Small Town Witch

by Kristen S. Walker

  “Isn’t there another girl that you like?” she asked.

  “Nope. Not a boy, either,” I said lightly.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, I thought that you were into girls—”

  “I know, because of what happened with Lindsey.” I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, willing away old memories. Even now, it still stung.

  Ashleigh reached out and touched my arm. “I didn’t mean to remind you of that.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” I opened my eyes again and shook my head. “Actually, I like both boys and girls. It doesn’t make a difference to me. Are you surprised? I thought Fae felt the same way.”

  Ashleigh furrowed her brow in the cute way that meant she was thinking. “I suppose it’s that way for most full-blooded Fae, but we’re more human than you’d think. It’s not really talked about, because it makes us different and we all try to be just like the real Court, but most of the faeriekin that I know of actually have a preference, one way or another.” She squinted at me. “But how can you tell how you feel if you’ve barely been with anyone?”

  “I just know how I feel.”

  “Oh,” Ashleigh said again. She stared out at the horse track and leaned her chin on her hands in a pose that was less ladylike and more like a sulky child. “I wish I had your confidence. I have no idea what I’d really want if I had the chance.”

  “Because of the betrothal,” I whispered. I couldn’t help but glance over my shoulders as I said it, to make sure that no one else was listening nearby.

  “Exactly.” Ashleigh didn’t lower her voice at all. “I don’t have any chance to try out new relationships and figure out what I want, to be indecisive and jealous like Lindsey, or even just to have fun.”

  I glanced at our friend. He was slowing his horse down to a walk. “You don’t have fun with Glen?”

  “Oh, I know, I must sound selfish,” Ashleigh said, giving me a half-smile. “He really is a nice guy, and he tries so hard to make me happy. I think he really does care about me, betrothal or not. But we both know that we don’t really have a choice about this, and there’s no point in me acting coy when it’s only a matter of time until we’re married.”

  I tried to imagine how difficult it was for her to be locked into an arranged marriage practically before she was even born. I’d only met her Fae mother a few times, but she struck me as more calculating for her daughter’s future than actually concerned for her wellbeing. It was also telling that Ashleigh’s human father, who raised her alone, never visited the Court even though he had some minor honorary title.

  “You could take my approach to dating: just wait,” I suggested. “You’ve got even more time than me to look forward to, as a Fae. Once you’re married to Glen, and you both have an heir that will make everyone else happy, who’s to say that you can’t do whatever you want? No one would stop you from taking a consort or having as many lovers as you want once the succession is secure.”

  Ashleigh giggled politely behind her hand. “You make it all sound so romantic!” she said, rolling her eyes. “I’m sure when I’m a married woman with children, there will be a flock of suitors just waiting to sweep me off my feet and take me to prom.”

  I rolled my eyes back and grinned. “I don’t need to remind you how many suitors Serafina has.”

  Her smile faded and she nodded. “I know, I know, I’ll still be young and beautiful for a long time. But I have a lot of responsibilities looming in my future, and I’d like to be able to enjoy the time that I have now, while I’m still sixteen and in high school. I don’t want to put it all off for another ten or twenty years. And how do I marry Glen if I can’t even tell if I love him or not?”

  “I just don’t know that dating other people is going to tell you if you really love Glen,” I said. It seemed like a strange theory to me. “I think love is one of those things that you just know. Like, you want to be around that person all the time.”

  Ashleigh sighed dramatically. “I already am around Glen all the time. He’s my sworn protector, and he takes that very seriously.”

  “Well, I hate to tell you this, but you’re my friend, so I owe you the truth. If it bothers you that you have to be with Glen, then I think you already know how you really feel about him.” I shielded my eyes against the sun when I saw something very shiny being carried over to the horse track. “Is that armor?”

  Ashleigh stood up and smoothed out her sun dress. “They’re getting ready for the joust now. Excuse me, Glen will be expecting me to give him a token of my favor once he’s ready.” She turned back before she left and smiled at me. “Thanks for talking to me, Rosamunde.”

