Gem of Envy

Chapter 1

When I discovered Landon had gone to the witch’s castle, I raced to stop him. I took a horse from the stables and rode bareback wild through the streets, nevermind the mud splatters on my skirt. Though I knew Landon had a mind to murder the witch to steal her fortune, I never imagined he’d go through with his crazy plan.

And it was his plan.

I lighted from my horse and ran up the front steps, polished granite up to a wide promenade, past elaborate, gothic sculptures. The front door was ajar, the flickering ocherous light of candelabras leeching into the night. I shoved the heavy oak door inward with all my might, shouting Landon’s name.

He was standing to the left of the doorway, holding a smoking pistol, bewilderment on his face.

I was too late. The witch stood in the center of a grand marble staircase, scarlet blood dripping from her chest and blending into the velvet carpet beneath her. She hunched in her black nightgown, staring at Landon with vivid violet eyes that glowed beneath black tresses tousled as though she’d just roused from sleep. There was murder in those eyes.

“Landon, what have you done?” I whispered.

The witch’s eyes swiveled to me. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t even blink. I had a distinct falling sensation as the dark of her pupils expanded in my vision.

“A gem of envy, born of greed, you will always wear for your lover’s deed,” she hissed. “In all you meet, it will sow the seed, and all of them will bleed. A life unending you will lead. To end the curse, here’s my creed: love untainted will fill your need.”

Then the witch’s body dropped and shrank on itself, her gown and hair seeming to catch fire, and in a flash, nothing was left but a small pile of ash that scattered in a gust of wind from the doorway.

***

A year and a half later

I walked a path between dense forest and a steep rocky cliff. It had been two weeks since I’d had human contact. Two weeks since the last death. If only I could die, I thought. Why do the innocent die, instead of me? My ribs were showing, but starvation wouldn’t come.

My shoeless feet screamed with each touch of the ground, but no wound was enough to end me. As darkness fell, wolves howled in the woods. Despite the risk, I walked on the smooth dirt road. If I couldn’t embrace death, perhaps I could avoid pain.

A pack of men in dark leathers burst out of the trees, brandishing knives and crossbows and yelping. I darted like a startled rabbit and tried to pull myself up the slope of loose rocks that ran along the side of the road. Some small voice of morality urged me to attempt to save their lives, not mine—I should never have tried to avoid the pain.

They fired an arrow and the point ripped through the flesh of my calf. My strength gave out and I crashed to the ground. If they had aimed to kill, my curse would have deflected the arrow. These men were not after money. The thought turned my stomach as I remembered other men in the dark. Men that were now dead.

I laid there, hoping they would think I was dead. One of them yanked me up by my hair. I clutched his wrist to lessen the pain and looked around in the twilight. The men’s clothes were worn and dirty, but not falling apart. I guessed they were in a business that paid better than common thievery. Slave traders. As I eyed them, drawing conclusions from their appearance, they gave me the same treatment.

“She’s prettier than the last one, don’t ya think?”

“Maybe if she had some meat on ‘er,” another jeered.

Don’t see it.

“Hey now, what’s this?” A man approached, the only one with a gun, a double barrel rifle slung across his back. The men let their leader through. He knelt and fingered the gold chain around my neck. It was a worthless work of cheap metal and glass. Yet so desirable.

“And where’d you get this trinket, trinket?”

His men snickered.

“A witch.”

He mocked me with a feigned expression of fear, evoking more guffaws from the men.

“I speak the truth! Let me go or die by your own sword.”

“Not likely, trinket.” He waved over at the woods and two more men emerged, leading horses. “You know what I think?” He hoisted me onto a saddle and climbed up behind me. “I think you stole it.”

The bandits took me to their camp, which was little more than a few fires surrounded by individual piles of bedrolls and possessions. I doubted it was their permanent hideout. They bound my wounded calf and handed me a bowl of salty stew with gamey meat. I contemplated refusing to eat, but my body was thinking faster than my mind. The stew did not go down gracefully. I gulped the whole bowl in two swallows, then turned and threw up onto some tree roots.

“She’s too sickly to sell,” one of the men whined while I retched. “Let’s just kill her.”

“Shut up and give me your bread, Karn,” the leader barked at him.

