Lily and Katherine awoke together in a clearing, the mythical shadows and darkness of the forest had been pulled away now that they had faced its cruel ordeal. Bright golden sunlight streamed through the leaves, the forest floor was covered in ornate dappled light. Like all of the spring flowers that surrounded the women Katherine leaned instinctively towards the light, feeling the rich warmth of the sun on her skin for the first time. They were not unscathed by the screaming voices of the night mist, but they were strong enough to discard their sorrows and journey on. Lily unfolded the piece of notepaper that Gustavo had slipped her, the scrawl was elegant and foreign but legible.
Flower of the mountain, Lily of the valley,
See two fair ladies cross mountain passes and desert storms,
With their fistfuls of gold and skin of milky pearl,
Travelling through darkness and war for love,
The flesh of the Lily so enticing and sweet,
The bud of the flower fierce against man's cruel touch,
They will end their journey at the great green sea,
Where the flower of the mountain will find love,
And the Lily of the valley will soothe her lonely heart,
A martyr for love.
G. I pray to my Gods and yours to see you again Lily of the valley
Lily pressed the note to her heart, her eyes were wetted with the pain of what she had thrown away, but for Katherine she would do it a thousand times over.
"Who did you hear?" Katherine asked Lily, while plaiting her long white hair. Lily lay in the grass, limbs weighted down by depression and guilt, she near blinded herself staring up at the sun.
"Gustavo... and my family... who did you hear?"
"Lord Ves; and the forest witch."
"I heard her too. Are you alright?" Lily moved to sit beside Katherine, her desire to comfort her young ward pushed through the depressive catatonia.
"I have to be." Lily draped her arm across Katherine's shoulder and held her close.
"Yes, you do. We both do." The forest had robbed them of their riches and their hoofed beasts, they were without food, money or shelter. They had no map and no heading, they had only the clothes on their back.
"What's the plan?" Katherine asked, eager to keep treading ground.
"Keep moving I guess."
"In what direction?" Katherine looked about the glade, there was no way of telling which way was North or South, there were only trees and a grand matte blue sky. Lily moved around the clearing and found a tree, with sturdy low branches, something that she could climb. The climb was easy, the branches were all strong and close together. The view at the top was sublime, the forest of shadows stretched on and on, all she could see was treetops. They must have moved miles and miles through the night, the mountain was out of view. Lily turned and saw what she had been looking for, in the far distance the ocean of trees broke revealing the beginnings of a great meadow; Gustavo's home.
"What can you see?" Katherine called up to Lily.
"If we don't stop walking we should get out of the forest by nightfall." Lily shouted back, relishing in the view. The sun warmed her skin so delightfully, and a swathe of swallows danced about the sky overhead. The majesty of nature never failed to overwhelm her, she would give up all of her riches and all of her intelligent humanity to life as a bird. To spend her days soaring over everything, to taste true freedom. There was no witch in all of Fayrith that could grant her that. Lily climbed back down into the shade of the glade.
"Which way?" Katherine stood and brushed the grass and dirt from her cumbersome gown, preparing to journey on. Lily pointed in the general direction of the meadow and they began to trudge through the underbrush. The winding and twisting roots of the night before had vanished, the night had brought about a false and terrifying illusion of the forest. In the light of day there was beauty, leaves glowed golden with the sun and flora of all colours grew up tree trunks and underfoot. Thirst began to set in, and hunger would come soon enough, they could hear no streams and see no forest fruits. Their mouths were dry and their heads light from the heat, still they continued to move. One foot in front of the other.
After about 3 hours of steady walking through unchanging landscape they began to hear a strange voice on the wind, a woman singing in a foreign and elegant language. He voice sounded joyous.
"Should we go and find her?" Asked Katherine of Lily who was wracked by caution.
"It could be a trick." Both of them wanted so badly for it to be fruitful, for the songstress to provide them with heavy food and cold clean water. They could almost taste it.
"It's a risk I want to take." Katherine commanded and so they went, following the sound of rising and falling notes. The travellers came upon a tower, made completely of ornate marble and adorned with elegant carvings of Gods and fabled creatures, it's roof far above the canopy. The song seemed to be coming from the top of the structure. Lily and Katherine called up to the mysterious songstress who stopped her opera with sudden shock. Startled to see people in her forest, she lent over the window ledge to look down upon them. Katherine looked up at her with wonder, she had heard tales of the elven folk. Often solitary nature dwellers, elves were gifted with song, beauty and knowledge. The elf squealed with excitement, clutching her hands together.
