Tales of Enchantment

by Andersen,Kai

  Giselda felt certain relief in hearing that.

  “We’re supposed to go to the Castle of Night to retrieve a certain ring. I think I can safely presume that the castle’s location is no problem.” Rodin looked at the fox, who nodded. “But what about the ring, Merry? Can you tell us about it?”

  “A child-princess sleeps at the top of the east tower. Two rings are on the table beside her bed, one gold and one wooden. Both have magical properties, but the ring that the king wants is the wooden one.”

  “I won’t even look at the gold one this time,” Giselda said vehemently.

  Merry smiled. “The princess has to be awakened, for either of the rings cannot leave the castle without the princess. Be warned that the princess will insist on bringing the gold ring with her. Remember, it’s the wooden ring you seek and not the gold one.”

  “Is she also under an enchantment?”

  “Yes.”

  “Won’t the whole castle awaken when she wakes?”

  “No.”

  “What’s her name?”

  “Lila.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Everything was the same as in the Castle of Light, except for the fact that this castle was gloomy and dark.

  It was a ghost castle, with pages and courtiers lying everywhere in the same manner as in the previous castle. It didn’t bother Giselda as much as the first time, but still, she didn’t stop to examine them closely. They proceeded toward the east tower, where they climbed the spiraling steps until they grew dizzy and short of breath.

  “Are you all right?” Rodin asked.

  They had stopped midway, resting with one hand against the wall. At least, Giselda supposed it must be midway. They had been climbing for so long, she’d lost track of the seconds and the minutes.

  “I ... am fine,” she panted. She was gratified to know that Rodin was not unaffected by their climb. She would hate to be the one to slow them down. “Or I will be ... in a few minutes.”

  “Maybe I can ... go ahead without you. Once I collect the princess and the ring ... we’ll meet you here ... and we can leave together.”

  “No. We are in this ... together.”

  In the moonlight, she saw Rodin smile. He echoed. “Together.”

  After a few more minutes of rest, they resumed their climb. Finally, they reached the top, where a door stood on the far side of the landing. Giselda stopped for a moment to look outside the tower window. She saw nothing but an expanse of gray.

  Where is this place?

  Fear struck her, and she wanted nothing more than to finish the quest and spend the rest of her days in Rodin’s arms.

  She was startled at the sudden thought, and paused in contemplation. She had certainly come a long way from the princess whose eyes had focused singlemindedly on the throne.

  “Giselda?”

  Rodin had opened the door and was waiting for her to join him. Together they entered the room and encountered an angelic-looking child sleeping on the four-poster bed. She looked to be about eight or nine. But maybe, like the phoenix, she was older than she looked.

  Rodin glanced at her. “Should we awaken her first?”

  “You do it; you have a way with children. I’ll go get the ring.”

  Giselda searched the nearest bedside table, but found that it contained a half-full glass of milk and a storybook about the adventure of two sets of twins. She circled the bed to the other table and found the two rings nestled on a small pillow, exactly as Merry had described.

  The golden ring glittered and called faintly to her, whispering promises of wealth and beauty. Even love.

  But wealth and beauty and love were Rodin, who personified the security that the child in her had looked for all these years. In the image of the golden ring, she saw that the queenship and riches were the tangible symbols for the warm feelings of safety that she had experienced when her biological father was still alive and which were taken away from her when he had died. Though she had become a princess through her mother’s marriage, the deep-seated hunger for permanent security had never left her, and it had been transfigured into a persistent search for power and wealth.

  Rodin’s love was stronger, and it blocked the ring’s insidious call.

  Giselda dragged her eyes away and focused on the wooden ring. It was made of plain wood burnished to a deep brown, and it did not give off any magical vibrations. She wondered if Merry had given them the right instructions.

  Someone yawned and spoke. “Oh, hello. Who are you?”

  Giselda turned to see that the child had woken up.

  “My lady and I --” Rodin gestured toward her, and she saw the child swivel her head to look at her before turning back to Rodin. “-- have come to take you away from here.”

