THE KING'S DAUGHTER - Chapter Nine (The Heiress Apparent)
Sorja had been away for several hours, leaving Aibell alone with the Alhiocm, which seemed to dim and brighten as she paced about the room. That of course meaning, when Aibell walked by, each card would momentarily illuminate her dayroom with its bright blue light. As she walked away, they would dim considerately.
Out of curiosity, the Princess approached the spread-out cards. Would they reveal the same secrets to her, as they did to Sorja? What was on the other side of the glowing cards? The faery maiden passed her hand a few inches above the Birchwood cards, feeling warmth much like the sun on a spring day, and a slight buzz of Magickal energy, like an electrical surge of minute lightning. It sent chills down her back and made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. A tingle started in her chest and spread outward to her limbs. Her breathing quickened as her nipples tightened with anticipation. The seductive force that Sorja created was a Magick that Aibell was not familiar with, for the potent force was most… stimulating. It was unlike Fey Magick, which came from nature surrounding the practitioner. This Pixxish Magick however, was more raw and base. Primal urges surged though her, as earthy and archaic Magick began to take hold.
Pulling her hand back like a child that discovered that fire was hot, Aibell gasped as the unknown sensations burned through her palm and up her arm.
The Princess decided to retreat from the unknown force, and crossed the delicately feminine room to her reading nook. Aibell turned the oaken desk chair about so that it was facing the table with the Alhiocm, set up camp and waited for Sorja to return.
Hours gradually passed, and still, the Pixxi had not returned. Night had covered the land like a black velvet cloak, safely cradling those who thrived in the shadows, and hampering the ones who needed light. Growing tired and restless, anxious for the return of Sorja, Aibell went to bed.
It would do her no good to await Sorja, especially if the Pixxi returned from her errand and went directly to bed, without finishing the reading. They would conclude the Alhiocm reading in the morn, Aibell declared silently.
She entered her bedchamber, which she affectionately called the “Water Suite” for the Waterwood paneling on the walls. Waterwood was a tree which grew only in Pixxish groves near the misty shores of the Ocean of Dahud-Ahes. In shimmering tones of blue, green and gray, the wood grain melded and swirled on the walls, like an underwater current kissing the wood.
Ivy plants ran up the walls in the corners, clinging with all their might to thin wrought iron trellis columns. The day room ceiling was an eddy of blues and whites, as if you were underwater looking up at a beautiful spring sky. The bedchamber ceiling, done in swishes of dark blues and traces of silver with the tender kiss of the full moon, looked as if a careless hand sprinkled thousands of tiny amethysts, aquamarines, citrines and diamonds on the velvety dark, the diamonds forming constellations among the colored jewels. Standing in the center of the room, Aibell looked up, and saw herself reflected in the glistening display. The jewels distorted her image. Her pointy curved ears did not stick out that much, nor were her eyes that big. She looked away from her image, and stretched her arms out above her head and yawned.
Aibell heaved a most unladylike sigh, then dressed for sleep. Pulling back the midnight-blue and silver-thread shot velvet curtains that hid the mattress, she heaved back the coverlet and got into her bed.
Snuggling into the deep featherbed, her eyes became heavy and closed. Without her knowledge, her breathing switched to inhaling through her nose and exhaling out her mouth, causing her mind to calm. Relaxation began to wash over her like a warm ocean wave, starting at her toes and making its slow progress up her body. It felt as if someone placed weighty silver coins on her eyes for they were so heavy. Her breaths deepened and slowed.
Aibell opened her eyes wide, and found herself elsewhere.
