“You’re stronger than you think.”
“Thank you,” I whispered, feeling her words resonate in my bones.
Sighing heavily as she turned, she shook her head. “You’ve really got to stop doing that.”
“Hugging you?” I mumbled, embarrassed.
“No, the thanking. Sad to say...” she trailed off, gave a half shrug, and continued, “Mmm. But I think I rather liked the hug.” Magda muttered in a whisper, churlishly lamenting my very human, soft ways, making me laugh as she scrubbed at her forehead.
“Why?”
“It’s rare someone may be comfortable enough with a Traveller to offer one, especially me,” she admitted quietly, “not even Vidi, and to do so freely.”
I felt a tiny kinship with Magda then.
“Ah, believe me, I know the feeling.”
“Had a feeling you would,” was all she said, slipping into the sleeping area she shared with Vidi.
Other Travels
One night turned into four weeks, other members of the halfling nomads—Travellers—or the ‘lost and foundlings’, as most of the young adults referred to themselves—having graciously taken me in. They’d each come forward, one wagon at a time, offering me a place to prop my back and sleep, never for longer than a week at a time, against Magda’s wishes.
I had a feeling it was all Vidi’s doing, the young woman and I getting along instantly, and I truly was grateful for her. I have a friend–a real friend.
Today I was helping the women wash clothes, laughing as an older woman, Greta, told a funny story about a male named Donovan trying to kiss her, ending up bum first in a lake.
My fingers slipped over a small pocket I’d sewn myself, making sure my hidden treasures were still safely tucked away. I still hadn’t worn the necklace, resisting the urge to pull it out of my coin pouch and put it on. It was safely tucked away in the pocket of my only slightly warn out, new-enough-to-me dress. A few of the ladies had been generous enough to let me barter some goods from them, mainly three dresses that fit best to my actual size, and all that went beneath. Not wanting to draw attention to my monies, I’d let Vidi barter for me, a niggle of guilt eating at me as I’d promised to pay her back as soon as I could.
“Hey, Nugget.”
Turning, I lifted the shirt I was ringing out to hang on the branches of the bare tree a few feet away, to find Vidi striding towards me hurriedly.
“Do you have a moment?” There was an odd note to her voice, eyes darting around quickly as they swept over the group.
“Of course. Betta, can you hang this for me?” Wiping my hands off on a borrowed bit of cloth we used as aprons, I handed the shirt off and followed after her, glad to let someone else finish the chore.
As soon as we rounded the corner where they’d decided to rest the horses for the night, Vidi whirled on me. “I need to ask you something, it’s important, and I need you to be honest with me, alright?
“Right.”
Fidgeting in place, she couldn’t seem to stand still. What had her so on edge?
“Did you take it?” she blurted, so fast I almost couldn’t make her out.
“Uhm... take what?” My back was aching something fierce, and my feet were killing me.
When I couldn’t find a place on one of the wagons to squeeze in and sit, it was either ride double on a horse or walk. Some days, I was finding it was just easier to walk.
“The thing! The thing!” she cried desperately, gripping my shoulders.
“Vidi,” I warned, voice deepening, and she immediately let go.
“Sorry.” Vidi cursed a few times under her breath, grimacing apologetically. “I’m sorry.”
Rolling my shoulders, they loosened, blue eyes dimming as soon as I no longer felt threatened. I’d been on edge for weeks, but today was the worst.
“Okay. The thing. Whatever it was the lady said Granmamma was supposed to give you.”
The locket.
“I didn’t take anything?” She’d plopped it in my hand.
A long look passed between us and my lips puckered mulishly.
“Please, Nugget,” Vidi begged, “it’s important, and I need to know.”
“Why?” I wasn’t about to spill anyone’s secrets, least of all Magda’s. They weren’t mine to tell, friendship with Vidi or not.
Vidi danced around for a minute as she bit her lip, making a funny huffing/growling noise before she stomped her foot in frustration and threw her arms up. “I can’t say,” she grumbled piteously.
