Ajo: Chapter One

A little girl was running beside a fawn in the distance.

Her hair was the color of a sunset, varying shades of blue and purple, and her spirit was filled with the kind of joy only felt by children, before they've known things like loss or despair.

She was racing the deer to a lone tree in the middle of a field, and when she reached it she slapped the trunk and released a victorious shout.

"I win! I win! Isolam—Oh!"

She noticed Isolam had tripped and was tangled in his legs, so she ran to help her friend to his feet.

"You'll get your legs right," she consoled him, "and then I won't be able to catch up."

Isolam huffed. "I don't want to race anymore, Galeia. It's not fair."

"You have to practice."

The pair walked to the tree, where a boy near Galeia's age sat with his nose buried in a book.

"Isn't that right, Ajo?"

"What's right?" the boy asked, raising his eyes from his reading.

"Isolam's going to be faster than me one day."

"Oh yes," Ajo said with a nod, as if he were the authority on all things in the world. "Mother says he'll be the fastest thing in the woods. He's going to be her Messenger."

"See, Isolam? Even mother knows it."

Isolam grunted and laid down to nibble on the grass, while Galeia skipped over to Ajo and shoved herself roughly against him. She leaned in close to the page he had been reading, obstructing his view from it.

"What are you reading?"

"The Treatise of the Fae King and the Nok-Luk Clans."

"Is there wars in it?"

"It begins with a war, but mostly it's about making peace."

"I like war stories most."

"You like the fighting."

"Fighting's fun."

"It's a good way to get hurt," Ajo reprimanded, "especially as reckless as you are."

Galeia tugged on his sleeve. "Play with us."

"I can't."

"Come on, you can read later."

"No."

His tone was a little too sharp and Galeia pulled back. She stood and put her hands on her hips.

"If you don't have fun you'll shrivel up."

She bent over and groaned, mimicking an ancient, tired body.

"My name's Ajo," she said with an exaggerated shaking of her voice, "and I'm the oldest boy in the world—oh! My bones, my bones..."

Ajo closed the book.

"Yeah? Well, you're too wild, and if you don't learn some manners you'll end up as savage as a wolf."

He moved onto his hands and knees and rubbed dirt in his hair for good measure.

"I'm Galeia," he growled, "and I like to drool and suck on bones."

Ajo chased her, grunting and snorting, and Galeia laughed and ran circles around him while Isolam quietly watched.

"I'll eat you up!" Galeia yelled and pounced on Ajo.

The two wrestled, with Ajo obviously allowing the girl to gain the advantage, but while Ajo remained careful, Galeia attacked with full force, and she landed a few painful blows across him.

"All right—all right!" Ajo cried. "I yield!"

Galeia was not content, and she twisted his arm into a painful angle.

"Who's the best in the woods?" Galeia taunted. "Say her name!"

"Galeia!"

"And who's the bravest and the strongest and—"

"You are! Let me go!"

He pushed her away and Galeia fell back with a smirk. Ajo picked himself up and examined his arm.

"That hurt," he said feebly.

"It was meant to."

"You don't have to play so rough."

"You should practice fighting so you can get as good as me."

"I hate those lessons."

"Why? They're the only ones worth learning."

"You should read a book, then you'd be smart enough to know that's not true. Like me."

"Maybe the two of you should put your half-brains together," Isolam interjected. "You might make a whole person that way."

Ajo rubbed his sore arm, trying to fight tears. At last, Galeia noticed the honest hurt on his face.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"S'all right," Ajo lied. "Just be more careful."

Galeia jumped at him again, this time intending to hug him. He yelped as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Love you, Ajo," she said with a child's simplicity.

"Love you too, Galeia," he said with a child's honesty.

Without another thought about the matter, Galeia stood and ran away, calling for Isolam to join her. The fawn whined and stood on shaky legs, then bounded after her, a little more sure-footed after his rest.

Ajo picked up his book to resume reading, but his focus remained on Galeia until she disappeared in the distance.

