Beasts and Maidens

by M.E. Timmons

  Chapter 2

  It was cold when Selene woke up the next morning. She shivered and pulled her scratchy wool blanket tighter around her small body. Normally Dahlia would scold her for such an act, since they shared the bed, but Dahlia wasn’t there to do so. Selene missed her suddenly, and she hoped the week would go by fast.

  She heard her mother call from downstairs, and she remembered that she was supposed to help with the laundry, which was her least favourite chore. She groaned and sat up in bed. She wished there was a fire in the fireplace in the corner of the tiny room, but no one had thought to light it in the summer. It was still the beginning of summer, however, so there was still the crispness of spring in the air.

  Selene shuddered when the cool air touched her body as she untangled herself from her blankets. She quickly changed into a simple brown cotton dress and tied on her apron, which had once been bright white but was now yellowing and worn from years of use. She pulled her curly red hair into a tight bun at the base of her neck, and then she headed down the narrow stairway to find her mother. The stairs creaked with almost every step.

  Frieda had already filled the outdoor metal tub with water from the well at the base of the hill, and she had brought out the scrubber and the dirty laundry. When she saw that Selene was up she left to help Ms. Deer protect her sheep from wolves, which involved a complicated spell that Selene had not yet learned.

  Selene sighed and rolled up her sleeves before testing the water with her fingertips. It was colder than she thought it would be, and she knew her hands would be numb before she had the chance to finish. She got to work anyway.

  Amber Rosehill showed up by the time she was half done. Selene had seen her approach when she was at the bottom of the hill, and she quickly made her way over to where Selene was sitting on a rough wooden stool in front of the washing tub. Selene hung the pants she had been washing on the clothesline and used the interruption as a chance to warm up her hands, which had became mottled-blue in colour.

  “I can come back another time if you’re busy,” Amber said. She stood looking down at Selene with her hands clasped together.

  Amber was the mayor’s niece, and since the mayor had no children of her own she had taken Amber under her wing and spoiled the girl as best she could. Amber was still a good-natured girl, and the same age as Selene at seventeen. She was probably the most beautiful girl in the whole valley, with her glistening blond hair, sparkling green eyes, and fair complexion. She was also lucky enough to not have to do any work, and she always wore nice clothes that looked brand new. Selene liked her anyway because she was a good listener, and Amber liked Selene because she was thoughtful and peaceful. Amber was Selene’s best friend in the village, not counting Tornado, who she wasn’t allowed to see anyway.

  “I can spare a minute, at least,” Selene said. She started rubbing her hands together in an attempt to warm them up. “What brings you over?”

  “Well, there’s something I wanted to tell you about. Are you up for it?”

  Selene looked down at the tub of soapy water, and then she looked at Amber. She shrugged. “Yeah, I guess, if it won’t take too long. Let’s go inside.”

  The two girls went into the house and sat down in the small kitchen. The window was open, and the bright sunlight spread across the table between them, which was old and smooth and made of a light wood.

  “So, what’s on your mind?” Selene asked.

  “Is anyone else here?”

  “No. Mom and Dad have both gone out to work, and Dahlia’s in the forest for the ceremony.”

  “Good.” Amber leaned in closer. “I was visiting Harold Greenwood with my aunt yesterday, and his son Lloyd was there. You know, the one who married Susan last year? Anyway, I noticed that he was looking at me funny, and I couldn’t figure out why. I didn’t even know what his look meant since I hardly ever see any men.”

  “Well, did you figure it out?” Selene urged when Amber paused.

  Amber blushed slightly, the hint of pink in her cheeks making her look more beautiful. “Yes, I did. You see, when Harold got up to take my aunt for a walk in the garden to show her his new roses, Susan went with them, leaving me alone with Lloyd. He came over and sat with me. Then he tried to kiss me.”

  Selene gasped, horrified. “You didn’t let him, did you?”

  Amber dramatically waved a hand. “No, of course not. I kind of wanted him to, though. He is rather handsome.”

  “Amber!! Don’t you know what would happen if you let him kiss you?!”

  The girl looked confused. Her eyebrows came closer together and she frowned, thinking. “Nothing would happen, right? Well, aside from what would happen if Susan found out. I certainly wouldn’t want to do anything to hurt her or her marriage. Oh Selene, I can’t wait until we are eighteen.”

  Selene’s large grey eyes narrowed to slits, as they often did when she disapproved of something. “If you let him kiss you he would turn back into a beast,” she informed her friend. “I thought you would have known that already. It’s happened before. When a man kisses another woman he turns his back on the love that made him a man in the first place.”

  Amber scrunched her nose up. “Ugh. Imagine if I had been kissing him and that happened. I would have run out of the house screaming. I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t let him kiss me.”

