Titleless

My family's odd I warn my date

He grins, insisting the night will be great

My mom's a witch, my dad's a warlock

My brothers shout curses instead of small talk

My sister keeps her hydra in the hall

He says he can't wait to meet them all

Walking to the door I'm breathing quickly

My sight's blurring and my stomach's prickly

The banshee on the stairs doesn't phase him

Nor the hydra's hundred looks dark and grim

He greets my brothers super politely

And my sister in a way most knightly

When dad slaps his back I lose my worry

We're all laughing when mom makes her entry

He kisses her hand she calls him a dear

Poof! He's on the table a spotted deer

My family feeds him salad, berries, hay

They say that they like him better this way

He's joining in the wild frolicking

I turn away, they're so embarrassing!

Hallelujah

Magpie Tale #310 

Golden in the east

Rising Son

Glorious to see

Though three days buried

Yet He lives!

And brings life to me

From stark chains of sin

He rescues

Claiming me for him

So rejoice my heart

Look to Him

Shout Hallelujah

Forever!

Susan's Sunrise

Magpie Tale #309

Susan wakes from the dream, only to realize it is a nightmare.

She had been playing chess with Lucy by the well of Cair Paravel. A nonsensical place for a chess game, but that was dreams for you. Lucy had moved her silver queen with emeralds on the crown and Susan had just picked up her golden knight with ruby eyes when she looked up into Lucy’s eyes. Lucy’s bright, laughing, living eyes. Then she remembered. Lucy was dead, along with Edmund and Peter and all of them.

With the feel of the heavy knight still in her hand, Susan fumbles her way to the window. Throwing open the curtains she stares out desperately trying to banish the dream and replace it with anything else.

The sky is dark, mirroring her thoughts as tears run down her cheeks. It isn’t fair that all her family died on one day leaving her alone. How she misses them! If only she could have them back. She would listen their stories of Narnia without reminding them it was just all a game. Before she had wanted them to see reality, but now she remembers the pain in their eyes when she corrected them and it seems cruel. If believing in Narnia could bring them all back she’d do it. She looks down at her empty hands as tears splatter down.

Courage gentle queen.

Had she heard something? As she looks up again, the first rays of the sun light up the sky with a gentle yellow, through yellow was a poor word to describe the pure light. If glory was a color, perhaps that would be it. For the light was glorious.

Like the sun rising up over the Eastern Sea at Cair Paravel. She stops the thought habitually and then pauses. Hadn’t she just been wishing her family and Narnia back? Why not think about it? Of course it was just a game, but her siblings had loved it. Wouldn’t having what they loved be a little like having them? Besides she had been part of the game once.

So she thinks about sunrises at Cair Paravel and the way the mermaids splashed though the sun’s reflection and the way Lucy would dance with the fauns and how everyone listened to Edmund’s counsels and Peter would drop everything to aide one of his subjects and… and how she herself loved the talking beasts and the dryads and the feasts they had all joined in together. Susan is amazed at how vivid and lifelike the memories are. After all, they were just games, though she wishes they were more.

As the sun rises, a great ball of white she can’t look at, throwing gold about like Lucy’s hair or a lion’s mane, she feels something. The dead weight of the chess piece is gone. But something rises in her heart with the sun. Hope, a rebirth, a second chance. For the first time in months she can think of her family without agonizing pain. Of course the memories are bittersweet, but she will remember. She’ll even remember Narnia and love them again through it.

Courage

Magpie Tale #305

The past falls heavy; hiding light

While she stumbles on through the night

Every step and breath with tears drawn

Still she dreams of the gentle dawn

The path is one she did not choose

Rugged; without hope of rescue

Yet something propels her on

As she dreams of the gentle dawn

Until the light grows bright and new

And she can bid her fears adieu

Smiling now that her woes are gone

At least she sees the gentle dawn

Rain Puddles

Magpie Tales 300

Shifting kaleidoscope in the rain
kaleidoscope ripples sway clear reflections
in sway images dance colliding
the clear dance is becoming
rain reflections colliding new

She dreams across the empty plain
reflected  tens of times below
each changing scene delights the rain
shifting in mesmerizing flow

Dancing through her dreams reflecting
splashing as she sees them rippling
choices and chances hers to try
falling with the rain from the sky

Beneath splashed feet
the rain pictures decipher
past, present, future

Raindrops wash away
the old year
welcome in the new


Happy New Year Everybody!