  “Anytime,” I said. “I hope that it helped.”

  Ashleigh nodded and left.

  I hoped that I hadn’t just said something to destroy an important Fae political alliance, and went to go find a seat for the joust.

  When I went to watch the joust at the main field, I had to find my own seat. Ashleigh had a place of honor to sit on the dais next to Count Duncan and his wife. I looked through the bleachers set up on either side and saw Kai, in human form, waving at me from the second row.

  He patted the seat next to him. “I saved us a spot near the front so that we don’t have to try looking over all these tall Fae,” he said with a grin.

  I sat down. “Thanks, that was nice of you. You’re human today?”

  “For the afternoon,” he said. “I don’t need the fur when it’s this hot outside.”

  We did have a good view of the field from where we sat. The front row was mostly taken up by people who were even shorter than us, like children and dwarfs. When I turned my head to the left, I could just glimpse one side of the dais and see a few of the nobles sitting there, but the sun blinded me. I blinked and turned away.

  A trumpet fanfare announced the beginning of the display. The five new knights, three men and two women, rode their horses out onto the field. They circled around once, waving at the crowd who clapped and cheered for them, and then stopped to present themselves in front of the dais. They wore light armor that caught the sunlight and shone, and each knight and horse was decorated with colorful devices bearing their families’ crests. Glen, on Sweetie’s back, wore the gold-and-green of his grandfather, with the golden tree on his shield.

  Kai leaned close to whisper in my ear. “Glen’s new armor turned out nice, don’t you think? I heard they had to adjust it at the last minute because he kept growing, but I can’t see any patches or seams.”

  I turned and smirked at him. “Are you jealous that he’s getting to be so tall?”

  “Of course!” Kai laughed. “I feel like I’ve barely grown at all since middle school. We were almost the same height back then, but now he towers over me.”

  I nodded. “I know, I feel the same way. It’s like everyone else got taller, and the two of us were just left behind.”

  Kai took my hand and drew it through his arm, pulling me closer to him. “Us shorties have to stick together.”

  I smiled and looked down. My face was growing hot.

  Count Duncan got to his feet. “Welcome, chivalrous youths. Each of you has petitioned me and been recognized by this Court for your accomplishments. But before we bestow upon you the order of knighthood, I would like to see a demonstration of your skills. Please, show us the outcome of your long years of training.”

  The knights bowed their heads and rode off to the side while attendants prepared the field. Down the center of the field, there was a long wooden barrier hung with cloth, and along the fence on the outside, there were several tall, wooden poles. Attendants tied large rings onto the poles so that they dangled over the field.

  At the trumpet’s next signal, the knights began to ride around the field, each one trying to catch the rings on the tips of their lances. Some rings swung out of reach, others slipped off the lances and fell to the ground, but each knight managed to get a few.

  I cheered on Glen’s performance: he’d claimed five rings, more than any other
rider. I was so caught up in the action that I didn’t notice who’d taken the seat behind me until I heard a familiar voice.

  “I was looking for you, witchling,” he said in a pouting tone. “It seems that I do have a rival for your attention, after all.”

  I twisted in my seat and saw Dandelion looking down on us with an expression of disappointment. I scooted away from Kai and shook my head. “This—this is just Kai,” I said, struggling to find a way to explain the situation.

  “He looks as though he were courting you in earnest,” Dandelion said. He looked Kai up and down, frowning. “Isn’t he a little short for you?”

  Kai looked up at Dandelion and snorted. “Who’s the giant?” he said. “Shouldn’t you be sitting in the back row where you won’t block everyone else?”

  I elbowed Kai in the ribs. “Dandelion is an old friend of mine,” I told him. I craned my head back to Dandelion and added, “And so is Kai. He saved me a seat so I could watch the joust. We can all sit together, but only if you don’t argue. I’m here to watch Glen.”

