Curses and Warfare

by Jeri Baird

  “And how is our young warrior?”

  Her teacher’s voice fell flat. She’d become distant since Alexa started her apprenticeship, as if she’d lost interest in life. She’d even left off using the dark makeup and charcoal eyeliners she’d often worn, and which Alexa had copied for months. Alexa picked at her thumbnail, knowing she was at least in part responsible for Melina Odella’s unhappiness.

  She held no hope, but asked, “Come to dinner tonight and see for yourself? Mother’s made a feast.”

  Melina Odella hesitated a moment before shaking her head no. She laid a small package on the table. “Happy birthday, Alexa.”

  “A present?” The heaviness left her, replaced by excitement. She untied the hemp cord. When Alexa unfolded the rich golden cloth, she gasped. “A calcite?” She clasped the milky white stone in both hands and closed her eyes. The vibration pulled at her consciousness.

  “A mineral to help with your studies. Carry it with you to attune to the energy, and I’ll teach you to use it soon.” Melina Odella pursed her lips. “Do you already feel the vibration?”

  The stone sent a strong pulse of energy through her body, but Alexa shook her head. She was no longer a child. She wouldn't receive a snake token for deceit like when she had been preparing for her quest last year. So she lied.

  “No. I look forward to your teaching.” Alexa turned her back to Melina Odella to find Zeph frowning at the air above her head.

  Slipping the stone into her pocket, Alexa understood it would be her true teacher. Since the quest, a power had awakened in her. She’d tried to explain to Zander, her only confidante, but he didn’t understand. His thoughts centered on war, not magic. His look of alarm when she told him of the power she felt had surprised her, but she would not hide her gifts from him. She’d lost too many years separated from him to deceive him.

  She would lie to Melina Odella about her abilities, but she would not lie to Z. Ever.

  Chapter THREE

  Birthday Celebration

  Zander

  Zander sucked in his breath before he entered the side door of the bakery where Alexa lived with their parents. He reached down and patted Shadow. The thought of seeing Father made him nervous, but his patron calmed him.

  Greydon stepped in behind Zander as Alexa ran to greet them. She gazed up at her twin. “You’re taller.” She hugged him. “And more muscular.”

  “It’s the training.” He rolled his tight shoulders, a reminder of the morning wrestling session. Zeph’s visit had distracted him, and Greydon had taken advantage of it and pinned him three times before Zander could get one takedown.

  Alexa greeted Greydon with a quick hug and then glanced behind him. Zander draped his arm over her shoulder and whispered, “If I’d brought Dharien, then Paal would have sulked. I need cooperation, not rivalry, among my warriors.”

  When she blushed, Zander grinned. He’d guessed correctly.

  Zeph appeared at Alexa’s side and handed Zander a small box made of folded paper. When Zander unfolded it, a tiny carved horse sat nestled in a tuft of wool. Taken aback, Zander remembered the horse token he’d used in the quest. He’d overcome his fear of riding with that token. Out of habit, he rubbed his thigh, remembering that night. He’d barely been able to walk. Without the horse, he and Alexa never would have found Dharien in time to face the black panthers together.

  “Did you carve this?” he asked Zeph.

  “The Protector named Del is teaching me. It’s for luck with Helios.”

  Greydon laughed and punched Zander’s shoulder. “He needs it!”

  Alexa’s best friend, Merindah, slipped through the door behind them. Her simple dark brown dress, the clothing of the nuns, contrasted with Alexa’s red velvet skirt and embroidered black blouse. And while Alexa had dark charcoal lining her eyes, Merindah’s face was clear. Her dark skin and curly black hair identified her as descended from the Dakta tribe.

  Zander glanced at the others. Four of the five tribes were represented—Dakta, Odwa, Chahda, and Kharok. His thoughts strayed to Kaiya, one of the Yapi female warriors. For more than one reason, he wished he’d thought to invite her.

  When Alexa saw Merindah, she rocked up and down on her toes. “I haven’t seen you in months!”

  “If you’d come to church you’d see me.” Merindah’s fingers ran over her rose quartz prayer beads. “You’ve forgotten to give thanks to God.”

