by W.J. May
“But this place is protected,” Katerina argued, her voice rising in panic. “I saw it myself. It doesn’t look like anything to the outside world, until you work your magic on it.”
A strange emotion swept across Marigold’s face. An emotion that made the sun itself seem to dim as she reached across the table and took the princess’ hand with a sad smile.
“You really know nothing of this world, do you?” she murmured thoughtfully, more to herself than to Katerina. “You’re innocent to all this.”
Katerina’s mouth fell open in surprise, but she could think of nothing to say. It certainly hadn’t been the answer she had been expecting, and yet she felt as though all three fairies had been thinking the same thing about her since the moment she arrived.
“There are different kinds of magic,” the fairy continued kindly. “Our magic comes from the light. It’s meant only to make things brighter, do you understand? It wouldn’t do anything to shield you from the darkness that is sure to come.”
The princess’ heart fell as she glumly stared out the window. Come to think of it, she couldn’t see either Beck or Nixie putting up much of a fight against assassins.
“No,” Marigold continued thoughtfully, “you need to be with someone who can keep you safe. Someone who can protect you. Someone who’s done this sort of thing before…”
For a second, all was quiet. Then it was like a light clicked on. Marigold’s eyes lit up with sudden inspiration before settling upon Katerina, twinkling with a knowing smile.
“And I know just the man…”
* * *
The trip down to the village took the rest of the day, and considering that Katerina had recently trekked over miles of mountains in the dark, by the time they saw the thatched roofs and stone chimneys of the town square she was dead on her feet.
“Is that it?” she panted as the four of them came to a stop on a nearby hill. “Please tell me that’s it. If it isn’t, I vote that we give up and set up camp right here—”
“That’s it,” Marigold chuckled, staring down at the twinkling lights of the little village. “And the last thing you’re going to want to do is spend another night sleeping out in the cold.”
Fair point.
Katerina wrapped her travelling cloak tighter around her and began walking down the grassy incline, until she suddenly realized that the fairies were no longer behind her. In a fright, she turned around to see that they were all standing exactly where they’d stopped at the top of the hill.
“What’s the matter? Aren’t you coming?”
Marigold shook her head, and the others flashed her apologetic smiles.
“I’m afraid not, my dear. Our kind never goes into the village. Not unless we have to.” She tilted her head sagely, as if she was quoting a parable. “Spend too much time in the company of humans, and there’s no telling what nonsense might rub off on you.”
Nixie and Beck made a strange movement, almost as if they were crossing themselves, and Katerina fought the impulse to roll her eyes.
Spend too much time in the company of fairies, and it’s likely to turn your hair blue.
“I’ll try not to take offense at that.” She glanced quickly over her shoulder, ears perking up at the distant clamor of the town, a feeling of dread stealing into her chest. “At any rate, can’t you at least walk me down to the village? I don’t…I don’t want to be alone.”
She felt stupid saying it. Like a child who burst into their parents’ room, only to flush and mumble something about having a bad dream. Still, with memories of her brother’s hell hounds still fresh in her mind, it was impossible to hold back the question.
A look of genuine sympathy stared back at her from three affectionate faces, but for the second time Marigold shook her head.
“My dear, this is where we must part ways. But fear not, you will soon be in safe hands.”
Katerina suppressed a sigh, staring down at a folded piece of paper between her fingers.
“You mean with this… Dylan Aires?”
How could they just send her off with someone she didn’t know? With someone whose whereabouts they didn’t know? They simply said the best place to start looking was at the local bar.
Nixie and Beck exchanged a quick look, while Marigold gestured almost sternly to the paper in her hand. “You be sure to give that to him. No matter what, make sure he reads it.”
My entire life depends on whether a drunken stranger reads a fairy’s secret note. Typical.
“I will.” Katerina folded the note and tucked it into her cloak. “And I really can’t tell you enough how grateful I am for your help. All of you.” Her eyes swept over each one in turn, misting over with an emotion she couldn’t control. “It’s a kindness I’ll not soon forget. I promise.”
Nixie and Beck lit up with matching grins, while Marigold took a step forward. Despite their comical height difference she put her hand on the princess’ shoulders, staring deep in her eyes.
“I may not know what the next chapter has in store, but I do know this: There is no such thing as chance, Katerina. You were brought here for a reason. All you must do now is have the strength and patience to find out what that reason might be.”
…and find a way to stay alive in the meantime.
Her fear must have shown in her eyes, because Marigold gave her an extra squeeze.
“Just find Dylan Aires. He’ll keep you safe.” She took a step back as the others clustered around her on the top of the hill. “The rest is up to you.”
A sudden bout of drunken laughter echoed up from the canyon below, followed by a shower of sparks as a flagon of ale tumbled carelessly into the roaring bonfire. Katerina’s eyes widened as she glanced over her shoulder, staring into the flames, before a sudden panic took hold.
“But Marigold,” she gasped, whirling back around, “what if I can’t—”
It was too late. The fairies were already gone.
“—find him.”
