Fiction
Fantasy
The news of the traveler’s arrival swept through the city like wildfire. It blazed down the city’s main street before flickering along its smaller branches, leaving excited crowds buzzing in its wake. In less than an hour, half the city had arrayed itself along the path from the gates to the steps leading up to the shrine. Ducking and weaving through the almost tangible whispers of excitement that laced the crowds, Rulei struggled to get as close to those steps as she could. No one but the Keepers were allowed past them on these occasions, but she had long since given up trying to sneak a look inside the shrine in hopes of glimpsing the fountain. No, it was the traveler she wanted to see today.
Diving through a crack in the wall of backs ahead, Rulei emerged into the open just as the masses to her right burst into wild cheers. Head swiveling around so rapidly it made her dizzy, she squinted at the tiny figures making their way toward the shrine. So there were two travelers this time. As they drew closer, she could see that they were both women today, both dressed in the same, odd clothes that travelers always wore. But it was their faces that drew Rulei’s eyes. They were weary faces—faces that had come a long way and seen much—but they were also hopeful faces for all that the hope was tinged with confusion. They were always confused, Rulei mused, but she supposed it was the cheering. Whatever the cause, both the confusion and the weariness melted away as the travelers approached the shrine. It was this gradual change that she drank in, her own heart swelling with a feeling torn between awe and envy.
The travelers were greeted at the foot of the steps by two of the Keepers, who bowed and gestured for them to follow. A hush fell over the city as they made their way up those gleaming steps to come before the phoenix statue that stood beside the shrine doors. The bird’s stone eyes flashed gold and the doors opened to admit the travelers, only to close behind them with the faintest of creaks. The crowd rustled as a myriad of contented sighs escaped hundreds of pairs of lips and the people began to disperse as quickly as they had gathered. In moments, Rulei was standing alone at the foot of the stairs. Her own sigh was one of resignation as she sat down on the cobbles beside the bottommost step to wait.
“Rulei!”
Starting at the sound of her name, Rulei glanced up the stairs to see a young man dressed in a Keeper’s uniform coming down toward her. Her eyes moved immediately to scan the space behind him for the travelers, but he was alone.
“They’re still inside,” he said when he noticed her look. “I knew you’d still be here, so I came to tell you not to wait. They’re staying the night in the shrine so they won’t be coming out until tomorrow.”
“Oh.” Her chin dipped and she wrapped her arms around her legs. “Thanks Glin—for letting me know.”
She was answered with a sigh as Glin sat down on the steps beside her. “Don’t look so disappointed. You can always come back tomorrow morning if you want to see them again.”
Rulei bit back a laugh and shook her head. “Do you think I stay every time to see the travelers?”
“Well, don’t you?” The Keeper sounded honestly puzzled.
“Of course not. That’s what everyone else does.”
“What do you come for then?”
“Their expressions.” She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. “It’s amazing, you know…the look a person has when they’ve just gotten what they’ve spent their whole lives wanting. When their dreams come true.”
“They can only wish for things, you know. Most people’s dreams aren’t built on things alone.”
“Hmm. What did they wish for?”
“You know I can’t tell you that. It’s—”
“I know, I know, it’s against the rules. No harm in asking though, right?”
“If wasting time by asking a question you already know the answer to doesn’t bother you, then no,” Glin replied a little sourly. “It’s perfectly harmless.”
Rulei shot him a sidelong look before turning to focus on the twined fingers of her hands. “I’m sorry. I just—don’t think it’s fair sometimes. Why do they get to see the fountain and make a wish the moment they get here while the rest of us have to bring offerings?”
Glin sighed, leaning back on his hands and tilting his head back to look up at the sky. “The travelers all came a long way to get here. It’s not an easy journey. The wish is a reward for their efforts, not a free giveaway. Besides, you know that’s how it’s meant to be. Travelers—”
“—come because this is where they need to come. I know, the world knows best. That doesn’t mean I have to think it’s fair.”
“No, I guess it doesn’t. But I can’t help but think you’d be a lot happier if you did.”