  “Melina Odella doesn’t go. Why should I?” Alexa’s dark eyes twinkled. “She’s teaching me the winter roots to dig. We’re alone in the forest on Sundays without the fear of a hunter’s stray arrow.”

  Merindah’s lips pressed into a hard line. She hung a dark wooden circle carved with foxglove flowers around Alexa’s neck. It jostled with the red heart Zander had used to save Alexa’s life in the quest. “Happy birthday. I carved it during solitary time.” She handed an identical one to Zander. “To protect you.”

  He slipped it over his head and felt the wood warm against his chest. “Thanks, Merindah. I’ll take all the help I can get.”

  At his thanks, Alexa grimaced. “Unless the help comes from your sister?” she muttered. “Come, Mother’s waiting.”

  He followed his twin into the main room. Two wrapped gifts sat in the middle of a round oak table set for the meal. Bowls of dried apples and walnuts perched next to them. Zander scooped a handful and tossed them in his mouth.

  In the shadow of a blazing fire, Father reclined, a pint of mead in his hand. “Zander,” he slurred. “Happy birthday, Son.”

  Zander flushed at Father’s drunken display in front of Greydon and rushed to steady him as he stood. He tried to keep his voice light. “How are you, Father? How’s the pelting?”

  His father brushed aside the question and the hand that sought to help. “Well, well. How’s my warrior son?” He spat the word warrior in disdain. “The guilds grumble that you steal their men for your fantasy of war.”

  Unwilling to repeat the same conversation he always held with his father, Zander held his tongue, but Greydon spoke to defend him. “Moira has assured Zander we will be needed.”

  “Moira?” Father’s throaty laugh filled the room. “You can’t trust Fate, now can you lad? She’s a fickle mistress indeed.” He waved his cup in front of Greydon’s face. “What good has Moira ever done for me?”

  “Father!” Alexa’s face darkened. “She kept Zander and me alive in the quest. Isn’t that enough?”

  He stumbled and fell back into his chair. “At what cost, Daughter, at what cost? You’re off with the fortune-teller when you should be helping your mother in the bakery. And my son? Spending his own coins to play at war.” He pointed his finger at Zander. “I hope you don’t expect me to support you when your money runs out.” Mead splashed from his cup as he gestured to make his point. “And when has our village ever needed warriors?” He paused to drink. “Never.”

  “The cards confirm it.” Alexa glanced at Zander and blushed. “I read Zander’s future today.”

  Heat raced through Zander’s chest. “Don’t read me without my permission.”

  “You need to know what the cards say.”

  “No, I don’t. I have Moira whispering in one ear and now you in the other? I don’t need it. Even Puck gets in his say.”

  Their father growled, “Look at my beloved children. They believe they cheated Fate and now they speak for her.” He lifted his cup. “Here, here, a toast on their seventeenth birthday.”

  An awkward silence fell over the room. Zander bit the inside of his cheek. He hated it, but Father might be right. Who was he to take on the task of saving the village?

  As Mother entered with a tureen, he scrambled to help, grateful for her arrival. Zander carried the stewed venison to the table as Mother smoothed her blond hair. Alexa had Mother’s hair, but Father’s dark eyes, while Zander got Father’s black hair and Mothe
r’s blue eyes. Night and day they’d been called, and it fit.

  Zander followed his mother into the kitchen. “Are you sorry Father moved in with you?”

  She turned and reached up to cradle his face in her soft hands. He wasn’t used to having a mother and, warrior or not, he held back tears that threatened to make him cry like a child.

  “Before we separated you and Alexa, your father worked hard and never drank to excess. I thought once we reunited, we could be happy again, but the mead has changed him. I hope for all of us he can find himself.” With a sigh, she released him.

  He said nothing, but he wasn’t at all sure the man Mother had loved was still in Father. Zander carried a plate heaped with warm bread and another with mounds of butter to the table.

  Behind him, Mother said, “Shall we feast to celebrate the birth of my twins?”

