Beasts and Maidens

by M.E. Timmons

  Chapter 7

  Selene went back into the forest the next afternoon, after she helped her mother and worked on her sister’s wedding dress. She still had plenty to do, so she knew she couldn’t stay away for very long. She decided to only go to the clearing, even though she really wanted to see her brothers and Jenson. With all of the things she had to do she would be lucky to see them again before the wedding.

  Tornado wasn’t there when she arrived, but he came a few minutes later, carrying his canvas sack, which contained some mushrooms that he had found while out hunting. The clearing was part of his hunting ground, which was why they had chosen it for a meeting place. Tornado went by there many times a day, and he would often wait there for Selene to come.

  “You look tired,” Tornado observed as he sat down on his log after putting his bag, bow, and quiver on the ground.

  “I am tired,” Selene admitted. “Dahlia’s getting married in two days, and there’s a lot to do. Plus we all have to work hard to make money so we can add onto our house. Things were cramped enough before Henry came along.”

  “You know, I completely forgot to mention that yesterday, since we were so busy with other things. I heard from some of the others who were at the ceremony that Henry had gone off with Dahlia. How are they doing?”

  “Oh my, I forgot to mention it too,” Selene said, biting her lip. “They’re doing well. Henry still has a few things to learn before he can get a job, but he and Dahlia are happy. They’re both very excited for the wedding. We all are, even though we have to do so much work.”

  “Is there any way I can help?” Tornado had helped Selene on a few occasions with gathering some materials for potions. There were some things that were easier to find in the forest, even though no one was allowed in there. Selene used to have to buy more things from the shops before she met Tornado, and he didn’t mind helping.

  “There are actually a couple of things that I need, if you have the time. I can come back tomorrow to see if you have them.” She told him what she needed, and he said it wouldn’t be a problem. She felt guilty for asking her friend to help her, but she knew it would save a lot of time and money.

  “Have you had any more time to look through your spell books lately?” Tornado asked.

  Selene nodded, frowning. “I looked through a couple late last night, but I still haven’t found anything. I’m sorry, Tornado, but I don’t think I’m going to be the one to break the curse. The most I can do is ask people to accept you all for what you are, and that doesn’t tend to go well either. The fact that they never see any of you probably doesn’t help.”

  “Then maybe they should see us,” Tornado said, thinking. His tail started dancing around.

  “You know that’s against the law, right?”

  “Of course, but it’s not like that law has any purpose. All it does is force us to be exiles, and I don’t think any of us truly like living this way. We all want to be able to know our families and have a chance to fall in love. I think I could get almost everyone to march out of the forest and into the village.”

  Selene’s eyes went wide. What he was suggesting was a full-scale rebellion. At the worst it could end up getting all of the beasts killed, though Selene was sure that there weren’t enough watchers in her village to take down all of the beasts. There were enough beasts to outnumber the entire village as long as the watchers didn’t call for reinforcements. Watchers were the eyes of the queen, and were responsible for maintaining order and carrying out punishments for those who broke the law.

  Despite the risks involved in a rebellion, Selene liked the plan. If they marched all of the beasts into the town, the people would be forced to see them, and perhaps Selene could help them see the beasts for what they really were.

  “Are you serious about that idea?” she asked Tornado.

  He thought about it for a moment. “Yes, I’m serious,” he said finally. “I know it’s probably a terrible idea that could end up getting some, if not all, of us killed. Still, I think it’s time. We can’t live this way forever. Would you support us if we did it?”

  “Of course I would. I’d even march with you. When do you want to do it?”

  Tornado was surprised that Selene agreed to such a dangerous plan so quickly. He wasn’t quite as confident about it as she seemed to be, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to do it soon. It was a big step, and he wanted to be ready. Really, he wanted everyone to be ready.

  “I don’t know,” he answered. “Not right away, I guess.”

  Selene nodded in agreement. “I wouldn’t want to do it until after my sister’s wedding. It wouldn’t be fair to her if we caused a huge disruption. Maybe a few days after that?”

