The Golden Year and the Sorceress

by Isabella Hardiman

  "What about him?" The king growls.

  "Leila," Leonardo hisses.

  "She said he had returned and he would come after Rumore." I pause. "That's not all. She mentioned the kingdom of Infernum victory." I add. The king has visibly paled. I can feel everyone's eyes on me.

  "Tell me girl, what do you know about the dark lord? What have you heard about the war?" He narrowed his eyes and clenched his teeth.

  "He was the king of Tenebris. It was a beautiful kingdom that fell into darkness, they made a deal with the kingdom of Infernum, the source of all evil. They betrayed us, and burnt the alliance. They declared war. They slaughtered thousands...they left people homeless, parentless..." I paused the words that came out feeling all too personal. There is a long pause and I can sense Leonardo's eyes on me but I cannot find the strength to look up at him and lie again. "He has returned. Eris swore it."

  "The dark lord was a chaotic, power hungry man. He showed no remorse for killing. He was driven by destruction...He made the streets of my kingdom run with blood and left only death wherever he went. How dare you mention his name in my presence." The king spits.

  "Your highness, I say it because it is true. He has returned." I'm fearless. Whispers fill the halls but I can sense the unease in the room.

  "How would you know?" The king glared at me. "Have you seen him in the flesh?" But I can tell he already knows the answer.

  "No. But-"

  "BUT NOTHING. The dark lord is dead. His return is only a rumour. A ghost story told to children and among the servants. You wouldn't even know what he looks like." The king waves the subject away. "It's rather amusing. You certainly have a wild imagination." The king chuckled and his subjects joined him.

  "Leila." Leonardo stops me from saying anything else. The only people who are not laughing are Cam and Leonardo. Both give me a warning gaze. Cam eyes say 'have you gone mad!' and Leonardo shouted 'Don't say another word or I am going to shove this muffin in your mouth.'

  I decide they are right and shut my mouth before I really get into trouble. I begin to eat silently whilst Leonardo and the king discuss politics. Josephine is discussing dresses among her group of friends. I know right! Josephine has friends! Who would have thought? I wonder if they are as shallow as her.

  "The army of Infernum advanced recently but they didn't get past our guard towers, the protection spells are still strong." Isaac told Leonardo proudly. I could not believe the irony, Isaac was fine with using magic when it benefited him but executed those who do not use it for his own selfish wishes. I hated him. He was an arrogant cow and I could not understand how Leonardo couldn't see it. I suppose he was his father and he was blinded by his own love for him. Afterall, he was still his father but I suppose I couldn't understand that bond.

  "Well, I have an announcement. I will not be here in three days time since I will be travelling to make some new alliances for Rumore. God, save Rumore." The count of the East stands up from his table, his large belly fully stocked with breakfast. I had seen him in paintings beside the king from years ago, he was one of his closest friends. He was also an advisor for the king. His cheeks were red and rosy, he chuckled and from his appearance he seemed like a cheery bloke. Everyone in the room shouts as well, whilst raising their glasses. "God, save Rumore."

  "So I shall have to give his royal highness his gift, an early birthday present." The servants bring in a large object covered by a grey blanket.

  "It's your birthday in three days?" I ask Leonardo and he simply shrugs. A handful of servants came through the door pulling a large object covered by a silver silk cloak. I see the struggle as these men lift the grand object. What could it be? There is a bang as it hits the floor.

  "Well then, show us your highness the perks of being a future king..." A knight shouts from the far end and I notice his cheeky smile. Leonardo gives him a brotherly smirk as he goes towards the gift. I recognized the gift and then I realised who it was. It was the knight from the first time I ever laid eyes on Leonardo. It was the second in command and second best warrior in the country.

  Everyone cheers and claps until finally Leonardo pulls the material revealing the object. "It's definitely something." Was Leonardo's reaction. "Don't you think this is a bit much Egbert?" Definitely. I had to cup my mouth to stop myself from laughing.

  The object that laid before my eyes was none other than a statue. A seven foot statue of pure white marble. It was not any statute though, it was of Leonardo in a heroic pose with his sword outstretched and his family crest in every inch of his clothing. A group of damsels among them Josephine posing like struck love birds beside Leonardo. Egbert simply beams at it and replies, "anything for you my prince."

