Silver Rose

Humans

The sun, moon, stars, sky… they all looked the
same, but knowing that they were in another world made her want to believe they were actually different. Mara wanted to run around screaming in her new freedom, but then she wouldn’t be able to cover her steps.
 
After her mother left, Mara had spent the next 60 years with her father's parents, the Madids. While there, they taught her the art of healing. She discovered that she loved to heal and was very happy in those days. But then her mother's parents found out that the Madids were "abusing" her magical abilities by teaching her healing. They came for her, and the Madids gave her up because they weren't powerful enough to fight the Polante-Gnights.

So Mara had to change lives again. At 160 she was suddenly swept into the life of the elite. Her parents had been apart of this group in rank and power, but both shied away from social settings. So Mara was completely new to the feasts, parties, and games that the most powerful families constantly had.

They were complete snobs who sniffed in disgust when she mentioned that she'd been learning healing. Everyone her age had already formed their own social groups and refused to let her in. She quickly decided to hate everything. Her grandmother Isthar thought the solution to her dejection was to throw more parties (which made her hate them even more). Her grandfather Cyrus decided to make her learn more magic skills. At first she was resolved to hate this too. All these powerful Fauyes did all day was to learn magic and practice magic (unless they were having a party)--magic consumed their lives.

The Madids loved magic too (what fairy didn't), but they took the time to walk in the woods, watch a sunset. A lot of times they didn't even use magic to
get tasks done. They did it themselves. It was a far cry from the elites who couldn't blink without using magic. Everything, from cleaning a room to pouring a glass of yomang to making the yomang, was done with magic. Although she tried to resist, Mara was fascinated by the complete ease they had in welding their magic.

The Madids had to look at an object or point to it to make it come to them. The Polante-Gnights only had to think it and it came or appeared or built itself. It was exactly how her mother used to do magic. So Mara finally caved in to the entreaties of her grandfather and became more skilled in her magic.

But the interest in magic didn't last long. Despite all the people around her, she felt alone. Every morning when she awoke and every night when she closed her eyes and in all the moments in between, she thought of her mother. She had left so abruptly... For years after her disappearance, Mara had hoped she'd left a letter or a clue telling why she gone and if she was coming back. For several years she was extremely excited about her birthdays because she had convinced herself that her mother would return on it. But she didn't come back on her birthday or any day. She'd left no note, no clue. And she never once tried to contract anyone.

Until she was 230, she lived her life almost as if her mother was dead. Then she overheard a conversation between her grandfather Cyrus, and her great grandfathers, Hannt and Udanni. They said that they still couldn't find her mother, but knew without a doubt that she was alive. She was somewhere in the human realm and using a powerful shield to keep her whereabouts unknown. Grandfathers Hannt and Udanni said they'd have to give up searching for her. They would have to wait until she came to them.

Mara had thought the family didn't care that her mother left. But actually, they'd been searching for her for the past 130 years. They must have used magic to look for her since she knew they'd never leave the Fauyen realm.

But this meant her mother was alive and in the human world. That was when she decided to look for her mother herself. Magic couldn't find her, but maybe a physical search would. She used books to teach herself how to veil her body and erase her footsteps so her family wouldn't be able to follow her. Once she mastered these skills, she left the Fauyen world. Giving herself one year, she began searching for her mother in the human realm.

At first she just wandered around hoping to run into to her. When she realized that probably
wouldn’t work, she made a plan. All she had to do was to figure out where her mother went to. After two months she found where her father was killed (or at least where she thought he was killed). Then she went to the surrounding villages and asked if anyone had seen her mother. They all said no. When she mentioned that her mother was a fairy, the humans would look at each other nervously. They told her no and then asked her to leave. One village grabbed pitchforks, torches, and anything they could throw and ran her out of the region.

Mara learned two things about how humans saw fairies: either they hated them and wanted them dead, or they loved them and made the fairy go insane with the desire to grant their petty wishes.
 
As Mara got further from the region where her father died, less and less people knew anything about her mother. Now she no longer called her mother a fairy, but inquired about her as a traveler who wanted to hear the latest news.  As far she could tell, her mother had been in a country called Krist and burned down an entire village after accusing them of murdering her husband. Then she put a curse on all living beings and disappeared. No one had heard anything about her for over a hundred years.
 
