by R. C. Rutter
Isadora’s eyes opened real wide, focusing on Seth. She could sense magic but was conflicted as it was a mixture of old, demonic, and royal magic. She lifted her head slightly as she made a mental note to watch this one closely. She regained her composure and smiled again. “On the contrary, I am delighted. We don’t get visitors too often.”
Isadora turned her back on the group and pointed her finger at Bartholomew. He felt his throat tighten. “I will deal with you later!” was the loud thought in his head. “Of all the people you could have let in, you brought HIM here? You let him in? Bringing trouble to us all? You will regret this for the rest of your very short life!”
Isadora turned back to the group and smiled again. “Sustenance shall be yours. Two large cauldrons appeared on pedestals. A table was next to each with numerous smaller bowls. This is our Elixir of Life. Please enjoy. You will find that it replenishes and restores your health and energy. It will meet all of your nutritional needs, even yours, changeling.”
The little men stepped forward, filling and handing out the bowls to everyone including themselves. Thorgon dumped his bowl when he was sure he would not be observed and started munching on an onion.
The queen clapped her hands twice and the little men grasped the ropes. Her platform raised and turned as she transformed back into the ball of bright light. Her entourage carried her deep into the forest and she was soon lost from sight.
Seth looked at Gweneviere and asked “I wonder if she is married?” He ducked just in time as the bowl flew past his head.
* * *
Cedrick crested the hill first and spotted a small lake. He veered off the path and headed to the water. “Let the horses drink. Fill your canteens. Don’t get too comfortable, we will rest later.”
The soldiers dismounted and led their horses to the edge. Several of the soldiers eagerly splashed water on their faces, took a drink, and filled their canteens. The break was definitely needed. No one bothered to notice that the horses had sniffed the water and were not drinking.
Cedrick stretched and looked around. As he walked to the edge of the water, he sensed someone watching him but looking around, he spotted no one. The pair of eyes watching him was well hidden within the stand of trees. Cedrick filled his cup with water and drank it all.
“Alright, time to move!” he said yawning. Looking around, Cedrick noticed that all the soldiers were sitting or lying down. Some were asleep already. He was about to yell at the men when he felt himself getting very tired and decided to sit down as well. He was soon asleep.
The wolf came out of the trees sniffing the air. Satisfied, he went back into the woods only to return moments later with a sign in his mouth. The wolf carried it over to the edge of the water and stood it back up. Someone had made a sign and wrote “Poison Water” to warn others.
The wolf walked over to Cedrick and sniffed. Confident he had the right one, he grabbed Cedrick by the collar and dragged him over to the water’s edge and pushed him into the water. He wanted to make absolutely sure the evil one perished. The rest would be sick for several days but would fully recover. They needed to survive so they could tell of the accident. It would be assumed that Cedrick got sick, fell into the water, and drowned. They would think that everyone just missed the sign before they drank.
The wolf was grinning as he walked away thinking that revenge is sometimes sweet.
* * *
Isadora entered the chamber and sat on her throne. “Come quickly.” Her servants approached the front of the throne and bowed. “I must have information. Where is Bartholomew?”
Bartholomew stood up but averted his eyes. “I am here, Your Majesty. Please forgive me!”
“Forgive you? You should be so lucky. Count your blessings that you are still alive!” The Queen sat back in her chair. “Now, what did you observe in the cave?”
Bartholomew told of the soldiers, the changeling, and how the visitors were stuck at the door. He described the old man with the staff as having some kind of magical powers.
“I must know more. You and your brothers here must spy on them. Find out everything you can. No piece of information is too small. Especially find out if one of the girls is the chosen one. If so, she would be a great bargaining chip. Now go, all of you.”
The men started to rise. “Wait! Bartholomew, you must be punished for bringing them here. But at the same time, if she is the chosen one, it would do wonders for our cause. Therefore, I decree, if the girl is not the chosen one, you shall die. If she is the chosen one, you will be responsible for bringing her to me and you shall be richly rewarded. Now go.”
The men started to move again. “No, wait! Make sure all of them are partaking of the elixir. Now go.”
The men stood there hesitating, looking at the queen. “No really, go this time. Off with you” as she waved her hands.
* * *
Chapter 15
“Well, that was interesting” observed Eric. “Now, tell me again how you were able to cast that spell when I, the great, majestic, and powerful Eric, failed to do so?”
“I am thinking it was because……well….” Lydia hesitated and Eric just stared at her. “It is because you are getting old and weak and losing your power.” Eric glared at her until Lydia starting laughing. Her laughter broke the tension and soon everyone joined in.
“No, really, best I can figure out is that I was in possession of the jewel, so it was mine to command. You know I don’t have magical powers.”
