Seren hummed as they swept the living room. The entryway was covered in mud from the household’s boots. Seren thought it’d be nice to have it clean when they returned. Vanda was humming in the kitchen while working on lunch. Seren opened the front door and swept the dirt out of the door. The sun had risen and was making his way up to the center of the sky. There was an autumn chill in the air and the trees had started turning colors. Leaves of yellow, orange, and red were falling around the yard. Seren looked at the leaves and idly contemplated raking them up. Seren leaned on the door frame and felt the wind blowing. They could smell the fire from the wood stove inside. Which reminded them to bring in another armful of firewood for the next day.

The bushes at the far end of the yard rustled. Seren stood up and leaned the broom up against the wall. Out of the bushes pushed a young woman with a travelling coat hiding her face.

"Can I help you?" Seren called as they left the doorway. The woman froze, Seren rounded the gardens on their way to her.

"Oh, uh. I. I-" the woman looked around in a paranoid panic. Seren bent over to try and see the woman's face. "Here!" The woman threw her basket into Seren's chest. They grabbed the basket and the woman shifted on her feet to the side. Seren looked at the wicker basket.

"What is this?" Seren asked.

"Delivery, thing." The woman said. "I'm supposed to bring it."

"Oh, thank you." Seren eyed the woman and then the basket. They lifted the worn fabric and looked at the basket's contents. It had a single jar. Seren looked up at the woman in confusion.

"That's all we got," the woman said. "I mean it's-"

"It's fine," Seren waved. "When Eoin returns I'll let him know you came by…. Miss?"

"We tried something new!" The woman yelled, making Seren jump. "Do you like it?!" Seren stared at the woman.

"Uh…" Seren looked back to the single jar in the basket.

"Could you try it, please?" The woman asked. Seren looked at her then the jar again, they shrugged in defeat.

"I guess, sure." Seren slid the basket onto their arm and pulled the jar out. "Kinda tiny. I think I should wait-"

"Please! I need to tell mom if you like it or not." The woman asked. Seren uncorked the jar and looked into it.

"Why? What is it?" Seren wrinkled their nose. The woman shifted farther to the side.

"It's-" the woman shifted and fidgeted with her fingers. "It's honey, made from apples." Seren could smell the nostalgia in the glass. They bit the inside of their lip as the smell made their mouth water. They knew they should wait and let Eoin take care of it. Seren tipped the jar over with their finger against the hole. Once a bead of honey poured on their finger they tipped the bottle back upright. The honey was thick and golden. Seren tasted the honey and instantly memories flooded their mind. It was sticky, sweet, and addicting. Seren had to stop themself from drinking straight from the jar.

"You can't know if it's good from that little amount," the woman said.

"Yeah I can," Seren chuckled. "It's like something straight from my childhood."

"I can bring more if it's the right batch," the woman said, annoyed. "So actually try it!"

"No need to be pushy," Seren said. “What’s the rush?”

“My mom’s bottling more orders,” the woman crossed her arms and bounced in annoyance and impatience.

“Thought this was all you had,” Seren asked.

“That's all I have with me,” The woman insisted. “Please? It’s first come, first serve.”

“Fae’s sake,” Seren sighed. They tipped the jar back and got a small mouthful. It was like a tangy explosion in their mouth that popped every single one of their taste buds. Seren capped the jar. Leaving only a fourth of the jar in the glass.

“Is that better?” Seren asked, the woman nodded. She stepped back away from Seren. “Why do you keep backing away from me?” Seren felt their head spin around and their vision started to blur. Seren held their head. Pain cracked through their skull like they’d been struck by a rock. Seren stumbled back, the sunlight was suddenly painfully bright.

In a second, Seren felt the air ripped from them as they felt a punch to their chest. Thick coppery tasting fluid filled their mouth.

Vanda noticed the door open as she left the kitchen. She heard something impact outside and went to see what it was. She turned into the doorway and dropped the towel in her hands. Vanda screamed as Seren dropped to the ground, a crossbow bolt sticking out of their chest. Another bolt flew past Vanda’s face. The wind from the bolt stinging her cheek. Vanda dove for cover behind the wood of the walls. Little wheezing screams escaping her throat. She scrambled for a weapon and grabbed an empty coat rack like a barbarian.

Shaking, Vanda peeked around the corner. The strangers were gone. Vanda watched for only a moment before throwing the rack to the ground. She ran across the gardens, sliding to a stop beside Seren’s body. There was little blood around the body. Most of it stopped by the bolt still stuck in their chest. What little blood there was, stained their oversized shirt. Making the injury look much worse than it was. Vanda took a breath and turned her emotions off.

