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The first winter had been a shock. Living as mortals was bewildering enough when the forest was dense with fruit and the cottage warm with summer sunlight, but the first snowfall brought a whole new set of chores the Three Good Fairies had never had to contend with. Chopping firewood, trudging through ice, and collecting water from a frozen river – and finding out in January that they had not stored enough to make it through the season. King Stefan's patronage kept them secure, but as they could only bring so much back from the markets or risked drawing the attention of one of Maleficent's spies, it was a lean few months before spring arrived once more. Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather had been so busy making sure they all lived through the winter that when it reached midwinter, they only just had time to burn the log for Yule, and had to forgo all other customs.
Since then, they had kept their Yule observances similarly simple, only adding a meal of roast boar and singing a few songs in the evening after Rose was asleep. Though life in winter eased as they became more accustomed to surviving without magic, they also knew that as three peasant women and their foundling child, there was no call for the extravagance they had been used to before. And yet, as their fourth winter living in the cottage approached, Flora had begun to reconsider.
On the evening when she had decided to speak with the others about it, Flora waited until Fauna returned from putting Rose to bed. Merryweather was boiling water over the fire for tea while Flora herself sat at the kitchen table, reading by candlelight. Fauna joined them a few minutes later, having retrieved the needlepoint pattern she was working on, and not too long after Merryweather poured the water into their teapot, and passed around cups.
A fresh cup of tea in each of their hands, Flora finally spoke.
"I was thinking this year, Rose is old enough that we should give her a proper Christmas, like she'll have with her parents."
Both the other women's heads jerked up. Any outright mention of the King and Queen was virtually forbidden in the house, especially now that Rose could overhear them. Merryweather and Fauna glanced at one another before Merryweather let out a breath.
"I don't see what's wrong with what we've been doing so far –"
"There's nothing wrong with it, dear," Flora answered, though frustration was already creeping into her words. "But she's old enough now that she'll start to remember this holiday, and after all, she's, well…"
It didn't feel quite right to say it, but Fauna took pity on her, and offered: "We're just… taking care of her?"
"That's – that's right." Flora gathered herself up again, and continued. "We owe it to her parents to raise her as they would, as much as we can, anyway. And that includes a Christmas celebration, so she'll know it when she goes back to them."
When Merryweather made a face, Fauna piped up again. "Oh, it won't be so different. We'll still have the log and a nice meal, so much of it's very similar, really. And I'm sure we can learn one of those songs they sing for her, like that one about holly…"
"We don't even know what their holiday's about," Merryweather grumbled.
"We attended the King's Christmas feasts every year before," Fauna pointed out. "I'm sure we can remember them, right?"
Silence fell around the table as the three women looked to each other, and then to the ceiling, trying to recall the holiday festivities they used to attend a few days after Yule. They had always accepted the invitations they had before, if mostly due to the size and importance of the festival in court. And yet, the quiet lingered between them as they each tried to remember anything about the purpose of it all.
Finally, Fauna offered, "I remember the music. And the story about the boy born under a star…"
"I remember roast boar and fig pudding." Merryweather folded her arms. "And I won't have a whole castle kitchen full of cooks to help."
"We'll all just do our best, dear," Flora insisted, not quite able to keep the uncertainty out of her voice.
Cooking, Merryweather had learned, was the worst talent to have. It wasn't like cleaning, which it seemed anyone could learn well enough once they were forced to do it, even if Flora tended to fuss over it a little more. It wasn't like sewing or knitting, as making and mending clothing wasn't something that needed to be done three times every day. But between the three of them, they had found Merryweather was least likely to burn the bread, misuse the spices, or otherwise ruin whatever they had manage to put on the table that day.
And as that became clearer, it meant the other two not only "let" Merryweather take care of the cooking, but also everything related to it. Including making the long trek to the kingdom to visit the market when they needed food they couldn't collect from the woods or their milk cow. No matter how much Merryweather complained about the walk, which took more than an hour each way (and even longer when she had to trudge through snow), Flora wouldn't let her pull out her wand just to speed up the journey with her fairy wings.
