As they made their way out of the forest, Vadde looked down at where their fingers interlocked. It felt good. It looked sweet. And then it stopped—or rather, Wyrn did.

Vadde thought to ask why but him giving her hand a squeeze was more than enough.

“Princess,” Wyrn whispered.

She mimicked him by lowering her voice in kind. “Yes?”

“Whatever you do, keep your head down.”

It was just the two of them in the forest and while she wasn’t sure she was ready for everything that might follow, she concluded she was far readier now than when she’d first offered him her body. She’d manage. Standing bold, she waited.

“Pig.”

Vadde’s left eye opened, then her right when he repeated the word.

“Pig!”

It was then that Vadde looked past Wyrn to see the…well, in all physical constructs it was a boar. It was as large as a horse, however.

“Don’t look at it.” Wyrn shoved her head down. His breathing came ragged. “It’s not a normal pig.”

Vadde panicked but whispered, “Obviously! And I’ve walked this forest. No one could have warned me about the boars?”

“It’s not a boar. It’s a pig,” Wyrn corrected but that hardly mattered. He started to move, slowly at first but picked up speed with time. The animal’s head turned to follow them. “Stop looking at it,” Wyrn scolded.

“I’m not!”

“Then why’s it staring?”

“Maybe because you’re staring,” she fired back.

“I’m not staring.”

“Then how would you know it’s looking if you’re not staring?”

“Because I can hear it just fine.” He kept her tucked at his side as he inched on. Then he stopped.

Vadde’s heart beat so fast against her ribs that her chest ached.

She was too afraid to look. “What now?” At the silence, she asked, “Wyrn?”

“Two more have come.” He gripped her hand tight. “One we could outmaneuver, but not three.”

When he tensed, Vadde waited. She might have waited forever if she didn’t say, “Let me guess. Two more?”

“Best if you don’t know,” he whispered.

Vadde went against his advice and her own better judgement and glanced up from the ground once. The army of overgrown pigs had her hanging her head fast.

“This isn’t normal,” Wyrn said. “Has anyone given you something? Have you taken some sort of charm? Maybe from Shaza?”

The nerve. She’d sooner take something from a demon.

“Search your dress,” Wyrn begged. “Because they’re not backing down.”

Wyrn was always so steadfast. Feeling him tremble, his grip on her left hand tight, she began to tremble as well. Despite that, she obeyed but it was to no avail.

“Nothing. There’s nothing.”

“There has to be.”

“Well, what am I looking for! I have nothing.”

“Princess….” Wyrn waited then lost patience. When he pulled at the hem of her dress, he said, “Then check under.”

“What?”

He let out a sigh then did the honors instead. First up her knee then the other. He traced her underwear then stopped. There wouldn’t be any paper there.

His fingers grazed something, and he tugged.

One by one, the pigs turned. When the last one faded, Vadde stepped back to see what Wyrn was holding.

She was right, it wasn’t paper but cloth, so small and thin she’d never have found it.

“It was sewn into your dress,” Wyrn said, unamused. When he started walking, he was in a fury. “What if I hadn’t been here? What if we’d split up for even a moment!”

By the time they reached the edge of the forest, they were both in a temper. Among the cheer and festivities, a beaming Shaza, wearing a crown of flowers, stood beside her husband. Even Aggu offered her congratulations.

The scene sobered Vadde while it lit Wyrn up.

Before he could march out and make a scene, Vadde jumped before him. “Wait. Let’s discuss it in the night.” He tried to step past, but she was quick. “Please. Not here. It’s your brother’s wife.”

“You don’t understand,” Wyrn insisted. “Once the marriage is blessed, it cannot be undone. It’s the law of The Living Goddess.”

Even so, Vadde was still reluctant. She made the mistake of looking over her shoulder to the happiness etched into Shaza’s face. Vadde wanted that for herself. In a strange way, Vadde felt sorry for her. Shaza’d just wanted to win. Wyrn was skilled and clever. She must have known he was a proper challenge. That was a proper supportive wife.

