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“Like a briar patch?” Nicu’s head snapped left and right. “I wanna see her!”
“Later. She’s hurt.”
“Mmm. She looked scared last night. She was breathing heavy, like,hehhh, hehhh, hehhh.” His voice proved uncanny in its flawless imitation of Briar’s terror and shallow panting.
“A leenix came upon her,” I explained. “Remember what I once told you about them? They’re dangerous. They don’t want to be petted, so never try.”
“Leenix!” he piped.
“Nicu. What did I just say?”
“I don’t know. Oh, I do.” He altered his voice to sound like me, the timbre accurate to the point of eerie. “A leenix came upon her. Remember what I once told you about them? They’re dangerous. They don’t want to be petted, so never try. I wanna hunt for Jinny’s biscuits.”
That meant he was hungry. “A leenix means bad tidings,” I stressed. “You shouldn’t touch one. ’Tis the same with people. Aye?”
“Stay away from people?” he asked in a small voice that cracked my heart. “I, um …”
“Repeat our last talk,” I prompted.
“If you see someone who isn’t Papa or Jinny, you must hide,”he recited.
“Now remind me. What doeshidemean?”
He tapped his fingers on my shoulder, tossing those marbles around in his head, because this was the hardest part for him. To Nicu, bounding into someone’s path might as well behide. Running toward them might as well berun away.
Some days, it wasn’t easy with him. Raising him, hoping he would grasp what I tried to teach him, having to repeat myself constantly whilst using the same words. Remembering to keep every object in the same spot, so that he wouldn’t confuse items like a knife and a spoon, simply because one was left where the other should have been. Enduring his fits and flare-ups, his bouts of confusion and frustration whenever he didn’t comprehend something. Bearing his weight as he climbed all over me, no matter what mood he caught me in, when I sometimes lacked the energy to keep up. Not being here for him every day, coping with remorse and too much love for one person to take.
I confess to days when it tired me.
But always, Nicu’s precious traits, all the good of him, outweighed the rest. He was my everything, my musical fae—feisty and funny, bright and imaginative. A treasure, not a trial.
“Hide means no hugging, no talking, and—”Nicu’s face withered in disappointment. “But the briar patch maiden is a person, too. I want her to be my friend.”
“Not until I say it’s safe,” I said. “For I’m the one who decides.”
“I know what’s safe.” Nicu burst into a list of Spring’s fauna. “The bronze bear, spotted hare, shadow mare—”
“And the Nicu fae,” I said, tickling his sides. “I see you’ve been practicing your rhymes.”
When he came up for air, Nicu rested his chin on my chest. “I miss you when you’re late.”
The words punctured deeply. I rubbed my nose against his, unable to muster a response that would do him justice.
13
Briar
I lurched upright, gusts of air blasting from my lungs. Grumbling clouds scrolled audibly through my ears, cutting short the nightmare I’d been having about ribbons and thread snarling into a knot, both soaked in crimson like a bloody fist. I blinked, my vision hazy as I tried to identify the bed I lay in and the walls surrounding me.
Not my suite in Autumn. Nor the one in Spring’s palace.
This space was the size of a peasant’s quarter. A smaller bed nestled in the corner, with a gnome hand-puppet resting on the pillow. Curtains framed the box-shaped window, raindrops splattered the glass, and rivulets distorted the view. Blurry trees wobbled in and out of sight, the muscled trunks topped with awnings of jade leaves.
The wildflower forest, where I had followed Poet last night. I remembered the horses abandoning us, tree roots and crochets of moss, the leenix clawing into my leg, and the jester bringing me somewhere.
Here, to this cottage.
And that silver-haired woman. And the needle.