She reached forward and placed her hands over Seren’s pulse. It was weak but there. Vanda felt along Seren’s body for anything to help her but there wasn’t even lint in their pockets. Vanda cursed and jumped to her feet running into the kitchen. Grabbing knives, towels, and a bucket of water. This was not the way she wanted to perform this but it was all she had. Unless she could somehow pick up Seren and appear in a surgical suite. Two things that weren’t going to be possible in the amount of time she had left. Vanda ran out to Seren’s side again and rolled up her already blood stained sleeves.

Vanda bent over Seren and cut open their shirt to see the wound better. Vanda rinsed the knives and got to work trying to remove the bolt and stop the bleeding. Vanda tried not to let her lip quiver. She wished more than anything she had another pair of hands. Or that her father was here to tell her she was doing the right procedure.

She slowed down to wiggle the bolt free and tossed it away. Blood came spraying out after it but Vanda couldn’t afford to let it startle her. She rinsed the towels and crammed them into the wound.

“Vanda!”

She looked up with relief as her father skidded to a stop on the other side of the body.

“Dad, I-I’m trying” Vanda steadied her hands again.

“Condition?” Doc Bones asked as the party ran up behind him.

“I found a pulse,” Vanda snapped back to serious attention.

“Breathing?”

“I… didn’t check.” Vanda admitted fearfully.

"That's okay, hon. You're doing good." The doc took over working the injury. "Weapon?"

"Crossbow. Penetration suggests short to medium range." Vanda removed their hands from the wound and moved up to check the airways. "I'm not feeling any air,"

"I can feel a pulse, get those airways open!" Doc commanded.

"Vanda, what happened?" Aurora finally blurted out.

"I didn't see. I came out after they were shot," Vanda worked without looking up. "Woman. Dark cloak. Blue. There's fluid in the airways." Aurora looked at Eoin, all the housemates did.

"Doc. Did you-"

"If I did, son. It would have been the first thing I'd said." Doc Bones was already covered in blood. "On the count of three, ready?"

Pandora shooed the group from the body. She kicked a wicker basket as she walked. Pandora scooped it up and inspected it as she joined the little huddle.

"The pair we saw in the tunnels," Aurora whispered. "They-"

"We'll find out who did it. We'll find them and cut their throats in their sleep." Kyi snarled. "The Queen too! Seren's next in line, they'll-" Kyi went silent.

"They'll make it. Seren will be fine." Eoin said forcefully. Pandora took the biggest piece of the broken glass from out of the basket. A small drop of amber liquid dripped onto her finger. The drop brought burning tingling to her skin.

"Poison? Acid?" She said to herself. Eoin's head snapped to look up at her.

"What?" He asked.

"I think this stuff might be deadly," Pandora said.

"Did they drink it?" Aurora asked.

"We can't afford to hope they didn't," Pandora said. Dropping the shard and running back to Vanda and her father.

----

Seren stood up. The world around them was dark and they felt weightless while still being firmly on solid ground. In the blackness a small glow lit up in the distance. Seren looked down at their feet, assuming they could walk as normal. They headed for the glow. It looked like the tiniest round drop. As Seren got closer they felt a piece of them crawling under their skin. The glow started moving into the ground and began to sprout. In the light of the sprouting glow the rest of the world grew shadows. Color made a ground appear beneath Seren’s boots. They paused, not remembering putting their boots on. The sprout grew up in a shower of gold. Illuminating more of the yellow tinted world around them. Walls drew long in a circle around Seren as the sprout shot up into a tree.

The glow of the tree penetrated deep into the ground. The glow started to die away. Starting with the roots and travelling up to the branches. The final glow stopped and centered in the golden apples. Seren instinctively walked to the lowest hanging fruit and reached for it. Stopping when the apple’s glow died down and it began to rot on the vine. One by one all the fruits lost their glow and the trunk of the tree split.

“It’s dying,” Seren whispered. The world around them had filled in. They were sitting at the center of the labyrinth with the castle looming in the distance. Seren put their hand on the tree. Light tried to glow underneath it. Above them another golden apple grew. Before Seren could pick it, another pale hand reached out and took it first. Seren’s eyes widened as they looked up in the branches. A small child was nestled there, staring up at what should have been sky. But there was nothing there, only an endless void.