Karn grumbled but handed over the bread. I wiped my mouth and sat back down on a stone seat by the fire. The leader shoved the bread into my hand. “Don’t eat so fast this time.”

I glared but took his advice. My stomach was in agony with food smells all around. It took all my self-control to simply tear the bread, place a small piece in my mouth, and chew.

The leader moved behind me and I froze when he began playing with my gold chain. It was too short to pull over my head. He dragged the length of it through his hands, no doubt searching for a clasp, but it had disappeared long ago.

“How do you get the murderous thing off?” he muttered. He yanked on the chain, trying to break it.

I stopped chewing and coughed as it squeezed my throat. The leader stopped.

“Well, you take it off then, trinket.”

“I can’t,” I rasped. “It’s cursed, as I said. I must wear it for the rest of eternity. Not even death will remove it.” I stared sullenly down at my bread and ripped another chunk off.

Whispers hissed around me.

“She’s lying, sure.”

“Bet that necklace is worth a pretty penny.”

“Should just cut off her head. It can’t stay attached then.”

The leader whirled on the men. “No one touches her but me, understand? No one harms her unless I say so, and when I say so, I decide who gets the gem, got that, vermin?”

The men’s faces darkened, but their threats were all whispers. Perhaps someone would try to kill me while the others were asleep, and then they all would die.

As soon as I finished eating, they bound me to a tree for the night. It was hours until the bandits fell asleep, after they drank and reveled. The light of dawn appeared on the horizon before the watchman took his chance. I had dozed, though it wasn’t true sleep, and I shot awake when his hand covered my mouth. A knife itched my throat.

“Please don’t,” I pleaded through his fingers.

He put a finger to his lips. “Quiet now, don’t scream.” Then he drew the knife across.

I felt some slight pressure, but no pain. The knife vanished from his hand and appeared at his throat, inflicting the wound he had meant to give me. The watchman died with a shocked expression and a gurgle. His body slumped next to me, his blood staining my filthy dress further. I closed my eyes and whimpered. I’d seen so many die before him, many much better than him, but still I cried. It was my curse’s fault he tried to kill me.

My crying stirred some of the men closer to me. One of them raised his head and took in the impossible sight. A bound woman with a dead man at her feet.

“Lim? Oi, lads, Lim’s dead!” He leapt to his feet and grabbed his own knife from next to his blanket. “She killed him! I knew you was trouble!” He ran at me like a wild man, blood lust in his eyes.

I closed my eyes so I wouldn’t have to see him die. His cries cut off sooner than I expected—he was still a distance from me. I peeked and saw the leader standing across the campfire with the rifle in his hand. My assailant lay facedown on the ground.

“I said NO ONE touches her but me!” the leader roared.

“But boss, she killed—”

“Have you all got moss for brains? She’s tied to a tree! I know one of you did it! Which one of you lumber-heads was it?” His eyes swept the surrounding men, the rifle end swiveling with his gaze. Some cowered, but some grabbed weapons. “If any of you think for one second you can steal my loot—”

“It ain’t your loot! You may be the boss, but I caught her—”

His words cut off as the leader shot him in the throat. I closed my eyes again, not wanting to watch as the argument descended further into irrational killing. Their screams and curses mingled with the others in my memory. I looked up when the sounds faded and was surprised to see Karn standing with bloody hands and a wide grin.

“You’re mine.” He wasn’t looking at me, but at the green gem at my chest. The early sunlight threw a glint off it onto his face. Screaming, he rushed at me with a dagger. I closed my eyes again, but something crashed through the woods on my left and I peeked in time to see a mounted rider gallop through the brush.

The man shot Karn in the arm with a bow from horseback. “Stand down!”

Karn stumbled sideways, his charge halted. He looked at the arrow in his arm and, with a barbaric yell, ran towards the rider.

The rider answered with a fatal shot this time and Karn fell. I gazed at my savior with horror. He was outfitted with humble hunting gear, but it was well cared for. He likely had people who cared about him, as well. He dismounted and took a few steps toward me but froze when I screamed.

“Stay back!”

“What’s wrong? Are there more of them?” He drew his sword and looked about him.