“We’ll confront her,” Vadde promised. “But please, tonight. Let’s do it tonight. Isn’t the blessing tonight?”

They ended up preparing the food, and not without a lot of arm-twisting on Wyrn’s part. Vadde didn’t quite know what to say, so she went about quietly making her soup. Soup was easy. She could just put everything in. As time progressed, his mood got fouler and fouler.

It was hard seeing him like this. So when another foul-mood man marched in and announced, “Never mind with the food,” Vadde turned to see.

Bonn.

He put something down on the table.

If the expression on Wyrn’s face was any indication, he wasn’t pleased either. He let out a sigh and picked the little doll made of sticks and leaves up. It was sewn poorly.

“The magic’s been sapped up.”

Wyrn agreed. “It took quite a hit.” He picked his head up and asked his brother, “This is what you’re mad about?”

“She cheated.” The hurt in his voice was hard to bear. “She cheated.”

“Where’s the other one?” Wyrn asked. “The one for her?”

The doll was strange—it looked like Bonn, even down to the red string for hair.

“We’re too different. We’re too unalike.”

Wyrn warned, “She’ll argue that it was just a guardian trinket. And one for you—one that saved you if the state of it means anything.” He hesitated then asked, “You—you fell?” He turned the doll over. “On your back?”

“Once, but it was nothing.”

Now when Vadde regarded the doll, she examined all the parts that were barely hanging together.

“It doesn’t look like nothing. The arm and leg’s broke.”

Instead of answering, Bonn pulled up a chair and sat, elbows on his knees. Wyrn left the bread he was making and took a seat across from him.

“Did you go looking for that? Trying to dig up an excuse like you always do?”

His brother’s posture didn’t change. “I knew she would somehow. It’s in her nature.”

“I’m not defending Shaza of all people, but you’re the one who asked for this ceremony. It’s like some sort of sabotage. And to find the doll—”

“I didn’t find it.” Bonn met Wyrn’s gaze. “She confessed. But what would all those tears do?”

Wyrn shook his head. “Only you know that.”

“She says there aren’t any others.”

For the first time, Wyrn hesitated. “And you believe that?”

Bonn shook his head. Their eyes met, finally. “But that doll bears the markings of the Fairy King. You know the sort who pray to him.”

“Ruthless. Competitive. Deadly. Yes. We all know.” Wyrn was thoughtful for some time until he sat up. “I suppose we can go out there and disappoint everyone.” Bonn’s frown deepened and Wyrn continued, “Or…we can finish this and make peace with what we have—”

“She cheated.”

“To save you. I’m okay with that. She didn’t summon extra strength or something like that.” He muttered under his breath, “Or the pigs.”

He had Bonn’s interest. Vadde saw through the thoughtful expression to the emotion there. Bonn was touched. His strong sense of justice pushed him against accepting this win but not the fact that she’d made protection for him but not herself.

Vadde took a deep breath then said, “The food’s almost ready.”

Wyrn hesitated. “Brother, there’s something I must say—”

“I’m not a very good cook and I’ve ruined your soup,” Vadde interjected. Bonn’s soft smile said he hadn’t minded. She said what they’d all have to admit eventually, “I—I think Shaza honestly loves you.” That wasn’t enough so she reminded him, “And she confessed.” His hesitation was a worry. “Unless…you don’t feel the same?”

After a long bout of silence, Bonn stood. He reached for the doll. “We have to burn it. Things from the Fairy King goes contrary to The Living Goddess.”

“I’ll burn it,” Wyrn caught the doll before his brother got the chance. He explained, “Better if Father catches me with it and not you. He’ll immediately know who’s to blame.”

That fact upset Bonn to some degree but eventually, he nodded. “Appreciate it. But when she’s become a proper nuisance, you let me know.” No one gave him an answer—they were waiting. Bonn turned to make his way out but paused at the door and told Vadde, “We’d appreciate the soup. Thank you.”

They both stared after his retreat.