  Dandelion stood up and stepped over the bleacher easily with his long legs, then sat in the seat on my other side. “If I’m too tall to sit down in front, then I can change my appearance.”

  I glanced behind us. “I don’t think anyone is complaining.” I looked at Kai, but he was scowling and turned away from me. I sighed and turned back to the field.

  The knights had already begun riding tilts against each other. Now they wore helmets and held shields. They rode down the field two at a time, one on either side of the tilt barrier, and pointed their lances across the middle. When they met, their lances glanced off of their opponents’ shields. None of them were unhorsed, and no one counted points.

  On either side of me, Kai and Dandelion were silent. I sat very still so that I wouldn’t touch either one of them. Although I tried to focus on the demonstration, I felt very uncomfortable.

  As soon as each knight had two rides and Count Duncan congratulated the five on their skills, I sprang to my feet. “Excuse me, but I have to go,” I said. “I’m going to be late to pick up Heather.”

  Kai still wouldn’t look at me.

  Dandelion shook his head sadly. “I’m sad to see you leave so quickly, Rosa. You will be back?”

  “Yeah, in about an hour,” I said. “I’ll see you guys then.” I turned and hurried off before they could say anything else.

  After I picked up Heather at her house, I had to fly faster than the day before, but Heather was already getting the hang of balancing on the broom. As we approached, I could see the party guests were already starting to head up the hill.

  To save time, I landed in one of the gardens off to the side where there weren’t a lot of people. “We’d better hurry.” I led her along the path to the summit where everyone else was heading.

  The ceremony took place in the Grove at the center of Doe’s Rest Castle. The Grove was a carefully tended circle of cultivated rowan trees with grass in the middle. Faerie custom demanded that we remove our shoes before entering, so we had to watch our steps, particularly because of all the mushrooms that liked to grow there. It was early in the fall, so the leaves on the trees were just getting the first hint of red, and the berries were small and green—they wouldn’t be ripe for another month or so.

  The Grove was large, nearly half the size of a football field, but it was filling up fast with guests. Heather and I found space to stand off to one side, but we couldn’t see the old stone altar in the center. Count Duncan was tall, so I could see his head over everyone else’s, and I could catch a glimpse of Glen and some of the other knights if I stood up on my tiptoes and craned my head around. Heather probably couldn’t see anything.

  Then I saw Dandelion turn and grin at me near the front. He waved us forward. We pushed through the crowd to join him. “I thought you shorties would need a better view,” he said with a smile. “Who’s your friend?”

  “She’s my classmate, Heather,” I said. “Heather, this is Dandelion, at least while he’s wearing yellow.”

  Heather turned pale at the sight of the Fae, but she nodded politely. “Nice to meet you, Dandelion. That’s a good color on you.”

  “How lovely of you to notice.” Dandelion took Heather’s hand and bent over it with a courtier’s kiss. “It’s wonderful to make your acquaintance. Any friend of Rosamunde’s is a friend of mine. I only regret that I had not seen you at this party sooner.”

  “She had family obligations,” I said quickly before Heather could look any more embarrassed. “I’m not sure how long she can stay today, either.”

  “Well, then, I will have to enjoy your company while it lasts,” Dandelion said. “By the way, I hear that you are the thirteenth student in your class. Do you think of this as lucky or unlucky?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Oh, come on, Dandelion, who thinks that a number’s going to make a difference with anything?”

  He gave me a sly smile. “I don’t know, you’re the witch. I’ve heard that witches prefer to have thirteen members of their covens because there are thirteen moons in a year.”

  I’d never been a member of a coven—in fact, I’d met very few witches besides Mom—but I just shook my head. “A coven is going to be whatever number is convenient. And besides, this is our class at school, not a group of witches.—Oh look, I think they’re about to start.”

  The count’s honor guard announced the beginning of the ceremony by blowing on trumpets, and everyone got very quiet and attentive.

