The Wealding Word

by A C Gogolski

  Ward rubbed his jaw and looked up. “He is, yes. I brought the leech to him just in time, but we couldn’t move him for many days. Nell,” he said, still trying to apologize. “I searched the coast for some sign of the raiders but found nothing. I had no choice but to return here to give Lady Zel the news.”

  “It’s true,” the sorceress confirmed, “I too searched with many means, but the raiders who stole you seemed to simply vanish, and Rhiannon assured me that she had nothing to do with it. To think she was keeping you the entire time...” There was no malice toward the witch in Lady Zel’s voice, just weariness. She looked at Ward and explained, “I had a funny feeling last night though, and I knew I needed to investigate the Widow’s keep one more time. Rhiannon was gone, but in the morning I spotted a small island far out in the kelp. That’s where I found our missing girl. Two of them, in fact.” She smiled at Evelyn. “Come forward, child. I’d like you to meet Ward, special servant of Queen Pharisij.”

  The sunken-eyed girl sneered at the mention of the queen. Her gaze slid between Nell and the handsome soldier kneeling before her. Ward was the first man Evelyn had ever seen – aside from Gadnik – and at the sight of him her heart filled with a jealousy she had never before known. The woebegone young man gave himself completely to Nell, practically kissing her feet, and in return she had kicked him in the face. Clearly his failure haunted him, but Nell seemed blind to his grief. Worst of all, during the whole exchange no one had bothered to introduce Evelyn, except as an afterthought, and even then the soldier had barely glanced at her.

  Face flushed, Evelyn pushed away from the table. As she did so, the back of her too-small dress split. “I hate it here! I hate all of you!” she shrieked. Before Lady Zel could stop her, she ran out of the room, sobbing and tearing at her gown.

  “Ward, meet Evelyn,” Nell said.

  After dinner, Lady Zel summoned Nell to her private chambers. The room was the highest in the tower, complete with an open solarium, which, like so much else about the tower, was not apparent from outside. The sorceress sat out upon the balcony, combing out her tresses beneath the glimmer of stars.

  Nell approached, and was shocked to find Lady Zel silently weeping as she combed. “W-why are you crying?” Nell asked.

  Lady Zel took several moments to answer. “Did you ever lose someone you loved, Nell?”

  “My Nan died a couple of years ago.”

  The sorceress nodded, gazing up at the star field. The constellation of the Great Chariot wheeled behind the Boar, giving chase across the heavens. Winter’s chill was in the air that evening. “Do you know why I called you here?”

  Nell was quiet, surveying the dark treetops. She still could not quite believe they were back at the tower, safe and sound. As she sat considering the past few weeks, an unexpected bitterness took hold of her. Without thinking she gave vent to the feeling. “She was going to kill me, she would have killed all of us,” Nell said.

  “Yes, she would have. Would you like to tell me why she didn’t?”

  Nell turned to face the sorceress. “You know why. Because of Evelyn and Gadnik: they used the Isolet Word. There was a woman who crawled out of the pit where Rhiannon did her magic… I think she was dead. She followed us up and attacked the Widow,” Nell paused, shuddering at the thought. “Then, when Rhiannon wasn’t looking, Evelyn banished her. Everything was gone: the Widow, the ghoul, even the Malady.” Nell gave a tight laugh, “So I guess your plan worked after all.”

  Speaking so boldly to Lady Zel made Nell feel even worse. She knew she would regret it, but she couldn’t stop the sharp words from darting out. “I guess you’ll just send me away now. The Malady is gone, so I’ll be the king’s slave forever.” The edict of the king loomed large in her mind. Once cured of the demon, Nell was destined for the plantations of Granlevin to serve as harvestmaiden – Lady Zel had said so much herself. Glumly she looked toward the few small lights shining from the castle, far away in the night. A life of servitude stretched before her like the shadowy forest below.

  Lady Zel shook her head. “No child, my plan did not work – not exactly.” Nell tensed, dreading what the sorceress might say next. “I’m afraid the Malady is with you still.”

