Wildwood Dancing

by Juliet Marillier

  “Hurry up!” she urged. “Tati’s really sick. Is he coming?”

  We ran upstairs toward the bedchamber, Costi with lantern in hand. “You’ll be shocked,” I warned him. “Tati’s much weaker than at last Full Moon. She shouldn’t even get out of bed, let alone go into the forest at night.”

  Costi nodded, sober-faced, and then we were there. I knocked, and Stela opened the door.

  “Oh, Jena, you’re here! I can’t even hear her breathing anymore.” The words ended in a sob.

  “Sorrow’s back,” I said, coming to kneel by the bed. “He’s out there with Paula, waiting. Tati? Tati, can you hear me?”

  Stela crouched on the other side with tears streaming down her cheeks. “We can’t wake her up,” she said.

  Faith. Trust. Love. I put my ear to my older sister’s parched lips and thought I could feel, faintly, the whisper of her breath. “Tati, Sorrow is here,” I said. “And I have Costi with me. We’re going to wrap you up and take you outside. Sorrow has completed the quest—he’s got all the things Ileana asked for. He just needs you to come out, and you can cross over together, if that’s what you want. Come on, Tati, please.”

  She did not stir. Like an enchanted princess in some dark tale, she lay immobile against her pillow. The red glass teardrop glinted on her neck like blood on snow. Just the smallest stir of breath revealed that she had not already slipped away: the tiny, slow rise of her chest under the fine linen of her night robe. Doubt seized me. If I insisted on taking her out in the cold, it would more likely be the death of her than a happy ending. How could I live with that? But if I left her here, we would surely lose her anyway.

  “Fetch her warmest cloak,” I told the weeping Stela. “We’re going to do this. Costi, help me lift her.… That’s it.…”

  We wrapped her up as well as we could. “Stela, it’s best if you stay here until Costi and I get back. I’m sorry. Say goodbye now. Iulia will come upstairs soon. Please don’t cry. Maybe it’s not forever. Maybe nothing’s forever.”

  It was cruel to give her so little time. Tati lay in her own world, cold as ice within her night robe and shawl and cloak. I doubted she could hear her little sister’s farewell. Costi carried her downstairs and past the kitchen door. Iulia heard us; she came out and touched a hand to Tati’s brow.

  “I can’t believe this,” she whispered. “It’s like a bad dream. Petru and Florica are just sitting in there, staring into space.”

  I made a decision. “We should tell them,” I said. “They’ve known Tati since she was little—they should be allowed to say goodbye.”

  “I think they’ve worked it out already,” Iulia said.

  So we called them out, the two of them with their seamed, strong faces and their work-worn hands. I told them, in as few words as I could, that Tati was going to the Other Kingdom, that she wanted this, and that it was the only thing that could save her life. They didn’t ask a single question. Florica kissed Tati on the brow. Petru touched her on the cheek, muttering something that might have been a prayer or a charm.

  “What’s going to happen, Jena?” asked Iulia, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks. “Do you really think she’ll be all right?”

  “We must believe that,” I told her. “Now say goodbye. Maybe she can hear you. Then you’d best go up to Stela. I’ll be home again soon.”

  It was no longer possible to run. Costi carried Tati in his arms and I held the lantern.

  “She’s as light as a child,” Costi murmured. “What’s wrong with her, Jena?”

  “I think she’s dying for love,” I said. “If I’m right, and broken hearts can mend, we may still have time to save her. Hurry, if you can.” I pictured Sorrow with his injured leg, trying somehow to carry both Tati and the brimming cup of water away to the Other Kingdom. “You have to have faith,” I muttered. “Faith in true love.”

  “I do,” Costi said. “I always did.”

  “Always?”

  “Well, maybe my faith was shaken for a little. But it survived. Can you hear that sound, Jena?”

  “Yes.” I shuddered. “They’re not very far off, are they? Drǎguţa must be leading them in circles.”

  We reached the round pond. Sorrow was sitting on the ground, the cup still in his hand, and Paula was holding his arm, helping to support it. When he saw my sister limp and white in Costi’s arms with her hair spilling down to the ground, he sprang up. But even then he held the vessel balanced, not allowing the least drop to fall.