“Good story. I guess if we have the opportunity, we can try out that theory. Thorgon, do you still have those rocks I gave you? Might be a good idea to set them out. Intruders, you know. Strange place, strange people. Best to be safe.”
Thorgon placed the rocks and casually walked over to Erica. “Does your power work here or shall I gather a hunting party for food?”
“Oh, I think I might be able to whip up something.” Erica waved her hand and the aroma of hot stew permeated the air. The rocks that Thorgon placed hummed as Bartholomew ran out of the bushes. Thorgon heard the commotion and whipped out his sword. It was only Bartholomew’s lack of height that saved him. The sword sliced the air just above his head.
“No, don’t eat that. You must drink the elixir.”
“We did” said Thorgon. “Tasty, but not filling. We need more than the soup you serve. How is the hunting around here?”
Bartholomew’s eyes got real wide. “We don’t kill anything to eat. It is against the rules. If we are hungry, we drink the elixir. Why would you kill a dirty filthy animal? Must be nasty to eat!” His attention was distracted as the aroma reached his nose. “What is that?” His nostrils were flaring. “What do you call your elixir?”
Thorgon spoke first smiling “It is dirty filthy animal soup. Pretty nasty to eat I am sure.”
“It is stew” Erica corrected. Would you like some?”
“No, it is against the rules, must drink the elixir, must drink.” His voice trailed off as he stared at the stew. “Still I suppose it would be rude to reject an invitation. After all, everyone here is a friend to each other.” Bartholomew hesitated. “Yes, I would like to share some with you.”
He took one bite. His eyes rolled back into his head and he smiled. “What do you call this again?”
Thorgon started to say “Dirty filthy ani….” but was cut off by Gweneviere.
“Stew. It is a specialty of Erica.”
“Thank you, madam. It is delicious.”
“BARTHOLOMEW! May I have a word with you?” Another small man had come out of the woods and he appeared to be very angry. “Excuse us, please. We must have a private conversation.”
They walked over to the edge of the woods. “What are you doing? What are you eating? You know the rules, elixir only.”
“Oh Samuel, lighten up! Here, taste this.” Bartholomew gave him a spoonful of stew. The reaction was the same.
“Wow, this is incredible?” Samuel leaned over and whispered “Can you get some more?”
/> “I believe I can. Where are the others? Some for them as well?”
“Let us not be greedy with our visitor’s generosity. The others are watching from the woods hoping to learn anything they can about the group.”
“Come, let us re-join our guests. We might learn more by directly speaking with them.”
“We might also have a little more stew as well.” They looked at each other and laughed.
The two of them walked over and sat near Lydia hoping to strike up a conversation.
“So tell me, girl who opened the door. What is your name? How long have you been a witch?”
Lydia looked startled at the questions. “First off, I am NOT a witch. Secondly, my name is Lydia. And yours?”
“I am Bartholomew and this is Samuel. We are of the Red Island Clan. So if you are not a witch, how did you manage to open the door? Only magic folk can do this.”
“I have no magic powers. You already heard that Seth said he opened the door. He did what you did. Placed a jewel in the rocks and cast the spell.”
“Well, that is almost correct. The jewel required to open the door is only found here. That is what I used. Without the jewel, I could not have opened the door. What jewel did you use?”
“Maybe she snuck in first, grabbed the jewel, then went back out, and then opened the door.” Samuel was smiling and nodding his head as he was convinced that he solved the mystery.
“Can you really be that dumb?” asked Bartholomew.
“Dumb enough to hang around with you!”
“Sometimes I think I work with idiots, other days I am quite sure of it!” Bartholomew turned his attention back to Lydia.
“I have several jewels. Here, I will show you one.” Lydia pulled a jewel from the pouch on her waist and showed it to them.
“Ha. This is nothing more than a diamond. There are tons of them everywhere. No, this would not do it. There is only one way to know for sure. Cast the spell again. See if the door opens.”
Bartholomew and Samuel leaned forward eyeing both Lydia and the doorway. “Go ahead, cast it.”
Lydia looked at Eric who shrugged. “Very well then, Apre Forlorn.”
The door opened revealing an empty cave.
“See, I knew she was a witch.”
Lydia looked perplexed at what just happened. She glanced over to Eric who was shaking his head from left to right and back.
A little man with a long beard came walking through the doorway carrying a bundle. “Greetings Bartholomew and Samuel, just bringing in supplies.”
“See? She is not a witch. It is one of your own who opened it. A witch would be able to cast other spells, even by accident, and Lydia has done no such thing.” Eric thought it might be wise if the whole truth was not revealed. “Perhaps we shall try another spell, an easy one. See that rock there?” he asked, pointing at a small rock about three feet in front of Lydia. “Make it move, any direction.”
