Page 8

Chapter Eight

T he farm we have arrived at is a familiar sight. Though I haven’t been here in a year, it’s just as green and rich as ever. A man working in the field between us and the small farmhouse straightens. He removes his hat to wipe his forehead and spots me.

My heart pangs and I offer a weak wave before I hop down from the wagon.

Samuel’s wrinkled face breaks into a grin and he waves his hat. “Elowyn!” he shouts.

Relief floods through me. I feel guilty for keeping my distance from him as he attempts to run to me through the rows of straw, leaning heavily on his cane as he does so. His leg must be getting worse. I should have been helping him.

I gather up my skirts and hurry to meet him. “Samuel, you don’t need to rush.”

“Did you get the squash I dropped off for you in the fall?” he calls.

“Yes. They were delicious.” I catch up to him and grasp one wrinkled hand as his other holds his cane. “It was very kind of you to bring those out to me. I...I’m sorry I didn’t reciprocate.”

He waves his cane, shaking his head dismissively. “Stop. You have been fending on your own. Giving you some food is the least I can do. I wish I had done more.”

I smile softly.

His sun-worn skin is speckled with dark spots, but his blue eyes still sparkle, though they’re more gray now. “Who is your friend?” He nudges his chin toward the wagon and lifts his brows in a teasing manner.

I don’t need to look and instead heave a sigh. “That would be Captain Bath. He’s one of the king’s guard.”

“Ah?” He grins. “You are courting?”

“Court...no!” I clear my throat. “No. He’s...helping me.” I slip my arm into his and turn him around to walk toward his home. I lower my voice. “We need to talk about the fairies.”

“Cherries?”

“Fairies,” I say a bit louder.

He stops dead in his tracks, his brightness dropping, and gives me a serious look. “Why would you ask about fairies?”

“It’s a long story. But I have to find one. I need a fairy ring.”

He shakes his head and pulls his arm away. “No. No. I will not help you find one.”

“Samuel, please. It’s urgent. It’s a task for the king.”

“To find fairies?” He nearly throws his hat as he energetically exclaims, “Why in the four winds could you possibly need a fairy?”

“Is everything all right, Father?” someone calls from the farmhouse.

I glance and see one of his sons now heading toward us. I had hoped this would be a quick discussion, but it’s clearly going to take a bit of time.

I feel Garrett’s presence before I hear his deep voice.

“Good day. I am Captain Bath. You may call me Garrett, if you wish.” He holds his large hand out toward the old man.

Samuel accepts it with little hesitation. “I am Samuel.”

“You know Elowyn?” Garrett places both hands behind his back, looking very much like a soldier.

“Yes. Since she was a tiny troll.”

I cannot resist a smile, knowing Samuel uses the term as one of endearment. He used to call me his “little troll” because Kai and I would stick weeds and twigs in our hair and clothes to make us look like trolls when we played in his canal.

Garrett offers Samuel a polite smile. “She’s told me good things about you and said you might be able to help us.” I’m not surprised he can lie so easily.

By now, Samuel’s youngest son, Hayden, has arrived. He’s about five years older than me and was a surprise after their other children had grown—he’s the same age as his oldest sister’s son. He’s a farmer’s son, so he’s muscled as one but is still smaller than Garrett.

He looks the soldier up and down and steps up behind his father. “Is everything all right?”

“Long story short,” I begin and all of the men look at me, “the king has asked Garrett and me to find a fairy ring. We need to find and speak with a fairy.”

“You know that’s dangerous,” Hayden mutters.

“Of course I do.”

“If you step into a fairy ring, you can’t come back,” Samuel says forcefully. “I can tolerate your grieving and stubbornness. You get that from your mother. But you are needed here.”

“I’m not stepping into one. I just need to send them a message and request a discussion.” I resist the urge to reply that his family has survived just fine without me.

“The fairies can’t cross over,” Samuel adds.

That’s not entirely true. I know that Princess Genoa is a fairy, even if her glamor prevents anyone non-magical from seeing her true identity.

“I know very little of fairy rings,” Garrett says. “Have you ever seen one?”

I’ve already told him and nearly interrupt with annoyance to re-explain it, but he clears his throat. He’s using this opportunity to gain whatever information we can. Maybe he’s not so annoying.

Samuel begins, “They are rings of mushrooms found in meadows in the woods. They don’t look like much at first, which is why people disappear in the woods. It is easy to step in one without realizing it. I have seen five in my lifetime.”

“These only grow in the woods?”

He bobs his head up and down. “Fairies keep to themselves.”

Garrett rubs his chin. “And yet you say you’ve seen five?” He turns and looks around at the farm. “That’s hard to believe, seeing as they’re so rare.”

“Are you calling me a liar?” Samuel huffs.

“I’m only saying, as one soldier to another, we like to stretch stories, don’t we?” Garrett offers a small smile.

Samuel’s eyes scrunch. “How’d you know I was a soldier?”

Garrett gestures to Samuel’s leg. “War wound? You stand like a soldier, in spite of your age. And your tattoo.” His smile broadens. “Blue Wing?”

