The Princess and the Snowbird

by Mette Ivie Harrison

  She gasped as something moved from a rock into the water. A splash came up, and she saw a face. It was almost human, and for a moment she thought of stories her father had told her of mermaids and other half-human creatures that lived in the sea, their magic so strong that they never returned to fully human form.

  But then she saw the whiskers on the head and a flash of flippers. A sea lion!

  It was a wrench to move from the joy of that feeling to the terror and hopelessness she could sense of the boy from her dream. He was in a small square building near the docks to the south.

  The sun was bright now, and Liva could see other humans milling about.

  She passed by the boy’s building once, then stopped and turned back.

  There were metal bars on the windows and guards at the door.

  She tried to cross close enough to call out to the boy softly in the language of a gull, which he would surely know if he lived close to the water, but the guards saw her and motioned her away roughly.

  She retreated into an alley to watch, then went back when she saw the two guards moving to sit and eat with their backs turned to the jail. Quietly she moved back and put her hands to the wall of the jail. Suddenly a voice cried out behind her, “You there!”

  Liva looked behind her and saw two young men. One of them she recognized—she had chased him as a bear in the forest. He had curling hair and fingernails bitten down to the quick. “What are you doing? This is the Hunter’s jail. No one should be near it.”

  “Karl, don’t get so angry,” the other young man said, hanging back.

  The Hunter? Was he the man with graying hair she had seen in her dream, the man who had caused the boy’s parents to burn at the stake?

  Liva began to move away from the jail. She would have to come back later, sometime when she would not be seen.

  “I asked you a question. Who are you?” Karl demanded.

  Liva turned and fled.

  “Stop! Stop her!” Karl’s voice shouted after her.

  She could hear the footsteps of the two boys chasing her. They were faster, and they knew the city better. However, they were not running for their lives, and she was.

  Liva crossed a cobblestone street and ran down it, heart leaping in her chest as if she were in a hunt. Then she realized she was, but she had never been the one hunted before. She wished she knew the terrain better, and hoped the street did not end abruptly.

  Twice figures stood in her way and she slid around them. She had to cross the path of a horse and was able to ask it for help, for it had retained some of its wild speech.

  Hampered by the cart it was pulling, the horse did what it could to get in the way of the chasing boys. Liva lifted her skirt and ran still faster. She was not used to running on rock, and the jarring in her spine ran up her back and into her head.

  Liva turned a corner, away from the ocean, then turned another corner, back toward it. She thought she had lost the boys behind her, and let herself slow to catch her breath. But as soon as she did, she heard the cry behind her again, “Catch her! For the Hunter! For the Hunter! Catch her!”

  If they did not know she had the aur-magic yet, they would soon. She could not let herself be taken.

  Yet now she had no idea which way she had come. She had a sense of where the boy in the prison was, behind her, and of where the ocean was, but the rest of the town was a blur.

  She ran toward a man who was holding a square frame of wood very gently, as if afraid it would break. There was something strange about it. But before she could tell what it was, she had run into it, and felt the impact of her head as if on stone. She blinked and put a hand to her head, saw blood on it, and felt the warm wetness dripping down her face and into the shift at her neck. She heard the man next to her shouting, “You’ve broken my glass!” and then there were footsteps coming toward her.

  She tried to escape but could do no more than crawl. She felt arms grabbing her from behind, and she used her magic to fight them. It was a mistake.

  “She has it! The aur-magic!!” she heard dimly.

  But then Liva’s vision wavered and the world went dark.

  When she woke, her head throbbed and she felt only pain, no magic. It was still early morning, and she was being dragged back toward the boy’s jail, away from the ocean.

  Liva put a hand to her throat, and felt a necklace around it, with a stone hanging on the end of it. There was something very wrong in the stone—it made it difficult for Liva to breathe. With every step, the stone from the necklace swung out and then hit her in the chest. Each stroke made her light-headed, and more distant from her magic.

  She could not get away from it. It pressed on her as if it were a hundred times its true weight. She tried to look into it with her magic, to understand it so that she could break its power. She could see the layers it was made of, each as thin as a leaf, but combined tightly with death.

  At last the movement of her captors stopped and Liva saw that she was at the jail again.

  “Here she is. Another one for the Hunter,” said Karl triumphantly. He pulled her up roughly by one shoulder and thrust her toward the two men who stood as guards, one much younger than the other.

  “Nice,” said the younger one, staring at Liva, drawing close enough that she could smell the fish on his breath. He moved closer and ran a finger across her jaw.

  Liva flinched.

  He laughed. “She’s a fresh one. Not from here, is she? She doesn’t have the look of it.”

  “What does it matter where she’s from? It only matters if she has aur-magic. The Hunter will be pleased with this one,” said Karl, swaggering.

  “You think this will lift you a notch in his eyes? You think he will ever see you as more than a street boy?”

  “I will do whatever it takes. I only have to prove that to him.”

  “I’ll tell him.” The older guard looked pitying. “Now, go.”

  Karl retreated backward through the streets until he had disappeared and Liva was left alone with the guards.

