Flower was not a nelfkin unfamiliar with taking in strays. It was the custom of the colony to care for orphans as though they were your own. There weren’t many nelfkins left, so every child was precious. Flower herself had taken in her brother’s child, a four year-old named Jake, after her brother and his wife passed away. Her own children were grown and two were out on their own, with the third not long to follow. It had been the purpose of most of her life to be a caregiver, and she enjoyed this.
So when her eldest child turned up in a rainstorm with a gaggle of strange folks behind her, Flower did not hesitate. There was barely enough room in the cabin for all of them by the time they were all ushered in out of the weather, tracking mud and dripping wet. Flower bade them to take off their wet coats and boots and set about making tea for everyone.
Blue Jay joined her in the kitchen, a hapless sight even without her sodden coat and boots. Her hair was plastered to her face and her stockings had holes. Flower wondered if she would have the chance to darn them for her before her daughter left again.
“You’re going to tell me what this is about?” Flower asked. Sure, she let them all in, but that didn’t mean she didn’t expect an explanation. “Humans and elves are one thing, but fairies? There is a wolf in my sitting room.”
“Two wolves,” said Blue, cracking a smile. “I know it’s an imposition, Mum. Didn’t have nowhere else to take them. They’re looking for us on the common roads.”
“Whatever for?” Flower wanted to know. Her daughter wasn’t a criminal, of that she was certain, though she couldn’t speak for the rest of this crowd. She set about putting the kettle on as she waited for an explanation.
Blue sat down at the kitchen table and twiddled her thumbs. “It sounds loony. I know what it sounds like. But we’ve all got these pendants and I think we’re supposed to save the realm. Well, not all of us, but six of us have them. Remember that necklace Dad gave me? It’s special, Mum. I have to help them.”
“A similar taste in jewelry doesn’t mean you’re destined to save the realm,” said Flower. “Why do you think that?”
She was trying to understand, but it did sound absurd. And to be honest, she rather thought her daughter was too eager to be a hero sometimes.
“There was a prophecy,” Blue explained. “We were all in the same place for the first time and we all saw the same vision. I’ve never felt anything like it before. I might not understand it, but I know it’s true.”
Swallowing around a lump in her throat, Flower looked back to the kettle. “You’re too much like your dad. It’s going to get you killed one of these days.”
The free spirit Blue Jay had inherited from her father had always been Flower’s favorite thing about her husband. But it had been his undoing and she knew it. She was afraid for her children following in his footsteps.
“Mum, there’s a bunch of weirdos occupying the sitting room.” Flower’s youngest son, Bigelow, shuffled into the kitchen. His eyes widened when he caught sight of Blue Jay. “Hello, sis. This bunch of bedraggled vagabonds your doing?”
“It’s just for tonight,” Blue said. “I’ll get them out of here first thing tomorrow.”
“We can worry about that in the morning,” said Flower, steeping the tea and handing mugs to Bigelow and Blue. “Take everyone a mug of hot tea and then, Bigelow, please take out all of the extra blankets and stoke the fire in the stove. Seems like everyone will need their clothes dried and a little extra warmth to keep from catching their death.”
Her children carried out her orders without complaint and soon the company in the living room was bundled in blankets with mugs held in their hands. They were a most unusual bunch. There was an elf, several humans, two fairies, a dwarf, a wolf and what appeared to be a human with wolf ears. Some of them were already sniffling, so Flower went for her medicinal herbs and prepared a draught.
Flower was in the kitchen, measuring out doses for each of her guests, when the elf came shuffling in, holding her blanket tightly around herself, her now empty mug held in one hand.
“Hi, I’m Zi,” she greeted, not the least bit shy. “Thank you so much for the tea, could I have some more?”
“Of course, dear,” said Flower, “but first, your nose looks like it’s running a bit. Take this draught here, it will help to keep you from getting sick.”
She handed over a small vial of the draught. Zi took it but sniffed it and made a face.
“Oh, it smells terrible!” she said. And then, in a very different voice, she said, “Zi, you have to take it or you’re going to make both of us ill!”
“I know, Yuna, but I really don’t want to!”
“Take it already, you silly girl! You got us both into this, you have to make sure to take care of both of us.”
After an apparent argument with herself, Zi screwed up her courage and downed the drought. She grimaced and handed the vessel back to Flower with a sheepish expression.
“Thank you, Mrs. Grass. It was… It was very nice.”
Flower couldn’t help herself. She reached out and grasped the elf’s hand in her own. “My dear girl, it must get terribly crowded in that head of yours at times.”
Zi’s eyes instantly flooded with tears, her hand trembling in Flower’s hold. “Yes,” she admitted, “It really does.”
The truth was, Flower couldn’t stand to see a living thing suffer. She patted the elf’s hand once more and fetched her another mug of tea, then sent her back to the sitting room.