“I am cursed. Come no closer or you will die!” The screaming irritated my parched throat, and I ended my sentence with a retching cough.

The man approached anyway, sheathing his sword and pulling out a knife. “To leave you would be to condemn you to death. I’m sorry, but I cannot do that.”

The cough and my vanishing hope sapped me of strength. If he couldn’t leave me, he must already be in the grasp of the curse. He cut my bonds, and I slumped forward onto my hands and knees. My legs were stone, but my arms shook. “You’ve cut my bonds. Now leave. Please.”

The man knelt beside me. “You are not well. You need a physician—”

“I. Am. Cursed.” I punctuated each word. “Don’t worry about ‘condemning me to death.’ I cannot die. But every person you introduce to me will be given that punishment.”

He hesitated. “If it’s a curse you’re under, I know someone who can help.” He gripped my arm and placed it around his shoulders, then wrapped his other arm around my waist and lifted me to my feet.

“No…” I pushed against him, and he let go, right as my vision blacked from the sudden rush of blood to my legs. I collapsed, but he caught me somehow. I looked up and the tops of the trees spun around his young face. He couldn’t have been much older than me.

“You poor thing, what did they do to you?”

Such a kind face. Clean, unlike the bandits. He wouldn’t be the first kind person to die because of me. I lost sight of the face as I lost consciousness.

***

I awoke to the rich scents of sage and pine, and two voices. My body felt heavy, my eyelids heavier, and for a moment I could only listen.

“I can’t guarantee I can break the curse, Evander. Dark magic is easier done than undone.”

“Please do what you can. I mean look at her—she must have gone through horrors.”

“Surely. You did the right thing, bringing her to me. She must have been avoiding civilization. We can avoid it together.”

I gained enough strength to move my fingers and blink my eyes open. The ceiling reached higher than the firelight, fading to darkness above me. A stout woman with her hair pulled up in a messy bun stood beside a large cauldron, which was the source of the savory sage smell permeating the room. The man who had “rescued” me sat at a table scrunched between me and the fireplace. I narrowed my eyes at him.

“Where am I? Why did you bring me here? I told you, I am cursed. Everyone in this village will die now.”

The stocky woman chuckled. “Good thing this isn’t a village. You’re very near the peak of Mount Evenside, dear, and we’re the only human souls here. And don’t worry, this one here,” she pointed her wooden spoon at the man, “has a very thick skull, and I have my own ways of avoiding curses.”

I stared at her. “You’re a witch.”

“Among other things. Seems like that’s the only part folks care for, though.”

“Not true, Derryth. I greatly value your skills as a cook,” the man said.

“Thank you, Evander. I’ll give you an extra portion today.”

Evander laughed and caught my eye. “She always gives me extra portions.”

I did not trust them. Their playful banter could be concealing plots to murder each other. Derryth could have poisoned the soup. Evander’s sword leaned against the table, and he could easily strike her down while her back was turned. But with my feet bandaged and the anesthetic making me drowsy, running was out of the question. Instead, I shivered beneath the quilt as I imagined them killing each other.

“Are you okay?” Evander approached me with an outstretched hand.

I cringed away from him.

That troubled him. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He laid a gentle hand on my forehead. “She doesn’t have a fever, but she’s shivering, Derryth.”

Derryth put down her spoon and strode over, shooing Evander back to his seat at the table. “Well for one, she’s still terrified of you, so keep back. Okay, dear let’s have some proper introductions. I am Derryth, and in the king’s employ so long as he lets me live up here alone and furnishes me with supplies to do so. This lad here…is Evander, the king’s courier. He brings me the supplies I request on a periodic basis. He’s the only one I let visit me, so if you’re looking for a place to hide, this is a good one. Again, you don’t have to worry about your curse. I’m already blocking its effects on me.”

“I can believe that since you’re a witch it won’t affect you. But you expect me to believe he’s not affected because of a thick skull?”

“I promise, I’m not going to try to take your necklace.”

I gasped and glared at him. “So, you do feel the pull. I never told you the nature of my curse.”

His mouth gaped.

“The curse on that necklace was unmistakable the moment I saw it, child. Of course, I told him it’s the source of the curse,” Derryth responded. Then she turned and grabbed a jar resting on the fireplace mantle.