The memory faded before starting again. Credence reached for the next item, a bowl filled with water and shells, which gave off a bluish glow...

Ajo was sitting at a table covered in books and parchments.

He looked tired but determined, silently scanning the pages of a particularly thick book titled, Properties of Wisdom. The Queen was standing near the table, watching her son. They were like this for a long time, with Ajo reading and occasionally dipping a quill into ink to write notes, while the Queen appraised his work.

"What was the promise of Elder Adnan?"

Ajo jumped at his mother's interruption.

"He...he promised half his winter meat to Chieftain Kierch of the plains people."

"And what did Kierch deliver in return?"

"Half his spring supply of fruits and vegetables."

"Why did they make this trade?"

"Elder Adnan made sure that the plains people did not starve in winter. Chieftain Kierch made sure Adnan's people were fed during the spring."

"Why is it important to keep people who are not your own safe and fed?"

"So...that...they had someone to trade with?"

Ajo looked at his mother hopefully but the Queen remained silent, a signal for him to explain further.

"Because...if one dies, the other dies with it, in enough time."

"That's half of it, yes. What's the other?"

Ajo looked at his book. "I don't know what else."

"It's not just one people who populates the world, is it?"

"No."

"Adnan or Kierch could have invaded and taken the other's supply by force. They could have enslaved the other's people. But they understood it was better to coexist than to conquer."

"Why not bring everyone under one rule for their own safety?"

"Different societies have different ideals. You wouldn't like it if the humans invaded our woods and bent us to their will, would you?"

"They couldn't."

"For the sake of argument, imagine they could. Would you want to be ruled by their ways?"

"No."

"No more than they would want to live as we do."

"But what if our ways are better?"

"Better for whom?"

"For humans. They're savage."

"But a good ruler understands that humans prefer their way of life, no matter how primitive it may appear."

"I think they would enjoy peace once they got used to it."

"That, my son, is a dangerous step towards tyranny. A poor ruler never thinks what they are doing is harmful. They believe they are fighting for a noble cause, even if it justifies slavery and war. But those are the tools of wickedness, Ajo."

"But what if humans do invade our woods—or try to burn them down?"

"We have our magic to protect us, but we strive for peace and kindness. In the end, what separates a weak king from a strong one is the ability to handle threats without the slaughter of innocents."

"But mortal men do not think so."

"Are we mortal men?"

Ajo smiled. "No, we are not."

"So tell me, why was Adnan and Kierch's promise important?"

"Because it ensured that two populations survived instead of one. It created trust and friendship. Equality. Balance."

"Very good, Ajo, very good. They shared what they had for the betterment of both people. Kindness."

"Kindness."

"Write that down so you'll remember it."

Ajo dipped his quill into the ink and began to write, but a loud crash shocked him and he knocked the inkpot on its side. A splatter of black splashed across his work, ruining it.

Galeia raced into the room, her hair tangled with leaves and her body caked in mud.

The color of her hair had changed, a common occurrence overseen by the Queen. Galeia often begged her mother to use magic to change her hair to whatever shade she liked most at the moment. Sometimes it was several colors, influenced by scenery rather than one specific hue. It wasn't unheard of for Galeia to choose the sunset, the varying greens and browns of the forest, or even a spectrum inspired by the food they ate, as her palette.

The ever-doting Queen obliged her, and it became a loving gesture between parent and child.

At the present, Galeia fancied raven black.

"I beat the Frog King!" she declared in a triumphant shout. "He was deep in the mud and tried to catch me with his tongue—but I got him good!"

"Galeia, you're filthy!" The Queen swept the child into her arms, not caring that the mud from Galeia's clothes smeared across her regal dress.

"I got his treasures," Galeia said proudly and opened her hand to reveal several white snail shells.

"Treasures indeed," the Queen said with a playful gasp. "Was the king not angry with you?"

Galeia shrugged. "Probably. He gave me a good fight for my troubles, anyway."

"No doubt you deserved it," Ajo said as he blotted the puddle of ink.

