z Castle.
This story is slightly more gothic but still an adult fairy story. It deals with betrayal and was inspired by a picture of gargoyles on a castle wall.
o0o
She sat alone staring into the flickering gold and orange flame of the torch in front of her. A greenish/blue gr
smoke rose
sluggishly
sluggishly from its centre,
centre drifted up and disappeared into the high stone ceiling
ceiling of the castle. Eerie shadows moved a
slow macabre march alo
slow macabre mar
ng the tapestr
ng the
y draped walls of the huge room.
y
Queen Beatrice had banished everyon
every
e from her chamber so she could be alone to invoke her magic.
mag
Only,
y Merwinna,
the youn
y
g maid from their homeland stayed,
stay
sitting silent on cushions in a dark corner - forgotten by Beatrice while she stared intently into the flame.
The flame hissed and flared as more of the fine jade powder was sprinkled over it. Secret, Secre ancient incantations that had
been passed from mother to daughter down the royal
roy
bloodline were softly
y chanted by
y Beatrice,
Beatrice invoking unseen
forces.
A rancid, sickly-sweet smell oozed from the torch permeat
permea ed the huge
ge room and a wall tapestry
y nearb
ear y
y billowed and
moved as if by
y some unseen force. Terrified, Merwinna wrapped her arms over her ears and buried her face into her folded knees.
Slowly, bit by bit, an image formed in the flames. The Queen saw her husband, Leopold, l L
eading his men. She smiled
le
as the image became clearer,
are the golden eagle insignia on his white tabard worn over his armour now completely y in
focus. Then the flame flickered
flickere and she frowned. As the flame settled it focussed on the shape of a thickset, dark-haired man riding a black war horse.
Beatrice
Be
stared. By
y Odin’s beard!
bear
she swore. It’s
I
that treacherous
treac
dog, Earl Doroff.
Doroff Silently
y she watched the image
unfolding. Four abreast his army
army march
arc ed, the flickering flame from the torch making their chain mail armour glitter.
The scene changed again and the earl and his men were
were at the drawbridge of the castle.
at the drawbridge of the ca
The flame flickered and another picture emerged. It
I was of the great
gr
banquet hall and the visitors were
were being
eing wined,
dined and entertained at the long wooden tables. Everyone
y
was laughing and happy
y as they
y gorged
gorg
on the feast and
drank tankards of mead.
Queen Beatrice looked at the image
ge of herself
erself sitting on her throne beside Earl Doroff. She watched him observing observing
her out the corner of his eye,
ey
a sly,
y secret smile on his face. Slowly,
y one by
y one, she saw the inhabitants of the castle
start to fall into a drunken stupor.
Suddenly the earl stood and raised his right fist. It
I was a signal to his men. Withdrawing
hdrawing hidden daggers
dagger from their
clothing, they
y speedily
y went about butchering the defen
defe celess inhabitants. She saw the earl’s sneering face over hers
and the glint of the thin blade of his dagger as it slashed down toward her throat. The torch sputtered; its flame dying suddenly and with it all the images.
Beatrice sat; her jaw clenched. “That will never be”, she said. “Blood will flow, but it won’t be ours. I will summon my spirits”.
“Remember, Beatrice” a voice from the void rasped. “To command the unseen forces is not without peril. For every drop of blood spilt of your enemies, so yours will be forfeited tenfold.”
“But how can I stop this carnage without a drop of blood being shed”, she demanded? There was no reply.
Rising quickly Beatrice clapped her hands together to summon her maid. “Quick! Fetch Lord Godwin. At once” she ordered.
Curtsying, Merwinna fled from the room.
I need to be careful, Beatrice thought. Queen or not, these ignorant peasants could still burn me at the stake as a witch.
They will never accept me, she admitted, but no matter. My gods have shown me many times where my duty lies. And I have followed my duty and come to this strange land to marry its leader as had been foretold.
She touched her swollen belly and smiled. And soon the next part of the prophecy will be fulfilled when I bear from my loins the son who, once a man will wield such power as to unite and reign sovereign over the land. One who will spawn a great lineage and live a long and glorious life. Yes, I am content with that.
“Remember, all of the prophecy, Beatrice” the unseen voice whispered. “No blood is to be spilt for the prophecy to come true and your son to rise to greatness.”
Beatrice frowned. “But how can I achieve this?” she asked into the darkness. Again, silence was her reply.
Beatrice touched her swollen belly. I need to plan very carefully, she thought.
Lord Godwin listened as his queen recalled her terrible dream. If he had not just received word from one of their sentries that the earl and an army of his men were marching toward the castle, he would have dismissed what was just said as the fanciful illusions of a pregnant woman.