I found this funnier than it really should be.
“Stop smiling,” Vidi muttered, petulant. “It’s sad, not laughable.”
“Come on now,” I teased, my face about to split. “You? Not allowed to talk about something? Hah! You’d die.”
Vidi’s expression turned pained. “That’s part of it.”
I froze, smile faltering. “Vidi...” Not so funny anymore, I blinked up at her, concerned. “Tell me.”
Hissing out a long breath, fists wiggling at her sides, brows scrunched, she gritted out, “Can’t.” There was a bit more bite to her words this time.
As my brows lifted questioningly, she gestured in a circle, mimicking the wagons circling.
“You can’t... here?” I guessed, glancing around for nosy spies.
Vidi nodded, gesturing for me to keep guessing.
Making little pop noises, fingers raining down, she rolled her hands to get me going.
“Not in the rain?”
“No.”
“Not in the sunlight? Stars? Explosions?” At her exasperated look, I deadpanned, “Help me out, then?”
“You’re full of it,” she deadpanned back, her droll stare setting my eyes rolling.
When she waited for me to say it, I made her wait another minute, just for the jab alone. “Magic.”
“Yes!”
“Okay, so... you can’t tell me, because of my magic?” A magic I was slowly gaining a small semblance of control over.
There was no contact from Troll whatsoever, but I’d resigned myself to the loss of him, as well as myself, as soon as the madness hit.
Here, with these people, though, it softened the blow. I felt cocooned, safe within the group, the ache in my chest only unbearable when I left the protective barrier. There’s strength in numbers, at least with Fae.
“No, I-” Vidi stopped, mid-sentence, wheezing.
Slapping her on the back, I waited until she was alright before I stepped back.
“I can’t do this. Hold on.” Vidi took off, leaving me standing there, staring after her, wondering what all had just happened.
Fifteen minutes later, I was still scratching my head, about to leave, when she finally came back.
Without a word, she motioned for me to follow. I did, glancing around reluctantly, a bit uneasy about sneaking around, because that’s what it felt like.
Once we’d left the safety of the circle, I shivered with the renewed cold. Pulling a large sack from behind a thick bush, Vidi pulled out two cloaks. “Here. We’ll need these.”
“Vidi?” I mumbled, alarmed when I spotted all of my things safely stored away at the bottom.
“Look. I’ll explain on the way, okay?”
“No.” My voice was faint, as light and airy as my head was feeling. I didn’t want to leave. I like it here. These people, these Travellers, were beginning to feel like family. I realized how badly I’d wanted to belong after that first week.
Concern etched her features before a hard glint kicked in. “I won’t let them hand you over, okay? But we have to go, now.”
“Hand me over? To who?” Leaves rustled behind me as I shuffled back, brushing the skirt of my soft grey dress.
Rubbing her face tiredly, Vidi turned and walked deeper into the brush. “I don’t know. I just... I overheard Magda talking one night and went to go see...”
That warning sense went off, stomach twisting, and I knew I wasn’t going to like what she had to say. “She knows about t
he baby. I heard her tell the lady.”
“What lady? What baby?” Gripping her arm, I pulled her to a stop. A few paces ahead, I saw her horse, Gall, tied to a tree. He had bags on, and those too were full. “I think there’s been some kind of misunderstanding...”
“Is your name Daphedaenya?”
Not anymore! The look on my face, as all the blood drained from it, was answer enough.
No. No. No. “There must be some mistake... Vidi, I’m not with child.
“She said they’re looking for you, and-”
“Who’s looking for me?”
Vidi pressed my hand to Gall’s flank, smoothing her free hand over his side.
“The lady, didn’t you know?”
“No! What lady? Is she here?”
Vidi glanced between the horse and then me, untying Gall and swiftly mounting, offering me a hand up to hop on. Grunting and grumbling, I finally managed to find my seat, bare back on her great beast of a horse.
“I thought you said you’d ridden horses before?” Vidi teased, but it came out forced.
