Fractured Fairy Tales by Catherine Stovall Page A

remembered something before Lucas. Her brother, full of his own maturity, always tried to lord over his sisters that he was going to be the man of the house, and that he was the smartest one of the three of them. He was never very mean about it, just convinced of his own dominance.
    Lucas spun around on his back, until his head was pointing, still upside down, towards his sisters.
    “Well, since you are so smart, Lanai, why don’t you tell me what it is about the crows?” He chucked a straw ball at his sisters, but it fell far short, crashing to the floor and breaking apart, a forgotten little construct.
    “Crows used to be white, did you know? They were friends to the Elves, they worked in the Kingdoms, and were messengers and helpers and did stuff. What’s the word Tutor used, Luvy?” Lanai’s faced scrunched with effort of remembrance.
    “Familiars? Is that it, Lanny?”
    Lanai’s face brightened, “Yes, familiars, that was it. They helped the Elves with their magic and stuff. They used to sit in on councils and things.”
    Lucas’s upside down face garnered an expression of concentration as well, his dark brow furrowed as he realized he did remember the legend.
    “That’s right, and then in the War, between the Elves and the Chaos, the crows turned traitor, they spied on the Elves and gave away their plans to the enemy. Was it Bla’duin or Balun who cursed them and made them black once he found out?”
    Lanai stuck her tongue out at her brother, “Neither, brother, it was Coi’th’una the queen who did it, after Balun fell at the Battle of Water’s End. She was so mad, she turned them all black to show the world what tricksters they were, and banished them from the lands of Elves, even the ones who stayed loyal, so that they would never again have a chance to be stinkers.”
    Luvia’s mind took in the things her siblings had just said. It exploded into a thousand fragments, and then reassembled them into new shapes, faceted creations of thought that cast light into the dark corners of her mind. Many things began to make sense to her, things that had not before. She found herself standing, looking out the open bay, across the land. A quiver ran through her spirit, a shuddering of soul.
    “Luvy, what are you doing?” asked Lanai.
    “I…it makes sense. I understand. She needs help. She needs help,” Lanai muttered, nearly under her breath.
    “Who does? Who needs help, Luvia?” Lucas asked his sister as he rolled over onto his belly.
    “Melisan.” With that uttered, Luvia turned away from her brother and sister, and jumped off the loft, into the hay below, leaving a pair of confused siblings behind her.
    Luvia came pelting around the edge of the house, her breath coming in ragged gasps as she thrust open the front door. Melisan was there, her head cocked as though she were listening to something far distant.
    “I know, Melisan, I know!” Luvia cried when she saw the broken maid, her mind racing with all the things to try to say to her.
    “Know what, Miss Luvia? Know what?” Melisan looked at her, eyes slightly glazed, her expression bemused.
    “I know about the crows. You are keeping them from our lands, aren’t you? You are doing magic, with your sweeping and moving of things. You set a pattern that helps keep them at bay, don’t you?”
    “The pattern, yes, must keep the pattern. It is very bad if we do not keep the pattern. No birds to look out the window, mustn’t give them eyes. Must keep things neat so they cannot come in, must keep it all in order, must keep the lines of force….” Melisan’s eyes glazed slightly further as she appeared to lose her temporary focus on the young girl in front of her.
    “Yes, she has been doing that for us for most of her life.” The deep voice behind Luvia startled her to the point where she jumped.
    “By the Tree, you scared me, Papa.” Luvia put her hand to her chest, feeling the heart inside thumping away.
    “I am sorry, little one, I did