the truth,” Kian sighed. “I’ve overheard them talking about it. It seems like he wants to, but something is holding him back. He said he would try to find another way.”
“How do you know this?’
“I was... well, you know.” He blushed. “It feels strange that you know this and I’m not punished for it. I know I was a nuisance, but I really wanted to help others. It just didn’t seem right that they had to wait for someone to do something. Maybe it was the wrong thing to do in terms of the law but it was the best thing to do at the moment.”
Lavinia began to understand where he was coming from. Kian was worried that these people were going to starve to death or worse if they weren’t helped. They needed money and resources as quickly as possible. “Well, now that I see this, I’m going to see if there’s any easier way to get aid here. I need to know all the places that need help and start sending things out.”
“The list is long, Your High... I mean, Vinnie.” He corrected himself. “I’m sorry. It’s going to take a while to get use to calling you by your name.”
“I know. It’s going to take me time to get used to hearing it.” She looked over as the server came to give them their food. “Anyway, I hope you are both hungry because I ordered our lunch. Are meat and potato pies fine for you?”
“I love them. I wish I could make a good meat and potato pie but that’s the one I haven’t been able to master,” Alice said, looking down at the scarf Vinnie had bought her. She was still touched by the gesture because she didn’t expect to get anything. The scarf that she had felt like enough back in the day, but this was better. “All my pies are decent but that’s it.”
“You do a far better job than you think,” Kian said as the server placed the food in front of them. “Oh, thank you!”
“I should be thanking you. You’re my biggest table all day.” The woman said. “I was expecting more people by now, but I guess no one’s coming.”
“Really?” Lavinia was surprised. “Has it always been this way?”
“Not always but business has been dying recently. I think it’s because no one can afford to eat here now. If they don’t bring money, I don’t get money,” she sighed. “I really do want to move from here, but I wouldn’t know where to go. I don’t have enough as it is. Sometimes what I make in one hour is all I’ll have for the entire day.”
“That’s terrible,” Alice murmured. “Is that true of everyone?”
“I’m afraid so. The owners have spoken about closing everything because they can’t afford to pay us. In addition to that, they don’t have enough food to give. The crops aren’t as good as they used to be, and neither is the meat. Of course, if it does close down, I won’t know what to do. It looks like I may have to leave the village.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry to put this on you. I hope you enjoy everything.”
“Thank you. I hope things get better as well.” Lavinia added as the server began to walk away. When she was gone, she turned to Kian and Alice. “That just doesn’t feel right at all. This woman will be out of a job because the business is dying? I don’t know if I can wait for help to come either.”
“There’s not much we can do now. We can’t make the rain fall so crops grow. We can’t get them better livestock or make enough money to support all the businesses,” Kian said. “We need to keep moving. I was looking at the map earlier and it turns out that this journey will be much longer than expected. We have more than just mountains and rivers to cross. There are three different lands we need to cross; a land of snow, a land of flowers, and a land of sugar. I suspect that it could take us at least a month to complete this journey.”
“A month? We are going to spend a month moving from land to land?” Alice repeated. “That’s much longer than I thought it would be. I’m not even sure if we’ll have enough strength to move through them.”
“I know. I’m trying to see if there are shortcuts we can take to each land. Most of these places have a means of transportation but they don’t go very far. In addition to that, we don’t know exactly where we need to be. Most witches who put curses live far away and we need to find them.” He pulled out the map and laid it in front of them, pointing to the different parts. “As you can see, each part is far from the other. Walking by foot to them is virtually impossible. The one that we are the closest too is probably the most dangerous of them all; the land of snow. Everything is filled with ice and there are blizzards every night. It’s basically a land of eternal winter.”
“Eternal winter?”
“Yes, Miss Alice. Only those who were born there can survive there. They know how to stand those cold, long nights. Even still, the weather is not the worst part about this land. It’s filled with all kinds of dangerous, magical creatures. I’ve heard about things such as ice dragons, lizards, and snakes that wander around. There are also dangerous bears and wolves, so we have to be cautious. We’re most certainly not going to be able to camp outside.”
“Well, my biggest concern is how we will get there,” Lavinia said. “How long does it take to go from this village to the land of ice?”
