Thronegarden

by Andrew Dickerson

  The Matriarch snapped her fingers producing a bowl of sugared pears crowned in whipped cream which Buttons fell upon with delight.

  “He really is quite a remarkable creature,” the Matriarch observed.

  “My mother asked Luyna to give him life, so I would have a friend,” Damselfly revealed shyly.

  “Yes, I was aware Luyna was at the castle, though I do not see how Uriel comes into this tale.”

  “She told us that you would help,” Damselfly replied. “Where is Uriel?”

  Damselfly could not meet the Matriarch’s glare as she answered. “In the castle dungeons.”

  Eloise gasped noisily before being silenced by a stern gaze from the Matriarch. “What is she accused of?”

  “Attempting to enter the Evergarden,” Damselfly explained.

  “I thought she knew better than that.” The Matriarch got up from her seat in agitation and paced, trying to control her thoughts and emotions.

  Buttons, who was cleaning his whiskers of sugar crystals, was about to ask for more food, before the words formed in his greedy mouth, a plate of jelly appeared with real strawberries inside.

  “There is little I can do,” the Matriarch announced. “You have to help her,” Eloise ventured.

  “I do not have the power or authority to demand a prisoner’s release from the castle, especially if she is guilty of the crime.”

  Eloise seemed close to tears; her mouth opened then closed defiantly before the young woman stormed out of the room. The Matriarch collapsed into her seat again, covering her mercurial face with both hands, which appeared almost translucent.

  “There is something you can do to help,” Damselfly offered. “Death’s timepiece is in the Evergarden, so that is where I have to go. Uriel believed there was a way of reaching it and that you could help me find it.”

  “I am afraid she was mistaken. The Evergarden is cut off; it is impossible to reach,” the Matriarch declared.

  Chapter 9

  Magical Times

  Damselfly awoke to the sound of thunder, although she quickly realised it was only Buttontail’s stomach complaining.

  “Why did you have to wake me,” she cursed.

  A sense of despair had threatened to overwhelm Damselfly since the Matriarch had called her plan impossible. Everything they had gone through to reach this point had been for nothing and her mother might never get well.

  “I’m hungry,” Buttons stated.

  While Damselfly got dressed, carefully putting on her fairy wings, Buttons danced impatiently about the room.

  “You really are a silly rabbit,” the princess laughed.

  The two companions trampled down the narrow staircase of the Magician’s Guild, only to find the Matriarch already up and waiting for them. The sorceress wore a flowing pink dress that fell gracefully, like water, around her slender frame.

  “Good morning,” she said.

  “What’s for breakfast?” Buttons asked, sniffing the air for any scent of food.

  “Over there.” The Matriarch pointed to an empty table which before their eyes began to fill with all kinds of wonderful things to eat.

  Buttons almost exploded with happiness before racing over to the table and started to devour everything in front of him.

  “How are you feeling?” the Matriarch enquired kindly.

  “A little empty,” Damselfly replied.

  The Matriarch’s attractive mouth wavered slightly as she absorbed Damselfly’s disappointment before returning to normal.

  “Perhaps you would like a tour, I cannot remember the last time we had a royal visitor,” the Matriarch offered.

  “OK,” the princess agreed.

  “Let’s go see if that greedy rabbit has left us anything to eat.”

  The Matriarch took Damselfly’s hand in her own, and they walked over to the table where Buttons was enjoying breaking his fast.

  “Top nosh,” he mumbled through cheeks full of food.

  “I cannot imagine why Luyna would create something so unusual,” the Matriarch commented. “Certainly not her normal style.”

  “Do you know her twin brother, Orion?” Damselfly posed, helping herself to a scone.

  “Of course, they are both members of the Guild.”

  “He’s the one that put Uriel in a dungeon,” Damselfly accused.

  The Matriarch took her time before responding. Her expression rarely changed although under the surface it felt like a river of emotion ran very deep.

  “Well, that is difficult to hear, although if Uriel was guilty of a crime, he was only doing his duty.”