There seemed to be three opinions about her whereabouts.

“She’s long dead now. Died in the swamps no doubt. It’s been over a hundred years, no one lives much more than that.”

“She’s gone back to hell where she came from. She won’t bother us no more.”

“She’s hiding out somewhere. Getting an army of evil creatures together to do her bidding; one day
she’ll unleash them upon the earth and kill every man, woman and child!” 

Most humans liked the first two conclusions. Mara wasn’t sure if her mother was getting an army, but she knew that her mother had a lot of patience. If she had said any kind of curse, she’d bide her
time until she felt the curse was ready. Fairies
were very serious when it came to blessings and curses. These were nothing to fool around with.
Mara knew one thing—the humans were in more danger than they could think of.

As she continued her trek in the human world, she wandered what her mother’s exact words were.

She doubted that she had cursed all living things.
But she may have cursed all humans. Mara tried to remember what she’d been taught in school about fairies who get out of hand. If her mother tried to kill all humans, the Fauyes would have to step in. Demolishing humans would tip the balance of the order of the world. The powerful beings had a responsibility to those under them to protect them when necessary. This would be crucial. Her mother was very powerful according to her
grandfathers. They hadn’t said how powerful, but she was mighty enough to elude the efforts of the best Fauyes for a hundred years. That was power.
If the Fauyes couldn’t stop her, then they’d call on the other fairies, the elves, the charmints and other magical beings. If they all had to come together to stop her, then they’d probably have to kill her.

Mara couldn't bear this thought. Finally, she plopped down under a tree and wept. Tears of exhaustion, pain, sadness, and loneliness flowed down her cheeks. But mostly they were tears of defeat. A year was almost over and she never found her mother. And on top of it all, she was certain she would see her mother killed in the future. So there was nothing she could do. She would have to go back to her miserable existence in the Fauyen world.

She held her necklace's pendant in her hand. Her father gave it to her before he left. It was a birthday gift. She remembered how her mother had tried to convince her to give it to her. She thought it was too dangerous for one so young to have. But Mara refused and her mother gave up. The necklace was so beautiful. On the thin silver chain hung a small crystal ball. Inside the ball was a red stone that sometimes looked like liquid. Mara loved to looked at it. It always gave her a sense of peace and she held it now for that purpose.


“Is something troubling you, miss?”

Mara’s head snapped up. A young man stood in
front of her.


“I saw you sitting here alone,” he said.

“I want to be alone,” she said.

The man nodded his blond head. Then he sat next to her.

“I said I want to be alone,” Mara said, annoyed.

“I know,” he said, “but it’s the harvest festival. A time of celebration, you can’t celebrate by yourself.”

“I’m not celebrating anything. And if you won’t go away, then I will.” Mara said. She moved to stand.

The man grabbed her hand. She fell over as she pulled her hand away. She’d never been touched by a human except when they tried to hurt her. The man went over to her and put his hands on her again.

“I’m sorry,” he said, “let me help you up.”

 She pushed him away.

“I don’t need your help,” she said.

She looked down. Her apples and bread had fallen out.

“This was my dinner,” she said, picking the apples up.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to… it’s just that I didn’t want you to leave. I…”

“I don’t care what you want! I don’t care what
anyone wants. When I go home I’ll have to do what
everyone else wants. Can I do what I want?! Would that be asking too much?! Or am I being selfish?”

“Yes. No. I mean no… or, uh… which question do you want me to answer?”

“None! Don’t speak to me!” Mara picked up the bread. She brushed the grass and dirt off it. Then she placed it in her sack.

“I know you don’t want me to speak to you, but there’s plenty of food at the festival. You could restock your supply. I’ll pay for it, since I spoiled your dinner.” The man said.

Mara really didn’t want to go with him. She wanted to make a beeline home. But she wouldn’t mind
having something besides bread and apples for a
change. She’d eat, get some food for the road, and
leave. It would only take an hour.

The hour turned into a night. The night became a week. And the week turned into a month. Mara’s curiosity to understand the humans grew the longer she stayed. She first stayed because the young man, Doustan Ranley, insisted that she couldn’t travel alone at night. And she didn’t protest (too much) because she was very tired. His father owned an inn and she stayed there.