  “Oh, goody.” Lila jumped up from the bed and shod her feet. “Let us leave. Oh, wait, I have to get my ring.”

  Giselda snatched up the wooden ring and held it out to her. “Here, this must be what you’re looking for.”

  The girl frowned, still looking angelic in her white nightgown. She made no move to take the ring. “Oh, no. I want the gold one.”

  “I’m sure you’re mistaken, Lila. You want this one.” Giselda placed the ring in her hand and closed her fingers around it.

  “Yes, Lila.” Rodin added his own encouragement. “I’m sure you prefer that one. Look how shiny it is. The color is very nice, and it’s solid, too.”

  “No! I’m old enough to know what I want.” Lila stamped her foot and threw the ring against the wall, where it thudded and fell to the ground. “I want the gold ring.” She strode over to the table and slid the ring onto her ring finger. She held up her hand and admired it. “It makes my hand look prettier.”

  The Ring of Beauty.

  Giselda looked helplessly at Rodin, who seemed to be immobile and speechless. Upon closer examination, she realized he was immobile. His eyes had a glassy look.

  Panic settled upon her. She tried to shake him into awakening. “Rodin! What happened to you? Rodin! Talk to me!”

  He did not respond.

  “Rodin!”

  Giselda forced herself to calm down, banishing the panic to a far corner of her mind. She took several deep breaths before thinking on what to do. First, what had happened to Rodin? He was still all right when he had awakened the princess. He had also tried to persuade the child to take the wooden ring. After that ... after that ...

  He was turned into a statue when Lila had put on the golden ring.

  It was up to her to convince Lila to take the other ring instead. But what would have happened had she, Giselda, also fallen under the spell of the golden ring? Would they have been doomed to spend the rest of their lives in this enchanted castle?

  Giselda shuddered to think of the consequences of such a thing happening.

  “Hey, come on. We’re leaving, aren’t we?”

  She looked up to see Lila looking back at her from the doorway of the room. She shook her head.

  Lila’s arms were akimbo. “Well, I cannot leave by myself. I’m afraid of the dark. You’ll have to come with me.”

  “I can’t leave without Rodin.”

  “Why not?”

  “He’s not moving.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t know. All I know is that when you put on that ring, he became a statue.”

  Lila looked at the ring in awe. “Wow, I didn’t know it could do that.”

  “So you have to leave it behind, Lila, and put on this wooden ring instead.”

  “But I like the golden ring better.”

  “Come here, Lila.”

  When the girl drew near to her, Giselda pulled her up so that they both sat on the bed. “Why do you like the golden ring?”

  “It’s pretty. It also makes my hand looks nice.”

  Giselda searched for the proper words to convince this child to make the right choice. “Gold is pretty. It is also powerful and important because it can make your hand look nice. But it’s not ev
erything. It can’t buy happiness -- the real kind, the kind that starts from way deep within you and spreads throughout your whole being with warmth and joy. It cannot buy understanding -- the real kind, the kind that comes not from your head but from your heart.” Giselda paused, wondering if Lila was able to take it all in. But the girl was looking at her intently, her eyes glowing with a wisdom beyond her age.

  “But it’s so pretty.” Lila looked at the ring wistfully.

  “I agree. But sometimes, Lila, we have to learn to look deeper. We have to use the eyes of our heart to go beyond the appearance to see that which is substantial, to look at the essence of a thing, and not just see what is on the surface.” Giselda had the sudden realization that she was talking about more than just the ring.

  Familiar arms came around her. She didn’t realize how tense she was until she sagged against him.

  “You did great, Giselda.” His lips nuzzled the shell of her ear. “Look, she’s taking off the ring. Now who has the magic touch with children?”

  She laughed in relief, until tears came to her eyes. She felt a flash of the momentary fear that had gone through her when she thought she had lost him forever. “Maybe I unconsciously used a magic word? Like ‘please’?”