  “Like to give me a kiss to make me sweeter?” suggested the young guard in a voice low and thick. He cupped a hand around Liva’s head.

  But the older guard stepped in front of him.

  “You’re not to touch her. You know that,” he said. Liva could see the sword at his side, but wondered whether he ever needed to use it. His hands seemed just as deadly. “The Hunter will see to her first.”

  “I don’t see why he cares if we touch her or not. She dies just the same in the fire,” said the younger guard.

  “If you expect his coin, you follow his rules,” said the older guard. He yanked Liva forward.

  The younger guard opened the door with a key, and the older guard pressed Liva inside.

  It was very dark. She could just see the little boy cowering in the corner. There was an intense smell of fear and human waste.

  The older guard nudged her, and she whimpered.

  The stone around her neck had smothered her aur-magic and with it her courage. She had never been inside a dwelling like this before. She had slept in a cave with her mother and father at her side, but there had always been an opening at her back, half of one end of the cave. She had always been able to smell the cleanness and the life of the woods beyond.

  Here she felt as though she were being buried alive.

  She screamed and kicked and thrashed.

  The older guard held her firmly. “It goes easier if you don’t fight,” he told her.

  But she tried to call out for help, to anyone nearby, animal or human, to the snowbird she had seen flying overhead. To her mother, to Jens.

  Then the younger guard shoved her and she knocked her head again. She felt herself falling, and then tasted the dirt floor against her mouth. There was a click as the door at the front was locked once more.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Jens

  JENS WOKE UP just in time to catch sight of the kestrel flying south over his head. He turned and saw that
the space where Liva had snuggled next to him was empty.

  Where had she gone?

  He saw a scratched drawing in the dirt that at first he could not make out. But then he realized it was a map of the path from forest to ocean.

  Liva had found out about the Hunter somehow, and she had gone to avenge her father’s death. Though he could not go as fast as a kestrel, Jens followed after her frantically, toward Tamberg-on-the-Coast. With every step he had a growing feeling of fear. He had to bring Liva safely back home. He would fight the Hunter or the king or any human or animal that stood between him and Liva.

  It was not easy to make his way through the forest. Because of his lack of magic, he could travel without fear that animals would attack him. But that did not make the trees part for him, or streams dry up, or the day longer. He did not have time to catch food to eat, so he went without. A few berries he found along the way were all that he allowed himself. He did not stop when it was night, but went on. He could only think of Liva facing the Hunter and his stone knife. If she had her aur-magic taken from her, he did not think she would survive the loss.

  It was the afternoon of the second day when Jens found himself looking down on the town and the ocean beyond it. He could see no sign of Liva, but he would find her somehow.

  He picked his way down the forest path and toward the edge of the town. He walked along, his shoulders hunched around his ears, his every sense confused with new experience. So many sounds, smells, tastes, textures, sights, and colors. So many different faces seeming to blend together.

  His clothing was no worse than the clothing of some of the townsfolk he saw. A few were even dirtier than he was and wore shirts with ragged holes.

  At a water trough that was close to the center of the town, he saw a woman who looked kind, and old enough to be his mother. “Excuse me,” he said.

  The woman turned to him. “What’s that?” she asked sharply.

  It must be obvious to her that he was not from Tamberg-on-the-Coast. “I’m looking for someone,” he said. “A friend. A girl. I wondered if you might have seen her.”

  “A girl from one of the villages in the forest? No. I haven’t seen anyone like that, and I wouldn’t want to.”

  “What about the Hunter? Do you know where he is? I want to speak to him. Maybe he has seen her.”

  The woman’s eyes narrowed. “The Hunter would only notice her if she has the aur-magic. Is that what you’re saying? You’re looking for a girl with the aur-magic?”

  “No,” said Jens. He had gone about this all wrong.

  “Do you have the aur-magic yourself? Perhaps I should call the Hunter’s men and tell them. I’ll get a fine reward if it is true.” She stared at him.

  “I don’t have the aur-magic,” said Jens, wondering if the woman could tell whether he was telling the truth or not.

  “Good for you, then.”

  “The girl is just a friend of mine. I am worried for her because she has never been to town before.”

  “Then why did she come alone? Girls shouldn’t do such things.” The woman scowled and moved off.

  Jens watched several people come and go at the water trough before he chose another person to approach. This time it was a young boy who looked small for his age and had bright eyes. Jens thought the boy might see more than he told anyone about.

  He walked up to the boy. “My name is Jens,” he said.

  The boy said nothing.

  “I need your help. I’m looking for a friend who is lost, and I think she may be in danger.”

  The boy looked him up and down. “She has aur-magic?” he whispered.

  Jens took a chance on the boy. He looked around and nodded. “Do you know where she would be if the Hunter caught her?” Jens did not know whether Liva had been caught. She was smart and strong in aur-magic. But she had never been in a town before, and this was where the Hunter had power.

  “There is a jail,” said the boy. He pointed toward the docks. “It is small, but that is where he holds those he is waiting to burn. There is a public square nearby, where the bonfire is lit.”