  “What? You’re wrong! They banished everything! It all went away – even the palace!” Despite her protest, however, Nell knew the sorceress was right. Whether it was the Wealding Word speaking to her, or some other intuition, she could feel the calamitous leer of the Malady still upon her. Nell struggled against a tide of emotion as she tried to make sense of what the news might mean.

  “But it was not in vain that you went,” Lady Zel said. “Though we did not succeed in ridding you of the Malady, you saved another person from an unspeakable fate. And now you have a responsibility toward Evelyn. You have to teach her how to live, help her to make friends.”

  ”I don’t even want to be her friend. She’s a spoiled brat!”

  The sorceress nodded, unraveling another silver plait to work the comb through. “Remember that she was made to be this way. It isn’t something that Evelyn chose. In any case, you must try and open your heart to her. The life of a thrall is a miserable one. You cannot imagine the loneliness she has endured. What’s more, she carries a very dangerous magic within her.”

  A note of revulsion in her tone, Lady Zel said, “That Rhiannon would have taught such a Word to Evelyn is unthinkable. The Word

  Isolet cannot be forgotten like some Words – once given, it’s burned into the mind forever. And the more it’s used, the harder it is to control.” She beat her long hair with the comb. “It becomes the solution to every conflict. An undisciplined young lady like Evelyn could do a great deal of damage if left on her own.” She paused. “That is why I must take her as my apprentice: to temper her power with understanding.”

  The news stabbed Nell to the core. She remembered Evelyn’s wish at the pool beneath the fortress; she knew the girl’s hunger for power. Now it was all coming true. Evelyn would be a real sorceress someday, taught by Lady Zel herself. And what would become of me? Nell wondered. I’ll be a slave to the king, counting ears of corn forever. A grinning moon rose just above the horizon, putting the distant castle into silhouette. Nell looked at the ocean of stars above, tears rolling down her face at the injustice of life.

  After a moment Lady Zel went on. “As you know, idle hands are a serious danger in life, and it’s the same in magic. When I was young, the sorceress who kept me believed firmly in discipline – she made it so my hands were never idle. I had to wear my hair very long, and it grew at an incredible rate. I devoted hours every day to washing, combing, and braiding. It was my life for years.”

  “Why are you telling me this?” Nell yelled. “You think you can discipline Evelyn? She won’t listen to you! She’s spoiled rotten and all she wants is more. But you’re going to make her a sorceress like she’s always dreamed. And me – I’m going to be the one who’s cursed for ever and ever,” she swallowed a sob, gritting her teeth against a swell of tears. “Just send me off to work in the king’s fields! I don’t want to be here with her anyway.”

  Lady Zel was suddenly the stern and powerful Witch of the Weald, her words slicing through Nell’s self-pity. “There are two reasons why you cannot go to Granlevin. As you know, the Malady will bring ruin upon you. That is certain. There is no telling how far its curse could spread if you left here again.” She paused, her colorless eyes glinting in the starshine. “The second reason is that I wish for you to join Evelyn as my apprentice.”

  Nell’s jaw dropped. “Really? You mean it?”

  Lady Zel smiled. “Of course. Though sixteen is the earliest age for beginning lessons, you show real promise, as does she. And what you said is true. Evelyn is spoiled and undisciplined – she won’t listen to me, not completely. This is where you can help. Be her friend. Learn how to open to her like you’ve opened to the weald. Perhaps she might someday recover from Rhiannon’s abuses. Will you do this for me?”

  N
ell made no effort to hide her smile as she once did. She was an apprentice now, and she showed her crooked grin with pride. “Yes!”

  “Good, that’s settled,” said Lady Zel. “Now it’s time for bed; we have a long walk back to your home tomorrow.”

  Nell bobbed her head quickly and started back inside, afraid the sorceress might change her mind. But something still bothered her. She paused at the door and, on impulse, called, “Lady Zel?”

  The mistress of the tower came in from the solarium, her long white hair now completely unwound and trailing down past her knees. “What is it Nell?”

  In the face of Lady Zel’s unblinking gaze, Nell wasn’t sure how to say what she wanted to. “Well,” she hesitated. “What I meant to ask was… why me? I mean, why did you give me the Wealding Word? Of all the people in the kingdom, I don’t think I deserve…” she waved her hands about the room, indicating more than merely what she saw, “any of this.”

