Virtue - a Fairy Tale Read Online Free PDF

Without waiting for a response, she turned her back to Lily and walked in the opposite direction.
    Deciding it better to not question the only one helping her right now, Lily went after the woman. Lily didn’t say anything as they made their way through the brambles. They pushed through a nasty patch of elderberry bushes, and then Lily could see the soft glow of firelight through windows. A small cottage sat in the middle of the clearing. A thatch roof sat on top, with smoke coming of the stone chimney, and a twisted apple tree grew in front, the only thing in the whole forest with leaves.
    “You live here?” Lily gasped. “In the Necrosilvam?”
    “It’s quiet,” the woman said, as if that answer made sense, and went on to the house.
    Lily went through the small wooden door and found the one-room cottage surprisingly cozy. A fire burned brightly in the fireplace, a small black cauldron sitting over it. A wooden table with two chairs sat by the front door, along with a row of cupboards and a wash-basin that served as the kitchen. A bed rested in the corner, much smaller than the one Lily slept on at home. Vials and jars and pouches littered every shelf that lined the walls and every spare inch of the counter. The whole place smelled of her step-mother’s servant Jinn, but she didn’t know exactly what it was.
    “Thank you so much for rescuing me,” Lily said, shutting the door behind her when she came in.
    “What were you doing out there?” The woman slipped off her worn cloak, tossing it absently on her faded bedspread.
     She went over to stir the cauldron, keeping her back to Lily. Her long cinnamon hair had been pulled back in a loose braid, but most of it had come loose, falling in a frayed a mess about her head. Her dress was dirty and baggy, looking almost as old as the woman herself.
    “I’m not sure exactly.” Lily looked down at her hands, touching absently at the scratch on her palm.
    “You’re not sure?” The woman finally turned to look at her, surprising Lily with her appearance.
    She was younger than Lily had thought, not even as old as her stepmother, and underneath the dirt smudges and tangles of hair, she was quite beautiful. Tall and thin, she had an elegance she had hidden under the cloak. Her features were delicate, and her skin looked smooth and flawless.
    “Not exactly, no.” Lily shook her head.
    “You’re hurt,” the woman sighed. She scooped water from the cauldron into a small bowl and grabbed a cloth, then walked over to Lily.  “Take off your jacket and sit down, so I can tend to your scratches.”
    “Thank you,” Lily said again and slipped off Lux’s jacket. She meant to set it down somewhere, but the woman’s nose wrinkled in disgust.
    “This reeks of brimstone!” the woman snapped and snatched the jacket from Lily. She sniffed it more carefully to be sure. “Where did you get this?”
    “I-I didn’t smell anything,” Lily stammered, unwilling to tell her about Lux after a reaction like that.
    “Of course not. You’re not attuned that sort of thing.” She shoved the jacket back at Lily, who took it uncertainly.
    Lily held it close to her and breathed it in, but she didn’t smell any brimstone, not that she really knew what that smelled like. All she could smell was the way Lux had smelled, soft and sweet like sandalwood. She breathed in more deeply, and warmth flooded over her.
    “Don’t smile like that,” the woman said. Lily had unwittingly started grinning at the thought of Lux, and she hurried to erase it. “Whoever gave you that jacket doesn’t deserve a smile like that.”
    “Sorry,” Lily mumbled. The woman gestured for her to sit down, and Lily sat at the table, with the woman sitting across from her.
    “The brimstone does explain why you hadn’t already been eaten alive by the charuns.” She touched tentatively at Lily’s hand, cleaning her wound of dirt. Lily cringed, expecting it to sting, but the hot water from the cauldron only