Chesarai lay on her bed, sweat making her skin shine and dampening her clothes. She was still breathing but it was irregular and fitful. Most families in the village had lost someone to the sickness that had struck their community little over a week ago. As Hesh looked on her mother she knew it wouldn’t be long now. Her father had already succumbed the day before in much the same condition as Chesarai was in now. Hesh stroked her mother’s hair back and dabbed at her forehead with a damp cloth. Chesarai’s eyes flickered from time to time but there was no other sign of awareness.

Hesh had to look away every so often if only to keep herself from being overwhelmed by the situation. During that time she would try and distract herself by staring at anything else she could see and focusing on that instead. She looked up the ceiling and noticed the patches of thatch that would need to be replaced before the next rains came. She traced the cracks in the earthen floor with her eyes. She tried to see the patterns in the plastered walls that made her think of faces. The hanging strips of dried meats and herbs that were tied to the upper rafters were a particular favorite of Hesh’s since they turned and swayed, offering her an ever-changing view of them. The only other place Hesh didn’t want to look during these moments of distraction was the solitary window. Through the window, she knew, she would see the forest.

As Hesh sat by her mother’s bedside, once again looking at the far wall and trying to find the marks that reminded her of a dog and cat chasing one another, she heard the quivering rattle of her mother’s last breath.

“No!” Hesh cried out, snapping her eyes to her mother.

Chesarai lay still, eyes open just a slit, her mouth slightly open. The little spot on the side of her neck that had once pulsed with her heartbeat, faint though it had become, no longer moved. Hesh placed her hand over her mother’s chest and tried to feel for any sort of movement.

Nothing.

She held her hand in front of her mother’s mouth to see if she could feel any breath at all.

Nothing again.

A strange sensation ran over Hesh. It was as though water had been poured over her, cascading down her head and onto her shoulders before soaking its way down the rest of her body and then coming to rest around her kneeling legs and feet. It was cold, in a way, though not exactly like a winter chill. It made her want to shiver, to seek shelter, to be close to others who would hold her and share their warmth. It also drove away much of the panic she had been feeling only moments ago, as though she were numbed both body and soul.

Her eyes turned of their own accord towards the window. What was the harm in going there now? What was the good of it? Her parents were dead and she was alone. Even if she didn’t fall ill to this sickness, who could tell how many of the others in the village would survive it. Depending on who lived and who died, Hesh’s future could take on very different possibilities, only some of which were worth surviving for.

Before she could stop herself, Hesh pushed up off the ground and rose to her feet. Her legs tingled and itched from kneeling for so long but she didn’t waste time rubbing the feeling back into them. She strode to the door and left the hovel. She didn’t bother grabbing any food or even a water skin. She even left her shoes behind. Either she would make it to where she was going or she wouldn’t and she didn’t want to give herself any chances to stop and think about where she was going and why she might not want to go there.

Everyone in the village knew the stories about the forest. Only the hunters and the woodcutters ever went in there and the strange tales they told were enough to convince most people to stay out of there.

“There’s many a path that leads into the trees, and a fair few leading out of them, but only one can take you in and bring you back out again,” was a common remark made by those who ventured into the forest.

At the forest’s edge, there were indeed a number of paths that Hesh could see. What the others had meant by there being paths that lead in and paths that lead out, she didn’t know. All that she did know was that there was a single path that was much wider than the rest and it was that path that everyone used. It lead from the forest, down the middle of town, and then on towards the Northern Road.

“What’r you doin’ Hesh?” a gravelly voice asked from behind.

Hesh spun, surprised, and found herself facing Sek, the town’s blacksmith. His eyes were always held in a tight squint as though her were always looking at his coals, and his skin was tough and leathery from years of standing over the hot metals he worked.

“You’re a bit young to be steppin’ into there,” he said.

He wasn’t looking at her, instead fixing his gaze on the trees.

