Mayra's Dream

"Gwen! It's been too long," Mayra hugged the Fae tightly. "Where have you been?"

"Times have been peaceful, but there is much to be done in the coming days," Gwen squeezed the girl back.

The sky above them was beautiful, the grass lush like a thick, soft carpet. Mayra sighed and lay down, unable to resist its lure.

"What do I need to do?" Mayra got distracted by a heavily laden fruit tree, and hopped up from the ground to take a succulent piece of purple fruit to eat.

"You will know what you need to do," Gwen answered cryptically.

"How am I to know such a thing when you won't just tell me what it is?" Mayra teased around a mouthful.

"It is enough for you to know that something must be done." The Fae's voice held a tinge of hesitation. Mayra turned to face her full on for the first time.

"Gwen, you're always so mysterious. It's a terrible habit. How difficult would it be to tell me 'Mayra, here is a list of tasks for you to get done to ensure the safety of the world as you know it'?"

Musical laughter from all around was the answer to her question, but it quickly subsided.

"Hello, Other Fae Whose Names I Do Not Know," Mayra called out with a smile.

There were murmured responses.

"Why don't they like me, Gwen?" The girl turned to the grey-haired Fae in front of her.

"They like you as well as any other human," The woman replied, "Your impertinence amuses and irritates them in alternating waves."

"That's my curse, I think," Mayra said lightly. The people that liked her, she often annoyed, but the people she annoyed, she usually amused as well.

No one particularly hated her, but she wasn't easy to like all the time.

"Oh, my," Gwen said, seeing Mayra's thoughts. "Child, you are seen, and known, and loved for who you are."

The young woman swallowed the emotion that suddenly welled up in her throat.

"Thanks, Gwen. That's good to know… now, if we can change the subject away from myself for a moment, it's been two years since I've heard from you at all. What's going on now?" She didn't recall asking for help, which was the Fae's normal method of beginning to interfere in human things.

"You have heard, but have not seen what is going on," Gwen flickered out of being, leaving no trace.

"Oh, good, more puzzles," Mayra said, but her sarcasm had no bite in it. "What have I heard?"

The light faded from view, and the lush green grass was no longer under her feet. It was darkening quickly, and the sound of the sea gathered around her.

"Ok, the ocean, nice," She narrated to tamp down the fear beginning to creep up. "I've heard the ocean."

The sound faded slightly, and she closed her eyes against the darkness around her to listen to the sounds of a kitchen, bustling with cooking activity. That softened and then became muffled as if closed behind a door.

The quiet began to be overwhelming when the sounds of play came into being. Two pairs of small feet, running through the forest, one little voice laughing.

"Quilina…" Mayra whispered. "Roy? Her imaginary friend Roy?"

She opened her eyes but her view did not change. There was darkness all around.

"Gwen?" She tried to ask, but her voice was gone. Inaudible even to her own ears. She raised her hand to her throat, and realized she couldn't see it, no matter how close to her face.

The bit of fear inside her grew larger in the pit of her stomach until it threatened to overwhelm her. She could not scream, could not see, could hear nothing now. Trapped in an eternal Darkness.

Just as she felt she was going to lose her mind, a sound entered her consciousness.

"Roy! Roy, come back!" It was Quilina again. In the distance, in the dark, she could make out the shapes of the two children.

"I cannot stay," He said. "It is not allowed."

"I know disobeying's wrong," Quilina said, "but can't you stay a little longer and play?"

"I cannot disobey," The stoic child stated. The emotionlessness in his face struck a memory in Mayra. "I must go. Tamas is calling."

"How can you hear him? I don't hear anything." The little girl pouted.

"I have tasks." Roy insisted, and stepped suddenly out of view.

____

Mayra sat bolt upright in bed.

"Quilina," She whispered into the night. The wedding had gone quite late, and she wondered what time it could be. It wasn't dawn, but it must be getting close.

She quickly dressed, careful not to disturb the other women in the Bridal Hut, and darted out the door. It was dark and she stumbled over Peter, who had taken to sleeping in a bedroll outside. The normal guards appreciated the break this gave them. 

He was used to being outdoors from his time traveling with the army and didn't mind the elements, and thought it best to have a soldier in addition to the Rhone guards near the collection of vulnerable single women just in case some Cetoan man had too much wine and got ideas about trying to woo one of the brides against her will.

So far he had not been needed, but he was sitting up with a knife in his hand before Mayra hit the ground.

"Oof!" She groaned as her hands and knees hit the hard ground. "That hurt."

"Mayra?" Peter asked groggily. Strange, Mayra thought, that he was ready to fight before he was able to think.

"Sorry," She whispered, standing and dusting herself off, "I didn't know you would be RIGHT there directly in the doorway."

"Where are you going this time of night?" He passed his sleeve across his eyes and squinted at her as he tried to discern her motive. 

"I…" Actually, she didn't have a plan for right this second. It was too dark still for her to go groping through the forest to try and find Quilina's house again. "I hadn't thought that far ahead," She admitted after a moment.

"You burst out of your hut in the middle of the night without thinking about it?" Peter shook his head as if trying to clear it. "Do you sleepwalk?" 

"I have some things I really need to check on. Soon. But I guess it can wait until sunrise." She glanced towards the horizon, which showed no signs of lighting up just yet.

"So you're going back to bed?" Peter said skeptically, his eyes meaningfully taking in the fact that she was already fully dressed for the day. 

"Um… No, I guess not." She didn't feel in the least bit sleepy and didn't want to disturb the Rhone girls with her restlessness.

"Well, you can sit here, I suppose. I'm already up." Peter scooted to the side to lean his back against the outside wall of the hut, moving his bedroll out of the way to make space for Mayra.

"Oh. Thanks, Peter." She blinked and sat down next to him, unsure of what to say next.

That was odd, considering they'd spent most of the evening before together at the wedding. They had even learned a new dance, with Gordon's obliging help. Mayra had made a note to keep an eye out for a girl that would match his personality well. He was incredibly kind and helpful.

"Want to talk about it?" He nudged her playfully with his shoulder.

"I had a bad dream," Mayra drew her knees up towards her chest.

"What was it about?" He cringed after asking the question, "That is, if I'm not being too nosy." 

"Gwen, at first." She twisted her fingers together in anxiety. "But then it changed. I'm supposed to do something."

"And what's that?"

"I'm not sure yet, but I know I need to go see Quilina and find out more about her friends."

"I'm sorry, who?" Peter shook his head. "Is that one of the Rhone girls? I can't keep them all straight."

"No, a little girl up in the forest. I met her the day I ran off from you." Mayra explained. "She talked about her imaginary friends, but insisted they were real."

"And that's important?" Peter asked with tired confusion. 

"I think it is, yes. She said… oh what all did she say? Roy could appear and disappear."

"Like Jimmy, your strange little friend from the lake that you told me about?" Peter squinted at her. 

"And then the other one, that she'd never seen. She met him once at night, but now he only comes in her dreams or something?" She really needed to ask more questions of the little girl.

"That's terribly ominous," Peter cringed.

"So was the dream," Mayra played it over in her mind and shuddered. It wasn't cold out, but she felt a chill up her spine.

"You're all right now. The dream is over." He scooted a little closer to share his body heat, and Mayra leaned against him and sighed.

"Thanks, Peter. You're the best."