  Zander sat between Alexa and Greydon with Shadow at his feet. Mother and Father sat across from him, Father still glaring. Next to Mother, Zeph’s eyes gleamed as he glanced at the heaping bowls of food. Between Alexa and Father, Merindah sat stiffly.

  As Father reached for the roasted venison, Merindah bowed her head. “I’ll bless the meal.” She held up her hands, palms out. “Our God Almighty, who shall be blessed, world without end. We pray for mercy on our table spread, and what your gentle hand has given, let it by you be blessed. All that is good is yours, for you are good. Amen.”

  Father grunted and stabbed a chunk of meat from the tureen. Mother handed Zeph the bowl of sweet potatoes while Greydon buttered a roll. It was almost like a regular family meal.

  Zander glanced sideways to find Alexa watching him. She was a fortune-teller, and he was a warrior. They were anything but normal.

  Chapter FOUR

  Alexa

  Alexa lifted her head during the prayer and studied Zander—her brother, her twin. They might be opposites, night and day, but his stubbornness matched her own. She needed to convince him to listen to the cards. And what did he mean that Moira whispered in his ear?

  When Merindah finished the prayer, Zander looked up and caught Alexa’s eyes. His smile told her he was no longer angry, but that didn’t mean he was ready to heed her warnings. She’d find a way to convince him to listen, but not in front of the others.

  Instead, she turned to Greydon. “How’s your brother?”

  Greydon paused, a warm roll halfway to his mouth, and frowned. “Dharien? He’s . . .” He seemed puzzled. “I don’t talk to him much. He spends a lot of time with Lash.” He sat back in his chair. “Why?”

  Confused, Alexa hesitated. Greydon trained with Dharien. How could he not know how his own brother was doing? “I–I haven’t seen him much since the quest. I wondered how he was, is all.” She blushed at Zander’s smile.

  “I’ve talked with him,” Merindah interjected. “He’s working things out.” She cocked her head at Alexa. “He’s ashamed of his actions before the quest. He comes daily to the church to pray and talk with Father Chanse.”

  “We all accepted his apology,” Alexa blurted. After the quest, Dharien had stood in front of the questers and begged forgiveness. As a group, they’d given it. She wasn’t sure if she’d completely forgiven him for stealing Zander’s tokens and endangering her twin’s life during the quest, but Dharien claimed to love her. If he’d truly changed, she’d like to see if she shared his feelings.

  “Sometimes forgiving yourself is harder than forgiving another.” Merindah folded her hands on the table. “It’s something to consider, Alexa.”

  Alexa’s blush deepened. She glanced around the table. Mother had stopped eating, intent on the conversation. Zeph ate, head down, ignoring it. Her twin seemed amused, but Father growled, “Not the kind of talk for the table.”

  They finished the meal in silence, which left Alexa too much time to think. She ate slowly, hardly tasting the food. Merindah made it clear she didn’t approve of Alexa apprenticing as a fortune-teller. Well, Alexa didn’t approve of Merindah’s choice either. Once, they’d been best friends, but it seemed they’d let this come between them. Moira and God might work together for the benefit of their village, but they weren’t working together for Merindah and her.

  Zander nudged her from her thoughts as he leaned in to whisper, “I’m ready for dessert. How about you?”

  Father scraped his chair away from the table and grunted, “Good meal, Lark.” He grabbed his mug and stumbled to his chair by the fire.

  With Father gone, the mood lightened. Zeph looked up from his plate for the first time, and Merindah actually smiled when Mother brought out a layered carrot cake, which she cut into thick wedges and passed around the table.

  Greydon clutched his belly and moaned. “Lark, you bake the best cakes in the village. Mother’s cook sneaks off to buy from you when we have celebrations.”

  Laughing, Mother added another slice to his plate, and although he protested, Greydon had no trouble finishing both.

  After the cake was gone and the table cleared, Mother handed a small package to Zander and one to Alexa. Zander encouraged Alexa to go first. She unwrapped the purple cloth to find hanks of silk embroidery ribbons dyed in rich shades of purple, red, and green and two skeins of fine gold and silver thread.

