“You’ve never heard about the curse of the beast fae?”
She shook her head. Her bright red hair was in a long braid over one shoulder, the breeze blowing a loose strand across her cheek. I tried not to get distracted by watching it lift in the breeze. But it was difficult.
Facing forward, I headed away from the brook through a natural archway made of vines and trees overhanging the narrow path. During spring, this area would be richly green and thick with vegetation. The sound of sprites flying through the branches above and birds singing would fill the forest. Winter had come early, blanketing these woods with snow. I imagine my clan would be frustrated I’d stayed on the hunt so long. We’d need to break camp and move from Vanglosa as soon as I retuned.
“Will you tell me about this curse?” Jessamine’s voice broke into my thoughts.
It wasn’t an easy story to tell, but something compelled me to tell her anyway.
“Legend says that long ago one of our ancestors, whose name was Kaladyn, was chief of his clan and the greatest beast lord among all the clans. By greatest, I mean that his clan was the largest and most prosperous. He had several wives and dozens of children, but he still wasn’t satisfied.”
“Do beast fae all have more than one wife?” she interrupted.
“No. It was a custom of long ago.” I slowed as we came to a rocky outcropping that gave a view of the ravine and brook winding through the woods.
“Oh, wow.”
Wolf stopped at my side as we surveyed the land below.
“It’s so beautiful here,” she whispered.
If she thought this was lovely, she would be shocked to see our winter camp. Not that she would be seeing it. But I liked that look of surprise and wonder on her pale face.
“Are you feeling better since last night?” I asked, wondering if her pallid complexion meant she was still unwell.
She turned her leaf-green gaze to me. “I feel fine.” She shrugged. “Perhaps a little hungry.”
Frowning at that, I realized she would have to go without food for another full day. We’d have to camp again tonight.
“If you’d eat meat, you wouldn’t be hungry,” I informed her sharply.
She smirked. “True. But I’d probably vomit it up if I did.”
I rolled my eyes. “There are no berries in the woods this time of year. You’ll have to wait until we reach my village.”
“I’ll be fine. So tell me about this chief Kaladyn.”
Stepping back onto the trail that wound on a slight incline, I continued with the story.
“Though Kaladyn had many wives, none were his mate. He—”
“What do you mean none were his mate?” she asked. “You said he had many children with them. Obviously, they mated.”
I forgot that light fae don’t mate the way we do.
“For beast fae, there is a perfect match for each of our kind.”
“How do you know who is the perfect match?”
The truth of it would certainly terrify this woman, so I gave her the less graphic explanation.
“The gods guide us and show us. So Kaladyn believed himself greater than all other beast fae. He believed that he was meant to have a special mate touched by the gods. There was a queen of the dryads who lived in the nearby woodlands.”
“This is not going to end well,” she mumbled.
I grunted in agreement, then went on.
“Suffice it to say, the queen rebuffed his advances. So he took her forcibly. This was a crime, of course, and a great sin against the gods since they beget the dryads. What he didn’t realize was that this queen was the daughter of Elska, the Goddess of the Wood, herself. When Elska discovered what had happened to her daughter, she appeared at the center of his clan’s village. Kaladyn fell onto his knees and begged forgiveness but Elska would hear none of it. With a touch to his head, he became more beastly in appearance.” Glancing back, her attention was riveted on me. I flicked my tail. “We didn’t have tails then. Nor did we look quite like this.” I gestured toward my face. “We were called the beast fae for our affinity and power to connect with the wild animals of the world.”
