Story recorded by bard Janann Davis.
Illustrations by artist Olivia Hintz. Twitter: @oliviahintz, Instagram: @oliviahintzart
Marion Lavorre put on her long, silk robe and rose from her bed. The windows in her chamber were open just enough to let the ocean breeze flutter through her curtains. Her soft feet padded across the floor quietly as she slipped from her bedroom, taking care to close the door gently. Though the hallway was very dark, she could see candlelight from under the door to her daughter’s room. Jester was still awake and waiting to say goodnight to her. Her Little Sapphire. Her blessing.
She walked on tiptoe to the door, opening it carefully. Jester was in her nightgown, lying on her stomach, writing and drawing in her journal. The candle by her bed was nearly gutted and flickered angrily, which cast eerie shadows along the walls of the room.
Jester’s head looked up as her mother entered the room.
“Mama? Are you here to say goodnight?” Her daughter’s voice was sweet and kind, filling Marion’s heart with a new joy every time she spoke.
This was what love could create.
“I am, my Little Sapphire.” Marion closed the door behind her, careful about making too much noise. Others were sleeping nearby.
Jester closed her journal and slipped under her covers. The quilt was made from Jester’s baby clothes that Marion had pieced and sewn together by hand. Jester lifted the corner of the blanket, and her mother accepted the invitation with open delight.
“Will you sing me a lullaby?” Jester faced Marion in the bed, their heads resting on the same pillow.
Marion thought of the sleeping people on the top floor of her Lavish Chateau and shook her head, her thick ringlets bouncing around her horns.
“Not tonight, my love,” she whispered. “I could tell you a story, perhaps, if you like.”
“Oh, yes please, Mama.” Jester’s blue hair fell over her eyes, and she tried to blow the locks back off her brow.
Marion tucked Jester’s hair behind her horns, her light fingers glinting with heavy platinum rings. She then brought Jester closer, encircling the Little Sapphire with her arms to let her daughter’s head rest on Marion’s shoulder.
“Many years ago, deep in a faraway jungle, there was a couatl named Veradamnos. He was a being of great power and he had been sent to the world from the celestial planes to hunt a coven of hags that were terrorizing the local tribes. It had taken years to find them, but when he did, they had hidden among the vast ruins belonging to a great medusa named Ipfang.
“Ipfang was not happy to host the hags as they brought unwelcome attention from the tribes. She had fought many warriors sent to kill the coven, for trespass into her domain was death for most adventurers. The latest champion of the tribes had become her favorite statue to date-a female tabaxi archer frozen in stone, forever aiming her bow. Ipfang, knowing she could not defeat the couatl, told Veradamnos she would cause him no trouble if he planned on killing the hags, and let him search her ruins for the coven.”
Marion looked down at Jester, still seeing her open eyes focused, though sleepy.
“Now, couatls are able to change their shape, and they are undetectable to many forms of magic. Veradamnos chose to take the medusa form of Ipfang to lure each hag away from their lair within the medusa’s ruins and kill them one by one.
“Having completed his purpose on the prime material plane, he began to cast the ritual to return to his home plane. Before the spell was finished, he beheld a statue he could not bear to leave. The tabaxi with her bow and fierce expression entranced him. Her face was calm, a single eye open to aim her arrow aloft, her prey long out of her sight. She was tenacity personified, and it pained him to think the tabaxi’s life was over before it could have possibly begun.”
“That is so sad, Mama.” Jester yawned, blinking back the gentle wave of exhaustion trying to overcome her.
“Some stories are sad, my heart.” Marion pressed a kiss on her daughter’s brow, comforting her before continuing in her soft voice.
“Veradamnos searched the ruins to find Ipfang to trade her something for the statue, but the medusa was having none of that. She felt the tabaxi was a beautiful warning to the tribes not to bother the ruins of Ipfang. Not willing to accept this fate, the couatl pretended to leave, then circled back and returned to the statue. Wrapping around the tabaxi, Veradamnos cast his last spell for the day to remove the petrification.
“As his spell finished, he felt the blades of Ipfang sink deep into his scaly flesh. She was no fool and was adept at silently stalking prey. Veradamnos screeched, his wings arching back wide to deflect her mortal blows, knowing she had struck true. But he also felt the warm fur of his tabaxi archer move. His wings curled tightly around her, an iridescent rainbow to shield her as she gathered her wits. Their eyes met, her green ones gaining an understanding as the life began to fade from his own.
“The last thing Veradamnos beheld was his tabaxi roaring with life while fatally firing three perfect shots into the heart of Ipfang.”
Marion looked down to see her beautiful daughter had fallen asleep in her arms. She smiled and curled around her, keeping her safe from the world for a few perfect moments. Her whisper quieted to something only slightly more than breath as she finished telling the tale in her daughter’s ear.
“To this day, local tribes warn others away from the ruins, for many have seen the ghosts of Ipfang and Veradamnos still fighting through the statues in the jungle… and the tabaxi clan that now lives within the ruins itself does not like to be disturbed.”
Marion closed her own eyes and smiled as she, The Ruby of the Sea, fell asleep beside her perfect Little Sapphire.
Ephemera
Origami Butterfly Bookmark
Jester folded a scrap of purple paper into a butterfly that will also fit on the corner of a page. She even found a couple of tiny feathers to use as antennae. The butterfly has colored spots on its wings.
Jester's Bedtime Tales 