  “Now that would get you almost everything in my book.” His husky voice left her in no doubt as to what he meant.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  It was midday when they came out of the castle. Strangely, or perhaps not strangely, all the castle folks were still in their somnolent state, and there was no one to challenge them as they passed through the long hall to reach the castle entrance.

  Lila blinked as the sunlight hit her full in the face. “Where am I?”

  “You don’t remember?” Giselda had expected her to dissolve in the sun. She had thought that Lila was a specter and part of the castle’s enchantment.

  “She’s Princess Lila of Rikandia.”

  “A talking fox!” Lila squealed and went down on her haunches in childish delight. She stroked Merry’s velvety fur.

  “Rikandia! But that’s our neighbor. Is she enchanted? Are we in Rikandia now?” Giselda could not help the slew of questions that poured from her lips.

  The fox sighed. “I suppose you deserve an explanation.” She turned to the little girl. “Lila, dear, why don’t you go play with those flowers over there?” A nudge and Lila was running happily among the flowering plants that had sprung up from nowhere. “While Lila’s father, the king, was out on a diplomatic journey, Lila’s stepmother, the queen, fell into trouble with evil fairies. Instead of accepting the punishment, she offered up her stepdaughter as a scapegoat. Evil beings that they are, the fairies had no compunction about taking a substitute.”

  Giselda was horrified. She could see from Rodin’s expression that he shared the same sentiments. “What would have happened to Lila if we had failed?”

  Merry smiled. “It’s a good thing you didn’t, right?”

  “How come her stepmother has dealings with fairies?”

  “She’s a witch.”

  For all her misfortune, Giselda was thankful that her mother didn’t hobnob with fairies. “I don’t think she’s a nice witch.”

  “That sums it nicely, I think.”

  Rodin grunted his assent. “How long has Lila been in the enchantment?”

  “A few weeks, but I will erase her memory, as I will yours, so that she doesn’t suffer from this experience.”

  “And the ring?”

  “Though the ring was attuned to her, Lila has no use for it. It was really a part of your quest.” Giselda was suddenly holding the wooden ring. “Take that to the king of the Castle of Light, and he will give you the phoenix, as agreed. After I take you back to the place where we first met, I shall take Lila back to Rikandia, while you make your own journey back home.”

  “Maybe the little princess can come back home with us.”

  Merry smiled. “And how long do you plan to take her under your wing, young man? A month? A year? Ten years?”

  Rodin squared his jaw. “Forever, if need be. Or until she finds someone who can protect her as she ought to be protected.”

  “Your heart is in the right place, Rodin, but people should be given the chance to find out their own paths in life.” Before Rodin could come up with more rebuttals, Merry called out, “Come, Lila. We need to be going.”

  Lila’s face screwed up. “But I want to play.”

  “Someone back home is waiting for you to play with him.”

  Lila squealed, and her pretty face lit up. “Jack!” She ran toward Merry. “Home! I want to go home.”

  * * * * *

  “Something’s bothering me, Rodin.”

  The rest of the quest had gone as Merry predicted. After exchanging the ring for the firebird, Merry had “flown” them back to a place a few hundred meters outside of Halcyon. Then she had left them alone and taken Lila home.

  “What is it?”

  Giselda turned to face him.

  It was twilight. After making camp, they had satisfied the hunger that had been gnawing at them since Giselda had made her oblique declaration after leaving the Castle of Light. Now they lay entwined within the tent, with Firelight roosting on a makeshift perch that Rodin had made outside the tent.

  Now that she was asked the question, Giselda hesitated to give voice to her thoughts. “It was something that Merry said. Or rather, what she didn’t say. See, in the Castle of Light, the test was the choice between the golden cage and the wooden cage. In the Castle of Night, it was the same way: the golden ring against the wooden ring. I know you probably don’t see it as tests, but they are. To me,” she insisted, when she felt some movement from him that she interpreted as negation. “Remember how you couldn’t move when Lila put on the golden ring? Because it was meant to be my test, not yours. And I don’t mind the tests, really. At first, I was, maybe, mad because Amber’s fate had rested on my decision, only I hadn’t known about it. Now, on hindsight, I’m still mad at that part of it, but I learned a lot about myself from going through the tests. Whether I failed or succeeded, the tests exposed my character so clearly that I couldn’t do anything but face it.