  “Thank you,” said Jens. Then he headed toward the docks, the smell of the ocean guiding him. He had reached the dock without finding the jail or the square where a bonfire could be built and was coming back in a circle when he saw Karl.

  His cruel face and curly hair were unmistakable.

  As soon as he saw him, Jens ducked to the side and hid his face as best he could.

  He waited anxiously as Karl passed by, wishing there were trees or bushes around to hide in. When Karl had gone far enough ahead, Jens followed after him. Karl looked to be doing very well. He wore a jacket that had been tailored to him, decorated with gold buttons and trim. He strode with a swagger that had only been developing when Jens had seen him a few days ago. Clearly Karl had earned a recent reward, but whether it had to do with Dofin or with Liva, Jens did not know.

  Jens had trouble weaving in and out of the crowds of people. He turned a corner, sure that he had lost Karl. Then he saw him just beyond a large pit in the ground that looked as though it was full of ashes. Jens had to look away.

  Karl stopped at a small building, hardly more than a shed, though it was built with thick wood and there were no windows in it. Two adult men stood out front, one younger than the other, but both were well muscled and armed with swords.

  This must be the jail.

  Karl talked easily with the guards, and Jens held his breath so that he could hear everything Karl said. He laughed about the girl from the forest who had come directly to the jail and then run from it with a speed and uncanniness that proved her aur-magic.

  Liva.

  Jens waited until Karl had gone. Then he opened his pouch and stared at his possessions. There was only one thing that would be seen as valuable by these men of the town. It was the golden half circlet with the ruby set into it. He knew that the hound had not meant for him to sell it for money, but what else could he do? She would surely not want her daughter to be burned by the Hunter’s men, either.

  Jens took out the half circlet and closed his pouch. Then he walked past the guards casually. And then a second time, holding out the half circlet so that it would glint in the late-afternoon sun.

  The younger guard turned and stared at it, nudging the other.

  Jens stepped forward. “You would like this?” he asked.

  “What do you want for it?” asked the younger guard.

  The older one shook his head sternly, but the younger one ignored him. “Tell me.”

  “I want you to open the lock to the jail and let the girl inside go.”

  “Only the girl?” asked the younger guard.

  Jens felt guilty, thinking who else might be inside, and how they would be just as innocent with aur-magic as Liva. But he did not dare trust the guard to let all his prisoners go. One might be let go by mistake. More than that, and there would be no excuses.

  “Only the girl,” said Jens.

  “Give it here,” said the guard. “And I’ll open the door.”

  “Open the door first, and then I will give it to you,” said Jens.

  “Clever, aren’t you?” said the guard.

  Jens threw the half circlet into the air to let the light shine on it. Then he caught it and looked up. The guards stared. But Jens shrugged and put it back in his pouch. “If you are not interested,” he said, and pretended to walk away.

  “Wait!” called the guard.

  Jens turned back.

  “The bauble for the girl.”

  “Yes,” said Jens.

  The younger guard took out his key and moved to the lock.

  “You’re a fool,” said the older guard.

  “I’ll share the coin I get for it. All you have to do is to stay quiet.”

  “Quiet as the grave,” muttered the older guard.

  But in a moment the door was open.

  “Liva!” Jens called.

  She did not come out.

  “D
on’t know what’s wrong with her,” said the guard. “Must have hit her too hard.” He smiled broadly and showed several missing teeth.

  “You get nothing unless she comes out.” Jens had a terrible feeling. What if they had hurt her? She would have fought with them, turned into any animal shape she could.

  The younger guard went into the jail and carried a limp Liva out.

  She looked pale, and her eyes were closed, but her chest was moving with breath.

  “You see? She’s not dead.”

  Jens nodded, relieved. Then he noticed there was something around her neck. A stone of some kind.

  A white stone, like the one on the knife.

  Jens’s stomach clenched.

  He lunged forward, but the younger guard held Liva back. “Throw the bauble to me first,” he said.

  Jens threw the half circlet as hard as he could, past the edge of the jail into a dark corner.

  The younger guard tumbled Liva’s body to his companion and ran for his reward.

  Jens reached for Liva, but now the older guard held his knife to Liva’s throat. “She waits for the Hunter,” growled the older guard.

  “But—,” protested Jens. “I paid you!”

  “You paid enough to see her, to know she lives. Not enough for more than that.” The younger guard had come back, and the half circlet was nowhere to be seen, except on the smile across his face.

  The older guard took the unconscious Liva back into the jail and locked it once more. She would not even know that Jens had come for her.

  “No!” shouted Jens. He punched the younger guard’s face but was kicked down. The older guard came back and the two worked together to hurt Jens. Dizzy, blood in his mouth, Jens heard voices behind him and realized Karl had come, along with several other boys his age.

  But Jens had used the hound’s half circlet. It was gone, and he had gotten very little in return for it. He should never have wasted it like that, though he knew he would do it all again, just for the hope of freeing Liva.

  “Who is this?” asked Karl of the guards.

  “He tried to bribe us,” said the younger guard.