Choice of Fate

The town was filthy and crowded. A thousand smells assaulted him as he followed his father down the street toward the main square. Even with the racket and general griminess of the place, he loved it. It was everything his home was not, and it intrigued him.

He studied every face he could. Some were hardened and wrinkled as though they had lived their whole life in the sun and wind. Others were still young and hopeful, young men still practically boys with bright eyes and smooth faces, pretty girls with lovely blushes on their cheeks as they smiled at him. He couldn’t help but return their smiles. Even though the women of his realm were above what anyone would call beautiful, he couldn’t help but be fascinated with the human women around him. They had something genuine and vivacious that was lacking from those in his court.

“Careful, Ky,” said his father as he reached out and grabbed his arm before he stumbled into the street. “Mind the horses.”

He looked up just as a horse carrying a cart so full of men it was bowing in the center passed. The men were in an iron cage, many of their hands bound. He watched it make its way down the street, a stream of women and girls following it, some wailing.

“Father, what…”

“Not now, son,” said his father in a harsh whisper. He pulled him to the left. “This way.”

Ky followed his father, the crowd becoming thicker and thicker as they made their way down the street. There was shouting and shoving. Someone’s shoulder bounced off his, making Ky slightly shove the man to get by and keep up with his father. Finally, they emerged at the front of the crowd in the main square, where several men were rounded up, surrounded by soldiers with swords and spears.

An older man was going around with a list and quill, and a boy was following him with an ink pot. The older man asked each man his name as he made a note on his list. Once the old man had spoken to them all, he turned to a guard near another wagon with a cage.

“To Parworth, I think. They’ve been wanting some new men to man the ships there, and this appears a hardy lot. They live close to the sea, so they should have some familiarity with sea travel.”

There was a commotion on the other side of the circle. “No,” said a voice. “You can’t take them.” The crowd moved and finally parted as a girl who was almost a woman made it through. She burst into the square and ran towards two men in the circle. Three guards closed around her, one nicking her arm with his sword, though she didn’t seem to notice. “Let them go. This is a mistake.”

Ky looked at the girl, his feet shuffling forward at the sight of her. She had to be the loveliest thing he’d ever seen. Her hair was thick, wavy, and light brown, unbound and coming down to her waist. Her deep brown eyes were large and framed by exquisite long eyelashes. They were bright with anger, her cheeks red with it too. Along her nose, she had a smattering of freckles that only added to her beauty. He took another step, wanting to see her better. She was dressed simply in a deep blue dress that hugged her curvy hips. The top tie had come done, revealing just a hint of cleavage. She was in a barely controlled rage, which caused her to almost glow. Ky leaned back and looked at his father. She didn’t just almost glow. She was glowing; it was faint, but it was there.

His father leaned close to him and whispered. “Magic. It’s magic. You can taste it. She’s a witch.”

The guard who had nicked the girl pushed her back. “Get home, miss. There’s no mistake here. Leave before you find yourself in trouble.”

“Listen to him, Eva,” said the older of the men she had run towards. “Go home and take care of Nia.”

“But there’s no one left if you go, father. Without you and Aeron, how will we live?”

“You’re smart, Eva, and more than capable of taking care of things. Aeron and I will find our way back, but until then, you will have to do it. Keep Nia well.”

“No,” said Eva, tears falling down her lovely face. “We were told they were safe, that they wouldn’t go. My father has a bad foot, and my brother is too young.” She grabbed the guard, her anger melting into desperation. “Please, please have mercy. There’s no one else. Our mother is dead. My sister is sick. You are condemning us all to death.”

The guard chuckled. “Fewer mouths for the kingdom to feed then.” He grabbed Eva and pulled her closer. “But you have your uses. You’ll come with us.”

“No!” said Eva’s father. “Leave her be. She didn’t mean to interrupt. Let her go.” He moved forward, the guards stopping him. “Eva, run. Eva!”

The guard held her tighter as Eva tried to push away. She clawed at the guard, finally biting his arm. He cried out and raised it before striking her across her cheek hard. She went down as her father and what must have been her brother screamed her name.

Something ignited inside of Ky, seeing the young woman on the ground, a bit of blood around her lips. He clenched his fist, wanting to pummel the man who had dared strike her. She wiped her mouth and looked up at the guard with such hatred the man took a half step back. She stood slowly, blood running down her lips, her eyes wide and wild.