  Selene sighed. Amber reminded her an awful lot of Dahlia sometimes. They were both beautiful and had similar personalities, and yet they didn’t get along at all. “You should never let any man kiss you unless he is your husband,” she said.

  “I can understand why now. I wish we could go into the forest now, instead of having to wait. Eighteen years is a dreadfully long time. Surely we would be ready at sixteen. I want to know what it’s like to be kissed.”

  Selene secretly did too, but she didn’t like to admit it.

  Amber left shortly after and Selene went back to doing the laundry. It took her another hour to finish, and by that time her hands were not only freezing cold but also raw from all the scrubbing. She went inside and had a quick meal of bread and cheese and then headed out to see Jill, bringing her own spell book with her. She thought of stopping to see Tornado, but she didn’t have anything new to report yet so she continued on her way.

  The Springdales’ little house at the bottom of a hill was empty when Selene arrived. Ursula Springdale, Jill’s mother, was probably down by the shops where she sold her cloths and vegetables, though it was still too early to be selling the latter. Selene managed to find Jill outside, where she was collecting eggs from the chickens.

  “Oh good, you’re here,” Jill said when she saw Selene. She pulled her hand out of the chicken coup, holding an egg. She put it in the cloth-lined straw basket she held in the other hand. “I’ve got to bring these eggs inside, and then we can get to work. The garden’s over there if you want to take a look.”

  Selene nodded. She already knew where the garden was, but that didn’t matter. She walked over to it while Jill skipped toward the house. The garden patch was perfectly square and about ten feet long and wide. The soil was in good shape, but the plants growing in it were small and feeble. Jill had mentioned slugs the day before, but Selene only saw one. She picked it off its perch and put it in her jar. Her mother used slugs often for sleeping draughts.

  “It’s pretty sad-looking, isn’t it?” Jill said, appearing suddenly and smiling as always. Selene hadn’t heard her approach. “Do you think you can help?”

  “Do the vegetables usually grow better?” Selene inquired.

  “Not every year. It varies.”

  Selene looked up at the sun, which was almost hidden from view because of the hill. The garden was already in shadow and it was only midday. “They aren’t getting enough sun. The hill’s in the way.”

  Jill stopped grinning, though she didn’t frown. “Does that mean there’s nothing you can do? Do we have to move the whole
garden?”

  “Give me a moment,” Selene said. She sat on the grass by the garden and pulled her spell book out of the pocket in her apron. She scanned the pages quickly. The book contained every spell she had learned so far; copied carefully from her mother’s or ancestors’ books. She stopped on a page near the middle. “I think I found one that will do.”

  “What is it? Can you do it now?” Jill was practically hopping up and down in her excitement.

  Selene nodded. “I can do it now. It’s just a simple growth spell, but it should work even with the lack of sunlight, if all goes well.” She was starting to get eager to be done, since Jill was starting to annoy her already. Jill stepped back, watching with a wide smile as Selene recited the ancient words.

  Spirits of the forest help me now,

  Those of green and good,

  The ones that make the trees grow green,

  And rise as tall as they should.

  Spirits of the sun,

  I am also in need of your aid,

  Shine your light upon this earth,

  From whence good things are made.

  Join me now bright spirits,

  And infuse this here ground,

  Give it your energy and strength,

  And let great greens be found.

  As soon as Selene started the recitation, she felt a power rise within her. Jill watched with wide eyes as a green glow began to surround Selene. When she finished saying the words the green glow broke away from her entirely and slowly spread over the patch of land before disappearing into the earth. Selene shut her spell book.

  “That should help. If it doesn’t do anything just let me know and I’ll come back and try something else.”

  “Thank you!” Jill screeched. She jumped and gave Selene a hug that left her feeling breathless by the time she let go.

  Selene nodded. “Good luck,” she said, stepping away.

  “Oh, won’t you stay awhile? Mother would love to have you over for dinner. Do stay, Selene.”

  She shook her head. “Perhaps another time. I have something I need to do.” She didn’t really, but she wanted to get away. She figured it was a good time to talk to Mayor Thornwood anyway, since she was closer to town hall than she was at home. It wouldn’t be a long trip. She wasn’t looking forward to it, but it was better than staying with an extremely energetic fourteen-year-old. She even found her sister tiring and Dahlia wasn’t nearly as enthusiastic about anything. The only people who never bothered her were Tornado and her father.

  Jill protested some more, but Selene got away. She walked down the worn dirt road, avoiding the occasional rider on horseback and one carriage. She stopped a few times along the way to pick some flowers that were growing along the road. She put them in the pocket of her apron next to her spell book.