  “He is chasing us,” Damselfly revealed. “Orion wants to take us back home.”

  “I am sure your father is very worried about you,” the Matriarch sympathised.

  “There is no home without my mother,” Damselfly shouted.

  The room was silent for several moments, except for Buttons’ noisy chewing. Damselfly had lost her appetite, and the Matriarch seemed keen to change the subject.

  “We will visit the library first,” she decided.

  “Will Eloise be joining us?” Damselfly asked.

  “I don’t think she will,” the Matriarch replied.

  Shortly after, they exited the Guild and headed to the North West corner with the Matriarch leading the way.

  “I am still getting accustomed to the bright colours,” Damselfly commented.

  “They were much brighter once,” the Matriarch informed.

  “What do you mean?”

  “The Magicgarden is dying,” the Matriarch revealed. “It may seem unaffected by the loss of time to a new comer; those of us who have lived here our whole lives know differently. Without time the reserves of magic cannot replenish themselves; there is a finite amount left and when it is gone there will be no more.”

  “No magic?” Damselfly was shocked.

  “This quarter was once filled with dozens of the most powerful sorcerers, all sharing the source of magic. Now, to preserve what little remains, I am the only full-time resident along with Eloise who assists me.”

  “There is no way to create magic?”

  “Not without time,” the Matriarch answered.

  Damselfly had never considered the full implications of losing time. Back home it meant crops failed and cracks appeared in the castle. In Wintergarden the landscape had been changed into a dark and cold tundra. Here in the Magicgarden, the most unique ingredient to life in Fable was running out and would soon be lost forever. Damselfly thought about Uriel who had walked away from true love because the Fairy King had stolen her chance of a family, and she remembered her mother lying in bed trapped between life and death.

  “Here is the library,” the Matriarch announced.

  The library’s architecture was almost an exact match to the Guildhall; it also had a large oak door although this one was decorated with bells.

  “Palen, my tutor, says bells were once the key to powerful magic,” Damselfly remembered.

  “Much of that knowledge has been lost to the past,” the Matriarch replied.

  Unlike the Magician’s Guild, the library was all based on one level. Very high ceilings allowed for giant rows of books that seemed to go on and on. Damselfly thought it would take many lifetimes to read every novel in the main hall. There were even large ladders to enable access to the books stored in the eaves. The library was permanently cool and had a familiar musty smell. One wall was dominated by a large porthole that allowed sunlight to halo a sweet window seat. At the centre of the room, a group of clerks were performing multiple roles, from binding books to copying old worn tomes and adding decorative calligraphy.

  “The whole history of Fable is in this room,” the Matriarch stated profoundly.

  “What about the history of the bells?” Damselfly asked.

  “Perhaps the information is here somewhere.”

  Damselfly remembered that Pariah, the Master of Bells, back at Thronegarden believed something similar. That one day the lost art
would be rediscovered.

  “This whole place is powered by magic,” the Matriarch pointed out.

  “It is kept at a constant low temperature to avoid damage to the books. There are intricate spells that would discover even a tiny spark and snuff it out. Every book in this room is bound with magic.”

  “I always thought stories were magical,” Damselfly agreed.

  “How did magic happen?” The Matriarch began quoting a famous poem. “Well, it was with the first child in the first garden.”

  “A whispered word telling a simple rhyme, it all happened with the first sharing of Once upon a time,” Damselfly finished the paragraph.

  “Everyone and everything, has a story to tell,” the Matriarch taught. “It only requires someone to hear it.”

  Damselfly walked along the many aisles looking at all the books. Her fingers brushed against the spines and it was almost as if the magic was tangible. Buttons was also interested by the display of knowledge, enough to stop him thinking about his stomach for a few moments.

  “Think of all the people who wrote these books long ago,” Damselfly said. “We can hear their voices even now by simply opening these books.”

  “Maybe one day you could write a book about all the stories you know,” Buttons suggested, which Damselfly thought was a very good idea.