As she raised her hands, her hair started floating around her as the wind picked up. The air was full of the scent of magic, making Ky’s own rise within him. If she performed her craft here, there would be no going back for her. She would be taken immediately, maybe even killed. The idea that she would be caged or die made bile rise in Ky’s throat. He had to do something; he had to save her.

He raised his hand, keeping his eyes on the exquisite wild woman in front of him, his heart pounding in his chest. However, before he could do anything, his father snapped his fingers, and time stood still. The cries and shouts of the crowd went silent as everything froze around him. Eva was still there, her hands half raised, her hair in an almost golden stream around her, her eyes wide and filled with light.

“What are you doing, Ky,” said his father. “You can’t interfere.”

“But if she shows what she is…” started Ky.

“Then her life is as good as over,” finished his father. “It’s a shame. She’s powerful. I can feel it.”

“She lovely,” said Ky without thinking. “Lovely, wild, and terrifying. I can’t let this happen. I can’t let her throw away her life.”

“You don’t know her, Ky. She’s …she’s nothing, nobody,” said his father, but there was something wavering in his voice. Ky could almost taste the lie on his father’s lips.

“Father, she’s not nothing.” He turned to look at her again. “Who is she?”

His father glanced at him. “She’s from an old family, one with a history as old as ours. Before this chaos of perpetual war, they were allies to many, even those in our realm. There might be some faerie blood mixed with the lineage somewhere. It wouldn’t surprise me. I thought their magic had dimmed over the centuries, breeding with ordinary humans, but this girl, she’s….” His father shook his head. “She was made for another time, another place. If she’s not caught today, she will be eventually.”

“No,” said Ky. He couldn’t help it. He walked forward, careful not to touch any of the frozen humans around him. He moved so close to her that he could brush her cheek if he wished. “We can’t let them do this. None of this is right.”

“I know,” said his father in a gentler voice than usual. “But we can’t interfere. The old treaties make it so. Human affairs are their own.”

“Then why did we come here today?”

“I…I wanted to see how bad it had gotten. We hear only rumors from our land. I needed to know what was happening in this place, a place I once had friends myself.”

“Please,” said Ky, turning towards his father. “Please, just this once. Let me save her.” His father rested his hands on his hips as he stared at Ky. “Please.”

His father moved closer and circled Eva as though studying her, his nostril flaring. He reached out, hovering his hand just over her back. He gave a quick glance at Ky, his eyes bright and searching. “I can’t save her father and brother. I can’t save any of these men from their fate, which will probably be gruesome.” There was regret and pain in his voice.

“I know, but just this once. Just her. I…I can’t…” He swallowed, keeping back tears that threatened to fall. It was strange. He rarely cried. “Please.”

“Very well,” said his father as he moved to the guard in front of Eva and whispered lies that would become truth in his ear.

Ky moved even closer to Eva and whispered. “Don’t lose who you are. Don’t let them make you forget. Don’t give up.”

He leaned back as a bright light flashed around him, making him shut his eyes. When he opened them, the crowd again yelled and shouted, but Eva was gone. Ky blended back into the crowd with his father, moving away from the square. Before they turned to escape into the forest, he watched as Eva’s brother and father were loaded into the wagon.

The old house creaked under her footsteps as Eva made her way to the closet. The sun hadn’t risen yet, so she used her one candle to pull out the only clean dress she had left. If Milly couldn’t get to it, she’d have to do laundry today. Milly’s spare sheets probably needed washing. The ones she was sleeping on probably needed it as well. The gods knew the last thing Milly did was take care of herself.

Eva stepped out of her closet, her thick gray dress in hand. It wasn’t pretty or made of fine material, but it was serviceable in that it would keep her warm and had plenty of pockets. Her mother always made sure she had clothes with plenty of pockets as soon as she could walk. Pockets ensure you have plenty of room to keep what you think you need on you and be able to collect what you didn’t know you needed as you saw it.

She laid it on her bed and went to her vanity to pick up her brush. She ran it through her hair before braiding it, barely looking into the old half-broken mirror. Like her dress, it didn’t matter what Eva looked like. She just needed her mass of thick, light brown hair out of her face. After slipping off her nightgown, she ran her hands down her hips.

She hated how thin and gaunt she looked. It did nothing to help her figure. Like her mother and probably almost every other female in their line, Eva looked better with a little meat on her bones. She was made to have curves and softness; instead, her hip bones stuck out oddly, and her shoulders appeared too broad for her body.

She sighed, knowing there was nothing for it, and put on some half-clean undergarments before pulling her dress over her head and buttoning up the front.

