Fractured Fairy Tales (6 page)

Lanai stuck her tongue out at her brother, “Neither, brother, it was Coi’th’una the queen who did it, after Balun fell at the Battle of Water’s End. She was so mad, she turned them all black to show the world what tricksters they were, and banished them from the lands of Elves, even the ones who stayed loyal, so that they would never again have a chance to be stinkers.”

Luvia’s mind took in the things her siblings had just said. It exploded into a thousand fragments, and then reassembled them into new shapes, faceted creations of thought that cast light into the dark corners of her mind. Many things began to make sense to her, things that had not before. She found herself standing, looking out the open bay, across the land. A quiver ran through her spirit, a shuddering of soul.

“Luvy, what are you doing?” asked Lanai.

“I…it makes sense. I understand. She needs help. She needs help,” Lanai muttered, nearly under her breath.

“Who does? Who needs help, Luvia?” Lucas asked his sister as he rolled over onto his belly.

“Melisan.” With that uttered, Luvia turned away from her brother and sister, and jumped off the loft, into the hay below, leaving a pair of confused siblings behind her.

Luvia came pelting around the edge of the house, her breath coming in ragged gasps as she thrust open the front door. Melisan was there, her head cocked as though she were listening to something far distant.

“I know, Melisan, I know!” Luvia cried when she saw the broken maid, her mind racing with all the things to try to say to her.

“Know what, Miss Luvia? Know what?” Melisan looked at her, eyes slightly glazed, her expression bemused.

“I know about the crows. You are keeping them from our lands, aren’t you? You are doing magic, with your sweeping and moving of things. You set a pattern that helps keep them at bay, don’t you?”

“The pattern, yes, must keep the pattern. It is very bad if we do not keep the pattern. No birds to look out the window, mustn’t give them eyes. Must keep things neat so they cannot come in, must keep it all in order, must keep the lines of force….” Melisan’s eyes glazed slightly further as she appeared to lose her temporary focus on the young girl in front of her.

“Yes, she has been doing that for us for most of her life.” The deep voice behind Luvia startled her to the point where she jumped.

“By the Tree, you scared me, Papa.” Luvia put her hand to her chest, feeling the heart inside thumping away.

“I am sorry, little one, I did not mean to, I was coming to talk to Melisan and noticed you there.” Her father, his robes of office still on, smiled at her. His bushy beard and eyebrows often gave him an appearance of stern countenance, but for his “Trio of L” as he called his children, Lord Hondon’s grin would escape its hirsute bonds. With a heavy step he came further into the room. Melisan noticed him, and proceeded to bow, dropping to her knees.

Lord Hondon walked over to Melisan, rested his hand upon the head of the maid who knelt before him.

“Rise, Melisan D’ar Utha. Your subservience is not warranted.” Melisan rose to her feet, hands clasped together, one inside the other, awaiting her Lord’s pleasure. Luvia’s father turned towards her, and though most of his smile was gone, there was a look to his eye that seemed to be a mixture of pride and concern.

“Tutor Hamman tells me you have been doing well in Eldar, my daughter; possibly, better than any of us expected.” Lord Hondon’s deep voice rolled around the room, echoing slightly in the chamber of the foyer.

“Yes, Papa, I am learning. Papa, are the crows coming?”

“That is part of what I was coming to talk to Melisan about when I overheard your conversation with her. To find out what approaches us.” The last trace of his jovial smile was gone, his heavy brow furrowed with concern.

He turned back to Melisan. He ran his thumb gently across her brow, his voice so soft Luvia could barely hear him as he said, “
Kuile, tinu’an Balun. Kuile, il Korkoi ier sinome.”

Luvia translated in her mind, “Awake, daughter of Balun, awake. The Crows are coming.”

Melisan’s face seemed to shift, her features, while still the same, seemed to change before Luvia’s eyes, almost as though they had been slightly unfocused before, but now were in diamond sharp clarity. She looked up at Lord Hondon with an expression Luvia had never seen before on the maid’s face, one of malice.

Luvia took a step back, shrinking against the wall.

