Jade Earrings

Why do I trick humans? What do I gain from tormenting them through deception? What do I have to gain from a little cloak and laughter?

Why, my little Erelyn, it’s all so I can have stories to tell.

Erelyn opens pulls the drapes and windows wide in her tower – not enough for the wind to blow out her fresh candle, but just enough for me to squeeze in, my cape of stars and moons billowing around me as I step towards her. She smiles softly, and the dawning sun smiles with her, greeting me most pleasantly. I smile and she chuckles that usual soft chuckle that she picked up as a child: she was never to laugh around her father lest she’d see wrath’s mighty hand strike her where she stood. Thus, she learned to stammer her laugh, to keep her laughter a secret.

She became acquainted with my truest self some time ago, in a meadow that hosted my entire summer solstice. When I encountered the decrepit, dead land, spears and bogs erupted throughout. Palm pressed to soil, the decaying landscape bloomed into a new life, and this was when Erelyn descended from the tower, rushing to greet the new flourish of emerald green that invaded her morning view. Upon seeing me she showed no fear. Her voice was loud and full of energy that could have fooled you into thinking the child was well-rested, but by then I already knew too well that she had endured many a night without sleep. Her wildest fantasies she could force herself to muster took the stead of dreams, so meeting a goddess was nothing but a delicious reverie wrapped lovingly in ecstasy. We lay in the green as I tell her stories of my deceptions of kings, queens, rulers and paupers, and her laughter rolls with the hills. I could see her mind working as she began the first sparks of an ingenious plot, one she dared not earnestly consider for some time. She did not know at this time her father was watching from her balcony, and in turn, he did not know what she plotted.

Half a solar pirouette and half of that later and we arrive at this evening, in this bedroom at the top of this tower. And here I am, a goddess of deceit and treachery, showing a moment of honesty as I embrace dear little Erelyn. She nuzzles into my wetted cheek, and I agree to her request.

Erelyn pulls me by the hand through the castle halls, into her father’s bed chambers. He’s out, hunting for a wild feast, and will not return for some time. Erelyn pulls on the chained wardrobe, but she can only pull it open so far, and her fingers barely fit through the gap. She settles for taking the bedside candle, which I light for her, and holding it up to the tiny gap. Inside are adorned dresses of every colour, of ruby, sapphire, and then the one she looks to with full-moon eyes. She points to it through the thin gap and tells me how it was her mother’s favourite. Or maybe it was her own favourite, she struggles to remember. With a small wave, my cloak wraps and tucks into the same jade dress, and I am her mother reborn from death. She looks to me, shock turning to glee as she excitedly goes over the plan again. Before we begin, a memory strikes her, and she runs for the bedside table and pulls out a pair of jade earrings for me to put on.

One-hour passes, and she hides outside on the balcony, calling to me as the hunting party returns. I assume my position, and her father walks into the room. The king almost draws his sword, preparing to call for blood before we lock eyes. Within his stunned demeanour, I can see his memories of her strike him like no mortal weapon ever could. I smile gently, and speak thusly: “My love, it has been so long, and yet time is so short. Mourn for me no more. Sour those around you with your bitterness not one more day. Look to the morning sun each day with hope.”

In a few weeks, the king will march unto me and my dominion with an army that would topple any mortal kingdom, but the land that thrives under my rule is not of mortal soil. I will fly to greet him, courteously, as he cries out in wrath, lashing me with words that would make his daughter blush, would be that she was still alive at this time. An agreement was made long ago, hands shook, I could not deny that. With great care, he will walk through our words on that night half an innocent lifetime ago, when his entire being implored that I help a doomed soul. I promised simply all I could offer: she would live her life to the fullest it could. And that pleased him greatly on that day, but won’t this day.

We return to her toom and she beams like the dawning sun, though the sky is still blanketed with stars. Maybe her father will be happy, she considers. Maybe he could even smile, she ponders. Maybe he could find room in his heart to love her, though it is not my place to tell her that he already does. Though I can see that he will find his chance later. He will be unsure if she hears it, but it will be her final memory, and so she will leave this mortal realm with joy in her heart.

Once, her father approached me, blanketed babe in arm, and pleaded with me in my realm. No army to swing, no advisors to dismiss, only a broken heart and a child. After this fated meeting, I was to approach him, so destiny foretold. I offered my divine interjection, concealing the source of my divinity – perhaps out of spite for humans being so able to mimic my abilities with such simple ease. Deception birthed corruption, or perhaps it was the other way round for humans. Though Erelyn would show me otherwise, soon. We spoke, and I elaborated on our deal, declaring myself as a guardian that she could rely upon for the rest of her life, and this was the petty price. Hands were shaken, and thus I was her guardian, telling her stories on her sleepless nights while the king slept deeply.

I told her all of this: all that was and all that will be. I did this only for her because I could not trick a child so young – not out of moral choice mind you, but out of my pure inability to do so despite my best efforts. Erelyn was a sharp soul, and few other children I have comforted garnered this much love from me. She knew what lay in store for her, and she still smiled, because I told her that he would smile.

And so he did. Their true feelings were revealed by their lies to one another. And he now knew that she had heard him, in that desperate moment where one of his prayers was finally answered. With a wave, his armies left my realm before him. He took one last look at me, and thanked me, something I did not entirely anticipate – it was an unusual sensation for a goddess of trickery to be thanked. He left, leaving a trail of warm tears.

When I will be alone, I will have no more stories to tell, so I will walk this story again and again.