The Helicon Muses Omnibus: Books 1-4

by V. J. Chambers

  “Really?” Sawyer furrowed his brow. “Did it look weird?”

  She laughed again. “No, that’s not what I’m saying. I only mean that, you were right, you feel something different for him. And I don’t think you ever felt it for me. I want you to feel that.”

  Sawyer was touched. It was huge to hear her say something like that. He hugged her.

  She clung to him.

  “You felt it for me, though,” he whispered in her ear. “I’m so sorry.”

  “I don’t know.” She pulled back. She stroked his hair—the way a sister might touch a brother. It was intimate and familiar, but it wasn’t sexual. “I love you, Sawyer, and I always will. But I’m not sure if I’ve ever felt what you’re feeling for Lute or what Agler’s feeling for Maddie.” She chewed on her lip. “Maybe I’m just not ready, you know? I know it was years ago, but Owen really messed with my head. And you were a very safe boyfriend, because you were more like a friend. I loved how easy it was to trust you. But I’m starting to think that love is about risk. And I don’t know if I could take a risk like that.”

  He grabbed both of her hands. “Sure you could.”

  She tried a smile. “Maybe someday. For now, it’s nice not to have lost you completely.”

  He squeezed her fingers. “Very nice.”

  “Not that it still doesn’t hurt, you know.”

  “I know.” He smiled sadly. “It hurts me too.” He leaned in and kissed her forehead.

  “You should get back to Lute,” she said.

  “Are you sure? You’re all by yourself.”

  She nodded. “I’m positive.”

  * * *

  Nora shivered in her hammock. When she’d gone to sleep the night before, it had been too warm for blankets, but now the air was a little bit nippy.

  She sat straight up, slapping herself on the forehead.

  May Day! She’d known. There had been discussion, and she’d known that it was going to be May Day in a few days. And that had been a few days ago. Now, it actually was May Day. She got out of her hammock, stretching. On May Day, it was spring in Helicon, and the weather was adjusted appropriately. She wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and stepped out of her tent to take it all in.

  The grass was green and covered with droplets of dew. The trees were heavy with blossoms—pink and purple and white and gold. And the air smelled sweet, like honeysuckle and nectar. In the distance, the hills were wreathed in mists. The air was cool and wet.

  She breathed in deep. Spring.

  She loved Helicon. No matter what was happening in her life, she could always find peace here in the rituals of the year. May Day was a sacred day, celebrating life and fertility. It was a day bursting with joy. Last year, she’d lost her virginity on May Day.

  She wrinkled up her nose. Okay, well maybe that wasn’t the best example of bursting with joy. She’d really been underwhelmed by sex, actually.

  But lots of amazing things had happened on May Day. There was the year that she’d been accidentally drugged by Owen and spent the whole day terrified. She’d gotten wasted drunk to try to quell the fear and ended up getting completely freaked out about Agler, thinking he was possessed by Owen.

  Hmm… well, that didn’t sound very amazing either.

  And the year before that hadn’t been much of a prize. Owen had been around, and they’d gotten in a big fight.

  Well. She squared her shoulders. That’s fine. All the more reason to make this year a day filled with joy and celebration.

  When she was freshly broken up with Sawyer, and Maddie wasn’t speaking to her?

  Her shoulders slumped.

  The tent next to her stirred, and Maddie poked her head out.

  The two girls caught each other’s gaze, both looking at each other, neither speaking.

  Nora raised her hand and gave her friend a tiny wave.

  Maddie’s face slowly broke into a smile.

  The girls ran at each other, throwing their arms around each other, both apologizing at the same time.

  “I shouldn’t have gotten in your face like that,” said Nora.

  “No, you’re right. I do have a problem. It’s just scary, you know?”

  Nora pulled back. “Why is it scary?”

  “I don’t know how to stop.” Maddie raised her shoulders. “But I’m thinking maybe… if you helped me… Do you think you could?”

  “Of course.” She hugged her friend again.

  Maddie squeezed her.

  “Should we wash our faces in the dew now?”

