Finlandia

The rose bush glittered in the faint sunlight. The old witch trimmed its edges with care, humming to herself. She whispered an ancient spell over and over to herself, and when another lone traveler came calling, she was well prepared.



***



Antti's sword came crashing down onto the skull of his opponent, cracking it. As a crimson wave ran down his face, Antti shoved him hard, making him fall back into the snow. Plunging his sword into his opponent's chest, Antti closed his eyes. This was his least favorite part.

When the battle was over and the soldiers returned home, all Antti wanted to do was find his beloved Suvi. Sure enough, she was waiting for him at the entrance to the village. With open arms she welcomed him, and they twirled and swirled for all eyes to see. The others merely smiled and sighed, remembering what it was like to be young and in love for the first time.

"I missed you terribly," she told him.

"And I, you."

"How long will you be back this time?"

"I'm not certain. A few days; maybe a week."

"We'll have to spend every minute together, then."

"Certainly."

And off they went, hand in hand.



***



Riina concentrated as she prepared her hemlock potions that she made for Antti to use during battle. Debilitating when doused with it, it was deadly if ingested. She liked to aid in the soldiers' cause as much as she could.

"How goes my favorite sister?" Antti called from the doorway.

"I'm your only sister!" she laughed.

"That makes you all the more special."

Suvi beamed beside Antti as they entered the small cottage that Riina inhabited with her brother. Their parents having passed long ago, it was the two of them against the world. Suvi had joined them recently, having fallen in love with Antti at first sight, and he with her. The three of them got along wonderfully, and made many plans for the future. Their only worries were when Antti went to battle; they feared he might not return safely home.

"Just give me two seconds and I'll be done with this batch," Riina called over her shoulder as she stirred the cauldron. She heard Antti and Suvi whispering and turned around just in time to see him give Suvi a quick peck on the lips.

"I saw that!" Riina teased.

Suvi hung her head, blushing. "Antti, I told you!"

"It's just my sister," he assured her. "And she adores you. Come, let's --"

A firm knocking diverted their attention quickly to the door. With a confused look on his face, Antti went to answer it. Everyone would be at home at this hour, welcoming the soldiers. This was no time for receiving guests. Whoever it was, was imprudent at best.

A hooded figure entered the humble cottage, and he had to bow low to enter the doorway. As he removed his hood, Suvi nearly crumbled to the floor.

"Prince Ratilainen!"

"Your Highness!" Antti cried. "I didn't recognize you."

Prince Ratilainen held up his hand. "It's no worry. It's my usual clever disguise so that I might meet up with my beloved."

The prince held out his hands and Riina glided over to place hers in his, smiling all the while. He bowed down low to kiss each hand, then looked down into her eyes with much warmth, but with a peculiar look on his face.

"Something smells rotten!" he laughed.

"Oh, dear!" she cried.

She ran to the cauldron and grabbed the wooden spoon in time to stop the hemlock from sticking to the bottom.

"You distracted me, Nikolaus! I'm supposed to stir it every two minutes or it'll stick and burn."

"You don't mind that she practices magic, Prince Ratilainen?" Antti asked.

"I had my concerns at first, but I've grown to realize that it's simply her passion and she cannot live without it, just as I cannot live without her. Which is why I've come. Riina, take that off the fire a moment, will you? I have something important to discuss with you."

"Oh?" She did as he suggested, and came to sit at the table with him and Antti and Suvi.

"Antti, you know how I much I love your sister," Prince Ratilainen said. "I don't know how long we've known each other, but it seems like ages. I'd love to spend many more ages with her by my side, and so I'd like to ask your permission for her hand."

"Nikolaus!" Riina sighed.

Antti sat speechless. He simply stared at Prince Ratilainen for a long moment until he finally gained his wits again and sprang up from his chair, grasping the prince's hand.

"But of course!" he cried.

The two young men embraced like brothers, and the young women sat with tears in their eyes. When Prince Ratilainen came around to Riina, he knelt before her and took her hands, kissing them again.

"I'll make you the happiest bride you could ever be," he promised.

She only nodded. Words eluded her in that moment. A single tear escaped from her eye and plunged to the ground while Suvi was nearly sobbing in Antti's arms.

"Now go finish that potion of yours. I'm taking you back to meet the King tonight. It's now or never, my dear."



***



"Absolutely not."

"But Father --"

"It's out of the question! And a witch, no less!"

The King was offended to say the least. He made no effort to hide his emotion in front of Riina, who did her best to hold her head high. Prince Ratilainen could feel his grip on reality weakening.

"Get this witch out of my sight," the King growled. "And you, good sir, are barred from setting foot outside of these castle walls! For a year!"