“We’re here,” he pointed to a spot on the map and then moved his other far from it, where a bigger piece of land was, “and that’s the land of ice. There is an ocean we will have to cross and that alone will probably take at least a day. If everything goes well and we don’t have any detours or problems, I would say it would take about ten days to get there, maybe less if we move quickly.”
“That’s a lot longer than I expected. It seems that I will be missing my birthday after all. I wonder how Themasa will handle that.”
“I don’t doubt the news will spread here too. We only spend one day at the inn and then we have to move again. The next town is a few miles away but since we are getting a ride, it won’t take very long to get there. I think we should hold off on buying the horse right now. I don’t think animal we purchase will be able to handle the cold for long.”
“So we’re just going to walk around in the snow?” Alice asked. “I don’t think we’ll survive long if that’s the case.”
“The one good thing is that we won’t have to walk much from here to there. The next town we head to has a train station. It’s much bigger and we can pick up far more supplies there. It’ll be much easier to carry them if we take the train.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do. We’ll spend the night here, get a few things we need, and then move out in the morning.” Alice looked down at her hands. “Plus I have to do one thing at night be
fore we get out of here. I think I know how I can help these people for a little bit of time.”
Lavinia looked over at her and immediately understood what that meant. “Alice, are you sure this is a good idea? What if…”
“It is better if I use it on ground than on someone else,” Alice whispered. “I don’t think they can wait for long, Vinnie. They can’t wait for the rain to come and plants don’t sprout out so quickly. However, if they had a little help, then maybe things might be better for them. They’ll be able to have enough food and crops for a few months when I’m done.”
“And you are certain that you won’t be caught?”
“Knowing how quickly my powers work?” She grinned. “No one will suspect a thing.”
Chapter 12
Later that night, Alice found herself in a few fields and she saw just how bad some of the crops were. In some places, nothing was growing at all. There were no roots or leaves coming out of the dirt but that was about to change. At the first farm, she stood in the darkness and made sure that no one was watching her. She had to do this fast and make sure that the plants didn’t grow out of control. As she had learned from years ago, a poke into the ground would make a few plants pop up.
“We have to do this without alerting anyone.” Kian told her, keeping an eye out for people. Both he and Lavinia were watching her back. Light and Dark had also come along to help lead her down the way. It was hard to see out here, so she appreciated all the help. “Are you ready, Miss Alice?”
“I am.” Alice kneeled down and took off one of the gloves. She had found a dry patch that had nothing growing from it but that was going to change. Gently, she brushed her bare fingers against the dirt and sprouts started to come out. Then she got up quickly and moved away as the plants started to grow. Before she knew it, stalks of corn were forming and there would be enough of that to help this family. “That should do it! They will be fine for a few months, I think. They should be able to sell this and get some money out of it.”
“That’s wonderful!” Lavinia whispered. “Now let’s do another house and see what grows from that.”
They went next door and Alice tried it again. This time, this farm grew out tomatoes and peppers that would sell well at the market. Lavinia was trying her hardest to keep her excitement down, but she was enjoying this. It was nice to see Alice actually being able to touch something and help others in this manner. Some of these people were going to wake up to a surprise.
“There’s another farm here.” Kian pointed across the way. “They have some sprouts, but I think they could use some help.”
“I’ll make those sprouts grow. Let’s see.” Alice went to that garden and touched the dirt. The sprouts started to get bigger and bloomed into cucumber plants. There were also flowers that were coming out and someone could use them to sell at markets. “Isn’t this great? Now some of these people won’t have to worry too much about food.”
“It’s good but it may not be enough,” Lavinia said. “We’re going to have to come back and bring things back to life in here. No, not only here but everywhere we go. We’re going to help people.”
“Which is fine, Vinnie, but we also have a journey to go on. You told me that you wanted this curse removed and I vowed to help you.” Kian reminded her. “We can help on the way but we can’t waste too much time.”
“You’re right. As soon as we finish here, we need to plan the next move. Do you know anything about the next town?”
“I know it’s bigger than this village and I assume business will be a little better there. However, because it is bigger, it’s more competitive. The more popular places will get more customers than a smaller one will, and they will be more expensive.” Kian warned her. “Please save up the gold coins that you have. We will need them.”
“You need not worry about money. I have enough to get us whatever we need.” She looked over at Alice who had finished touching the final garden and motioned her to come over. “Okay, I think we are done here. These people will be fine for now.”
“Then let’s go.” Alice put her glove back on. “We should get to back to the inn and start planning how we’re going to get to the land of ice.”