Winged Thief

for Magpie Tales 295

Iridescent shadows flicker
Flitting through the sun
On my table, cheese for me
Beyond my window magpie waits
I've been dreaming
Cheese and apples, nuts and bread
The perfect autumn snack
But the magpie was dreaming too
For once my back was turned
My search for condiments begun
He slipped in without remorse
And my little snack
Became his scrumptious feast

Snow-Child

for Magpie Tale 247
dVerse

I’m waiting for the swirling snow

To stand in a world turned crystal

Stretching wide in a cold white blanket

I’m wrapped tight in a warm blanket

The frozen window between me and the snow

The glass panes are frosted like craved crystal

I’m dreaming of bright winter crystals

Head on the pillow; tucked under the blankets

Everywhere and everything covered in snow

I’m a snow-child with a crystal throne in a world blanketed with white

Halloween Run

for Magpie Tale 240 and the Honeybee

Night is falling, goblins whisper

The dead desert their graves

And you alone with no light

There’s something breathing down your back

Don’t stop to scream

Flee through the fields

Foot falls behind you

Wild noises follow

No escape from them

Scramble through the fence

And through the thorns

Ignore the blood you leave

Safe only behind bolted doors

You – hiding from the hidden things of night

Autumn Comes

Magpie Tale 239

Over the trees the wind whistles

Rain dancing down from the darkened sky

And the leaves quiver in fright

Not one wants to leave the branches

Green dreaming, but they have lost

Earth colored now they fall

Porch Light

for Magpie Tale 236 and the Honeybee

the first moth spreads wings

under the moon but it sees

only a new sun

they fly too close by

modern light

irresistible

light in dark

led them to dance here

but where next?

light flickers

the porch light burns hot

banning night

   

eastward sun rises

scattering moths with the wind

porch light sleeps till night

Fishermen's Prize

for Magpie Tale 235 and the Honeybee

Murky waters under the boats

Sloshes around and through the nets

Salty spray lands on the men’s coats

Below hides the fishermen’s prize

Glimpses are caught of the pale fish

Pulled white from the sea with the nets

Piled around their boots to perish

Below hides the fishermen’s prize

Seagulls break the air with their trill

Diving for the fish in the nets

White birds also have bellies to fill

Below hides the fishermen’s prize

Dark waters cover the white fish

Below hides the fishermen’s prize

Picture This

for The Honeybee and Magpie 234

Picture this: who would not resist?

Two rainbows arise in the mist

Dancing in water sparkling bright

Above the sunshine scatters light

Fragile arcs caught by gleaming falls

Here fairies dance in nature’s halls

Unicorns gallop with their might

Above the sunshine scatters light

Fairies splash through delicate hues

Weaving magic around clear dew

Rainbows waver; elusive sight

Above the sunshine scatters light

The day ends. Moonlight falls down

Painting waves in a silver crown

Unicorns curl close for the night

Above the starshine scatters light

The sky looks down through starry gaze

The rainbows sleep with weary fays

Waterfalls flow by foamy white

Above the starshine scatters light

While the world rests and waits for day

Owls and dreams make their foray

Watching to see that all is right

Above the starshine scatters light

Pictures this: who would not resist?

Above the starshine scatters light

Daughter of the Nile

Magpie #230

They all stare and muse in awe

At the ancient golden face

And wonder what those eyes saw

Charmed by her secret smile

They see only the flawless grace

Of this Daughter of the Nile

Palengke Poem

Magpie Tale 229

Down at the palengke
- the wet market -
fruits sit side by side
sometimes oranges, bananas
and rambutan with soft red prickles
but my favorite
mangos
long and smooth
sometimes sticky
heavy in my hands
smelling of gentle yellow
sometimes sour
but mostly
sweet

The Adventures of A Second-Rate Cook

Magpie Tale 148
 

Fern Inman tasted the soup. Liese hovered at her shoulder nervously. There was a long silence while Fern rolled the soup over her tongue before swallowing. She looked at Liese and her eyes were full of apology. Liese felt her shoulders slump. “It’s still second-rate isn’t it?”

