Chapter Four
Laughter, a Cure and the Day in the Market.
Life was working its magic upon the hearts of the people once again. The women were fixing up the stalls on the west side of the market, banners were being hung, children played and the merchants flooded in from the south end of the city. Violante was feeling in the best of spirits that day. The market was back and the people were healthy and happy, she even told the Strolling Players that they were welcome to attend the market. She had even decided to help clear the dead leaves out of the outer courtyard and around the statues of her husband which was amazing. Mo and Resa were shopping in the market and every few stalls Mo would go on about how he would have to read his bookbinding tools here. They hadn't decided to stay, but it just felt at the moment that it was where they belonged. They had also decided to persuade Orpheus into writing them a page to bring Elinor and Darius there so that they could all be together. As they walked pass countless stalls the merchants beckoned them forward but they paid no attention. The smell of exotic fruits and perfumes, different herbs and roots, vegetables and pieces meat cuts from the locals rose to their nostrils as they walked on.
Meggie and Farid had talked all night of the market that would come in the morning and Farid said that he would perform and insisted that Meggie help.
"But how!" she had scrutinized him last night for bringing up such an absurd idea, she had said that she would do anything but read things out of books for that was to risky and if Mo ever found out……Farid had told her that she could help him play with fire, but it would take time for her to learn. She reluctantly had agreed and they had practiced all night together and were still practicing when the sun began to rise over the hills.
"Meggie you must call to the fire, you must show it that you are the one who is in control!" he laughed at the sight of her fumbling around with little flames on her fingertips.
"But I have no clue what I'm doing Farid!" Meggie whined, "My fingertips are already burnt and swollen and I can barely get it to stay on my fingertips without hurting or losing the flame!"
She slower moved her fingers around impatiently, gasping for breath, in pain from stinging fingers
"It is your fear!" laughed Farid, "The fire knows your fear, you won't become an expert fire-eater in one day but as long as you fear the fire it shall bite."
Farid took the fire from her and told her to sit down and put some of the salve he had on her fingers.
"It will help cool the pain." He said, turning around and calling the fire to the palm of his hand.
"What are you afraid." said Farid mingling with the fire. "If there was something that would make you feel absolutely hopeless, what would it be?"
Meggie knew right away, to loose Mo, for him to die and for her mother to be gone, to leave her with no one to depend on.
She paused for a moment.
"If my parents….if they…..if they died!" she said faintly.
Farid looked at her for a moment, sympathy in his eyes, why was he doing this he thought, he had lost Dustfinger, was it because he loved her so much, was it because he felt so deeply for her.
"Well now that you have established your fear you must see the fire as your fear, you must tame the fire, you must tame your fear."
Flowers began to blossom at Meggie's feet, there petals fading as a new flower replaced it, and then they crawled through the air and danced around her face and settled within her hand. She stood up and tried to keep the flower alive but as soon as Farid stopped feeding it with his voice it began to die. She looked angry as it faded away and as much as she called out to it, it would not answer. She began to mutter slowly.
"You…are…my…fear, you shall obey. You are my fear you shall obey! YOU ARE MY FEAR AND YOU SHALL OBEY! YOU WILL FORM INTO A FLOWER AND DANCE UPON MY HAND!" here voice was now so loud that some of the people who were still cleaning in the courtyard had turned to look at the commotion.
Instead of just one simple flower blooming in the air about thirty bright, radiant flowers flew wildly into the air and danced around her in a sphere of flowers, as she moved her arms around the flowers began to dance in all directions around the courtyard and flew free under her control. Then as she smiled at what she had finally accomplished, she lost concentration; the flowers blew off and quickly died. Farid began to laugh and came towards her slowly clapping.
"Now if you could control the flowers the way you did just now without starting in a wild tangent we could have an amazing show together." He smiled at her as she blushed again.
"You still think I'm going to perform with you!" she said sarcastically
"Well that has been the whole point of this sleepless cession of teaching I've had to endure and finally you put on a decent display and you don't want to help me, you know we could be great together." He came towards her and took her hand as if it would help persuade her to help him. Meggie looked longingly into his eyes as she felt the blood rush to her head and her heart beat faster and faster. He bent his head and kissed her softly on the lips, it was the best feeling Meggie had felt ever since she had seen her father, even if it wasn't a very long one.
Meggie turned away pretending to be offended and snickered,
"Now what did you mean by a "decent display"." She looked up and burst out laughing.
"Of course I'll help you as long I can do my flower trick." She said with a joyful smile.
"As you wish……your highness!" and at that moment Farid darted off, Meggie close behind chasing after him and threatening him for insulting her.
Mo and Resa were still browsing the market purchasing some new clothes from a fancy vendor even though Violante had offered to have some made for them. Resa had got a beautiful jade and light brown dress that was made of soft silk supposedly spun by the dust of the faeries of the Wayless Wood, most likely just something to make the customer more interested in the piece. Mo had purchased a fine blue tunic and a green cotton shirt to match his wife. They had also bought Meggie another book about a fairytale set in a world beyond the sea that bordered the Castle of Night. They were nearing the end of the market when they were approached by a rather old looking man trying to keep so many herbs and fruits in his hands that his face couldn't be seen. Mo reached out, took some of the fruit from him and finally recognized the man behind the herbs, the Barn Owl.
"Ha ha, oh thank-you so much, all these things are absolutely impossible to carry."
Resa lifted some of the herbs from his arms and glanced briefly at his face.
"A the lovely wife I presume, I never did get to meet you in that dreadful mine, people call me the Barn Owl and I was tending to your husband in the castle." said the Barn Owl in a prideful tone.
"Thank-you so much, you don't know how happy I am that you were there to aid him through that awful time, but where are my manners, my name is Teresa, you can call me Resa though."
The Barn Owl smiled warmly at Resa's beautiful face and then turned to Mo,
"By the way, how is that dastardly wound of yours?" He looked at Mo chest with a concerned face where the bullet had pierced its way through Mo.
"Oh better, better, it gives me sharp pains every once and awhile but it's nothing major." he reassured the Barn Owl.
"That's good, but don't be silly, pain is always a major matter, whether small or big, you never know what might be going on inside." he shuffled around with the herbs in his hands and then finally picked one out of the batch.
"Ah ha, this one is especially intended for you, I had a feeling we would meet here so I took the liberty of buying you this." He handed it to Mo, "This is called Ash-Burrow Weed, if you grind it and put it into some juice or milk it will sooth the pain and speed up the healing process, you only need about a teaspoon in each glass, or else it will taste extremely bitter."
He paused shortly.
"Oh and if you ever need more, I think Roxane knows where to get some, but in recent events it's probably not good to talk to her just yet.
He quickly gathered his things from Mo and Resa.
"I'm sorry our chat must be so short but I have to purchase a few more things and then be back on my way to the Infirmary. It was a pleasure to finally meet you Teresa, and Mo, trust me; your wound shall be gone in no time."
He went over to a small cart, loaded his things into it and then turned around once more to look at them.
"Well, good-bye for now." He called and then he had disappeared into the crowd.