The Merchant's Daughters

Chapter One

  Renee lay in her bed sobbing uncontrollably. For the thousandth time, she'd watched helplessly as her father ran for his life. He screamed out for them, calling each of them by name. His grey eyes searched for them in the gloom of the stairwell. But he never found them and he never escaped. The living darkness dragged him in with jagged claws and he, her beloved father, became a part of it.

She turned onto her side. She clutched at her quilt, pulling it up to beneath her nose. Her tears drenched her pillow. She stared out through her lace veiled window. The sky was slowly lightening from pitch black to light lavender. Dawn was coming. She was thankful for its light for it chased away the darkness and the horrors that it hid.

There was a gentle rapping at the door. "Come in." She replied in a rough voice, knowing full well who it was.

Her sisters peaked through the doorway. When she didn't turn to look at them they knew it must have been bad. Helene and Cecile rushed in. Cecile sat at the edge of Renee's bed and rubbed her back, hoping to soothe her crying just as she had done when Renee was a little baby. Helene jumped into bed beside her. She pat her cheek and wiped the tears from her face, saying "It'll be alright. Don't cry Little Bookworm." Hearing the old nickname made Renee laugh and the tears momentarily stopped.

"It was awful." She said, her quiet voice muffled by her quilt. "He was calling to us for help but we never came."

Helene and Cecile shot each other despairing glances. "I know, dear," said Cecile. Her dream had been the same. She still cringed at the memory of it.

"It's like they're getting worse with each cycle." Helene thought aloud. She fidgeted with her hair, trying to hide her strong emotions. She was terrified of going to sleep that night. It would be her turn and if the pattern was to continue, it would be worse than what Renee had just endured. If only she could figure out a way to make the dreams stop. She'd do anything, slay any monster to make that happen and to give both herself and her sisters peace.

Cecile watched the fear in both her sisters' faces. She had seen it grow and intensify severely in just the last few months. She worried greatly for them. She knew that they would eventually lose their father. She wasn't sure what they'd do if something were to happen to him. She could only hope that they would not have to cross that burning bridge until much later in life. "Renee, would you like to come help me with breakfast? Father leaves for his trip today. I know he'd like to have a hearty meal before he sets out." She enticed the young girl out of bed with the promise of sweet honey, freshly baked bread and cured meats.

The girls tried to keep up their spirits that morning. They force fed their father and Helene told one of her stories. With some prodding, Renee chatted with him about her latest read. Cecile, who was usually too busy multitasking to eat a full meal, repressed her urges long enough to enjoy their company and even savor her own delicious cooking. All the while, they all prayed that he wouldn't notice how puffy and red Renee's eyes were.

Nothing however, could postpone his departure forever. Once he had eaten his fill and his cart had been loaded down with his newest wares, he kissed each of his daughters on their cheeks and promised them a swift return. Then he snapped the reigns and his team of red horses sped away. The girls waved goodbye until he was completely out of view. Then their smiles faded and their hearts fell into their feet. They looked at each other with eyes full of despair as a terrible feeling rushed over them all. Helene and Renee broke into tears and Cecile helplessly held them close to her as if they were her own children, letting them cry into her shoulders even though she felt like having a break down herself.

The first few stops on Louis' schedule went very well. He sold an abundance of products. His stock of fine embroidered gowns and patterned fabrics from Asia were especially popular and flew right off his cart. It wasn't until he left the second town that things took a turn for the worse.

In Cote Rouge, the third and last stop on his short trading trip, it rained endlessly. All his would-be customers wisely stayed indoors. His day at market was a complete bust. He left without having sold a single item. Feeling discouraged and depressed due to the rain, he decided to return home early. The trip had been more than lucrative. The trading he'd done in the first two towns had lined his pockets to the brim with gold. He could afford to shave a few days off his trip. The weather however, did not want to cooperate with him.

"What would be the fastest way to Des Bois from here?" He asked the wife of the Cote Rouge Inn's keeper the night of his failed market day.

The keeper's wife- a rather plain and plump thing- snapped back some directions, a little annoyed that he was already planning on leaving. The weather in Cote Rouge was notoriously bad so the inn stayed fairly deserted. "Truth be told, you should really go back the way you came, but there is an old road through Nece that you could take. It'll cut down your trip home by a full two days. But you're not really thinking of leaving tonight, are you?"

"I was, yes. I promised my daughters I'd come home as soon as possible." said Louis.

The woman scolded her toddler daughter for tugging at her skirt and hoisted the crying girl up to carry her around on her hip. She sighed in exasperation, batting her dark hair out of her face. "Sir, I would advise against that. Most people around here avoid going that way at night. It's dangerous."

"It's just a country road, isn't it? That area's nothing but farm land and forest. I find it hard to believe that highwaymen would be prowling that area."

"Well, maybe we're all just superstitious fools to you, but we firmly believe that fairies rule that place. Many of us have seen them with our own eyes. They say that there is a doorway there that leads into the Fairies' kingdom. You need only to get lost to find it. At night, fairies roam about, luring unsuspecting travelers away, never to be seen again."

