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MIDWINTER MAGIC: THIRTEEN
Skye heard a voice in her solarium and she stopped. She flattened herself against the wall, then leaned to peer in and drew an audible gasp. "What in bloody hell is this? All my herbs discolored.... and... ARISTA!" The firedragon was now in plain sight, eyes snapping, hair in wild disarray around her face and tumbling over her shoulders. Arista barely had time to register Wallace and Jera's actions before her attention was captured by the appearance of her very irate mother. "Ahh... Hello, Mama." Again Jera whispered to the girl as she turned to see Skye, "I think we have more trouble now than a kingly sprite." Despite the situation, Jera smiled and greeted cordially, "Good afternoon, Lady Skye Blackthorn." Skye blinked at Jera, "Ermm... Good afternoon, Lady Jera Skyspear. I know this may seem a silly question but... Might I ask why you and my daughter are here in my herb room? Hae ye a solution to this apparent blight?" She was inclined to believe that perhaps Arista found the sickly herbs and brought in Jera to help. She'd deal with the child's talent for lock picking later. Wallace flitted immediately over to Skye and into her face. "Blight?! BLIGHT? Why tis the most beautiful crop of holly berries e'er made by a Holly King!" He tipped to bow with a flourish, then advised proudly. "Which IS me." Reacting quickly at something flitting about, Skye tried to swat the thing out of the air. She would have connected too, had her arm not been stopped by Arista's firm and passionate grasp. "Mama NO! 'Tis Wallace! Donnae squash him!" Jera interjected, "It would seem, m'lady, that---" She cut short her attempt to begin an explanation, although she hadn't worked out what to say yet anyway. Instead she flinched and watched the narrow miss, as well as the quite brave move on Arista's part. Skye stopped, finally registering the little sprite in all of his righteous indignation and again, blinked. "Holly King? You?" She could not help it and burst out into laughter. The next statement was laced with a liberal dose of sarcasm and she delivered it while curtseying deeply. "Well then please....your majesty... if you wouldn't mind NOT defacing all of my herbs which are NOT your precious holly?" Arista sighed, her mama was going to make things worse. Her worried gaze locked on Wallace, just waiting for him to spit again out of spite. Wallace winged back away from the woman and hovered near Arista's ear. "I donnae think she cares much for me an' my efforts.... an' she feels... mean." It was actually the first time he'd really been chided in any way. However, from what he thought was now a safer position, Wallace braved at least one retort, "Well, it's all holly NOW." In a gesture of friendship and comfort, Arista held out an open palm on which Wallace was welcomed to land, if he chose. She whispered back to him, "She's nae mean, Wallace. That's my Mama. She's just... um... a bit confused, about who you are, and why all these inferiors are red like holly.... and probably why we're all here inside her locked workroom." Skye Blackthorn, who had developed very good hearing out of necessity, snorted indelicately. "Probably." Wallace nodded as he sat on Arista's hand and crossed his arms over his chest indignantly. "Very well, then. DO explain to her." At least there was a seeming calm now, however precarious, Jera thought. "Aye, perhaps some explanations are in order... all around." Again she smiled at Skye. Arista nodded and looked toward Jera, then gave her mother a weak smile. "Umm... well....it all started with a worm in a jar, and you weren't home..." She paused there, working at how to best word the twisting events. Jera offered, "And I take responsibility for that beginning." Still nervous and having thought through the whole mess several times in the last few seconds, Arista blurted out, "Well, we couldn't let him just die, right? And we were talking about Kylan and Uncle Ashe and perfumes... and there was Wallace, just this little runt of a worm.... I've picked spearmint by the way, with a bit of iris. It's floral and spicy, Mama, but not overpowering at all, and he noticed it and he liked it and..." The girl trailed off, her thoughts on a tangent. Wallace squinted one eye. The "runt of a worm" comment bothered him but he wasn't exactly sure what to say about it. Skye rolled her eyes heavenward only to have a quick silent prayer before looking at Jera. She held up a hand in Arista's direction and spoke calmly and slowly. "It could take forever if she tells it. Could you just gi' me the important parts?" Promising herself to get the details about Arista, Kylan and the perfume at some later point, Jera began in a more orderly and calm way, "Well... what we have discovered..." She paused to look from Arista then to Wallace then to Skye again, still putting on her best smile, "...is perhaps a legend older than I, and if we may do so calmly, without offense to the small one here, mayhap it can be explained." Arista pulled over a stool on which to sit with Wallace, having taken a protective posture with him and pulling him close as she looked from her mother to Jera. Skye sat down as well, gazing a bit curiously at her daughter and the sprite in her hand. "I'm listening." Wallace grinned and leaned over to lounge in Arista's hands, arms folded to rest on her fingers. "Ya know," he said quietly, gazing at the girl's mother, "She has your pretty red hair too, but you feel nicer." He turned to grin up at Arista who smiled back and spoke gently to the handsome little sprite. "She's actually very nice, Wallace. Many folk say I look like her, but she can do just about everything." Jera did not sit, but shared a smile with all of them then paced as she spoke, explaining as briefly as possible about a lone caterpillar seeming to have lost on his way and perhaps needing a little help and shelter. Then, carefully, she tread into the problem Wallace was having with understanding his role. "You see, by the lore we found in the library, Wallace here is in fact a king... the King of the Holly BERRY, not precisely the 'Holly King'.. but even so, he's quite important for Yule, it appears." Scrunching up his wee but comely face, Wallace glanced from the tallest long person then turned again to Arista. He seemed much disturbed by Jera saying he was not the Holly King, more saddened than angry. "I hae misunderstood?" He furrowed his brows and turned his small scowl on Jera. Arista caught her bottom lip in her teeth. She nodded, "Aye, Wallace, ye misunderstood. Ye are indeed a king... of the holly berry, and quite important. Ye bring the brightness to Yule... the blood red out of the green... the signal in the snow." Skye Blackthorn listened to Jera as her eyes again roamed to the little sprite sitting protected in her daughter's hands. Her expression softened as she heard Ari's quiet explanation to Wallace, not wanting to injure his feelings, and she smiled softly at her daughter's compassion so readily evident. The sprite slumped onto Arista's hand, his arms hung over the edge, dangling dejectedly. "Aye, but... I am not... the Holly King." He sighed heavily. Jera turned toward Arista and let one pale fingertip brush Wallace's wee hand. "She speaks truth, your majesty. I read it myself. You are vitally important. You are the one who brings the holly berries to their ripeness and thus the sacred Holly is worthy to crown the head of the... other.. Holly King for his battle with the Oak King." "There's a human song about it, Wallace." Arista began to sing softly... "The holly and the ivy... when they are both full grown... of all the trees that are in the wood, the holly bears the crown." Wallace straightened up and climbed Arista's hands to perch and listen with his little red-gloved fists supporting his chin. In his eyes was a bright twinkle. His voice was now quite subdued and in fact hushed with awe, "Ne'er hae I heard such a beautiful sound." Nevermind that he'd only been more than a worm for just a few days. Grinning, Skye picked up on the tune and added her voice which was warm but not carrying the clear beauty of her daughter's. "The holly bears a berry, as red as any blood... and Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ, to do poor sinners good." Jera smiled, presuming the heat had been taken out of the crisis. "Now I know where Arista gets such a lovely voice." Arista smiled at her mother, then blushed softly. She started to speak but was interrupted by Skye's softly proud words, "Nae, she sings better than anyone else in the family. It comes all from herself." "A bit of magic in both of you, I'd say." Jera's hand slipped aside to brush along Arista's hair. END THIRTEEN © 2002 DP & SO along with all other participants ~ This and other stories may be found at Willow's End |