  “That is good to wonder about.” Lady Zel said. Her voice was at once unsentimental and kind. “When we are quiet, it’s a question that must inevitably arise. Call it a sign of inner health, something every person should eventually ask themselves. Many men are slaves to what they think should be theirs, but they never consider all that shouldn’t. To feel undeserving of one’s life, whatever it may be, is a state to aspire to.” She nodded gravely at Nell. “I can’t give you the answer you wish to hear. However great or awful, none of us deserve our fates – not you, not me, not Evelyn. So much is simply accident. The true measure of a person is shown by what they make of what comes their way, whether deserved or not.”

  Nell ducked her head. The sorceress had handed her more than enough to think about, and it was time to go. “I understand,” she said, and then opened the door, finally ready for sleep.

  Just before it clicked shut, Lady Zel began speaking again. “But…” she said, “That is not to say I bestowed the Wealding Word upon you accidentally.”

  Nell appeared at the door again. Her face was open, her heart aching for something she could not put words on.

  The sorceress mused, “It’s true, the conditions were not ideal at the time, but when I saw you on the drawbridge one year ago, I saw your heart. A person who loves the weald as you do may someday come to understand the word compassion. It’s something only the world can teach. This was my hope, when I awakened the Wealding Word in you. Everything else was a gamble made on that initial feeling. I am glad, so far, at all the rest.” Smoothing her floor-length hair, she peered down at the girl in the doorway. “Now, goodnight Nell.”

  CHAPTER 26

  STRANGERS AT THE DOOR

  After the ordeal with Rhiannon, Lady Zel wished for Nell to spend a week with her family; and intended to set out early the next day, in order to escort Nell back to the cottage beneath the leaning oaks. Over breakfast the sorceress persuaded Evelyn to join them as well. The girl begrudgingly agreed – but only after Lady Zel promised to use a spell that would make the distance speed by. Before they left the shadow of the tower however, Evelyn was claiming exhaustion. What’s more, she wouldn’t enter the trees when they came to the forest boundary. “You didn’t tell me we were going through the weald! I can’t go in there, it’s full of wolves and bears!”

  The peacocks of the tower strode past as Nell sat on a rock, listening to Evelyn argue with the sorceress. For someone who was ensorcelled into obedience for the whole of her life, Evelyn had an astounding gift for dispute. After what seemed like half the morning, Nell finally interrupted. “She doesn’t want to come. Why can’t we just leave her here?” She tried not to sound irritated, but she wanted badly to see her family, and Evelyn’s whining seemed a useless delay.

  By now, however, Lady Zel was determined that Evelyn would accompany them. “No! Groundless fears are something that must be seen through. Wolves and bears indeed!”

  After several more arguments, copious tears, and the promise of new clothes, the group started down the forest path. Along the way, Evelyn poured forth a relentless stream of complaints. Water leaked through her second-hand boots, her fingers were numb with cold, and she was going to catch a fever from the boggy woods. To Nell’s dismay, the quibbles didn’t stop when they reached the village. “What a dirty slum!” Evelyn said. “Don’t these people know you’re supposed to keep animals in a barn, not your home?” And when they finally reached Nell’s cottage, she sniffed in disappointment. “This is where you live? Your house is smaller than my bedroom.”

  “At least it’s real.”

  Lady Zel frowned at both of them. “Girls,” she warned.

  Danielle and Chase welcomed Nell as though she were Queen Pharisij herself. Nell’s mother begged Lady Zel to stay for tea. “We love meeting Nell’s friends,” she said to Evelyn. “I hope you’ll be staying the week with us too.”

  For a moment of terror, Nell thought this might have been Lady Zel’s plan all along. She swallowed hard, gaping at her teacher. “My apologies, but she cannot,” the sorceress said. Nell breathed an audible sigh.

  Lady Zel continued, “Evelyn will be staying with me. I must take her to be fitted for some new clothes – and shoes.” She looked to Nell’s father. “Mr. Shoemaker, perhaps you might measure her and have a pair of sturdy boots ready for when we return.”

