Chapter 29: Once Upon a Time

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Once upon a time, there was a girl who served an evil crone. She cooked for the woman and kept her cottage clean, and in return she was made to sleep on floor and got little more to eat each day than the scraps from the crone's plate. The crone never praised the girl for her efforts, but was sure to beat her if she dropped a dish or failed to keep the cottage spotless.

 But the girl endured her horrible lot in life, because she had the love of the Prince of the Fair Folk, and whenever she got a moment away from the crone, she would run off to the forest to meet with him.

"If he was in love with her, why didn't he just take her away from that horrible life?" Reinier asks, "And kill the crone that dared lay a hand on lady love? That's what I would do."

"I'm getting to that part now," Sterren laughs, "Let me finish the story."

"Do not cry any longer, my true love," The Prince of the Fair Folk said to her during one of their secret meetings, "For I will take you away from the evil crone and make you my wife, and you shall be the princess of all the fair folk."

The girl was thrilled to hear of her good fortune, and asked only to be able to go back to the crone's cottage one more time to retrieve the only memento she had of her mother, who had died when she was born.

"Going back into the enemy's camp once you've made your escape is never a good tactical maneuver," Reinier points out, "She gets caught by the crone doesn't she?"

"The story flows much better if you listen without interrupting," Sterren admonishes him, and softening the sting of her words with soft kisses to his chest.

"Go on," Reinier encourages her, "I'm listening."

As it happened, the old crone had followed the girl into the woods that evening, having long desired to know why it took her so long to do simple tasks like gathering herbs from the forest, and she overheard the fairy prince's plan to run away with her servant girl.

As soon as the girl had run back to the cottage to fetch her things, the crone struck at the fairy prince, ripping into his chest with her bare hands to tear out his heart.

"That was more gruesome than I expected. Also, not very believable, Sterren. How does an old woman tear out a man's, or  fairy's heart, without even a knife?"

Sterren ignores his question and continues her story.

The Prince of the Fair Folk's heart was a beautiful glowing jewel, and with it the crone's own magic would increase a hundred fold or more.

When the crone returned to her cottage she pulled the girl by the hair and said "You'll see your fairy prince no more, for I have taken his heart and left him dead in the forest. You will serve me now and evermore."

The girl was struck with grief thinking she would never see her love again, and she sat by the fire all night weeping while the crone slept peacefully, dreaming of the power she would wild with the fairy prince's heart jewel.

As the girl sat weeping, alone, she hear a tiny voice coming from the mantle, where the crone had left the heart jewel, "If you love me still, then take my jewel and run as far away from here as you can go."

The girl scarce believed it, but the voice called to her three times, and finally she heeded him, and took the jewel from the mantle and ran from the cottage as fast as she could."

"The crone just left the jewel out where the girl could take it?" Reinier asks, incredulous.

"That's the way the story goes," Sterren tells him, "Do you want to hear the end?"

"Please," Reinier says, caressing her hair.

The old crone awakened soon after, and chased the girl. No matter where she tried to hide, the old woman would soon be on her, because the glow of the jewel would give them away. 

"You must swallow me to hide my light," the jewel spoke to the girl with his tiny voice, and the girl did as he bade her, and swallowed. But it was to no avail, for the old crone finally caught up with her, and taking the girl's arms, shook her and yelled, "Give it to me! Give me the jewel!" But the girl could not do as the crone demanded, as the jewel was hidden safe inside her.

Realizing what had happened, the crone cackled, "Your stomach is no safe place to hide the jewel. I can rip as easily from you as I did from your fairy lover."

From inside her stomach the girl heard the tiny voice once again, "Use my power, my love, to drive the crone away." The girl, realizing she now possessed the very magic the crone had meant to take for herself, stood and threw the crone off her with a burst of magical energy.

When the crone laid dead, the fairy prince was brought back to life.

The Prince of the Fair Folk did as he promised, making the girl, his true love, his wife and princess of all his kind, and taking her away to his magical realm, where she yet lives today, and watches over us all.