“I’m sorry Liese,” Fern sighed and patted her shoulder.

Liese looked glumly at the soup. She was the best second-rate cook in the province, and everyone knew it. When the Bronze Salamander Inn had been a second-rate inn, her meals had been legendary. They hit the fine line between tasteless and inedible perfectly. Her second-rate cooking was so bad it had once killed a dragon. But now that the Salamander was a first-rate inn, Liese’s cooking just wasn’t up to starch. “What will I do?” she moaned.

Before Fern could answer, her husband Finn, came bustling into the kitchen. “The Green Crescent Hero Band is coming for the week,” he announced. “That’s fifteen more people to feed tonight.” Then he caught a look at their faces. “Still no luck?” he asked.

Liese shook his head.

“Don’t worry, we’ll figure something out,” said Finn reassuringly, but Liese wasn’t so sure.

The next day Liese was helping Meg wash sheets at the back of the inn. The weather was beautiful and she and Meg where splashing each other and laughing when Finn came running out. “I’ve got it!” he called.

“Got what?” asked Meg while Liese tried to stop laughing.

“The Green Crescent Heroes! They can take you with them.” Finn said to Liese and looking very pleased with himself.

“Take me where?” asked Liese, all laughter gone.

“Anywhere. They range all over the province. They know where all the inns are. They could help you find a new job.”

Liese thought about it. He was right. And as much as she loved the Bronze Salamander, it was clear her talents needed to stay with a second-rate inn. But – “Someone would have to file a quest at the Quest Office. And I don’t have the money for that.”

Finn brushed off this objection with a wave of his hand. “Fern and I will file the quest. It’s the least we can do. After all,” he looked at her fondly and suddenly sad. “You’re like family. We’ll miss you of course, but it seems like this is the best option.”

So at the end of the week, Liese packed a bag, hugged the Inmans and Meg goodbye and headed off with the heroes. After three weeks they had been to twenty-two second-rate inns, and while they all agreed that Liese’s cooking was horrible, none of them were in need of a cook. As they rode out from the last inn the clouds darkened above them and it began to rain, which reflected Liese’s mood. If only she could cook something to cheer herself up, but the band wouldn’t let her cook. They already had a cook, who was also their healer and could even use a sword if necessary. Liese felt very inadequate. At the end of the day the rain had let up some, but it was still drizzling. They camped in a forest clearing and she went to sit by herself a little away from the band. She managed to find a dry spot under a tree. Rina, the youngest member of the band and about Liese’s age, tried to talk to her, but Liese insisted she wanted to be alone. After giving her a sympathetic look, Rina had gone to practice her swordplay.

Leaning against the tree, Liese was lost in her own thoughts when the bandits attacked. At first she wasn’t sure what was happening. One minute she was staring off into the darkness, and the next there was a lot of yelling and clashing of swords. Liese jumped up and found a man pointing his sword at her. She gulped. “Move,” the man growled, jerking his head towards the forest. Liese was a cook, not a warrior, so she went. She stumbled across tree roots trying not to think about what would happen to her. By the time she thought of trying to memorize her way back to the band’s camp, she was already lost; and anyways it was too dark. Eventually they came to another clearing where the bandits’ camp was. Liese shivered and they waited.

“What’d you bring that girl back for?” another bandit asked as he came into camp.

“Anyone rich enough to travel with a hero band will pay a nice ransom,” answered her captor.

“I’m not rich,” protested Liese, sick at the thought of Finn and Fern paying a ransom. They had already done enough for her. “I’m just a cook.”