With a deep and heavy tone, a voice issued from the little servant, one very different from that which normally uttered from her small throat. “Lord Hondon, why have you summoned me? I wish to return to my rest…”

“Crows have been seen, Mistress, they have been witnessed by blood of mine.” Lord Hondon’s voice was low, almost submissive.

Luvia had never seen her father thus; to her he had always been the Lord, the dominant force in every relationship he had. More than anything before, this disturbed Luvia; helping her comprehension of the depth of what was before her.

Melisan’s face twisted in a sneer of arrogance. “Impossible.”

Luvia could not help herself, it was nearly a compulsion as she barked in response, “I am the Daughter of the Hondon; do you think I would lie?” Her tiny foot stamped in counterpoint. Luvia was shocked at herself; she never spoke to an adult like that. What was wrong with her? Her father looked at her with a similar expression of surprise.

Melisan’s face turned towards her. The expression was searching, intelligent, and angry all at the same time. “Little Lordling, I do not care what you think you saw, it is impossible.”

“Why? I saw the crow. I said the words to make it go away. They came from the Gods I think, they were words I did not know, and yet they came to me. Scared me.” Luvia crossed her arms defensively.

“What words did you speak, Little Lordling? What could you have said to make the spies of chaos, the traitors of
Eloh’im’aia
go away?” Melisan’s hands waved dismissively in Luvia’s face.

“
Autari wanwa Korko, Autari wanwa mor dulin, Autari wanwa Rakinna.”

The spirit that was within Melisan screeched, “You spoke those words, you dared to command with the words of the King?”

Luvia backed away a step from the creature before her. Lord Hondon protectively stepped between them.

“Yes, Mistress Balun, she did speak those words. The Blood runs true in my line, and has come to fruit in my Luvia. Now, my patience runs thin. I tell you again, with all the weight of my Word. The crows come. Where stand the Wards?”

Melisan stood, staring deep into Lord Hondon’s eyes. For just a moment, the expression on her face changed again. “Lord, she is scared, she is very scared.” The words escaped as though torn from her.

“Silence, wench.” The arrogant facial change that was the Daughter of Balun came back to the tiny maid’s features. With a grim mien, she responded. “I will check the Wards, I will seek the presence, though I see no point in it. If I can no longer maintain them, there is nothing and no one who can take my place. It will mean war has come again to your land, Lord of Hondon.”

With a spin on her heel, she turned away from the Lord, and stepped to the door, heading outside. Luvia and Lord Hondon followed her. The guards outside looked startled at the sudden opening of the entrance, but eased back at a gesture from their Lord.

Melisan’s hands stretched out, her fingers spread wide, except the middle, which pointed back at her palms; she began to chant, “
Annon templa’ohta. Annon templari Korkom, Annon templani Aranai Balun’ai. Annon templa’ohta. Annon templari Korkom, Annon templani Arani Balun’ai.”

Luvia could not follow every word, yet she could feel the meanings flow through her, she knew that the Daughter of Balun was calling to the Gates, calling to the War Magic, seeking answers.

In response, there was a sound. The sound of a thousand trees shedding their leaves, of Titans’ breathing, of the wind’s death throes, of a million shivers down the spine, and of Luvia’s heart beating in her ears; it was the sound of wings, hundreds of thousands of wings.

Before them rose a blackness, an ebony wave of fury that stretched as far as Luvia could turn her head. The stippled discoloration of the universe rose above the tree line, tiny specks of darkness binding together, to create a miasma of stygian, winged anger.

Melisan’s body stood, arms still outstretched, but wavering, her spirit failing her in the face of what was before them. Luvia could feel the fear, the denial of the possibility that she had been wrong emanating from the woman whose body was not much taller than the much younger girl. From her fingers, glowed lines of force that began to shined with a brilliant white, an intense light that sought to drive away the avian wave that was about to wash over them.

Lord Hondon turned to his guards, crying, “Run, go get everyone in the barracks, run! Run now!”