Samuel’s frown slowly spreads into a big grin and he claps Garrett on the shoulder. “You are observant.” He taps his nose with his finger. “Come in for some coffee.” He turns and leans on Hayden.

I glance at Garrett. “We don’t really have the time—”

“Nonsense. Lynette will be furious if she doesn’t get to see you,” he insists.

I let them get ahead before I place my fists on my hips and face Garrett. “Tattoo?”

He holds up his left wrist, revealing a tattoo on it. It’s a black horizontal line with a raven silhouette in the middle and fine line swirls above and below. “I was in the Raven branch. The solid line and swirls with that tiny symbol in the middle”—he points—“indicate my ranking.”

“Every soldier has a tattoo?” I don’t know why it’s only just dawned on me that Kai’s tattoo on his wrist is because he’s a soldier. I recall when he first got the wolf head and he said he received it for his sixteenth birthday. I even recall when he received the curved line above it with three stars below. I asked him why those were added, but he was so dismissive about it I never asked again.

Garrett nods. “There is an entire ceremony. You get your branch tattooed first, then whatever ranking you accomplish is added as you go.”

“What does the raven represent, then?”

“Ah. I’m…” He tilts his head, eyes darting to me as if he is debating being honest. He finally shrugs. “I am a spy.”

I look him up and down. “That makes sense for why the king wanted you to babysit me.”

“I suppose.” He turns his attention forward.

“What is the wolf branch?”

Garrett’s lip tugs and he looks at me from the corner of his eyes. “Kai’s? He never told you?”

I frown and look away, pretending not to be interested in the answer. The tattoo makes me wonder if he has more hidden beneath his uniform. “We should follow Samuel.”

He smirks. “If I didn’t know any better, I would say you were proud of me for how I handled that.”

I begin walking. “I would have gotten him to talk.”

“Eventually.” He follows. “The wolves are usually the front line. They’re the most fiercely trained.”

I want to ask more about this and wonder why Kai wouldn’t tell me such things. Of course, it may be because he didn’t want me to worry. He had to fight on the front line in every battle?

A pang grips my chest when I enter the familiar, rundown home. Although Samuel’s children are all grown now and the space isn’t cluttered with sleeping rolls and toys, there is an area of the home for broken furniture I’m certain Samuel has promised he will repair. I nervously remove my hat and hang it on a hook inside of the door.

His wife, Lynette, beams at me through almond eyes as she pushes the wrapping on her head back off her eyebrows. “Elowyn, is that you? Oh goodness, dear! It’s been ages!” She shuffles away from the counter where she has been preparing some sort of food.

I don’t hesitate to step forward and wrap her in my arms. “Lynette. I’m so sorry I haven’t visited.” I don’t want to admit it’s because of my own selfish loneliness.

“Oh hush. It’s good to see you now.” She steps back and places a hand gnarled with arthritis on my cheek. “You are beautiful as always.”

I laugh tightly. “Let me help you get some coffee going.” I don’t hesitate to leave her behind, because I want to help and give her a break. I get the pot from where it sits on the corner of the counter. “How are your kids?”

“Lynette, dear, sit down and let Elowyn take care of it.”

“She is a guest in our house. I’ll do no such thing.” She swats playfully at Samuel’s outstretched hand.

“I can help. You both sit.” Hayden guides his mother to her chair and turns to me with a smile and shake of his head. “I’m glad you came to visit. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Mother smile so big.”

I set the pot on the stove and the corner of my lip tugs. “I wish I had visited before now. It’s just been difficult, you know?”

“No, I don’t. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be alone.” He chuckles.

“I can’t imagine living in a house of eight kids,” I counter.

We both laugh and my heart swells with the old, familiar feeling I’ve missed.

Hayden organizes biscuits and cookies on a tray. “We would have helped, you know.”

“I know you tried,” I confess. “I just felt so betrayed I didn’t want to trust anyone ever again.” I flinch, remembering that Kai is currently resting in my pocket and can hear everything I say. It’s not new information, but I feel bad letting him overhear just how alone I truly was.

“I’m sure Kai had a reason,” Hayden says in a gentle tone. “He had to have. He loved you and your mother so much, there’s no way he acted without cause. Did you ever ask him?”

I shake my head and pull my black braid over my shoulder. “I never did. I was hurt.”

“And it was easier pushing everyone away?”

I exhale heavily through my nose and glance back at Garrett, who is now seated and chatting with the elderly couple. “I thought it was at the time. I’m already such an outcast, I didn’t care if anyone never saw me. I poured my time into trying to get my mother released and when that didn’t work, I had to refocus on getting enough money and supplies to last the winter. It sounds pathetic talking about it now.”

“Nah, it’s not pathetic.” Hayden picks up the plate of snacks. “I’m sorry you felt like you had to be alone.” He offers me a gentle smile, which I return.

“When I get back from this assignment, I’ll make sure not to stay away like before.”

“Good.” He nods and carries the tray to the small table between his parents.

