18. Eighteen - Fairy Tales
Eighteen - Fairy Tales
Ana
Leaf bids us farewell and heads back to the inn earlier than I expect, but when Sabine comes to us, I am glad she did.
There’s an unfamiliar pot in her hand and she looks at me with a cautious smile. “I have a new blend I’d like an opinion on, and you three are the perfect ones to ask.
Mina’s face crumples, but Celese stands and I’m glad she wasn’t excluding her.
With a little smile, she sets the pot in front of us and brings new cups. “Who better to test my new apricot tea than the Eventide sisters?”
I ignore the look Morganna gives me when Mina sits up straighter and instead, thanks Sabine while she pours.
“I’ll give you some time to yourselves and just let me know how you feel about it later.”
Celese slips into the back to help Sabine breakdown and store a large order from a tea farm to the south, leaving the three of us with cups filled with pale orange tea.
“It’s been a while since it was just the three of us.” Morganna takes her cup and blows on the still warm brew. “I’m so busy and half the time mom shows up.”
I grimace, because that’s technically my fault.
“I don’t blame you for that,” she says, quickly, pointing at me with the sugar spoon. “But, I feel like I have to hear all your news from this one.”
She tilts her head toward Mina who presses her lips together, sheepishly. But she doesn’t keep her mouth closed for long. Luckily, she’s quiet when she says, “I told her about Lord Ceylon. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” I take a sip and the bright and beautiful flavor bursts across my tongue.
It’s almost overpowering.
Adding a little sugar, I say, “I have dinner at the manor house tonight.”
“I know. That’s why I didn’t order any little treats,” Morganna smiles and sips and makes an unpleasant face. “I added too much sugar.”
Mina, perhaps hoping to change the subject away from the things she’s told when she shouldn’t have, says, “Tell me the story about the knight again.”
“Don’t you think we’re a little old for fairytales?” Morganna asks.
She shakes her head and smiles at me. “Tales are meant for everyone who hears them, no matter how young or old.”
Our father said that all the time, when one of our other sisters complained about this story in particular.
I glance at the clock.
There’s enough time left... “Once upon a time, there was a brave knight who went to war.”
Mina quietly claps her hands and scoots forward on her chair while Morganna adds more tea to her cup with an indulgent smile.
“The knight was very scared all throughout the battle. He was just a poor boy from a small village and the world was so much larger than he had thought.
“His battalion fought against legions of basilisks, some so tall he had to defend himself with a pike. Their armor was white... until it ran green with blood.”
Mina sighs. “Skip to the good part.”
“She doesn’t like the part where the knight has to kill a bunch of people.” Morganna pats Mina’s hand.
“It doesn’t make sense how they did it!” Mina complains. “You can’t look at a basilisk, how did they fight?”
“Fine.” I take a sip of my tea. “The brave knight stood before the elf Queen, bearing news from his commander. The war was almost won. The basilisk king was almost defeated! But as he spoke, he saw movements in the shadows and he knew evil had come to her court.
“Assassins came to slay the Queen. They struck when her guards least expected and the brave knight lept in front of his Queen. His only thought to protect her. Those assassins tried their best to get to her, they slashed and dented his armor. They stabbed at him and tried to get around him when they could not go through him, but in the end, as chaos stilled in the blood-soaked throne room... the Queen survived.”
Mina lets out a fluttering sigh. “And she fell in love with her knight, giving him a piece of her soul so that he could live with her forever.”
She always rushes the ending. But I don’t mind.
The story was my father’s favorite to tell. Perhaps he saw a little of himself in that brave knight.
He too had gone off to fight in the war for our elf Queen, though he wasn’t a knight until the battles were all but over.
Mina chatters on, wondering if knights might ever pass through the village, and if any of them might fall in love with her. She asks me where I would run to if I decided to elope with a knight and I tell her I wouldn’t. Life on the run doesn’t sound like fun.
“Well!” Sabine sounds exhausted as she comes to us. There are loose leaves in the collar of her shirt. “How do we feel about it?”
“It’s good.”
“Good is not good enough,” she says with a glare that doesn’t match the smile that quickly follows. “It needs to be amazing or at least spectacular.”
“Is spectacular lower on the order than amazing?” Morganna’s lips twist in a teasing smile.
“Yes,” Sabine says with a sharp nod. “What wasn’t perfect about it?”
“It’s a little overpowering, but sugar helped,” I offer.
“But not too much sugar,” Morganna says quickly. “I made that mistake. I don’t think the tea itself needs to be sweeter, honestly something like a lemongrass or even cardamom might balance it out?”
Nodding, Sabine pulls out a little notebook and starts jotting things down. “I might remove the clove when I try cardamom. Anything else?”
She looks directly at Mina, who’s eyes go wide. “I agree with them.”
She says it quickly and shrinks down in her chair.
Thankfully, Sabine doesn’t press her for anything more.
When our tea is finished and we bid Celese and Sabine goodbye, it’s time for me to get ready.
“You can’t go home.” Mina says, stretching, as Morganna heads back toward the weaver’s guild.
“I hadn’t planned on it.”
“Good.” Hooking her arm in mine, she drags me back to my shop, fidgeting and prodding me to hurry and get the door open.
Once inside, she shuffles me to the back, out of sight of the front and back doors.
“What is going on?” I ask, trying not to laugh.
“She knows we had plans, but she doesn’t know how long those plans were meant to be.”
“And you don’t want me to go home because…?”
“She’s going to trap you in the house if you go back.”
I almost tell her that she’s being nonsensical... But sadly, it has happened before. “What gave her away this time?”
“There’s warding on the doors that wasn’t there before... What did you do?”
Our mother has no magic of her own, but she has the money to buy it when she wants to. And not everyone sells her fakes.
“I didn’t go berry picking with her this morning.”
Mina grimaces. “That makes sense, she always squeezes tighter when she thinks you’re avoiding her.”
“Which only makes me avoid her more.”
Mina looks toward the back door neither of us can see. “I will go distract her.”
“You don’t need to waste your night like that.”
“Oh, I’ll leave as soon as I’m sure you’ve had enough time to get safely away. The wards aren’t meant to keep me in.” She scowls at the back door. “She’s been leaving hints at apprenticeships I should be looking for, and hinting at potential husbands or wives that might take me off her hands. I’m surprised she hasn’t started looking for a buyer.”
“She doesn’t think of you like that.”
“She does. But it’s okay. I’ll leave when you do and then she’ll have to deal with the loneliness of her own making.”
I don’t like that it sounds like she’s the one waiting for me.
“Do you want to start learning how to make potions?” It would give her a skill she could leave Petalfall with.
She makes an ugly face. “Absolutely not.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’ll figure that out when I have to.” She takes a deep breath and straightens her shoulders. “How much time do you need?”
“Give me an hour?”
“Good luck.” She smiles at me so brightly, I could almost believe the sunlight wasn’t fading outside.
“You too.”
I wait for her to close the back door behind her and then shuffle out of the dress I’ve worn all day.
This little room was meant for bathing in the unlikely event potions were spilled or broken... but it’s served me well enough in situations like this.
I have a mirror and basin and a small collection of necessities, and by the time I am done setting the chain on the dress, I look perfectly presentable for a second attempt at dinner.
The square is dark when I step outside. The lamplighters save the square for last, letting the temple at its center shine for as long as possible, and I hurry along the cobbles once more, to cut through the woods and see what kind of delight might be in store.