Heart Spell

Chapter 6

She straightened and didn't hear or see anything, but felt it. A pair of eyes on her back. She slowly turned, not really surprised but still felt her breath catch in her throat.

The stag stood there, steadfast and fervently watching her. He was still as a statue, except for when he briskly flicked his ear.

She turned around slowly to face him, careful to not scare him away. He still stood resolutely as she turned about, only the dark fur about his chest and flank shifting under a quiet gale. His antlers were larger than what she remembered, a proud halo about his head.

"It's you again," she whispered. She stood still herself, measuring even her breathing. She was face to face with a Fae, or so she was assuming. She drew up the question in her throat and exhaled it in a breath, "Are you Fae?"

She could have sworn the stag's eyes widened at her question, visibly dawning a look of surprise. He leaned back a little, as if trying to avoid the invisible hands of the question that reached out to him. He snorted.

"You are, aren't you?" she dared again.

The stag drew his head a little higher. "And?"

She gasped silently, her mouth hanging slightly open. She had heard it this time. "You are!"

"And why would you think that?"

"Well, I don't many deer who can talk, unless evolution has decided to take a different approach to survival."

The stag snorted, amused. Evolet smiled. She couldn't believe it. Her stories were true after all.

"So, you're Fae then."

The stag hesitated a moment then responded, "Yes."

"But how? I've only ever read stories."

"Just because you've only read stories doesn't negate that something is real."

Evolet held her bundle of flowers closer, pondering. "Are there more of you?"

"There are many here in the Forest, but they keep to themselves. Rather be hidden and mysterious than open and known." He half turned and began walking.

"Wait," Evolet said. She started walking up to him. He lifted a leg, shying a little. "I'm not going to hurt you."

He put his foot down. "It's been a while since I've conversed with a human." He began walking and she fell in step beside him. He was very tall, his shoulder reaching to her elbow, meaning his head was a little higher than hers which made her to have to look up a little to meet his gaze. His antlers towered over them. He smelled of fresh earth.

"This is the first I've ever conversed with a Fae. Like I said, I've only met them in stories. It almost feels too surreal."

"I'm sure you would have met one soon enough with your constant enthrallment of the Forest and nature."

"I'm an Herbalist. I have to gather herbs and plants in order to do my living."

"Is that what your parents do?"

Evolet looked down, her voice lowered. "No, I don't have any."

The stag immediately arched his head down. "I apologize, I didn't mean to evoke sadness in you."

"Oh no," Evolet assured, casting him a side look, "It's alright. It's been so long now. My father died when I was little, and I never knew my mother. She died in childbirth."

The stag kept his head straight and focus down. "I, too, never knew my mother. She died shortly after giving birth to me as well."

"I'm sorry to hear."

"It's alright, besides I guess it's one thing we can relate on." He looked sideways at here here, and she felt him mutely grinning. She demurely smiled in response. "Do you miss your father at times?"

Evolet nodded. "Sometimes I do. He would always tell me stories of my mother. Apparently I look just like her. She hailed from the northern regions. I wish I didn't look like her often."

"Why is that?"

A bird chirped in the trees somewhere and the light shifted from the traveling sun so it trickled in through the leaves to cast somber lighting on the Forest, making everything hypnagogic through a gossamer veil.

"In my village, I'm sort of, well, different. What some would say of my...looks, being a gift, it's rather more of a curse."

"Curse? How so?"

"Because if it's not disdain from some, it's unwanted advances from others," she uttered the word as if it was bitter Mugwort. "And it's not enough they speculate that I'm possibly a witch just because I practice making medicine and remedies."

"Interesting. Perhaps they are jealous of your beauty. And it's rare that a woman makes medicine with herbs. Most apothecaries are merchant men. People fear what they can't understand. And jealousy sparks the craziest actions in others."

Evolet rubbed a petal between her fingers. "So what about you? Do you remember your mother? Or father?" Evolet had never really thought of Fae Folk having parents.

The stag changed his composure. "My father passed away in my early youth. I do miss him, if a little, and I can never recall my mother."

"So you live here among the other Fae?"

"Yes. We live in peace around here, respecting the boundaries and each other."

"That Barghest-"

"Knew he was treading beyond a border line," the stag interjected. "While they can be predatory, they are not be trifled with. Typically, when minding their business or not hunting, they will not attack unless provoked. But this one was somewhat amateur, and I knew he would probably try you lest I step in. There are other Fae, but they are not always kind."

"Thank you," Evolet whispered. The stag merely nodded his head once. Then suddenly he stopped and looked up. So did she.

Before them, an ivory stone pillar, worn from age and weather, rose high up, its carved surface entwining upward like the spiral of a unicorn's horn in Evolet's old book. Ivy had crawled up its body while moss shrouded around the base. The top was broken and weathered away, but it still stood magnificently in the middle of the thick Forest.

"What is this?" Evolet asked.

"A realm boundary marker," the stag answered leaning his head back to look higher.

"Realm boundary marker? For what?" Evolet tilted her head to look at it differently. She had never seen one before, nor knew there was such a thing."

"It's to mark the boundary of the royal realm...where the castle lies."

"Castle?" Evolet turned to him, baffled. "Like a castle for royalty?"

"Yes." The stag gave her a look as if underlying an obviously to his answer.

"But, I didn't know there was one around here."

"It's been enshrouded and forgotten, encased in magic to any wandering person."

"Magic?" Evolet was intrigued. "From where? Why?"

The stag turned to face her. His deep voice was low. "Have you ever heard the legend of the two princes?"