by R D Blake
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The two sisters settled themselves within the chamber that Ilena had considered her refuge since she had been first led here. It did not take many heartbeats until Marta broke down and confessed of her sin and her childish jealousy and the rage that had coursed through her and of the witch of the marshes. Ilena said little, adding only a nod a times; but eventually she clasped the hands of her sister. “That old woman wished to curse you as much as me. Can you not understand that, Marta? We were both placed under the same curse.”
Marta wiped at her eyes. “Perhaps that is all true, Ilena, but it was I who sought that woman out. I, who spoke the words that bound the curse to us. I, who pricked you with that needle.”
“I wonder, Marta, if you were not ensorcelled before you came to that witch; for we know evil looks to increase dark thoughts.”
Marta had no answer for that. Suddenly, Ilena gasped and moved her hand to touch her middle. “It moves!” And without thought she took his sister’s hand and placed it along side her own. “Feel it? It has been more active since you arrived yesterday. Surly, it is a sign of welcome and acceptance — just as I have for you. Please, Marta, I forgive you. Now forgive yourself. It is past and look, understand. This child would not exist if not all had happened as it had.”
Marta wept fresh tears. “It is hard, Ilena, So hard. I do not know if I have the strength.”
“Then let us pray for that kind of strength, Marta — for the strength to let go and to accept love once more.”
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The night had turned bitter again and that breeze from the night before had strengthened once again. Yet Teton had found he did not want to be with the others. Too much had gone on this day. All of it fair and good — so he did not quite understand why he felt so unsettled. But he knew he was lying to himself. He knew the truth — the source of it. And now she had found him and stood by the barricades with him. Why had she sought him out? Marta was on the path to peace and reunion, was she not? She no longer had need of him.
“It is cold.” Teton understood by that statement she was asking him to draw closer, but he could not. It spoke of too many things. Things he had no right to think. “I must thank you, Teton. All of what you said of me was true.” But he could give her no answer. Her presence “dumbed” him. Perhaps she comprehended his silence, perhaps she did not, but she spoke more words. “I know now that I have lived without love, denying it from others and from myself for longer than God wished it, if He ever did.”
Why was she speaking these words to him? Now she was wounding him. Yet Teton realized he had to answer her, for he was growing to fear that other of her words might cause him to flee away from her. “Yes, God has never stopped loving you despite how you might have felt — might have believed. And I think, Marta, He has always held you in His Arms.”
“Oh Teton; truly you must be a priest in disguise,” she answered. “But I need other arms to help me find love again.” Seeking no permission from him, she moved closer and drew his limbs about her. “For so long I have wished for death — for Marta to cease to be. And if not that, to be lost, to be forgotten, to ever be no one.” She ceased to speak, but later other words arose in her. “Perhaps Ilena is right and this hidden realm is where God wished us both to find love.” Thus they remained out in the cold, though the wind softened and ended shortly afterwards, wrapped up in the growing warmth of each other.
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Chapter Nineteen
Connor had ridden out on this spring day wishing to be alone. The birdsong and the budding green of the forest along the roadway and the first colours of the daffodils, tulips and crocus did nothing to lift his sombre mood. He had been stymied on all fronts. He and his father’s quest to wrest the kingdom to themselves appeared doomed. Not as long as the king seemed more hale and hearty as one day led into the next — though he still had done nothing about naming a new heir. Did the man think he was going to live forever? And what had happened to that witch and her curse?
But Connor’s mood and thoughts ranged further still. And Marta? What of her? That hovel in the woods had been his one and only clue to her whereabouts and nothing else had been found. Connor had even gone back there several times over the winter thinking that she might have returned to seek out shelter, for no one could live out in the wilderness easily, and certainly no woman who only knew of the city and of the church. But he had not surprised her. The hut had remained empty with no sign of habitation.
So why was he out riding now? Connor knew not — just that his chambers had become close, like a cell, and he could not abide them any longer.
