It took several moments, but eventually moonlight spilled across Greymist Fair. Snow glittered. Next to the well in the center of the village square stood Death, impossibly tall and pale, with wargs heeled at their feet.
“Didn’t we do enough? We celebrated Yule. We put everything right,” Wenzel said. “No one is scared anymore. They should be gone.”
Heike’s eyebrows creased. She tapped at her lower lip. “I was thinking, while you were in the forest. Death comes for us all, eventually. Forgetting your fear of it can help for a time, and you can live, but... Death is not evil. We will all go with Death oneday. We don’t have to fear them until then, but we also shouldn’t have to ignore them. Death exists, just as we do. This place is Death’s home just as it’s ours.”
“It was Hans’s home, too,” Wenzel said.
“Yes.” Heike sighed and looked at him. “And Hans decided he was more important than his home. There was no living in harmony with Hans. But has anyone given Death that same chance?”
Wenzel twisted a lock of her hair around his finger. “You want to go talk to them?”
“Only if you come with me,” she said. “I don’t want either of us to go alone anymore.”
He took her hand. “Then let’s go.”
They walked into the night hand in hand. Death watched them approach. The wargs, enough of them to turn the village square black, waited with a quivering kind of energy. Wenzel squeezed Heike’s hand and got a squeeze in return. They stopped six feet from Death. Wenzel got a sudden, overwhelming feeling; in his mind he saw the body of a dead bird splayed on the ground, its feathers and flesh rotting away, its bones sinking to dirt. But then wildflowers bloomed in the soil where it had lain, and they grew free and tall. The winter came and the flowers died, andthen grass grew anew through the snow. Over and over, death to life to death again, until the changing itself became beautiful.
Heike said, “You must be cold, standing out here.”
Death said, “I do not feel the cold. Why have you come? I know you do not fear me now. I never wanted anyone to fear me. But I will have all of you one day.”
“We know,” said Heike. “And everyone in the village will return to fearing you when Yule is over. If you would like that to change, I think we can help you. Greymist Fair is your home, isn’t it?”
Death’s dark eyebrows pressed together over black-lake eyes. “Yes.”
“And we have never welcomed you, have we?” Heike went on.
“No one does,” Death said. “I am the end of all things in this world.”
“But you’re also the beginning,” said Wenzel, surprised by his own voice. Death seemed surprised as well. “Without you there is no change. You make room for the new.”
“I do,” said Death. Their expression smoothed out as they looked at Wenzel. “So many don’t understand.”
“They can,” Heike said, “if you can be patient with them. All of us have work we do, and it’s good work. Necessary work. Sometimes it can be a heavy burden, but being with othersmakes it lighter.” Heike looked to Wenzel. “Maybe we could become friends. But that won’t happen while we hate or fear each other.”
Death’s robes, as dark as the night, seemed to shiver. “Why would you welcome me? I killed my last companion because he lied to me. I have tried to kill your neighbors. I killed your mother and father.”
Heike started, blinking through her confusion. Then, taking a deep and shuddering breath, she gathered herself up and said, “You did, and I can’t forgive you for that. But even you don’t have the power to change the past, and we can’t govern you with our laws or our punishments. All that we can do from here is move forward together. You are welcome to visit me whenever you like, as long as you remain civil to my guests and friends and neighbors. We can talk and have tea, like friends do, and when my time comes, you can take me.”
“The same for me,” Wenzel said. “Come and stay in the inn whenever you like. I’ll make you dinner. I love having someone to take care of.”
Death’s expression wavered with hope and doubt.
“The others will not agree with this,” they said. “They will not accept me.”
“They will,” Heike said, “eventually. But just as we’reextending this trust to you, you must extend it to them. You can’t threaten them or harm them. You have to show them that there is nothing to fear.”
“If they do not fear me, they will laugh at me,” Death said, lip beginning to curl. “They will call me a joke—”
Heike sighed and said patiently, “Maybe, yes. But if you are kind to them, if you help them, if you show that you are trying to be a good neighbor and trying to get to know them, theywillcome around. Wenzel and I will help.”
“But there are two things you must do.” Wenzel held up two fingers. “One: You must promise you will not hunt those who continue to fear you. Because they will, and you know why they will, and it isn’t wrong for them to feel that way. Two: You must release the wargs. They’re our friends, our family; they aren’t for you to use.”
Death looked stricken. “But the wargs are all I have.”
“They never killed in the old stories,” said Heike. “They’re supposed to be guides to lead those who wander. They will still be there for you, but you can’t control them the way you have.”
Death paused, stiff, then reluctantly turned to the army of wargs in the village square. “I thought for so long that this was the way. But even Luther said I was selfish.” They paused for a time, then said quietly, “He was right.” Death turned back. Tearsrimmed their eyes. “You’re sure the villagers will come to accept me?”