I tried to sit up, but pushing my body up was like pushing on a wall. “Why don’t I have any strength?”

“It’s a combination of starvation, fatigue, and the anesthetic I gave you. I stitched your leg and treated your feet. Your feet were much worse, to be honest. Infection had set in, but a potion fixed that in a jiffy.” Derryth threw some powder into the fire. The flames took on a slightly purple tinge and the aroma of lavender filled the room.

I relaxed further into the bed and noticed the stiff bandages on my feet and leg. I remembered an innkeeper and his wife and a similar scene. It was nearly a year ago. They saw my frostbitten hands in the dead of winter and took me in, and I believed their kindness meant they were immune to the curse.

They were dead by the end of the week, leaving their children orphans.

Was the anesthetic numbing my emotions as well? I still had all the harrowing thoughts and memories, but I didn’t seem to be able to cry.

Evander cleared his throat. “Where are you from? Do you have a family?”

I stared at him with sad eyes.

Derryth took out a ladle and bowls. “Why don’t you start with something easier than that, like her name?”

Evander blushed. “Oh, um…what is your name?”

I gulped. “Brynna.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Evander. But I guess we already said that…Um…h-how old are you?”

“I think I’m eighteen.”

“You think?”

I scowled at him. “I haven’t had a birthday party in a while, alright?”

Evander laughed but then turned it into a cough as he realized I was serious. Derryth handed him a bowl of soup and a twisted piece of bread. He seemed grateful to have an excuse to stop talking.

Derryth came to me next and helped me prop up on some pillows. First, she handed me a bottle and told me to sniff it. It was pungent, and I didn’t recognize the scent, but some of my strength returned. Then she placed a bowl of soup in my lap and handed me a spoon. “Wait for it to cool, and then eat it slowly. That potion should help you keep it down.”

I examined the soup, wondering how long I could wait. It was a thin, milky broth with chunks of vegetables in it, much more appetizing than the brownish, greasy stew of game meat the bandits gave me last night.

Propped up, I could see more of the room. It was just large enough to fit the bed I was lying on and the table in the far-right corner. Bundles of dried herbs and flowers hung on the wall above me, and pots and pans filled the space over the long counter to the left of the fireplace. The door near the foot of my bed opened to another room. From the slight draft in the room, I assumed the door to outside was behind me.

I sipped my soup while Derryth told Evander a list of things to bring the next time he came. Most of it sounded like sewing supplies.

“I’ll also need some raw fabric, the usual white cottons. Sugar and rice, and since I’ll be feeding two now, I imagine I’ll need twice the usual amounts. Are you sure Reuben won’t object?”

“Are you kidding? After you diverted that late snowstorm last year? It would have killed all the kingdom’s crops. You know you can have whatever you would like. He’s always surprised you don’t ask for more.”

“And I’m grateful he doesn’t ask me to wipe out armies for him.” She glanced at me. “Now, it’s not that I don’t trust the king, but do you think you can avoid telling him why I’m asking for more? I believe Brynna will be safer if no one else knows she is here.”

“I’m sure. He never asks about anything on your list, even when you once requested several bottles of spider venom.”

Derryth chuckled. “I remember you said the apothecary had quite the objection, however! And scribes at the cost! Most expensive thing I’ve ever asked for.”

I wondered what she needed so much spider venom for.

Besides the soup and bread, there was a spread of nuts and fruits on the table. I enviously watched Evander bite into a juicy apple, but I realized I’d be lucky to hold on to the soup. Derryth did refill my bowl for me once I finished. While she ladled out a second helping, Evander threw awkward glances, but didn’t say another word to me.

To my relief, Evander left halfway through my second bowl. Derryth said he wouldn’t return for several months, since snow would soon close the mountain trails. I wondered if he’d be able to stay away.

Chapter 2

The polished green stone rested in the hollow of my throat, wrapped in a golden frame with etchings of vines or ropes, I wasn’t sure. As it settled into place, so did a sense of contentment.

“It’s an emerald, I’m sure of it,” Landon whispered in my ear. “A sapphire would have been more appropriate for your eyes.”

I blushed and smiled at our reflection in the mirror. “It’s too fine for me, I think.”