Urging his horse into a gallop along the road, for several miles he gave his steed his head until he could tell the animal was tiring. He allowed his mount to slow to a trot and then a walk and in doing so caught up with a single peasant who was travelling slowly along with the aid of a staff. He was intending to pass by and ignore this serf, but at the last moment he caught sight of a part of her face not covered over by a ragged scarf. He pulled up and blocked her path.
“Hold! What do you do here, witch?”
For indeed it was the old crone of the marsh. She looked upwards to regard him with her black eyes. “Waiting for you, king-killer,” she cackled out.
Those words compelled Connor to leap from his saddle, ready to strike her down. “Hold, young lord. I have knowledge, though not the power that you have need of. Nay, desire! For I can tell you where she abides!” And those words stopped Connor like no other.
“Speak now! Tell me!”
“Give me money. All you possess. And then I will tell you, for I have a long path to travel.” Connor was more than willing to give her something else entirely, but he acceded to her request and filled her hands with all the coin he had. She ducked her head in a sort of bow, but Connor thought it was in mockery of what he was truly due. “She has escaped out of my hands, but she dwells now north of the mountains where you sought to kill the king’s son. Ruins lie there amidst a hidden vale. But beware; there is power there that guards her along with others who live too in that place. Now comes due your payment, child. I do not needs tell you to seek them out and you will know what to do upon finding them.” The tattoo on Connor’s upper arm became to heat up to sear him. “Now, begone from me! I have other more important matters to attend to.”
Connor was through with her himself and without a word drew out his sword and cut her down, but his sword would not withdraw from her body. A black fire and a blacker smoke consumed both her body and his sword as she lay at his feet. Still, the brand upon him continued to burn, but Connor found he could bear it.
And unknown to him and to all of mankind, other powers which moved upon the Earth felt and knew of their servant’s demise and withdrew deeper into their own dark abodes.
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Another month had passed before Connor and a large contingent of nobles and retainers accompanying him looked down at the wide glade now garnished with swaths of flowers bordering a few fields that bore the appearance of being tilled and planted. Off in the distance several thin lines of smoke drifted upwards from a stony ruin. This is where Marta lives. Connor could hardly contain his eagerness and though this place appeared to contain no force of men or visible threat he waved the men forward and advised them to advance cautiously. He intended to suffer no mistakes this time.
A lone golden eagle was perched above them and as they moved out he did too, calling out to his brethren and to those who also guarded this small realm. Unheard by the humans below, the great bird was answered back and a great gathering of force began.
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Teton was hoeing one of the gardens while Marta worked to harvest the first offerings of this field, moving about, unconscious of his observation. To his eyes, he thought her more beautiful as each day passed, though he imagined that could scarcely be true. Her appearance he considered matchless and impossible to improve upon. But he supposed that was wh
at love did to a man. Teton welcomed it and rued not its curse — for he should have returned to his father and the kingdom and answered the call of his duty but could not if she would not journey with him. There was no such strength in him to abandon her when she was with child: his child. Marta was his wife. Still after all these months, he could scare believe it. Teton, the last man any woman took notice of due to his size and less than genteel appearance, was bound in marriage under God: a miracle that he had never had the courage to pray for. And the greater miracle was that she loved him and had accepted his own.
Suddenly about them, animals came rushing in to encircle them, and by their actions Teton knew that there was an intruder. Yet when he cast his eyes about, he realized there was more than just one. “Marta, go to the fortress. Warn Erick and Ilena. There are men on horses approaching and not just a few and they appear armed.” Teton eyed the nearest wolves. “You too. Go with Marta. Protect her as you have always done.”
As Teton continued to observe the incoming horsemen, it became obvious that he and Marta had been seen for a group of them had peeled off to intercept her. He shouted out to her, sending more of the creatures about him after her. Then he began to jog toward Marta, hefting the hoe about in his hand: not much of a weapon to defend them with. His sword he had left in their rooms, for what need did he have of it when this vale was guarded by creatures such as these that encircled him?