Like a deflating balloon, Katerina felt all the hope, and warmth, and security the three little creatures brought with them fade away in the chilly breeze. One second, she had been in a party of four. Protected by magic. Fortified with biscuits. And just like that she was on her own again. Just a lost traveler standing alone in the middle of the night… hoping to find her way in from the cold.
She stared once more at where the fairies had been standing, searching the hill uselessly for even the tiniest lingering glow, before turning slowly back to the village.
By now the sun had slipped completely below the horizon, and the place was coming alive at night. The roaring bonfire was the least of it. One by one, the shops were closing and the taverns were opening their doors. Scores of people—mostly men—were pouring out into the streets. Calling out loudly to one another. Shaking off the hard day’s work before heading inside to drink it off for good measure. Hunters were making their way back from the nearby woods with their daily kills, to sell the next day at market. Teams of soot-covered workers were coming back in from the mine. Farmers, burned and beaten by the sun, were finally putting their heavy gloves aside to join the rest of them as they celebrated the end of another long week.
Life had been hard for the villages since the rebellion. Katerina was ashamed to say that her father didn’t help. His idea of subduing his subjects was taxing them into oblivion. A policy that had accrued no small amount of resentment from the people whose backs were breaking under its weight. Anti-monarchy sentiment was high, and the more she thought about it the more Katerina suddenly understood the real reason for the bonfire. The real reason spirits were so high.
The king is dead. His people are celebrating.
A wave of fear swept over her as she nervously tucked her red hair into her cloak.
…and his daughter is coming to stay.
She was almost on the verge of turning around. She was almost on the verge of forgetting this Dylan Aires altogether and setting out on her own. But Marigold was right. She migh
t also have been hopelessly unrealistic, but she was right. If Katerina stood even a chance at making it to see the next full moon, she needed protection. And in order to get that protection, she needed to go into that town.
“Come on, you little coward, one foot in front of the other…”
* * *
Despite her present state of hysteria, Katerina made the greatest possible effort to compartmentalize those feelings as she marched down the hill and onto the dusty streets of the village. A hundred different dialects, and smells, and strange creatures bustled around in the night beside her, but she kept her face a perfect mask of calm, eyes locked on the road.
Marigold had been right about something else as well: She was innocent to the ways of the world. And if she wasn’t careful, that innocence was going to get her killed.
“Watch your step!”
She gasped, and leapt out of the way as a wagon full of empty milk bottles went careening past her. The driver turned around long enough to make a very rude hand gesture before turning back to the road, on a race to get to the next village before dawn.
Her heart pounded as she stared down at the giant ruts in the mud—just inches away from where she had been standing just a moment before. Had no one else seen what had happened? The villagers were carrying on exactly as before. Did no one else think it was at all strange that a man almost killed a young woman and then screamed at her in the middle of the street?
Apparently not.
After another quick glance around, Katerina decided to take quick action. The longer she was on the street, the more she risked being recognized. She needed to find the tavern the fairies had told her about as fast as possible. Before any other milk wagons went careening her way.
“Excuse me?” She tugged on the sleeve of the safest-looking pedestrian, safe being on a relative sort of scale. At any rate, it was one of the few women. “Have you heard of a place called The Dancing Bear? Do you know where I might find it?”
“The Dancing Bear?” the woman repeated in an accent thick as mud. She looked the princess up and down, not even bothering to hide her judgement. “And why in the world would a young thing like you want to go to The Dancing Bear? Interested in a new line of work?”
Katerina sensed there was something not quite appropriate in what the woman was implying, but she lowered her head politely and gave nothing away. “I’m meeting a friend.”
The woman stared at her a second more, cocking her head down the street. “It’s at the end of the block. Right before you get to the butcher. But I’d be careful if I was you.” She reached out and touched the edge of Katerina’s cloak, smoothing the fine material between her fingers. “All sorts go to The Bear. But I promise, there’s not a soul there who looks like you.”
Katerina’s pulse quickened as she discreetly tugged herself away before the woman could get a better grip. “Thanks, I’ll…I’ll keep that in mind.”
Without a backwards glance, she hurried away. Keeping her head low, and her fiery hair swept carefully out of sight, she headed down the street to the bar.
What kind of place had the fairies sent her to? Did they know about its reputation? And what kind of man could this Dylan Aires be if he made a habit of frequenting such a tavern?
Katerina had the sinking feeling she was about to find out.
Just a few minutes later, she slowed down as the bright lights of the tavern twinkled into view. It looked rather picturesque and peaceful from the outside, but already she could hear the sound of half a dozen drunken brawls going on inside. She froze a moment on the frosted sidewalk, silently debating the risk versus reward, before she decided to put her trust once again in the fairies, took a deep breath, and pushed open the heavy oak door.
It was everything she could have imagined… and so much worse.
Her eyes took a second to adjust to the dim light, then widened to little saucers as she stared out over the extraordinary scene. It was as if the entire magical community had come together under some sort of uneasy truce, and had then proceeded to drink their weight in alcohol.
