The Maiden of Moonfane Forge

Evening was drawing in. The musicians who had been playing out in the little courtyard of the eatery had come inside to the main room in order to escape the growing chill in the air. They had settled themselves by the large fire hearth, where they now picked out some lively songs to entertain the diners and drinkers inside.

Lily had not eaten here before, but was pleased with Marigold’s choice. The establishment wasn’t as loud and boisterous as the taverns the old mage usually favored, but at the same time wasn’t exactly quiet and snobbish either, which would have suited Lily even less. The paintings on the plastered walls were beautiful—there were pastoral scenes, scenes from fairy tales, tendrils of painted vines climbing up to the ceiling—and the two-sided hearth kept the main and side dining rooms well-warmed. If the place was a little small and cramped otherwise, it made up for it with the food, which had been absolutely delicious. Lily already had designs on bringing Vetch here.

Their empty plates were pushed aside now, and Lily and her Mage-Matron were a few rounds of ale into their strategic discussion. Any time a mage was anticipating casting a spell significant enough that they must endure an extended period of Slumber, they would plan everything out with their apprentice, whose job was to watch over and care for them as they slept. Lily had performed this service for her teacher many times before, as Marigold had done for Lily throughout her training, but this situation involving first dispelling the Barrier, and then re-casting it again in short order, was quite a bit different from the norm. It meant a significant interruption in Marigold’s schedule, and in Lily’s training. But they had settled on the most straightforward plan. After the Barrier had been dispelled, and Marigold awoke from its resulting Slumber a few days later, she and Lily would resume light training sessions until all the fencing was repaired and the yaks moved back into their pastures. Then Marigold would cast the town’s Barrier anew, but made to last for a shorter duration than she typically cast them to. Her Slumber from it would be shorter, and it would allow for the new Barrier to wear out at about the same time the last one should have otherwise, so the next could be cast on the same schedule that so many of Moonfane Forge’s populace relied on.

“That’s settled then,” Marigold said with the slight slur of ale in her voice. She swigged from her mug, clunked it back down on the tabletop, and grumbled, “Was a foul business breaking the fences. They can’t rightly think we’d let them keep makin’ off with animals from right under our noses without doin’ something about it. ‘Complishes nothing more than petty destruction.” She chewed her lip, tapping a fingernail idly on her mug. “It’s despicable is what it is. Steal a couple animals and someone loses some coin. Life goes on. But break all the herds out and drive ‘em off, that’s despoiling entire livelihoods! And us now forced to bring the Barrier down? Foul business. Piss on those rustlers.” She drained the last of her ale and raised her mug to the serving girl’s attention for another.

Lily stared at the golden liquid remaining in her own mug. She was falling behind against her mentor. She took another gulp. “The sooner it’s all mended, the better.”

“Right you are, girl,” said Marigold, as she watched her mug being refilled. She slipped the serving lass a couple coins and then tipped back another gulp of her own. She smacked her lips. “That’s what us mages do. We mend things. With our brains instead o’ our muscles.” She laughed tipsily to herself. “I am sorry this puts such a damned long damper on your training. Complex Imbuements. Would have been doing complex Imbuements soon.”

“I will find things to do,” said Lily. She drained her drink, covered her mouth to burp, then held up her mug for another. “I’ll study your instructive writings, and our place could use some tidying. Take Fae out, go visit my parents ... and tomorrow! Tomorrow, I’ve a date to stroll the markets with Vetch. I’ll be going and meeting him after you are settled into your Slumber.” She went to open her coin purse as the serving girl returned, but Marigold clinked a couple more coins down on the table before she could.

“That is fair news,” exclaimed the old mage. “Good for you, girl.” She leveled a wry smile at Lily then and chuckled knowingly.

“Don’t look at me like that,” beseeched Lily. “It’s just a stroll through the markets!”

“Stroll through the markets, my ass,” Marigold grinned. “I see what you are about.” She held up her forefinger. “You listen to me as I tell you this, girl, and I implore you to heed this advice ...”

Lily rolled her eyes and spoke before her mentor could continue. “Oh, I suppose you’ll tell me to keep him at arm’s length and keep my legs closed, right? Because magic requires all of our energy reserves, and the old tales are rife with wizards who better had remained chaste so as not to have had their power dwindled by greedy lovers. Is that it?” She eyed her mentor as she took a drink from her newly refilled mug.