  The town hall was one of the oldest buildings in the village, and also one of the nicest. It was three stories tall and it actually had a stone foundation, whereas most buildings in the village were built right on the ground. It was made of wood, and the windows were made of glass, which was a rare and expensive material throughout the entire kingdom. Selene’s house just had shutters to cover the window holes when it got cold.

  When she went inside she was directed by a portly woman at the front desk to the mayor’s office, which was on the second floor. She went up the carpeted staircase and turned to the right, surprised that there were not more people around. The mayor’s office was the first door she came across, and it was wide open. She knocked politely anyway.

  “Come in,” Mayor Thornbrook’s gruff voice called out.

  Selene stepped in cautiously. Mayor Thornbrook was sitting behind her large oak desk and was peering at a document through a looking glass. She was a tall and thin woman with greying brown hair and sharp brown eyes. She was wearing a stiff wool dress in a deep shade of blue that almost matched perfectly with the flowery wallpaper in the room. There was a mixture of smells in the air that Selene had a hard time identifying, though she thought she could make out the scents of jasmine and an expensive type of ink that was always present on official papers.

  “Sit,” Mayor Thornbrook barked. She looked up finally and glanced appraisingly at Selene, who was trying hard not to fidget, even though she had met the mayor before a few times when she was with Amber. “What brings you to my office, Ms. Brookbank?”

  “Well, I have been trying to find a way to break the curse, or at least do something to minimize its effects,” Selene explained, trying not to let her voice shake even though she was nervous.

  The corners of the mayor’s mouth turned down slightly, but otherwise her expression didn’t change. She wasn’t happy though. “Go on,” she encouraged.

  “I was thinking that maybe a love potion would work. It would have to be given to both a beast and a woman, I know, but I think that maybe it could work and help us get a few more men in the village to help us out with everything, and it would help our population grow.” Selene’s voice was starting to waver a little despite her best efforts.

  Mayor Thornbrook looked at her blankly. “Why did you come to me with this idea?”

  Selene squirmed. “Well, I would need help and support, especially with finding people to test the potion on. I can’t do it myself. A beast would have to be involved, and I’m not allowed to just go waltzing into the forest to find one.”

  The mayor rested her elbows on her desk and brought her hands together. She rested her chin on her fingertips, her gaze almost becoming a glare. “The curse has been with us for almost a thousand years, and you really think no one has tried a love potion? You’re not as bright of a girl as I thought you were.”

  The mayor’s words stung Selene like the crack of a whip. She flinched in her seat. There was a tense moment of silence before she could gather the courage to speak again, though when she did her voice came out sounding small. “Do you know for sure that someone has tried it?” she asked.

  The mayor stood up, and her newly gained height only made her more intimidating. She walked over to a wooden cabinet in the corner of the room a couple feet away. When she opened the door Selene saw that the cabinet was full of shelves that featured layer upon layer of scrolls. The mayor ruffled through them until she finally pulled one out. She brought it over to her desk and unravelled it.

  “‘The love potion was given to both the beast and the woman,’” the mayor read out loud. “‘They were put in a room with only each other, but I watched what happened through a peephole in the door. The beast, who was hideous enough to make me feel queasy, took one look at the woman and said it wasn’t working. She could hardly look at him at all, but when she did she had to agree with him. Neither of them felt the effects of the potion. I opened the door. As soon as I did the woman in the room looked at me and sighed. The potion worked, alright, just not for the right person. I had to make an antidote so she would stop following me everywhere. The beast, however, was not affected in the slightest.’

  “That was a small excerpt from the writings of Vincent Moonflower, who died back in the year of the maple. There are memoirs from many witches over the centuries who have tried to break the curse, and clearly none of them succeeded. Do not waste your time with this foolishness, Ms. Brookbank. It will take you down a lonely path that will only lead to bitter frustration. I can assure you that anything you wish to do has already been done.”

  “But surely-” Selene began, but she was interrupted.

  “You heard what I said, Ms. Brookbank. Now kindly go home to your parents and don’t waste any more of my time with this nonsense.”

  Selene didn’t know what else to do, so she merely got up and said a quick goodbye before turning to leave. Before she stepped out of the room she noticed a framed piece of parchment hanging on the wall, and she took a few seconds to read it:

  It takes one of heart to destroy darkness,

  And one of honour to destroy fear,

&nb
sp; It will take a young witch to destroy hatred,

  Of how one is forced to appear.

  The beastly curse will be ended,

  The one that has plagued our land,

  Our peace will be restored,

  And the free population will expand.

  Seeing the prophesy only made her feel worse as she left the building. She felt dejected and hopeless, and she barely paid any attention at all to her surroundings as she walked home, thinking of nothing but her own uselessness.