The men looked at each other and Liese couldn’t see their expressions. “Then cook something,” the second man ordered. He lit the fire and directed her to the food packs. What have I gotten myself into? Liese wondered. But at least she could cook. More bandits wondered into camp while she was cooking. Liese concentrated on cooking, glad to be doing something so familiar. She was sorry when she was done and started handing out wooden bowls that the men snatched from her.

For a moment there was the sound of chewing. Only for a moment though. “What is this?” roared one of the men spitting his food out. The rest quickly followed. They all looked angrily at Liese. “Who brought her here?” Liese’s heart pounded as the men argued about what to do with her. She backed away, glad they weren’t paying attention to her, but fearful that they would do something with her soon.

“How’d you do it?” someone whispered in her ear.

Liese jumped and turned. One of the bandits was standing next to her. “Do what?” she asked.

“The food. How’d you make it so bad? I’ve never seen uncle Rob refuse food before. Could you teach me?”

Liese couldn’t help but feel slightly flattered. While she was wondering if it would be possible to teach someone all the secrets of second-rate food, a sharp whistle sounded on the other side of the camp. Liese and all of the bandits looked towards it. A few bandits went to investigate. Liese considered making a run for it, but then remembered one bandit was standing right next to her. “Shouldn’t you go see what’s going on?”

He took a step forward then turned back, “Now wait a minute - ”

Suddenly he toppled over. Liese gasped, what was going on?

“Come on Liese, let’s go!” Relief flooded through her as she recognized Rina’s voice. Rina tossed her club away and they ran. “Gold did the whistling,” Rina explained. “He’s good at distractions. We have the camp all packed up. Once we get there, get on a horse and we ride!”

“What about the bandits?” gasped Liese.

“We’ll tell the authorities at the next town about them.”

Liese didn’t know how Rina knew where they were going, but she was happy to follow. It seemed to take longer getting back to the band’s clearing than it had to get to bandits’. Liese tried not to trip and had to keep ducking branches. At last they arrived. Rina helped Liese on to a horse then swung up behind her. Liese held on for dear life as they galloped away.

“Well, that was a great adventure!” said Rina when they finally stopped galloping. Liese decided that she didn’t like adventures. She wished Finn hadn’t thought to send her off with the heroes. When they reached the next town she knew she was the most glad to see the inn, even though it was first-rate and she couldn’t possibly get a job there.

The heroes spent the next day consulting with the local authorities how best to catch the bandits. Liese was happy to just hang around the inn. She talked with the cook, who tried to teach her how to cook first-rate, and even though she knew she couldn’t do it, Liese was delighted to be in a kitchen again.  As the cook tried to teach her, Liese thought about the bandit’s question from the night before. If I where trying to teach someone, how would I do it? She wondered. Slowly an idea began to form. When the heroes came back that night, she had it all fleshed out.

“Teach second-rate cooking?” Rina grinned. “Anyone who wants to learn would fall over themselves to have you as their teacher.”

Liese flushed at Rina’s praise. But she was pleased. Maybe this would work.

“But where will you teach?” asked Gold.

“The Inn and Tavern Guild in Gibbous City,” Liese answered promptly. “All inns have to be approved by them. It’s the perfect place for me.”

So they headed out the next morning. It was raining again, but Liese was happy. Soon she would have a new job, and if she was lucky they wouldn’t run into another adventure before they reached Gibbous City.


To find out how Liese's cooking killed a dragon check out The Bronze Salamander. 

Thwack!

for Magpie Tale 146
 

Thwack! Whack, thwacktiy, thwack!

The sound gave a distinct impression of gleeful justice with just a touch of wild abandon. Ellen dropped the bread knife and ran for the piano room.

Her son Carter, looked up in sudden guilt. In his hand: the hammer. On the floor before him: the metronome. Splintered; pounded; conquered.

I think I always knew he wanted to crush the metronome. Perhaps thought Ellen we should rethink the music lessons.

Metronome Hunt

Magpie Tale 146

The band of heroes crept into the music store. It seemed quite ordinary. Stacks of music lined the walls while displays of various instruments – trumpets, fiddles, harps – took up most of the room.

“What are we looking for again?” Rina whispered to Gervas.