It was just after noon when Merryweather returned from the market, having left before the sun was out. Flora had also left the cottage, and Fauna was slicing bread and cheese onto a plate for Rose, who was sitting on the chair next to her. Both looked up when the door opened, and though she stayed in her chair, Rose lifted both her hands to wave. "Aunt Merryweather!"
"Good afternoon, dear." Merryweather answered, keeping any irritability she was feeling after the trip out of her voice. Fauna put down the knife and slid it away, pushing Rose's plate in front of her.
"Just eat that, sweetheart, and I'll help your aunt." She walked across to the door and picked up one of the sacks Merryweather had already set down. Before lifting it, Fauna looked through it herself, finding inside a few heads of cabbage, a smaller bag of almonds, and a sack of flour.
As she looked to the other bag Merryweather had brought, Fauna asked, "Is this everything?"
"Our main course is tied up outside." Merryweather didn't work quite as hard to not sound irritable this time, but all the same, she knew she shouldn't take this out on Fauna. While Flora could be of some help at the market – unlike Merryweather, she had any patience for bartering – Fauna was too shy around the merchants. And there had to be someone who would stay behind with Rose. So she glanced to Rose to make sure the girl was focused on her food, and then spoke more quietly to Fauna. "The butcher said the King and Queen will be serving geese at their feast this year."
"Oh. Not boar?"
"No." Merryweather picked up her other bag, and began to pull it toward the kitchen. "Another thing that's different."
"A goose will be easier to cook anyway, won't it?"
Merryweather mumbled something, stopping by Rose's chair as she passed just long enough to smooth the child's blonde hair before continuing on to the kitchen. Rose giggled, but didn't look up from her food. Fauna followed her with the other bag, and started unloading the heads of cabbage onto the table. Before she could get any further than that, however, Merryweather interrupted her.
"I found this, too." Fauna looked over to see her holding out a slender wooden box. "The craftsman said it had to do with the story of the holiday – I didn't want to ask anything else, I think he was already looking at me funny. But I thought, for Rose…"
Fauna took the box and placed it on the table. Rose, who had perked up at the mention of her name, pushed herself up so she could lean over and look into it, while Fauna undid the thin metal clasp and opened the lid. Inside was a collection of carved wooden figurines: a handful of humans, one of whom had wings much larger than a fairy's, as well as a larger number of small farm animals. She picked out a painted figure of a sheep and set it down in front of Rose, but the girl grabbed it immediately.
"She lives over there," Rose told her, earnestly, and pointed to north-facing window. Beyond the woods in that direction was a meadow where a shepherd would often keep his flock in the day, and it wasn't uncommon for a few sheep to stray when Rose was taken too close to the forest's edge during her walks. Rose's tendency to draw out any creatures around them when she sang with her aunts wasn't the best thing for someone meant to be in hiding, but none of them had the heart to stop her, and so they settled for avoiding the forest's west edge, which faced the Forbidden Mountains.
The sheep wasn't the only little wooden creature Rose recognized as one of her "friends," though she seemed disappointed that the story of Christmas didn't include more squirrels or bluebirds or owls . By the time they reached the figures of the man and the woman in blue, Rose had settled back into her seat, leaving Fauna to explain them.
"And this – yes this one also has a crown – Merry?" she called over, upon finding the third king and setting it down with the other two, "Why was this boy born in a stable again?"
"I don't remember, Fauna." Merryweather didn't look up from slicing figs and dropping them into a large metal pot. "Maybe there was a curse."
"Oh." Fauna thought over this for a moment, staying quiet while Rose picked up the figurine of a horse and moved it to gallop around the others. "That's right, he's secretly a prince, isn't he? But his mother and father must hide him, because of a curse."
She reached out, and placed her hand over Rose's, nudging her to look at the figures of the mother and father, who were both gazing down to their new baby. With her free hand, she moved the kings closer.
"But because he was still a prince, three very important guests came to see him, and brought him gifts. This one…" Fauna chose the king whose robes were painted red, and pushed him forward, "Gave him gold, so he would be handsome. And this one –" she pushed the green one forward – "- gave him myrrh, because it was good for his mouth and his voice. And this one –"
She touched the blue one. "Merry, do you know what the last one gave him?"