"And so your people worship this serving girl that ran off with one of the fair folk?" Reinier asks in disbelief.

"Well, it's one version of the story," Sterren says, "There are others, but that one is my favorite." 

"If there's more than one version, how do you know which is true?" Reinier asks, "Or even if any are true?"

"I don't think it matters if the stories are true," Sterren answers with a shrug, "Surely you must have such stories about your Watcher, about who he was and what he did to become the protector of your people."

Reinier shakes his head, "The Watcher always was and always will be, without beginning or end. He is everywhere, in all things, He sees all and knows all, and judges us, punishing the wicked and rewarding the good. We have no stories about Him, just stories about those who have lived by his commands and were justly rewarded, and those who disobeyed and were struck down for their wickedness."

Sterren frowns, "I hope they are at least entertaining stories," she says, though in truth she has little hope at all that such stories could afford even a moment's entertainment.

"They are meant to be examples to live by, or cautionary tales about what to avoid," Reinier explains.

Shaking her head sadly, Sterren sighs and rolls off his chest and onto her back, "It grows terribly late. I should get some sleep, so I can rise early and tend to Taran's daughter."

Sterren expected he would leave her and go back to his room for the rest of he night, But Reinier instead curls around her, holding her as they sleep side by side.

She arose before first light and meant to slip away unnoticed, but Reinier stirs as she sits up on the edge of the bed.

"Leaving me so soon?" he asks.

"I must go pray before I tend to little Elara," she explains.

He pulls her back against his chest, embracing her gently, "You are very kind-hearted and dutiful to your people, " he says, "More noble women should be like you."

"Tell that to my aunt," Sterren laughs, "My mother had to become a commoner to be what she was, and I have followed her path."

"Your uncle, he is your protector?" Reinier asks.

"He's the lord of this village, and protector of us all," Sterren says, "But, certainly, his support of me personally has allowed me to serve the people without having to ask payment of those who cannot afford it."

"But, he's the head of your household? The one who makes decisions," Reinier presses.

"Yes, he's the principal Avendale. Whatever you need, ask it of him," Sterren answers, "I must go now, before the day begins, or my aunt will never let me out before breakfast. And you should slip back to your own room, or face my uncle's pointed hints and eyebrow waggling."

"I will speak to your uncle today, my dearest love," Reinier says, taking her hand for one final kiss before he lets her out of bed.

Sterren gets dressed hurriedly, and leaves with a strange nagging feeling that she's missed something important in her conversations with Reinier.

Dawn has painted the sky a rosy pink by the time she reaches the Lady's grove behind the village. Sterren stands in quiet meditation, asking for a way to heal Elara's sickness, or at least the strength to see the girl to her end.

At first she thinks it a trick of the light, but as she goes to stand closer to the sculpture, she sees it's no illusion, though she cannot say what the glimmering dust that falls from the Lady's stone hand is.

Sterren raises her arms and lets the dust fall over her, accepting it as a blessing, a sign of some kind. As suddenly as it came, the shower of sparkling dust ends, and Sterren makes her way to Taran Madec's farm.

As Sterren raises her arm to check Elara's temperature, the glimmering dust falls from her hand as it did from the stone, falling over the girl as she sleeps her feverish sleep.

Elara wakes suddenly then, energetic and rosy, the fever and sweats gone.

Overjoyed, the girl jumps out of bed to embrace her father. "I'm so hungry," she cries, "Can we have breakfast now?"

Taran is nearly in tears as he promises the make her daughter the best breakfast she's ever tasted.

But first, he must thank the healer who brought his little girl back to him.

"In truth, Taran, I don't know how that happened," Sterren says, telling him about what happened when she went to pray that morning. "Please, keep an eye on her, and if there's any sign of chills or fever, send for me immediately."

"Thank you, Sterren," Taran sighs as he embraces her in gratitude and relief, "You've truly been the best of friends, and a gift to us all from the Lady herself."