HALIA'S POV
The sound of a drinking bowl breaking on the dirt floor woke me. I glanced around and saw Phi, in tears, picking up the pieces.
"I was trying to make wild mint and blackberry tea," she explained. She pointed at the walls, heavy with plants. "Turns out that with the powers you'd given me, I can grow plants perfectly. That won't be of any help against the Evil King, though."
Her eyes were swollen and had dark circles under them.
"Let me clean it up," I said, leaving the warmth of the bed. I crouched to pick up the shards when drops of blood fell on the ground beside me. "You cut yourself!" I told Phi who was looking down at her hands.
I threw the broken bowl in the pit and took my friend's palms in mine to stare at the wound more closely.
"It's nothing." Phi shrugged, pulling her hand away.
I wouldn't give up. "I know the Tisannieres have a healing spell somewhere, a simple one."
I opened one of the Tisannieres' grimoires, the one I had seen them use to cast their own spells in the alley when someone got injured from our sword fighting lessons with the dwarfs, and ran my fingers through the crisp pages until I found one that could be performed by a novice like me.
I concentrated on the words until I could remember them. It was easy, two lines only. I laid my hands over my friend's wound, closed my eyes and recited the spell aloud.
"Pure Mother with a cooling dress
Let my bandages heal the wounded."
My body absorbed the energy in the room and channelled it through my hands. A golden light escaped through my fingers, a light that died out as soon as it appeared.
I removed my hands. Phi's cut was gone, without the trace of a single scar. Instead, I felt a tingling on the back of my neck.
Phi removed my hair that cascaded down by back, having noticed it peaking through my strands of hair. I tried not to freeze at her touch. "You have a new sigil," she said, contemplating the ancient monogram. "Looks like you will never forget that spell again . . .too bad this spell is useless to help our condition, though."
She sighed and walked back to the bed, where we had spent the night. Our first night as wife and wife, although it seemed as if this had changed nothing for her. Since our union, my heart was now an open book to her. She could see right through me. She could see my deepest secret. She knew I was in love with her.
And I knew she did not feel the same way for me.
But it doesn't matter now. What matters is that we and our people will come out of this aliveâand free.
I still hoped that Phi would come to love me once all of this was over. I wanted to believe that she simply didn't feel the same way because she was too preoccupied with everything that was happening to us.
Certainly, things will be different once we are safe.
I had to hang on to that hope, and let it run its course. I had tasted her lips for the first time the night before and was thirsty for more. I still felt the soft touch of her kiss. It had kept me awake for most of the night.
A burning sensation grew inside my stomach, different from the time in the alley. It was sending my heart racing. I was not sick. I knew what it was, something that brought me both joy and pain. It was love.
I can't be like this. There are more pressing matters at hand.
To forget about it, I swept the floor for the remaining shards and contemplated the plants on the wall. The plants Phi had grown. There were different kinds of berries. Phi's favourite fruits.
If Phi is better with earth magic, I might have also gained some of her powers.
I wanted to be sure, so I extended my arm above the pit to see if I could start a fire. One thought, and already flames had begun to form.
"It looks like you're not the only one with new powers," I told Phi, trying to sound cheery. "What do you think? Fire power could come in handy."
Phi did not react to my optimism. She stared at the emptiness in front of her, her face cold.
"Today is my wedding day," she said after a long silence.
I suppressed the desire to tell her that yesterday was too. "We'll chant together," I said instead, in a poor attempt to comfort her. "We'll chant to the moon even if it's day and the moon is on the other side of the earth. It will strengthen our bond so that the Evil King doesn't take control over you."
A fresh breeze entered the room through the hole in the apex of the roof. We both looked up. The sunshine was winking at us, a change from the last couple of days, which had been cloudy, muddy.
"At least the sun will shine upon me," Phi added with an eye roll.
I never knew how to respond to sarcasm, so I took a long time to think about what to say. So long I decided it was better not to say anything at all.
I am really terrible at comforting people.
She began to sob and, at that moment, I felt the bound that united me to her. Through our union. It was almost tangible. She might not be in love with me, but she had seen me as her best friend for a very long time. In the alley, I was the only person she confided in, in the secrecy of the mist, to share her hopes of one day being free.