  “Mother! Silk? They’re beautiful!” She held the ribbons to her chest. They hadn’t come from the Puck’s Gulch market. “Where did you find them?”

  “This morning, a Raskan woman asked to trade for seed cakes. She said the silks came from across the ocean. She asked about you both. Her name was Tshilaba.”

  Beside her, Zander startled at the name, but she felt a joy rise in her heart at the memory of the fortune-teller. She rushed to hug her mother. “I’ve never had a more beautiful gift. I know just the scene I want to stitch.”

  Zander scowled.

  Alexa held his gaze. “I made mistakes in the quest last year. I learned from them.” The magic in her embroidery had proven difficult to predict. She wouldn’t admit to him that she still struggled with the outcomes.

  Mother turned to Zander. “Open yours, Son.”

  He unfolded the black cloth and jerked his head up to stare at their mother. “Where did you find it?”

  She beamed. “Last week while I searched the gulch for rose hips, I tripped and fell. As I rubbed my knee, I saw it next to me.” Her voice dropped. “Is it the one?”

  Zander held up the black and white stone. “It is.” He explained to Greydon and Zeph. “It’s the stone that saved my life.” His face darkened. “It came from Moira, and Alexa insisted on using it even though we didn’t know the outcome.”

  “You would have died without it.” Alexa held up her hand to show the white circle burned in the center of her palm from using the stone.

  Zander lifted his right hand with the matching mark. “I didn’t mean to leave it, and I’ve gone back to search for it many times. Thank you, Mother.”

  In Alexa’s pocket, the calcite vibrated. A certainty flowed through her that she didn’t understand. It was no accident Mother found the stone.

  Winter dark came early, and Merindah agreed to stay the night. Zander and Greydon would walk Zeph to his home in the shacks. Those who hadn’t quested had a curfew of dark, and no one was allowed in the market square after closing, but the Protectors patrolling the area allowed the warriors to pass through.

  Before he left, Zander pulled Alexa aside and pressed a sharp object into her palm.

  It was a brooch with a single garnet surrounded by cut quartz stones. Gold leaves held the stones in place. Alexa was stunned. She’d wanted it so badly at the last festival, but didn’t have the money.

  “I saw you lusting over it.” He laughed. “Good thing we don’t get omens anymore.”

  She pinned it to her tunic and hugged him. “You shouldn’t have spent your money, but I love it.” Already she sensed the vibrations of the gold mix with th
e stones pulsing with energy. “Thank you, Zander.” She pulled a plaited necklace of lavender stems beaded with amethyst from the bag she carried at her waist. “To calm you. Maybe Helios will soon let you ride.” She kissed his cheek. “Don’t wait so long to come back?”

  “I don’t know, Alexa.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “How do you stand it here with Father, drunk the way he is?”

  “You lived with him all those years.” She searched his eyes. “I guess it’s my turn. Mother hopes he’ll come to his senses, but I think the mead has too strong of a hold on him.” She hesitated. “Does Moira really speak to you?”

  He rolled his eyes. “She comes in my dreams, like after the quest. She doesn’t always bring a message, but she watches me. And at the end she whispers, Zander, defender of all.”

  Her twin seemed to forget that “defender of all” included her. Father had told them that the names Alexa and Zander combined carried that meaning. She touched his arm. “But sometimes she gives you a message? What does she say?”

  “That time is short.” His bleak eyes sought hers. “It seems the displaced Odwans will invade us. They’re used to war. How can we defeat them?”

  “We’ll do it together, just as we did in the quest. Our path is still the same.”

  He shook his head. “War is no place for you.”

  “I may not fight with bow or sword, but I will fight in the way I know.”

  “Through magic? Is Melina Odella teaching you how to defend against an enemy?”

  “There is magic in me that Melina Odella knows nothing of. Ask Fate in your nighttime trysts. It comes from her, does it not? She speaks to you in dreams, but speaks to me through cards, stones, and embroidery. The sooner you see the wisdom in that, the sooner you’ll be prepared for war.”

  “First the quest and now war.” He searched her eyes. “It seems we have no choice over the direction our lives have taken.”