Page 53 of Tiger's Trek
“Says you!” shouted a very tall, very thin woman standing about ten paces back. Her nose was as long as her arms. “You know best as anyone—they get to decide. Have to judge, they do.”
“Well, stop your yappin’ and let ’em get on with it, then. Some of us don’t got all day, do we?”
“If you don’t want to take the time, ’ur welcome ta leave,” said a very bulbous gentleman with a nose like a pig and hooves for feet.”
Veru held up her hands. “Can someone please explain what’s going on?”
“Certainly, ’ur Graciousness,” the pig-man said, bowing regally.
“Stop flirt’n with the garl. T’won’t get you anything,” the thin woman groused.
“Ya never know, do ya?” he replied, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
Danik picked up a stick and rapped it against the porch. “Here now. You’ll treat my lady with the proper respect as befits her station. If you want to address her, you’ll have to go through me first. You there,” he said, pointing to the first man in line, “what’s this about the water?”
“Once a year a pure white flower grows in the witch’s well. When that happens, she grants a wish to them as is deserving. Of course, one must be worthy, and that depends on her whims, don’t it? She’s just as likely to curse ya as to help ya. But to some of us, it’s worth the risk. Since it’s her beautiful daughter as is keepin’ house this time instead of Her Fearsomeness, more of us are steppin’ out of the woodwork, as it were, hoping for something good ta happen.”
“Kak stranno. But, my good, er, man, perhaps you will understand my confusion. You see, this is not a well, but a pump. And I see no flowers here, white or otherwise.”
At that, the ranks of creatures parted, and where there had been nothing in front of the summer porch before, suddenly there was a pretty little stone well. It was covered with the most beautiful green ivy, and twined through the ivy was not one but hundreds of the most delicate white blossoms Veru had ever seen. The wind carried their delicate scent to Veru’s nose, and even without her tiger senses, she could smell their fragrance. It reminded her of her mother’s favorite blossoms, the flowers they’d planted by her grave. Her heart lurched, and her eyes stung for a moment. She blinked quickly to clear her vision.
“Very well,” Danik said. “What do you need us to do?”
“Decide!” the thin woman cried, raising her bucket in the air.
“Decide!” another echoed.
“You must hear our reason for wanting a wish and choose who gets it.”
“But what if someone lies?” Veru asked.
“A witch’s daughter will punish all liars,” a man’s voice called out from the side of the house. They heard a neigh, and a knight wearing silver armor and a white cape and riding a white horse came into view. When the horse neighed again, it shot the palest yellow and white flames from between its teeth. Everyone backed away, clearly frightened.
Veru started to say, “But I’m not a?—”
Shaking his head in alarm, the man held up a hand to Veru, then removed his helmet and drew his sword, pressing it to his forehead in a dramatic fashion. Veru couldn’t help but notice his gleaming smile and sunshine hair. “My lady,” he said very loudly. “I am Zarya, the Knight of the Sunrise. I offer my services and protection.” Quietly, he added. “Just play along with the people. If they suspect you are anything other than the witch’s daughter, they will report your activities to Yuga. You wouldn’t want that. You help them and you might get something in return. Yuga never needs to know.”
“Th-thank you, Knight,” Veru said. “I, um, we welcome your help.”
Danik didn’t appear to be upset or jealous over the knight’s appearance, only concerned about the newcomer and, even more, the newcomer’s sword. The hunter angled himself slightly differently, just in case the knight decided to try anything, but Veru noted his stance still appeared to be relaxed. She was impressed with his calmness in a potentially volatile situation.
“We were just about to hear the locals make their cases,” Veru said. “Danik, would you be so good as to fetch me a chair? This might take a while. And while you’re at it, would you also ask our friends, Maxsim and ourcook, if we have enough food to share with everyone? Perhaps they have some ideas that might be of aid as well?”
As Danik passed, he squeezed her arm and said, “Why don’t you make it easy on yourself and just tell everyone to take a flower? There seem to be more than enough for everyone here.”
Veru smiled regally at the crowd that was becoming more agitated by the moment and replied, “We don’t yet understand what it is they want. For all you know, they want to invoke a famine on the land or curse their neighbor’s horse. My parents taught me long ago, when it comes to ruling an empire, the easiest way is always the wrong way.”
Raising his eyebrows, he shrugged and said, “Very well. I shall bring you that chair.” When Danik returned, she summoned the first person forward.
Each one passed by the knight, who guarded her carefully with his sword. He allowed the person to present their proposal, then they were sent over to Danik to receive a parting gift and be escorted from the porch. Veru thought the whole process wasn’t unlike receiving dignitaries at the palace. In actuality, it was a bit more interesting than her normal line of work.
Politics bored her, but the problems real people had were much more fascinating. A farmer wanted his cows to give more milk, or a young woman wanted to find the man she should marry. A father wanted his baby daughter to survive an illness, or the leader of a village wanted his people to prosper and be safe.
None of the wishes were for riches or glory or fame. In fact, if she could have granted every one of them, she would have. As strange as all the forest creatures were, they were essentially like Danik. Just good people at heart who wanted a simple life. Veru didn’t get the impression any of them were lying to her. She shuddered to think what Yuga would do to them though. Would she have granted them their wishes or played an awful trick on them for visiting her home?
Then she met two men who argued bitterly over a property line. Apparently, a very old tree had grown right on the line, and one of them wanted the tree felled since the roots were making it impossible for him to farm that piece of land. The other loved the tree and wouldn’t see it fall. Around and around they went. Both men were right in their argument and selfish in not hearing the opinion of the other.
No matter what she did, Veru couldn’t get either of them to budge. Then, an idea came. “How old is the tree?” she asked.