  “How about a month from now,” Tornado suggested. “That will give us more time to prepare and decide exactly what we’re going to do and get as many beasts as possible to join us. I don’t want to rush things.”

  “A month is an awfully long time,” Selene complained. Now that she thought about it, she wanted it to be soon. She was eager to get Jenson and her brothers out of the forest.

  “I need time, Selene.”

  “Alright. I guess I can understand that.”

  They fell silent, both wrapped up in their own thoughts. The clearing wasn’t completely quiet, however, since there was a light breeze that rustled the leaves overhead, and a bird was singing not far away. Still, they heard the sound of footsteps approaching. Selene immediately wanted to hide, but then she remembered that the beasts already knew about her.

  It was Jenson who stepped into the clearing. He was wearing a different outfit than the one he had on before, though he was still shoeless. He smiled when he saw Selene.

  “Sorry to barge in on you two,” he said. “I was just going for a walk. Do you mind if I join you?” Selene shook her head so he sat down on the soft, mossy forest floor.

  Tornado frowned. “You never come out this way for a walk. No one does. That’s why we meet here.”

  Jenson looked a little guilty. “Fine. I followed your tracks to get here. I knew you’d been meeting with Selene, and I wanted to find out where. I was hoping she’d be around.”

  “I’m glad to see you,” Selene said, smiling down at him from her rock. “I would have gone further into the forest to see you, but I don’t really have that much time. I should be leaving by now, actually.”

  “Stay a few extra minutes?”

  “Yes, I might as well, since you’re here,” Selene said.

  Tornado was getting a little annoyed. He was used to having Selene to himself whenever she was in the forest. “I think I’m going to head back home,” he announced.

  “Why? You don’t have to go,” Selene said.

  “I have things to do,” he lied. “I’m sure I’ll see you again soon enough. You said you’d be back tomorrow, right?”

  “Yes. I’ll try to come sometime in the afternoon.”

  “Good. I should have what you need. I’ll see you then.”

  With that he grabbed his things and walked off into the forest; his quiver of arrows bouncing against his shoulder with every step. Selene watched him go, and when he was out of sight she turned to Jenson.

  “Oh dear,” she said, frowning. “I don’t think he’s very happy with me.”

  “You two seem to be pretty close,” Jenson observed.

  Selene nodded. “We’ve been best friends ever since the day we met.”

  “How did you end up meeting, anyway? You must have had some reason for going into the forest, even though doing so was forbidden.”

  “It was kind of silly, really,” Selene admitted. “I was only fourteen at the time. My mother was trying to make a memory-enhancing elixir, but she didn’t have all the ingredients. She needed the bark of a willow tree, and there are no willow trees in our village. She asked for my sister’s help finding some, but when I offered to help she told me not to. I got mad because she thou
ght Dahlia could find it and not me, and I wanted to prove her wrong. I looked everywhere in the village for a willow tree or just the bark of one, but there was nothing. I ended up in the meadow by the edge of the forest. I looked up at the trees and thought, why not? It wouldn’t really do any harm. Surely there was at least one willow tree amongst all the others.

  “I made sure no one was looking, and I walked right into the forest. I couldn’t really explain why, but I wasn’t really afraid. All the other girls I knew were terrified of the forest, but once I went in I didn’t even want to leave. It was so peaceful, and the air seemed different. It was more still, and it carried heavier scents that were unfamiliar to me at the time.

  “I ended up in this very clearing. There’s a willow tree right there across from where I’m sitting now. I eagerly collected some bark, and that was when Tornado stepped out from behind the trees. I was far too fascinated by him to be afraid or disgusted, and I think he felt the same way about me. He spoke first; asking me what I was doing. When I told him he laughed at me, and for some reason I started laughing too. We ended up talking for over an hour that day, and I’ve kept coming back ever since.”

  Jenson smiled, enjoying the story. “So it was competition with your sister that led you here? I suppose you have a lot to thank her for, then.”

  “I do, but I’ve never been able to tell her that. She believes what she’s been brought up to believe, like most other girls in my village.”

  “And you’re a witch?”

