The Ballad of The Little Lost Girl

The little girl lay in the grass, blinking up towards the brightest stars she'd ever seen. Her head throbbed from the impact of her fall, but she was too tired to focus on it. Everything felt dizzy and slow. She waited for her mother, or perhaps one of her cousins, to find her under the night sky. The grass rustled and the little girl closed her eyes, as the throbbing grew greater.

Someone gently jostled her shoulder.

"Hello?" a sweet voice asked. "Are you alright?"

The little girl slowly lifted her head, coming eye to eye with another girl, not much older than herself. She had both the lightest hair and darkest skin the little girl had ever seen. Her smile was very pretty, as was her dress, which was pink and frilly.

"I ran too far," the little girl said, quietly. "I-I fell."

The stranger helped her stand up. She was shorter than the girl, and her pink dress flounced around her. There was a gleam in her dark eyes.

"Your stockings are torn," she said. "The Maidens in the house can help mend them. Or even my momma, if she isn't busy. My home is very close."

She pointed in a direction that couldn't be followed, then reached out and pushed some dirt from the little girl's nose.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Josephina."

Her nose scrunched. "I don't like that name. It's too long. We should shorten it."

"Oh. What's your name?"

"Zanya," she said. "Come on. Follow me."

The girl shrugged. Zanya linked their arms together and began guiding them through the tall grass, then through the beautiful patches of red flowers. Very quickly, they approached a large stone house, where women with staffs milled about. They all wore very lovely dresses, and had intricate braids, but stared with distaste at the new little girl. Her head began to spin.

"Welcome to Mordomus," Zanya said. She glared back at the women. "This is my new friend. Everyone is to leave her be. She is my friend."

The little girl, despite her dizziness and desire to collapse, managed a small smile.

"I'm so, so happy to have found you," Zanya said, turning upon her. "You're going to positively love it here, Esphina."

~

One may have forgotten about the little voice guiding this story along. How very rude, but...fairly understandable. With all of these bashful glances, strange melodies, and unraveling secrets, there simply was no room for a voice above the madness. Zez was coming into her own, things seemed to be clear...well. Well. Not clear. This is still Tol Tava.

The crossroads all met in this strange place, in the mysterious forest. Good and evil circled around the growing fire of lies and secrets and half-truths. Six different lives looked at one another as silence, or close to it, swept over the clearing. The Viper stood in the moonlight, with Esphina lingering behind her. Dosie froze on the steps of her wagon. Tes wrapped his arms around Zez. The Cinnamon Child drank some tea.

Zanya made the first move when she took a very small step forward. Her beauty had not diminished during her journey through the Ballads. Her white curls still fell with easy elegance, her dark skin glowed, and her skirts remained immaculate. She clutched her silver staff, as a few flowers fell and drifted towards the ground.

When she took another step, Tes tightened his grip around Zez. His hands laced through hers, pulling their bodies together. Zez resisted the urge to sigh, as Tes's lips found her neck. This felt familiar. She had seen this before, hadn't she?

"Unhand her," Zanya demanded. Her sweet voice echoed through the clearing.

Tes pressed a kiss below Zez's ear, then murmured an apology. He lifted his head, and his words were laced with ice.

"Why should I?" he said. "She is not yours."

This had happened before. Zez sighed, as his lips continued tracing her skin, and her mind turned to mush. She had felt this, she had seen this, in the haze of the Stargazer's temple. She didn't know what came next, and as that fear sunk in, she straightened up. Tes moved away, but still kept his arms around her.

"No one cares about your quarrels," the Cinnamon Child said, as she inspected the golden teapot on the table. "No one cares about who belongs to whom, or who is in who's bed. Either we all shall kill one another or we'll simply watch you two duel it out."

"Alright, everyone," Dosie said, slowly stepping off her wagon. "Let's just-"

"I won't fight you, Tes," Zanya said. Her gaze was focused on Zez, and a sour little smile crossed her lips. "You are too weak. You always have been too weak."