  I can read Leonardo's expression like a book. He was horrified by this object before his eyes and he was torn with sending it away and not hurting the advisor's feelings. "Thank you so much, it was very kind of you." Leonardo smiles forcefully and I think that I might be the only one who noticed. Everybody applauds and Leonardo returns to his seat.

  "Very diplomatic, isn't he?" Cam whispers in my ear and I giggle.

  "What a wonderful gift." Josephine smiles admiring the statue. I love art and sculptures but a masterpiece of Leonardo with the words 'Glories son' was the biggest propaganda I think I had ever seen. That is why I do not like it. It just didn't seem like Leonardo. It was something his father would do. Not him.

  "Yes, it's very kind of Egbert." The king adds on que.

  I grab a chocolate pastry from the side and eat silently whilst the king and Josephine marvel at the statue. Leonardo and I have been exchanging small glances thru breakfast when nobody's looking.

  "So Leila, I spoke to Leonardo and I see it is only fair to give you a reward for helping my son defeat Eris." He paused. "Mr. Cam received a place as Leonardo's servant and a royal pardon for an incident from years ago...Josephine received various objects such as dresses, jewelry and shoes." Josephine squealed with delight, recalling her new items. "What would you like as payment?" He stared at me cautiously.

  "I um-um," I pause and ponder all the miraculous things I could ask for and then I give my answer. "Nothing." I respond and everybody looks at me wide-eyed.

  "Nothing?" The king places his fork down and I see something shimmer in his eyes.

  "Nothing." I repeat.

  "Surely you must want something..." Isaac stared at me suspiciously. "Gold, a status, a job..." The king suggested but I simply shook my head.

  "No." I cut him off. "I don't need anything." I wanted to add that I did not need charity from the likes of him but I stopped myself.

  "Leila," Leonardo stares at me from across the table. "You must want some sort of reward..."

  "But I don't." I answered.

  "You risk your life, you assist my son in the saviour of this kingdom and you expect me to believe you want nothing in return?" Isaac glares at me.

  "Yes. I would gladly sacrifice my life for this kingdom, I would gladly do it twice." I reply. Everybody is exchanging glances but I simply stay quiet and finish eating hastily. A servant comes walking towards Josephine, and offers her a handful of freshly picked blueberries, Josephine devours each one with a smirk. Leonardo does not take any but when the servant reaches Isaac he simply brushes her away and says "get those ghastly things away from me."

  When I lift my head my eyes meet the kings and then the world disappears and all I see are past and lost days. All my senses come to life and I feel myself stumbling in someone else's memory. "Come on!" A girl calls from the top of the beech tree. She sits with both feet dangling either side and the green moss covering the ancient bark. Wild yellow flowers cover the forest floor like a hundred-thousand fireflies.

  "I am coming!" I see the younger Isaac shout, he looks no older than ten.

  "You really are the worst climber!" My mother calls down to him.

  "Am not!" Isaac argues pulling himself up beside her.

  "Are too!" My mother rolls her eyes.

  "Am not!" Isa
ac pauses admiring the view. "Wow, it's high!" He says biting his lip, nervously.

  "Don't be such a scaredy cat." She laughs.

  "I am not!" Isaac glares at her. "I am hungry and tired. Let us go back..."

  "Not yet." She shakes her head.

  "But I am starving!" He complains.

  "You're hardly starving, you had a massive chocolate cake this morning."

  "That was two hours ago!" Isaac complained. My mother rolls her eyes and I watch as her eyes glint and turn a shade of purple. She casts a spell that brings the whole tree to a whole new level of life and it is as if it has a new spirit. The branches of the grand tree seem to unwind and form a gap under her command. A gasp escapes Isaac's lips. "Wow." In front of the lies an entire valley of mythical creatures and plants. Some large others small, from water faeries to large Olistubborns. Olistubborns were like huge rhinos only they had seven pairs of gills along their long speckled bodies. They also had camouflage qualities not to forget about their large horns.

  My mother smiles widely forming dimples. "I know." She then curves her palm to reveal a handful of blueberries.

