The Dark Witch And Her Knights

42

"She was my best friend and we told each other everything. Those eyes of yours are hers and those eyes are the unmistakable mark of a witch. She was the queen to never be seen. When you find yourself in the castle, try making your way to the south wing. It is the wing of queens and her portrait will hang before the last queen. You look like him but your eyes are unmistakably Queen Soirriellas."

"How do you know her demise was at the hands of The Guard?"

"Well, she was a favorite of the king. But The Guard was always watching her. And after the birth of her son, she vanished. The court spreads gossip like they're trading gold in a city of the starving and poor. Her eyes did her no favors and rumors of witchcraft followed her everywhere. They harassed her endlessly and forced her into seclusion. Her fear of them was great."

"What happened to her?"

"She gave birth to an heir that she begged me to safe keep if anything were to happen to her. The day she disappeared I had been watching over the infant Prince Truci. She was on a hunting trip with The King Lutum, three new ladies' maids, and The Guard. They reported her carriage had ridden too close to the edge of a ravine. It plummeted hundreds of feet killing her, the horses, and all her ladies. When the king returned he immediately retrieved Prince Truci from me and I was dismissed from the castle."

"You believe The Guard caused the accident."

"I know they did. When she asked me to watch the babe, I knew something strange was happening. Not once has she ever asked me to stay behind but I brushed it off knowing she needed someone she trusted with eyes on the little prince."

"I thought she vanished."

"The official report given to the kingdom states accidental carriage crash. I waited for the funerals of funerals for a queen and one never came. My husband was freshly in the employment of The King. I begged him to inquire. And what was whispered around the kingdom had me trembling with dread. The ladies of the court were saying no body no funeral. Not for any in the accident."

"What happened to her body?"

"I too thought the same. The ladies maids were new but I was able to track down two of the three families and both had the same to say. The crash site was unreachable and deadly to all who tried to venture down the mountainside."

"What if they lived and were injured."

"The fall was too great for anyone to survive. And if they did they were left to rot till they died."

"That's horrid."

"It was. I did all I could to become reemployed in the castle to watch over Prince Truci but all my requests were denied as if I was blacklisted from kingdom work. And as you know King Truci Malitiae is the hand that molded The Guard into what it is now. A ruthless brigade of Witch Hunters who slaughter, burn, and hang without trial.

"That day the king returned with shadows lurking behind him and lacking his queen was the day my best friend and Prince Truci were lost to me and my vow to protect him was broken. A debt I believed could never be repaid has come knocking on my door."

"And what about my mother?"

"Oh, what a mysterious woman she was. Giselle Atropa. A lady of no rank who had caught the eye of the mischievous Prince Truci. A spitfire for sure. Heard he had to kidnap her. She was the rave of the kingdom for years. An unwilling concubine to a married prince already with an heir. One who truly did vanish and with an heir of her own to the kingdom no less." She gave me a pointed look. "Now I can see that she ran and for good reason."

"I never knew who my father was. She told me he died."

"For all the better. You would have been his pawn or your life would have been snuffed out. I see that cold fire in your eyes- that promise of mayhem and chaos. Retribution at the tips of your finger. A spell of revenge on the edge of your lips. Just like your grandmother Soirriella. That's why I say vanished with wit and spells like hers she would have known what they were up to. And no way to retrieve her body." She shook her head and looked toward the sun. "I've always hoped she was out there somewhere hiding."

The sounds of a carriage coming up the road echoed over the slight rustle of the forest. Lady Citrine sighed. "My daughter has returned."

"Do you know of the place the carriage crashed?"

"I know it well- been there a couple of times myself. Mount Verdine the locals call it."

My mind began turning through memories trying to remember if I knew the place. "Did you ever find the crash site?"

"Sadly it was true about what they said. It's a deadly drop to the bottom of a chasm cutting through sister mountains by a river."

"Mama," a young woman called in a powder blue dress. Her voice carried to us, heavy with distress.

"What is it, Child?" The young woman hurried over and embraced her mother tightly. The smell of fire and ash clung to her weighty dress. "There was a burning in town this morning, Mother. It was Tibby's mother." Lady Citrine's head pulled away from her daughter as she focused on me. The change caught the young woman's attention and drew her eyes to me as well. "I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. I was shaken by what I witnessed." She released her mother and stuck her hand out for me to shake.

"Lady Sable Atropa, apprentice to the king's physician." Her soft delicate hand trembled as I shook it.

"Lady Amarum Citrine. You seem so young to be the apprentice of a healer."

"Indeed! I believe myself too young for all I have accomplished and seen. But I would rather my time be now rather than later when my spine is gnarled and my mind is playing tricks on me."

"Well said Lady Sable. You rather make me feel underaccomplished myself. Now that you have my mind pondering the shortly hood of our lives." I could almost see her mind's eye traveling to the front yard where brittle burnt grass was. Instead, Amarum gave me a genuine smile as if we were the oldest of friends chatting over tea and biscuits. It made my skin crawl but I returned her kindness with a smile of my own. I had never known true kindness from any woman of her stature or class. Even during my studies, girls like her turned their noses up at me and avoided me like plague.

Lady Citrine cleared her throat. "Do you know why they burned Ms. Granum?"

"Tibby said The Guard broke down their door before the sun rose. Some guards dragged her to the town center while the rest raided the tavern. Tibby thought they were looking for evidence but all they did was destroy the place and loot all the ale and wine. They weren't even after Tibby. She tried to stop the men but they knocked her unconscious. When she woke she was told how they had burned her mother as they yelled witch. She only arrived when Ms. Granum's body was nothing but charred ash and bone. I didn't even know it was Tibby's mother till she charged through the crowd wailing hysterically.

"I could hardly bare to watch or listen so I grabbed Tibby and dragged her away. The crowd, the people, they were so terrible I was afraid they would burn her next or throw her into the river to drown. I took her down an alley and gave her my cloak, and all the gold shields in my pocket so she could get to Haywater to be with her grandmother."

"Were you seen with Tibby?" Lady Citrine grew concerned.

"I was surely seen at the pyre but I cloaked myself before I approached Tibby. It is possible."