He turned me around and took my hands. “Nothing is too fine for you now, Brynna. This castle, the land, the treasure, it's ours now.”

I stared at our fingers, avoiding the frightening triumph in his eyes. “Are you sure we can claim it?” I asked. “I mean…what if she has family?”

Landon actually laughed. “Come on, in all these years no one has ever seen a soul enter this place except the occasional noble seeking a favor. No one cared for the old hag, and the Duke will be grateful we’ve gotten rid of her. I’m sure he’ll let me claim it, and if not…I’ll buy it! Hey, look at me.”

He pulled my chin up to him. “You deserve the life of a queen. I’ve told you before, haven’t I? That I would give it to you. Didn’t I?”

I smiled sheepishly. “Yes…” And I insisted I didn’t need it. Didn’t I?

“Then trust me.” He paused. “I love you.” He kissed me.

I returned the kiss, which ended when we heard hoof beats out the open window. “Someone’s coming.” I recognized the man on the horse even in the darkness. My father.

“Look at that, come to see me in my glory!” Jubilant, Landon took my hand and we ran down to the entrance hall to great him.

“Dear Father!” Landon called to him from the top of the stairs. “Please come in, come in to my house!”

“Landon! What have you done?” My father had a hand on his sword and was looking at me, up and down. His tone was angry, but his face relaxed as I smiled at him.

“I’ve slain the wicked witch and taken her treasure for myself…and for your daughter. Look around, Father, for this is the very castle your grandchildren will play in!”

Look around he did. Few had ever entered the witch's castle. “But…how? How did you kill her?” Father looked around the floor, as though he expected to see blood.

“Oh, she bled like anyone else, but her body crumpled to ashes and blew away in the wind. She must have been so old, only magic sustaining her. Oh Father, I’m so pleased you’ve come! Tonight you must help me! I wish to take inventory of the treasure and tomorrow present myself to the Duke as the castle’s new Lord. Would you be so kind as to find the finest carriage in town? And of course you and Brynna must come with me, dressed in the finest. We’ll parade down the street, everyone must know immediately what I’ve done so there can be no dispute.”

As Landon spoke, a chill came over me. His energy reminded me of lightning, no, a whole storm of lightning, breaking through the clouds. I knew he was right; the witch would not be missed. She cursed those who walked too close to her woods; she charged exorbitant prices for her services; and she could never be bothered to help anyone out of the goodness of her heart, though she lacked no funds or power to do so. She had been a witch outside the enforcement of even the nobles, a thorn in their side. The Duke really would give him the castle. I really would become its lady. But I suspected even then that this would not end well.

***

Watching the first snowflakes of winter swirl past me, I contemplated a choice I hadn’t had last winter. I could go in to Derryth’s warm cottage. Or I could stand here and freeze. No one was chasing me. No one was plotting ways to kill me and steal the gem.

Derryth opened the door and called out to me.

“You’ll freeze another toe off if you stand there much longer.”

I had lost my left pinkie toe last winter in my efforts to shun civilization. “But this time, it’ll be because I’m stupid, not because I have nowhere warm to stay.”

Derryth laughed. “Aye, that’s freedom for you. Brings out the stupidity in all of us.”

After three weeks of eating Derryth’s food, I was regaining weight and felt, if not happiness, a wonderful lightness as I realized my curse didn’t affect her. Or at least, no one had survived its effects for so long. A part of me yearned to believe I could live on this mountain forever. But Evander would return in the spring, and no matter what Derryth said, he was not immune. I had seen it in his eyes.

I lingered among the snowflakes a minute longer, then went back inside and soaked up the warmth of the crackling fire, listening to Derryth hum as she kneaded dough.

“The witch’s name was Morwenna,” I said.

Derryth paused in her kneading. “You remembered, did you?”

“Yes. I don’t know why I couldn’t before. It just came to me, all of a sudden.” I examined the fire. No colored smoke, only the scent of burning pine. “Was it your humming?”

Derryth glanced up from the dough and winked at me. “Catching on, aren’t we? Aye, the tune was a spell to help jog your memory. I wasn’t sure what it would make you remember, however. You must have been trying to remember on your own.”

I nodded. “Did you know her?”

Derryth frowned. “All witches know each other.”