Out of startling white fog came a shadowy figure. It moved slowly, carefully, each step a revelation of sorts. Emerging from the mist-ridden womb, the person approaching became discernible. The hem of the long forest green tunic trailed after the figure as it approached Aibell. Long black hair hid the face, while arms hung limply at its side. Sensing no harm, Aibell made her way to the middle of a large meadow in the midst of summer. The fog dissipated, revealing the whole of the tree-lined field. Aibell could distinctly smell the flowering herbs as her skirts brushed against the plants as she passed. The two people met in the center of the glen, sizing each other up. A tender wind blew kisses to the tree leaves, who sang in delight at the gentle tribute. Black hair and auburn mingled and danced in the breeze as both people stood silently, asking mutely for the other to talk.
The black-tressed figure held out a hand to Aibell, and in that hand was a book. Taking the book covered in Waterwood from the mysterious person, the Princess opened it, revealing a sketched image to her unbelieving eyes. It was of Kaelis and Manann seated on a blanket beneath the shade of a tree. Aibell’s eyes clouded with burning tears as she became overwrought with emotions. Her parents looked so happy together! Her father did not have the worry lines he sports now, nor did he look that old. Her mother was tall, curvy, and beautiful.
Her eyes were closed mid-laugh, with her ebony cloak of hair falling along side her face.
Aibell could not believe what she was seeing, for the image looked real, in perfect proportion.
Flipping the page to the next, the maiden nearly dropped the book as the illustration dawned on her.
It was herself.
Kaelis was holding a very young Aibell at Manann’s seated side. It looked like a portrait of a happier time before her mother fell in love with a mortal and left her father to wallow in loneliness, melancholy and dishonor.
Aibell did not want to see what else the book would show, so closed it and handed it over to the figure. Perhaps it was the tears in her eyes or the dreadful feeling washing over her, but something spurred Aibell to brush the hair back off of the figure’s face. In doing so, she nearly fainted dead away, for the face of the figure was that of herself. No, it was not herself-it was her mother. But the likeness was there, a startling eye-opener, to be sure.
Before Aibell could react, Kaelis touched her index finger to the center of Aibell’s forehead, silencing the protest that was sure to come. For the moment, at least. “I have longed for this day, my daughter. You are so like me, when I was your age.” The loving maternal look was accented by crystalline jewels of tears that began to fall, one by one down Kaelis’ somber face. Her eyes shone with years of doubt and frustration, as old as time itself.
“You cannot be my mother.” Aibell was shaken with the understanding of what she thought she was experiencing.
“I am not going to argue with you, my Princess. Believe what you will, for you shall learn the truth soon enough. But please, I ask you. Listen to my words. Learn from my mistakes so you may end your days happy!” Kaelis had not moved, half in fear that any sudden movement would have Aibell out of here in a thrice.
Doubt furrowed in Aibell’s mind, for why was this happening? What was this place? It was not familiar to the Faery maiden. None of this made logical sense.
“You wear your thoughts on your brow, my daughter.” Kaelis gently smiled. “Very well, you wish to know the truth of this,” she gestured about the meadow in one graceful sweeping motion of her arm. “So be it. You have not studied Magick. Why?”
“Father thought it best that I focus on mundane studies.” Aibell focused on the ground before her, not wanting to look at the woman who bore her.
“Your father would think that, sadly. He has left you vulnerable, I fear. But there is still time for you. This is the Astral Plane. Your body is still tucked into bed and appears sleeping. However, your mind is here, with me. This was my Astral Temple.” Kaelis looked upwards to the clear blue sky. “I do not have the time I would like to explain everything to you. Listen well, for your life depends on this. You, my daughter, have an innate gift. You were born on a Samhain night when the Mother moon was full. You have a powerful gift that your Father sought to keep hidden, but alas, they know of your existence. They seek to use you.” The day became night under this startling revelation. Thunder rumbled an ominous cry in the distance.
“What is this gift I have? I know naught of what you speak.” Aibell refused to concede the woman in front of her as the woman who gave her life. The Princess was so confused, that it did not dawn on her to ask who "they" were.