"Guests! Oh it's been far too long, you must come in, I'll put the kettle on! The doors unlocked!" The woman danced away from the window and began rooting through her kitchen, preparing foods and drink for her visitors. The door was also of marble, carved with leaves and fruits, pushing it open took some effort and it scraped across the marble floor. A spiralled staircase twisted its way to the top room, lining the walls of the stairway were books upon books. Books on science, philosophy, literature, the arts, divinity and dark magic. The small wooden door at the top of the stairs opened and the excitable woman called down to the travellers;
"Come in, come in. What are your names? I'm Florabella." Florabella led them into her living area, piles of books surrounded her bed and desk. The kitchen was warm and welcoming, bouquets of dried herbs hung from the ceiling, the kettle hissed delightfully on the fire. Florabella set about slicing homemade bread for her companions. A large telescope sat in the middle of the round room, looking up out of a hatch in the roof. The walls were covered in scrawled notes and drawings of star patterns. Florabella was as elves were always described to be, gifted with inhuman grace and beauty. She was tall and slender, with tan skin and dark tight curls that moved with hypnotic fluidity. She wore a gown of emerald green and gold floral embroidery.
"Katherine and Lily." Katherine responded, looking about the room in wonder. Lily found herself fascinated by the books, all in ancient elvish, the keepers and jealous guardians of knowledge. No human alive could translate those curves and flourishes.
"What charming names, please, sit. Are you hungry?" Florabella asked while setting a hot pot of tea down before them, it smelt sweet and floral, unlike human tea.
"Famished, thank you. But is it safe... for us to eat elven food?" Lily enquired with cagey caution. Florabella just laughed a silvery and bemused laugh.
"It's fay food you shouldn't eat, you have no harm to fear from me." The forest woman set down plates of bread with honey and goats cheese, fresh fruits, blocks of mature cheddar and chutney, honeyed cold gammon, seasoned vegetables and sweet vanilla cake. There was ice cold water in abundance. Florabella sat with the travellers and dined.
"So tell me, Katherine, Lily, why are you travelling through such a troublesome forest?"
"I am to marry, a prince in Maequil, we're travelling there." Florabella grinned,
"So you are the flower of the mountain, it is an honour; though I must admit I do find your tradition bizarre... and Maequil, oh what a city!" Florabella spoke fast, moving from thought to thought with fluidity.
"It's an honour to meet an elf." Katherine returned the courtesy.
"Have you been to Maequil? What's it like?" Lily questioned, eager to learn more about her future home.
"It's very hot... and dry but bustling with energy. The ocean is stunning, the people are roguish but romantic. It is quite different to the mountain but you'll settle in... just remember to be open minded." Florabella poured the tea now that they had eaten their fill.
"I'm excited to see it." Katherine imagined her husband, dark, tall and strong, fierce even. She imagined an ocean without an end.
"What is your area of study Florabella?" Lily enquired, caressing her fingers across the dark blue fabric cover of an illegible book.
"I watch the night sky, for patterns and movements. The stars and planets control, or predict, much of life here. Fascinating really."
"What do you predict?" Asked Lily, she had always fancied herself a scholar but her humanity and emotion barred her from it. The learning institutes of the land were for elves only.
"A change is coming, a time of prosperity and comfort. But it will take hard work and perseverance, self sacrifice, to change the traditions of the land. That's all I know, I would like to see it in my lifetime." The elven woman smiled warmly at the flower of the mountain, Katherine had the power to create real change and she had stumbled upon Florabella only the day after the planets had revealed this knowledge to her.
"All of that from the sky! I would have loved to have learnt as you elves learn." Lily reminisced.
"Oh well you must stay the night, I can teach you the basics. You're too far from the forest edge to get out before nightfall anyway and you must learn to fear the darkness amongst trees."
"That is very kind." Katherine thanked Florabella, "We have already faced that darkness... do you know what or who it is?"
"I'm glad of the company. They are treacherous spirits, they reflect your greatest miseries back to you, harmless really, but maddening. They won't bother us in here." The afternoon passed quickly, they relished in delicate elven flavours and highly intelligent conversation until the rich orange light of sunset flooded the tower room.
After the forest had been cast into darkness Katherine, Lily and Florabella huddled around the telescope. They waited while Florabella searched the skies for something to look at, she moved effortlessly about constellations and planets, settling finally on the rough surface of the golden moon.
"Look look." Florabella ushered to Lily once the contraption had been appropriately set up. Lily could not make out the otherworldly texture, it seemed to glow gold.
"What is it?" She asked.
"It's the moon." The once abstract craters and shadows suddenly became a vision of meaning and wonder, Lily was awestruck by the celestial rock. Lily pulled away from the telescope to allow Katherine a turn.
"That's incredible!" Lily exalted, looking through Florabella's glass roof at the small yellow orb, thousands and thousands of miles away. Katherine gasped with awe, once just a distant dream the moon solidified itself. Everything from its golden colour, to its rough texture was a thing of wonder. Guinevere took them on a tour of the skies, showing them planets of red and green, showing them constellations and nebulas. It was a beauty unlike any Katherine of Lily had ever seen before, they imagined what it would be like to drift amongst the stars, to stand on that cavernous and golden surface of the moon. They stayed up late that night, drinking floral hot chocolate and listening to Florabella's elven myths and stories of the great distant cosmos.