"No issue is so small that it can't be blown out of proportion."
--Stuart Hughes
Aiden sniffed skeptically at the herbs the Wise Woman had packed for him. He had a cup of the bitter tea they produced on the table before him. He had taken only two sips, each accompanied by his pulling a face as he did so. Annie had tasted it and knew it was bad, but he had to drink it. She could already see the effects his disease was having on him. He drank water all the time and kept running to the privy to drain it back out. His breath did smell as if he had been drinking and he seemed irritated at nearly everything. She had had to practically force him to eat anything. She couldn't tell if he was skinnier, but he was skinny enough to count his rib bones easily enough. She wondered if he was well enough to travel.
Marya had told them what she knew of the witches. She admitted to being friends with a witch in North Country. When Aiden told her that they intended to ask the witches for help she admitted that it was unwise to trust witches. She also agreed to go with them and introduce them to her friend in the hopes of having an "in" with the witches. They lived two days to the north at the foot of the impenetrable mountain range that made the world's northernmost border. They lived in a small town, all apparently outcasts from a world where witches were the primary residents. Her friend was also fifteen years old and had recently lost her mother, but she was already a powerful witch. Aiden approved of this new wrinkle in how to get to the witches plan and asked how soon they could leave.
"I'll get us some horses," Marya had said and got up to leave. She looked down at them seriously for a moment. "My Lady Aramelle and I were desperate for adventure two days ago. We meet you and already my Lady is off to the ends of the world and I am off to the northernmost border. You claim to be from another world and teach yourself magic in minutes what took me weeks. Who are you?" Without waiting for an answer she had left. Aiden suggested they start packing, in which they left to do.
Stuffing what borrowed clothes she had into saddlebags, she regarded Aiden now looking out her window. His own saddlebags were waiting in the hallway, minus the herbs a man in livery had only just delivered, along with the tea.
"I can't believe you were able to do it," she said again, shaking her head. "Magic!"
"I'm sure you can do it, too," he said. "It wasn't that hard."
"If I'm able to do magic, I'll die happy," she grinned. "I still can't believe it—there's magic here! I've dreamed of a place like this…" She went to stand near him at the window. "Did you really teach yourself magic? All that stuff you were saying about it—it was all true, wasn't it? And from that you taught yourself how to light that candle?" She moved closer. "I—I was really impressed." He moved a step back, suddenly looking scared. She smiled. Older than her, but like a little boy. She decided to try a more direct approach. "Do you like me?" she asked him. He swallowed.
"I… uh… yeah," he replied finally. "Wait, what do you mean?"
"Like like or just like?" she said stepping closer. He was backed up against the windowsill, unable to move away.
"I… uh… er," he stammered. She laughed and laid a finger across his lips to shush him. He looked ready to run.
"I like you, too," she told him, straightening the laces on his shirt. "And if you feel like holding my hand, or giving me a hug, or… or even kissing me… I think it would be okay."
"Right," he said. He still looked scared. She had just given him an open-ended invitation but he still looked like he'd rather run away. Still smiling at him, she went up on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on his startled lips, holding it for a moment. She stepped back when it was over and smiled up at him. He looked down at her as he brought a hand to touch his lips as if feeling for a kiss there. He grinned beneath his fingertips.
"God, that magic must have really impressed you," he said finally. She laughed.
"It did. You did. Will you teach me?"
"I was going to do that anyway—you didn't have to kiss me."
"I kissed you because I wanted to," she told him primly. "Because I like you."
"Why?" he asked incredulously. "You never looked at me twice in our world."
"I didn't know you. Now I do. You're smart, you're funny, and you… you treat me like I'm something special and I really like that. I should have looked twice in our world. Maybe… maybe I wouldn't have run from home." She sighed and bit her lower lip.
"Wow," he said. "I like you, too. Ever since I met you. I treat you like you're something special because you ARE something special." She blushed at that. At that moment the door opened and Marya walked in. She looked at them strangely, then struggled to suppress a smile.
"We can go anytime," she said levelly. Annie blushed crimson and went to get her saddlebags. Aiden calmly gathered the herbs and paused to drink down the tea.
"Let's go," he said taking Annie's saddlebags from her. He wandered out into the hallway to gather his own saddlebags. Marya grinned at Annie.
"Did he swear his undying love?" she asked her.
"No," she replied. "But close enough." She grinned, blushed again, and started to edge out the door. Marya strode ahead of her to lead Aiden to the horses. Annie shut the door behind her and followed them out.
Marya stopped atop a hill outside Berelain to look back at the city. Aiden and Annie reined in beside her and watched the city as well.
"We prayed for adventure," she said softly. She smiled at them both, looking excited. She had her long black curls tied back and wore divided skirts for riding. She had a bow slung over one shoulder and a quiver full of arrows at her belt. On her other side was a dagger in a silver-tooled sheath. She had taken them to the castle's armory to outfit them with weapons. Aiden wore a short sword across his back and clung to a wicked halberd—a short spear with a wickedly large and sharp head atop it. Annie hadn't wanted a weapon but had chosen a dagger for herself and a small crossbow. A quiver of cross bolts was lashed to her saddle.
"North Country lies two days that way," Marya said pointing. "Between here and there is a forest full of creatures and a marsh full of even more creatures. Men have taken this trail and never returned. Other men come back great heroes. I wonder which are you?"
"I'm nobody special," Aiden said simply. "But I mean to return."
"Good. So do I," she said. "Ka brings us together and the great weave of life begins a new thread."
"Ka," Aiden repeated. "You believe this was meant to be?"
"There was a foretelling," she said softly. "I will tell you only this: your coming was foretold."