  Count Duncan welcomed everyone and asked the knights to kneel, which they did. He then began a long, rambling speech about the code of chivalry and the duties of a knight to protect the kingdom, uphold the law, defend the helpless, etc. I felt sorry that they had to kneel for such a long time, but they all bore it with solemn faces as they listened to the count’s speech.

  After he’d finished describing what would be expected of them as knights, Count Duncan began to ask each of them in turn for their oaths.

  Glen went first. “I swear with my life and my sword to defend the County of the Golden Forest and the Duchy of the Pacific, to uphold the laws that govern them, to come to the aid of the weak and the helpless, and to see justice served. I vow to live my life governed by the virtues of mercy, courage, valor, fairness, justice, charity, resolve, truth, humility, and hope.”

  Count Duncan nodded to accept the oath and drew his sword from the sheath at his hip. He touched the flat of the blade to Glen’s right shoulder, the left, and then the right again. “Arise, Sir Glen Byrnes, son of Samantha and Michael, of the House of the Golden Forest.”

  Glen stood up and everyone cheered. Ashleigh stepped forward and put a wreath of rowan leaves on his head, and then gave him a formal kiss on the lips. We all cheered again.

  The process was repeated for the other four knights, except without the wreath and kiss from Ashleigh.

  Everyone started to head back down the hill to rejoin the party. Dandelion held out his left arm to me and his right to Heather. “If I may have the honor of escorting you two lovely girls?”

  I grinned as I took his arm, and Heather took the other. Together the three of us walked back to the main castle building.

  Inside the castle, servants circulated to hand out small flutes of champagne to everyone over the age of twelve, to toast the newly dubbed knights. Heather glanced at me when we got ours. “Is this okay?”

  “Everyone over twelve has a glass, and we’ll be having dinner soon.” I pointed to another set of servants circulating with trays of finger food. “There’s appetizers already. I love the little pastries with the caramelized onions.”

  Heather took a sip and grimaced. “I don’t think I have to worry about having too much of this.”

  I laughed a little. “Not what you expected, right?”

  Dandelion came over to us with a smile. “I think you made that same face the first time that you tried champagne.”

  Heather glanced up at him. “It sounds like
you’ve known Rosa for a long time.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, he’s always following me around.”

  After the toasts, people were wandering around the room and chatting. Kai, dressed in a gray suit that showed off his white and red fur, found us and told us the latest gossip about our absent classmates. “Lindsey’s parents grounded her because of the fight.” He pointed out Peter across the room. “Peter actually came back today without her. No sign of Robert or Daniela, though.”

  I shook my head. “What a mess this turned into.”

  Dandelion looked between Kai and me. “It sounds like I missed some excitement?”

  I sighed. “It was hardly exciting, just more typical Lindsey drama.”

  Kai smirked at Dandelion. “Lindsey came to the party with Peter, and Robert had to one-up her, so he brought Daniela last night, and then Lindsey took it out on the other girl. The count’s guards threw her out. I’m surprised you didn’t hear about it already.” His eyes glittered with excitement at sharing a new story.

  Dandelion sighed. “I’m not around often enough to keep up with the fast-paced social happenings of all you teens. There’s always something going on here, unlike the Otherworld where time stands still and nothing ever changes.” He patted Kai on the head. “I’m fortunate that I have such a good source of gossip.”

  Kai put his ears back and his tail began to twitch back and forth. “Actually,” he said through clenched teeth, “I came over here to ask Rosa to dance.” He turned and offered his arm to me.

  I hesitated and glanced at the others.

  Dandelion looked down at him with narrowed eyes. “So, my rival is here to steal the young lady’s attentions from me again. What are your intentions with her?”

  I blushed and stepped between the two of them quickly. “Kai is just a friend,” I said, taking his arm. “Why don’t you dance with Heather for now, and we can switch after a few songs?”

  Dandelion bowed to me. “As you wish.” He turned and offered his arm to Heather. “Shall we?”