18 I know who you are

  The archer moved a bit to the side to check if Joseph was carrying any weapons. Joseph’s heart was about to explode. As the long cloak moved aside, revealing the archer’s body, Joseph realized it was a woman. She was in tight trousers, the same ones she had worn when she saved Joseph from the deer trap. Suddenly, Joseph remembered everything from that day which he had forgotten due to the blood loss and shock. He remembered how the archer first helped Joseph get his leg out of the trap and then how she left him to die there. Joseph smiled with anticipation.

  “What do you want from me?” The hood said in English.

  Joseph recognized her voice and accent. A heavy weight lifted from his shoulder. “It’s over, princess," he said. "Stop pretending.”

  The hood moved toward Joseph, keeping her bow aimed at him. Joseph didn’t step back.

  “I can shoot you in a fraction of a second,” The hood said.

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” Joseph said. How many times do I have to say it? If I had ill intentions, don’t you think by now I would have hurt you?”

  The hood lowered her bow and waited for Joseph to say more.

  “I only wish to know you,” Joseph added. “I want to know how you cured me. Are you magical?” He thought for a few seconds, sorting every question he had in mind for months. “Do you speak to God? If yes, to which God, yours or mine? If not, then are you an angel? I need answers. I haven’t been able to sleep properly in a year. I need to know.”

  “I have a bow,” she said in her last attempt to stop him.

  Joseph smirked. “I have traveled from the other side of the world to come and find you. I have been trapped, starved, sick to death, and lost. Your bow will not stop me from wanting answers.” He walked toward her. “I will walk in fire, but I will get answers.”

  “Stop there,” she said, lifting her bow again, and Joseph complied. “I have nothing to give you. I have no answers. I see that you are troubled. Your eyes speak grief. Live it, feel it, and move on. Whoever and whatever helped you, you are alive now.”

  “Then why do I feel dead?” Joseph’s cry came in a low tone.

  The hood said nothing.

  “Princess,” Joseph said, minding his tone. “I should have died. I only want to know if there is a plan for me in God’s book.”

  “Lord Mainwood,” she said, trying to bring him to his senses.

  Joseph was more certain about her identity after she called his name. “Is there?” he shouted, not waiting for another second in suspense. That was a mistake. He realized it. Silence took over them. He looked down at the leaves beneath his boots and tried calming down.

  The hood understood his frustration and decided not to get upset with him. “Lord Mainwood,” she said again. “Please. You can’t be here. This place is forbidden.”

  Joseph sighed. “I was about to go to the Fairy Lake. I don’t care about anything.”

  The hood looked around. “Where do you think this place is?”

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  Joseph wondered what she meant. She started walking away, and Joseph followed instantly while keeping his distance not to provoke her. He didn’t want to lose her again. She shoved a couple of long plants out of the way and cut some branches. They finally reached a beautiful swamp.

  Joseph watched with an open mouth. “Is this—?”

  “Yes,” the hood said. “The Fairy Lake.”

  “But this is a swamp.”

  “No one has seen this place. From the stories they think it’s a lake. So it has been always called the Fairy Lake.”

  Joseph felt a little spooked by the rawness of the swamp. No human had touched that place. Tall trees covered around it. The light pierced the branches and sat on the water. When a breeze moved the leaves, the light floated on the water's surface as if it was dancing to the sound of swishing. Joseph couldn’t hear any birds. It seemed like that place was intact by any creature ever.

  “Are fairies going to attack us now?” Joseph asked the princess.

  “Do you want them to?” The hood asked.

  “God, no.”

  The hood walked toward the swamp, and Joseph watched her.

  “Are you not coming?” the hood asked. Joseph gulped hard and followed her reluctantly.

  They approached the swamp and stood close to it. Joseph was waiting for a sudden attack by anything, from a ghost to a fairy. He wasn’t sure how large a fairy would be.

  After a few seconds, the swamp mesmerized Joseph with its beauty. He wasn’t scared of it anymore.

  “This place is…,” Joseph said. “Magical…”

  “Yes,” the hood said. “Almost as if fairies have made it.”

  Joseph looked at her, wondering why she kept her hood on. “It’s not true, is it?” he asked.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Fairies.”

  “Oh, they are as real as this swamp.” She smiled. “I have to go now. I suppose I will see you again.”

  Joseph noticed something falling from her clothes. He knelt and picked it up. It was a long feather, which wasn’t the oddest thing about her. Joseph looked up at the hood, who was walking away. Something rustled in the bushes, attracting Joseph’s attention.

  “Princess!” Joseph warned her while rushing toward her. He tackled her on the ground and landed by her side, hitting his head to a hard surface. Everything became blurry. He saw the sight of the hood crawling toward him, and then his eyes closed, and he fell unconscious.

  The place he woke up in was unfamiliar. He looked around and saw nothing. Only a bed and a few instruments were in the room. He wanted to get on his feet, but his head hurt, and he had to lie back down. The door opened, and someone entered. It was the Pedlar with her hood. She brought him food and left it on his side.

  “Princess,” Joseph said.

  “Enough with the princess,” The pedlar said. “You need to rest.”

  She exited the room, and Joseph was too dizzy to argue with her. He felt sleepy and decided to rest. With the impact on his head, Joseph had lost the sense of time. He didn’t know how many hours or days had passed. The Pedlar appeared in the room again to attend to him. He was feeling much better, his headache improving.

  “What happened?” Joseph asked as she inspected the wound on the back of his head.

  “There was an alligator,” the Pedlar said. “You tackled me.”

  Joseph touched the back of his head to reduce his pain, but it made him wince. “I saved you,” he mumbled.

  “I don’t need you to save me,” the Pedlar said. She left again, and Joseph was left frustrated. He sighed deeply.

  The next day, the Pedlar opened the room's door and saw Joseph sleeping. She entered and left food by his side. Joseph’s head was bleeding, and it had stained the pillow under his head. The Pedlar approached him and opened the bandage. The wound was still fresh, and it made Joseph wince. She sat by Joseph to take care of his wound.

  Joseph opened his eyes. “Have you told anyone about where I am?” he asked, but the pedlar didn’t speak. “Doesn’t your guard follow you? Peeler was his name, right?”

  She still didn’t speak. After changing the bandage, she started walking away. Joseph wouldn’t let her hide her identity any longer. He knew it was wrong, and his hand shook as he stretched it to grab the hem of her hood. She stepped away, but the cloak stayed in Joseph’s hand, stretching, and it fell off her head. Her dark hair was revealed now. Nothing else covered her head anymore. She realized the lack of hood on her head and turned around to face Joseph in confusion and shock. Joseph was ready to be punished for his insolence, knowing the princess was aggressive and scary, only to be surprised with the face in front of him.

  The hood wasn’t the princess. Joseph thought for a few seconds to recognize her. She was familiar. Suddenly it struck him.

  She was the princess' maid.