He caught up to her. “Stand with me and face them and show no fear.” Marta simply nodded and by her gestures confirmed that she trusted him implicitly and in the creatures he now addressed. “Do not act hastily but some of you gather more of your fellows and other of you take warning to Erick. I know not yet who these men are.” Several groups of creatures ran off and birds took to the air. Teton moved to stand closer to Marta and peered off into the distance to where the main group of horsemen had remained and were now trotting toward them. An uneasy feeling arose within the giant. Some were beginning to look familiar and most had their sword hands on the hilts of their weapons.
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A few short minutes later the two groups converged, and at some silent command, Teton and Marta found themselves ringed within another circle. Noting the raised hackles on the dogs and wolves, Teton cautioned them with a quick hand signal, but the larger animals continued to prowl about them protecting their own perimeter.
Connor laughed, though his arm burned fiercely. The pain of it had soared since he had entered this vale. “So this is where you are, Teton! Many wondered where you had disappeared to. Hiding out here and I see you have found a new calling in life! One I deem better suited to that overstuffed body of yours. And a weapon that matches as well!” He looked about at the men with him encouraging them to join him in his mirth and most did, but with some, it seemed forced; for many of these men knew Teton for long years. Connor’s eyes narrowed. “Now, give her to me! She is mine!”
Marta stepped away from Teton before he could stop her. “I am no man’s possession: none but to the one I pledge myself and with whom God sanctions such. And you have no such claim! Before man or God!”
Her words annoyed Connor and he fought to keep his face light and easy as he studied both Teton and Marta. He did not like what he saw and when he noted that this woman who had filled his dreams and for whom he had lusted was with child, his anger burned hotter. “So you bear Teton’s bastard! What of your chaste vows before God, Marta the Good?” He chuckled loudly, though few men joined in; for many had heard of her.
“There is only one of such lineage here among us, Connor of Westhaven,” Marta replied, scathingly. “And that man sits on your horse. And I bear no such child as you claim but the rightful heir of Teton, heir himself to the dukedom of Farthingward!”
“So you attest you are married?” Connor snarled out sharply. “Well, that can be easily annulled and this child given to some peasant family where it can learn to farm as its father has. Stand aside, Teton, if you value your life. For how could such a beautiful woman as Marta ever love as ill-framed and ill-faced a man as you? You go beyond yourself. A duke’s son you might deem yourself, but you and your father and your lands are a minor holding in the realm. You are nothing. A nobody. I have come here with the sole intent of finding her and I will not leave without her.”
Teton took two steps to come shoulder to shoulder with Marta. He knew she would not broker him standing in front of her to protect her. This was her fight as much as his, as he growled out in reply: “A year ago, Connor, I was ready to kill you. And now if I must, I will, weapon or not; for I am right full of your contempt of all that is righteous and that includes my wife.”
There was a shifting among the men and horses about them all. None wished to see this battle and few had known of the true purpose of Connor’s venture into these northern lands. And they were unsettled by the wild creatures that snapped and howled about Teton and Marta. But Connor appeared unaware of what transpired about him and drew out his sword. “If you so wish, so I will answer.”
“Hold!” It was Erick’s voice. And all turned to the person who strode toward them from across the meadow with Ilena a pace or two behind him carrying their young daughter. “This is a peaceful land and so I deem it should remain.”
A muttering began among the horsemen, for all recognized the king’s son. Teton observed Connor start and lower his sword arm uncertainly. “Do not believe what your eyes would tell you,” Connor uttered darkly. “He is not who you think he is. I saw Erick die under the tusks and hooves of a wild boar. Did not I, myself, bear wounds of that mishap? Do any of you deny it? And I grieved as did all and gave the king leave to end my life. No, I say. This is some imposter!”