  “Absolutely,” said Maddie.

  They let go of each other and knelt to rub the fresh, cold water from the grass all over their skin. Washing in the dew was a May Day tradition.

  Nora grinned at her friend.

  Her friend grinned back. “Hey, do you want to know the words to that charm? The one that you say if you want to meet a boy in the coming year? Or is it too soon after Sawyer?”

  “Too soon, I think,” said Nora.

  Maddie nodded. “Um… would it bug you if I went to find Agler?”

  “Are you kidding me? It’s about time you talked to him.”

  * * *

  Later, Nora was sitting outside Agler’s tent with Maddie and Agler. The three of them were sipping mimosas in the sparkling spring sunlight of midmorning. Nora was doing her best not to get too drunk, too early. That always seemed to be her downfall on May Day. This time, she wanted to practice self-control. She was also eating bagels and goat cheese to try to soak up the alcohol.

  She and Agler both watched as Maddie broke deliberate pieces off the bagel and put them in her mouth. They watched her chew and swallow.

  “I’m just going to do it,” she said. “Nora was right. There’s no reason I can’t just start eating again.”

  Agler slung his arm around her. “Gods, you have no idea how good it is to hear you say that.”

  Maddie stuffed the last of the bagel into her mouth and stood up. “Well. I better get ready. The Maypole dancers are meeting up soon.”

  Nora had chosen not to be a Maypole dancer this year, even though she’d done it in the past. She found that she liked watching May Day more than she liked participating in it.

  She and Agler waved Maddie off and then sat together, sipping their mimosas and relaxing.

  “Thanks,” said Agler.

  “Huh?” she said.

  “For talking to her,” he said. “She listened to you, and she never would have listened to me. Sometimes people just need to hear things from their friends instead of their boyfriends.”

  “I guess.” Nora shrugged. “Anyway, I did a bad job of it. She got mad. So, don’t thank me. It’s all her. She came around on her own.”

  “I know you had something to do with it.” He raised his glass. “Salut.”

  She clinked her glass against his, grinning.

  They were quiet for a bit, just drinking in the morning.

  Agler cleared his throat. “You, um, you doing okay? After the Sawyer stuff?”

  She took a deep breath. “Uh, yeah, I’m fine.”

  As if on cue, he appeared. Sawyer was heading from the showers. His hair was still wet. He looked up and saw her.

  She was staring at him. Feeling awkward, she raised her hand to wave.

  Sawyer waved back. He paused in front of the two of them. “Hey there. Happy May Day.”

  “Happy May Day,” said Agler. “Good to see you guys are speaking.”

  “Yeah,” said Nora. “We’re fine.”

  “Totally fine,” said Sawyer.

  “Great,” said Agler. “Then why don’t you stay and have a mimosa? I’ve got more chairs in the tent.”

  Nora felt alarmed. Hang out with Sawyer? She wasn’t sure…

  “I don’t know,” said Sawyer.

  Relief flooded her. He thought it was weird too.

  “Um, Lute’s on his way over, and we were going to get breakfast,” said Sawyer

  “I got enough mimosas and chairs f
or Lute too,” said Agler. “The more the merrier, right, Nora?”

  She grinned widely. “Absolutely.”

  Sawyer hesitated.

  “Got bagels too,” said Agler, holding one up.

  “Well, if you’re sure…”

  “Of course.” Agler got up. “Here, take my chair, and I’ll go get a couple more.” He disappeared into his tent.

  Sawyer sat down.

  He and Nora looked at each other, both smiling far too widely. Then they looked away.

  The next few hours were a little tense, but Nora found them bearable. Lute did indeed come by, and she realized she kind of liked him, even though she wanted to hate him. He was easy going and quick with a smile, and he and Sawyer kept their hands off of each other, not like the other night, when she’d seen them practically kiss.

  The only unfortunate thing was that Nora drank perhaps a little more quickly than she was planning on doing. The mimosas were delicious, but the bubbly champagne went directly to her head, and she found herself giggling and talking a lot.