“He acts like she’s someone he can ever be rid of without a fight.”

Vadde didn’t know what that meant. “Huh?”

Wyrn watched her for some time then sighed. “Nothing. Just be mindful of the soup.”

With a slow nod, Vadde turned back to the large pot. A hand on her shoulder drew her attention.

“Maybe—perhaps it’s best if you didn’t get into it anymore with Shaza. If she’s calling on both the Fairy King and The Living Goddess, then it’ll backfire. Both are diametrically opposed.” Vadde answered with a meek nod, but he surprised her by saying, “Thank you.”

“Hmm?” The gears in her head turned until she preened. “For being a good supportive wife?”

He went back to the dough. “Never mind.”

Vadde gasped. “But it’s a victory. Correct?”

A smile danced along Wyrn’s lips, and he hung his head to hide it. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

They worked on in amicable silence, but something nagged at Vadde. “Wyrn?”

“Yes?”

“The—The Living Goddess, what—what is she?”

“What is she? You are a princess. Surely you know.”

But Vadde didn’t know. Being here was troubling for many reasons, mainly because she was slowly realizing how little she knew of the world around her. And to a dangerous degree.

“The Living Goddess was a fairy forced mortal when her wings were ripped out.”

Vadde turned to watch Wyrn’s hard work. “That’s awful.”

“Very. To a regular fairy, they’d just turn human with no wings. But for her, magic started pouring out of her back. Without her magic, she’d die. The Fairy King was selfish and didn’t want to lose any of her power. So he made an enchantment that trapped her in mortal form forever. It also tied her magic to the land.” After a small pause, he declared, “So now we praise her and keep her in mind in all things and she blesses us.”

“Or…or curse.” Vadde hadn’t meant to say it aloud. A glance over at Wyrn showed him watching her. Now that Vadde had said it, she didn’t mince her words. “How strong are her curses?”

“Strong.”

Vadde’s stomach dropped. “How strong?”

He considered his words then said, “Put it this way, if you promise the Goddess something and don’t deliver, she comes to collect. Long time Jaffo story. A dying man promised to pray each morning to the Goddess. The one day he overslept, that was that.”

It took a moment for Vadde to realize she’d forgotten how to breathe. “And what if—what if, say, you get—a—a new pet if you set the old one free?”

Wyrn turned the dough over and continued to knead it. “That’s a good one. But sad.”

“Sad?”

“Should that first pet ever come back on its own, the second one is as dead as they come.” When she didn’t answer, he gazed at her. “Let’s talk of good things. And I’ll teach you to dance.”

Wordlessly, Vadde nodded then turned back to her pot.

“And keep it under your hat about Shaza’s charms. Father’s very peculiar about anyone touched by magic. A banishing would be the least of her worries. Joining the Jaffo is not for the faint of heart.” He flicked some dough after her and chuckled. “You should run, too.” Something caught his eye. It was the way he froze that concerned her. All smiles faded.

Like a man possessed, he reached for the doll and picked it up. For a long while, he studied it. After he dusted off his hands and reached into his own pockets for the now crushed paper and cloth, he put all three together. “Princess…have you gotten into it with anyone? Any of the other wives?”

“What?” Vadde left the soup and approached, more than curious. “Of course not. Everyone loves me.” His sharp gaze meant she should be serious. “Perhaps if you explain what it is you’re seeing….”

He tapped a finger on the black words on the doll’s belly then the paper charm. “The spell of confusion and the doll matches. Both from the Fairy King’s lot and both with the same base prayer.” He let out a slow breath. “Both weak.”

When his fingers rested on the cloth charm, he didn’t move for some time.

Vadde’s curiosity turned to dread. “And this one?”

“Powerful,” he admitted. “And caustic.”

Their eyes met and Vadde furrowed her brows. “I suppose that’s bad.”

“Bad enough that we must tell someone.”

That someone was Aggu who stared at the charms and doll for ages once she’d seen them.