"What?" Esphina hissed. "Zanya, I thought we were on a mission to kill him-"

"Shut up," Zanya said. And Esphina fell quiet, her eyes falling to the ground. Zez did not ignore the tightening grip Esphina then had on her staff, though. "I've dreamed of killing you for so long, Tes. I truly have. For what you've done to Rhapsody-"

"For what I've done to him?" Tes sneered. "I did my duty. He is a maniac who deserved to rot in that prison. And you do as well, Viper. I know what you are. Imogen knows who you are. You are outnumbered-"

"Ah," the Cinnamon Child said. "I am not playing sides. Imogen is the only one who gets to play sides."

"Imogen?" Zanya's brows furrowed in confusion. "Who?"

Zez had faced a lot of nonsense in her life. She had dealt with plenty of misunderstandings and bits of impoliteness. She usually brushed it off. But this. This set her soul on fire. She wrenched herself out of Tes's grasp, then stomped down the stairs. She picked up the golden teapot, as the Child made some noise of agreement, and with tremendous fury...threw it at Zanya's head.

With infuriating grace, Zanya blocked it with her staff, and it shattered upon the ground. As the noise echoed across the clearing, all hell broke loose. Zanya went running, pushing past Zez and shoving her into the table. She fell among the teacups and biscuits, her hip screaming out in pain. As she attempted to right herself, she screamed for real.

Zanya had tackled Tes, and they were wrestling on the ground. It seemed like all ideas of weapons had been abandoned, and they were using their fists to try and end one another. This was not the great confrontation that Zez had prepared for. This was almost...childish.

Well. It would have been childish, if she had not known how dangerous Zanya was. She scrambled up from the table, but a hand grabbed the collar of her shirt. Esphina's perfume of flowers and dirt overwhelmed her. She was pulled back by the taller woman, and the staff pinned right beneath her jaw.

"If you move," Esphina said. "I will shatter you."

Zez was absolutely sick of this bullshit.

"Esphina," she said, barely moving her jaw. "What did you see at the Temple?"

"Shut up."

"You don't need to be here, you don't deserve this-."

"Shut up."

"She-"

Esphina lost her temper. She threw Zez to the ground and hit her with the staff. Zez shouted, as the staff attempted to smash in her back, and she quickly tried to get back upon her feet. Esphina was stronger, and faster, though, and brought down the staff, cracking it upon Zez's shoulder. She screamed, as something cracked and pain flooded her body. Esphina raised the staff one last time, before Zez saw something running in a blur.

Not something. Someone. Someone with hair pulled into bunny ears and a kaleidoscope of clothing and a furious flush to her face. 

"Leave her alone!" Dosie screamed. "Leave her alone, you brute! She hasn't done anything! Fight me, you coward! Fight me!"

Zez rolled over, as waves of pain crackled through her, and got on her knees. In a horrifying blur, she saw Esphina whirl around, staff still in hand. Dosie, with a knife clutched in hand, was heading straight for Esphina. Zez thought she was about to witness a fight. But it happened too fast. Esphina's staff collided with Dosie's head and the crack that resulted was deafening.

Staff against skull. Girl upon ground.

Dosie fell limply in the dirt. She whimpered, clutching her head. Zez saw blood trickling from her white hair, down her cheek. More and more bleeding. Dosie and Zez's eyes met. She was kind and brave and odd, and then the staff came down upon her head once more. Her skull fractured and Zez screamed, and screamed, and screamed.

She did not know what pain was. She did not know what truth was.

She only knew the sound of her own screams. In her agony, she clambered towards the table, where the Cinnamon Child still sat. Before Esphina could strike, before anything in the Ballads could move, Zez looked the Child in the eye. 

The monster smiled, as Zez whispered her wish. 

~ 

Thank you so much for being patient with me! I've lacked motivation lately (and apologies for this chapter being so short), but I feel back up to it now! 

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Things are getting crazy. But although no Tol Tavian ever has a plan...I sure do. Stay tuned...

Thanks for reading!