Justine Larbalestier - Strange Horizons - The Cruel Brother

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The Cruel Brother

By Justine Larbalestier

22 October 2001

O, you must ask my father dear,

With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay;

And the mother, too, that did me bear.

As the primrose spreads so sweetly.

--"The Cruel Brother," Child Ballad #11

For all that the witch was dead, and her fortune now their own, they were a

long time leaving the forest. Years and years passed between the moment they

first saw her glistening home and their return to kith and kin. By then, the two

could hardly get through a day without each other close by. They loved each

other as brother and sister should, and much more besides.

As always, Greta was the first to understand: in the world outside the forest, the

warmth between Hans and her, the feel of her breasts pressed against his chest,

would not do. They were no longer children. They were people in the world. She

must be wed, and her brother too, but not together, not sharing the same

marriage bed.

They came back to their village, Hans leading his sister on her milk-white mare,

seven donkeys heavy-laden with a witch's fortune. Their foreign mother was still

dead, though Greta had half hoped that was a dream. Their father and his

no-longer-new wife made room for them and for the strangeness that clung to

their skin; there was more than enough to feed them all now.

Greta set about trying to wean Hans from her. She wept more than a little,

explained to Hans, and told him no in every way she could as he ran his fingers

through her hair and whispered please and yes and why don't we? "Nobody

understands the world the way we two do. Nobody knows."

Greta said, "No, no, no, no, no." But her nos grew quieter until they slid to the

back of her throat and tumbled her into the hay with him, tangling limbs, kissing

fingers and toes.

Greta adjusted her clothes, and kissed his mouth a few last times. "We can't be

at it like this."

Hans grinned, knowing Greta liked the way his lips shaped into a smile, and

reached up for her hand. "Just a few more times. Just once or twice when

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Justine Larbalestier - Strange Horizons - The Cruel Brother

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