  But it was a pleasant way to pass the morning, and she felt appropriately festive and loose when Natalia Rowan’s voice rang out across the field, “The fire of spring is lit! Who joins our celebration?”

  Nora whooped in response, and her voice was joined by the rest of the tweens in the enclave. She didn’t take the time to see if Agler and the others were keeping up with her. She just went bounding across the enclave. There, other muses were already gathered. Every May Day started with a procession. Nora joined the tail, and all around her was the sound of drums and instruments and bells and singing. She opened her throat and sang too.

  And the procession moved on.

  As was tradition, the muses went from one enclave to the next, always pausing to light a fire basket and calling for the members of that enclave to join in.

  When every enclave had been visited, and the procession was bloated full of every muse in Helicon, they wound their raucous, joyous way down to the main fire pit. In the field, a large Maypole had been set up, surrounded by long, shimmering ribbons.

  Nora watched as Maddie and the other Maypole dancers went to get in position around the pole. Once they were in place, the rest of the muses made larger circles around them, smaller children and toddlers in front so that they could see, and everyone else mixed in where they could. The music was still going full force, and the drum beat pounding out the heartbeat of Helicon. Everyone was cheering and clapping, excited and happy.

  Phoebe pushed her way into the circle, waving her hands above her head.

  The noise quieted a bit.

  “Happy May Day!” Phoebe bellowed, throwing her head back, her voice so rich and smooth that Nora felt it all the way down to her toes.

  The muses went crazy. The noise before was nothing compared to this—all the drums at once, the bells all clanging, the voices all cheering, the instruments being blown and plucked and tweeted.

  “Let the dance begin,” said Phoebe, backing out of the circle.

  Almost immediately, the music switched from joyful, disorganized noise to the concentrated sound of the Maypole dance song. It was a little different every year, but it was always recognizable. This year, it was a little bit syncopated, with several of the muses playing instruments that looked and sounded very similar to castanets.

  Natalia Rowan, the choreographer of the Maypole dance, and Himeros Star, the head of the dance enclave, began the traditional dance of the May Queen and the Green Man. Nora realized that Himeros looked significantly older this year, and that the dance wasn’t quite as acrobatic as it might have been in previous years. Himeros had decided to start aging again last year. In Helicon, the muses could halt their aging, staying youthful for hundreds of years. Eventually, however, they tired of youth and would decide to begin aging again. Himeros had begun this process. Nora wondered how long he would be dancing the part of the Green Man.

  The dance was a symbolic representation of fertility, of the earth and the land and spring. It was an ancient ritual, and it consisted of the May Queen running from the Green Man, while he gave chase. Eventually, she allowed herself to be caught, and the two danced together. It was a very sensuous dance, and Natalia and Himeros had been doing it together for a long time. They moved beautifully together.

  Next came the Maypole dance, and Nora watched the dancers weave their ribbons under and over each other, creating a beautiful braid on the pole. She noticed that the dancers weren’t all wearing the same outfit this year, like usual. They were all in white dresses, but the dresses varied in style, as if the women had all just pulled any old white dress out of their closets.

  Sawyer usually made the dresses for the Maypole dancers. She could see that he hadn’t this year. He would never have approved of something so haphazard.

  She guessed that May Day had sort of sneaked up on everyone this year. So many people had been under Colin’s spell that they hadn’t realized it was coming. It was amazing that everything was as well-put-together as it was.

  And anyway, she kind of liked the mismatched dresses. It gave the whole celebration a homespun charm that the May Day celebration sometimes didn’t quite have. Sometimes it was nice if everything wasn’t planned to death. Nora liked spontaneity.

  After the dance, Phoebe addressed the crowd, talking about how this was a day to celebrate. She performed handfastings on several couples, who wanted to be joined together for a year and a day. That was a little bit bittersweet. Nora and Sawyer had talked about doing it this year. It generally wasn’t encouraged for young tweens, but those eighteen and older were allowed to do handfastings if they desired. However, that obviously wasn’t happening.