Rulei made a noncommittal sound in the back of her throat. She didn’t feel like arguing the point at the moment.
Eventually Glin broke the silence. “Did you bring an offering today, then?”
Rulei sighed. “No. The gate didn’t accept the jewel I brought the other day and I’m having a hard time coming up with something rarer—that I can afford anyway.”
“Haven’t you ever wondered if you’re looking in the wrong place?”
“The wrong place? What do you mean?”
“Well, the offering has to be something precious…”
She rolled her eyes at him. “I know that. Honestly, I grew up in this city same as you. There’s not a toddler in the city who doesn’t know.”
For some reason this made Glin frown. “Yes, I suppose you could say that.”
The note in his voice was…disconcerting, mostly because Rulei couldn’t quite put a name to it, so she shrugged it off in favor of more important things. “I don’t suppose you’ve heard of anything I might be able to…you know…use?”
“Well…there is something, I guess.”
Rulei brightened, turning completely around to face him. “Come on, tell.”
“I heard there’s a man out on north side with a qualin tree which should be blooming in a few weeks.”
“The tree of pearls?” Rulei gasped. “But that blooms only once every fifty years!”
Glin nodded. “Is that rare enough for you?”
“Who did you say owns the tree?”
“A man who lives on the north side of the city. I think his name is Laivin Prail. But from what I hear he’s not very—” He cut himself off as Rulei shot to her feet and started down the street. Letting his breath out in a quiet, half-exasperated huff, the Keeper stood and headed back up toward the shrine.
“You want me to give you a flower from the qualin once it’s bloomed.” The corners of the man’s mouth twisted as he mouthed the words, though Rulei couldn’t tell if it was a grimace or a grin—and that, she rather thought, said a lot in itself. Still, she squared her shoulders and nodded.
“I would greatly appreciate it, sir.”
“And why, pray tell, should I mutilate such a rare plant in its brief moment of full glory?”
Rulei opened her mouth then paused, staring across the table. And she had thought when Laivin Prail had invited her in for tea after she mentioned wanting to discuss the tree that things were going well. “I—can pay you,” she stammered finally, mentally going over her funds. She didn’t have much at the moment, not after buying that jewel a week ago, but if she sold that, then maybe—
“Pay?” This time Laivin’s thin mouth quirked in amusement. “You cannot put a price on such things, lass.”
“But I—”
“Why do you want it?”
“What?”
“Surely you did not come all the way here to ask me for a bloom for no reason.”
“Oh.” Rulei fought the flush threatening to creep over her face as her fingers tightened convulsively on her teacup. “Well, I—I want to bring it to the shrine. As an offering…” Her voice trailed off as he continued to watch in that manner that wasn’t quite a stare but was far too intense to be comfortable. It made her feel like she was ten years younger and confessing something to her father. “I want to make a wish.”
He nodded slowly, a thoughtful look creeping over his sharp features, softening the edges so that for a moment Rulei could almost imagine him smiling. “That is what people do at the shrine, yes. If I am to be contributing to this desire of yours, then may I inquire as to what you will wish for?”
“A sword that has the power to make me a master swordswoman,” she said promptly, relieved to be asked a question she had prepared for.
Laivin’s eyebrows rose. “Is that so? And what will you do then? Once you have this wonderful weapon of yours.”
“I’ll join the rovers.”
Laivin’s eyebrows climbed all the way into his hairline. “If you seek treasure, why not just ask for that instead?”
Rulei choked on her tea. Coughing, she set her cup down and fought to calm her breathing. “I’m not after gold!”
“Really? That’s rather interesting, considering I was under the impression the rovers spend all their time treasure hunting. Perhaps it is the glory you want, then?”
“No,” Rulei snapped, crossing her arms and leveling the man with her best stare. She was trembling, but she fought to hang on to her rapidly fragmenting composure. The hint of derision in the man’s voice was difficult to ignore and it was putting her teeth on edge. She wanted to shout at him to mind his own business, but this was his house and it was his flowers she wanted, so instead she coached her voice to remain steady and polite. “My brother went missing on a rover expedition two years ago after our parents passed away. I want to find him. And to do that I have to be able to take care of myself in the Lost Regions.”
