Eventide Read Online Free Page A

forest traveler and wish you no ill.”
    Sigyn leaned forward to look around the wood-wife. As suspected, she was an empty shell. A hollow woman. Beautiful to behold, but without true substance. “I seek Prince Hlini, lost in these woods a week ago.”
    “Is he your lover?” the wood-wife asked.
    Sigyn shook her head. “I want nothing from him save the reward his father offers for his safe return.”
    “Then kiss me, girl. Kiss me and let me love you and I shall tell you where your prince is, for I do know of his whereabouts, and I know well his captors,” the wood-wife stated.
    “What is your name?” Sigyn asked.
    “Asparas Cedarwitch. Yours?”
    “I am Sigyn of the garden corner,” Sigyn replied.
    “Would you like to step into my home that we can make love in comfort?” Asparas asked.
    “Inside the cedar?” Sigyn asked.
    Asparas took Sigyn’s hand. “Deeper than that. My cedar is but the doorway to my world.”
    What lay beyond was more magical a place than in any fairy story ever told her by her mother. A realm of light and music lay beyond the bark of the tree and there it was that Asparas made her home.
    Something wonderful bubbled away on her hearth and fresh-baked nut breads sat cooling on the table. In the corner a squirrel and rabbit lay together, entwined in a little nest of cloth.
    “What a brilliant home you have,” Sigyn remarked. “I have met wood-wives before, but never have I entered the fairy realm. This is a rare treat.”
    “Will you have a cup of my cider or a biscuit?” Asparas asked.
    She was hungry and thirsty and a bit of fermentation would no doubt calm her nerves—but she knew better. Never eat or drink in the fairy realm, or you will become a part of it for all time. “Thank you, no. I think we should seal our bargain so that I can resume my quest post-haste.”
    Asparas turned and poured herself a cup of cider. She had a very shapely backside in her realm. All womanly features accounted for. “Let me wash the road from you, Sigyn, of the garden corner. Your disguise will soil my bed linens.”
    Sigyn took a deep breath of resolve and stripped from her clothing to reveal her mud-caked body. “Where is your bath?”
    “Through that door. It is unique as its water trickles forth from the deepest well in the forest,” Asparas said before draining the contents of her cup.
    Sigyn strolled, nude and feeling rather vulnerable through the portal and into the bathroom—a crystal clear pool with a slow-trickling waterfall keeping it continually full. “This is fantastic!”
    Asparas stepped up behind Sigyn, pressing her warm, soft nude body against Sigyn’s backside. “It is purifying and warm. Step in. Do step in. I’ll wash away that which you hide behind and reveal the true Sigyn.”
    Sigyn stepped into the pool, immediately sensing thousands of effervescent bubbles surrounding her, caressing her. “Is the water alive? I feel as though little hands are massaging my legs.”
    “All water is alive in some manner. In this case, however, the water is just water, though it is very soothing,” Asparas replied.
    “I’ve never made love before, you know. With a man or a woman. I’ve worked all my life. There was little time for romance.”
    “I am a good teacher,” Asparas said, pulling aside Sigyn’s hair to kiss the nape of her neck. “You do me a great honor and service by sharing my bed this night, Sigyn.”
    “And your information in return shall make me ruler of my own kingdom. It is a fair trade.” Sigyn turned and slid her arms around Asparas’ waist.
    Sigyn had been kissed before. It had been a hurried embrace as a youth with a lad now long married to a happy fat wife who had already birthed him five sons. Had she not panicked at the sense that her life would be at an end in his arms, she could have been that happy fat wife instead of being on the brink of tremendous fortune and wealth. She was often much too tired at the end of the day to worry about love and