Out of Our Hair

Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Ludria, a sad peasant family lived at the edge of a small kingdom. They had a beautiful view of a castle over Lake Sambria. The castle had many turrets and towers, all made of the same gray-white stone the men in their village worked each day to mine.

Despite the beautiful scenery, the family disliked looking in that direction. Lake Sambria was extremely reflective, and on quiet, windless days, the waters perfectly imitated the serenity of the clouds above. The peasant family hated reflections of any kind, because it reminded them that they had reflections themselves. This family, by way of some ancient curse or bad luck, had a hard time growing hair on their head. The men in the family were always bald by age seventeen, and the women's hair was so fine, one could see right through it to their scalp. Even those who married into the family quickly lost the full, shinning locks they had previously prized.

This was not something Cassandra had been warned about, and she now resented just about everything, especially her husband, for her hair loss. She wailed, morning and night, until some people had become so accustomed to the noise, they barely even heard it anymore.

However, the King's enchantress was not one of those people. She marched her pointy shoes all the way to Cassandra's front door and blew it open with a small gesture of her hand. She quickly found the crying woman in the small, one-room cottage and walked over to her. She reached for Cassandra's shoulder's and gave her a good shake. This quieted Cassandra.

The enchantress decided to try to be polite; this woman was obviously under a lot of grief about something. She pasted a smile on her face and said "Hello sweet, why do you cry so?"

Cassandra looked at her with a quivering lip. "I-I, I haven't got any hair left." She hid her face in her hands.

The enchantress raised her eyebrows in disbelief. But now that she looked, she noticed that the woman's head was practically bare. Maybe if she was nice, the woman would gain some self confidence and stop crying.

"What do you mean? You have at least a hundred hairs left. And very nice one's at that. I've always thought that clear was the prettiest color for hair."

"Not on babies," Cassandra said in a muffled voice.

"What?"

Cassandra lifted her head. "I said not on babies. I am going to have a child, and that child will be subjected to the same misery I endure each and every day." She looked off into the distance. "I used to have beautiful hair. It was soft and lush and long… so long it could reach half way down my back. In fact, it was about the same length as yours." Cassandra paused and squinted her eyes in distrust. "Who are you and why are you in my house?"

"I am the King's enchantress, and a rather good one at that. You may call me Kindra. I heard your cries, and thought I might be of service."

"Oh, of course. So what will you do? Give me my hair back?"

Enchantress Kindra was annoyed by the crying woman's impression that she had a right to Kindra's magic. This was only a peasant girl, and spell's didn't grow on tree's after all. "I'm sorry, deary, but magic doesn't work that way. I can't change something that has already happened."

Kindra instantly regretted her words as the woman began to wail again, and in the most untidy manner. Her mouth hung open and her hands move this way and that, making her look quite wild. "I can however, help your baby." Kindra said quickly and loudly, in order for the woman to hear her over her own cries.

"Y-y-you can?"

"Yes, I can insure that your baby will have beautiful locks that will shine like gold. They will never grow thin or discolored. Nothing will ever be able to destroy their beauty." Kindra lifted her hands in preparation to make the spell official. "As payment, you must promise me to never cry or wail or scream or make any other noise I would be able to hear all the way in the castle, ever again."

"I promise," Cassandra said, wiping her tears on her dirty sleeve.

Kindra waved her hands in the air a few times, then poked the woman's round stomach twice. "That should do it."

Kindra enjoyed her peace for a good half year. She had a very pleasant time, occasionally cooking up a spell for the King or his relatives, but mostly spending the time as she wished, bird watching and sketching forest creatures.

However, soon her quiet life would be disrupted. She had no way of knowing when she poured her tea that this would be the day to change her life forever. Kindra had just settled in her favorite chair to read a novel when there was a knock on her door.

She sighed. "Come in," she said begrudgingly

A timid guard stepped in. He knew she did not like to be disturbed, especially in the mornings.

"There is a woman here to see you, ma'am. She says you must see her and fix it."

"Fix what?" Kindra was starting to be very annoyed. No one was allowed to come to her with their problems, unless they were the royal family. It was probably the Queen's aunt again about a beauty spell.

"She wants you to reverse the spell you put on her child. She said you ruined her life."

"Child? What child?" Kindra murmured to herself.

"She won't leave until you see her. She's already been here for two hours."

"Show her in." The enchantress would quickly get rid of whatever confused woman was here.

In through the door came a fierce looking woman with a scarf around her head and a bundle in her arms.

"You have to take it back," the woman demanded.

Kindra raised one eyebrow "Take what back?"

"The spell you did on my baby. Look at her!" And with that, the woman pulled back the cloth around her baby's head. The child had long, thick, blond locks, especially for its young age.

The moment of realization had arrived. "You are the hairless—uh—crying girl from the village. And it looks like the spell worked wonderfully. You are mistaken."

"Oh it did? How do you figure? You were supposed to take away my misery, but instead you have increased it." Cassandra started to whimper. "Imagine being completely bald, and having to see your daughter's beautiful, perfect hair everyday. It's not fair."

Kindra raised her eyebrow. What kind of mother was this?

"And I can't even cry, because of your spell."

"That was our agreement. I don't see how any of this is my fault. And I can't take back the spell. Maybe you should be more careful what you wish for."

"Maybe you should be careful what wishes you grant" Cassandra retorted. "I can't stand the sight of my own baby. That's your fault." Kindra just barely stopped herself from correcting the woman.

"I can't do anything for you. Please leave." Kindra swept her full skirts around and made for her chair. She wanted to get back to her book.

"There is something you can do, and you will do. You must take the child. Since you cast the spell she is your responsibility."

Without turning, Kindra responded "Careful what you wish for. Would you have me take your only baby?" Kindra, of course, was not seriously considering taking the child, but she wanted to scare the woman into being a good mother.

"Yes I would. Here." As Cassandra placed her baby on a nearby table, Kindra whirled around.

"What? You can't do that. If you do, you will never see your child again."

"That's the point. Goodbye" Cassandra said as she practically ran out of the door.

"Wait!" Kindra's thoughts whirled. Of all the questions she was thinking, she only managed to blurt out the most trival. "What is the child's name?"

Cassandra turned around with a slightly sour expression. "It's Sambria."

As Cassandra left as fast as her legs could carry her, Kindra went to the baby. After picking her up, she went to her chair and plopped down. What an unexpected turn of events. And what a horrid woman. The baby is better off now that she is out of her mother's hair—or rather lack of hair, Kindra thought. And why on earth would the woman name the child after a lake?

Kindra called a maid to take care of the child for the present. Kindra had a lot of thinking to do. Her book would have to wait.