Page 96 of Midwinter Wiles & Valerian Dreams
Lumi rotates slowly in the air. “You must finish what you started. Reach Queen Taynia’s heart. Let the story guide her. It is the only hope.”
I rise, my chest tight. Around me, the kids are wide-eyed and shaken.
Helkki is the first to speak. “What does she mean, Val turned into the princess?”
Wary looks all around tell me what I need to do. Hugo squeaks a word of encouragement from my pocket.
“She’s still Val,” I say, trying to hold them steady. “No matter what she looks like, she’s still the girl who helped you learn lines, and made Karelian pies with us. She’s the same girl who talked books with Kat, and brought interesting tea blends for Mika, and held Eevi when that storm shook the cottage. She helped you boys with your homework and showed Hellion how to roll snow cones, and now she needs us. All of us.”
Katja’s chin lifts. “Then we finish the play.”
Mika nods. “For Val.”
One by one, the others raise their heads and nod their agreement. Even Aili pulls herself up with a big sniff. Lumi vanishes back into the necklace, which I drop into my pocket.
“Hang on,kulta,” I whisper. “We’re coming for you.”
“Wait. What about Val’s role?” Johannes asks nervously.
“You’ll have to play Lena.”
He groans.
Juani smirks. “Don’t worry, I’ll help you with the wig.”
“That’s not the problem!” Helkki stage-whispers. “Lena enters with the mule. And Tahto only listens to Val!”
She’s not wrong. After our trip to town, the stubborn beast took a liking to her. I’d take credit for smoothing their introduction, but I suspect the steady stream of crabapples she’s been bribing him with has more to do with it. He might listen to me, but I can’t be in the pivotal scene. Queen Taynia and Head Huntsman Beron will be onstage for the casting of love potions, along with all the kids plus a mule I have to make look like a white stallion. Too many moving parts, and the illusions have to be perfect.
“I’ll recruit Daria to help you,” I tell Johannes. “Just keep Tahto moving.”
He nods with the wide-eyed fear of someone sent into battle with a tea tray and a butter knife.
Dropping the curtain around us and focusing on the illusions that set the stage for our opening scene, I take in the audience. Helpers from the inn have been passing around the dreaming tea, and the audience buzzes with anticipation. As cups are lifted and tea is sipped, magic settles through their bodies and minds.
The shimmer of enchantment drapes over the square like a veil of fog and starlight. This is what I love about theatre. It’s the ability to transport the audience through sights and sounds and their own imaginations, allowing them to follow wherever we lead them, to fantastical worlds and fanciful times. The Valerian tea opens them more to my illusions and the emotions we’re about to portray, so they experience it all viscerally. This production must truly bring them all into a shared experience. When the murmurs fall to enchanted breaths, we’re ready to begin.
With a clatter of hoofbeats, the opening scene unfolds. Slowly, one scene at a time, we lure our audience in. Romance, the loveof parents and children, the support of friendships—we show them love in every messy, glorious form, and we have them right where we want them.
Right on cue, Aili guides Queen Taynia and Beron onstage, welcoming them into the immersive performance with her first line. “Behold the Fairy Queen, the fairest of them all.”
Her steps don’t falter. Her face shows no fear despite her recent ordeal. She’s all poise and pageantry, like Val rehearsed with her. I’ve never been prouder. The line even brings a haughty smile to the Ice Queen’s lips.
The early scenes go smoothly. There’s banter, awkward declarations of love, friendships torn asunder, star-crossed romance complete with heartbreak and longing. The crowd laughs and swoons in all the right places. Love is in the air, hanging from the stars.
Then it’s time.
Katja flutters forward with the vials—glittering, glowing, ready. “Our fairest queen, our king of shadows, won’t thou help these lovers find their ever after?” she begins.
The next line about getting Demetri to return Lena’s love is the cue, but…no Demetri or Lena.
Mikael and Johannes don’t appear.
Behind my illusion of draped curtains, I spot the problem. Daria’s pulling Tahto’s lead with everything she’s got, but Tahto has his hooves dug in.
No, wait…he's fallen asleep.
Spotting Helkki offstage, I send a whispered illusion of my voice right to her ear. “Hellion.”