Galeia jumped from the Queen's arms and went to him. She looked at the shells in her hand and, after making what seemed like a difficult decision, plucked one and set it on the table before Ajo.

"This one's for you."

"You've ruined my work," Ajo complained, though his face showed no anger. "I'll have to start this page again."

"Play with me."

"I have lessons."

"Why?"

Ajo looked at his mother, expecting her to help, but the Queen stood back and watched, to study how Ajo would handle the interruption.

"I'm going to be king," Ajo said, "so I have to become wise."

Galeia huffed. "This room is too serious," she mumbled as her eyes turned to the shelves of books and quills. "What's that?"

She pointed to a shelf that held a glass dome, as big as her head, which contained a rolled page. The page appeared to hover inside its case, without any string or stand attached to it, and when it caught the light at the right angle a shimmer ran over it.

"That is a special piece of magic," the Queen told her. "A spell of my own that I've been working to perfect."

"What is it?" Ajo asked, just as curious as Galeia and confused why his eyes had not found it first.

"It's my secret," the Queen answered coyly. "But one day, when I've finished, I will reveal it to you both."

"Will it help me defeat the Frog King?" asked Galeia.

"No, my love. Now I won't say another thing about it until it's finished." When her children gave the Queen a well-practiced pout she laughed. "All right, one little hint: I'm thinking of naming it the Soul Bind."

"Soul Bind," Galeia repeated in a whisper.

"Sounds very powerful," Ajo added.

Galeia's attention was instantly drawn from the Queen's mysterious spell, and set its focus back on Ajo.

"Play with me," she pleaded once more.

"I told you, I can't right now."

"If I were king, I'd already know what's best. I wouldn't need to read so many books."

"If you were king, the whole wood would end up on fire."

"That's not true!"

"You'd be waging war for the fun of it."

Galeia's expression turned serious. "When you're king, can I be the Captain of your guard?"

"Why would you want to be that?"

"To protect you. I'd fight anyone who tried to hurt you."

"I'd feel very safe with you at my side."

"Then you agree—"

"Galeia," the Queen interjected, "go wash and leave Ajo alone. He's right, he has a lot of work to do."

Galeia fell from Ajo's lap, where she had climbed during their conversation, and Ajo looked down at his empty arms. The child ran to the door but turned back.

"Play with me after?"

"I will."

When they were alone, Ajo caught his mother's grin.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"Nothing," the Queen replied. "I'm just very happy."

***

There was excitement in the kingdom.

A special time of year had arrived, marking the beginning of the Queen's festival, where both royalty and those born less than noble were invited to court. A month of celebration and sharing would commence, and joyful noise would ring endlessly through the castle.

The Queen treated anyone who walked through her doors as honored guests, and engaged in feasting and dancing with all.

It was through this wonderful observance, the Queen explained to Ajo, that all the subjects of her kingdom could feel cared for and appreciated. The holiday was a blurring of noble and commoner, where titles were lifted and all became equal—though in private the Queen revealed that they always were and would be.

This was simply a way to show it with a bit of grandeur.

Ajo loved this time of year, for through it he had the chance to watch many fascinating people and learn about their way of life, which was often far different from his own and utterly unique to every last one of them.

It was also the only time of year when the Queen granted special audience to those seeking a place in her court. These positions were not given easily, but gifted to those with pure hearts and courageous souls.

It was not a designation for aristocrats, but heroes.

And it was during this particular festival that a humble, wide-eyed man appeared before the Queen on her throne and bowed until his forehead touched the floor.

The throne room fell unnaturally silent, for it was a human.

There had never been such a presence in the Queen's castle for as long as Ajo could remember, nor had he read of anything like it in histories or fables.

The man was of mature age by humans standards, with a small paunch and a mane of gray-streaked brown curls that fell to his brow. His cheeks and bulbous nose were flushed red, like the act of walking caused his body slight distress. To the utter surprise of the court, the Queen didn't just allow his presence, but greeted him as a guest.

"Rise mortal, and speak your purpose."