The old merchant put no stock in the wife's warning, chalking it up to a bunch of superstitious rubbish. By the wee hours of the early morning, he was out in the middle of farmland, miles from any town. The night was blindingly dark and the rain had become a down pour. Poor Louis was soaked to the bone. Water saturated his wool cloak and sloshed off the brim of his hat as he drove his cart down a country road bordered by fields on either side. Only thick forest lay beyond the fields. "A miserable adventure this turned out to be." He sniffled, regretting his urgency. He shivered in his cloak as his mind drifted to thoughts of a warm hearth and full belly of Cecile's sweet pastries.

It was then that a flickering light caught his eye. He focused on it, squinted his eyes a bit. It was a person walking along the road. They carried a lit lantern that swayed to and fro in the storm's strong winds. "Who in the world could be fool enough to wander out here this time of night?" Besides himself, he thought to himself with a smirk. The figure stopped where it was and waited on him to pass. The closer he got, the more of this person was revealed to him. It was a woman, he noted, an ancient one. Her tiny, bent figure was wrapped in a shawl as dark as the night itself.

He stopped his cart beside her. "Are you lost, Madame?" He asked politely, wanting to aid her.

The old woman looked up at him with sparkling black eyes. A toothless grin stretched her mouth, forming even more wrinkles on her weathered face. "I do believe it is you who is lost, my dear man. You're a very long way from civilization." She chuckled darkly.

Louis looked around himself. The rain had suddenly lightened and he could see much further now. His heart sank at the view. The fields he had passed breaths ago had vanished. All around him, on every side were walls of forest. When he looked behind him in the direction he had come, he saw that the road simply disappeared a few feet back, turning from a clear dirt path to a thicket of tall grass that looked like it had never been cut. "What in the devil's name?" He breathed, his eyes wide with horror filled awe. That path had been as plain to see as the one that was before him now. He had ridden through it only seconds before.

"Oh, tis not the Devil's work, sir." The old hag laughed, her voice like wind passing through rusted pipes. "You have unknowingly trespassed onto Fay land. The Fairies are playing with your mind, making you see and believe in illusions."

"What are they trying to do?" asked the frightened merchant.

"They aim to drive you mad, tis all." She raised a bony finger and pointed down the clear path before him. "Continue down the path. Do not under any circumstances venture off of it. No matter what you see or hear, you must follow this road. If you don't, the Fay will tempt you to a very unpleasant fate. So long as you stay your current path, you will eventually be released back into the world of man and you may go about your business."

With a shaking hand, he tipped his hat to her. "Thank you, Madame. I truly appreciate your help. You are on Fay land as well, are you not? You may ride with me, if you like."

A bolt of lightning cracked overhead, lighting the woman's face. There were no whites in the hag's eyes, only an expanse of black with pinpoints of white dotted throughout that sparkled like the stars. "You are the only trespasser here." She said with a cackling laugh. She smiled again and her mouth was no longer toothless. It was filled with needles.

His heart racing with pure terror, he cracked his rains, urging his team into a run much too fast for his cart. His wares were jostled and thrown about, a few chests fell off of it all together, but Louis paid no mind to it. The walls of forests around him seemed to be squeezing in. They had once seemed so far away, but now they were on each side of the road, funneling him down it.

The chiming of bells heralded in orbs of light that streamed overhead like falling stars. Tiny beings with butterfly wings tugged at his cloak and bit at his face and hands with devilish fangs. Hulking men with bowed legs and flesh like rotting corpses emerged from the forest walls, riding the backs of impossibly large stags. They chased after the cart and banged clubs against its wheels while small spindly limbed brethren crawled over the horses and cut their harnesses. The horses ran off the moment they were freed and the cart, with its broken wheels, toppled onto its side, spilling its driver and all of his wares into the mud.

Louis lay gasping and bleeding on the ground. He had injured his left leg in the fall. It was probably broken. It hurt too much to move it. Helplessly, he watched as the bigger grey skinned monsters clubbed his horses to death and the smaller ones carried away his stock. The winged people continued to gnaw at his exposed skin, tearing the flesh away. My daughters...He thought miserably. My daughters shall never see me again. The dream turned out to be a bad omen after all, I see.

"Hey! What are you doing? Get away from here you!" The shouting of a youth stirred the old man from his filthy grave. He glanced up to see three boys standing on the road. The eldest of them couldn't have even been Renee's age. They ran at the grey skinned monsters, throwing stones at them, unafraid of the deadly clubs they still clutched in their hands. "Does your king know what you've done?" They shouted. "Go away!"

A few of the monsters shouted back at them in an odd, strangely beautiful language, but did not attack them. Instead, they left the last living horse behind and dragged the dead ones into the forest. The smaller ones scampered behind them, dragging chests of silver ware, pots and jewels and carrying bolts of linen over their narrow shoulders.

When they had gone, the children came over to him, walking through the forest on bare feet. "Poor man." They whispered amongst themselves. "The sprites got after 'em. He's been chewed to bits." A raven haired boy said.

The youngest boy, who had pretty white gold curls and a cherub like face, knelt by Louis and laid a hand over his nose and mouth, feeling for breath, "The old man's alive!" He exclaimed in surprise.

"Grab the horse!" The eldest boy ordered. "We'll take him to Armel. He'll know what to do." They loomed over him, until his vision began to dim. He had time enough to see more children, boys and girls alike, leap down from the trees to join his three rescuers before his eyes went completely blind. There had to be over a dozen of them, those wild, pretty children.