Back then, I did not need to say anything. I simply had to listen. I simply had to be there. And at this moment, I decided this was also what I could do best for her. I sat down beside her and held her hand. Like friends do.
I said nothing. Instead, I distracted her with the fire. I created horses and wolves and birds made out of flames, and made them dance around, floating flowers and drops of water.
"It's beautiful," she said, drying her tears with the back of her other hand. Then, her face lit up. "Maybe if you chant with me as I walk down the aisle," she said. "A prayer to the moon. Although it will be day, our bond will increase and maybe I won't fall under the Evil King's influence. . . Just maybe."
"Sure, we can do that," I replied. The thought of how Wotan would react if she did not fall under his control crossed my mind, but I let it go. I didn't want Phi to worry about that just yet. If he threatens to do something to her, I will see then. Right now I wanted Phi to be happy.
Indeed, Phi smiled. I melted.
"Now, that tastes better," we heard Domovoy say from behind the chest. "You've both had such terrible feelings today that I could not bring myself to come any closer. I am not blaming you, with what is happening. I tried to sleep to forget about it all, but it gets to meâand I have a nervous bladder."
Phi and I burst into laughter. "Domovoy," Phi said, holding her side, "You always say the damnedest things."
Laughing did us some good. It was short lived, however. Soon, the door creaked open, startling us.
I thought it was the Evil King coming in for his daily visit, or to take Phi away to be his bride.
Phi's hand tightened around mine. A balm on my heart. She might not be in love with me, but she loves me.
The door closed behind a servant woman. Her gaze was blank.
"I will help you prepare for the wedding," the servant said in a monotone voice.
She might not have been the Evil Kingâshe was a plain woman with arms like twigs and carrying a basketâbut she still brought with her the promise that he would later come. The marriage was still taking place.
The woman installed herself on the bed behind Phi and brushed through her long raven hair. Phi let her, resigned. Once she was done, her hair was parted down in the middle and tied back with braids, like a glorious crown.
"Don't forget to do what I told you to," Phi told me, referring to the chanting, perhaps to stop me from staring at her.
"I won't forget," I replied after studying the mindless woman's eyes for a sign she was listeningâshe was not.
"You needn't be afraid to trust yourselves," said Domovoy, stepping out from behind the chest. "You two are powerful fairies. And now that you are united, your powers are stronger than ever."
I wasn't convinced, but could not say what I was thinking aloud. I didn't want to believe all was lost. And most importantly, I did not want Phi to believe it was. I picked some berries off the wall and ate them to keep myself busy.
"Why don't you put your new powers to the test?" offered the house spirit, guessing at our lack of conviction. "See what you are capable of."
"What can we do?" I asked, more to humour him than anything.
"Give the woman her mind back," he said, pointing at the servant. "If you are able to free her from the Evil King's power, then you can do it for yourself as well. Don't you think?"
The servant was helping Phi slip on a voluminous dress over her petticoat, a dress she had been carrying in the basket. Blue with gold and silver embroidery and adorned with pearls. A wedding dress.
"Very well," said Phi.
She turned to face the servant, and I moved behind her, so that our arms would surround her. The woman stood there, immobile, nor knowing nor wondering what we were doing to her. We closed our eyes, focused on the energy around us, and thought of her life before all this, before she became one of Wotan's mindless slaves.
"Fear not, princess," said a voice soft and melodious. "I have faith in you."
I opened my eyes, stunned that the woman before me now looked like a normal human female. Her deep-set eyes were brown and bored into ours with the same admiration as a puppy.
Phi let go of my hands, breaking the circle around the woman. "What's your name?" she asked.
"Frida," the servant replied while contemplating her thin legs and arms she could now move on her own accord.
Apart from when we were in the ship that brought us here, I had never been so close to a human before. I still feared the humans on the ship, because of all the stories Grannie had told us about them. Frida, however, seemed harmless. We had a common enemy. It was clear she had been aware of everything that was happening around her, even as a mindless. She had been a prisoner in her own body. And she despised the Evil King for that.
"You see?" said Domovoy, smiling. "You can do it."
"But this was only one person," said Phi. "How can I save everyone?"
"You have to have faith in yourself," Frida repeated. "Like we have faith in you."
By we, she meant all the other mindless souls that were still there, somewhere, in their prison of flesh. They all wanted to be saved. They were all counting on her.
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