"Beggin' yer pardon, Majesty," the man said as he stood, "but I heard a story of ye from a passing merchant."

"Passing through where?"

"Where I come from, the towns."

Gasps rose from every corner of the room.

"We do not interfere with the towns," the Queen said.

"All the same, yer Majesty, the merchant spoke yer name and I listened."

"What did he say of me?"

"Only that ye were the most beautiful and powerful woman in the world."

"Flatterer."

"All truth, down to the last detail and description. He said ye held court in the woods and didn't care much for my kind."

"Why seek my kingdom then?"

"Eh...the honest answer is—I couldn't get the story out me head. Caught myself thinkin' about it over and over. And lookin' at all the others around me, and seein' me place was not fit among them."

"You thought your place was here?"

"I don't mean no offense, but...I love yer Majesty."

"You've come to ask for my hand?"

Mocking laughter rippled through the room. The man looked around and grew more red with embarrassment.

"Wouldn't dare," he said. "No, I mean I have the kind o' love one does for their true ruler. Devotion. Almost like—like a—"

"A knight?"

"Tha's the word! A knight."

"But there's nothing knightly about you."

"Eh, no. But I thought...I thought if there was any way to prove myself worthy, to offer any service, no matter how humbling, that I'd better try."

"Because you wish for glory?"

"Because I wish to serve a true queen."

Every head turned to the monarch, awaiting her judgment.

"I know I'm not much to look at," he continued as his gaze fell to the ground. "There's no cause for one like yerself to see somethin' in one like me, but...if there's anythin' I can do in yer service...it would be the honor o' me life to carry it out."

"What was your trade?"

"A humble innkeeper. Slingin' ale towards those who can't gulp it fast enough."

The Queen hummed in thought.

"But your words may not be the truth. It could be you've come to create chaos in my peaceful kingdom."

"Never, yer Majesty! Oh, never—never!"

He fell back to the ground and pressed his head to the floor. A few subjects snickered but the Queen's expression softened.

"It's impressive for a human to have discovered my castle. You have a talent for finding things."

"I beg yer forgiveness if I caused offense!"

Ajo and Galeia were seated next to the throne, and when the man let out a small sob Galeia turned to Ajo to whisper in his ear.

"Do you think mother will kill him?"

"No," Ajo said, but his tone was not convincing. "I hope not."

"It'd be good to punish him for being so prideful."

"Look at him, he's not boasting."

"He should have thought of how insulting it would be to come here—a human in mother's court!"

"Don't be cruel. He's here because he wants to serve. Everyone should have the chance if they are true of heart."

Galeia snickered. "Humans don't have hearts."

The Queen stood from her throne.

"I do not bestow positions of honor to everyone who asks," she said with a grim tone. "And not once in the history of my rule have I given one to a human. What I grant here is the glory of heroes. Are you a hero?"

The man quaked, afraid he'd made a foolish mistake.

"Not once in me whole life, Majesty," he said in a defeated voice. "But...that don't mean I shouldn't try." He held his hands out in a plea. "Please, I cannot go back there. I don't want that to be the worth o' me life."

"And what do you want with your life?"

"To mean somethin'. To serve someone worthy. Tha's why I come before ye, to this great castle. If ye wish it, I will leave, but I don't know where I'll go."

"Not back to the towns?"

"Never again."

The Queen paused. "I suppose there must be a first for everything. Pledge fealty to me, and if your heart is pure, let's see what it brings you."

"I give me life to yer service. Do with it as ye will, and may I bring ye nothin' but happiness."

The Queen descended from her throne to stand before the man.

"On any other day, this meeting may have been less than fortunate for you. But you chose this day to come to me, and on this day glory is bestowed upon those bold enough to reach for it."

She opened her hand towards him, and nestled in her palm was a brown and white seed.

"We will test the mettle of humans. Eat this, and rise a squire of the woods."

Without hesitation, the man took the seed and swallowed it.

"You break all ties to the world of men, and will serve me in whatever I command of you."