  But then Phoebe finished up and said the magic words, that the food was ready.

  Nora found herself hurrying to fill her plate with all of the luscious food that had been prepared for the celebration.

  Agler and Maddie joined her on a blanket in the field. They sat together, picnicking, sipping at blueberry mojitos, and stuffing their faces—even Maddie, who was making a point to eat things.

  Nora was so glad. Everything was okay. For once, everything was actually fine. She didn’t think there had even been a May Day when she wasn’t worried about one thing or another. But there was no pressing danger in Helicon that year. They didn’t have to run around, finding people and questioning them with truth cordial or eavesdrop on conversations looking for clues. She found it incredibly relaxing.

  The day passed in a lazy haze of food and alcohol. She ate so much that her skirt felt tight, but she still felt pretty tipsy, because she’d been trying all the new and delicious concoctions that the wine and spirits enclave had brought.

  But even being too drunk was fine, because she wasn’t worried about anything. It was fun to be a little out of control and silly. She danced in the afternoon, slowly at first, so as not to give herself a stomachache.

  Later, when the twilight came, the fairies appeared. They came every year, flitting in as tiny balls of light and taller creatures with strange-colored skin and pointed ears.

  Nora wondered if Roth, their half-fairy/half-muse friend would come along. It would have been nice to see him again. But she didn’t see him anywhere, and after a while, she gave up looking for him. Instead, she gave herself over to the music and danced.

  She must have moved for hours, sometimes with her eyes closed. She drowned in the sound of the drums and ethereal instruments, and her limbs were slaves to the rhythm. It was wonderful and freeing.

  When she finally did take a break, she found that Maddie and Agler weren’t sitting on their shared blanket anymore, although they’d left behind an entire bottle of apple wine. Nora picked up the bottle and took a long swig of the thick, sweet liquid. Maddie and Agler were probably off somewhere being busy. It was a fertility holiday after all, and that was what a lot of people did on May Day.

  Nora fully intended to go back out onto the dance floor, but for now, she just sat on her blanket and dr
ank her apple wine.

  She giggled softly. She loved May Day. It was the best day in Helicon. The best day ever.

  “Hey,” said a voice.

  She looked up to see Jack, Agler’s best friend. “Hi Jack,” she said. Wow, she was really slurring her words, wasn’t she?

  Jack was carrying a bottle too. “You seen Agler recently?”

  “No. I think he’s with Maddie.”

  “Figures,” said Jack, throwing himself down on the blanket. “Can I sit here?”

  Nora giggled. “Okay.”

  Jack laughed too. “What are you drinking?”

  “Apple wine. You?”

  He scrutinized the bottle. “Uh, I think it’s mead. Honey mead?” He thrust it at her. “Try it.”

  She took his bottle and gave him hers. Together, they both took long draughts, then handed the bottles back.

  Nora wrinkled up her nose. After the sweet wine, the mead was bitter.

  Jack coughed. “That is way too sweet.”

  “After drinking it, I can’t taste anything.”

  “You are going to have a hell of a headache if you drink that whole bottle.”

  “I’m dancing,” said Nora. “I’ll sweat it all out. I’ll be fine.” That probably wasn’t true, but the headache was a long way off—tomorrow sometime, and she didn’t want to think about it now.

  “You’re not dancing, you’re sitting.”

  “I’m going to dance,” she said.

  “I’m going to the mundane world,” said Jack.

  “Oh,” she said. May Day was a cross quarter day, and on those days, the veil between the worlds was thin, and it was easy for muses to get to the mundane world. Also, on those days, the Influence—which ruled the mundane world—was weak, and it was safe for muses to be creative in the mundane world. On other days, the Influence would zap up any pure creativity. For some muses, leaving home was a real thrill. The mundane world was different than Helicon, and it was a great adventure to go.

  “You want to come?” said Jack. “Agler’s not going to come with me, obviously.”

  “I grew up in the mundane world,” said Nora. “It’s not that exciting for me.”

  “So, you don’t want to come?”

  “No,” she said.