  “Tatiana! No—please, no!” Sorrow sounded very young, utterly distraught, and entirely human.

  “She’s breathing,” I told him as Costi came closer. Sorrow reached out a trembling hand to touch Tati’s dark hair. His eyes were full of terror. “But only just. If you think taking her to the Other Kingdom will save her life, then you must take her now.”

  “Who has done this to her?” Sorrow’s customary cool air was completely gone. His voice swung between fury and anguish.

  “Lack of food and creeping despair,” I said. “I think if anyone can mend this, it’s probably you. She started to lose her faith in true love.”

  “But …,” began Sorrow, incredulously. Then we heard the hounds again, much closer, and the shouts of men: “Down there! Heading for the pond!”

  Costi knelt and laid Tati on the ground with her head on Paula’s knee. “Jena,” he murmured, “I’ll try to keep them off. But it won’t be for long.” With that, he strode away toward the torches that could now be seen again, flaring under the trees not far up the hill. My heart was in my mouth as I watched him go, then turned to the others.

  “Wake up, Tati!” I gave her cheek a gentle slap. “Tati, please!”

  Costi could be heard giving what sounded like a series of calm instructions. The men had gone quiet; the dogs still gave voice, perhaps scenting us within range of a short bolt through the bushes and a quick snap of the jaws. I rose to my feet, craning to see whether they were any closer.

  “Sorrow!” Paula’s voice was sharp with alarm. “The quest! What are you doing?”

  Sorrow had put one arm around Tati’s shoulders, lifting her to a sitting position. Her head lolled against his shoulder. Now he raised the cup—the brimming cup that was a requirement of Ileana’s quest—and set it to her lips. “Drink, heart’s dearest,” he whispered. “Drink and be well again.”

  In the space between one breath and the next, Tati opened her mouth and drank, and it was too late to say a word. I did not know if what filled the cup came from our own world or the other. She drank, and the vessel was no longer full. Her frailty had stricken Sorrow with such terror that he had sacrificed the quest. He would let her go rather than see her die in his arms. This was the embodiment of true love in all its wonder and sadness. How could I ever have thought his intentions evil?

  Tati opened her eyes and looked at Sorrow. His face was filled with love and longing and fear. She lifted a hand to touch his cheek. A flush of color crept back over her lovely, wasted features. “My love,” she murmured. “You’re here.” Then she put up her arms and embraced him, and he almost dropped the cup.

  “Give that to me,” said Paula briskly. “It’s all right, it’s only for a moment.” Taking the cup, she knelt down by the pond and scooped up water in her hand, dribbling it in until the vessel was once more full to the brim. I stared at her. “Do you have a better suggestion?” she queried, brows raised.

  Sorrow helped Tati to her feet. She was unsteady, but could stand with support. A cup of water from the healing well of Ain Jalut.

  “Tati.” I could hardly speak for the lump in my throat. “You’ll have to make a choice. There’s a hunting party just up the hill. Costi may be the new master of Vǎrful cu Negurǎ, but he can’t keep them at bay forever.”

  “Will you come with me, Tatiana?” Sorrow’s voice was so hesitant and sweet—so full of care, of love—that it made my heart turn over.

  “I love you,” Tati whispered, resting her brow against Sorrow’s shoulder.
“I will come.”

  “Paula,” I said, clearing my throat, “give Sorrow the cup.”

  But it was Tati who took it, between hands grown so delicate they seemed transparent as white moths in the moonlight. She held the cup perfectly steady. Sorrow adjusted the bag on his back, then lifted her in his arms.

  “Goodbye, Paula,” Tati murmured, her head cradled against Sorrow’s shoulder. “Tell Father I love him, and I’m sorry if I’ve made him sad. Say farewell to Iulia, and Stela, and to Florica and Petru, and … Oh, Jena, I’ll miss you so much.”

  “Be happy, Tati,” I told her through my tears. “I hope and pray that we’ll meet again someday.”

  Tati said nothing more. Her eyes were on the pale face of her beloved. Her expression told me she had been moving down this pathway since the very first time she set eyes on him. I saw that in him she had found her sun and moon, her stars and her dreams.

