The Lady of Waterleaf and Wire

The Lady

Johnathan opened his eyes to a blinding light. With the last of his fading strength, he lifted his head to face the direction of the brilliant glow. Before him stood a woman, shining with luminescent rays. Her face completely expressionless, she knelt beside him, and brushed his matted hair out of his eyes. She said nothing, simply scooping him into her arms. Too weak to struggle, he let the strange woman carry him.

When Johnathan woke again, he found himself alone beside a fire, clean and warm. "Rose?" He called. Somehow, he was back in town. He had to be. There wasn't another settlement in a hundred miles of Cadwell. But something was wrong with this place. The walls were wooden, but not built of boards or logs. Instead, vines or perhaps roots made up the walls. Drying herbs hung from the ceiling and a pot of stew bubbled over a fire. It was like no home he'd ever seen before. "Is anyone there?" he asked, weakly.

A woman entered the room, almost gliding over the ground. She wore no human clothing. Her body was covered in flowers and leaves, her coverings as alive as her. "Johnathan, are you well?"

"Who are you?" Panicked, Johnathan sat upright, but fell back against his pillows, breathing heavily. "Where am I? Oh... Oh, Rose. I must get home. Now! My parents, my sister, they'll be so worried! I... am I...?" His voice shook as he whispered the last word. "Dead?"

"You are not dead. You will go home, but not now. You have been asleep for nearly two days. Your ankle heals, but slowly. You poisoned yourself with snowberry and you nearly starved. You are a fool to come here and a greater fool to try to leave in this state. You'll live as long as you stay. You may leave when you are well enough to walk the distance home," the woman informed him. Her voice sounded unworldly. Sweet and airy. Her botanical clothing flowed in an unseen breeze. She turned away from his bedside.

"My family! They need me. Rose needs me!" Johnathan protested.

The woman scoffed. "If their lives depend on your foolishness, they may as well fall dead now."

For a second, his eyes widened in hurt. He turned away from the woman's glowing figure and helplessly slumped back into bed.

The woman fell silent, kneeling beside the fire. She scooped out a spoonful of soup from the pot and dumped it into a bowl. She rose once more. "Drink."

He took a sip.

"Eat." She handed him a bunch of leaves.

He ate, scrunching up his face at the taste, but swallowed regardless.

"It will help neutralize the snowberry poison. Tomorrow, you will help me gather herbs. I will teach you what you can eat and what will make you sick. You must get some rest now."

The woman turned to leave, her long silver hair fluttering behind her. "Wait!" Johnathan called, "I'd at least like to know where I am. How I got here. Perhaps who you are? How do you know my name? This isn't Cadwell. I'm not home."

"I know you are frightened. But you will rest." She slipped out of the room and disappeared behind the strange walls.

"No!" Johnathan shouted, as sitting upright again. "Please! Please, my lady! The floods nearly drowned me! My Rose, Cadwell, my family, were they washed away? I can't bear it! Please!" The town, he remembered, had flooded in storms like this before, when he was very young.

Sunlight streamed into the room through cracks in the strange walls. The sun had peeked out from behind its clouds. "East..." Johnathan muttered to himself. "Cadwell should be east. If I follow the sunrise..." He swung his legs out of bed, not daring to look at his wounded ankle, afraid of what he might see. A wave of dizziness hit him as he got to his feet. He sat back down for a moment and squeezed his eyes shut. He waited for his lightheadedness to pass. Then, he dragged himself to his feet again. He hobbled to the nearest wall and fell against it with a gasp of pain. He stumbled along to where the woman had left, using the wall for support, but found no sign of a door or an exit. He made his way around the rest of the room. In horror, he realized this place was a cage, a prison. And he was trapped.