  “And I didn’t like what I saw about myself, Rodin. I didn’t. I don’t. That’s why I don’t understand -- how could you love me, the way I am?”

  Giselda wasn’t aware of her agitation, of how her voice had risen in tone and volume, until she heard Rodin’s calming voice and felt his soothing hand on her hair. “Is that what’s puzzling you?” he teased lightly. “Easy enough to answer if it is.” His voice turned serious. “You saw yourself clearly for the first time in these three days, but you forget, I’ve had plenty of time to see you, to really see you. And I’ve learned to differentiate between what you appear to be and the real you. What I saw was that beneath the grasping and scheming ways, the real you was there -- golden and shining, just waiting for the dirty husk to be chipped away.”

  Tears were falling in earnest now.

  He wiped them away with his thumbs, but more just kept on falling. “Perseverant, tenacious, and with a never-give-up attitude that defies adversity. An enormous self-confidence rooted in your self-worth -- and not your title -- that enables you to get what you want.” He paused. “Or die trying.”

  The words were familiar, as if she had heard them before. She searched through her mind, and her memories took her to a beautiful sunny morning, where she was ... walking ...

  She’s beautiful ... What I like is her tenacity, her perseverance, and her never-give-up attitude in the face of challenges and adversity.

  She looked at Rodin in wonder.

  Whenever she faces obstacles in the path of her chosen goal, she just pushes through them, goes around them, whatever, to reach her goal. She knows what she wants, and her enormous self-confidence ensures that she’ll get it or die trying.

  She didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry, so she did both. “That was ... me. You were talking about me.”


  His voice was gentle as he said, “It was you. It was always you.”

  “Rodin ...”

  She hugged him, her heart about to burst with the fullness of the emotions filling her. His arms were tight around her, so tight she felt smothered but, at the same time, overwhelmingly cherished and loved.

  “You should have asked me sooner,” he chided in a gruff voice. “Is that what’s bothering you?”

  She laughed in sheer joy. “No.”

  “You’re happy.”

  “Can’t you tell?” She laughed again.

  “I’m glad I can make you that happy.”

  His solemn voice cooled down the giddiness that was sweeping through her. “You can.” She leaned her forehead against his. She remembered her violent feelings toward the women Rodin had ever touched or even looked at. “And you can also make me so sad.”

  “Never intentionally, I assure you.” He dropped a kiss on her mouth. “Now what’s bothering you?”

  “Oh.” She did some rapid back-thinking. “I was thinking how it looked as though the tests were set up for me. But I didn’t like the way Amber’s and Lila’s fates were dependent on me. Or the fact that they could have been enchanted to provide the needed players for my test.”

  Rodin was silent for so long that Giselda started to think that maybe she had thought too much and said the wrong thing. When he spoke, she was startled, for it was not something she had thought he would say.

  “What happens when you throw a pebble into the pond?”

  She thought a moment. “It -- it sends out ripples in ever-widening circles.”

  “Right.” She noted that he was caressing her body in an absentminded manner. “Whatever action we take has an effect on another person or event, though we may not know about it. Sometimes, an action ends with you, and sometimes it reaches out to touch another. If we could see things from a bird’s-eye view, maybe we would see that we are all connected in a chain of events. It just so happened that in this situation, you were in the position to know how your decision directly affected Amber and Lila.

  “As to the other ...” He paused and sighed. “I can’t say with any certainty, Giselda. The acts of the gods are something that mortals like us can never understand. But I don’t think that any person would fall afoul of an enchantment just to serve as a player in someone else’s test. These things have a way of coming about in a magical, non-human way. I like to think that the little bit we have played in both castles was but a step in the grand scheme of things. Hopefully, a step in the right direction.”