  “With pleasure,” the man replied. In a moment he was back with his tools. “I have a soft bit of hide I’ve been saving for something special. It will make excellent boots for a pretty young lady.” Evelyn scowled at Chase, and Nell hated her for it.

  Lexi tried to make conversation with Evelyn, who she thought was nearer her own age. “Are you from higher on the hill?” she asked, assuming the girl was born into wealth. Evelyn scanned the ceiling as though she didn’t hear. Nell’s sister looked confused for only a moment, and then smiled a dragonish grin – no one could slight her and get away with it. “I guess your friend is fat and mute,” she whispered loudly to Nell. Her words kindled a dangerous glint in Evelyn’s eyes.

  Across the room Rapunzel was saying: “With your permission, I would like for Nell to remain with me for the foreseeable future. She still has… her unresolved issue. By keeping her safe at my tower, you are kept safe as well.” Chase and Danielle nodded gravely, as though listening to some inscrutable prognosis. Bad luck might strike their daughter at any time, and the witch could fix it. That was the extent of their understanding, and it was enough. Ignorance and superstition made the family agreeable to anything Lady Zel might propose.

  As the conversation moved on, Evelyn distanced herself from Lexi. She began nosing about the cottage, opening cabinets and doors impudently. She lifted a black iron poker to test its weight, peered in a kettle, frowned at a pair of mice in the rafters, and pulled at a piece of plaster peeling from the wall. It snapped off in a strip the length of her arm, leaving bare fieldstone and mortar showing through the hole. Now there was something else for Chase to fix.

  Evelyn’s one moment of approval came when she saw Sola. “You have a cat! I miss my kiddies.” Sola was dozing next to the fireplace, her furry belly rising and falling. In an instant, Evelyn scooped her up and was squeezing the life from her. The cat wriggled free like a wet fish, leaping in the direction of Nell’s bedroom. “Oh, come back!” Evelyn moaned.

  The sight of the girl’s disappointment made the Shoemaker sisters exchange grins. “Not even Sola likes your friend,” Lexi said to Nell, this time in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear.

  Lady Zel cut short Evelyn’s angry retort. “If you have the measurements you need, we will be off,” she said. Chase assured the sorceress the boots would be ready in a few days, and Lady Zel gave a satisfied nod. Shoeing Evelyn out the door, the sorceress told Nell, “I will return one week from today. Please be packed and prepared for spending the winter with me. Stay on guard and keep out of the weald while you are here at home.” She glanced up at the great canopy of trees looming over the cottage, and then peered down the road. “Something is afoot, and you will be sa
fer near your family.”

  Over the next few days, Nell honored the sorceress’ caution about the forest. She lingered at the window watching the trees sway in the autumn gusts, but the days passed easily enough. Her father had accidentally smashed his thumb while hammering the soles of Evelyn’s boots, so he spent much of the week finishing them at home in the company of his daughters. “No real need for me to be in the stall this week. Business is better than ever, thanks to you,” he smiled at Nell.

  Lexi took up her father’s praise of Nell. “You’re the talk of the town. It started two months ago when somebody offered me ten pence just to see you. Of course, you weren’t here, but I took his coin and showed him where the vines grew over the house.”

  Nell gaped at the news. “Ten pence, just to see me?”

  Indeed, word of King Reginald’s proclamation had spread quickly, and with unexpected results for the family. Everyone in the village knew that Nell was a harvestmaiden, and anyone who had ever put a seed in the ground sought to profit from her power. Farmers from far and wide had started dropping by to hear if the stories were true – stories about the girl who could make the plants grow. Given Nell’s age, most reasoned the best way to secure her blessing was through the good graces of her father. Consequently, there was no shortage of business for Chase Shoemaker. Poor growers asked for simple repairs on their wooden soles, though many could have fixed them themselves, while well-to-do landowners had their attendants place orders for fine footwear. Of course, not everyone wanted new shoes. Some simply came to barter for her time. Weathered men with big hats came bearing chickens, some brought supple leather or bright cloth, others left small purses of tobacco or coins. Always they reminded Chase where they lived, and how obliged they’d be to see his daughter when the weather changed. None of the visitors ever mentioned Nell’s “curse,” nor concerned themselves with the king’s disapproval.