"Riina!" Prince Ratilainen cried as guards dragged him away.

"Nikolaus, I love you!" she wailed.

"Beat her for addressing him in such a common way!" the King ordered.

"No!" the prince cried.

Hot, bitter tears dripped to the floor beneath him as he heard Riina's cries from the next room over as the guards gave her a couple dozen lashings. Helpless to do anything about it, he punched the stone wall, then cried out as his knuckles popped out of place. As his hand began to swell, he realized that was not the best idea in the world. Looking up through the window at the sliver of moon in the night sky, he decided he would plan his escape and forfeit his inheritance of the throne.



***



The road was long and rough, and snow inched its way into her shoes, but Riina was numb to it all. Tears dried in tracks on her cheeks as she walked the lonely path down from the Ratilainen castle back to the village of Alina. She almost didn't enter her own cottage for the shame she felt. How could she face her brother and Suvi? They would be devastated.

"Riina!" Suvi cried. "What happened?"

Riina simply shook her head and headed to her cauldron, throwing together random spices and herbs to conjure up a potion to relieve the ill effects of the beatings she took that evening. When Antti saw how torn up her tunic was when she removed her cloak, he spun her around.

"Who did this to you? Was it the Prince? I'll kill him!"

"No!" she cried. "It was the King!"

"But why?" Suvi asked.

"He doesn't accept me, being a commoner and a witch."

"I'll kill him for this!" Antti swore. "I'll take my sword and --"

"Antti, no!" Suvi cried.

Riina held up her hand. "It doesn't matter. Nikolaus can't leave the castle now for a year. It's over."

She began to sob softly, holding her face in her hands, and Suvi went to hold her close. Antti stood massaging his temples, unsure of what to do next. The whole situation was a tragedy.

"You'll find a way, Riina, you'll see," he said.

Riina nodded her head. "I already know a way. I'll go to the Enchantress's Thorn."

"Oh, Riina, you can't!" Suvi breathed. "No one makes it out of there alive."

"That we know of. Maybe they get their wish and they move on to another village, or out of this land. Who knows. If I get my wish, I'll be the happiest person alive. If I never even try, I won't be able to live with myself."

The Enchantress's Thorn was a rose bush that sat in the courtyard of the old Koskinen Castle on the top of the mountain. Long abandoned, an old witch now inhabited it. Legend has it that she cast a spell on the rose bush, and whoever pricks their finger on the rose bush's thorns and makes a wish will have that wish come true. The only caveat is that no one who ever made the journey up to Koskinen Castle to the Enchantress's Thorn has been seen or heard from ever since.

"It's decided then. I'll go on the morrow."

"And I'll go with you," Suvi said.

"No, you won't," Riina and Antti said in unison.

"That's not fair!" Suvi whined.

"It's too dangerous a journey. I can't be responsible for your safety as well," Riina said. "I'll go it alone, but I'll be fine. You'll see."

As she applied the potion-paste to her wounds that night, she said a silent prayer to the moon goddess to guide her journey up to Koskinen Castle. It was a rough and treacherous path, but the rewards would be well worth the effort.



***



Riina never made it up to Koskinen Castle the following day. Antti was called back to battle, and off he went, with Suvi in tears. Riina had to stay strong for the both of them, so she vowed she wouldn't cry this time, even if it cut her deeply inside. Something told her this would be the last time she'd see her brother.

A small group of soldiers returned not two days later, carrying with them the bodies of two fallen brothers in arms. To Riina's horror, Antti's body was one of them.

The funeral was short, but the entire village was in attendance. Riina and Suvi had never seen a grander funeral in all their lives. Antti's sword and battle shield were buried with him. Antti, meaning warrior, was a fitting name. Given to him at birth by the King himself, he was destined for great things. To have fallen in action was in a way his destiny as his name proclaimed. He received a hero's funeral and would forever be remembered as one of Alina's best soldiers.



***



"I'm going to the Enchantress's Thorn," Suvi declared the day after the funeral.

"What on earth for?" Riina demanded.

"To bring Antti back!"

"You know it doesn't work that way."

"Why not? Have you tried?"

"Well, no, but --"

"You don't know what kind of magic that old witch has up there."

"That's true, but --"

"So I'm going, and that's that."

"You are not, and that's my final word."

Suvi crossed her arms with a "Hmph!" as she glared at Riina, but Riina knew it was just the sorrow talking. She left her alone for the remainder of the evening, and well into the next morning.

When Riina came back from fetching water from the well, she found the cottage deserted. Panic enveloped her, and her gut wrenched inside of her. She's gone to the Koskinen Castle, she thought. The Enchantress's Thorn would be eagerly awaiting her arrival, no doubt. Riina must make haste to arrive before Suvi to prevent her from entering the castle at all costs. Their lives depended on it.