  "My favourite!" Isaac smiles, he takes half of them and eats them hurriedly.

  "Promise me something..." Isaac looks at her.

  "Anything."

  "This is our place, ours and nobody else's."

  "Okay." She agrees and he gives her a smile.

  "And every time we come here we eat blueberries..."

  "Isaac..." She groans.

  "I mean it. We can only eat blueberries here together." He insists. "Just us. Our special treat, in our special spot..." They shake on it and giggle.

  "Whenever we have an adventure, we will come back here and eat berries." She adds.

  "Blueberries." He corrects. "I can't wait till we are older and we can go on real heroic adventures together. What will you ask for a reward? I am going to ask for the biggest cake in the universe."

  "I wouldn't ask for anything." She stops for a second. "I would save Rumore because it's my home and it always will be. Now and forever."

  The memory fades away.

  "Leila?" Cam snaps me out of my trance. "Leila?"

  "Sorry, yes." I reply.

  "Do you smell that?" Cam asks.

  "Smell what?"

  "That awful smell. I could smell whiffs of it before but now that the food's gone..."

  "YES! I thought I was going mad, it almost smelled like vomit." Josephine adds. I turn to look at the king still in a daze. Was he thinking of the memory I just invaded? "Egbert, do you smell it?" Josephine asked.

  "Yes." He agreed and like a dog, he circled the room for the source of the smell. When suddenly it dawned on me- Leonardo. Both I and Caroline exchange horrified looks. I had almost forgotten about the entire medicine mishap. WE ARE DEAD. SO DEAD.

  Leonardo, is looking at me with a face of pure, whole-hearted anger. I smile but he just narrows his eyes. Caroline squeezes my hand tightly. "Oh no." She whispers. "Right, I think I and Leila are going to go back..." We both hastily got up and Isaac immediately snapped out of his trance.

  "Wait." He gestures for us to sit back down. "I wanted to clarify something..." Isaac paused. "Even though you helped Rumore...this changes nothing. You and Cam are servants. You do not belong to this world and never forget it." He says in a low voice.

  "Farther..."

  "No Leonardo, nobody may be able to forget their place. They were born of impure blood and they shall die with it." Isaac said bluntly. "As soon as you walk out those doors, everything shall return back to normal. You will be the servant and nothing more." I could not help but notice the pleased look on Josephine's face.

  "The king is right, servants can't get the wrong idea. After All, they are just servants." Josephine scoffed and placed her hand on Leonardos. I feel a jab in my heart as her finger curls around his.

  "Exactly, thank the heavens someone has a brain..." Isaac smiled at Josephine.

  "Understood." Cam answers and I nod. As if I wanted to be a part of their world. How boring...

  Isaac simply returns to his meal. Josephine is beaming like a cheshire cat. Josephine suddenly stiffens "Honey, is that smell coming from you?" Josephine stares at Leonardo with disgust.

  "Right it's about time we should be leaving..." Caroline jumps to her feet and we both make a run towards the door. As we walk out the doors, we see Leonardo closely behind us. "We are in so much trouble!" She shrieks.

  "He can't catch us both if we separate so-" But before I can finish Caroline is sprinting down the hallway and she is screaming at the top of her lungs. "Every girl for themselves!" She calls.

  "Leila," I heard a low growl and my legs start moving before my mind can process. "Leila, come back here!" Leonardo calls down the hallway. I am sprinting now and I slide down the hallways my shoes failing to grip. I jump down a group of steps. Then I see the long wooden bannister and I know I cannot outrun him but I can out slide him. I sit down on the freshly bannister as if I am riding side saddle. Leonardo spots me from across the hallway. "Here goes nothing!" I push myself down. I slide like melted butter, zooming further and further down.

  I almost hit several servants on the way down. Including the nasty chef and I manage to swipe a fresh slice of strawberry tart from her hand on my down. "GIVE THAT BACK YOU SCOUNDREL!" The chef shouts.

  What? Girls have to have priorities. If Leonardo is going to kill me, I would rather die with a nice slice of strawberry cake...

  I can hear Leonardo's chuckle.