“I’m surprised you’re coming too,” I observed. “I was beginning to think you were shoving me off alone. And, for your information, this is not a horse, it’s a monster,” I huffed indelicately, snubbing my nose at her.
“Why do you have dealings with the corners?” Vidi asked when my joke fell flat, lapsing into silence, and it soon grew to be too much. I knew this was good-bye, and I felt dreadful, just plain awful. Will we ever see each other again? I’m losing my first real friend.
“I don’t deal in corners.”
“The four corners, four.” She put special emphasis on that. “They lost track of you, and couldn’t find you. I heard the lady telling Granmamma.”
“The four... Oh, god.” The four corners! Wind, Fire, Earth, and Water. ‘The Lady’, not a lady. “They’re hunting me? But why?” They want me?
“I don’t know,” Vidi whispered. “The baby?”
“No, but I’m not...” Bile rising in my throat, I thought I might be sick, holding it back with stubbornness and sheer will alone.
When was my last woman’s time? I couldn’t recall. Which let that sinking feeling slowly washing over me hit deep. “It might not be his.”
That thought made me feel so sick I shouted for Vidi to stop, rushing to the ground to scramble far enough away to empty my stomach. My belly heaved until there was nothing left, a soft cry tearing from my throat.
“Here.” A small square draped over my shoulder and I took it.
“Thank you.” Wiping my mouth with the bit of cloth Vidi held out to me, I felt tears prick my eyes.
“Aw, I didn’t mean to, I...” Vidi bent down and enveloped me in a bear hug as I flopped back, body trembling.
Huge, gut wrenching sobs fell from my lips, shoulders shaking, real fear, sharp and bitter, tipping my tongue, filling my nostrils.
“What am I going to do?” I wailed, shoulders shaking, chest heaving.
“I don’t know.”
And what else could she say?
Lost And Found. Lost Again.
“You have to go back.” It wasn’t a question, and I didn’t expect an answer.
“They’ll wonder,” Vidi said after a moment, propped up on the side of the bed in the little village inn we’d found just before we lost all day light.
“Won’t they be wondering now?”
Popping another piece of bread in her mouth, Vidi shook her head. “Magda thinks I’ve gone to meet with a man.” At the astonished look on my face, she grinned. “It was her doing. Friend of a friend of a something or other.”
My face scrunched up and I shook my head, my long orange hair plastered to my skin as I washed up in the small hip bath we’d managed to talk—or I should say pay—our generous host into having one of his sons bring up here.
Vidi glanced over at me from the small plate of bread and cheese she’d been nibbling on. “I think it was a set up.”
“What was?” Soaping up my legs, I glanced up, the lavender scented bar Vidi had thought to pack still in my hand.
“The man. I don’t think there ever was one. I think she wanted me gone.”
“It did sound a bit far-fetched to me,” I murmured in agreeance, cupping water over my hands to rinse off.
“She seemed really pushy about me going, too,” Vidi thought aloud.
“Do you think the two things are connected?” Gesturing for her to hand me a towel, I quickly dried off.
Nudity wasn’t an issue between us, having had to bathe in rivers with the rest of the ladies, you grew immune. I expected stares, and eventually questions, once others grew more comfortable in my presence, but the questions never came. The stares were inevitable, more curious than anything, but inquiring minds never asked, all lips firmly shut.
Slipping my nightshirt on over my head, I wrung my hair out, finger combing it until it was dry enough to climb beneath the covers.
Settling down on my side, I fingered the small sack I’d placed in my balled up dress, our pillows for the night, since, according to our dearest host, the place didn’t have any available. If we’d wanted any, like the bath, it would have cost us. We were okay with dress pillows.
“Why did you want to know about the locket?” I asked finally, turning to face her fully.
Curled up on her side as well, her eyes dimmed a little and her ready smile fell.
“The Lady said you hadn’t accepted it yet, so the binding spell Magda wanted to put on me wouldn’t work until you’d worn it. I didn’t know it was a locket. She’d said ‘token’.”