"I do, I will!"

She smiled. "And we will find out if heroes can indeed rise from the most unlikely of places."

Galeia made a sound of disgust, but when Ajo looked at her he noted a small grin on her lips.

***

One evening towards the end of the celebration, Galeia approached the mortal. Ajo stayed close behind her, skeptical of her intentions. Many in the court had congratulated the man, who remained humbled and honored by their attention. As the first human to receive the Queen's favor, he would no doubt be written about in history.

Galeia was the only one who remained unimpressed.

"Squire," she addressed him in a stern tone. "I want a word with you."

He bowed, recognizing the Queen's daughter.

"I'm honored for the attention, lady."

"Don't be yet. You don't know what sort of word I wish to have."

Despite her rudeness, the man chuckled.

"I am yers to command, little princess."

"I'm not little," Galeia snapped and the man's face fell.

"Didn't mean offense," he said with another bow.

"There was none given," Ajo interjected and put his hand on Galeia's shoulder. "Remember your manners," he warned in her ear but Galeia shrugged him away.

"I've heard stories about your kind," she said to the man. "I thought you all had sharp teeth and big horns. I heard humans were monsters."

"Many are," the man said, "but only a few got sharp teeth." He winked at her.

"You're not so ugly," Galeia conceded and received a nudge from Ajo.

"An' I heard all princesses were supposed to wear pretty dresses," the man teased and looked pointedly at the trousers hugging Galeia's legs.

Ajo expected Galeia to grow furious, but she broke into a wide grin.

"Don't believe everything you hear," she said.

"A good rule for us all, eh?"

"I think I like you. Can I show you the woods?"

"It'd be me pleasure."

"Tomorrow then."

When tomorrow came, Ajo followed the pair into the trees. There was something in Galeia's energy that troubled him, and he feared that she meant to test the squire beyond his capabilities. He was a human, after all, and his kind were exceptionally weak.

Ajo kept himself hidden, jumping silently from tree to tree above their heads.

"Why do you want to serve my mother," Galeia asked in an accusing tone. "Do you really mean to pledge yourself to her—"

"I already have—"

"Or are you going to hurt her?"

The man stopped walking. "Not a single dream of tha' lives in me head. Not a single dream."

"But why? What does a human want from the woods?"

"Only to serve."

"You could serve someone else."

"Right. I wanted to serve someone worthy."

"What makes her worthy?"

"The love she gives her people. It doesn't exist where I come from."

"The towns?"

"Yes."

"What's it like there? What are mortals like?"

"Like? Mean."

"Do they know how to fight?"

"Some. Most barely know how to survive."

"I was told they were weak."

"Aye, but we endure, for better or worse."

"Mother tells me to stay away from them because no good has ever come from a human."

"She is right, of course."

"So why are you the exception? What makes you special?"

"I'm not special."

"What are you then?"

"Lucky."

Galeia snorted. "I don't believe you. No human is that good."

"Are ye that good, princess?"

"I don't know. I try to be."

"We understand each other then."

Galeia showed him various plants, telling him which flowers and mosses were edible and which ones to avoid. She wasn't completely accurate in her teachings, likely due to her poor attention as a student, and Ajo would have to correct more than a few fatal pieces of guidance to the squire in private. Still, her instructions seemed to come from good intention.

"Yer tryin' to scare me," the squire said after she'd rambled about the poison of a particular slug.

"Just showing you what's out here," Galeia replied. "I don't share these warnings with everyone."

"I'm honored."

"Would you like to see some magic?"

Ajo tensed.

"Do you know how?" the man asked eagerly.

"Better than most," Galeia lied.

"No," Ajo whispered to himself. "No, no, no. Stop, Galeia."

"Watch this!"

Galeia flicked her hand and Ajo readied to jump from hiding.

From the trunk of a nearby tree a long branch stretched forth. It reached towards Galeia and the human, groaning as it grew, but stopped just short of touching them.

"That's...very useful," the man said politely.

"That's not the whole thing."