When she brought the draughts out for the rest of them, Blue took her aside and spoke to her quietly about the young fairy seated apart from the rest of them. Flower looked him over with concern. He looked as though he’d gotten a bit feverish. After she’d handed out the medicine to the rest of them, she approached him with the last draught.
“Hello there, Alaster,” she said, kneeling before him. He was huddled against the wall, looking as though he didn’t trust a single person in the room. “Just take this now, and it’ll help you feel better.”
“What’s in it?” he asked immediately, his voice sounding a bit hoarse already. Poor chap was well on his way to getting sick.
Because she knew it would make him feel better, Flower indulged him and listed the various herbs in the draught, though he didn’t look as though he understood what any of them were. Still, he nodded and took the draught, a tiny scowl his only complaint.
“My daughter tells me you could use some new clothes,” Flower said, trying to catch the young man’s eyes. “And perhaps you’d let me look at the blisters on your feet? I hear your shoes were not made for traveling.”
Alaster didn’t look like he wanted to comply, but he reluctantly uncurled and offered up his feet for inspection. Blue had done a decent job of bandaging them, but the blisters were a bit infected. Glancing at the terrible shoes in question, which were drying out by the stove, Flower could not help but feel great sympathy for the person who had walked for days in them.
“Right, well, I’ve some ointment and fresh bandages we can put on these, dear, and my oldest son keeps clothes and boots here that I think will fit you fine.” She patted his head as she rose to her feet again. Glancing around the room, she asked, “Does anyone need more tea?”
The next step was to put on a stew. There were a lot of them to feed but Flower could make vegetable stock go a long way, and she had some cured sausage in the stores. Like most nelfkins, she raised her own animals and grew her own garden, and whatever she did not raise herself, she bartered for with her neighbors. It was a simple existence but she made do with what she had.
Little Jake, having been woken by all the noise, came shuffling from his room to the sitting room, rubbing his eyes. He looked quite taken aback by the sheer number of people, his little eyes growing wide with wonder. It was late for a child his age to be up, but knowing it would be impossible for the boy to sleep now, Flower allowed him to stay up, giving him the job of handing out bowls of stew.
With everyone warmed and fed and dressed in dry clothes, Flower breathed a sigh of relief. What a lot of them there were! She was trying to remember all of their names. Aside from Zi and Alaster, there was Zi’s half-elf fiance Kniles and Alaster’s twin sister Fae. The wolf girl was Shadow, and the wolf was her sister Kael. The huntress was Artemis, the knight was Gwuryn, and the dwarf was Borli. The voice that occasionally came out of Zi’s mouth was Yuna.
Zi and Yuna were two people trapped in the same body. Shadow was a wolf who’d been cursed to live in a human form. Alaster and Fae had been separated at birth. Artemis did not want to speak of her troubles, but she thanked Flower for her concern all the same.
Flower found that she was quite smitten with all of them. They were strange, to be sure, but despite that, they were all possessed of impressive resolve and a strong sense of purpose. Six of them carried the mysterious necklaces, including Blue. The other five were Zi, Artemis, Shadow, Alaster and Fae. These were the six who’d had the vision Blue had spoken of before.
Deciding the evening needed a bit of livening up, Bigelow fetched his lute from his room and settled in the middle of the sitting room with it to entertain the group with bawdy drinking songs. Even Alaster, now dressed in a pair of trousers and a black tunic that used to belong to Flower’s son Ardan, scooted in a little closer to listen.
They all looked rather young for such a grand mission. Flower wondered how many of them would survive. How many of them would she see again after tonight?
Seated near the stove with Jake in her lap, and Kael curled at her feet, Flower took them all in and committed their faces to memory.
“Mrs. Grass,” spoke up Shadow, from her seat on the floor near Flower’s chair. Flower turned to her and the girl smiled. “I just wanted to thank you. Kael and I haven’t been shown this much kindness since we left our pack. It is so nice to be welcomed into your home.”
Kael’s tail thumped against the floor in agreement.
“Any friend of my Blue Jay is a friend of mine,” Flower assured her. “You are all very welcome here.”
Shadow smiled at her, revealing pointed canines amongst her otherwise perfectly normal, white teeth. Somehow, the smile was not at all intimidating. But there was very little that surprised Flower any more, least of all a charming young lady like Shadow.
After putting Jake back to bed, Flower set about gathering up the mugs and bowls in the sitting room. Fae, the other fairy, hurried to help her, even though Flower assured her that it wasn’t necessary. Fae would not listen to this, insisting that Flower had done enough for them as it was and that she, Fae, was determined to help clean up.
“I really must thank you for everything this evening,” Fae said as she helped Flower wash and dry the dishes in the kitchen. “The food was wonderful, and I’m grateful to you for helping my brother.”
“Not a problem,” said Flower. “When folks come to you needing help, you help them. That is how I have always lived, and it has served me well. Besides, you’re all on a quest to save the realm, aren’t you? This is the least that I could do in that case.”
