XXII

Elanor and Talvi agreed in advance that he would stop speaking as soon as they leave the cottage, just to be safe. 

This whole ordeal feels more serious than he is letting on. Such top-level secrecy means people at the Seelie Court know him well. But what could a merchant do for them to care about his persona so much?

The ferry was waiting at a muddy bank, and Elanor's light shoes were now a bit muddy. The elven fashion, which made clothing blend harmoniously with the surroundings, made it look so natural; the mud might as well have been part of the outfit. Talvi kept glancing at her, and she had a strong urge to look in the mirror, but she didn't have one, so she looked around instead. 

The other passengers looked bored and beautiful, each in their own unique, fantastic way. There were half-kitten kids with a parent who had only cat ears. On the side of them sat a fawn woman; her long, almost white hair was tied back, and she was eating seeds from a bag on her deer knees. Not many folk were traveling at this early hour, and she wondered why fae would use a ferry anyway; they seemed to possess the knowledge of magic doors leading anywhere they wanted.

Talvi, it seems, can travel even without the doors. If I think about it, the cat family probably does not want to use river whirlpools, and the fawn would get anywhere on those strong legs of hers, but they can't help in the water either. Now it makes sense they would choose a ferry. 

When they took off, the ferry began gliding fast and smoothly through the still river. 

No wind is around, so it must be magic pulling the ferry ahead. 

Eleanor was so mesmerized by the scenery of Autumn Court, which reminded her of hikes in Quebec, that the hours they spent sailing did not feel long. She was also looking around to avoid Talvi's shameless stare that did not leave her ever since she left Hazel's estate this morning.

Why is he staring at me so? Cheeky devil. 

The Seelie Lands looked absolutely otherworldly. She noticed even before they got off the ferry how the lighting was playing tricks with your eyes, making surfaces and highlights retracted into an iridescent rainbow hue. Wind was not only blowing from side to side, but she could see air currents carrying petals, foliage and shiny particles up and down in a lava lamp style, slowly swirling them up and down. It seemed the soil was overflowing with mother-of-pearl; it was peeking from inside every crack in the tree and even spilled onto the ground, reminding one of multicolored petrol swirls. 

Since Talvi could not speak, he was silently leading the way, holding Elanor's hand. She would sometimes ask questions for him to reply to by nodding or shaking his head, like "Is it far?", "How about now?" and "Are we almost there?" 

The walk was pleasant until they reached the base of a tall hill and had to start climbing it. Talvi was not yet fully recovered and was breathing heavily. Elanor herself was not in the best shape and got winded quite fast, but at the end of the hill, she had to let the elf lean onto her and was gently dragging him in a side hug.

They met various creatures on the way, including bunnies with pink fur and small ram horns, cranes with tall purple legs walking through ferns, and all kinds and colours of small birds, flying so close to them that they clearly had no fear of trespassers.  

There was nothing visibly alarming, quite the opposite: every area of this Court looked like sunshine and lollipops, but Elanor felt uneasy. 

It must be just how different it looks from human nature. Other courts had a similar feel to the woods and places at home, so it's natural to feel anxious in a place so alien. 

Finally, at the top of the hill stood a wooden hut on chicken legs, which stunned the girl, as she had read about it before in human books with folklore. The hut looked so out of place in this part of the woodlet, like a crow among swans, but Elanor was excited to show off to Talvi her knowledge of lore. He looked surprised when she approached the hut and said:

"Hut, hut, turn your back to the forest and your face to me," and although it was a rocky slope covered in moss behind the hut, and not a forest, the house moved slowly and turned to face the couple with its front door side. "Don't look at me like that. I'm amazed it worked as well. A lot of things from fairytales don't prove to be correct here," whispered Elanor to her "husband". 

An old lady who emerged from the door looked very human, but very ancient. She waved them to come in and disappeared back inside the house. They hurried up the rope ladder to the porch. Inside the hut was warm and smelled of herbs; the log walls added a comforting feel. Elanor was determined to be polite and greeted the witch. 

"Good afternoon! We came to ask for your help in a curse. You can call me Lara, and this is my husband, Jade."

"Call me Yara. Have you brought sufficient payment?" asked the healer, sitting down on the carpet and inviting them to join her. Upon closer look, her fae features were more noticeable: pointy ears, unnatural lilac eye colour, and one of her legs was just bare bones. She had bones all over her outfit: they trailed along both sides of the front of her apron, and two bird skulls were made into a pair of earrings. The woman's salt-and-pepper hair was covered by a headscarf. 

Talvi pulled a pouch out of the inner pocket of his modest, plain breeches and handed it with a polite bow. She looked inside, nodded shortly and put the pouch in her apron pocket. 

"I can sense you are cursed, but tell me what's the matter," said the witch, looking between Elanor and Talvi, who sat on the floor in front of her. 

"My husband can't speak; we hoped you might help with that," replied Elanor, making sure her voice did not reveal how nervous she was.

"Just that? Not the rest of them?" the witch inquired indifferently. 

The rest of them? What is Talvi playing at? And what am I supposed to reply to that? He was very clear with what to ask of her, but completely failed to prepare me for any clarifying questions. 

She turned to Talvi with a polite smile, begging that he would see the pleading in her eyes and give her some sort of a sign. But Talvy wasn't worried; he simply smiled back at her and turned his eyes to the healer, tilting his back in a single bow-nod. The witch seemed satisfied with that and announced:

"Very well, let's see."