Laurel O'Donnell

Mistletoe Magic – Prologue

Mistletoe Magic by Laurel O’Donnell

Prologue

1382 England

Yuletide. It had always made Jaclyn Fainwick excited and happy with the potential of what the future held. This one day, amongst all the rest, was when every hope, every dream could come true. She loved this day above all the rest in the year.

She sat before the hearth in the Great Hall, waiting for the festivities to begin, swinging her feet back and forth. She had been waiting for most of the day. Her father would come, and her mother, and her brother. All the people she loved would be together on this day. No matter where they were or what they were doing, they would always gather together on the Yuletide.

She twisted and looked behind the large wooden chair she sat in. The shadows at the back of the Hall were getting long as the sun set, stretching dark fingers into the Great Hall. But no one was coming. She turned back and clutched her hands in her lap. If she were very good, her father would bring her something wonderful. A strand of her long dark hair had pulled free of the braid at her back and she swatted it back in place.

The flames danced in the hearth, warming her. She had been alive for ten Yuletides, this would make her eleventh, enough to know that the Yule log would soon be burned. It wouldn’t be long now.

Around her, the servants cleared the tables from the feast. A dog rushed beneath the table to gobble up a scrap of the duck that had fallen.

Suddenly, booted footsteps echoed down the hall.

Her stomach lurched with excitement and Jaclyn turned to see her friend, Alexander, run into the Great Hall, followed by her brother, Paul. She sat back in disappointment. Alexander reached her side first, skidding to a halt on the rushes.

“I told you she’d be in here,” Paul said, stopping at her other side. He was out of breath as if he had run a far distance. His brown hair was in a disarray on his head; his blue jupon was askew, his black boots dirty.

Alexander looked at her and grinned.

Jaclyn’s heart lurched at his twinkling blue eyes, as it always did. Even at thirteen summers, Alexander was the most handsome boy she had ever met. His blonde hair reached to his shoulders and always had just the right amount of wave to it. He was not dressed as nicely as Paul, but he carried himself with more confidence. He usually wore a leather vest and black leggings, the same he was wearing on this Yuletide.

He met her gaze. “Your father is coming,” he said with restrained exuberance.

She turned in her chair to face the door.

“I was going to tell her,” Paul complained.

It didn’t matter who told her. Outside the door in the hallway, Jaclyn heard heavy footsteps. It sounded like the entire village was with her father! She could barely sit still in her exhilaration. A moment skipped by and then her father appeared. He was the tallest man of all the men following behind him, his shoulders broad, his hair dark. He was surrounded by knights and villagers. They entered the hall behind him as he walked toward her.

She stood to greet him.

“My dove,” he whispered and greeted her with a hug.

She embraced him.

He pulled back to look at her. “Before we light the Yule log, I want to give you this. You have been a very good girl this year, and a wonderful daughter.” He held something out to her.

Jaclyn hadn’t noticed he was carrying anything. She looked down to see he was holding a branch with green leaves and white berries. She gasped, “It’s beautiful!” and took the branch from his hand.

“The berries reminded me of the winter snow,” her father said softly.

Jaclyn nodded. “But the green leaves belong in the summer!” She looked up at him. “The trees have long since lost their leaves. Where did you find it?”

“I had to travel very far to find it.” he told her, leaning in to add, “It’s magical.”

“Like Yuletide!” Jaclyn gasped.

Her father smiled and nodded. “That’s why I brought it to you now. Keep it safe, child.”

Jaclyn nodded and hurried through the villagers and gathered guests. She paused to glance back at her father. He was silhouetted before the warm hearth fire, his arms on his hips, watching her. She curtseyed slightly. “Thank you, Father.”

He dipped his head in a nod.

Jaclyn knew the perfect place to keep it safe. The perfect spot for it. She raced to her room and flung a cloak about her shoulders. She paused to stare at the branch. It was amazing. Summer and winter, all rolled up into one glorious plant. She gently touched one of the berries.

“Father’s going to light the Yule log.”

She looked up to find Paul and Alexander standing in the doorway.

“Where are you going?” Alexander asked.

“To put my gift in a safe place. Father said to keep it safe.” She looked up at Paul. “He said it was magical.”

Paul shook his head in disbelief. “It’s mistletoe. It’s not magic.”

Jaclyn lifted her chin. “Father said it was!”

Paul shrugged. “Where are you putting it?”

“In the forest,” Jaclyn said, staring at the branch.

“You’d better hurry or you’ll miss the lighting of the Yule log.” Paul disappeared into the hallway, hurrying back to the Great Hall.

Jaclyn stepped toward the door, only to find Alexander still standing there. “Aren’t you going with him?”

Alexander grinned. “I can’t very well let you go out alone at night.”

Jaclyn scowled at him. “It’s just the forest.”

Alexander shrugged. “I’ll escort you.”

Jaclyn raised her eyebrow. “Another one of your games?” she asked and walked out into the hallway.

“You know I love games,” he said. “I can be your bodyguard.”

“I don’t need a bodyguard.”

“And you can be the lady.”

Jaclyn sighed and continued down the hall. She was always the lady, most likely because she was the only girl in their group. She stared down at the mistletoe branch.

“Do you really think it’s magical?” Alexander wondered.

“Father said it was, so yes.”

*****

The night was crisp, the snow beginning to fall from the sky in small flakes. Jaclyn knelt before a large tree. The ground was hard and cold. She tucked the branch into a hollow opening near the bottom of the tree. She sat back and inspected the shadowed opening. She couldn’t see her branch. Satisfied that her gift was well protected, she started to stand but heard a twig snap behind her and paused. She remembered Alexander was with her. She bent back down to the mistletoe branch and gently pulled off a leaf. Then she stood. She extended her hand and the leaf to her friend. “Your payment, kind sir, for seeing me safely to this cold spot.” Her breath came out in a puff of white smoke.

Alexander took the leaf from her. He stared at it for a moment. Then he lifted his eyes to hers. “I was hoping for the usual payment.”

“That leaf is magical. I thought that would be a better payment.”

Again, he looked down at the leaf, then glanced back up at her with a wry grin. “How can it be better than a kiss?”

She smiled sweetly at him. A kiss. Every time they played one of his games he wanted to be rewarded with a kiss. “It will always see you back to me.”

He looked at her and there was a strange, sad look in his eyes. Jaclyn didn’t know what it was.

Alexander nodded and tucked it into his jupon. “Then I will cherish it forever.”

“Let’s get back or we’ll miss all of the fun.”

The two children hurried back toward the castle.

A blackbird soared across the sky. It landed at the foot of the tree. It cocked its head this way and that, nervously inspecting the hollowed out hole. It walked forward into the dark space. When it reemerged, it had a white berry in its mouth…

*****

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