As she closed the door to the cottage, she remarked the gray clouds overhead. Opening her mouth and sticking out her tongue, she nodded. A snowstorm was on its way. She must make haste to bring Suvi back in time to avoid the storm.



***



The wind howled as Suvi ascended the winding steps to the Koskinen Castle. It sat atop the mountain overlooking the world below with stern eyes.

She tripped on her violet skirt but caught her balance in time to not fall. The gales whistled through the desolate halls of the chateau as her heels clicked along the cold surface of the floor.

She instantly found the Enchantress's Thorn. It glittered in the faint sunlight, for the courtyard was an open one. Approaching the bush as if it were a snake, she hesitated only a moment before pricking her finger on a sharp thorn. The crimson blood pooled in a dot on her finger, then she wiped it on her skirt. Then she removed a sprig of hemlock from her cloak's pocket. Riina taught her a protective spell to use against the witch if she tried to do anything to her.

A cloaked figure emerged from the shadows, causing Suvi to nearly jump out of her skin. A graying old woman quickly approached Suvi and put her thumbs on her forehead. Before Suvi could think, the old witch began reciting:



What comes to thee

Doth come to me

So let it be

By the power of three

Almighty power

This wicked hour

Rain down a shower

Thy poisoned flower



Suvi then fell to the ground, her heart beating no longer.



***



Riina raced up the mountain as fast as her short legs could carry her. Suvi's aura was humming there. Opening the great iron doors wide, she gasped at the sight before her.

Suvi was lying down, almost serenely, on her back in the center of the open courtyard. A thin layer of snow had gathered on her bare arms and throat, and Riina wondered why she had discarded her cloak. As she inched her way up to the body, she remarked icicles on Suvi's cheeks. Her left hand lay over her heart and a sprig of hemlock lay in her right hand.

The humming of Suvi's aura had already begun to fade the minute she stepped foot in the chateau, and it died out by now.

Hot tears dripped from her eyes as she caressed Suvi's cold, white face and forehead. She wiped her own face with the hood of her baby blue cloak that rested atop her head, and she yearned for a way to bring her young friend back to life.

Venturing off to the right, she found a narrow staircase that winded downward. She followed it to a wooden door, and behind it she found a horror. Bodies upon bodies were piled up in a deep dungeon. She quickly backed away and ran back up the staircase to the courtyard.

When the iron doors of the chateau slammed shut by the sheer force of the wind, she took that as a sign. She almost forgot she had the answer right in front of her. She approached the Enchantress's Thorn and without hesitation, pricked her finger hard. Then she recited out loud the wish that Antti and Suvi return to life, and that the King change his mind about the Prince and her.

Before she could turn around, a cold gust of wind blew over her. She heard a low chanting from behind her, which sounded like:



What comes to thee

Doth come to me

So let it be

By the power of three

Almighty power

This wicked hour

Rain down a shower

Thy poisoned flower



After taking two steps, she pivoted around as she fell sideways to the ground, slamming her head onto the stone floor. The old witch smiled as a crimson pool gathered under her head, and Riina's eyes remained open, watching the witch chant some more:



Circle of mine

Grant me thine

Intertwine

These hearts so fine

For what we see

Will become three

Lest you forsake

And my heart you break



A final gust of wind blew long and steady into the courtyard as the front doors opened and closed, and the Prince Ratilainen entered the scene. The witch, still holding her arms up to the sky, smiled an evil smile as she gazed at the Prince.

"What have we here?" she asked.

"What have you done?" he cried, running to Riina's body, and then glancing at Suvi.

"They performed the spell wrongly," she simply said.

"But how so?"

"Ah, ask and ye shall receive!" she laughed. "It is not to prick your finger and then recite the wish, my boy! You recite your wish to me, then prick your finger."

"That simple?"

"That simple."

"Then can you bring them back to life?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Why?"

"I don't deal with the dead. Never have. That's bad dealings. You're just asking for trouble."

"Then will you grant me a long life?"

"That I will, my boy. Now go and prick your finger lest you freeze to death out here."

So he did, and for the third time she recited her charm. His fall was slower, and his hand fell into Riina's when he landed on the ground. His other arm landed on top of Suvi almost in a protective manner. His eyes stared into Riina's blank ones as the life left them slowly but surely. The old witch merely giggled and went back to the dungeon.

The legacy of the Lost Ones of Koskinen Castle was remembered in the village of Alina for decades, until the generations that followed had no more ties with Riina's generation. Then Riina, Antti, Suvi and Prince Ratilainen simply faded away into history.



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