WHO Fairytales, Maid Marian WHEN Thursday night WHERE in her dreams WHAT Elaine returns to the dreamspace WARNINGS none
Two weeks exactly since her last walk, and Elaine once again paced Merlin’s library. The wizard sat with arms folded, watching her over his glasses with a frown.
“I don’t like doing this with you so agitated,” he said again. Elaine, this time in a mid-length tea dress, waved a dismissive hand.
“I must, I must,” she said. “I know she is in danger. I have been seeing omens.”
“Of what kind?” Merlin leaned forward on his thighs.
Elaine shrugged. “Ravens, black cats, broken mirrors… I thought I saw her on the street today, her very likeness. You know that sort of thing bodes ill. I must check on her and see for myself.”
Merlin hesitated a moment longer, and then let out a heavy sigh. “Fine. Settle yourself. We will not begin until you are settled.”
Elaine rested obediently, like a bird fluttering to her perch. She adjusted her skirt around her legs until she was happy with it, and then Merlin passed her the potion, and linked himself to her.
This time, she does not stop to get her bearings. She tugs on the heartstring and follows it like a golden arrow, coming to rest at the edge of a wood, and her feet are running through the grass as soon as she has landed. The trees are trying to block her today, and she has to push her way through, stumbling over knotted roots, grazing her knee on a hidden rock. Whatever torments Marian, it is both trying to protect herself and attack anyone who tries to come near.
She finds the Major Oak again, but it is shrouded in mist. She calls out, Marian! Marian! and her voice is whipped up by the wind and echoes everywhere at once.
At the base of the tree, a pair of footprints are pressed into the soft, mossy earth, and Elaine bends down to touch them as they begin to seep water. There- another- and another- She jogs after them, losing her way and doubling back, spying a handprint on a beech tree, and on and on, until she finally breaks through the trees into a sunlit meadow. Up ahead, a red-headed figure sits in the shade of a weeping willow, singing to herself and stroking her belly.
Marian! Elaine’s feet fly across the grass, scattering wildflowers in her wake. Marian! I have not forgotten you!