“Mom’s died,” Hesh said, feeling like that was plenty explanation enough.

Sek frowned and he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“I’ve gone ahead and prepared her spot,” he said.

Sek had been the one to dig her fathers grave as well and Hesh nodded her thanks.

“Those who take this path,” Sek said, pointing to the wide path, “they know what it is they’re after, and they know where to find it. This path won’t take you to where you’re wantin’ to go.”

“I wasn’t planning on taking that path,” Hesh murmured.

Sek eyed her carefully and then his gaze moved over to the smaller paths.

“The wide path was cut by the people of this village,” he told Hesh, “and so we’re the masters of it. That’s why it’s safer. The other paths were cut by others. That’s why they’re the masters of those paths. If you walk one of them, you’re puttin’ yourself in their power and there’s no promise you’ll ever get back.”

“Couldn’t I just turn around and come back the way I came?”

“You’re thinkin’ of our path,” Sek laughed darkly. “We made it so you could turn back and return the way you came. Every path you’ve ever been on that people made was made that way. But not with those. They were cut another way, and just turnin’ round won’t be enough to get you back here.”

That didn’t make any sense to Hesh but she knew better than to question Sek. Of all the people in the village, he was among the oldest and wisest. Everyone who had a serious question or problem went to Sek. He’d pound out whatever piece of metal he was working on, listening to whoever had come to him for advice, and by the end of the day he’d have shaped both the metal and the seeker into something better.

“Have you ever been into the forest?” Hesh asked.

Sek was quiet for a time, studying Hesh and the forest before them.

“I have,” was his eventual reply.

“Did you always take the wide path?”

Again, Sek was silent for a while before answering.

“No,” he stated finally.

“What was it like?”

“It’s different for every person,” Sek explained, “I can’t tell you what you’d find in there.”

Hesh took a step towards the forest.

“If you go in there,” Sek warned, “you need to go with somethin’ to give and somethin’ to get.”

Hesh pondered his words for a moment.

“I know what I want,” Hesh began, “but what could I give?”

“Is what you want somethin’ that can be given to you?” Sek asked. “Or is what you want somethin’ that you’ll be needin’ to give?”

“I –

“There’s nothin’ more I can tell you or answer for you,” Sek cut in. “I’m goin’ to go place your mother. If you’re goin’ in there, then you’d better go before the sun sets and the keeper of the paths changes.”

With that, Sek turned and walked away towards Hesh’s home. She watched him go until he step inside the home and was gone from her sight. She didn’t want to see him carrying her mother’s limp form back out and so she turned away and looked back to the forest. The canopy was swaying gently up above even though Hesh couldn’t feel any breeze.

Placing one foot in front of the other, Hesh forced herself to begin walking. It was an effort to prevent her mind from dwelling on all the reasons why she shouldn’t do this. Instead she focused on everything she’d lost, on everyone she’d seen die, and on the one thing she wanted now more than anything else. The trees began to pass by on either side of her and the shadows fell in around her. Dappled spots of sunlight shone here and there, occasionally winking in her eyes while she walked. The musty scent of the forest that sometimes wafted down to her home was thick and almost palpable here. She even found herself licking her lips from time to time as though she expected to find it collecting there. Small animals scurried beneath the underbrush when she approached though she never saw any of them. Above her in the trees, birds and squirrels chirped and chittered to one another as they mostly ignored Hesh down below them.

It was cooler in the forest but not as cool as she had expected. The compact soil of the path was smooth beneath her bare feet and she was surprised how clear it was. Even the well-kept roads she had been on tended to have some debris here and there, but this path didn’t have so much as a fallen leaf or twig.

The deeper into the forest she walked the stranger it began to look. The trees were less straight and yet they didn’t look like the twisted and sickly trees she had sometimes seen in other places. These trees had an almost intentional look to them, as though they were shaped by design. They formed no structures as far as she could tell, but at certain angles she would have sworn they looked like they formed the shapes of animals, or people, or other things she couldn’t name.