Erick chose only to laugh at Connor. “So that was the story was it, Connor? And not the one I remember of being knifed in the back and tossed off the top of a waterfall. I grant you, imaginative, but not the truth. But in some ways, I rue it not; for I was rescued by this fair woman, though last you met her, you thought otherwise, and only sought to make a game of her and then had every intent to kill her and mount her head as a trophy.” Erick’s eyes darkened and narrowed. “For that I do not forgive you.” Teton could see a slow comprehension arise on Connor’s face and after that both anger and fear.
Erick made a slow circle on his feet turning to face each of the horsemen surrounding them all. “Now, have things so changed in the kingdom of Pellannor, that fealty no longer exists or is valued as nothing? Show me your allegiance. If not to me, then to the king or have you all lost faith in him? And this woman is both my wife and the bearer of my child. And if this daughter of mine would will and I and the king sanction it, she will be your future queen. Think on this and on your honour, for I know you all possess it. Choose, men of Pellannor. Choose whom you truly serve.”
Teton’s heart brimmed with pride. This truly was the king’s son and his heritage and upbringing was shining out. The king himself could not have spoken nobler or fairer words.
A few made motions to dismount. Connor roared out. “Do not! Be not fooled by this man. He claims what he is not!”
“You are a fool, Connor,” Erick simply said.
Teton moved to defend his friend and prince as Connor raised his sword and spurred his horse to charge. But the animals about them rose up in growls, roars, yips and yaps, and screeches from the air above loomed louder. Suddenly, Connor’s horse reared up tossing the earl’s son off his back.
In the moment that followed, Teton understood Erick had spoken solely to ascertain whom of these nobles and retainers accompanying Connor were truly on his side. All but three had pulled their swords from their sheaths acting to bar Connor from Erick. Only Siegfried and two others had not. The unhorsed Connor found himself surrounded by wolves, dogs, wild cats, foxes and all manner of other creatures. Eagles, hawks and falcons hovered not far above him. Hemmed in on all sides, swordless, he could only look on speechless.
“Now come, you men who serve the king, show me your allegiance and
I would welcome you to greet both, Ilena, my wife and my daughter, Vanna.” Dismissively, Erick gazed upon Connor. “And you, Connor, Earl of Westhaven’s son. I command you to depart this land on foot. And I leave judgement of you to both God and these creatures that have faithfully served my wife.” At those words, the birds of the air and the animals about Connor began to attack him and drove him away from them all.
“Fair ladies, you need not cast your eyes to see his end,” Erick said gently, as the horsemen dismounted and came to give their swords and pledges to him.
But both sisters refused his counsel. “I harbour no regret to see the end of a man who loved sin and evil more than God,” Marta answered as Ilena took her hand. Together they watched on until the distant figure fell to the ground under a sea of creatures, and they, who had been sundered by evil, now knew that they were bound up once more through goodness and God’s Love and Mercy, and that the last vestiges of another form of the curse were now ended.
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Epilogue
The bear was tired of playing with his toy. In fact, the skull had become odious to him, and he decided it was far past time to remove it from his den, for its presence pricked at his equanimity, and memories of the man which it had once been left him with little peace. So the beast picked it up in its massive jaws and carried it deeper into his cave, following the winding path he had not travelled for long years. Eventually, the tunnel led out to an opening to a fair land of sunshine, rolling hills of green, and a blue coral sea, the waves of which lapped gently along a golden arch of sand that went beyond even the sharp eyes of the great beast.
He padded along over the undulating swaths of meadow grasses and flowers, hearing but ignoring the tantalizing buzz of bees and the smell of sweet honey nearby. After a few hours he came to a bronze pillared building down by the seashore. No doors barred his way and a feeling of the comfort of home swelled inside him as he stepped into a great chamber filled with all the beauty of the earth: blooms, aromas, jewels, and soft musical tones. All pleasing even to a beast like him.