SHORT STORY

Of Starlight and Shadows

Anything is possible with blood and a bargain

Varia Lightwarden kissed him softly — his lips still warm against hers — and battled the tears blurring her vision. She kneeled beside him, the fringes of her dress soaked in murky mud from the surrounding swamp.

He laid still, his face a mask of solemnity; the nearby shadows danced and swayed in the torchlight, where once laughter had lived.

“Look there!” someone shouted.

A hushed silence fell over the crowd as all heads turned in the direction of the dirt road leading to the village. A small cavalry marched, led by a man who rode a horse decorated as a lion, dressed in the deepest of gold and royal blues.

His short, raven hair gleamed with streaks of purple in the withering sunlight. He wore a crown of darksteel, the bands clanking together as they wove around each other and jutted out into sharp points.

“Who is that?” Varia asked her maid.

Alys shook her head, her lips pressed into a thin line. “The Prince.”

“I’m sorry, my love.”

Varia pulled the weathered moonstone necklace from underneath her cloak, kept hidden like the stars behind a cloudy midnight sky. After generations of use, it was too ragged for display in public.

Yet tonight, it would serve one last purpose.

For fear of discovery, Varia clutched the weathered moonstone pendant, hiding it in a dress pocket underneath her hood. She had never seen the royal family descend from the castle, especially along an outlying border village.

The Prince looked down on them as if they were nothing more than ants, then dismounted. “There are rumors of a healer amongst you.”

The knights moved around the crowd, circling them as though they were cattle. Some of them broke off in pairs down the other streets.

“There are no magic users among us, my lord,” Isaac said.

“Silence.” The Prince seethed, leaning close to the elderly man. “Have you forgotten who I am? You will speak only when spoken to.”

Isaac had been to Varia’s shop before, seeking succor for various ailments, most notably the battle wounds from serving in the King’s army as a youthful lad during the Purification War. Like her other customers, he returned again and again, insisting she was better than the chirurgeons in the King’s Court.

Varia’s herbs worked like magic to the rest of the world, but a select few knew the truth behind their power.

The most powerful spells required two ingredients: blood and a bargain.

Varia clutched the athame, carving the six points of the hexagon — one for each elemental — into her palm. She squinted her eyes against the burn of the icy blade. Her neck hairs bristled as the whispers echoed around her.

The moonstone shimmered, suffused with energy by the six-pointed star in the midnight sky, bathed in her blood.

“Spirits of ice, wind, and earth,

more than me, he is worth.

To the light, my ether shines.

Bring Death upon me, before my time.”

“My lady,” Alys said in a hushed whisper. “We should go…”

Varia opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. Surely, the Prince would not terrorize an old man on the streets to draw out a magic user.

Would he?

Varia nodded, and they turned to retreat to the safety of her shop. But before they could go far, a high-pitched scream silenced the surrounding crowd.

“Father!”

Isaac’s daughter, Emma, cradled the old man in her lap. He had collapsed onto the floor, perhaps because of the commotion from the Prince’s interrogation.

Varia moved to help, but Alys gripped her wrist, a sidelong glance laced with a warning.

“I know.” Varia broke free, then pushed through the crowd, kneeling down beside Isaac and Emma. They were of the same age, like sisters. And though Varia risked discovery, she could not leave Isaac in this condition.

“This is your fault!” Emma pointed at the Prince, clutching her father to her breast.

“Emma, stop,” Varia said. “He’s breathing, see?”

Varia pulled out a series of herbs, crushing them with a small wooden mortar and pestle. She lit a shaving of dried felwood, and the earthy aroma filled the air as she dropped it into the cup.

She dipped a finger into the soot and ash, whispered a prayer to the Goddess, and smeared a line underneath Isaac’s nose.

The old man jerked awake, gasping for air.

Emma flung her arms around him, her tearful eyes silently conveying her gratitude.

Varia nodded. “Take him home; he needs to rest.” She dusted the dirt from her dress. “I’ll come by later with a potion.”

When she turned to return to Alys, a rigid shoulder bumped into her. Varia’s pulse raced as her consciousness fluttered through explosions of bright colors, brushes of music, and the grasp of old pain. Her throat tightened, and he landed in a pool of dark crimson, brimming with compassion, yet buried by layers of sharpness, violence, and bitter cunning — all of it swirling underneath a constellation of crying stars.

Varia slowly opened her eyes, blinking as she adjusted to the brightness of the sun.

The Prince stared at her, his expression as hard and unyielding as diamonds. Ethereal and handsome, he was like a poisonous flower — stunning and deadly.

A wave of sadness surged through Varia as the angelic figures floated above her beloved. Her hands flourished with practiced skill, the power of the moon etched across her skin in runic symbols shimmering like diamond dust.

As she uttered her last words in a bargain with the Goddess, her soul unleashed a dazzling stream of starlight that flooded the area.

Prince Lorenzo emerged from his slumber, and his breath caught at the sight before him. Even amidst the brilliant radiance of the elemental spirits — their colors refracting in a heavenly kaleidoscope — all he could sense was the void of darkness ahead.

Written in response to the Monday Mash Up #21 from the amazing Jonathon Sawyer. Thanks for the challenge, JF Danskin!

Gonna tag in Sieran Lane and Kathy K to give the next challenge a try!

And now, let’s tally up the score:

Main Prompt #1:
Someone bumps into you on the street, and you have a vision of their impending death! (2 points)

Constraints (in order of appearance):
A swamp (1 point)
A horse disguised as something else (1 point)
An ugly piece of jewelry (1 point)
A hexagon (1 point)

Hardcore Constraint:
A kaleidoscope (2 points)

Literary Device:
An example of Anastrophe: Varia used the phrase "more than me, he is worth" while casting her spell (5 points)

TOTAL: 
13 points + 1 bonus point for mathematics = 14 points!

If you‘d like to see more of Prince Lorenzo, check out ‘Servant of the Dark Arts’ by Mojave Green, which is part of a ‘choose your own’ fiction story, “drabble edition”.

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