He had heard the castle gossip about this beautiful foreign queen. Indeed, one of his duties was to listen and report all to the king any strange activities so that any plots or insurgences could be speedily dealt with.
He groaned inwardly. Ever since she had arrived at the castle as a bride for King Leopold there had been whispered gossip about her and her strange foreign powers, but none had ever dared speak outright about them. It was felt by all that it didn’t pay to meddle in what wasn’t of this world nor with anyone who did. It might have been his duty to report to the King, but to mention that the whole royal court thought his queen is a sorceress could very swiftly have him, as the bearer of the news, heading for the chopping block.
He broke the silence in the room. “My lady, what are we to do?” he asked. “We only have a force of two hundred men to protect the castle and they are here only because they are too old or feeble to go to the battlefields” he reminded her.
“Well, protect the castle we must, or when our king and his noblemen return weary from war, they will have to wage another conflict to reclaim their castle” she said.
“The earl seeks to take advantage of the situation. He does not believe we can protect ourselves.” She smiled a thin, mirthless smile. “He is unaware that we are prepared for his act of treachery. We will show him and other carrion dogs like him that we can, and will, protect all that is ours.”
It seemed to Lord Godwin that she spoke, not to him, but to some unseen force also in the room. He remembered again the whispered stories about her and clutched tight to his cross amulet as his lips moved in silent prayer.
“Tell no-one of what has transpired in this room” she commanded. The old man nodded. Whatever sorcery was being planned; he did not want to know about it. And to speak of it – he would sooner have his tongue cut out!
“Leave me now. I need time alone to prepare” she said. Still nodding, the prime minister backed away and, turning almost fell over in his haste to escape from the room.
The earl rode into the castle and he and his men were welcomed by the excited inhabitants. It had been seven long months since their king and all the fighting men of the castle had gone to war. The earl’s arrival meant a banquet in the great hall. Servants rushed off to quickly prepare for the festivities. Kegs of mead were rolled out. Pigs and sheep were slaughtered and readied for the spit.
There was immense ribaldry and boisterousness in the great hall that night. Everyone was laughing and merry making as they gorged on the feast and got drunk on tankards of mead. Beatrice looked around. Everything was just as it had been shown. Everything, she corrected, except for the small, jewelled casket on the table in front of her. Each time the earl asked what it contained Beatrice just smiled and answered “A surprise, my lord. All will be revealed before the cock crows midnight.”
It was now nearing midnight and Beatrice was tense. If she failed all would die. She gently stroked her stomach and sighed.
Suddenly Earl Doroff stood up. He had lost patience with the queen’s promises of a surprise, but before he could raise his hand to signal his men, Beatrice spoke.
"Be seated my lord” she said. “It is now time for your promised surprise.” Leaning forward the queen opened the small casket in front of her. Earl Doroff leaned over to peer inside.
“No, my lord, you will see nothing within but a fine powder” Beatrice said. “But to someone with the knowledge of how to activate it, it offers great power. Look” she said and, lifting a candle closer, sprinkled some of the powder onto the flame before whispering an incantation. The flame spluttered and flared as multicolored vibrant sparks of purple, red, green, blue and gold disgorged into the room and floated to the ceiling. Everyone gasped at this sudden unexpected display. More powder onto the flame brought forth stronger colours, illuminating the vast hall.
Earl Doroff tried to move but found himself immobilised, held captive by some unseen force. Only his eyes moved and his look of swaggering assurance was now replaced with a look of apprehension as he saw that his men were also held fast. His gaze slid around to the castle inhabitants. They seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep or some state of unconsciousness. Fearful, his gaze slid back to Beatrice.
“My lord,” she said, and her voice was cold. “You and your men came to us in the guise of friendship and we welcomed you, but in your black heart you sought to conquer and take this castle as your own.”
Beatrice slipped a gold locket from around her neck and flicked it open. Earl Doroff’s gaze followed her every movement. Carefully she extracted a good-sized pinch of a red powder.
“Behold!” she said throwing the powder onto the flame. It flared and belched forth a dark smoky haze that quickly spread to the ceiling where it separated into indistinct silhouettes that quickly dropped toward the floor and began forming into solid shapes. A stricken gurgle sounded in Earl Doroff’s throat as the shapes became clear and he was confronted with hordes of fierce looking warriors.
“As you see my lord, we are not defenceless. Observe who protects our castle” Beatrice said pointing toward the warriors. “And tonight you and your men will swell their ranks.”