I finish with the coffee and pour it into five mismatched mugs. I doubt they’ve ever had anything that matched. I carry two at a time over and set them beside the couple, and Garrett stands to fetch the other three before I can.

As he passes me, he says, “Sit.”

I sit on a cushion on the floor with my back to the glowing fireplace.

“Do you still have that little creature?” Lynette asks.

“Acorn?” I grin and carefully pull the sleeping ball of prickles from his pouch. “He’s as healthy as ever.”

His little body tightens in silent protest, so I put him back where he belongs.

“Elowyn, why are you on the floor?” Whiskers asks when he comes back and stops at my side.

As if I didn’t have to look up at him when I’m standing, now I have to look even higher. “I like the floor?”

“Ladies sit in chairs,” he insists. He hands Samuel one of the mugs, then holds his free hand out to me.

“I don’t mind,” I insist, but I feel heat on my cheeks when he doesn't move. I clear my throat, accept his hand, and am mildly surprised how easily he lifts me to my feet. “Thank you.” I swallow.

He gives me a mug of coffee and takes my previous spot, leaving his chair open for me.

I glance at the others and don’t miss all of their big smiles as I sit. “Samuel, you were telling Garrett about the mushroom rings.”

He frowns, lowering the coffee from his lips. “Fairies are evil things.”

“You were telling me where you saw one so we could avoid it,” Garrett adds. He sips his coffee, and I wonder if I’m going to see it dripping from his mustache when he lowers the cup. Somehow, there isn’t a drop on it. Now I can’t tease him.

“In my youth, we used to jump from the cliffs of Mirror Falls.” Samuel leans back in his chair as he’s caught up in the memory.

I’ve heard of that place. There are tales that the water has healing properties. Mother and I were planning on collecting some for various tonics. People used to visit it to bathe or drink the water to heal their ailments. I don’t know if they still do.

“We would race to see who could make it up and down the fastest,” Samuel continues. “I would always cut up the northwest edge. Everyone thought it was more dangerous because the trees hug that side, but I found that if I ran around from the west, there was an enormous meadow and no trees until I reached those by the waterfall. That’s where I found the fairy ring.” He frowns and leans forward. “You stay away from that, Elowyn.”

“I only want to visit the falls,” I lie. “I need some of the water for new healing potions I want to try.”

“Good.” He nods and drinks his coffee.

Garrett shifts the conversation to Samuel’s battle memories. I would love to sit all day, but after a bathroom break, Garrett is ready to go.

As we head for the wagon, Samuel calls after us, “Oh, and watch out for the toll bridge!”

“Thank you!” I wave back.

“So we head to the falls.” Garrett unnecessarily smooths his mustache.

“Yes, sir.” I give him a salute with my right hand, which makes him roll his eyes. He’s back to the Garrett I met this morning.

“If you’re going to salute, at least do it correctly.” He stands at attention, spine straight. His left arm goes up with his palm facing outward and fingertips touching his forehead. This shows off the tattoo.

I clap slowly. “Impressive. Can we go now?”

He relaxes his stance, cheeks flushing a light pink, and quietly walks to the wagon. I’ve made him blush!

I climb up, and only after I’m seated does Garrett climb in beside me. “Go ahead, Pancho.” I turn to Garrett. “Aren’t you nervous about being seen with me? It’s easy for everyone to recognize who I am.” I point to my eye.

“Hadn’t noticed,” he lies. “And no. That’s why I’m still in my soldier’s uniform.”

“Ah. It looks like you’re arresting me.” I nod.

“What? No.” He actually looks offended.

The light gray clouds above open and release a sprinkle of water. I pull my hat on and tilt it forward to shield my face from the rain. I glance at Whiskers. “You should have brought a hat to protect your perfect chestnut hair.”

He glances up, as if he could see his own hair, and then smiles. “I suppose that’s true. I would never wear one though. Soldiers wear helmets. Where did you get that thing anyway?”

“Thing? I’ll have you know this is my favorite piece of clothing.” I stroke the brim of my hat. “My mother got it for me some years ago. I pin plants to it while I’m out in the woods.”

“And you never poke your own head?” Raindrops gather on his mustache and dislodge as he speaks. He reaches up and dries it with his hand.

I laugh. “I don’t pin them while it’s on my head.”

“I meant if they come loose,” he replies, flustered and rolling his eyes.

“Do you ever poke yourself with that thing?” I jab my finger against the pin holding his cloak.

He raises a brow. “Yes.”

I sigh. “You’re far too serious.”

“Okay, okay.” He holds up both hands in surrender. “I apologize.”

“You should be saying something funny! Like ‘ Well, you’re too silly .’” I realize as I’m coaching him that Kai would have bantered back. I’m trying to get him to respond the way Kai would, and my heart pangs.

Garrett pushes his lips to one side, making his mustache shift too. “Let’s just...focus on the task at hand, yes?”

Yes. I should be more focused on getting Kai back to himself than flirting with a knight who will never want to see me after this. “We should get there tomorrow,” I reply, turning my attention forward.

We will find the fairies, break Kai’s spell, and...I will go back to being alone.