“It was named the Silver Rose by my great grandmother,” Doustan told her when he took her on a tour one day.

“But there aren’t any roses,” Mara commented.

“It’s just the name,” Doustan said.

“There is much in a name. A name means something.” Mara said. “You should have roses all over this place. And there should be at least one silver rose.”

Doustan laughed.
“There’s no such thing as silver roses,” he said.

“Yes, there is. Roses of all colors grew where I’m from,” Mara said.

Doustan didn’t look convinced.

“Really? And where do you come from?” He asked.

“It doesn’t matter where I’m from. It’s not like you could ever go there.”

“I could.”

“No. You couldn’t.”

“How do you know…”

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore. Why don’t you show me the rest of the town?”

Doustan showed her all of town and when they’d seen it all he smiled at her.

“And that is all of Wedimell, in the country of Brovan ruled by our king, Elbert DeLaney.”

“Do you like being ruled by a king?” Mara asked.

“I don’t know. The only king I’ve ever known is King Elbert and I hate him. But being ruled by a king who actually cares two cents for his people might be good.”

“Is this King Elbert terrible enough to make you hate him?” She asked.

“Yes. When we are in famine he raises the food tax so that he and his men can eat more. Never mind that people must give their last piece of bread to pay it. He increases taxes for his own amusement to build carriages, and palaces, and to make him rich. If a family can’t pay, the man is executed in front of the eyes of his family. Then everything is taken from them and they are sent to the mines, women and children, to pay off the debt.”

A short silence fell over them.

“You’ve seen this, haven’t you?” She asked.

Doustan sat down on a tree stump. He nodded.

“My best friend, Jon, my uncle’s family, three of our
neighbors. They make the entire town watch as they take their valuables and smash everything else. Then they set the house, farm, or business on fire. They take the men that lived there and cut off their legs and arms before throwing them into the fire. You don’t see them rape the women, but you know it happened. The next morning when they leave with them, the women look like they’ve lost their very souls. Then they take them away. You never see them again… And that’s just for not being able to pay your taxes three times in a row. Can you imagine what they do when you are accused of a crime?”

He began to cry. Mara crouched down beside him. Awkwardly, she touched his shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” she finally said, “I don’t know what to say. I’ve never heard of anything so terrible.”

Doustan lifted his head and laughed. 

“Where ever you’re from must be perfect. I’m sure you come from heaven,” he said looking into her eyes.

Mara hoped he was joking, but he seemed serious. Feeling very uncomfortable, she stood.

“You should probably be getting back,” she said.

“Yes, we should,” he said, standing.

Mara didn’t understand why humans put up with a horrible king. But, as Doustan tried to explain, the human world was apparently very complicated.
Doustan’s mother offered Mara a job at the inn. Mara accepted because she wanted to know how these people spent their days. In many ways it was very hard, but she liked seeing the work accomplished at the end of the day. She kind of enjoyed the work. It had to be done to stay alive, something fairies didn’t have to do.

She didn’t tell anyone she was a fairy. As far as
anyone knew, she came from the west, across the Sauyan Sea which lay on Brovan's west border, where everything was very strange. She was very careful about what she said and did and never performed any kind of magic. This meant she stopped covering her footsteps and putting up veils to conceal her whereabouts. She knew someone from her family would find her now. When they came she decided not to put up a fight and to quietly go with them.


Five months later as spring took the reins from winter, the town talked about a new neighbor. His name was Keinan Drihagee and he bought some farmland on the outskirts of Wedimell. In fact, he bought 50 acres of land. He got the land deeds straight from the king himself. The people who lived on the land he bought let their fears be known to the rest of the town. Everyone was ready to hate him.

He came into the town two weeks later. He went to the Silver Rose Inn. He sat at a table at the small pub they had inside. Everyone there was sure they knew who he was. He even looked important. The only thing that surprised them was that he must have only been in his twenties.

Mr. Ranley was the first to recover from the shock of him even coming there.

“Sir, you must be Lord Drihagee,” Mr. Ranley said.

“Mr. Keinan will do,” Keinan said. “Is something wrong? You look shocked.”

“No, sir, it’s just that when a man wants a good drink he goes to the Jolly Troll Tavern. You should go there, sir,” Mr. Ranley said.