Merryweather hooked the metal pot above the fire in the hearth, and stoked the flames beneath it. It wasn't the first time Flora or Fauna had tried to ask her what gift she had planned to bestow upon the princess before this had been decided for her, but Fauna's way of asking now was certainly the most creative either of them had come up with.
But she answered, "I hope he gave him a way to break the curse."
Fauna looked over to her for a moment, but then turned back to Rose, and patted the girl's head. "I think it was frankincense, dear. It smells lovely."
"Why don't you two set that up over there," Merryweather said, gesturing to a small table under the round window on the other side of the room, now occupied by a short stack of books. "And then you can help Aunt Flora when she comes back."
And while Merryweather continued to cook, Fauna and Rose collected up the figures and carried them across the room. Fauna put the books under the table, and they worked together to set up the scene. Fauna even hung the gold-painted star from the window above the table. Rose, meanwhile, picked up the figures of a sheep and mule and settled with them on the floor. After arranging the humans in what she hoped was a way they were meant to look, Fauna chose one of the wooden cows, and sat down next to Rose.
The sun had dipped low in the tree line when Flora returned, two baskets full of holly and strings of ivy over one arm and chopped firewood under the other. She checked in on Merryweather's progress first, and it didn't take long before Merryweather was shooing her out of the kitchen. Fauna felt a bit bad about keeping quiet so she could stay on the floor with Rose and their little wooden animals, but she stood as soon as Flora called out to her –
"Could you both come help me with these!"
Fauna waved Rose to join her Aunt Flora and collected up the animal figures, placing them haphazardly around the wooden family. When she looked up, Rose had returned with a long piece of ivy, and though by now she wasn't much taller than Rose, Fauna lifted the girl up so she could string the ivy along the window. Flora dug a few extra candles out of the upstairs cabinet and set them along the mantle over the fire place, on the tables, and in the windows. She placed sprigs of holly near the candles, and Fauna and Rose strung the ivy along every surface they could manage. Flora only tweaked their work a little before declaring that the room was finished. She lit the candles, and then picked up Rose herself.
"What do you think, dear?"
The girl looked down, smiling and fidgeting, and before they could coax any actual words out of her, Merryweather was calling them to supper. It was a short meal, as Merryweather was mostly concerned with watching the pudding in the oven and slicing the vegetables for the next day. She returned to this as Fauna took Rose up to bed, and Flora collected what was left of the holly she had gathered, and began to weave the pieces together.
"O the rising of the sun,"
"And the running of the deer,"
Rose couldn't read the songbook, but she had still picked up the carol more quickly than Fauna. As they continued through their practice, Fauna looked up to see Flora wink at her from across the table. Flora was working on her own gift for the girl, weaving together the remaining pieces of holly she'd collected. In the kitchen beyond, Merryweather finally pulled the soup pot out of the fire, and took out a small spoon to try it.
"Is it ready, dear?" Flora called, as though she hadn't asked this question three times already. Merryweather ignored her at first, but once she'd tasted it, she nodded.
"Help me serve it, Flora."
While the other two ladled squash soup into four bowls, Fauna set aside the book and lifted Rose out of her lap, setting her in her own chair instead. The girl was still humming the carol to herself, and continued humming through soup and roast goose with boiled cabbage, not quieting down until they'd reached fig pudding with raisins and nuts. If she was getting sleepy, her aunts couldn't blame her. Even Merryweather, who despite being up since before dawn with the goose had earlier seemed nearly frenzied with nervous energy, was beginning to droop slightly in her chair.
"It was a wonderful Christmas dinner, dear," Flora told her, suppressing her own yawn. Merryweather nodded, looking at the empty plates and goose bones with a blank sort of expression, which Fauna guessed meant she was trying to decide whether she had the energy to clean them up.
Gently, Fauna offered, "Why don't we give Rose her gifts now?"
Rose glanced up, and Merryweather nodded, so Fauna stood from her chair and walked over to the cabinet under the stairs. The gift she returned with was a small pillow, just the right size for Rose, with blue fabric on the back and a red rose stitched on green on the front.