Gervas consulted his notes for this particular quest. “A metronome. Six inches high, wood. Has an eye. Delights in tormenting music students.”

Rina scanned the musical merchandise. Metronomes had been one of her stepmother’s favorite tools when she had tried to teach Rina music. Rina hated the metronomes. She wasn’t surprised that one had gone evil.

They quickly found seventeen metronomes in the store that fit the description. Well, except that none of them had any eyes. “I think we should destroy them all just in case. What if it’s sleeping and the eye is closed?” Rina asked.

Silver laughed while Gervas smiled and shook his head. “I think we’ll know it when we find it. We’ll just have to search every nook and cranny.”

And they did. Four hours later the store was a wreck. All the sheet music was on the floor. They had started out in stacks, but with everyone moving around and bumping into them, the floor was now a black and white swamp. Instruments where tilting precariously in their display stands, or shoved rudely onto the shelves. And a pile of metronomes was in the middle of it all. They had only found three more. Rina still thought they should burn them all. When Gervas moved a drum and lost his grip and it fell on him, he declared a break. Everyone sat down with groans and sighs of relief, or stretched stiff muscles.

Rina sat down at one of the harps that had been practically smashed into a shelf. She had never liked her stepmother’s music lessons, but she had liked the harp. She pulled it back and began playing one of the songs her stepmother had hated, which was consequently one of Rina's favorites. After a few bars something fell from the top on the self and crashed into her hands. “Ow!” cried Rina, letting go of the strings.

“You all right?” asked Gervas.

Before Rina could respond, the thing began rhythmically beating her hands. Jumping up from the harp, Rina finally saw what the thing was. A wooden ticking metronome with an eye on the pendulum which glared at her as it swung back and forth. “That’s it!”

Just as Rina dived for it, the band surged into action and leaped too. Rina didn’t think to brace herself until the band slammed into her. The harp broke with a deafening bang. Rina lay stunned at the bottom of the pile, trying to breath. Eventually she heard Gervas and Silver getting the band into order. Once they got up, the remains of the harp fell on her. Rina didn’t really care; she was still worried about breathing.

“Are you all right?” Gervas asked her for the second time his hand on her shoulders.

Rina finally groaned. “Yeah?”

“We missed the metronome,” said Silver. “The rest of the band will keep looking. We’ll make sure you’re okay.”

“Nobody has to look anywhere,” Rina sat up, revealing the metronome clutched in her hands, the eye still glaring and trying to swing against her fingers.

Once Rina got her breath back they took it outside and burned it. Gervas had offered to let Rina light the fire, but her fingers weren’t up to it. She assured him that she was content to watch the evil thing burn. They eye kept glaring at them and Rina had to concentrate hard not to shiver. The flames danced merrily along the wooden body in orange and yellow patterns, and Rina grinned at it while the band’s healer made sure her injuries would heal. Slowly the wood charred the pendulum blackened. At last even the eye succumbed as the flames surrounded it. The metronome was no more.

Home Sweet Home

Magpie Tale 145

Rina curled up in the red chair and surveyed the room. ‘Nondescript,’ would best describe it; the red chair was the lone bit of color there. But the floor was sound, the walls weren’t about to fall over, and since it was raining outside, she knew the roof didn’t leak. Those were the only good things she could come up with about her new lodgings. The little house held a bedroom, a kitchen and the small front room she was in. It certainly wasn’t much, but she needed a place to live during the off-hero season and this shack was the only thing she could afford. As it was, the house had taken out a large chunk of her earnings from adventuring with the Green Crescent Hero Band. The next eight months would require very frugal living. Still she smiled at her beat up walls and bare surroundings. It was all she had.

After the next hero season she would have some more gold and she could start making improvements. A proper bed instead of her adventure’s bedroll was on the top of her list. Although, a table for her kitchen so that she wouldn’t be cooking on the floor, was a close contender. Then she would whitewash the walls and probably the floor as well. The outside of the house could use some whitewash too. And then perhaps some rugs for the floor and some curtains for the windows. Or more likely, a bookshelf and books. Rina sighed contently as she planned. Tomorrow she would clean. She could probably clean for the next eight months. Rina fell asleep in the chair dreaming of what her house would be.