She motioned with her hands and the branch shivered. A brown bud bubbled from the bark and opened into a massive bloom. It was a gorgeous thing, colored in rich reds and oranges, with several white stamens in its center. Their tops ended in sharp points, making them look like darts of nature.

The squire approached it.

"Lovely," he mused.

"Go on," Galeia urged. "Take it."

He reached out to touch the bloom.

"What glorious...beauty..."

The flower shrank back and the bloom closed like a snarling mouth. The man had no time to react as the plant shot its stamens towards him—

Three white darts embedded themselves into his neck.

He touched them, too shocked to speak, and Galeia stood back to watch. He stumbled towards her, reaching a hand out in a plea for help.

He fell onto his stomach at her feet.

Ajo jumped from the trees, landing near the man's body.

"What have you done?!" he cried.

"That human meant to hurt us."

"Galeia, no—"

"They're all evil, mother says. They cannot be trusted."

"You meant—to kill him?"

Ajo stared at her in horror.

"I had to do it," she justified. "Or he would have done it first."

"No, no, no," Ajo repeated under his breath.

The man was trembling as death's rattle took hold of him.

Ajo did not know what to do, and he felt the weight of a life on his soul.

Tears sprang to his eyes. He was just a child, and this was a battle against death.

But he couldn't stand idle while someone suffered, so Ajo rolled the man onto his back and placed his hand over the squire's heart. With his other hand Ajo pulled the darts from the man's neck, wincing when white sap oozed from the punctured skin.

"What are you doing," Galeia muttered behind him but Ajo ignored her.

He had little knowledge of poisons, so he began to cast the first spell that sprang to his mind, and hoped it would be enough. Foam bubbled from the man's mouth and his wide eyes stared vacantly at the sky. The veins in his arms began to rise.

Ajo didn't want to watch him die, but worse, he didn't want Galeia to be a murderer.

He began to cry, and then yell.

"Please," he begged. "Please wake up!"

Neither man nor miracle answered him.

***

The Queen found her children with a body in the woods.

Ajo was bent over it, sobbing.

Galeia was a few feet away, clinging to a tree and staring at the pair in stunned silence.

Reaching towards Ajo and the body was a long branch with a deadly bloom, evidence of what had happened.

In a flash the Queen was by her son's side, pressing her hands into the abdomen of the human. She pinched and poked at his skin, coaxing something within him. The squire had grown alarmingly pale and his lips were blue.

The Queen said something under her breath.

The man coughed.

Spittle flew from his mouth, and, like a bottle uncorked, a stream of yellow bile spilled from his lips. The Queen rolled the man onto his stomach to ensure the bile would not be swallowed, and after a few moments, when the shaking and heaving had settled, the Queen released a long sigh and gathered him into her arms.

"Don't speak," the Queen said to him. "Breathe slowly."

The children kept their distance, and when the Queen was satisfied her efforts were successful, she turned to them.

Her face held a quiet fury.

"Who created that flower?"

Neither child spoke, but Ajo turned to Galeia.

The Queen nodded as if she had already guessed the truth.

"You are lucky," the Queen said to Galeia, "that he had a seed of the woods in him. Otherwise, he would be dead. You would have killed him."

Ajo found his voice first. "What does the seed do?"

"It protects him. Mortal bodies are fragile, so he was given a gift to combat the poisons of the woods. To make him a true child of the forest when he earned it. It was meant to bloom over time, so his body could adjust gently, but as it is, I've had to speed its growth."

She looked at the man and pushed the hair away from his eyes.

"I do hope you live up to your promises, squire."

He stared back at her with wondrous adoration.

"You will be in a great deal of pain," the Queen warned, "but you will survive."

She rose to her feet, holding the squire in her arms like he was no heavier than a basket of leaves.

"I was protecting our kingdom," Galeia said weakly.

"No Galeia, you threatened it. And you will answer for that, I promise you."

Ajo shot a concerned look at the girl beside him.

Galeia's face held a world of confusion and concern.

And bitter disappointment.