valencia

The bad news came in the form of a letter. It was written in my brother's flawless calligraphy on thick, yellowed parchment tied by a pink ribbon. After reading it, I stared at that ribbon and felt a surge of irony jolt through me. I dropped the page to the table. I rested my head in my hands like the mourning statue I kept by my bed. It was an image I was intimately familiar with.
I didn't like the idea of leaving my home again. I didn't like the knowledge that no matter how many times I was there for my siblings, risking my life, no shred of gratitude would ever be shown. No favor would ever be returned. But he was family, and no matter how many times I told myself not to, I loved him. I took a deep breath and prayed to the gods for the strength and presence of mind to successfully complete yet another journey.
I would leave, as always, in the middle of the night, when the moon was highest in the sky. I would take only my thickest, warmest cloak, and the knife with the ruby handle my mother had given me when I became a woman. I knew there would be danger involved. There always was.
After I'd finished my humble dinner and cleaned up my small home, I dressed for the journey. I tied the pale pink ribbon in my hair and pulled the hood of my cloak over my head. I would blend in with the night. My journey would be swift and silent, and gods-willing, over quickly. I left my small stone house and ventured into the darkness. Not ten strides out my front door I was met by an unexpected visitor. A snow owl swept from a high tree and landed on the frosted ground before me. I hissed at the bird, trying to scare it out of my path. "Bird, you will give me away! My enemy will have no trouble sighting me if the light of the very moon is my companion."
The owl cocked her hoary head as if trying to understand.
"Be gone!"
The owl scraped her talon feet against the earth. She looked up at me with large, telling eyes. Then, "Do not worry about your opposition. I come to show you the path you must follow to Valencia. For that is where you will find your niece."
So the owl could speak! And she knew of my story and the voyage at hand. The letter I'd received had been from my eldest brother, Levi. His daughter Jolee had been taken by Loriana, the evil one-eyed monster who had power in Valencia. Levi had begged me to rescue the child as I had proven my ability in such situations time and time again. I listened to the owl.
"Do not think of walking, human. Grab hold of my [tail feathers] and I will carry you to Valencia. What meets you there is greater, I fear, than you anticipate."
Before taking hold of the great feathers I asked the fowl, "Who sent you?"
"Your grandmother, Evangeline. She watches over you still from beyond this world. She has entrusted me with the honorable task of serving as your guardian spirit."
So with no further discussion, I took the feathers in hand and was swept up into the night. The owl soared above mountains, enormous and mysterious in the moonlight. She soared over snake rivers and arrowhead forests. I watched with wonder as we traveled the quick route to Valencia .
The dawn was breaking on the Northern horizon when our flight was finished. A pale purple light washed over the valley. The earth felt solid beneath my feet. But it was also hot with the anticipation of what the day held for me in my quarrel against the monster Loriana. I had heard terrible things of her in my travels. I had heard her kingdom was made from the bones of children. Her soldiers were fathers who had been taken from their families and put under a wicked spell to do her will and none else. I didn't doubt either story as my feathered companion and I approached the gates of Valencia.
I gazed at the thick doors and vowed that my niece's skull would not become a knob or knocker. She would be returned to my brother unscathed, no matter what it took. I opened the door to the city and braced myself.
To my alarm, the city was all but deserted. I saw a huddle of men in front of a fruit stand speaking and laughing. They didn't look like victims of a wicked spell at all. I shot the owl a curious look and decided to approach the group of men.
"Excuse me, men!"
They turned to me. Their eyes grew bright at the sight of me. "'Lo, woman," one spoke. "What brings you to Valencia?"
His eyes were the color of the sky on a stormy day. Grey and pale and knowing. "I am here to rescue my niece Jolee from the monster Loriana. I hear she rules Valencia."
The man laughed. The others looked ad me as if I'd missed out on some wonderful joke or tale. He placed a broad hand on my shoulder. "Loriana has been defeated already. Your work here was finished before it began!"
I was startled to learn this from the huddle of soldiers. I looked at the owl for some guidance but her beak was closed tightly. Her large eyes stared forward.
"Good sir, how was she defeated? And what has come of my Jolee?"
The man circled me now, eyeing me up and down. "You have the build of a warrior. I think your niece may have more of you in her than you know."
"What do you mean?" I implored, growing uneasy under his penetrating eyes.
He stopped circling and locked his eyes on mine. "Jolee defeated the monster with a single kiss and a slash of her hand. She is gone. The spell over me and my men is broken. Again, woman, your work is complete."
I swallowed hard. Could it be a trap? I looked again to the owl. She stared forward still, refusing to meet my gaze. I wanted to kick her, part in frustration, but mainly just so she'd pay attention to me.
"Sir, what is your name?" I asked.
He bowed his head to me. "Dalyn... of Prima. At your service, maiden."
"Have you a family in Prima?"
A dark look crossed Dalyn's face. "Not anymore, good woman. They were killed when Loriana came through the city many years ago. It's just me and my men." His tone changed then. "It would be a welcome pleasure to have a beauty like you in my life."
I shied away from his touch and asked where I could find the child. "Follow me, woman. We are going to the center of town. Those faithful to Loriana have been kind enough to lay her body out for the mice and birds to worship." A mischievous look crossed his handsome face. I felt the strange desire to follow him to the center of the city--and the ends of the earth.
So we went to the center of town. I saw with my own eyes the massive body of Loriana. I felt a pang of sorrow, but it was because someone else had done my job. I swept the courtyard for the familiar face of my niece. I still couldn't locate her.
"Dalyn?" I asked, addressing him by name for the first time.
He nodded and approached the carcass of the monster. He spoke to one of the small birds that was already pecking at her flesh. "Bird, where will I find the warrior child, Jolee?"
I watched with surprise as the young crow responded to his inquiry. "You'll find her in the garden, crying for her father. A hummingbird I know saw her there only moments ago."
"Thank you," Dalyn replied, as if the creature knew manners. He then led me to the garden of which the bird had spoken. When I saw her tight black curls bobbing among the lilies, I felt my heart soar in my chest. I ran to the child.
"Jolee!" I cried as I came upon her. I felt my heart crack when she raised her face to me. It was streaked with tears. I swept her into my arms and kissed her several times. "Poor baby, what has happened to you?"
She showed me the flesh beneath her tiny fingernails. She cried that she couldn't scrape it out. She felt dirty with the monster so close to her all the time. I took her tiny hands in mine and pulled the ruby-handled knife from inside my cloak. I gently carved the monster's skin from beneath the child's nails. When I was finished, I handed the knife to her.
"You, Jolee, are a great warrior. My use for such a fine weapon is no more. Take this blade and do with it the work you were unable to finish with your hands."
Jolee took the knife into the center of town. She cut off the head of the one-eyed monster and we lit the body on fire, a sacrifice to our gods. As we stood in the hot red glow of the fire, Dalyn fell to one knee and asked me to be his bride. And though I had only known him a matter of hours, I felt the word "Absolutely" escape my lips.
Jolee grew to be a firm and beautiful warrior. I never served another summon for my siblings or anyone else. Instead, I returned to Prima with my husband and lived the quiet life I had always longed for. I wrapped my mourning statue in a handkerchief and tied it with the pink ribbon. I buried it beneath a stone in the yard, and I never thought of it again.