Weaver's Curse

Sedine had just finished her meeting with Cadence, in which she’d been told that Darren had arrived back in Zircon a day and a half ago, and that Salazar and the other two had been stopping and searching caravans, when her friends dashed into the little clearing where she’d been sleeping.

“Fayen. Here.” Indeara panted.

Sedine’s hands went cold.

“He recognized me.” Indeara continued. “I deflected as best I could, but…”

“Were you followed?” Sedine asked quietly.

“We don’t think so.” Vassa said.

“Are both of you alright to keep walking?” Sedine asked.

They both nodded vigorously.

“Alright.” Sedine said. “We’ll stick to our original course for now. When I feel comfortable enough to make a light without being seen, we’ll look at the map and plot a different course.”

Shit. The last thing I need is those bastards following us into the peaks…

They nodded again, and Sedine hefted her pack onto her shoulders.

“We’ll keep off the roads. Just in case.” Sedine decided.

“Wasn’t that what we were already doing?” Pinky asked.

“Yes. We’re going to do it with twice as much effort now.” Sedine said.

They walked in silence for hours, until the moon was high in the sky.

Sedine had finally calmed enough to speak.

“I showed my friend the drawing.” Sedine said. “She didn’t recognize it off the top of her head, but she’s looking for similar ones.”

“Thanks.” Indeara said.

“She did say that the architecture didn’t look like anything used in Zircon in the time-periods she’d studied.” Sedine said.

“So it must not be in Zircon?” Vassa asked.

“Selah.” Indeara said. “Probably. You said the letter ko originated from there, so the tower likely does too.”

Sedine made a small noise of agreement.

“What if the tower doesn’t exist anymore?” Vassa said, voice small.

“Then that will be inconvenient.” Indeara said.

Sedine couldn’t quite focus on the conversation, due to her worries about the four men.

They tried to murder me once. Will they do it again?

That’s irrational. They need you to cure the duke. They can’t kill you.

Unless Darren decides that he’d rather take the position early.

That was unlikely. Darren wasn’t as ambitious as Salazar, and to his credit, he did know that he wasn’t ready to run the duchy.

But still. What would happen to Sedine after she’d cured her father?

The most obvious answer she could think of was that Salazar would find a way to dispose of her. She knew his secret, and stupidly, she’d revealed that fact to both him and the duke. Hell, her own father might even condone Salazar’s actions.

She couldn’t be caught.

Her hand went to her pocket to check that the amulet Cadence had gifted her was still there.

In a pinch, it could completely change her appearance; height, skin tone, hair color, everything. The only catch was that it needed time to recharge after each use.

Cadence had created it for herself, when she’d been forced to flee at Sedine’s age. Because unlike Sedine, Cadence had been in real danger of immediate execution.

If Cadence could survive that, and go on to become headmistress of one of the most prestigious schools in Zircon, then Sedine could too. She just had to outlast.

It was harder than she expected. Sedine just wanted to live her life, already.

And she didn’t want to live it constantly checking over her shoulder for a quartet of psychos, carefully concealing her true appearance, changing her name...

Sedine just wanted to go home to Blackhall, and get to know her step-father and little sister, without worrying that Salazar might do something to them.

Even so, she was glad she’d chosen to join Indeara, and glad that Vassa, and even Pinky, had come with her. And who knew? Perhaps she was being too gloomy. Maybe her problems with the four would soon come to an end.

When she guessed they were a few hours off from dawn, she allowed them to stop to sleep for the rest of the night beside a stream.

“Smells like mushrooms.” Pinky announced, and then went rooting off into the bushes upstream.

Sedine didn’t stop her. Pinky deserved a good snack.

Pinky came trotting back a few minutes later and announced that there was a cave upstream.

“I think it’s big enough for all four of us to sleep in.” Pinky told them. “And it’s not very damp, despite the fact that there’s a spring there.

They followed Pinky back to the cave, and once they were inside, where no enemy travelers could see, Sedine lit her little lantern.

It was plenty big enough for the three girls and one sow, with room to spare, and not damp at all.

Sedine crouched to make sure the stone floor wasn’t damp, and found that the stone wasn’t cool, like it should have been.

“Sedine, may I have the lantern?” Indeara asked.

Sedine wordlessly handed the lantern over, and Indeara held it high, shedding light on what looked like a shrine beside the spring.

“What in the…” Vassa breathed.

They crowded closer to the shrine, and saw a plaque inscribed with words that Sedine couldn’t quite read. She ignored that for the moment, and focused on the rusted metal medallion and ancient candle-stub laid on the shrine.

“You stand in the chamber of the Shrine of Grendaal,” Indeara suddenly said.

It took Sedine a moment to realize she was reading from the plague.

“Drink of the waters safely within this chamber, but be warned: water taken directly from the spring’s mouth becomes as Her blood when it is taken out, and bears Her curse. A sacrifice must be made to Her before your stay reaches its end.” Indeara finished.

“First of all, it’s totally weird that you can read that,” Vassa said. “Second of all, do you think we should risk the water?”

“I think that this is the language that I grew up reading…” Indeara said uncertainly.

“I’m going to take a rubbing of the plaque before we go to show to Cadence.” Sedine decided. “Hold that lantern closer, Indeara.”

“Cadence?” Vassa asked.

“My friend who I keep bothering about Indeara’s weird behavior.” Sedine explained, taking her wax-pencil and a piece of sketch paper from her pack.

She carefully made a rubbing, and then tucked it into her pack.

“I’ll test the water.” Pinky said, lapping up a few mouthfuls. “Mm! That’s…”

Pinky’s words cut off, and she seized up, then began trembling.

“Pinky!” Vassa exclaimed.

“Oh, heavens, it burns! It hurts, it hurts, Vassa!” Pinky wailed.

“Sedine, do something!” Vassa cried.

Pinky’s trembling stopped, and she resumed her previous posture.

“I’m just messing with you, the water is fine. Tastes pretty good, actually.” The sow said.

“Don’t scare me like that!” Vassa scolded, swatting the hog.

“The opportunity was just too good!” Pinky snuffled.

“What do you think the ‘the water becomes her blood and bears her curse’ bit meant?” Sedine wondered.

Surprisingly, Indeara had an answer for her.

“Grendaal bore a curse in her blood that caused it to become a foul poison to any that touched it.” Indeara said.

“Who even is Grendaal?” Vassa asked.

“You don’t know the fairytale?” Indeara asked her, frowning.

“I haven’t heard it either.” Sedine said.

“It is the story of a young witch of Telare, Grendaal, who angers a strong coven, and they curse her blood in retribution.” Indeara told them. “In the end, Grendaal is ostracized and driven out of Telare. Wherever she wanders, her curse is eventually discovered and she is driven away, until finally, she dies alone in the wilderness.”

“That’s not a very happy story.” Sedine commented.

“No, it is not.” Indeara agreed. “Many of the tales that were favored by my…”

She trailed off. “Funny, I can’t remember who told me those stories.”