She woke up with a start, drenched in sweat. Another nightmare. She had them so often now she’d lost count.

Sitting up from the haystack she’d been sleeping in, she glanced around. It was still dark, the deep kind of darkness that suggested daylight was many hours away.

Carefully she made her way out of the creaking stable, towards the outhouse. Nightmares always made her need to pee. Her small, child figure walked through the large yard like some strange dirty phantom.

There was a house between the stable and the outhouse. The people who were theoretically supposed to be taking care of her lived there. She was surprised to see light shining through one of the windows. As she passed it, she heard the muffled voices of Uncle and Auntie talking.

“--there’s no one else to care for her, what else do you propose?”

“Surely there’s a better solution than selling her though. She’s still a child...”

The little girl stopped. Who exactly were they planning on selling? She carefully moved toward the window, until she was right under it.

Uncle and Auntie had taken in most of the children left orphaned due to the plague that had swept through the town some months before. They had done it for purely practical purposes: they were childless and getting old. Even before the plague, they’d planned on adopting. They were going to adopt a nephew, but unfortunately the plague had killed him.

Usually in such cases, someone like Uncle would have taken a second wife or a concubine, but Auntie never allowed it. He didn’t even dare try a mistress, she was just that sharp and terrifying. Even though everyone thought Uncle was a coward for keeping a wife who never gave him any face, they were just as afraid of Auntie too. So no matter how domineering she was, no one dared criticize her out loud for it.

They were very wealthy and had a lot of farmland to manage. The orphans would get food and a place to sleep, in exchange for working and learning the trade. The ones that did well would likely get adopted officially, while the others would--once they were older--find other jobs in the town or (in the case of the girls) be married off.

There’d never once even hinted at selling any of the children.

“I don’t want her, and no one else does. She’s bad luck, you’ve seen it yourself.”

Her heart dropped. There was only one girl who was considered bad luck and she was currently eavesdropping on the conversation.

“I’ve seen other children using her as a scapegoat and you letting them.” Came Uncle’s pointed reply. She wanted to cheer. Uncle was not a gentle or even kind man, but he was impeccably fair and truthful.

Aunty replied frostily. “What exactly do you mean to be implying by that?”

“I’m not giving the girl a free pass, but it’s clear the other children are taking advantage of her. Every time they break something, they place the blame on her. Even when she’s on the other side of the farm goofing something up all on her own. And you let them.”

There was a long pause after this. She suspected they were having an infamous “stare down”. Uncle and Auntie never yelled or beat or threw things at each other when they had a disagreement or got angry. No. They got very quiet and would glare at each other until one finally caved in.

“Ugh, ignore reality if you want.” Ah, surprisingly Auntie had lost. For a moment the little girl thought she was safe, but then she heard the following: “You admit she’s clumsy though don’t you?”

“I do,” Came the slow, cautious reply of Uncle.

“And you admit the other children don’t like her?”

“Yes…”

“Will you also concede that no one else will take her?”

She heard some grumbling, until Uncle finally sighed and said, “I will.”

“We don’t keep those that can’t work proper, that was the deal we had when you suggested taking in all these children when I only wanted one. And she can’t work properly and no one else will have her and all the other children bully her. So. What other alternative is there but to sell her?”

“.. it seems wrong selling one of our own though.”

Auntie gave Uncle an exasperated sigh. “How is she one of us? Look at the family she came from. It’s why she’s all left fingers when it comes to proper work. They always did things their own way and looked down on the rest of us. Even you’ll admit to that.”

“I suppose..”

“Do you now?” Auntie commented before continuing, “I’m not saying we sell her to just anyone. There’s some very respectable traders who come through here. Like Merchant Yu. All his goods are in top condition, even the people, when he comes through. We get him to buy her and she’ll end up as a house slave at some rich baron’s house, most likely.”

“You think so?” Uncle replied, sounding halfway convinced already.

The little girl felt herself sinking to the ground in despair, tears threatening to spill onto her cheeks. They were going to sell her, she was sure.

Uncle held no particular loyalty or affection to her, especially considering how prone she was to mistakes. The only thing keeping her here was that he wasn’t an outright cruel man. But if he could be convinced that selling her was a better option for both her and him, then he’d do it in a heartbeat. And he always kept his ears open to Auntie’s suggestions.

What had she done to deserve such a horrible lot in life, she thought miserably to herself. Wasn’t having her parents die from the plague bad enough? Why this extra burden?

No. Self-pity wasn’t going to help. Wishing things had gone differently didn’t change how things actually turned out. What she needed was some way to avoid being sold.

She slowly inched away from the window and toward the outhouse again, thinking furiously as she went. No one would take her, that was for sure. Children who ended up at Uncle and Auntie’s farm were there because no one else could--or was willing to--take them in. She didn’t understand it, but a lot of the town families hated her parents and had wanted nothing to do with her. The kind souls who were left had already taken in as many children as they were able.

Depending on adults was, therefore, a waste of time. If she wanted to escape a life time of slavery, it’d have to be all on her own.

Once she finished using the outhouse, she stood outside uncertainly, staring at the stars in the sky as if hoping to find answers. After a time she gave up on the stars and rested her eyes on the mountains.

The mountains… The townspeople called them “The Big Blue”, after the trees that bloomed blue flowers during the spring. She’d always called them “The Blue Fairy Mountains”, after the fairies that supposedly lived there. Of course, she’d only made the mistake of calling them that out loud once. Everyone in town believed the fairies were evil and even mentioning their existence was considered bad luck.

Of course that was all nonsense. Fairies weren’t evil, they just had a short tempers. Her parents had taught her all about them. There was only one time in all human history that the fairies on that mountain had caused any trouble. And that had been just one fairy, the Fairy Emperor. Why, considering how long ago it’d been, she could probably walk right on that mountain now and--

She stopped mid-thought. No one went on the mountain. The townspeople believed it was cursed by the fairies. Anyone who went on the mountains was said to never come back. What had Mother said? “Being polite and respectful is the utmost importance to fairies. Especially when dealing with their Emperor.” No one ever came back because they either got themselves killed or they were rude to the fairies was what her Mother had told her.

It was possible, she thought hesitantly, that if she was very careful and was polite to any fairies she met, they might let her on the mountain. She bit her lower lip anxiously. Surely it wouldn’t hurt to ask?