The Stepsister's Lament Read online

  “Morning, Joy,” Reese growled at me without looking. I knew he was a morning person, so he must have been annoyed about something. “Did you sleep… wait, you aren’t rhyming anymore!” He turned his head to look at me and jerked back. “I-I see that Maleficent gave you something to wear.” His voice sounded a bit deeper.

  Probably still thick with sleep, I decided.

  “Good of you to finally notice, boy.” Maleficent had a twinkle in her eyes again. I had no idea why she seemed so amused. Reese just glared at her. “I gave her a potion this morning. Finally stopped that stupid rhyming. It’s not permanent though, so you still need to go fix that mirror. It’s the only thing with enough power to break that ridiculous curse. I’ve prepared everything you need to complete the counter-curse and written the instructions down as well. I already put everything in a pouch and put it in your satchel, girl.” She passed me my bag as I sat down at the table.

  “Oh. Thank you.” I had completely forgotten about it and felt horrible.

  “It’s a clever piece of work, that. You’re lucky to have it, especially with such expansive supplies. Probably what’s been pulling your magic. The stealth spells woven in are helpful but need recharging if used for longer than an hour.”

  I frowned at her talk of magic and decided to ignore it. She must have been confused by the residual magic in the bag. After all, I didn’t really have any magic. “Thank you. It was my aunt’s. She has a newer one that was gifted to her for her wedding and thought I could put her old one to better use.”

  Maleficent cocked her head to the side and squinted her eyes while staring at me. “You’re Grace’s niece, aren’t you?”

  Reese’s head snapped my direction as I answered. “Yes, how did you know?” The only thing that my aunt was ever known for was her husband as far as I was aware.

  “She is an old colleague of mine. That explains quite a bit…” she mused. “She always told me that her sister was a bit of a menace with her magic. Not a thought in her head as to the consequence and she always tried to be cleverer than Grace. Wanted to impress your grandmother from what I recall, or was it she wanted to avoid your grandmother. Either way, it’s no wonder you ended up with such a ridiculous curse.”

  I sighed. “That figures. Well, it is a pleasure to meet anyone who knows my aunt.”

  “Grace? As in the enchantress Grace who married the frog prince?” Reese asked.

  “Strictly speaking, he wasn’t a frog. That was his brother. Prince Jeshu was turned into a salamander. At least, he was a prince at the time. I he was crowned co-king this past winter.”

  Maleficent smirked. “Co-king? Is that how they decided things? I rather wondered about that. When I saw them last, they were still trying to work out how to describe it. Kept throwing ridiculous names around…”

  “Well, he does share a soul with his twin. Might as well share the kingdom as well. It cleared things up quite well.” My aunt’s husband was a twin and they have some decidedly odd traditions for deciding who would rule. After many years of arguing, their kingdom had eventually decided on a trial by amphibians. Or a trial as amphibians, anyway. The brides that the two princes brought back were both the type to buck tradition, thus the brothers becoming co-kings. Many people were waiting to see how things would turn out in the next few years.

  “I imagine Grace had a bit to do with that… she was never content to let things lie in disarray. Unless it was her kitchen. She always left her kitchen a mess when she went off to visit those silly fauns. I’ll never understand how she can stand drinking their wine. It is either incredibly sweet or incredibly dry. For creatures that are a mix of two species, they are surprisingly determined to do things in extremes.”

  “Um, did you call her an enchantress earlier?” I asked Reese. He nodded. “Is she… is she really an enchantress?”

  They both looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “Of course. Didn’t you know?”

  “No. I guess we really never talked about it. I always assumed she was a witch, like mother, but much, much better.”