  I am going so fast I almost crash land but thankfully I have always been good at landing. I stare up the three flights above to find Leonardo looking down at me. I simply smirk and take a bite of my cake and I cannot help but let the thick icing smudge all over my nose.

  "COME BACK HERE!" The plump chef called. I simply turned and hurriedly began walking down the hallway whilst demolishing the cake. I make my way down a series of hallways before finally pulling into a random room. I found myself standing in an empty bedroom. I let out a breath.

  Leonardo was not as good of a hunter as he thought. I smirked to myself, all the sudden I heard a click but it was too late. I swung over his shoulder. How did he find me?

  "Let me down LEONARDO!" I shout. "Oh god, you really do stink." He gave me a very annoyed look and on instinct I leaned forward and grabbed hold of a pillow. The next thing I knew I was smacking him down hard with a pillow. Bang. Bang. Bang.

  "Leila!" He growls but before he can argue any further, I bash him over the head with another pillow. He drops me and grabs the other pillow. I smash the pillow against his face just before he has a chance to laugh and I cannot help but giggle.

  "Trust me, you don't want to do that." I warn. He smirks.

  "And why is that?" He challenges.

  "Well, I just happen to be the queen of pillow fights..." I laughed. "When you step in the ring with me, you better flee for your life."

  "We will see about that..." He swings and hits me in the side of the face and immediately fires back. I run around the room, avoiding every aim he sends my way. Then I jump on the bed and both pillows collide with so much force feathers go flying. Millions upon millions of feathers. Mrs. Harrison was going to kill me! Leonardo's chuckle echoes around the room.

  We are surrounded by waves and waves of white silk like feathers. They hover around us like snow. He manages to knock one of my legs and I prepare myself to hit the rock floor but instead I fall into a pair of hard solid arms.

  My breaths brush his face and his breaths brush mine. Our heavy breathes and pounding hearts is all I can feel. He looks down at me and smiles. The intensity of his look stops me from breathing. "Wow, you really do smell awful." I mutter. He only chuckles and wraps me closer. I squeal. "You stink!"

  He pushes my hair back and takes out a feather that lays stuck in my hair. For a moment all there is us. For a moment there is nobody but us. I breathe him in. He gazes into my eyes.

  "I never expected to like you this
much." He takes a heavy breath. I stared at him and I wondered how I accidentally fell in love. Or what was worse, I fell accidentally in love but decided to stay.

  "I-" I was about to speak but a group of shouts stopped me. We both turned our heads towards the door and as if on cue, a trio of knights came in. Immediately took a step away from Leonardo.

  "Your majesty," They stared at him and me suspiciously but did not dare say anything. Great, now I would be known as a slut.

  "Draco." Leonardo looked at him seriously.

  "We need to get you to safety..." The second head knight that had spoken earlier in the hall spoke out.

  "What's going on?" I finally speak, unable to hide my concern.

  "The bloodthirsty rebels are back. They are attacking the castle and..." Draco spat. I noticed the fear in the pair of twins' eyes.

  "The rebels?" Leonardo and I both stare at them all confused.

  "You have been gone a long time...I am afraid lots have changed."

  What had happened to Rumour, during my time away? Who were the rebels? How did they get in the castle? Why did Rumore's finest knights look terrified? I got an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach. Can the kingdom not go one day without it getting itself into more peril? Can I not have one day to relax?

  "Are they dangerous?" I ask with suspicion.

  "Dangerous," One of the knights chuckles. "Dangerous doesn't even begin to describe them."

  "They are what you call a rebellion..." Another knight begins. "They come here to murder, steal and pillage." Great, so some psychopaths were attacking the castle killing people. Perfect, just perfect. Whole-hearted sarcasm.

  "They are here to kill us." Draco says with his eyes landing on mine. "All of us. They do not take prisoners. Mercy isn't in their vocabulary..."

  "Execution, torture and assassinate is." The first ad's cheerfully. Both, I and Leonardo exchange looks. "Welcome home."

  Chapter Thirty-five- The Rebels

  Draco runs a hand through his dark black hair and I only now notice how vibrant his green eyes are. They remind me of the color of the leaves in the enchanted forest, they light the world. "But we don't have time to explain...we need to get you to safety."