  The Matriarch was momentarily distracted by one of the copiers asking a question about a very ancient-looking tome, leaving Damselfly and Buttons alone to investigate the books.

  “I like ones with pictures,” Buttons stated. “Especially if they are pictures of food.” The greedy rabbit caught sight of what appeared to be a large egg on a narrow green cover and opened it tantalizingly.

  A deafening noise physically struck Buttontail as the book roared at him, until he slammed it shut.

  “Some books can be dangerous.” The Matriarch appeared behind them.

  “W… w… what was th… that?” Buttons stuttered.

  “A History of Dragonlore.” Damselfly read the strange book’s title.

  “How was that a history of anything?” Buttons asked, still shaking in fright.

  “The author is a dragon. Who better to explain a history of Dragonlore than an actual dragon?” the Matriarch explained.

  “A dragon wrote this book.”

  Damselfly was in such awe that she almost opened the book again; however, the Matriarch swiftly removed the offending item from the princess’s hands before that could happen. Replacing the volume, the sorceress stroked Buttontail’s fur. The rabbit seemed to instantly lose his sense of terror and even began grinning.

  “You can take away his fear with magic?” Damselfly gasped.

  “We can ease it,” the Matriarch explained. “Now, let us continue our tour before we disturb the librarians any further.”

  “What did the dragon say?” Damselfly asked as they made to leave.

  “I have no idea; only another dragon could understand it,” the Matriarch answered.

  As the trio exited the library, they were once again standing in the Magical Quarter. Having visited two of the four buildings, Damselfly was surprised when the Matriarch announced,

  “Why don’t we head to our final destination.”

  The Matriarch headed towards the South West corner, leaving her followers looking in the opposite direction.

  “What about that building over there?” the princess enquired.

  “That is the gaol,” the Matriarch spoke over her shoulder.

  “It is not a pleasant place to visit.”

  Since the sorceress had eased Buttontail’s fear with magic, the rabbit had been wondering about how he could permanently dispel his cowardice, for in his heart he wished to be brave, and slowly a plan began to form in his mind.

  “You will enjoy the museum; it has many fascinating treasures to behold,” the Matriarch continued.

  Damselfly was following the sorceress when she noticed that Buttons was not behind them. Looking across the square, she glimpsed the rabbit disappear inside the gaol.

  “Buttons, no!” she cried.

  “What happened?” the Matriarch demanded.

  “Buttons went into the gaol.” The princess pointed.

  “I don’t understand, he’s normally frightened of his own shadow.”

  “We had best find him before something bad happens,” the Matriarch stated.

  The Matriarch strode across the courtyard purposefully with Damselfly following close behind. The gaol was an imposing stone building without decoration and a large warning on the door.

  Danger! Do Not Enter.

  Unfortunately, Buttontail could not read although it still mystified Damselfly that the timid rabbit would enter such a dangerous place voluntarily.

  “Why are there no guards?” the princess questioned.

  “The magic employed here is concentrated on keeping people inside the gaol, not stopping those who enter from the outside,” the Matriarch replied.

  “Is Buttons in danger?”

  “We all are.”

  It was extremely rare that magicians went bad, so the gaol actually held very few individual criminals. Instead, it incarcerated evil spirits, dangerous artefacts and magical creatures who if allowed to move freely would cause harm to others. The gaol held the single largest concentration of magic in Fable; however, in a sharp contrast there was almost so sign of it as they entered. Magical creatures or spirits often fed off magic so in many places inside the gaol there were vacuums where no magic existed. Only in specific areas was magic housed although often in heavy doses. The Matriarch had fortified many of these defenses personally and knew her way around the dark corridors.

  “Stay close,” she whispered.

  Damselfly was scared the moment she entered the gaol. It was practically pitch-black in all directions and a feeling like being submerged in cold water kept washing over her. She could only imagine how Buttontail would feel in such a threatening environment and hoped they would find him soon.

  “Wait,” the Matriarch ordered.