She felt a momentary flash of satisfaction as the man’s eyes widened a fraction at the mention of the Lost Regions, but the triumph died almost instantly to be replaced by the sting of shame. What was wrong with her? It wasn’t as though she was here to antagonize Laivin, no matter how condescending he was.
“That is a dangerous place you want to go to,” he said quietly after a long pause, his eyes unreadable.
Rulei looked down at her hands. “That’s why I came to ask for your flower. It would mean a lot to me. I know you said that it’s priceless, but I still hope you can give me one.”
She kept her eyes down as she waited, not quite daring to breathe. The silence across the table trickled by as the tea in her cup grew cold. Unable to bear the stillness, she turned her head to look out over the open veranda that acted as the fourth wall of the room. It faced the massive stretches of well-tended vegetation that was Laivin’s garden. Just beyond the veranda lay a miniature lake, and there on one shore stood a tall, elegant tree with silvery-blue bark and leaves the color of jade. Rulei found her breath catching in her throat at the sight of it. That had to be the qualin tree… She hadn’t thought it would be so beautiful.
“Come with me.”
She jumped, turning in her seat to find that Laivin had gotten to his feet. Confused, she followed his example and padded after him as he led the way out into the hall and through a pair of sliding doors that lead into an enormous room with polished wood floors and plain, white walls. Rulei halted by the door and watched in mounting bewilderment as the man disappeared behind a set of folding panels on the far side of the room. When he emerged, he was carrying two long objects that she recognized immediately as swords.
“Here.” Coming to a stop in front of her, he held one of the blades out, hilt first. She stared at it, then up at his face. Was this some kind of joke? “Well?”
Reaching out, she took the sword with both hands. It felt awkward and heavy in her grasp. Laivin stepped back then, and she could feel his eyes studying her.
“You’ve never held a blade before,” he remarked. “And yet you wish to be a master.”
Not entirely sure if he was accusing her or not, Rulei could only shrug and shift her weight to the other foot. “I—well, that’s why I need to see the fountain…”
“Is that so? Well, I suppose it is true it would take too long if you had to wait until you had actually learned to be a master to go off journeying. Come, attack me.”
She nearly dropped the sword. “What?”
“Attack me. If you can disarm me, I’ll give you a flower when the tree blooms.”
“But I don’t—”
“You have a month. I suggest you get started. And don’t look so anxious,” he added, one corner of his mouth turning up. “I highly doubt you can hurt me. And besides, these blades are blunt.”
“This is ridiculous!”
“Will you give up, then? I guess the flower can’t be worth all that much to you.”
Rulei searched Laivin’s face. It was daring her—whether it was to give up or take the offer she wasn’t sure—but it was the tiny glint of disappointment that made her hands tighten on the sword’s hilt. To him, at least, this wasn’t a jest, and if humoring him would get her what she needed, at least he hadn’t asked for a fortune.
“Have you been fighting?” Glin demanded as he sat down beside her on the shrine steps.
Rulei shrugged absently. “Not really. You didn’t come out here to tell me this one’s staying overnight too, did you?”
“No, he’ll be out in a few minutes. If you haven’t been fighting, then how’d you get those bruises?”
“Huh?” She followed his pointed gaze down to her bare forearms. “Oh, these? I guess I stopped noticing them after the first week. I’m learning how to use a sword.” Seeing the confusion on his face, she explained her deal with Laivin. “I’ve been going to his place every day since, but I haven’t even gotten close to disarming him once!”
“Considering that gives you a grand total of three weeks of experience, that’s not entirely surprising.”
“You are not helping.”
“Sorry.”
Breath coming out in a huff, Rulei rolled her eyes and stood up. “I’ll see you later, then.”
Glin’s eyebrows arched in surprise. “Aren’t you going to wait for the traveler to come out?”