  Maleficent smiled at me sadly. “She probably didn’t want to scare you. She actually studied here with me for years, and we are still very good friends. The people who know don’t care all that much. The people who don’t, don’t need to know. At least, that’s what she told me when I asked her one time. Also, your family isn’t exactly known for dealing well with power. ”

  She was absolutely right about that. My grandmother was a powerful witch and I’d always assumed that my aunt had inherited the power, if not the evil nature. In truth, Aunt Grace was something completely different. Witches tend to specialize in spells and potions. They inscribe their spells to add extra power, but they tend to rely more on subtlety than strength. Enchanters, on the other hand, are vastly powerful and able to enchant objects. They always need something physical to use for complicated spells and they have some minor abilities with the elements.

  Reese cleared his throat. “I don’t mean to bother you, considering this is quite fascinating, but we should probably be leaving soon if we want to get around that wolf. He’s an accomplished tracker and I have a feeling that your grandmother put a tracker on your blood at some point.”

  I nodded. “She took some of my blood when Wolf was arrested. She told me she would lay a worse curse than I already had if I ever told anyone about her criminal activities.”

  Our host curled her lip and spit to the side. “Blood magic on a child, completely repulsive. But as for getting out of here quickly, I can arrange something. Merriweather and I linked our homes years ago so that we could send Briar Rose back and forth quickly. Spending weeks traveling was not high on our list of priorities when it came to raising a toddler,” Maleficent told us with head tilted and eyebrow raised. “Anyway, you should pop out only a few days walk from Caillte’s castle.”

  My grip tightened on my fork. Merriweather. From what I had heard, she was a kind Fey who had done her best to counter Maleficent’s curse on Princess Aurora all those years ago. She was supposed to be beautiful (like all Fey) and exceedingly wise and thoughtful. Considering how wrong the rumors about Maleficent were… my lip stung from biting it too hard. It would be interesting to see how this Fey measured up to her reputation.

  I had no time to think anymore on it as Reese and I were rushed through the rest of our breakfast at top speed. It was a bit odd after being told how safe we were, but I’d come to realize that our host was a tad impatient. For a woman who was rumored to be as old as time and incredibly clever, she didn’t seem very patient. I mean, who goes to the trouble of making eggs benedict and then rushes her guests when they are eating it? Ridiculous!

  A question had been burning in my brain for most of the morning, but I was forced to wait until Maleficent had ordered Reese to grab a few more provisions before I could ask.

  “Um, Lady Maleficent?”

  “Just Mallie is fine, girl. What is it?” she asked, quirking an eyebrow.

  “Why did you call Reese the ‘Spinner’s boy’ earlier?”

  She blinked. “Did I? Huh. Well, it’s quite simple, really. He comes from a family with many talents. One of them involves spinning magic into fibers. The cloth and thread that they make is quite famous. His grandfather is an old friend of mine, so I always associate your boy with his grandfather. They’ve always been big on the power of names, so I avoided the whole thing and just call them by generic terms. It is a bit silly, honestly, but there’s nothing to be done about it.”

  “Indeed, there is not,” replied Reese as he walked in from behind us, still sounding out of sorts. “Come on, you two. We’ve more important things to do than stand around and gossip about my family’s idiosyncrasies.” Mallie squawked and smacked him upside the head before telling us to hurry up.

  It didn’t take long ‘til she had herded us back to the entrance. The night before I had been so tired that none of the details had registered, but looking at it that morning brought a new perspective. The hall had
a high ceiling and grand staircase, but it was by no means elegant or stylish. Instead, it reflected the practical style of its owner. The decorations were simple and obviously sentimental, the details of the space showcasing smooth lines and a flair for the asymmetrical and unexpected.

  I turned to ask my host a question and noticed her whispering in Reese’s ear as she passed by. I didn’t know what was said, but his expression was downright murderous as she walked away from him and toward a closed door to the right of the entry.

  “These are reversible,” she told us, holding out a pair of long coats. “When you turn them inside out, the lining is spelled to make you appear clothed appropriately to meet whomever you need to. It’s saved me a lot of money over the years, not only on suitable travel attire, but also on the extra laundering to get rid of all those wrinkles. I hate wrinkles. How anyone expects you to be wrinkle free after traveling for anywhere from hours to weeks is beyond me! And don’t get me started on ironing! There still isn’t a reliable spell for it! This way, you’ll look perfectly turned out for meeting Caillte and won’t have to worry about packing any pointless clothing items.”