Luvia could barely hear her father, despite his loud, booming voice, her mind distracted by sensations running through her body. She could feel…everything. The weight of the crows pressing upon the Wards, their energies flowing through the tiny servant’s body as the daughter of Balun tried to keep them up. Luvia could feel the heartbeat of every single crow in front of her, and the life of every being within the house behind her, including her siblings. Small face slack, she swayed slightly as the tidal forces of magic moved around her in a coruscate current, their hypnotic pattern occupying every last bit of her mind.

As the daughter struggled, Luvia saw it, the worm of failure, running through the Wards; the spiritual rot weakening the guardian magic. The pride, the arrogance, the lack of compassion for their enemies that had left them vulnerable to this assault, it was visible to the young girl’s eyes. As Balun’s daughter failed, and began to crumple under the weight of what she was attempting to do, Luvia comprehended what was expected of her, what the Gods wanted of her. What they had always wanted, since time immemorial, they wanted…sacrifice.

Lord Hondon looked on in horror as the rising wave of blackness came closer to his home. They were close enough that he could make out individual crows, their black eyes flashing, their beaks and talons tearing at the fae barrier before them. From the heights of Hondon Home, he could see across the valley, the dark shadow of the murder falling across it. Beneath the wings of the swarm, he saw his people fall, torn asunder by thousands of beaks. He sent his prayers skyward, hoping they would fight their way past the cruel cloud of wings to make it to the ears of the Gods.

As his pleas escaped his heart, he saw the body of his servant Melisan fall to her knees. The light that he had seen emanating from the hands of her possessed form began to fail, flickering and dimming. Lord Hondon could almost feel the cry of triumph cawing forth from the million throats that flew above his lands.

To his horror, as he stood stunned by the turn of events that threatened to crush everything he held dear, his daughter Luvia stepped forward to the place where Melisan’s body lay. He reached forward as though to stop her, but Hondon knew somewhere deep in his soul, there was no other answer.

Luvia felt it pull her forward, step by step. Viscerally, in the very core of her being, there was what she needed. Deep within her, the power lie, a tiger deep within the kitten. She put her hands into the stream of power, taking the reins of the Wards into her control. She uttered a single thought, putting everything she could into its utterance. “
Puht’ta.”
Stop.


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The sun was bright. Too bright, it hurt Luvia’s eyes as it snuck past the blinds and across her face. She rolled over in bed, wanting to sleep some more, thinking it wasn’t time yet for classes. She opened her eyes, and looked about her. When had she come to bed? The memories came rolling back to her as her mind caught up. Her father carrying her to her room, his eyes dark and drawn, her siblings asking what was going on as she clung to Papa, the images from before came into her head. Luvia slid her tiny feet out from under the covers and sat up. Her head felt…empty. She swayed a little with the effort of sitting.

“Oh, Mistress, you are awake! And I was not here…oh, forgive me, Mistress. I just stepped out to get you something to eat.” Her maid, Arnalia, was kneeling just inside the entryway, a bowl filled with cherries and almonds from the Hondon Orchards before her.

“Did I hear she is awake? Luvia, are you awake?” Lord Hondon’s voice came booming from the hallway. It seemed interminably loud to Luvia. Her head rang with the sound echoing in her bedroom.

“Shush, Papa. Not so loud, please.” Luvia had her delicate hands over her ears.

With a smile, Lord Hondon bowed in apology, and with a finger over his lips, gave his daughter his largest, hairy smile. Whispering he said, “My little Luvia. You gave us all a scare. Are you ready to rise?”

Luvia nodded her head. She put the robe that resided on the hook next to her bed around her body. “Am I very late for classes, Papa? Tell Tutor Hamman I am sorry I slept so long.”

Lord Hondon forgot his promise and laughed out loud. The ringing peals of his amusement as thunderclaps to Luvia’s sensitive ears. She clapped her hands over them again.

“Papa!” she said sternly.

Lord Hondon, with effort shushed himself. “No classes today, Daughter. It is a feast day; there will be games and entertainments on the green. Come, come see what the people have brought.” He held out his hand for his daughter to take.