  “Yes. I suppose you wouldn’t have known that. I’m so used to people knowing, so I don’t usually have to tell people. I wasn’t trying to keep it from you.”

  Jenson grinned and grabbed her hand, squeezing it gently. “I wasn’t accusing you of doing so. I think it’s great that you’re a witch. Since I’ve always been around beasts I’ve never met anyone magical before, except maybe during the ceremony.”

  “What happens during the ceremony?”

  Jenson laughed. “You know I can’t tell you that, no matter how I feel about you. It’s a very closely guarded secret. They make us swear not to tell anyone every year.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t honestly know. I guess we must have some secrets left in the world, or there would never be any surprises in life.”

  “That’s not fair,” Selene complained.

  “Tell me something that is.”

  “Touché.” Selene looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was barely visible over the trees. She stood up. “I have to get back. I still have a lot to do, and my mother could be looking for me right now.”

  Jenson stood up as well and brushed some pieces of moss off of his pants. He took Selene into his arms. She rested her head on his chest and breathed in. He smelled like the forest.

  “How do you know how to do all this stuff, anyway?” Selene asked.

  “What stuff?” Jenson asked. Selene could feel the vibrations of his voice through his chest.

  “Stuff like kissing and hugging,” Selene clarified. She was thinking of Henry, who had been so surprised when her mother hugged him.

  “Oh. We have a lot of books. Martin brings them to us when he can, though usually just to borrow. It’s how we learn about what goes on in the rest of the world. Some of the beasts think we’d be better off not knowing, since they think we’ll be happier if the forest is all we know. Martin disagrees, and he says we should be prepared for if we ever become human, and I agree with him. Plus, I like knowing that there’s more out there. It’s always given me something to look forward to.”

  “I see,” Selene said. She lifted her head up, and Jenson kissed her quickly. She reluctantly dropped her arms and stepped away from him, and she waved goodbye before turning to leave the clearing.

  Selene stopped on her way home to pick some plants in the meadow and along the road, since her mother was going through them so quickly. She managed to find a couple of spiders as well, and she put them in her jar to take home. They had a very expensive glass bowl at home where they kept a supply of spiders so they could harvest their webs. A few of them had died recently, so they weren’t producing as much web as Frieda needed. Selene was always on the lookout for more.

  Selene found her mother in the kitchen when she got home. She was busily chopping up some violets, and she looked like a mess. Her hair was coming out of the bun at the back of her head and was sticking up in a few places, the hem of her skirt was caked with mud, and her apron was covered in smear marks from where she had wiped her hands. She looked up only briefly at Selene when she stepped through the door, but she continued her chopping.

  “Did you find any rose leaf while you were out?” she asked.

  Selene started emptying her pockets. “Yes, I got some. I found some daisies and honeysuckle as well, and a few stones that might be of use. I also got three spiders.”

  “Good. I have a pot going outside. Can you give it a stir? Oh, and if it’s turned purple, it needs two small mint leaves. There are some on the table.”

  Selene did as her mother asked, and then went back to the kitchen to put the plants she brought home away, while trying not to get in her mother’s way. “How many potions do you have left to do right now?” she asked as she lifted the cloth off the spider bowl and dumped the new ones in. There was only one small web in the side of the bowl.

  “Twelve, but some are the same so I only have to make six different ones. Still, that’s far more than I usually have to do. Taking on all of them was probably a bad idea, but we’ll get a decent amount of money for all of it.”

  Some potions could take days to make and require many ingredients at different times. To try to make six all around the same time would be almost impossible for someone to do alone, and still very difficult for two people. Plus, some of the ingredients were very hard to find.

  “Is Dahlia helping at all?” Selene asked.

  “She’s been gathering a few things like you have, but I wouldn’t trust her within five feet of the cauldron. That’s what I need you for, whenever you have the time.”

  Selene helped her mother for a few more minutes, but then she had to get back to making Dahlia’s wedding dress, since she had only just started. She was feeling overwhelmed by all of the things she had to do, but she knew her mother was far more busy than she was, and she hadn’t seen her father at all that day because he had been out working. They were all doing the best they could, hoping that it would be worth it.