“I came here for a reason,” Keinan said.

“And may I ask what your reason is, sir?” Mr. Ranley asked.

“I’ll know it when it comes,” Keinan said.

The people in the pub looked at each other, wondering what he meant.

“Will you be having a drink, Mr. Keinan?” Mrs. Ranley asked.

“What would you suggest?” Keinan asked.

Mrs. Ranley stood flabbergasted for a moment. Important guests never asked for her opinion.

“Well…” she stuttered, “we, um, have some wine…”

“Then bring me that,” Keinan said.

“Yes, sir,” Mrs. Ranley curtsied. “Currie!”
She yelled to one of her daughters. “Go fetch the
wine!”

Currie rushed off and quickly returned with a bottle of wine. She poured Keinan a glass of wine.

“Thank you,” he said taking it from her hands.
Currie blushed. He was very handsome with black curls and dark blue eyes. He raised his glass.

“To you,” he said to Currie.

Doustan rolled his eyes. But after that neither Currie nor her sister ever said a bad word about Mr. Keinan. Keinan turned to Mr. Ranley.

“Sit down, please,” he said, pointing to a chair at his table. Cautiously, Mr. Ranley sat.

“What do you think of this town?” Keinan asked.

“It’s a good town full of good hard working people,” Mr. Ranley said.

“I like hard workers,” Keinan said.

Doustan exchanged a wary glance with his father. They wondered how hard Mr. Keinan would make his new tenants work.

“What do you think of this country?” Keinan asked.

“The same as Wedimell, for the most part, although there are some despicable people in
it,” Mr. Ranley replied.

“People such as your king?” Keinan asked.

Mr. Ranley stood.

“If you are one of his spies…” He began.

Keinan waved his hand.

“I work for no one,” he said. “I’m not from Brovan and I only wanted to know if that was one of the despicable people in this country. Now, please sit
down.”

Slowly, Mr. Ranley sat down.

“Why don’t you tell me about your inn and your family?” Keinan suggested.

Mr. Ranley began to tell the history of his family and his inn cautiously at first. Then he began to become comfortable and soon he was proudly
talking with his wife jumping in when she felt the
need to.

After a while, Doustan slipped out to find Mara. She was planting a rose and an herb garden around the house. He knelt beside her.

“How’s it coming along?” He asked.

“Fine,” she said rubbing her forehead.

“Is there anything I can do?”

“No. I’m almost finished for today.” She covered her last seed with dirt.

“Are you sure you don’t want to work for another hour?” He asked.

“Doustan, I’m done.”

She gathered up her tools and seeds, and put them in a bucket.

“Now where are you going?” He asked as she stood.

“To take these to my room,” she said.
She headed toward the pub door. Doustan ran in front of her.

“Why don’t you go through the front?” He asked, grabbing her elbow.

“Because,” she said pulling her arm from his grasp, “I want to get a drink first.”

“Well, you can go in the front and I’ll bring you a drink.”

“I’d rather get it myself.” Mara walked toward the pub.

“Mara, wait!” Doustan called, grabbing her arm.

“Mara, there’s something I have to tell you.”

She turned to face him.

“Mara, Mara I love you,” he said. “My darling, will you marry me?”

Mara was struck dumb. She had never thought of Doustan as a potential husband. Now that he had asked her to marry him, she had no idea what her feelings were toward him. He could be very annoying and overtly persistent. Then again he could be very sweet and strong. But all that didn’t matter because she wasn’t sure if loved him in
return. In the end all she could give him was the truth.

“I don’t know, Doustan. I don’t know.”

Then she quickly ducked into the pub. She went behind the counter and grabbed a mug. Everyone in the pub was loudly talking and laughing. It sounded like they were all telling the same story, but she didn’t listen very closely. All she could think about was Doustan’s marriage proposal. After two cups of beer, she picked up the bucket and turned to go upstairs.

“Let me help you,” Doustan said, grabbing the bucket.

“I can handle it, Doustan,” she said, tugging it out of his grasp. “Please, just leave me alone for awhile!”

“Fine!” Doustan shouted.

He walked out of the inn, slamming the door behind him. Everyone got quiet. Mara turned to them to apologize. Her mouth opened, but no words came out. She stood there, her mouth wide open, frozen in time.