  Damselfly caught sight of a pulsing light coming towards them at eye level; it moved searchingly, producing a hypnotic effect that would have lured the princess out if the Matriarch had not placed a strong arm across her.

  “It is a wraith,” the Matriarch explained. “They feed on fear and sorrow.”

  The spirit turned so Damselfly could see it clearer: light pulsed through the membranous body to a light bulb-shaped head which delivered the mesmerizing flash. The creature appeared to be some alien from under the sea, and Damselfly was glad for the safety of her guide.

  “Let us continue.” The Matriarch led the way.

  “Has anyone ever escaped from here?” Damselfly asked.

  “Only once.”

  As they turned a corner, Damselfly heard a terrible wailing sound. The noise pierced her skull, and no matter how hard she tried, it was impossible to keep the sound out.

  “That is a siren,” the Matriarch explained, bolstering the magic shield to quieten the torturous cry. “They are mute but have telepathic abilities. Many men have voluntarily gone into the water hoping to save a siren and never resurfaced.”

  “Can we please find Buttons and go?” Damselfly asked.

  Moving deeper into the gaol, they found the path narrowing. A prism loomed above them offering superficial light that turned the black to grey.

  “This is the sanctum,” the Matriarch stated. “No magic exists beyond this point.”

  Without the sorceress’s magic, they would be vulnerable to whatever nightmares waited ahead of them. Thankfully, the Matriarch never hesitated, and Damselfly followed in her wake. It was hard to believe Buttons would voluntarily enter such a terrifying and dangerous place, though whatever reason he had they could not leave him here.

  “Don’t touch anything,” the Matriarch warned.

  This instruction was slightly harder than may be imagined, because Damselfly could not make out anything in the complete darkness. She followe
d the sorceress blindly, staying so close they almost collided several times.

  “I see him,” the Matriarch alerted.

  Damselfly stepped out from the sorceress’s shadow to catch a glimpse of her friend. Instead, her eye espied a sinister creature climbing a wall that was indistinguishable from its’ own body.

  “He has come across the Golem’s Heart,” the Matriarch gasped. “An artefact with the power to bring statues to life.”

  Damselfly’s entire attention was taken up by the insect-like form that was creeping closer to the unsuspecting Buttons.

  “Up there.” She pointed, grabbing hold of the Matriarch’s abundant skirt.

  The Matriarch looked in the direction indicated and immediately saw the problem.

  “It is a ghoul,” she hissed. “They are extremely vicious and are only afraid of sunlight.”

  “How do we save Buttons without alerting the ghoul?” Damselfly asked.

  “We must move swiftly,” the Matriarch commanded.

  The ghoul was slowly detaching itself from the wall, revealing long, spindly limbs with sharp needle-like talons that were silhouetted against the minimal radiance coming from the artefact. Buttons, who had been entranced by the Golem’s Heart, suddenly looked upwards and caught sight of the predatory shadow looming above him. With a terrified start, he attempted to flee. The ghoul grabbed hold of his waistcoat and prepared to strike, just as the Matriarch appeared in the fray. The sorceress received a series of razor-like scratches across her defensive forearm as she managed to pull Buttons from the creature’s grasp and then all three of them were running. The ghoul shrieked as it perceived the opportunity to feed slipping away. It immediately leapt from the wall and pursued them on all fours.

  “Once we are out of the sanctum, we will be safe,” the Matriarch cried.

  In his haste Buttons tripped, sprawling head over heels before Damselfly picked him up and continued to flee from the approaching ghoul.

  “We’re nearly there,” the Matriarch encouraged.

  Damselfly dared not look back though she could hear the ghoul’s dreadful chatter as it clicked after them with surprising rapidity. Buttons glimpsed the monster over Damselfly’s shoulder and his hair stuck out like he was in the middle of an electrical storm. He tried to warn them of the ghoul’s immediate proximity, but his voice would not work properly and all he managed was a strangled cry. As the ghoul reared back to strike, they exited the sanctum, and the Matriarch produced a bolt of light that sent the evil creature scurrying back into the dark recesses.