“I’ll watch next time. I need to check on the next order for my boss, then I need to practice.”
Not, she thought with a grimace, that all the practice in the world was going to help with only a handful of days left. But what more could she do?
It was still early in the afternoon when she arrived on Laivin’s front step. The door had been left open to invite the fresh, summer air, so she left her shoes by the door and went inside. Her feet carried her along the now-familiar path to the sally. If Laivin wasn’t there, she could have some time to herself to practice.
Slipping into the sally, she spotted Laivin sitting cross-legged near the other end of the room. She started to call out a greeting, only to pause when she noticed that there was a stranger in the room. It was a lean young man dressed in plain clothes. He sat across from Laivin, a sword lying sheathed by his side.
“I’m sorry,” she said instead when both men turned in her direction. “I’ll come back later.”
Laivin, however, waved for her to join them. “No, stay. Narro here is just on his way out.”
“But, sir!” the stranger objected as Rulei took a seat. “I still don’t understand. Why won’t you teach me? Do you think me unworthy? If that’s the case, I’m sure I can prove myself if you just give me the chance.”
“And how, may I inquire, would you do that?”
Rulei watched in fascination as Narro squared his shoulders and glared fiercely across the space between himself and Laivin. Every line of his face seemed to burn. “Just give me a task.”
Laivin was silent for a long moment, his hands clasped in his lap in a manner that Rulei had come to recognize meant he was debating a difficult question. Then his eyes met hers for a fleeting second before he gave his attention back to Narro, who was all but jiggling where he sat. “I want you to spar with Rulei.”
“What?” Rulei gasped, but Narro had already gotten to his feet and unsheathed his sword. It was not a practice blade. Rulei rounded on Laivin as the newcomer started on a series of warm-up exercises, her mind scrambling to put together a protest, but the words died on her tongue when she saw the object he was holding out toward her. It was a sword she had never seen before, its craftsmanship simple but elegant, and even in her state of shock she could see that the edges were anything but dull.
“You should probably warm up as well,” Laivin stated, pressing the sword’s hilt into her hands with a small, amused smile. “You don’t want to keep our guest waiting, do you?”
Rulei stood without a word, her body deciding it would do the moving for her while her mind caught up with the situation. The only coherent thought that flashed through her head was the reassurance that this was a sparring match. She just had to be careful and not cut her own toes off.
“I am ready when you are,” Narro announced, coming to stand across from her. Too nervous to speak, Rulei nodded.
The first thing she noticed when Laivin called for them to begin was that it felt incredibly odd to be standing there locking blades with someone who was not Laivin. It was nerve-wracking and it threw her off at first, but as they wove back and forth across the wood-paneled floors, the anxiety ebbed away and she found hidden beneath it the tiniest spark of excitement. Narro obviously knew what he was doing, but his movements struck her as slow. He had none of Laivin’s fluid grace, for all that his technique was sound. A slow smile spread across her face and she pressed forward, her eyes narrowing in concentration.
Steel flashed silver and Narro’s blade went spinning across the floor. Pulling back and bringing her arm around, Rulei brought her own sword to her opponent’s throat. For a moment, no one moved. Then Rulei pulled back, still breathing hard, the thrill of competition still pulsing through her veins.
Narro moved to retrieve his blade, sheathed it, and bowed to her. The expression on his face doused her excitement.
“Thank you. I’ve learned a lot today.” Turning, he also bowed to Laivin. “I apologize for taking up so much of your time.”
“One year.”
Startled, the youth looked up. “Pardon?”
“If in one year you still wish to learn from me, then come back and I will teach you.”
The change that came across Narro’s face made something in Rulei tingle, and she watched him go with wonder. That look… It was the same look the travelers always wore when they came out of the shrine, their wishes fulfilled.
“Why did you tell him to come back in a year if you’re going to teach him anyway?”
Setting down his cup, Laivin laced his fingers together on top of the table. “If he really wishes to learn from me, he will return.”
“A year’s a really long time, though. A lot can change in a year.”