"Aunt Merryweather and I made this for you," she told Rose, as the girl took it out of her hands. "I stitched the flower, and she collected the goose feathers so it would be soft for you."
Rose pressed the pillow between her fingers for a few seconds before Flora prompted her, "What do you say, dear?"
"Thank you Aunt Flora and Aunt Merryweather," the girl said at once. Flora nodded, and then stood from her own chair.
"I made you something, too." In her hands was the wreath of holly she had pulled together, pointed leafs and red berries glistening on top, though she had used softer stems to line the bottom, so that it would be comfortable for the girl to wear. She first reached to pull back Rose's shoulder-length, golden hair, and then gently placed the wreath on her head, pressing it just enough so that she wouldn't need to balance it there. Rose looked up at the stems and leafs just visible in her line of sight, before Flora told her, "Go look at it in the mirror, dear."
Rose hopped up, excitement apparently returned, and wandered off. At the other end of the table, Merryweather's eyes were beginning to flutter, and Flora nudged Fauna before starting to collect up the plates and bowls. Fauna followed her lead, helping her to clear the table.
"Thank you, Aunt Flora!" they heard Rose call from the other room. The women laughed as they finished clearing the dishes from the table, and Fauna returned with a cup of water for Merryweather. She stepped away to the hearth, and leaned down to pick up the large log they had set aside for that night, even if it was a few days late. But though she placed the log and then a few twigs for kindling down on top of the still-glowing coals, she didn't retrieve the flint.
"We'll have to leave soon if we want to be back before it's too dark," she said, turning back to Merryweather. "We'll light it when get back." Merryweather nodded, finally standing as well and drinking down the water. Flora, meanwhile, called Rose back down to the kitchen, while Fauna retrieved their cloaks from the closet.
"Can I keep this?" Rose asked, reaching up to touch the holly wreath on her head as Flora fastened the girl's small green cloak around her neck, and then looped a scarf around her shoulders.
"Of course dear. Do you think you can carry a candle, too?"
The girl nodded, and held out her hands. Flora first pulled her mittens on them, and then handed her a single, unlit candle. By the time she was pulling on her own red cloak, Fauna and Merryweather were each bundled up. Fauna beckoned Rose over to the door and took her free hand in her own, and Flora lit her own candle by the coals remaining in the hearth, and used it to light the others'. That done, they stepped out into the snow, and walked together into the woods, heading east.
"Rose, do you want to start?" Fauna asked her.
The girl didn't reply at once, but her aunts didn't try to rush her, only looking sideways to her when a particularly big step through the snow made them nervous she might drop her candle. Finally, when they were a good distance away from the cottage, they heard Rose's voice ring out through the trees.
"The holly and the ivy,"
"When they are both full grown," Fauna joined her. But they weren't the only ones who heard. Before Rose and Fauna had finished the first verse, the branches above them began to shake, as squirrels jumped out from the trees and crawled above them, and birds flittered from branch to branch, their calls sounding as though they meant to sing along with the girl.
"That's going to happen every time, then?" Merryweather murmured. Flora elbowed her, and picked up the tune as well, though, as she hadn't studied the book as carefully, she and Merryweather could mostly only hum along.
"The holly bears a berry, as red as any blood,"
The din in the trees above them continued as they made their way to the edge of the forest, even as the sun sank low enough that they needed their candles to make their way. Eventually, Fauna slowed and lifted Rose up again, carrying her along, though she didn't so much as miss a note in her song. Twilight had set in as they were finally approaching the last trees, and their little procession included not only the four of them, but a flock of birds in the trees, squirrels scampering along the branches and rabbits following their footsteps in the snow. Even a couple of deer were shadowing them.
"The holly bears a prickle, as sharp as any thorn,"
They stopped at the edge, at a part in the trees through which they could see the kingdom in the distance. The windows of the castle were glowing brightly, each lit with dozens of candles for the holiday. In the distance, they could just barely hear the voices of the subjects beyond them, singing another carol as evening settled into the kingdom. Fauna pulled Rose a little tighter, and Merryweather and Flora stepped closer to them, Flora reaching out to straighten the holly crown in her hair.
"The holly and the ivy, now both are fully grown, of all the trees that are in the wood…"