Seren was staring at the child. They had long dark brown hair. A grey worn tunic with patches crudely sewn on with thick black stitches. Dark grey worn pants that were as worn and broken. Held together by a black tied belt. Their bare feet swung back and forth as the younger version of Seren chewed through the golden apple.

“Hello?” Seren asked. The child didn’t react to them. Seren got closer to the tree and stood up on their toes. “Excuse me?” Their younger self didn’t seem to hear them. The child jumped from the tree and ran out of the labyrinth

-----

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Pandora said exasperated.

“I don’t know, that’s just what I heard.” Vanda said, her face devoid of emotion. Washing the blood off her hands in ice cold water. Pandora paced the length of the kitchen again. Aurora sat at the table with her head in her hands. Eoin was staring out the window at the entrance to their home. Kyi wasn’t present.

“Dying. Gold. Apples?” Pandora muttered to herself. Shaking her head frustrated. “This is the stupidest game of word association! We don’t have time for this shit!”

“They’re stable for now,” Vanda kept rubbing her hands together in the sink. Staring wide-eyed but unseeing. Kyi came in the back door and slammed it hard.

“Don’t slam doors,” Pandora and Eoin said automatically. Kyi sneered at the room.

“I’m going to the apothecary,” Kyi said.

“Why?” Pandora stopped pacing to stare at them.

“Maybe there’s something there, I don’t know but I can’t sit here!” Kyi’s voice rose until they were yelling. Aurora peeked through her fingers with red ringed eyes.

“I’ll come too,” She said. Hastily wiping her face with her sleeve. Kyi stormed through the kitchen.

“Well hurry up, cause I’m going out the door now.” Kyi yelled as they left the kitchen. Aurora stood up and ran to catch up with Kyi. The front door slammed and Pandora sighed. Holding her arms, she looked up to Vanda, still scrubbing her hands. Pandora crossed the kitchen and stopped the water. Taking a towel and cradling Vanda’s hands.

“I think you need to go sit down for a little while,” Pandora said gently. Vanda’s shoulders shook and she choked.

“It’s my fault. I’m so sorry!” She gasped, voice breaking. “I should have made them rest, but they’d healed so quickly!”

“Hang on, slow down.” Pandora said. “It’s not your fault. You had no way of knowing-”

“Wait, what did you just say?” Eoin turned from the window.

“Eoin,” Pandora hissed.

“It’s my fault and I-”

“Not that part. The rest part. They were outside on a busted ankle.” Eoin walked around the kitchen table.

“It wasn’t injured anymore. Almost entirely healed.” Vanda shook her head. “I didn’t know what to make of it. I haven’t seen healing like that since my mother-”

“Who was a witch.” Eoin nodded with clarity.

“What are you thinking?” Pandora asked.

“Follow me on this,” Eoin prefaced. “Seren talked about how whenever they felt sick. They’d eat their mom’s ‘hidden apples’ and this somehow made them feel better. I thought they were being dramatic or maybe consuming fermented apples. But what if the Queen has access to magic?”

"Access to magic means medical spells," Pandora said.

"A hidden tree that Seren knows of, whether they understand that they know it or not." Eoin said. "It explains why their ankle healed so quick.” Pandora squeezed Vanda’s hands so tightly her fingers were turning white.

“What do we do with this information?” Eoin asked.

“What else can we do with it?” Pandora released her death grip on Vanda’s hands. “We go, get some revenge, and find a way to help Seren.” Eoin nodded

“Have I mentioned lately that I love your mind?” He said with a small smile. Pandora couldn’t bring herself to reciprocate.

“Kyi and Aurora left, we need to grab them first,” Pandora said. “Assassinating a Queen in her own castle won’t be easy.”

“We’ll have to get the cure first, leaving a kingdom without a leader for too long is a bad idea.” Eoin said.

“That implies returning to administer,” Pandora said.

“Hm,” Eoin hummed. “Takes away from the rage of revenge.” Pandora sighed and went to the kitchen table and collapsed in a chair. Looking at the newest seat at the other end of the table.

“What are we doing?” She whispered. Eoin walked over and knelt down in front of her and held her hands. She looked up at him sadly. “Magic? Assassination? We’re grasping at straws.”

“I know it’s far-fetched, but what else can we do?” Eoin asked.

“There’s no way we can be sure that magic is actually involved. Or that the Queen has any. We could end up making this worse.”

“How much worse can it get?”

“Instead of one of us dead, all of us could be dead.” Pandora said. “A Queen isn’t something you cross lightly.”