Fae bit her bottom lip and nodded. She looked worried. “We don’t really know what we’re doing, Mrs. Grass. We’re not great warriors. There’s nothing special about us. What if we can’t handle it? What if we fail everyone?”
“Well, first of all, you’re wrong.” Flower put down the dish she was drying and placed her hands on her hips. “I’ve never met a group of people so special as all of you, and here I’ve only known you a few hours. But it’s natural to wonder, why me? When we are called to a duty, it is not for us to question our own merit. Instead, we dig in and we get the work done. History has often been made by folks who thought they were nothing special.”
The fairy blushed and nodded once more. “Thank you, Mrs. Grass. I needed to hear that.”
Only after they’d all gotten settled down for the night did Flower at last turn in herself. However, she was only asleep for a little while before she woke again, feeling as though there was something she needed to tend to. She rose from bed in her long night dress and pulled on her housecoat and lit a candle.
Quiet as a mouse, she checked in on Bigelow and Jake, to find them both snoring. Next, she peered into Blue Jay’s old bedroom, were Zi and Kniles had taken up residence for the night, and she found them asleep as well. She tiptoed into the sitting room, making her way around Shadow and Kael, who were curled up together under one blanket. Alaster had not left his corner but seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Gwuryn was sprawled across Flower’s entire couch, his legs hanging off one side. The dwarf, Borli, was asleep on the floor near him. Blue Jay was propped up in a chair and Fae was leaned against the wall, her eyes closed.
Only one thing seemed out of place. Artemis was nowhere to be found. After checking in the kitchen for her, Flower went to the front door and opened it carefully so as not to wake anyone up.
The rain had slowed to a small drizzle, but it was freezing cold outside. Nonetheless, Flower found the human huddled under her blanket on the porch, wide awake.
“Goodness sakes, darling, what are you doing out here?” Flower asked, closing the front door behind her as she stepped out on the porch. “You’ll catch your death.”
Artemis looked up at her, her expression strained. If the tear streaks on her face were any indication, she had been out here crying.
“I just wanted some time alone,” Artemis murmured. “My apologies if I woke you.”
“Nonsense.” Flower settled down on the porch beside the human, despite the cold. “I was just checking on everyone and noticed you weren’t inside. Is it alright if I sit out here with you for a little while?”
It wasn’t as dreadful out as it had been, but it wasn’t very pleasant either. It was a very dark night as well, with the moon hidden by clouds.
“You don’t have to,” said Artemis but she cracked a smile and dipped her head. “I wouldn’t mind the company.”
Flower got the impression that getting Artemis to smile at you was not a small feat, so she smiled back, pleased. For a while, they sat together in silence. It seemed to Flower that something weighed heavily on the young woman’s mind, but she felt it would be best if Artemis chose to speak of it of her own volition, rather than Flower prompting her to do so.
At length, Artemis did speak up, though she sounded as though it was a secret she didn’t want to share.
“They all think I’m a hero like them. I’m not. I’ve done things I’m not proud of. Sometimes I think they would be better off without me.”
“Ah. I see.”
Flower took a moment to consider Artemis’ words. Looking at her, Flower could not see that the human had an ounce of cruelty in her. Perhaps she had done things in the past that she regretted. Most folks had. Very few would call themselves heroes. But in her life, Flower had come to know that heroes came in all shapes and sizes, for many different reasons and from many different places.
She leaned forward and looked Artemis in the eye. “A hero is someone who does what they know in their heart to be right. All you need to do is listen to yours. Does it tell you to stay with them? Does it tell you that you have a job to do?”
“Yes.” Artemis looked back at Flower, but her gaze wavered. “But I might be putting them in harm’s way by staying. I don’t know what’s the right thing to do. I feel I am at a crossroads and I could take either path, and each path has a different set of consequences. The path my friends are walking is a better path than I deserve, but if I walk a different path, I have no way to protect them.”
Now, Flower could not pretend that she could look at this young woman and just tell whether or not she was a good person. But she had a strong suspicion that the good outweighed the bad, and most of the best people Flower had ever known had not been sure that they were really all that good at all. Flower could only hope that she was a good person herself, but who knew how all the chips would fall in the end.
“They need you,” she told Artemis. “I know you don’t think you’re a hero but you care about them, and they care about you. What else makes a hero but someone who cares for their friends? At the very least, if you are with them, they will stand a little better chance in the end. Don’t you think?”
Patting Artemis on the shoulder, she pulled herself back up. It was very cold out and her joints were getting a little stiff. “I’m heading back in. Is there anything I can get for you? Another mug of tea?”
“No,” said Artemis, her smile a little less strained now. “You’ve done more than enough. Sleep well.”
“You too, my dear. Come in when you’re ready.”
What a shame they were all leaving in the morning, Flower thought to herself as she headed back to bed. She had rather enjoyed having a full house again.