“You are the last of an ancient line, Aibell. Your coming was foretold in prophecy, and there are few who can aid and protect you. You have met one, the Pixxi. Listen to her words, for she is wise beyond her years.” Kaelis’ desperation shone in her attitude. The night sky clouded up and began to rain around the two, keeping them dry.
“What are you talking about? Cease! Enough with the cryptic messages, I beg you!” Discomfited, bewildered, Aibell only wanted to know one thing from the woman who stood before her. Feeling as though she was caught in an invisible whirlwind, she cried out plaintively, “Why did you fall in love with a mortal and leave us?”
Tears flowed more freely down the solemn face of Kaelis, as she debated with herself. “I had no choice. Ask Turlough, for he knows the truth of it. Your father will hedge with you, for he would seek to protect you from my fate. You are the Moon of Qinraxon, my child. Do you remember that story? I used to tell it to you when you were falling asleep."
Aibell shook her head in the negative. "Tell me of Qinraxon. The name sounds familiar, but I cannot place it."
Kaelis smiled, knowing that Aibell had calmed down enough to be rational. "Qinraxon was a goddess of old. She was the Moon Lady, who rode her black horse across the sky every day at dusk, the shadow of the beast darkening the land into night. The first time she rode, the darkness was so black and thick that she could not find her way home to her silver castle atop the Moon. She took her sword, and slashed into the darkness, letting the light of day peek through the holes, creating stars. She was then able to find her way home.
"One day, Varli the Sun God was riding across the skies, lightening the night into daytime and spied Qinraxon brushing her hair from atop the crescent Moon. He was so taken with her pale beauty, he rode to the Moon and tried to charm her. She denied his advances, and Varli grew frustrated. He ravaged her and rode off, leaving her pregnant and alone.
"As her pregnancy advanced, the moon grew with her, to support her widening girth. When the moon was at its fullest, Qinraxon tried giving birth but failed. The babe was torn into five pieces and fell to the earth below her, falling in five different areas. The moon began to wane, for the fullness was not needed any more.
"In the Oaken forests, the leg that fell there created the Fey. In the Grasslands, the Feenorians were made from a hand. The mountain forests housed the other hand which begat the Elves, and the Desert held the other leg, which became the Sprites. The Head fell into the pine forests, creating the Pixxi. Now you know of the tale. Do not forget it, for the child shall become whole again, in time.”
Aibell stood silent as a rock while Kaelis held her daughter in her arms for the first time in nearly fifteen years. "I must go now, my darling ‘Bella." Kaelis released Aibell, and took a step away. "I am proud of you, my child. Do not let your father know that you know Magick yet. There is still time.” A hand slowly rose to stoke the Princess’s cheek in a soothing gesture. “In the apartments you dwell, seek out the mate of this book. Keep it with you always.”
“What is that book? How did those images appear?”
“It is a Guhlai’m, a memory book. Those with power often cannot find happiness, and the first one was created by a lonely, but powerful man with that in mind. But in this day and age, only when a special person is born, a High Priestess will consecrate an ordinary book with properties unknown to the uninitiated. In a ceremony, the book is made into a Guhlai’m for the newborn babe. When you were born on that night, it had been decreed that a book was to be made for you. You will be what I could not. Your Guhlai’m will be a memory for you.” Kaelis opened the book she carried to the page with her and Manann beneath the tree. “Have you ever thought to yourself, ‘I wish this moment can last forever’? For if you have, then it will be in your Guhlai’m. When I was with your father that day, I wished it would never stop. I received my wish, for I can look upon my beloved’s face, as I remember him. You have a book like this, find it! You must!” Kaelis turned about, as if some warning was being emitted by the forest. “I must go now. Trust the Pixxi, for she is your closest ally.”
A blink later and Kaelis was gone.
The night-shrouded forest around Aibell began to fade into perfect black stillness. The stars and moon were not visible, nor the ground beneath her feet. There was naught but a dark and soundless void.