Marigold eyed her across the table. “No, you silly girl,” she said. “Piss on the old tales! What I was going to say was that the both of you are clearly like bleating goats in segregated pens, and it’s about time you invited him into yours.” Listening to this, Lily blanched, then blushed and took a long drink from her mug to hide it. What had she gotten herself into? But Marigold was far from finished. “Listen to an old woman, Lily. Do exactly this. After your stroll, invite him to a tavern for some cups of ale. Match him drink for drink, loosen up both of your purse strings. Then, you take that boy back to your bed and let him split you like a log. Spirits know it’s obvious you’re both desperate to roll each other, and he is a finely built lad.”

Lily choked on her mouthful of ale and spat half of it onto the table, the rest dribbling down her chin. She coughed and cast her eyes about the room for who else might’ve heard. “Mari!” she hissed.

The old woman cackled loudly. “The look on your face just then! Ah, so I’m right, aren’t I? Aren’t I? Take the advice girl, and don’t lose your nerve. Go capture that part of life for yourself the moment you can.” Marigold leaned back in her chair. The mirth in her wrinkled features remained, but her tone was more sober as she said, “I have told you how I came to be referred to as The Maiden of Moonfane Forge, have I not?”

“Because you never married or had children,” Lily answered, finding a napkin and using it to mop ale from the tabletop and her kirtle.

“By choice, or so the legend goes,” said Marigold. She looked down and fingered her mug absently as she spoke. “But it wasn’t. It was because I didn’t jump at my chance when I had it, never made a grab for the one I was in love with while he was still there for me to try. Then, one day, he wasn’t anymore. And after that heartbreak, I pushed all others away.” When she looked up at Lily again, her eyes were filled with both kindness and wisdom. “So, you heed me. Spirits know those like us must Slumber away so much of our lives already. It’d be a waste not to enjoy your moments awake. Don’t let a chance at something you want slip through your fingers, you hear me?”

“I hear you. But ... well, you didn’t have to put it in such crude words,” Lily said under her breath.

Marigold chuckled throatily. “You get to be my age, you learn not to mince words. Ambiguities only leave openings for misunderstandings.”

“How is it you have you had that much ale and not trip over words like that?” Even as Lily asked, she could feel how much her own tongue struggled to obey her. The old mage across the table winked.

“Also comes with age,” she declared. Marigold downed the rest of her ale and stood. When Lily went to do the same, the old woman snatched the mug out of her hand with surprising quickness and drank off the rest herself. She wiped her sleeve across her mouth and then grinned at Lily’s feigned affront. “You save that for tomorrow when you’re enjoying your time with your beau. Last I’ll get to have for a few days. Shall we?”

Lily smiled and offered her elbow to her mentor, wondering if it were even possible to be fonder of the old woman than she already was. Marigold took her arm and together they staggered out the door, singing a ribald tavern song to the night.

A large crowd of Moonfane Forge’s residents had already gathered outside the town’s South Gate by sunrise the next morning. Word always spread fast in a small town, and a good many of the people had probably never seen a Barrier be dispelled before. The occasions when Marigold cast the town Barrier were always large events providing plenty of spectacle, with the magical Barrier manifesting in all its shimmery golden glory around the entire town. But if the people of Moonfane Forge thought there would be something similarly spectacular and magical to witness on this day, Lily knew they would be disappointed. There would be nothing to ‘see’ of the invisible Barrier being dispelled. Only the mages themselves would even be able to sense the difference when it happened.

Marigold stood far out on the southern road outside town, far enough away that she could sight and encompass the entire old Barrier in her dispelling. To her side, Lily stood placidly, watching her mentor with the eye of a student keen to witness how their teacher would perform something particularly difficult. Behind them was a veritable sea of lowing and grunting yaks, all those gathered up by sleepless herdsmen and women through the night, ready to be moved into the safety of the town’s boundaries once the Barrier was down. Many had already been given places in empty stalls in the stables. It would be a unique challenge for all the townsfolk to live shoulder to shoulder with the great beasts for however long it took to repair all the paddocks and fences. Lily hoped the builders worked fast. They, too, had already begun their work far out in the pastures.

Lily watched as, ignoring all the onlookers, Marigold closed her eyes and settled herself into that state of physical relaxation. Inwardly, Lily could sense the magic building from within and around her mentor. Marigold opened her eyes and raised her arms, moving them slowly from one side of her body across to the other, and so across the entirety of Moonfane Forge. Lily felt the spell. It was like a breathing out—not from the lungs, but from the mind. It was powerful. And, yet, to all the townsfolk looking on not trained as mages, it appeared as nothing more than an old woman casually waving her arms. Then, just like that, the Barrier that Lily could always feel was gone. Marigold swayed on the spot and Lily steadied her. Around them, it was as if the town held its breath, wondering what had happened. Then, Marigold turned her eyes up to the nearest herdsman atop his horse and gave him a nod of her head toward the town gate. The man hesitated a moment, then wheeled his horse around and signaled to all the other riders. Yaks were urged into motion. They ambled heavily up the road. Lily and her Mage-Matron moved aside into the waiting crowd of people. A gasp went up throughout the crowd when the first yaks passed right through the gate without issue. Only then was the magic that had just been done tangible to them.