As she smoothed her skirt, her finger snagged on a small hole near her right hip. She cursed under her breath. She had gotten stuck on part of the broken fence by the hens and vowed to darn the hole before she wore it next. She must have forgotten it by the time she retired for the night, and Milly must not have noticed it as it was washed.

She played with the hole a little and thought it didn’t matter. It showed nothing but the lining of the dress. She had nothing else clean to wear and needed to go into the town today. Her cloak would do a fair job of hiding it. If anyone noticed, it would only confirm the truth they all knew. Eva was poor. Griffin House was practically a ruin. She was starving, and her poor, sweet, beautiful sister would probably die much too young.

Eva stepped into the hall, looking at the grimy floors. She really needed to work on them at some point. Her mother would be appalled at how the house looked, especially when Eva had the ability to clean it within a few hours. A spell here, a spell there, and things would at least be sparkling in their home. It would take a few days to repair the structural issues and materials she couldn’t afford. Yet, Eva couldn’t just flick her wrist and say the words to set the house to right. It was too dangerous. Even simple magic, such as a cleaning spell, could be detected, and Eva would be caught and sent to Fortis or, even worse, one of the Faerie courts. There, she would be no better than a slave, doing the bidding of masters for a war she hated. Her sister would waste away from disease in filth and starvation.

So Eva would make time in the next few days to scrub the floors and dust every surface she could. She would mend her clothes, tend to the animals by hand, and sell what eggs, milk, and wool she gathered to make sure they had enough food and supplies to make it through the winter ahead. Eva would use no magic except for one reason, and it would only be done in the small room dug underground long ago. The room was only big enough to hold one shelf, a table, a low stool, and a fireplace over which a small cauldron hung.

Eva made her way down the stairs, into the kitchen, out the door into the cold autumn chill, to the old trap door hidden underneath a wooden table and covered with leaves. Eva looked around before moving the table and kicking the leaves away until she found the string to open the door. The ladder going down was rickety but held fine under her weight.

After dusting off her skirt, she moved closer to the fire that burned steady. This was the only place she let her magic work, shielded by dirt, rocks, and an old ward set up centuries ago that, as of yet, no one had broken through. She held up a hand, and the candles throughout the space lit, allowing her to see inside the cauldron. A potion bubbled there, light red and smelling of sweet berries.

Eva picked up a paddle and stirred, pleased with the consistency. She waved her hand over the substance and closed her eyes, letting a little healing magic mix in with the brew. She hoped the little changes she had made this time would do some good. She had tried for years to cure her sister, and so far, all she had been able to do was buy them time. Perhaps if her mother had been around longer to train her or her father and brother had not been forced to go to war, she would have had the talent or money to help her sister better.

She sighed and looked at the open bottles on the table next to her. It would do no good to wish things were different, that there was no war to keep her brother and father away, that her mother had not been killed in the great purge. It did no good to wish that things had not happened long before she was born, which led to the washing of magic from humans and a war involving all human kingdoms. What was property and power to her and most of the people living in the land?

She lifted her hand, causing the small cauldron to rise off its hook. She guided it to the bottles, filling all three with the potion. After seeing the kettle back on its hook and the fire put out, she gathered up her bottles and headed to the ladder. She blew out the candles with a quick huff of air, and up she went.

She could see the first signs of the sun rising as she arranged the leaves back over the little door and placed the table over it. She took a deep breath of the cool morning air as she watched a few birds take off from a nearby tree, the pinkish-blue sky behind it showing the first promises of dawn.

The house was just as she had left it, quiet and dark. She found the kettle in the kitchen and filled it, placing it on the stove and lighting the burner. By the time light started filtering through the windows, she had a steaming cup of tea in her hand. The door to the kitchen opened, and a tired-looking middle-aged woman walked into the room. She yawned as she adjusted the messy bun on top of her head.

“Good morning, Milly,” said Eva as she pointed to the kettle. “Would you like me to make you a cup?”

Milly waved her away. “I can manage it, and I can make you some breakfast before I see to the chickens.”

“I can do it, Milly. You look half-dead. Were you able to sleep at all?”

“Oh, I got a few hours. Poor Miss Nia was up half the night with a cough,” said Milly. “But she finally settled and went to sleep.”

Eva pursed her lips and put her cup down. “You should have woken me up, Milly. I could’ve helped.”

“You have too many sleepless nights, Miss Eva. You needed your rest, and I didn’t mind sitting with the dear girl. She is still quite charming and entertaining, even with her sickness. She wants to go outside at some point today.”