“If he finds a different path he wishes to follow, then that is his decision.”
Rulei turned this over in her mind, then frowned. “So do you want him to come back or not?”
He didn’t respond for a moment, instead turning his head to look out across the veranda at the lake that lay full of stars in the darkness that was the garden veiled by night. When he did speak, there was a distant quality to his voice that Rulei had never heard before, and she wondered who he was talking to, because it didn’t feel like he was talking to her anymore.
“Sometimes, people leave and they don’t come back. That’s just the way things are. Chasing after their shadows won’t change anything.”
He fell silent then, and Rulei sighed. Finishing her tea, she set her cup on the table and got to her feet.
“I’ll be taking my leave, then. Should I leave the sword in the sally?”
Rousing from his daze, Laivin glanced up at her and shook his head. “No, keep it.”
“Keep—I can’t do that.”
“You can and you will. It’s not a magical blade, but it is a sound one. And while you’re at it, take this as well.” A small, square box appeared in his hands as though by magic, and he held it out to her. It weighed almost nothing in her hands. “Consider them a reward. You have learned faster than any student I have ever taught. You should be proud of yourself.”
That said, he returned to his tea, his manner a clear dismissal. Torn between gratitude and incredulity, Rulei murmured a farewell and left.
Back on the city proper on her way home, she paused to open the box under one of the lamps that lined the street. She was greeted with a flower the size of her palm whose petals were a luminous, pearly white hued with blue around the edges. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. And though she hadn’t seen the qualin tree that day she had no doubt as to what it was.
And for all that she was glad she could go to the shrine now, that joy was nothing compared to the warmth that had risen inside her at the thought that his parting words to her that night had not only been words after all.
Carefully putting the lid back on the box, she cast a look back up the dark street in the direction of Laivin’s house. She wouldn’t have been able to see it from this position even if the sun had been up, but she knew exactly where it was.
“Thank you.”
Approaching the shrine in the pale light of early morning, Rulei was a little surprised to see that she wasn’t the only one there. Glin was standing at the top of the steps next to the statue of the phoenix, and he appeared to be arguing with a woman in a dark-blue cloak. As Rulei approached, the woman threw something at the Keeper’s feet and stormed down the stairs, nearly knocking Rulei off them as she went. Catching herself, Rulei shot an irritated glare after the woman’s retreating back before resuming her climb to where Glin was waiting for her.
“What was that all about?” she demanded the moment she knew he’d be able to hear her.
“The phoenix didn’t accept her offering,” Glin explained with a grimace. “Some people don’t take ‘no’ very well. She started yelling at me about how much the offering cost her and asking if I knew how long it took her to even find one for sale. Oh well, no help for it. I suppose if you’re here you’re ready to try again? Rulei? Is something wrong?”
“Glin,” Rulei said slowly, her eyes fixed on the crushed petals still lying on the ground before Glin’s feet where, she presumed, the discontented woman had thrown them. “What was her offering?”
Glin followed her gaze, then shrugged a little uncomfortably. “Does it matter? I see you have the flower. Would you like to make the offering now?”
“But Glin,” she said again, voice rising a little despite her efforts to control it. “Those petals—she offered a qualin bloom, didn’t she? And the phoenix didn’t accept it.”
“Rulei. Please, just try it.”
Tearing her eyes from the crushed petals, Rulei stared into her friend’s face, then down at the flower she held in her hands. She drew in a deep breath, ordering herself to calm down. So it probably wouldn’t work; she’d still gotten up early today just to come to the shrine. She might as well make the offering. After that she could go back to the drawing board.
Breath hissing out from between her teeth, she stepped resolutely over the petals and placed her own blossom carefully in the open beak of the phoenix statue. Drawing back, she counted to three and was about to retrieve her flower when the eyes of the statue flashed white and the blossom vanished. Beside her, the shrine doors opened.