The day was wearing on and still Hesh had not found the place she had come in search of. Her mind and body were already worn from the long hours and sleepless nights she’d spent caring for her parents and the long walk had only added to her fatigue. She was used to hunger, having frequently gone without food before, but it was the thirst that was really beginning to slow her down. Her throat was dry and scratchy and the insides of her mouth felt thick with mucus. She’d neither seen nor heard any signs of flowing water, though even if she had she knew better than to leave the path to get it.

The wound on until it passed by a large mound of giant stones that looked as though they had been dropped by a passing giant, forming a strange hill in the middle of the otherwise rockless terrain. As she came around the bend in the path she saw that, cut into the rocks was a wide, even space. The smooth surface of the path widened to encompass the alcove and in the center of the stones was the massive stump of an ancient hardwood. The bark along the back side of the stump rose up higher than the rest of it, forming a natural chair, or throne, with a few branches coming off either side as places to rest your arms. Sitting upon the throne was a woman unlike any other that Hesh had ever seen. Her clothes and boots were of a fine and flexible leather, though their edges looked rough and natural. She wore a fine sash about her waist that looked to be made from spider silk since dozens of spiders of varying sizes seemed to dart about constantly weaving it. Upon her head were a pair of fine antlers, held in place with yet more spider silk; here, too, Hesh saw a fair few spiders hurrying to weave and maintain the band at all times.

Hesh met the woman’s eyes, nodded her head respectfully, and then waited. It was poor manners, she knew, to speak first and she did not want to offend anyone in this place.

“You are not lost,” the woman on the throne observed. “I can see plainly there is no power about you either.”

These were all statements and so Hesh remained silent, instead simply nodding to the woman once again.

“Hmm,” the woman hummed, “I am known as the Lady of the Forest. May I have your name, please?”

It was a subtle little trick that Hesh had heard of before and was ready for it.

“Oh Lady of the Forest,” Hesh began, “I have indeed come to give and to get, but my name is not the thing I bring to trade.”

The Lady of the Forest smiled and it wasn’t entirely a pleasant one, but neither was it entirely wicked. It was the look of someone who had been presented with a game that they particularly enjoyed playing and enjoyed winning even more.

“I do not trade as willingly as many may have told you,” said the Lady of the Forest. “I am not one to be taken advantage of either. Your offer must be worth whatever it is you have come to ask of me.”

“I am, as you have so keenly observed, no one of great power or importance,” Hesh said, “and I do not come to cheat the Lady of the Forest for I know she is wise and can weigh the value of what is given against what is asked for with skill far beyond my own.”

The Lady of the Forest shifted to one side of her throne, resting her chin on her hand as she contemplated Hesh.

“You are a charming one,” the Lady remarked though it was not entirely a compliment. “I do enjoy your manner and manners. Tell me, who has taught you to converse so gracefully?”

“Lady, it was my mother and my father who instructed me in nearly all things that I know.”

“And who are they?”

Hesh felt hot emotions rising up within her at the Lady of the Forests question. She had not expected it to be so hard to talk about them, and yet she now realized she should have expected it. She could not stop the tears from flowing but she was able to maintain control over her voice while she spoke.

“Lady of the Forest,” she said with as much composure as she could muster through her tears, “they were Chesarai and Kinsh.

A brief look of surprise swept over the woman’s face but was quickly covered by her cool and calm demeanor once more.

“You said they were,” the Lady of the Forest said. “Do you mean they are no longer called by those names?”

“No, Lady, but they have died only today and yesterday and have passed beyond my calling.”

“And they are beyond my own as well,” the Lady said, “so if it is to ask me to return them to you then you are to be disappointed.”

Hesh became aware of others now coming to join them in this place. Hesh did not look to any of them, for fear of offending the Lady of the Forest, but she could tell from the glimpses she got out of the corners of her eyes that they were not entirely shaped in human forms.