Eight months later when the hero season started and the Green Crescent Hero Band came to collect Rina, they were not as enamored with the year-by-year house improvement plan as Rina was. They promptly developed a plan behind her back.

Throughout the hero season, a few members of the band would slip off on a private quest. Rina knew the band was up to something, but as they were all determined to keep her in the dark, she had very little success in finding out what they were doing. When the hero season ended, the entire band insisted on accompanying her home. Rina had a deep suspicion that she would find her house demolished and would wind up staying with one of the band members for the next eight months. While she wouldn’t mind being with the band, she really liked her house. When she finally saw her house, she couldn’t believe the transformation it had undergone. Instead of being a rundown wreck, it was neat and prim. The inside was immaculate and comfortable. The walls were painted, rugs were on the floor, there was an abundance of furniture, and the band had carved scenes of their exploits on the headboard of the bed. Rina was delighted, and the band was smug.

For more of Rina's adventures check out To the Rescue.

Silver and Gold

Magpie Tale 144

Rina was miserable. She was miserable partly because she and Gold were riding through a thunderstorm. And she was worried sick about Silver, Gold’s sister. They were on a quest to save her life. Rina shivered and urged her horse forward. Up ahead through the dim light she could barely make out Gold’s back and her heart ached. He must be even more worried than she was.

“Gold,” she called out to him. “How much longer do you think?”

Gold’s tired voice came back to her, “Just keep going.”

Rina tried not to pay attention to the darkening sky. They had left the Bronze Salamander Inn that morning at a gallop. Now their horses were too worn out to do more than walk. The enchanted road they were traveling on was taking them far away indeed, and Rina wished it was one of those enchanted roads that made traveling faster. According to the instructions the fourth-order wizard had given Gervas, they would reach the witch’s hut soon. The day before the band been excited to reach the Bronze Salamander, although Gervas had complained that the prices had gone up now that it was a first-rate inn. But Rina suspected he was just as glad as the rest of the band to have clean sheets and a delicious first-rate meal. The band had been enjoying themselves until the fourth-order wizard showed up. Apparently on one of Silver’s first quests she had stolen a magic necklace from him and he wanted revenge.

Silver pointed out that the fourth-order wizard had stolen the necklace first and she had returned it to its proper owner. The fourth-order wizard didn’t care and he cursed her. He wanted to curse the rest of the band as well, but Finn Inman, the innkeeper, reminded him that only second and first order wizards could curse people with no connection to a feud and he would incur a hefty fee if cursed anyone else. Rina tried not to think about how Silver had looked, so still and pale on the floor of the Salamander’s great room. She had crouched over Silver, trying to revive her, while the rest of the band drew their swords and menaced the fourth-order wizard. Rina was surprised he had gotten away. She was also surprised that he had told them how to lift the curse.

If they could find the witch who lived at the end of the enchanted rode she would give them an elixir, if they traded her something for it. The wizard had also said that only Rina and Gold could go. Rina frowned. There was something about this quest that just didn’t ring right. But the wizard had said Silver would die in three days if they didn’t get the elixir, so there hadn’t been time to question what he had told them. Rina strained her eyes ahead. The rain was picking up and she could hear a roaring up ahead. “Gold, what’s that noise?”

“It’s the ocean we must be close.” There was new life in Gold’s voice, and Rina felt her own hope pick up. The wizard had said the witch’s hut was by the sea. Suddenly she saw a dark shape looming just beyond them.

“There it is!” They guided their horses into the meager shelter the hut gave from the squall. They dismounted and Gold pushed the door open. The inside of the hut was surprisingly dry. Bare wooden boards made up the floors and the walls and it was clean, and well lit. It was not at all what Rina had expected. Water dripped from their clocks, making puddles on the floor. The witch stood in the middle of the room wearing a red dress and a long black cape. Beside her stood Rina’s evil stepmother. Rina stiffened. This was not good.

“We’ve come for an elixir for my sister.” Gold said glaring at the witch.

