Althea

Deer and Stories

Caelum: sky
Origin: Latin

In the days that followed Solomon and I spent our time settling in. We gathered food, tended the horses, and we did more cleaning then I have ever done in my life. I'm not even going to talk about the bathroom situation.

Solomon made a single trip to the human town nearby for a few supplies and came back with a dress too. He stole it, he admitted that much, but it was beautiful. The skirt was red paisley and a heavy material. The top was a breezy white number with butterfly sleeves and a lace up front. According to him, the red was perfect for my hair, because it matched the auburn and the little blue and green flowers mixed in reminded him of my eyes. I spent the better part of that day scrubbing gently at my precious ballgown trying to get rid of all the dirt, the leaves and the twigs it had managed to accumulate in our escape through the forest.

By the time a week was up that little cabin felt and looked like a home. It wasn't quite a replacement for the one I lost, but it was close, and I could sense how hard Solomon tried to make everything easier for me. He did everything cheerfully and often took chores from me. He gathered wood for the stove, patched the holes in the cabin, and took time to teach me what roots and berries were edible. He brought back a cup of honey, as well as a few nasty bee stings, because he knew how much I missed having honey to go with my bread. He went beyond his call of duty, I knew the Empress would be proud.
I didn't count the days we spent there, but Solomon did.

"Guess what?" He said, a grin splitting his cheeks from ear to ear. I turned to face him, letting the plate I was washing fall back into the wash water.
"If Cassius has run off again, I want you to know that I have gone deaf." I said, drying my hands on my dress.
"No, no, nothing like that. I fixed his latch so he can't open it anymore. I wanted to remind you that it's been a month since we escaped here! The moon will be full again."
"Yes, I suppose it will." I said rather sadly, returning to my dishes.
"So," he continued, "I thought we could go down to the lakefront and watch the moon rise. Have you ever seen a full moon from this side of the mountains, Althea?"
"I haven't, no." I admitted. "Isn't that dangerous?" He shrugged.
"If they haven't found us by now, I doubt they will. C'mon, I have apple cider." He teased, swinging a small jug. I spun quickly, flinging suds everywhere.
"Where on earth did you get cider?" I cried, clapping my hands. The sweet drink would be a welcome change from plain water.
"I was saving it. I got it when I went to town. So, whaddya say? Want to go?"
"Yes, yes, of course I do Solomon!" He beamed. "Now get out of here, I have dishes to do." He bowed.
"Your desire, my duty."

Solomon disappeared later in the day, presumably down to the beach. I didn't follow him right away. Something told me tonight was special, and I wanted to fit the occasion. I pulled a few red wood lilies from the freshly weeded garden along the church and weaved them into my curly hair. I glanced into the a window pane and sighed at my blurry reflection. There wasn't much more to do, yet I seemed so inadequate.

I made the trek down to the beach and was greeted by a merrily crackling campfire, the cider resting beside it, forgotten. Solomon stood in the lake, the small waves gently lapping at his feet. I watched him for a while, soaking in every detail that I may have somehow missed.
A twig snapped in the fire and a bird called out, ruining the peace. Solomon turned to face me, a contented look in his face. He held out his hand and I walked towards him, carefully picking my way over the rocky sand. I took Solomon's hand when I got there and he drew me to his side. He angled my face upwards by lifting my jaw.
"You see those stars there? Just beyond the moon?" He pointed with his free hand, "Those 16 stars make up the constellation Andromeda, or the Chained Woman. We moths and butterflies prefer the Chained Woman. We butterflies have a story about her. Want to hear it?" He murmured, into my ear. I nodded, captivated.
"The story goes that the goddess Nature fell in love with the earth god, Terra and he with her, for no better match existed. But another god, Caelum, became jealous of Terra, for Nature was the most beautiful goddess of all. Caelum's realm was the heavens, and out of jealously he kidnapped Nature and chained her to the sky. Nature wept, for she was separated from her love. Caelum was king of the stars, but they are fickle subjects, and cannot bear untruth. They could sense that Nature and Terra's love was true and so they unbound her and bore her back to Terra. The stars desired to remind their master of what jealousy can do and arranged themselves in the likeness of Nature to forever remind Caelum of his foolishness. Now, at the Festival of Stars, young moths and butterflies craft paper stars with their lover's name written on it in hope that the stars will grant their request as they granted Nature and Terra's."
My stare never once left his face. His eyes seemed endless, and his arm was strong and comforting. I shivered; the air and the water was cold. Solomon lead me back to the fire and sat me in front of him, hugging me from behind. I was no longer cold, the fire and Solomon warmed me up, but I still had goose bumps all up and down my arms.
A deer stepped out of the bush and walked cautiously towards us, probably originally drawn by the fire. Solomon raised a hand to it, a handful of fresh raspberries as an offering. It gently ate up the raspberries and when it finished it stayed, letting Solomon stroke it's smooth ears. Solomon took my hand and slowly raised it to the deer. As I was about to place my hand on the deer's muzzle when twigs snapped and bushes rustled. The deer was gone instantly, with only the flick of a tail. Brynhilde stepped out of the bush, eyebrows waggling suggestively.
"Oh ho ho, getting cozy are we?" She said, an accusing lilt to her voice. I scooted forward, closer to the fire while Solomon sat himself next to me, glaring at Brynhilde. She picked up the jug of apple cider and took a swig.
"Could use some rum..." She mused, sniffing the bottle.
"Where have you been? It's been a month!" Solomon yelled at her. She hardly looked fazed.
"Relax honey, I've been busy. Listen, dear old Philena has been kidnapped, so I've been trying to discover her whereabouts."
"What? No!" Solomon cried, leaping up. "How? Did you find her?"
"One question at a time. I don't know how she was kidnapped, I lost track of the Empress during the fight at the palace. Yes, I did find her, but it was bloody pointless. So heavily guarded that not even an ant makes it past Deirdre and her Malignant army. I couldn't even see how many there are, but I do know two things: One, there is way too many for the Moth knights to take on, they'd be slaughtered. Two, Deidre is looking for you, Althea."
"Me?" I whispered. If the Empress could be kidnapped, taking me would be a breeze. Solomon took my hand and squeezed it.
"Good news," Brynhilde belched. "Ahem, good news, I have a spell that can hide you. Only problem, the components are at my house. We'll need to get there, and it's about a half day's ride."
"We can make it. We'll leave tomorrow morning, the Malignant are slower in full light." Solomon said hurriedly.
"Sure, sure. Listen, I'm real tired and need to crash, gotta spare bed?" Solomon nodded gruffly, a new, intense light in his eyes.
"You can have mine. I need to prepare for our trip." Brynhilde shrugged and started back up towards the cabin. Solomon nodded for me to follow, so I reluctantly followed her.
"How's my Evanida?" She asked. I smiled.
"She's great. She's very sweet. I have no idea where she could have possibly picked that up from."
Brynhilde scowled.
"Was that a joke? It wasn't very funny."
"Oh, come on, it was a little funny." She smiled, but quickly reverted back to her straight face.
"Only a bit."
I pulled out Solomon's trundle bed and gestured grandly to it. Of course, she completely ignored me and headed straight for the big bed, flopping dramatically on top. She sighed contentedly.
"This is nice. First real bed in about a week. Well, wake me up in the morning."
She pulled her hood over her eyes and within seconds she was fast asleep, silent except for the occasional unintelligible word.
"Sure thing Brynhilde. See you in the morning."