Wyrn let his worry show. “It summoned pigs. Shaza’s gone too far. I’m pretty certain it’s fairy magic—”

“How would you know fairy magic?” Aggu said without much emotion. When he fell silent out of shock, she chose her words with care. “Your father’s in good spirits now that all his sons are married. He hasn’t even touched a drink since he toasted to your luck and fortune. Be very careful of the words you say.” After suffering through Wyrn’s and Vadde’s embarrassment for a moment, she examined the charms and admitted, “It’s not Shaza.”

Stunned, Wyrn needed a moment to respond, “Of course it is.”

“Look carefully. The paper charm and the paper doll are Shaza’s style. That is true.” After a long pause, Aggu shook her head, distraught. “It is fairy magic. Proper fairy magic. Damn.”

The curse caught Wyrn off guard. It surprised Vadde as well.

“Damn,” Aggu repeated. “A fairy. There’s a fairy here.”

Wyrn tried to assure her. “It wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened. And the pact even says it’s acceptable so long as there’s no bloodshed. If we find her—”

“No. If we’ve got a fairy in our midst hidden in with the wives, then let her stay hidden. Uncovering her would lead to all sorts of trouble.” Aggu searched their faces for understanding. Finally, she asked Vadde, “Do you remember that the midwife checked your back? She was checking for wing scars. No woman in this village has any, that means it’s a fairy with power. One that’s chosen to go about life in perfect contentment. Your father will weed her out and confront her. And then what? He can’t get rid of her. That’ll force us to seek out The Living Goddess. No. Absolutely not. No.”

Aggu’d warned against upsetting her husband, but the fear etched into her face spoke of someone equally worried.

“That’s true,” Wyrn said finally. “But The Living Goddess can protect—”

“To hell with The Living Goddess. The last time we visited her, your brother’s wife and child died!”

The conviction of the words shocked Vadde but Wyrn’s jaw dropped.

“And until nearly six months ago, there wasn’t so much as a peep of trouble on this hill.”

Vadde took a step back.

“Mother….” Wyrn struggled with something to say. Finally, he hung his head and muttered, “Yes, ma’am. We’ll take care of it ourselves.”

Aggu’s hand trembled when she reached for the things on the table. And just like that, she was gone.

Neither Vadde nor Wyrn knew what to say.

Vadde felt awful. “I never meant to upset her.”

“Her fear for the fairies is her sore point.” Wyrn wiped his hands and reached under the table for a small basket. “She was the one who selected the offering for the Goddess that night,” Wyrn muttered. “And it wasn’t enough. She—she’s been against prayers ever since, but she dare not say it around Father.” Wyrn glanced at her from behind his curtain of brown hair. “But she’s right about one thing, there are a lot of creatures in this valley. Unless they cause trouble, it’s understood that we let them roam free and we don’t provoke them.”

Vadde watched his every move. “So me being terrible at chores was a provocation?”

Silently, he filled the small basket with several fruit. When she thought to ask again, he said, “I don’t know what’s set them off. We’ll take care of this. At least it’s good to know it’s not Shaza. If we’d falsely accused her, it would have been hell.”

His words were less than encouraging. “But it’s a woman? Are all fairy women?”

Wyrn shook his head. “No. But all the women here are foreigners. We can trace all the male lines. Even in the village. Every woman there is a foreigner, too.” Before Vadde could ask why, he said, “Even Mother’s said it’s a fairy. So chances are, you’ve been awful at your chores and it’s trying to teach you a lesson.” He didn’t seem all that convinced. “In a terrible way. Fairies are pretty vengeful. So from now on, we’ll be more careful. And for one, only you or me will tend to your clothes.”

Vadde looked down when he shoved the basket into her hands.

“This is an offering. We’ll leave it for the fairy, whoever she is, and if she takes it, we’ll see that as a truce.”

Her eyes met his when she asked, “And if she doesn’t?”

“She will.”

Despite his confidence, Vadde felt ill-at-ease. A few shaky steps took her back to the pot.