The witch smiled. “Is that so? What will you give for it?”

“Anything.” Gold answered.

Rina groaned. No wonder the fourth-order wizard had wanted Gold to come. He was so concerned for his sister that he wasn’t thinking straight. Everyone knew not to offer anything as a price, and most certainly not to a witch. The witch’s smile grew wider. She snapped her fingers and Gold turned into a golden statue. Then she turned to Rina. “And what will give me for this elixir?”

Rina gulped, but before she could answer her stepmother spoke. “Sister, this ungrateful girl ought to make an unbreakable promise to come back home with me forever if she wants your elixir.”

The witch was her stepmother's sister? Rina’s eyes narrowed. “This was all your idea! You got that wizard to curse Silver to lure me here for the cure so that you could force me go with you. I won’t do it.”

Her stepmother shrugged. “Then this friend of yours dies.”

Rina glared at her stepmother. This couldn’t be. She had always thought it was her Stepmother’s sense of duty that made her try to raise her properly. But she had been sure that after she had run away twice her stepmother would give up and be content running her beloved estate. Rina wouldn’t go back with her stepmother. But even as she thought about marching out the door, Silver’s face, not pale as it had been when the wizard cursed her; but laughing and full of life danced before her. Rina wouldn’t let Silver die, even if she couldn’t be happy in a life of fancy dresses and running a castle. But I’ll tear up every dress Stepmother tries to make me wear.

Rina sighed. “Turn Gold back into himself and give me the elixir. Then I promise to come back with you.”

“Forever,” her stepmother prompted.

“Forever.” Rina agreed.

The witch snapped her fingers again. Gold shook himself and looked around. The witch pulled a small green bottle from her dress pocket and handed it to Rina. As their hands touched, violet light flashed. Rina took the vial and said, “I also promise to be as unladylike as possible. I will cut up every dress you try to make me wear. I will throw every corset into the fire, I will wear my swords, and destroy every single to-do list that you make and any other sort of mischief I can come up with.”

Her stepmother looked aghast. “You can’t do that.”

It was Rina’s turn to smile. “I just made an unbreakable promise to do so didn’t I?”

Her stepmother turned to the witch, who shrugged. Gold looked between them confused. Her stepmother turned back, “But that would destroy the estate.”

“You’re the one who cares about the estate. But if you’re so worried, you could let me out of the unbreakable promise and not force me to go back with you.”

The stepmother reluctantly nodded and the witch reached for the elixir. Rina held it out of her reach. “I’ll keep this, too. And you can promise not to try and force me to go back with you anymore.”

There was nothing else they could do. Rina’s stepmother wouldn’t let her estate be destroyed and Rina wouldn’t give up the elixir. The witch took Rina’s other hand and another flash of violet light filled the room. Rina was free. “Get out,” the witch hissed.

Gold and Rina were only too happy to comply. The enchanted road was much shorter on their return trip. Rina suspected the witch wanted to get rid of them faster and had re-enchanted the road to take them away quickly. The Bronze Salamander was a welcome sight and the band greeted them enthusiastically. They were hurried up the stairs to Silver’s room, where she laid listlessly on the bed. Within moments of receiving the elixir she opened her eyes, much to the band’s relief.

When Rina and Gold told their story, Gervas shook his head and asked Rina if she had any other people in her past who would try to make trouble. Rina didn’t know and Silver pointed out that most, if not all, of the band had made enemies during their adventures that they didn’t know about. In a few days Silver was well enough to complain loudly about being treated like an invalid. After two weeks she was begging to go on a quest, and the band promptly begged with her. Gervas laughed at them, but a few days later he came back to the Bronze Salamander with a quest to slay a dragon. With great excitement the band packed and rode out. Rina grinned from the top of her horse. Ahead of her Silver and Gold rode side by side making jokes and Gervas was at the front. Rina was perfectly content.


Check out The Bronze Salamander and To The Rescue for more magical adventures.

Forward

Magpie Tale 143

for dVerse

Forget this nightmare
take hands at last in peace and
walk forward with hope.