“It is not for their return that have come to ask the Lady of the Forest,” Hesh said.

“And what is it that you would ask of me?” The Lady of the Forest’s eyes glinted as she spoke and the others surrounding them all seemed to be holding their breath for Hesh to speak.

Hesh breathed in, steadying herself. She had thought this over, trying to make sure she chose every word with care. This was where the game was played, where the Lady could be the most dangerous to Hesh. If the request was worded poorly, the Lady would find ways to turn it to her advantage and to Hesh’s despair. At the same time, Hesh would have to offer something up in return and if she didn’t offer something of worth to the Lady of the Forest then the Lady could do any number of things to Hesh, from simply turning her away to wander the woods until she died, or give her over to the beasts.

“I have come to give to the Lady of the Forest, and what I give from myself I would ask that the Lady in turn give the same from herself to me.”

The Lady of the Forest maintained a steady and intense gaze on Hesh as though divining her thoughts.

“An interesting proposition,” the Lady admitted, “though one that could be rather imbalanced. You could give me your home in exchange for mine or ask that we exchange our hair with one another. Perhaps you seek to trade your life of trouble for that of mine in luxury? Come now, tell me plainly, what is it that you would trade with me that you think to be fair?”

“Lady of the Forest,” Hesh said slowly, “my parents spoke to me of the many paths in the forest. They told me of the ones they’d walked in the years before I was born, before they were married. There was a time they walked this path. From their stories I know there was pain and sorrow felt when they stopped walking in this forest. Pain and sorrow similar to that which I now feel at their deaths. I would give you all my pain for their death for all of yours for their leaving the forest.”

The Lady of the Forest couldn’t hide her shock at Hesh’s request. The creatures around them stirred and whispered but their voices were alien to Hesh’s ears and she couldn’t tell what it was they were saying. The Lady opened her mouth to speak and then closed it. She made as though attempting to speak a number of times but each time she faltered and did not break her silence.

Slowly, deliberately, the Lady of the Forest rose from off her throne and approached Hesh. Every instinct Hesh had told her to turn and run from the woman but Hesh held her ground. She had come to make this bargain and she would see it through. The Lady of the Forest was much taller than Hesh had at first assumed. While sitting, she didn’t appear to be that much taller than Hesh, but now that she was standing and walking closer, it quickly became apparent that the Lady of the Forest was taller than any other person she had ever met. She even seemed to grow taller with each passing moment as though her smaller size from before had been nothing but an illusion. Or perhaps this giant growth she was undergoing was the illusion. It was impossible for Hesh to tell what was real and what wasn’t in this place.

When the Lady of the Forest reached Hesh she towered over her, Hesh barely reaching the woman’s waist. In the gathering twilight it was difficult to make out the details on the Lady’s face but Hesh thought she could see tears on her face.

“Daughter of Chesarai, Daughter of Kinsh,” the Lady of the Forest declared in a voice that thundered through the trees, driving back the creatures who had gathered to watch as though their presence was no longer tolerated. “For long years has there been pain unhealed in this realm, a loss and a lack that has not been filled and many thought never would be. But like the hole left in the canopy by a fallen tree, new growth may come and new beauty may be found.

“Daughter of the Morning Dew and the Evening Mist, I bind you to this forest for a year and a day that you may bring such relief to this land. In so doing, you too shall find your own suffering to be taken away in equal measure.”

A heavy weight seemed to settle down upon Hesh’s shoulders but it was not so great that she could not stand. At the same time, the Lady of the Forest no longer seemed so large and imposing. She returned to her throne and sat down, wiping the last of her tears from her eyes.

“Now tell me of their lives with you,” the Lady of the Forest said, “and then I will tell you of their lives with me.”

A stump, smaller than the Lady’s appeared and Hesh sat herself down. There was so much to tell, and so much to hear, and Hesh only had a year and a day for all of it.