Forever Green

~6~ A Weary Return

Night had fallen, and the cottage was silent when Lenesa finally returned. Immediately, Shwei flew to rekindle a small flame in the fireplace and went to roost as a raven in the rafters. The wisp's light was a weak greenish-blue, and it did little to illuminate the room.

Lenesa shed her cloak at the door and sat down on the armchair in front of the hearth. With fingers stained pitch-black, she gently undid the laces of her boots and eased them off her feet, biting her lip to keep from making a sound at the pain. She felt shaky and dizzy from exhaustion, and collapsed back against the chair as soon as her feet were free.

Hands in her lap, Lenesa watched as the shadows slowly retreated and left their place just beneath her skin. There was some residue left in her fingernails, but it would vanish before morning. In any case, she would be unable to cast any more spells until she had gotten some rest.

Something rustled behind her, and Lenesa instinctively jumped to her feet, searching desperately for energy that wasn't there to hide the appearance of her battered feet, of her tired appearance.

Show no weakness.

But it was only the tomte, perched gingerly on the back of the armchair. Lenesa stumbled and sagged against the fireplace mantle, relief leaving her tired once more.

"Tsk tsk," said Kettle. "You look unwell."

Lenesa cast a quick glance up to the darkness of the loft.

"Yes, yes, the slug sleeps," the tomte answered Lenesa's unasked question. "He was making quite a racket earlier, trying to break the windows to escape. I slipped some root of mandrake under his blankets so that he won't wake until sunrise."

Lenesa let out a sigh before pushing off from the mantle in the direction of the kitchen. She needed a drink of water, badly.

"Rest. I shall fetch what you need this night," Kettle told her. "The porridge you left out for me was especially tasty."

"Thank you, Kettle." Lenesa nodded to the burlap sack she had brought back with her, now lying on the floor by her boots. "I brought some rice to make you pudding tomorrow."

The tomte gave a bow before hopping over the back of the armchair and scaling halfway down the side, then leaping the rest of the way to the floor. The small figure was off in a dash to the kitchen, jumping off the side of a lower cabinet to launch herself at a drawer handle and swing up to the countertop.

Lenesa plopped back in the armchair, listening to the sounds of clinking ceramic and the squeaky sink pump behind her. She was half-asleep by the time Kettle returned, somehow balancing a teacup of water on her head. Lenesa had always been amazed by the tomte's strength and agility—Kettle couldn't have been much larger than the teacup herself.

The witch leaned down to take the vessel off of Kettle's head, and, now freed of her burden, the tomte smoothed out her red hat and scrambled up to the armrest, sitting down and facing Lenesa. A part in Kettle's gray, wiry hair was enough to show her eyes, which caught and reflected the glow of the fireplace with a hypnotizing intensity.

Lenesa closed her lids against the tomte's eerie gaze and focused instead on the smoothness of the cup at her lips and the cool liquid sliding down her parched throat. The relief it gave was enough to bring tears to her eyes.

"It gets worse every time, does it not?" Kettle ventured, and Lenesa reopened her eyes to find the tomte leaning in closer, inspecting her.

Lenesa gave a half-hearted attempt at clearing her throat before responding, but her voice still came out as rough as unpolished stone.

"It's more difficult now. One day I might get caught. But the hatred is sickening, and they turn a blind eye to the forest as well. Anything outside the city is seen as either valuable or a threat. What should they care if we wither and die? The pain is growing, and we're losing."

Lenesa glanced down at the stains left in her fingernails, before adding softly, "I'm losing."

"Is that why you brought him here, then?" Kettle asked, accusation flooding her tone. "In case things go wrong?"

Lenesa struggled to swallow the lump in her throat. "No. I had been afraid, yes, but not of what I may become. He had gone too far from the city, and it was too late to send him back. That was all. I still don't know what I'm going to do with him."

Searching for a distraction from her worries, Lenesa turned her attention back to her hands. There was a scratch on her palm, and she focused magic on the stinging cut until it closed over to leave smooth, new skin behind. Lenesa trailed over the memory of the wound with her right thumb, then unthinkingly trailed lower down her arm to a lumpy scar almost at her inner elbow—one of the wounds that she hadn't been able to heal. At the feel of the raised mark, Lenesa gave a shudder and hurried to lower her sleeve before that memory had time to sink in its claws.

"You will find a way through it," Kettle said. "Giving up is for the weak."

"But I am weak, Kettle!" Lenesa protested. "I just hope that no one else notices it."

"Weakness is not defined by skill alone," the tomte replied, black eyes gleaming. "You have other strengths. Perseverance. Courage. Intelligence."

"I only have those if I get enough sleep," Lenesa joked, doing her best to hide her worry.

"Go to bed, then," Kettle said with a wave of her hand. "Perhaps you won't be so gloomy in the morning."

Lenesa set the teacup on the floor and gave a tired smile. "Goodnight, Kettle."

The tomte stood up and tugged her red cap further down on her head before launching off the armchair in a somersault. Lenesa stood and slowly made her way over to her nook, thankful that the bed was so near. She didn't know what she would have done if she had needed to walk any farther.

As soon as she collapsed on the mattress, Lenesa fell into a dreamless sleep.

~~~~~

Hi, apologies for my long absence.  I was traveling and now I'm fighting a cold, but thankfully this chapter was mostly already written so I just had to do some edits (and I think marathoning a certain 58 episode Chinese drama isn't helping my writing productivity, either!).  What do you think of Lenesa and Kettle's conversation?

Thank you to everyone who's added this story to your reading lists in the past few days, it's really meant a lot to me to know that people are interested in this story.  I hope you enjoy reading!