The Spark That Ignites the Dawn

Chapter Two: The Arrival of a Stranger

 "I love him
But when the night is over
He is gone
The river's just a river
Without him
The world around me changes
The trees are bare and everywhere
The streets are full of strangers."

Les Miserables

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Marya and Vasilisa grew up.

The two girls never left their forest. Aloysius continued to teach Marya ruthless magic, and at night, Marya continued to sneak and visit her friend, Vasilisa.

During the first week after casting the spell, the girls tried to run away together. The bruises on Marya and the introduction of Vasilisa brought about a camaraderie, and that resulted in the plan to escape. Marya took the bread and cheese from the cottage's stores, along with as much as she could carry strapped to her back with tools and spare clothes, and left one night, Vasilisa in tow. They got to the edge of the forest before Vasilisa turned back into a swan. As it transpired, Vasilisa couldn't leave her confinement; Marya's crudely cast spell only worked when the swan girl remained near to the lake.

So, Marya and Vasilisa stayed.

Aloysius continued to tutor Marya, alluding to the day she would claim back the land of the Fort and restore magical rights across the kingdom. Marya continued to study enough that he would beat her less often than he would if she slacked, but not enough to care about taking back the country.

Aloysius would occasionally go to the local town for a market or to gather intelligence, and even more occasionally would he make Marya accompany him. On the way, he would remind her about how oppressed the people now were. How much they hated their tyrannous king, and the travesty that was banning magic. And whilst Marya agreed that banning magic seemed unfair, the villagers they passed never appeared distressed. They didn't appear to suffer anything apart from illnesses.

She would return and relay everything she saw to Vasilisa, who would question every detail. What colour clothes did the women wear? Did the men have beards? How big were the buildings? Even after many years passed, and the Marya continued to relay the same story, Vasilisa would still be as intrigued as she was the day Marya first visited beyond the forest.

And so, their lives remained unchanged, stuck in an endless loop, until the day a prince got lost in the forest on the way to an old, ruined fort.

***

The water's edge lapped near Marya's feet.

Behind it, the forest was starting to talk. People who were not used to nature's ways would only hear silence, but Marya had grown among nature, and she knew every bird's call, and why the grey wolves howled.

During the day, like Marya herself, the forest slumbered. Marya had long grown used to her uncle Aloysius's nocturnal ways, until it became second nature herself to burrow asleep when dawn came. Over the years, she had learned that by leaving at night, when her uncle was out, she was never asked questions.

Somewhere, out in the trees, an owl screeched. Marya cocked her head, hearing the guttural sound as something much deeper than Aloysius's call.

The forest was big, but not so large that Marya didn't comprehend that she and her uncle might run into one another. Thankfully, the spot that she and Vasi occupied was secluded, and besides, Marya could sense whenever her uncle was around. His magic left a faint bitter taste in her mouth, like a sense of carrion. They were safe from him in their secluded part of the forest, the waterfall that plunged into Vasi's lake, surrounded by foliage and dense thickets.