For almost two decades, the witch Leenan had been in a stalemate with the kingdom of Caliburry. Everyone from the lowliest peasant to the crown itself lived in fear of her magic; all except one family of goatherders. It wasn't for a lack of trying either. It was just, every time she tried to curse them, the spell somehow backfired.
She'd cast a spell to make the father's hair fall out, and his wife would say he was even more handsome than before.
She cursed them to have no daughters (I mean, who doesn't want daughters?) and they'd cry tears of joy at the birth of each son.
She ensured they were the poorest people in town and yet the townspeople adored them.
She'd even tried to kill their eldest son, and somehow, it had earned him a pretty fiancé instead.
Yes; everyone rejoiced when the young shepherdess and the eldest son of the goat herders had finally become engaged after years of being neighbors. 'Childhood sweethearts' the townspeople would say, as if straight out of a fairytale. Everyone anxiously awaited the wedding date. It was quickly turning into a townwide celebration, the grandeur of which was disproportionate to their status. It really broiled the witch's pride. Especially when people would gush at how cute the future babies would be.
No one gushed about how cute her baby was, and she had the cutest baby there ever was.
"Mother, perhaps it's time to let this go?" Okay, so Finn wasn't a baby anymore, rather a few years past coming of age. But it was the principle of the thing! Theoretical potential peasant offspring were not worth celebrating more than her own birthday. Especially after those no-good nobodies at the school refused to issue a diploma she had paid for. That family would become an example of what happened to people who wronged her; even if she had to lie cheat or steal to do it. "The stress alone will give you wrinkles."
"No, that Roland has wanted stupid little grand babies since before he had his own. I will not let that happen!" Leenan started digging through her disorganized pile of spells. "Especially not before I have any." Finn stopped playing his harp and turned to scowl at her from his spot on the couch. He had been very vocal about not wanting to deal with marriage or children. While she had voiced support, it was clear she still hoped it was just a phase. "Oh, it's not you sweetheart, it's them. They're just determined to rub their happy little lives in everyone's faces. Well, we'll just have to see about that."
"I thought there was no spell that could prevent children?" Finn was proof alone of that. "Besides, the wedding is in two days. What could happen in two days that would cancel a whole wedding?" Finn returned to playing his harp.
"No spell would work, but perhaps a scandal instead!" Leenan grinned and turned to her son, her bored, stuck in the house son. "A scandal that would ensure no woman in town would ever want to marry that little scab again." She rose to her feet and glided to his side. "Just like your little friend Darren." Finn cackled at the notion. Poor little Darren, now hiding in Spain with his uncle because the 'woman' he'd been courting turned out to be his half-brother. It had been terribly boring without a toy to play around with. By now everyone was well aware of what happened when you got too close to the witch or her son; so, no one dared approach him anymore. He didn't even have enemies to torment anymore.
"He does seem kind of gullible..." Finn casually glanced at his mother's collection of potions. He'd need a disguise of some sort in order to get close, but surely his acting alone would be enough to distract the warrior from his fiancé. "I guess it could be fun. If I get to do it by myself." The last thing he wanted was for his overprotective mother to be hovering over his shoulder during a character study. Maybe something along the lines of the tale of Sir Lanval or better yet, something that let the little peasant look like a hero. Leenan hugged him around the shoulders and kissed the top of his head.
"Sweetheart, you can play whatever game you want, as long as they suffer." She was so proud of her son now that he was taking up the family business. Someone had to remind these peasants where they stood.
The wedding was in two days now, and it still didn't feel real. Harv's mother bustled around the kitchen backing as many cakes as she could with her three metal pans. His father wouldn't stop telling everyone how proud he was. It was everything they ever wanted for him. Prewedding jitters was to be expected at a time like this, supposedly, but Harv never thought it'd feel like his heart was squeezing as tight as it could at all hours of the day. It kind of reminded him of suffocating really. Just constantly feeling like his chest plate was three sizes to small, even when he wasn't wearing one.
Which that was how he got into this mess.
After almost dying at the hands of a vindictive witch, there suddenly felt like there wasn't enough time to do all the things his family expected of him. Audrey was familiar and nearby; she'd also felt the pressure from her family to find a husband. It just made sense really. They'd be able to help each other, and the last of his family's expectations would be met. Only... the list just seemed to keep growing. Which, was fine, really it was. Except...
Audrey couldn't stand being in the same room as him.
It was purely a marriage of convivence and somehow, the entire town was now watching them with rose colored glasses. It wasn't just his family, the entire community now was pinning their hopes on a happy marriage, on children.
Which is why it's good that feeling nauseous before a marriage was normal.
Otherwise, well, Harv tried not to think about it.
He was walking home after a lovely party his friends had thrown for him. They really had spared no expense. It was nice to know that somethings wouldn't change. The fresh night air, good company, and a few beers had done well to help ease his nerves. The stars were so pretty tonight, a mix of blues and whites against a pitch-black sky. A quick light zipped across the night as the summer breeze ruffled his hair. A shooting star; supposedly a good omen for love. It seemed silly to cling to superstitions, but right now, it was one of the few things he could cling to.
And then smoke eclipsed the stars.
He turned toward the source and saw the town's local inn consumed in flames. Visitors from out of town were huddled in the street cloaked in their sleep clothes and muttering amongst themselves. The men were rushing to soak the surrounding buildings to keep the flames from spreading. It seemed the inn was deemed a lost cause. Harv rushed to the scene, the inn keeper grinning ear to ear as he watched the flames.
"What happened?" Harv asked, concerned about the children clinging to their mothers.