The rare scene broke the spell over the crowd and people realized it was time to get to work. Animals needed to be moved both in and out of the town, tired builders in the pastures needed to be relieved, and much of the town still needed to be prepared to feed and house all of these large animals who were already filling the main streets with their shaggy bulk.

Marigold nudged Lily wordlessly, and Lily nodded her head. The old mage was already feeling the aftereffects of the spell and needed to be home and in her bed before she fell into Caster’s Slumber. The two were content to blend into the crowd to re-enter the town, and from there take narrow side streets back to their home. Once they were through the door, they fell into a routine that was well-practiced. Marigold shed her robe, having already been wearing her nightgown beneath it. The old mage grunted as she kicked her boots unceremoniously off in the sitting room and then ambled down the hallway to her bedroom in the back of the house. Lily followed, picking up the robe and boots as she went. The old mage was already in bed with the covers drawn up when Lily arrived and draped the robe over the open door of the wardrobe. She set the boots near the door.

“No more than a week,” Marigold muttered. “Five or six days, most likely.”

“Mm,” Lily answered, moving a chair from the window to beside the bed for herself. She would not need to keep a constant vigil, but an apprentice was expected to be present more often than not. It was her duty to give broth and water at regular times, to take away, wash, and replace the bedclothes as needed, and most importantly, watch over her Mage-Matron while she was defenseless. For as long as Marigold would be in Slumber, the responsibility of her wellbeing was entirely in Lily’s hands.

“You hear me, girl?” Marigold murmured.

“Yes, Mage-Matron. Five or six days. I’ll have your clothes washed and set out, and a meal and your favorite tea ready when you wake.”

Marigold smiled and nodded at her. It was an unnecessary reminder; it was simply Marigold’s way to quiz her student about even routine duties. Lily knew what was expected of her and what her teacher liked to have ready when she awoke.

In the time it took Lily to turn to the window to close the drapes and then turn back, Marigold had closed her eyes and fallen into the magical Caster’s Slumber. This, too, was something a fellow mage like Lily could sense. It was nothing like sleep. There was no yawning, no tossing or turning, not even the flutter of eyelids; the old woman lay serenely with her knobby fingers clasped atop the covers, her breathing quiet and tranquil. She would remain that way until the enchanted state wore off.

It sometimes astounded Lily how powerful a mage Marigold was. She looked upon her Slumbering mentor now with reverence. It was a large and challenging thing she had done this day. To many people it must seem trivial, a woman waving her arms and then going to sleep. But Lily understood how many decades of intense study and practice it took for a mage to perform such magic and hope to ever wake up again at all, let alone do so in less than a week. This stooped old woman truly was a master.

Lily went about preparing tea and breakfast for herself and then perused some of the instructional writings Marigold had assigned her. This was only for as long as it took her to eat. She had no intention of studying this day. Today was when she was to meet Vetch for their day in the markets together. All the other activities of the morning had been a fair distraction that staved off her nerves, but now that her duties for the time being were finished, and she had the rest of the day for herself and him, the butterflies had begun flitting about in her stomach. And once that had begun, she figured she might as well get ready.

Upstairs in her little room, she had left out a particular white and blue dress bearing embroidery much fancier than that of any of her more functional dresses and kirtles. It had been a gift from her family upon reaching the age of majority. She typically saved it for special days out, such as during festivals and holidays. Along with it, she chose some of her favorite slippers, the ones that were comfortable even after walking for hours in. She cleaned her face and applied some subtle color to lips and cheeks, then pulled her ponytail loose, brushed her hair out, and weaved it into a thick braid down her back. Lastly, she applied a tiny dab of scent to her throat and then looked at herself in her mirror. She smiled.

She was just in the process of heading downstairs when she stopped, went back up, and looked over her little bedroom. Then, quickly, she cleared some of the worst clutter from her clothes chest and writing desk, and straightened out the coverlet on her bed. Satisfied, she went back downstairs. She had reached the front door when she remembered she’d left her coin purse on her desk. With a sigh at her own absentmindedness, she went once more to the stairs and had just grasped the banister ... and that’s when she heard the first screams. The loud peal of the town’s alarm bells followed almost instantly. But only for a brief moment. In a few seconds, they stopped. But the screams outside only grew louder.