The Land Set Aflame

Chapter 51: The Single Strand

Callyndia kept her thumb squeezed tightly against her forefinger in a white-knuckled grip, because she didn't want to lose the treasure she held there. And her heart was thumping loudly in her ears as she approached the fountain where her mother was currently sitting, just seeing off some dryads she'd been speaking to.

Alloria Rosa's eyes fell on Callyndia, and she smiled, extending her arms invitingly. Callyndia obediently let herself be folded into that warm embrace, and took momentary pleasure from the bliss of soft nymph kisses on her forehead.

"It's wonderful to have you back in Aevenwy, Callyndia!" her mother said.

Callyndia managed a smile. "It's nice to be here, Mother," she said with a solid attempt at sincerity.

Her mother saw through it, naturally. "Your smile has faded, darling," she said, "Don't think you can hide this sort of thing from your own mother. It's Svenden, isn't it?"

Callyndia sighed. In any other place, she would feel strong and competent, capable of facing any challenge with a smile and a raised chin. But here, now, she just felt like a timid little girl.

"Yes," she admitted, looking down in shame.

"Well, you know I'll support my daughter in whatever you want or need," she said, "But I really must insist you don't pine over a man in my garden. It will make the flowers wilt."

Callyndia chuckled half-heartedly at the absurd joke.

Her mother's eyes narrowed a bit, as if she'd suddenly, magically gleaned something from just the sound of that little laugh. "Oh, it's serious?" she asked, "Something's really wrong between you two? What is it, dear? Tell me. I'm sure I can help you with it."

"I think you can," Callyndia said with a dry throat and down-turned eyes. She raised her hand meekly and showed its contents to her mother: a single strand of honey-red hair.

"Is that what I think it is?" her mother asked.

"It's Svenden's hair," Callyndia said softly, still afraid to look up into her mother's eye, "Those love potions work on fairies, don't they? It would work on me, right? You could make me fall in love with him."

"Callyndia!" her mother said gently, with a surprisingly good impression of maternal disappointment.

The expression of concern on her mother's face was devastatingly hard to look at, and Callyndia found herself wilting under the pressure of it. Her eyes darted around nervously, looking everywhere except at her mother's face.

"Don't say anything, Mother," she said nervously, "I already know what you're going to say: I'm going to be just like every other woman throughout history who's uprooted her life to win a man's favor, and I'll just end up losing myself in the process, and he'll probably hurt me, anyway.

"But this is different, Mother! I made him fall in love with me! With my magic! It's only fair I experience that magic too. It doesn't have to be forever: just enough so I can understand what I've put him through. And maybe... maybe then we can find happiness together. I just need to know what it feels like to be in love."

Her mother stared at her intensely, with narrowed eyes and an unreadable expression. Callyndia could see the disapproval written all over her mother's face, and she felt self-conscious and silly, holding that hair out in front of her and waiting for her mother's response.

Finally, Alloria Rosa took a deep breath and reached out to take the hair from Callyndia's hand.

"Thank you, Mother," Callyndia said.

Then, she watched as her mother held the hair up and with rounded lips, promptly blew it away into the air.

"Mother!" she cried in disbelief, turning to look for it, "I need that, Mother! Why would you do that?"

Alloria Rosa reached up and cupped Callyndia's cheeks in her hands, gently turning her face to look at her. Callyndia fought it for a moment, but soon gave up her resistance to that inexorable, motherly nymph charm. Her mother was smiling brightly and kindly, and Callyndia felt that little touch of bliss, calming her emotions and making her feel like everything was going to be alright.

"Callyndia," the Nymph Queen said in her serious voice, "You didn't compel him to fall in love with you. Sure, your magic may have nudged him a little, but you didn't 'make him' fall in love. He's simply in love with you. And why shouldn't he be? You're one of the most desirable women in the all the Kallawlands. You ought to be: you're my daughter, after all. He's certainly not the first man to fall for you."

"But—"

Alloria Rosa's tender smile cut off Callyndia's protest. "It's not your fault," she said, "You didn't do anything to him."

Callyndia sighed. "How can you be sure?" she asked.

"Well, he's a grown man, isn't he?" her mother asked, "Surely at some point, his emotions are his own responsibility. He can't keep blaming his feelings on fairy magic and hope to have a successful relationship with someone.

"Of course, your confusion on the matter hasn't really helped things. So I'm here to clear up your confusion: you didn't do anything to make him fall in love with you except be your usual, lovable, beautiful self. His feelings aren't something you imposed on him, and that little 'ember' in his heart is of his own making."

So her mother knew about his 'ember' too? He didn't even know that Callyndia knew of it. Apparently, Callyndia wasn't the only one snooping inside Svenden's mind.

Hearing her say that did seem to lift a bit of a weight off Callyndia's shoulders, but the relief was brief. "But, even if that's true," she said, "He's in love with me, and I can't love him back. It doesn't feel right, Mother. There's got to be something I can do for him!"

"What do you mean, you can't love him back?" her mother asked, "You're definitely in love with him."

Callyndia blinked in confusion. "But, nymphs don't fall in love, Mother!" she protested, "You said so yourself. So I can't be in love with him!"

Alloria Rosa laughed, a giddy sort of chuckle that rang through the entire garden. "Callyndia, you're so silly sometimes!" she says, "You're not a nymph, dear: you're a half-nymph. You're the first half-nymph anyone's ever seen. How could we possibly know what nymph rules will and won't apply to you? Or what human rules? Maybe it's best you stop seeing yourself as one or the other, and start seeing yourself as... well, as yourself."

Something seemed to burst in Callyndia's mind. In all honesty, it wasn't all that dramatic, as epiphanies go — she'd certainly mused on this possibility before — but again, hearing her mother say it made it suddenly seem... real.

It was real?

"You really think I'm in love with him?" Callyndia asked.

Alloria Rosa suppressed another laugh. "Ask yourself this," he mother said, "If he were any other person, would you have asked me to make that potion for you?"

Callyndia's heart was already telling her the answer, had been telling her the answer this whole time. And she had been too dumb to listen to it.

So that's what love feels like? Strange that she couldn't tell until her mother said so.

"But, for future reference," her mother continued, "A love potion is a poor substitute. It makes you feel a sort of euphoria, but that's not always what love feels like: real love is more... complicated, and nuanced. In the end, the potion would probably have only confused you both even more, especially since you're already in love."

Callyndia felt a silly smile grow across her face, and she looked directly into her mother's eyes. "I'm in love with him, Mother!" she said.

She smiled warmly at Callyndia. "So go find him and set the record straight," she said.

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Okay, go ahead and have a little laugh at the male author trying to write a girl-talk chapter! I did my best, and I'm actually kind of proud of it.

But, show of hands: who's actually surprised by this 'revelation'? They've been in love this whole time: everyone seems to know it except for them.

Anyway, thanks again for continuing to support me. I'm still having a blast writing this.