Shadow Heir

She shook her head and sat behind me. “I can’t touch that. And I don’t need it anyway.”

Sure enough. Her deft fingers began sorting and arranging my hair, working out any residual tangles with touch alone. Jasmine and Keeli moved in closer, enthralled.

“That’s cool,” said Jasmine, cocking her head to get a better view. “Can you do mine next?”

“Of course,” said the dryad sweetly.

Astakana didn’t massage me or anything like that, but her workmanship had the same soothing quality as she began braiding small sections of my hair. I sighed contentedly, feeling more relaxed than I had in months, and it was only halfway through that I remembered I was supposed to be getting information out of her.

“Have you lived in the Mimosa Land for long?” I asked.

“All of my life,” she said.

“Seems like a nice place.”

“It is,” she assured me.

“Much better than other places,” I added. “Lots of other lands are having a terrible winter right now.”

“I’ve never seen any other lands,” she said simply. “I’ve never left this glade.”

I stifled a yawn, feeling mildly disappointed. If she’d never been outside this parcel of land, it seemed unlikely she’d know much about the world around her.

“Do you know anything about Varia?” I asked.

“Varia.” Astakana said the name with a slightly puzzled tone. “She rules the shining ones of a neighboring kingdom.”

“And this kingdom, from what I hear.”

“Perhaps that is what the shining ones say. My people keep free of their affairs.”

I looked over at Keeli and Jasmine to see if they had anything to add that might provide more information. So far, Astakana didn’t seem to have much to offer. But my two companions looked as though they weren’t even listening. They were too fixated by Astakana’s braiding skills and bore a dreamy, languid look. When the dryad finally finished with me, I discovered I had long since dried from the bath. She moved on to Jasmine while I sought clean clothes. After so much time bundled up, it was nice to just put on jeans and a T-shirt. When I returned to the others, I watched Astakana’s clever hands work and found myself just as fascinated as the others.

Jasmine’s hair was longer than mine, so it took Astakana a while to arrange it. When Keeli’s turn came, the dryad still took great pains with her hair, even though it was only chin-length. I sighed happily, watching the strands of hair go in and out, up and down. It was hypnotic. My eyelids felt heavy, and the afternoon heat and humidity were making me sleepy.

Afternoon?

I blinked myself awake and squinted up at the blue, blue sky. The sun was at its peak, and for a moment, I thought I was imagining things. We’d come here early this morning, and even with a “leisurely bath,” we’d only intended to spend about an hour.

“How ... how long have we been here?” I asked. A seed of panic was rising in me over the fact that I even had to ask a question like that. I honestly wasn’t sure.

“Dunno,” said Jasmine, not taking her eyes off of Astakana’s hands in Keeli’s hair.

I stood up and began pacing, trying to get my thoughts in order. “Why haven’t any of the guys come looking for us?”

“They probably didn’t want to bother us,” said Keeli. “They know how you feel about male and female nudity.”

“But after, what, four hours? I think they would’ve risked it.” The more I walked around, the more I returned to myself. Keeli and Jasmine seemed lost in their own worlds, though. “You guys? What’s the matter with you?”

Astakana glanced up from her work and gave me a pretty frown. “Why are you so agitated? Come back and join us. Once I finish her, I’ll find some flowers to put in your hair.”

“We don’t have time for that!” I exclaimed. “We don’t have time for this. You guys ... we need to go.”

Neither of my companions moved. I hurried back over and jerked Jasmine to her feet, dragging her away from the dryad. “Hey!” exclaimed Jasmine, with the first spark of energy I’d seen all day. “Why’d you do that?”

“You need to snap out of this. We need to get back to the camp. We’ve been here half the day!”

At first, Jasmine looked disbelieving. Then, glancing up, she deduced what I had about the time. She frowned, and I could see clarity returning to her eyes. “What the hell?”

I tossed Jasmine her satchel. “Keeli,” I called. “Keeli, we need to go.”

Keeli didn’t respond, and I strode toward the dryad, grabbing my silver athame along the way. “What have you done to her? What have you done to us?” I demanded.

“Nothing,” replied Astakana with another sweet smile. She finished the last of Keeli’s braids and stood up. “Nothing but spend a pleasant morning with you. It’s what we do. We bring peace and joy and leave happy memories—at least for women. With men, we leave nothing at all.”

The men. “What’s happened to them?” I suddenly felt cold all over. “Why were you distracting us? Never mind. Just get the hell away from her.”

I advanced with the athame, but Astakana moved with all the speed of the doe I’d likened her to earlier. She sprinted away, laughing merrily.