“But—it was the same flower…”
“One precious thing.” A relieved smile tugged at the corners of Glin’s mouth as he stepped up beside her. “What most people never understand is that a precious thing isn’t always precious because it’s rare or worth a lot of gold.” Turning to her, he made a shallow bow. “Welcome to the wishing shrine. If you will follow me, I will show you to the fountain.”
The fountain stood in the center of an open courtyard located at the heart of the shrine. It was an elegant piece of architecture crafted entirely of white and blue stone. The water poured out from beneath the feet of a stone phoenix whose wings sparkled in the sunlight as though wreathed in sapphire flames. Glin gestured for Rulei to stand right in front of the fountain so that she was facing the bird.
“Remember, you can only wish for things. The fountain also will not give you something that already belongs to someone else, so be careful how you phrase your wish. Each person only gets one chance. Are you ready?”
Rulei nodded, her mouth dry. She had wanted to be here for so long… Squaring her shoulders, she stared into the fountain’s wide basin, her eyes following the white flowers of foam as they danced along the water’s surface. She cleared her throat.
“I wish to have a sword that will make me a master warrior.”
The words rang out clearly, weaving themselves into the chuckling of the fountain until they were a single song. For the briefest of moments, she could see a sword in the water, its image flickering with the wavering of the water. Her breath caught in her throat. Then the image dissolved, and there was nothing but foam and bubbles again.
“That’s odd…” Glin murmured from somewhere behind her right shoulder. “Usually it would have finished forming by now. Maybe you should ask again.”
But Rulei was shaking her head. A short laugh escaped her lips and she sat down abruptly on the cobbled ground. Glin looked down at her with growing concern.
“Are you all right?”
“It—it’s the same,” she gasped out, fighting to reign in the urge to laugh.
“The same?”
“This.” With rather jerky motions, she unsheathed the sword Laivin had given her and held it up for him to see. “Laivin Prail gave it to me yesterday. That image in the water—it was this sword.”
“Oh…” Chewing on his lower lip, Glin sat down beside her. “But the fountain can’t empower existing objects.”
Rulei quieted, her fingers fiddling with the sword’s hilt as she lay it across her lap. “Does it…ever make mistakes?”
“You mean the fountain?”
“Yes.”
Glin thought for a moment, then shrugged. “Some people don’t get what they think they asked for, but that’s only because they didn’t wish for what they thought they were wishing for. Otherwise, no, I don’t think it’s ever been wrong. We could ask the other Keepers if you’d like.”
“Not what they thought, huh?” Lifting the sword, she stared at it. It stared back with her eyes from within polished steel.
“Yes, but it always gives something. Do you—”
“No, that’s all right.”
“Are you sure? You know you won’t get a second chance.”
“I know.” Climbing to her feet, Rulei slid her sword back into its sheath. “I have to go see someone.”
“Well, I…guess I’ll show you to the door. But, Rulei…”
“Shh.” Rulei held up a hand to stop him. “You keep saying it yourself, don’t you? Things not always being what they seem… So, shall we go?”
In her mind, she could see Narro’s face aglow with dreams. She could feel the pride of having earned Laivin’s praise. So perhaps she didn’t need a wish to make her dreams come true after all.
Laivin was sitting at the tea table, a book open on the table before him and a lily-patterned teacup in one hand. He looked up when she came in and she was gratified to see that he was surprised.
“Rulei. This is a surprise.”
“A good one, I hope.” Making her way across the room, she sat down across the table. Out of the corner of her eyes, she thought she caught the faintest hint of an uncertain smile.
“I thought you were going with the rovers.”
Rulei nodded, pouring herself a cup of tea. “I will. But I wanted to learn more first—you know, improve so I don’t lose my head in the first battle I get into. If—if you don’t mind, of course.”
Laivin leaned back a little where he sat and looked out into the garden. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? It’s the first time I’ve ever seen the blooms.”
Rulei’s eyebrows rose, but he hadn’t told her to leave, and it seemed to her that his expression was a little less solemn than it had been. So she turned to follow his gaze across the garden to where the qualin tree stood crowned with a halo of pearl-white petals, and she had to agree.
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