Lydia looked directly at the rock. “MOVE” she commanded. The rock was motionless. Lydia tried again and again with the same result.
“There is your evidence. Are you satisfied that she is not a witch?”
Bartholomew and Samuel agreed that she was in fact, not a witch. “Very well then, we must be on our way now. We bid you all a good evening. We shall return in the morning and take you to more suitable accommodations. I apologize for the delay but we don’t get visitors too often and need time to prepare.”
Bartholomew and Samuel waited at the edge of the clearing for the rest of their clan to join them. Then they swiftly disappeared into the forest.
Lydia watched them depart then turned her attention to Eric. “Eric, what just happened here? Am I a witch?”
Eric turned to Shabb. “We need to be alone and I am feeling spied upon. Would you be so kind as to check the area?”
Shabb bolted into the woods and returned several minutes later. He sat down at the edge of the clearing looking away from the campsite.
Eric let out a long slow breath and the rock in front of Lydia flew up into the air and disintegrated into a thousand small pieces.
Everyone looked perplexed except for Eric and Erica.
“I knew I had to give you some object that I could easily control. No matter what spell you used, I could hold the rock in place.”
Lydia looked real confused now. “I did not use any spell. In fact, I don’t even know any spells. But, if I am not a witch, how did I move the rock, even though I really did not move it because you were holding it in place?” Lydia looked around for another rock, found one, and said “MOVE!”
The rock shot straight up into the air. Lydia said “Stop” and the rock froze in mid-air. She turned her attention to Eric and the rock crashed into the ground.
Lydia stood there with her mouth open, unable to speak.
“Ah, my child, I have much to explain and perhaps, more questions than answers. And I think, some surprises as well. Come; let us have a conversation in private.”
The two of them walked away from the group.
Robald was sitting down with his head in his hands saying “I can’t believe I am in love with a witch. My mum always told me to watch out for strange girls but she never said anything about this.”
* * *
Isadora entered the throne room as all of her subjects bowed. “My time is precious. What have you learned?” Her eyes moved all around, eagerly anticipating the answer.
“My Lady” began Bartholomew. “We had the foresight to directly engage the witch in conversation. No, we are not sure she is a witch. The evidence is inconclusive.”
“And you base this upon?” inquired the Queen sharply. “Is it to save your own life that you mislead me?”
“No, Your Majesty. I would never do such a thing. We believe it is true that the witch cast the spell that opened the door but when tasked to perform such a basic feat as moving a rock, she failed to do so.
The Queen stood in exasperation. “Fools, idiots, I am surrounded by incompetent servants. Did it ever occur to you that it might be a trick? Did she really open the door or was it the old wizard?” The Queen sat back down, groaning as she did. “She must be challenged.” The Queen stood and started pacing back and forth. “She must be put into a position that she has to use her power or face great consequences.” She said smugly. “Then, let her reveal her true identity.”
“Yes oh great and wise one. What plan shall we follow?”
Queen Isadora hesitated for a moment. “It would be hard to put any of our visitors in danger not knowing which of them has the power. That could be a mistake.” She paused. “Instead, Bartholomew, you shall befriend the group. Yes, that is it.”
“Why would they trust me? I am as strange to them as they are to me.”
“You shall gain their trust. In fact, tell them the truth.”
“The truth? And what truth shall that be?”
“You idiot!!! Tell them that your life is in danger. That it is your fault we have visitors and that I am holding you accountable. Tell them that it is your task to determine who actually opened the door and once you do that, you will be killed. That should suffice.”
“But Mistress how should I…”
“ENOUGH! I have decided. NOW GO!
* * *
Antonio returned just as the King fell to his knees in pain. “My Lord, what troubles you so? Was the fireball magic too much for your spirit?”
“No, no, I am fine” the King said in a strained voice. Just felt like I got squeezed very tightly, like something was holding me back.”
“Well the fireballs were wonderful and very timely.”
“Yes, they were very effective, were they not?” the King groaned.
“Come now, let me help you stand. Can I get you some water?”
The King stretched to his full height and felt a throbbing in his arm. He pulled back his cloak revealing a birthmark.
Antonio turned his head. It was forbidden to look upon a royal member without permission, espec
ially anywhere other than the head, hands and feet.
“It is alright Antonio. You can relax. Your loyalty has earned you much. This explains the weakness.”
“How so, My Lord?”
“Something or someone was suppressing my power. Not the demons, that feels different. Only it was not here, and it was not my own power.”
Antonio got this perplexed look on his face and did not say anything.