There were creatures there that Katerina had never seen before. Creatures she only vaguely remembered from the captions and pictures of her childhood books. Men were laughing with shifters. Goblins were gambling with dwarves. A contingent of brightly-colored pixies was perched on a lantern hung by the stairwell, drinking from little thimbles of nectar, while a massive creature that looked suspiciously like a troll was dancing by himself in the corner.
The noise was deafening. The patrons seemed constantly on the verge of breaking into a fight. It was chaos. Absolute chaos. But no one seemed to mind in the slightest.
In fact, no one seemed to even notice.
Katerina ducked down with a gasp as a bottle of what she hoped was red wine shattered over her head. She was able to dodge the majority of it, and hurried quickly towards the bar, keeping her eyes on the floor and her hands pinned tightly to her sides.
Under any other circumstance, her entrance into such a place would have caused quite a commotion indeed. But the room was in such an uproar that people hardly noticed she’d passed by until she was safely on the other side of the table, her long cloak swishing quickly across the floor.
“What can I get for you?”
The question was fired out almost as soon as Katerina touched the counter. She’d expected the bartender to be the world’s burliest man—the sort of person who could serve as an enforcer should the rowdy crowd get out of hand—but what turned around was one of the most beautiful women Katerina had ever seen. Her eyes widened for a moment as her lips parted in shock.
Never before had she seen such a blatant display of sexuality. Red lips, painted eyelids, and a deliberately torn dress that left very little to the imagination.
“Honey, you want a drink?”
On second thought, she didn’t know if she’d call the woman beautiful. She was certainly striking, that much was sure. But there was something almost aggressive about the way she presented herself. Something that made the hairs on the back of Katerina’s neck stand on end.
She quickly shook herself out of her trance and flashed a polite smile. “No, actually. I was hoping to book a room for the night. Is there a chance I could speak to the owner?”
The woman leaned back, her eyes sparkling with curiosity as she looked the new customer up and down. While she might have been able to hide her fiery hair, Katerina was completely unaware of the other rather obvious differences that set her miles apart.
“Bill!” the woman called over her shoulder, keeping the princess locked in her gaze all the while. “There’s a girl here who wants a room. Doesn’t look the type to rent by the hour…”
There was a tittering of laughter from those who were seated close to them at the bar, but before the flush had even died from Katerina’s cheeks a tall grey-haired man hurried out from a room in the back, wiping his hands busily on his apron as he pulled out a worn ledger.
“A single room, you said?” He hardly even glanced up as he hastened to put on his spectacles. “Just for the night?”
“Yes, I believe so.” Katerina leaned a bit closer, lowering her voice in an attempt for at least a mild degree of privacy. “I’m actually here looking for someone. A man named Dylan Aires.” She paused hesitantly, staring hopefully across the bar. “Is there any chance you know who that is?”
It was a gamble, saying the name out loud. But by that point, Katerina didn’t know what else she could do. Was she supposed to go around table by table? Canvass the entire bar?
“Dylan Aires, huh?” The curvaceous bartender started cleaning out an empty glass with a grin. “And what could a girl like you want with Dylan Aires?”
“Get back to work, Mika.” The proprietor finished scribbling down in his ledger, then looked up at Katerina for the first time. His eyes did the slightest double-take before he raised his voice, somehow making it heard over the entire bar. “This young woman is looking for a Dylan Aires.” He paused
deliberately, eyes sweeping the room. “Is there anyone here by that name?”
There was a sudden hush as the bar abruptly fell quiet. People froze with cards still in hand, with drinks halfway to their mouths. Even the troll in the corner stopped dancing long enough to turn around with the others and look towards the bar.
A second later, all those eyes landed upon Katerina.
Oh…shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.
She tried her best to keep steady. Tried her best to meet the horde of probing eyes. It wasn’t easy. From the second the man called out the name the entire place had frozen into the world’s strangest assortment of statues.
The shifters were looking at her appraisingly, the dwarves were surveying the price of her fancy cloak, a young man in the corner was staring intently over the rim of his glass. And even as she stood there, four pale men with a table full of empty glasses pushed to their feet.
“How about it, folks?” the owner called out again. He was simply teasing her now, already preoccupied with the stack of papers in his hand. “Going once… going twice…”
“I can be your Dylan Aires.”
Katerina’s eyes shot up in surprise to land on a drunken man standing in the middle of the bar. He was holding a flagon of ale in the air—toasting the very idea—while all around him the icy tension in the room began to thaw and crack.
People relaxed. People started openly laughing. People started calling out, one by one.
“No, let me be your Dylan.”
“No one could make a better Dylan than me.”
“I’m the real Dylan. Come here, sweetheart, let me prove it to you…”
Katerina’s heart fell as the bar slowly came back to life. A few moments and several obscene propositions later, the patrons had all but forgotten about the interruption. Only a few eyes lingered on her curiously, but she was quick to turn back to the bar. It was obvious these people didn’t exactly like outsiders. Even if the outsider happened to be a young woman, travelling by herself. If the real Dylan Aires was anywhere in the vicinity he’d no doubt already heard about the commotion down at the tavern, and would be keeping his distance. Marigold’s brilliant plan had failed.