“Binding spell?”
“It’s pure Dark magic.” Vidi bit out bitterly. “Why would she even attempt it when she’s got more than enough Fae magic? Bind me for what?”
“I’m sorry,” I sympathized, “I wish I knew, but I don’t. She told me...” I paused, sighing heavily. “She said it was for protection.”
“Protection spells don’t bind, bright eyes.” Vidi used the nickname often, but I didn’t mind it so much from her. “Binding spells syphon.”
“Syphon?” That didn’t sound good.
“She wants to take something from me, or bind me from using it.”
“Casting?” I guessed, having seen Vidi’s progression as she secretly practiced the craft.
“I won’t let her.” Vidi’s hands tightened on the pillow. “I’m not going back.”
Resting my hand on hers gently, I pried her fingers loose before they tore a hole in her dress.
With a sharp nod, she rolled over, giving me her back.
“Does this mean you’re coming with me?” I asked tentatively.
“You wouldn’t mind?”
I shook my head so hard the bed bounced. “Not at all.”
“Alright then,” she murmured finally, “the two traveling sisters, it is.”
The smile that lit my face was the first real, full, genuine face splitting one I’d had in months. But first... no more secrets. “Vidi?”
“Hmm?”
“I don’t know if this has anything to do with it, but Madga isn’t your granmamma. And I don’t know if it matters, but it’s just a hunch... uhm, I don’t think she’s as strong as she’s led other to believe.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Her cane,” I murmured thoughtfully, frowning. “It’s strange magic. And, well, you’re much stronger than her?”
“I am?”
“Yes.” My head ruffled the pillow as I nodded. “Much more so.”
“The magic was strange, you said? Strange how?”
“I don’t know. I can’t place it. Doesn’t smell Fae, though.”
Vidi’s entire body stiffened, so still I’d almost thought she’d stopped breathing altogether.
Leaning forward a little, I whispered, “Vidi?”
“How long have you known?” her voice was raw and tight.
Shrinking back, I stared down at my fingers, visible to my enhanced eyes in the dark.
“How long?”
“How long what?”
“How long did you know any of it, all of it? How long?”
“Some since the first night, others... I could be wrong, but it was just a feeling. And she’d looked funny when she dropped her glamour.”
“Tell me.”
“She had sharp teeth, and I don’t know... a weird aura about her. That’s not Fae, is it?”
“No,” she whispered hoarsely.
“Uhm, Vidi?”
Vidi took what felt like an hour before responding. “Thank you for telling me.” It sounded like she was crying after a while as we lay there, trying to muffle it.
When I went to touch her shoulder, she brushed me off. “I’m sorry,” I murmured, silently crying with her.
“Me too,” she sniffled.
****
Something was going on. There was roaring, lots of roaring, and someone was really mad, raging, but it was as if I was hearing it all through water, muddled and fuzzy. Something was blocking the madness clawing to get its way through. It was after me. It’s going to get me.
Face screwing up tight, I whimpered in my sleep, kicking out as if to run. The roaring stopped and a pain filled howl had my ears ringing. Fear washed over me, and I knew, no matter how hard I tried, I’d never escape.
****
When I woke up the next morning, Vidi and Gall were gone. All of my belongings were present, but when I went to change and pack away the dress I’d used as a pillow, I noticed my pouch was gone.
Shocked, I didn’t know what to do. I have no coins, and I’m stranded here. Hell, I don’t even know where here is!
My booted foot hit something as I skidded across the floor, and a familiar clink hit my ears. Dropping to all fours, I found my coin purse spilled out all over Vidi’s side of the bed, the blanket, having slipped down, masking it.
Coins were spilled out everywhere, a bit of braided twine laying atop them. Never having counted them, I didn’t bother now, noting the locket was gone. Plucking up the twine, I noticed a slim, worn looking leather bracelet, tied together with the string, a smaller matching one to go with.
The Toll Page 36