"No idea." The inn keeper shrugged. "Made a mint though, and now the crown will have to pay for those fancy copper pipes everyone else has. Y'know other inns have those now; keeps the miasma away." Harv couldn't believe his ears. The building was actively on fire and all this guy could think about was copper. He could swear he heard someone crying inside.
"Is everyone okay?"
"Of course, it's a Tuesday, everyone was out in a jiff." The inn keeper gave his back a firm slap to the back. But Harv hear it again, ever so faint, someone crying for help. No one else seemed to hear. Anyone with an ounce of strength was devoting it to the fire. "Hey, Harv, where you going? That building's gonna collapse any minute!"
"Someone's in there still!" He shielded his face from the flames and barreled through the front doors with his good shoulder. The smoke was thicker than clotted cream, it stuck to his lungs and hung heavy in the air. He didn't know where to turn and the floor overhead let out a low moan.
"Is someone there?" A sweet voice called out from the back of the tavern. It hadn't been his imagination!
"Where are you? I can't see a thing!"
"Over here." A voice light and unaffected by the smoke; as if they were in no danger at all. "Come on, you can find me. Just take my hand." Harv stumbled around the tables and chairs that had been upturned in the panic from the fire. He could almost make out a figure sitting on a table next to the stairs. Short hair and lean, they sat patiently with a single hand outstretched.
"It isn't safe." Harv grabbed their wrist and turned to leave. The stranger gave a playful tug back. Harv faltered. "What are you doing?"
"Do you have a mirror?"
"A what?"
"A mirror, or gazing glass, or shiny armor perhaps; I want to see what I look like!" Was their mind as clouded as the smoke? Instead of following Harv out the door, they started pulling him toward the stairs to the crumbling floor overhead.
"Are you nuts? You're going to get us killed!"
"No I won't." They laughed and ran up the steps toward the nearest room. He couldn't just leave them here, especially if no one else was coming to their rescue. It had to be shock. That was it. Shock from thinking they could get hurt. He'd learned about it in school before, a way for people to make decisions in a crisis. Even if that decision was to preen at their reflection as fire licked up the walls. Against his better judgement, Harv followed them up the steps and into the open room.
There was a window open, allowing the smoke to clear out of the room and-
Naked.
This person was naked as the day they were born, examining their face like they were seeing it for the first time, and frankly a little disappointed.
"Still blond..." The stranger frowned. "Why is everything still the same?" His brow furrowed as he turned to look at Harv with an accusatory pout. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather a brunette, or noir hair? At least a different color of eye?" Harv looked around the room for a sheet or blanket. "Why are you looking away? Am I not pretty enough." Harv stripped off his jacket and draped it around their shoulders. Anything to provide them with a little decency.
"You're not going to have any hair if we keep standing here." He just wasn't grasping the urgency of the situation, blocking out the rising heat and whining from the building in favor of playing with Harv's hair. There wasn't enough time to convince them to run. So Harv wrapped one arm around their shoulders and the other behind their knees to scoop them up into his arms. His coat did a poor job covering much of anything and his passenger didn't seem to mind one bit.
"What's your hurry?" Big, innocent lavender eyes and delicate hands around the back of his neck were going to be the death of him if he continued to get distracted. Harv prayed the town would take pity on this person who clearly hit their head since he kept looking at him like that. Harv carried them out of the building with ease and rushed out into the crowd just as a support beam came crashing down behind them. There were some cheers and gasps of awe as Harv went to set the victim back on their feet. "Where are you going? Don't you like blonds?" Pale hands twisted into his shirt, clinging for dear life. There was no fear in their voice, but they certainly did not want him to step away.
It was just all too odd.
"What were you thinking!?" Amongst the cheers and concerned nurse maids, one stern female voice rang clear among the rest. A straw haired woman with a myriad of freckles across her sour face pushed through the crowd.
His fiancé.
"Audrey, it's fine-"
"It's one thing to run off and get paid to die for crown, it's another to put yourself in danger for no reason. You can't keep doing this!' Audrey pinched her nose between her fingers. "For God's sake what if something happened to you?" She wasn't the best at showing her emotions, her voice often flat. It was worrisome to see her so passionate about something.
"I'm sorry, they just needed help. No one else was doing anything, I couldn't just leave them there."
"Someone always needs help Harv." Audrey sighed. "And you can help me by staying alive long enough to actually see combat. You think you can do that?" She just didn't understand; he didn't become a warrior for the paycheck or the status, it was to help protect people. Her survival of the fittest mentality was suffocating to argue with.
"Harvey?" Right, the fire victim, he still needed to be looked at by a doctor. "Can you take me away from these people; please?"
"I'm sorry Audrey, we'll talk about this later." There was always later: all the time in the world for her to roll her eyes at him, for both of them to dance around the real issue at hand. She noticed his arm was still snaked around some stranger's waste and she didn't say a word. She never did. Just like he'd never mention the long afternoons she'd spend watching her sheep with some pink haired man instead of making wedding preparations. This was all just for their parents' sake. The least she could do was be pleasant about it. Instead, she walked away without another word, moving effortlessly through the chaos to the cafe across the street. She must have been watching the flames like a theatergoer. Harv walked the blond man towards the town doctor, unable to shake his sullen mood. "I think he's delirious from the smoke, can you look after him?"
"What!? No, I'm not!" Harv gently pried their hands from his shirt. "Don't leave me here."
"I-" He was usually soft-hearted towards tears and gentle pleas for his attention, but Harv would sooner run back into the burning flames then tempt the spark this stranger was so eager to ignite. "They'll take care of you. Judah's a good doctor, he'll be able to help you, but I have to go." He slipped away before the stranger could reach out again and thankful Judah kept them from running after him. He tried to block out the stares and him calling out his name. Everyone could see he was wearing nothing but Harv's coat.