Where True Power Lies
by Koji A. Dae
I'm a head taller than the other girls. They clutch their empty baskets and talk in whispers. Mama gave me roots to stop my blood, and now I'm almost two years late, but neither my basket nor my head is empty.
The path is too well-worn to only be used once a year. None of the other girls notice, though. We're almost late, some of the flowers are already blooming. But where the forest is damp and dark, the plants are slow, waiting for us. The other girls giggle and set to picking the shining blackberries that will usher them into adulthood. Or not.
No one talks about the not.
The ones who live will squish their berries in presses that can never be used again. Some will use the juices for beauty. Some for death. Those are the strengths of our village—women pleasing enough to lure in any man and strong enough to keep them in line.
The berries hint at their power, and the girls babble nonsense. Some scream and cry. Some strip their dresses, ripping when buttons frustrate their movement. Others curl into the earth, quiet, nearly catatonic.
No one pays attention to me—the girl born strangely to the witch on the edge of the village. Never allowed in. Never seen.
I take a spade from my basket and dig at the thick roots of a large plant. They pull easily out of the rocky soil. I snip them into pieces, each stronger than a dozen berries.
The girls rave of monsters. Shadows stepping into the light. Things they've never seen before—things I've grown up with.
I place a bundle in the hole I've dug. Bread I've kneaded, brandy from our stills. An offering of sorts. Also, a tether binding me to this plot of earth and all the poison growing in it. The poison the girls collect today, and the poison their daughters will collect. Their power is mine.
On the edge of the clearing, a shadow of a man watches the ecstasy and terror of the girls. He nods at me as I steal his roots. My mouth is dry, my vision blurred. The man is hungry this year, and I can see which of the girls will die so the others might be pretty and powerful.
I bury my bundle and collect my basket, grateful witches give their daughters time to learn where true power lies.
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About the Author
Koji A. Dae is an American author living in the fairytale woods of Bulgaria. She has work in Daily Science Fiction, Clarkesworld, and forthcoming from Apex Magazine. When not writing, she's hiking, tending the family, or working in the fiber arts.
© “Where True Power Lies” by Koji A. Dae. All rights reserved.