  Sorrow moved toward the rock wall. I could see no cave, no crevice, no crack wide enough for anyone to pass through. Behind us, where the torches burned in the forest, a new commotion broke out. “There! No, there! What in God’s name was that?”

  “Jena,” said Sorrow gravely, “I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Silence and I have seen little of love and kindness in our lives. I did not know what happiness was until I met Tatiana. I did not understand the nature of true friendship until I encountered her family. We owe you everything.” He smiled. It was the first time he had ever opened his mouth properly in my presence. As he stepped back and the rocks seemed to swallow him and Tati up in a kind of shadow, I saw that his teeth were indeed irregular: not the pointed fangs of the Night People, but a very crooked set of quite ordinary ones. In an instant, his smile turned him from coolly handsome to charmingly plain.

  “Goodbye,” I whispered.

  “Goodbye,” murmured Paula, but they were already gone. A shimmer of darkness remained against the rock, a place where the fabric of our world was interrupted.

  “Wait for me!” someone shrieked. We sprang aside as the white fox came pelting down the hill, its rider kicking her little boots against its flanks to urge it on. Drǎguţa’s long hair streamed out behind her, a silver streak in the moonlight. Her face wore a savage grin—Paula sucked in her breath at the sight of those rows of little pointed teeth. The creature skidded to a halt beside us, and the witch turned her baleful eyes straight on my sister.

  “I saw that, young lady!” Drǎguţa’s voice was sharp as a boning knife.

  “It was the only thing I could think of.” Paula squared her shoulders, meeting the witch’s gaze directly. My sister did not lack courage.

  “Showed great presence of mind,” said Drǎguţa, grinning still more widely. She appeared oblivious to the rapidly approaching men, the barking of dogs. There was a glint of gold threaded through her silver hair. I stared. It looked terribly familiar. Was that a little medallion in the shape of a hunting horn?

  “What the queen doesn’t know,” Drǎguţa said, “I won’t tell her. Tati’s safe—Sorrow, too. Silence will sing again. I’m the one who stirs the pot! Ileana just keeps the fire going.” Her voice rose to a sudden shriek. “Fox, within!” With a yelp and a cackle, the two of them surged forward to vanish into the rock. There was a shifting and a settling and the stones came back to themselves.

  “Interesting,” observed Paula shakily.

  The hunt approached at full tilt: boots crashing through the undergrowth, hounds slavering and straining on leashes. In the middle of it was Costi, busily talking. “A man in a black coat? That looked more like a fox to me. Or maybe a small wolf.”

  They reached us and halted, staring suspiciously. It was an odd time for the daughters of Piscul Dracului to be out walking in the forest. I opened my mouth, still unsure which excuse would be the least implausible, but Costi got in first.

  “Did you see anything, Jena?” Then, before I could reply, he said to the other men, “I should be getting on; I was just walking the young ladies home from a visit.”

  “It went past too quickly for us to get a proper look,” said Paula. “Then it just vanished. It was as if the earth swallowed it up.”

  “A fox, no doubt of it.” Costi nodded sagely. “Gone to ground. I think you fellows should follow my lead and head for home. You’re not likely to flush out the quarry tonight.”

  There was a chorus of protest.

  “But it was right here—”

  “Plenty of light, Full Moon and all, we should—”

  “Cezar would have—”

  Costi cleared his throat, and the noise subsided to angry mutterings. “I’ve discussed the issue of Night People with Judge Rinaldo and the village elders,” he said. “You’ve played your part bravely, all of you. But spring’s coming: we all have work to attend to. In time we’ll hold a village council and develop a new strategy together. For now, you need a good night’s sleep, or you’ll be unfit for anything in the morning. I appreciate your efforts to keep the valley safe. They won’t go unrewarded. Come up to Vǎrful cu Negurǎ tomorrow, and I’ll have two silver pieces for each one of you in recognition of your efforts. Just understand that from now on, we’ll be approaching the problem differently.”

  “But—” ventured one man.

  “Shh,” the others hissed, and he fell silent.

  “Thank you, Master Costin.”

  “We’ll be off home, then.”