  I giggled a little and thanked her. Maleficent seemed to have a practical mind but little patience for tedium. Shaking my head ever so slightly, I hurried to catch up as I noticed the other two walking to the door opposite the coat closet.

  “This,” Maleficent told us, eyes aglow and voice quite soft. “This is a secret that Merri and I came up with, with the help of your grandfather, boy. We figured out how to use mirrors to transmit more than just sound and images, but bodies as well.” Reese leaned forward, his eyes never leaving the door. “It took quite a while to find a proper conduit for the magic, but that’s neither here nor there. What is important is that this will put you in the woods only two days journey from Caillte’s castle. That should keep you far enough ahead of the girl’s grandmother to make all the difference.”

  She opened the door and we looked through. Where there should have been a wall, there was another door, partly open to a small kitchen. You could just barely see a window and through it, the several peaks of what looked to be the Crantish Mountains. The peaks at the far north of the chain had some very distinctive shapes carved into them by an artistic dragon several centuries back. It was difficult to mistake them for anything else. They looked to be quite close, but I remembered from my geography lessons (and hours staring at maps, wishing to escape my miserable life) that the Crantish Mountains were about a two and a half week journey east from my cottage, on the complete other side of Alenia. Or they would be if you were a crow who flew as fast as a carriage.

  “Now, Merri knows you’re coming, so ignore any remarks that indicate otherwise. Sometimes the summer Fey spend too much time in the far north, trying to get every drop of sunlight they can to survive the winter darkness. It can cause some… unusual results. Merri just got back from a summer solstice celebration there, so don’t take anything to heart. Now run along. I have things to prepare and a god-daughter to embarrass horribly and manipulate into taking up weapons training and martial arts.”

  Trying to avoid laughing, I wished her luck and thanked her for the help before stepping through the mirror. Thus far, things had begun looking up for me, but the day was far from over.

  Chapter 6: For Me?

  “WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING, YOU ADDLEPAITED NATTERBRAINED NITWIT?”

  I jumped while clapping my hands over my ears to protect them from the yelling. I say ‘yelling’, but it was more like when you stand in a large empty cavern and a herd of cattle wearing cymbals for shoes stampede through the cave just as someone scrapes their nails across a slate board. Suffice to say, it was both painful and frightening.

  Reese had just pushed the door to Merriweather’s kitchen open for us when we were startled by the loud exclamation. Stepping fully out of the mirror room and into the cottage, I turned to look at our auditory attacker and froze.

  Standing by the open door and holding an armful of firewood was possibly the strangest looking Fey that I had ever seen. Not that I’d seen more than three or four in my life, only two of which had been in close proximity. Regardless, I doubted there one that was… odder than the creature before us.

  It was clear the person was a summer Fey. They had the typical features, being quite tall with long golden hair, eyes the color of the sky on a warm July day, and a long lean build that was accentuated by the short doorway. It was all pretty typical. The lack of fashion sense was a bit surprising though. It looked like a rainbow had exploded on during laundry day. Somehow the Fey seemed to have decided that mixed patterns on the same garment was an attractive fashion statement. The Fey were many things, but lacking in fashion sense was not one of them.

  Also of note was the fact that the summer Fey in front of us, the obvious owner of the little cottage we had stepped into… was a man. Merriweather, the fabled beauty of the Fey, was one hundred percent male. Everyone always referred to him as a woman. Heck, there were multiple songs about her/his regal beauty. Maybe it was supposed to be a joke and I wasn’t getting the reference…

  Reese scratched at his temple. “Uh, this is the home of Merriweather, high Fey of the Seelie courts, is it not?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous! Of course it is!” The Fey’s delicate nostrils flared wide and he seemed to bare his teeth at us (although, being Fey, it still managed to be beautiful and hypnotic). “Now who are you and what are you doing in my home? Besides contemplating all the ways that you can steal from me, that is.”