"How do things turn out?" he asked curiously.
"I cannot say—please, do not ask me."
"You mean we're supposed to do this?" Annie asked wonderingly. "And what happens is already known? How can that be? What is this 'ka'?"
"Who gave this foretelling?" Aiden asked, ignoring her questions.
"A woman. A traveler. She was mad… she disappeared not long after she came," Marya replied. "I did not believe what she said was true. Until now." She bit her lip. "Though, I pray not all she says is true."
"What did she say?" Aiden persisted. Marya shook her head. "How do you know we are ka? And not just a coincidence?"
"You were mentioned by name," she said with a straight face. Aiden's jaw dropped. Annie tried to follow—someone had said they were coming? And they were a part of ka—whatever that was.
"We were mentioned by name," Aiden murmured. "That ain't good."
"I don't understand," Annie said, confused.
"Why won't you tell us?" Aiden asked the other girl. "Something bad happens, doesn't it? We never go home, do we?" Marya looked surprised but said nothing. "Wait—you seemed to indicate that you were a part of this ka-tet. Were you mentioned by name too?"
"Yes," she breathed.
"So something good does come of this, otherwise you wouldn't be here." Marya blushed and looked away. "So we at least continue on and come back at some point. You wouldn't knowingly put yourself in harm's way. So we know that much." He sat up straight in his saddle. "We follow you, then. And I pray you have enough sense to tell us something if something important happens. Or if we need to know something."
"I will do what I can," she promised. "But I will not allow you to change what must happen."
"Agreed," he said. "But this is a subject I won't let go, Marya." The girl nodded and turned her horse to go. If Aiden was satisfied with that, it didn't show. He spurred his horse onward, lost in thought. Annie could do nothing but follow.
"Think of it as a… cockiness," he told her kneeling before the stacked wood of the fire. "In order for magic to work you have to be sure it will work." He stacked the wood in a tipi shape in the shallow pit he had dug. Underneath, he made a small pile of dried grass. "If you can't convince yourself, you're not going to be able to convince anything else." He pointed to the dried grass. "Light it."
"How?" she asked kneeling on the other side. "I don't know where to start."
"Start by envisioning what you're trying to accomplish. What is it you're trying to do?"
"Light the grass on fire," she told him, scowling.
"How do you think that might best be accomplished?"
"By using magic?"
He frowned. "You're going in circles," he said shaking his head. "You've got to go over all the steps—envision it! You're not only convincing yourself, you're convincing the world."
"But how? I don't know what to do."
"Break it down. What is fire?"
"I—I don't know."
"Fire is the outward manifestation of molecular agitation. Heat is the energy released when the molecules of something are set in motion. Fire is what occurs when those molecules are being consumed." Marya finished with hobbling the horses and sat down on a nearby rock to listen. "You follow me?"
"I—I guess," she said slightly confused.
"What I'm saying is that you aren't trying to create flame—you're exciting molecules. You exert your will by pushing out… at the dried grass. You set the molecules into motion and flame is what will come of it."
"But how do I exert my will?" She looked at him. "Is there a muscle I flex, or what?"
"Believe," he said. He put a hand over the dried grass and looked into her eyes. "There's a fifty-fifty chance this stuff will burst into flames. Fifty percent. You're halfway there already. Magic is simply convincing the world to swing one way or the other." He put his other hand on hers. "Close your eyes." She closed her eyes. "Do you believe you can set this stuff on fire?"
"I don't know. Yes, I guess."
"Not good enough. Empty your mind and think about this grass. Think about how dry it is—how easily it will burn. I'm surprised it doesn't just burst into flame all on its own. Can you picture it?"
"Yes," she replied in a quiet voice. She pictured the grass, all crisp and yellow. It would burn easily—once it was lit.
"Are you picturing it?"
"Yes."
"How deep do you believe?" She squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her teeth tight. She imagined the grass turning black and crinkly, little wisps of smoke rising from it. "That's it. Believe." She made fists at her side. She was surprised it didn't just burst into flames on its own, too. It—
"You did it!" Marya said clapping her hands. She opened her eyes and saw tiny wisps of smoke coming up from the clump of dried grass. Aiden moved his hand away and bent to blow on the tiny flame licking at the grass. Assured that it wasn't going to go out, he grinned at her.
"Congratulations," he said. "You'll never have to pack matches again."
"I did magic?" she asked him hesitantly. He nodded. "I did magic!" She leaped to her feet and started dancing around in her joy. After a minute of this, she threw herself at Aiden as he stood up and they went down in a heap of flailing limbs. On the ground she lowered her face to his and planted a kiss on his startled lips. "Thank you," she told him when it was over.
"Um, you're welcome," he managed trying to sit up, wriggling beneath her. She suddenly noticed their position and jumped up blushing. She offered a hand to help him up and she pulled him to his feet. She glanced over at Marya and wasn't surprised to find her grinning at them both. The fire was already crackling merrily.
"I can go scout the perimeter if you wish to be alone," the other girl said. Annie blushed again and shook her head.
"I wasn't—"she tried. "We weren't—"
"I'll go scout," Aiden said and wandered off. Annie watched him go and blushed again. If only Marya would stop grinning at her. She fed a few sticks into the fire.
"It will be a nice night," Marya said. "A full moon." Her grin widened. "I know some herbs that will prevent you becoming with child, if you wish." Annie glared at her. She wasn't even thinking of THAT. Marya just laughed and went to their saddlebags to find and prepare dinner. The nerve of that girl!
Annie sighed and sat down near the fire to watch the moon rise, wondering at the feeling that came over her as it peeked over the horizon.