  They dipped their heads, shouldered their weapons, and left. No matter that Costi was only twenty years old and, in a manner of speaking, new to the valley. He had stepped into his father’s shoes with a natural authority. Folk knew a born leader when they saw one.

  In the moonlit forest the three of us stood silent awhile, the weight of what had just happened holding us immobile. I thought of asking the others whether they had noticed that the witch was wearing Cezar’s medallion, but decided I wouldn’t. Paula put up a hand to dash tears from her cheeks. I started to shiver again and found I couldn’t stop. Costi put one arm around me and the other around my sister. He said, “Shall we go home now?”

  That was not quite the end of our story. We put it about that Tati had gone on an extended trip to see distant relatives in the east. Later she would conveniently marry in those parts, too far away for easy visits. We told Aunt Bogdana the truth, and she accepted it with lifted brows and little comment. After all that had happened, she was, perhaps, beyond being shocked.

  A few weeks after that eventful night, we had the most welcome of surprises. Father rode into the courtyard, much thinner but undoubtedly in good health. Gabriel was by his side, with two baggage ponies bringing up the rear. The letter brought to them by a certain preternaturally tall messenger had been the only one of mine to reach them. Father had received several from Cezar during the winter, assuring him that all was well with us. He was much relieved to find that this was indeed so, and that everything was as it should be at Piscul Dracului. Almost everything.

  Father went very quiet when we told him about Tati, and for a little I feared a relapse. But the fact that Costi was alive, and that he and I wished to marry, was a powerful force for healing. We reassured him that Tati would be well and happy, and that she was among good friends.

  As for Costi and me, Father’s return home gave us a little longer to enjoy getting to know each other as girl and boy, rather than girl and frog, before we needed to organize a wedding and start work on producing the male heir required for Piscul Dracului. More time: more walks in the forest as spring slowly crept back to our valley, more campfires, more adventures. More kisses. We were getting better at those all the time. We talked a lot about the future, a future in which we would work together in the business and travel together to those exotic places I had dreamed of.

  Aunt Bogdana invited Iulia up to Vǎrful cu Negurǎ to help with planning a betrothal party. Rǎzvan and his sister would be invited. Paula and Stela worked on the papers Paula had brought home from the Other Kingdom. I had told them about the King of the Lake
game, and how my taking back my little crown meant our portal would be closed to us from now on. They were trying to find another crossing human folk could use. Paula was sure the secret was hidden somewhere in those documents.

  I wished them luck. In my heart I knew that for me and for Costi, the visits to Dancing Glade were over. We had moved on to a new adventure, one that belonged wholly in our own world, and the prospect of it was so joyful and so exciting that I had few regrets. Only Tati: my lovely sister, destined to fade from human memory and become a princess in a fairy tale, captured by a dark suitor from the realm beyond, sacrificing all for love. I hoped they were truly happy, she and Sorrow.

  I did not think I would ever see my elder sister again. But Piscul Dracului was a place of unexpected corners, of eccentric ways and sudden surprises. In time, a new generation would play here, would climb the crooked stairways and run along the galleries and make daring forays out into the great mystery that was the wildwood. Perhaps a pair of children would one day stumble upon a secret portal, and open it by accident to find a wondrous world of magic beyond. They might see the glowing lights and hear the beguiling music of Ileana’s glade. And if they dared to cross over, perhaps they would dance with Tati’s children.

  Author’s Note

  Transylvania is a region rich in mythology and folklore, with a long and tumultuous history. Traveling there, I found that it lived up entirely to its reputation, with visible links to an ancient past as well as uglier remnants of more recent times. Villagers scythe hay in the shadow of crumbling Communist-era factories; horse-drawn carts traverse roads leading to clusters of concrete apartment buildings.

  During my time there, I visited such well-known attractions as the walled medieval city of Sighiăoara, but also strayed off the beaten track to meet some of the extraordinary people of the Transylvanian villages. From the protective red tassels on the harness of draft horses to the many crucifixes by the wayside, from the delights of mămăligă served with cream and fermented cheese to the first toe-curling mouthful of home-brewed plum brandy, I had a rich and unforgettable taste of life on the Transylvanian plateau, surrounded by some of the grandest mountains and wildest forest in the world.