“I’ve been doing some reading about it earlier. There are definitely a lot of creatures in the area so it’s best that we stay close to towns and where people are living. If we have to go out, we cannot go alone. The temperature drops very low at night so it’s best to stay inside where it’s warm,” Lavinia said. “I’m glad that we brought those shoes earlier because they are said to keep our feet warm and be good for walking on snow and ice. The material is tough on the outside.”
Alice nodded as they all headed back to the hotel. After they had eaten, they went to the shoe store to get some shoes that were better for resisting the cold. The shop owner had told them that this material was the finest found throughout the land. When they had tried them on and made sure they were comfortable, they bought them, and Lavinia made sure to give the man a little extra money.
“Two gold coins isn’t enough for this. I think you deserve a little more.” She told him, giving him fifteen gold coins. The man was a little surprised and hesitant to take it. He kept looking at them like they were going to bite him. “It’s all right. Those coins are yours. Use them to buy whatever you need.”
“I can’t take this, miss. You should keep that for yourself!” He insisted. “I promise I can sell more shoes and get enough coins!”
“I know you can, but I want to pay you what you deserve to have,” Lavinia said. “Be well, my friend. I hope more good things come your way.”
That wasn’t the only person that she had given extra coins too. She left some with the tavern owner as well as the woman who served them. Before they left the inn tomorrow, she planned to leave something for the people over there too. Things were moving smoothly but they still had a very long way to go.
As they got closer to the inn, Lavinia saw a sign tacked up on the wall and read it to herself. To no one’s surprise, her family realized that she had disappeared and were offering a reward for anyone who could find her. Since there was no photo of her, they could only mention what she looked like. Based on the description, it could have fit many different people. She would be safe as long as her father’s guards did not come over here. They would be the first ones to recognize her, so they had to stay one step ahead.
“They found out, didn’t they?” Kian murmured, reading the sign. “Now I’m not sure where they are looking but I assume they will check all of Themasa first. Then they will try to head in one direction or another. I’m just hoping they don’t head in the same direction that we are going.”
“What are we going to do if they do find us?” Alice asked. “I told Tamara where I’m going. You don’t suppose she’ll tell them anything, do you?”
“I doubt Tamara knows that you went to help Vinnie. She can probably figure out that went to find a cure for your curse and that I’m helping you. She just doesn’t know that we’re also helping Vinnie in the process.”
“If they do try to do anything, I’ll be there to back you up. I asked you to come with me, remember?” Lavinia said. “You are doing this because the princess wanted you to do it. They cannot argue with that. You are safe with me.”
“I believe you, Vinnie. Now let’s get inside quickly. The clouds are rolling in and it will be completely dark soon.” Kian looked up at the sky as the clouds covered up the moon. “Let’s go.”
Back at the inn, Kian had taken the map out again and shown them the road that they were going to be taking. It was longer than either had expected but it was also the safer route. The other one was shorter, but it would be cutting through the woods and those were filled with all kinds of thieves and dangerous creatures lurking about. Most travelers that went down here were often attacked and lost their valuables on the way. Those were the lucky ones since they were the ones who lived.
“I hope you don’t mind t
aking the longer road. It’ll be better for all of us. The whole journey may take half of the day, but it will be worth it. The one good thing is that we won’t have to travel by foot because that would have taken the whole day,” Kian explained. “I think we have enough food and supplies from here to move forward. We should leave in the morning because that’s when our ride is planning to go into town.”
“Then it’s best that we go to sleep now,” Lavinia decided. “We’ll have plenty of time to plan the rest of our route tomorrow. We should get as much as rest as possible.”
“I agree. It’s already very late.” Alice let out a yawn. “I’m going to head to bed now. We have a long day ahead of us.”
“I’ll go into my room then.” Kian got up and headed toward the door. “Sleep well, both of you. I will see you in the morning.”
Once he was gone, Alice went to change her clothes in the washroom. This was the first time she was sharing a room with Lavinia. They were going to sleep in the same room and talk with each other. Now she could find out more about this princess that she had just met a few days ago. She could learn about her curse and how they could work together to remove it. It had to be hard for her because she couldn’t touch living things. She had to be careful everywhere she went. It was no wonder the king and queen kept Lavinia a secret from the world. They worried that she would hurt someone.