  I bit my lip and swallowed a giggle. I wasn’t much of a giggler, had never had much in my life that was laughable, but the idea that there was something to steal was quite funny! The kitchen was a mess, every empty space overflowing with dirty dishes and moldy bread. There was also an impossible number of drink mugs. I had never seen that many in one place before, not even being sold in a shop! What little I could see through the other doorways indicated that the rest of the home was just as bad.

  Reese was clearly at a loss when it came to dealing with the angry Fey, so I ventured, “Maleficent sent us. It was the fastest way to move without drawing much attention.” That made the man’s eyes shoot to me.

  He smirked slightly as he looked me over. “Nasty curse you’ve got on you, eh? You’re lucky that Mallie helped you. I would have just poisoned you to stop the rhymes.” Then he turned his attention to Reese. Merriweather narrowed his eyes. “I don’t know you, but you look familiar. Do you have a sister?”

  “Yes,” he responded, shocking me slightly. “But we look nothing alike and I very much doubt you’ve met her. You do know my grandfather, however. And he said that he sends Weth his love.”

  Fey are known for their elegance, beauty, poise, and general lack of any emotion but arrogance. All of those stereotypes were destroyed as we watched Merriweather leap about, spitting and cursing Reese’s grandfather. He reminded me a bit of a cat dropped into a tub of water.

  “That, that…MAN! He deserves to get a swift kick to the stick up his nose! I should peel his namesake from his bones and tan it and make it into a new saddle for my yak!” It continued for a while, but the mention of a yak threw me for a bit. I suppose that after riding on a moose, a yak should have seemed tame. Instead, it just struck me as even more bizarre.

  “Um, excuse me? Mr. Merriweather? Not that this isn’t entertaining, but we really need to get going if we want to stay ahead of my grandmother.” He stopped and turned to look at me.

  “You’re grandmother? I knew you looked familiar too! You are one of Granny Sunny’s!”

  “Yep,” I responded without inflection. He knew her name. Not her real name, of course. No one alive knew that. She had made very certain of that fact, claiming it made her harder to track down. No, he’d used her public moniker. The one she hid behind while forcing others to do the dirty work. She had used that name before she ever became a grandmother. Granny Sunny had learned at the age of seven that the best disguise was one of
old age and wisdom. That was the first illusion she had ever created and would likely be her last, though she rarely used it anymore.

  Merriweather showed much more self-awareness than I had expected and moved past that particular topic. Instead, he decided to talk about Briar Rose and all her many accomplishments. “My goddaughter is working as a horse wrangler for a merchant caravan right now, or at least I think that’s what she called it. She’s such a wonder. No one would ever guess that she was really a woman of 14. They all think she is a small man a few years older. It is amazing what agile feet and a misperception charm can do.

  “Not that she needs it. They all know who she is. It is more for the miscreants that she must defend them from. Those ninnynatters have no idea who they choose to go up against when they attack her caravan!” he told us with pride. “Why, she’s been training in swordsmanship and fighting techniques since she was old enough to rebel. Or has Mallie been scheming to get her involved in them… Oh well! No matter what, she’s always the top of her class, even when there isn’t a class! Always been more aggressive than everyone else, but we tempered her and taught her patience, we did. Well, mostly Mallie. She’s always been better at that than me. I mean, it’s not like it’s a competition, but if it were, I would still be ahead in the points area.”

  He moved around the room, lifting up piles of dirty dishes only to place them somewhere else. Nothing got any cleaner during the process. In fact, if anything, it got dirtier. The few empty spaces were quickly filled up with stacks of plates, the odd cup, or several of the ever-present tea mugs. When the room was fully covered, except some space on the floor for walking, Merriweather sighed and shook his hands out. Catching my curious gaze, he smiled. “I can’t abide a tidy house. It makes me think in straight lines and straight lines lead to falling off cliffs. Can’t have that, now can we? Got to think in spirals and zigzags so no one knows where you’re headed.”