“I hope she’s up to it. It looks like it might not be too cold. I can see to it when I return from town,” said Eva.

“Nah, I’ll take her out when I hang the wash. I know it's past due.”

“I can do it, Milly. You don’t need to do everything. Especially since I can barely pay you half the wages you should have.”

“Your parents gave me a home when I had none, and you and Miss Nia give me purpose. You worry about getting us some money today, and let me see to the chores. It’s not an easy walk into town.”

“No, and Nightmare isn’t up for carrying someone with his hoof so inflamed. Mr. Johnston says he’ll come look at him tomorrow. I only hope I can cover his fee,” said Eva, picking up her cup and finishing her tea.

“Another small sack of coins was delivered yesterday. I imagine that will be enough. If not, he’ll make it work for you. He always does.”

“How much was it this time?” asked Eva.

“More than you would make in a month if you went to town every day with your little offerings,” said Milly.

Eva took a deep breath, feeling a small bit of relief. It would be enough to fix Nightmare’s hoof, and maybe she would have enough to put with her meager savings. It could be a step closer to being able to pay a healer to come to the house.

Milly fixed her a cup of tea and looked at Eva from the corner of her eyes. “Of course, you could always marry his son. I know the boy is fond of you, and you don’t seem too opposed to him.”

“I like Iwan fine,” said Eva. “We’ve known each other for a while, and the gods know he’s damn handsome.”

“Language, Miss Eva,” said Milly. “Your mother wouldn’t want you speaking like that.”

Eva half smiled. “She used enough colorful language herself to excuse some of mine.”

Milly laughed. “Your mother was something else. I’ll give you that.”

Eva smiled wider and nodded. “She wouldn’t be too pleased with you trying to talk me into marrying a farrier’s son.”

“No,” said Milly, her smile fading. “But she couldn’t foresee what would happen. Her thoughts might be different now.”

“Maybe so, but I’m afraid we’ve fallen so low that I’m not even good enough for said farrier’s son. Mrs. Johnston has ideas for Iwan, which don’t include me.”

“She thinks too much of herself,” said Milly.

Eva shrugged. “She comes from a little money and has a cousin with a daughter already picked out for Iwan. The date is all but set for next year.”

“It’s a shame. You’d make a pretty pair, and he could at least give you some comfort.”

Eva gave a small grunt in reply as she watched the morning out of the window. Iwan was handsome, charming, and kind in his own way. He was also intelligent and practical and knew a life with a rich wife would be much easier than gaining a burden like her. He might like Eva and even enjoy spending time with her, but in the end, he would make the practical choice. She knew it, and no matter what intimate activities they might have shared, he never made her a promise, and she never asked for one.

“You should finish getting ready, Eva,” said Milly, taking Eva out of her thoughts. “It’s a long walk to town, and you’ll want to catch the merchants early before they run out of money to spend.”

“Let me just check on Nia before I go,” said Eva. “If she’s awake, I have something new I’d like her to try.” She picked up one of the bottles of her potion.

Milly put down her cup so hard the tea sloshed over the wooden counter. “Evangelina Griffin, have you been doing what I think you’ve been doing? You promised to stop after the last batch didn’t work.”

“I said I’d think about stopping, and if I continued, I’d be even more careful. Which I have been.” She looked at the potion in the bottle. “I can’t give up, Milly. I have to keep trying. We can’t afford a healer, and Nia deserves better than this half-life she’s been shackled with. With her face and charm, she could probably marry her way out of here if she were able.”

Milly’s expression softened. “She’s….she’s not unhappy, Eva. She makes of this life what she can, and you know she doesn’t blame you.”

“She’s too good, Milly. I’ve got to try to help her. She deserves so much more than this.” Tears gathered in Eva’s eyes. She hated crying and knew it was nothing but weakness, but she couldn’t help the tears that fell down her face.

Milly had her in her arms before Eva could blink. “Now, now, child. Neither of you deserve this. Gods, if things were right, you’d be as you were meant. The Griffins were once a great family, you know. Known for their power and beauty, and you embodied everything they were. It’s not just Nia that deserves to escape this lot. You could rule the world, Eva, if things were right.”

Eva laughed through her tears. “I don’t want to rule the world. I just want it to be a better place.”

“Me too, sweet girl, me too,” said Milly as she kissed Eva’s cheek. “Go see your sister. Seeing her at peace will do you some good, but don’t wake her if you can help it.”