Aibell’s breathing quickened as she slowly began to wake up. The dim light of morn strained through the windows of her chamber, falling upon the bed, for the Princess had not shut the bed curtains before she fell into her deep slumber.
Aibell reflected upon her dream and felt oddly ill-at-ease. It had been years since she had dreamed of her mother. What seemed like a dream was naught but a fraud. Astral plane, indeed. Surely her imagination could craft something more… believable. Dreaming of Kaelis was nothing more than a cry from the motherless little girl hidden deep within. Nothing more.
Yet, to pacify her inquisitiveness, she would ask Turlough. He would not lie, for it was not in his nature. She would inquire with the captain of the guard before the continuance of the reading.
The thought of receiving answers spurred Aibell to action. There was something niggling at the back of her mind-- what if… it was not a dream?
There was but one way to find out, and the Princess had full intentions to get through the quagmire.
The glen was awakening with the dawn. Birds chirped the news to each other while the flowers began to open their petals, sunning themselves with the warm sunlight. Two men walked hurriedly from the outskirts of the forest to the center, stopping every now and again to make sure they weren't being followed.
"Surely there must be another way, milord." The newly made Lord Gadel of Melwas uttered, his breath freezing in the air before him.
"Shush-- there are guards out on patrol. Do you want to be discovered?" The crofter beside him mumbled darkly, his cloak hood pulled far down, obscuring his features. "Remember, act like a lord, and they will believe you. The moment you forget who you are, is the moment you will be found out."
"Aye, milord. I will follow your instructions to the letter, I swear."
The two walked on in silence lost in thought, while the dense foliage partially obscured them from sight.
Turlough cracked an eye open to watch his current bed warmer yawn and stretch. She proudly displayed her ample charms, rousing his baser nature. Seizing the blonde wench in surprise, he began to thoroughly explore her mouth in an ardent kiss. She giggled in good natured compliance and roved her hands over his naked and heavily muscled body. To Turlough, this was going to be the start of a good day.
The knock was not audible over the sound of the blonde’s giggles, else Turlough would have told whoever was on the other side to go away under threat of disembowelment. Not hearing the door open to the chamber, he did not expect a gasp of shock from the Princess and the throaty chuckle of a reply from his leman, as they were caught in a torrid embrace. His bare posterior was the only bit of him facing Aibell, so as a wave of distress rose over him, he grabbed the comforter and covered his nudity.
“Princess Aibell, what are you doing here?” Turlough croaked out, hoping that she had not been standing witness too long.
“Perhaps I should return later, when you are not… occupied.” She started for the door, silently berating herself for not knocking louder, so she would not have seen a new side to the captain of the guard.
“Nay, nay, Meikan was just leaving, were you not, wench?” His eyes promised that Meikan would get amply compensated if she was to go along with his ruse.
With a feigned sigh, the blowsy blonde smiled broadly at Turlough. “Aye, my dove. I know you have a long day ahead of you, so I bid you a fond fair well.” Meikan gathered a tangled sheet to her body as she arose from the bed. Giving Aibell an unsteady curtsy, she backed out the door, into the hallway, then fled for dear life past the barracks of easily excitable soldiers. Aibell followed after, and shut the door, giving Turlough time to dress. A few minutes later, she heard his call to enter the room.
“Now what brings you here, Your Grace?” He smiled as best he could, circumstances permitting.
Aibell sat herself in a cushioned chair next to the sturdy bed. “Oh Turlough, only you can help me, for I had a most mysterious dream. Promise me you will not reveal any of this conversation to my father, I beg you.“ Turlough nodded his consent. “I dreamt of my moth-Kaelis. She said that you could tell me the truth about her leaving. Please, do so! Unless she really did leave with her lover… Please Turlough, only you can rest my mind at ease.”
Turlough squirmed underneath the pressure. He felt it wrong for Manann to keep the truth from the Princess. But the King demanded that he be heeded in this, just stick to the story, less questions that way. Debating heavily with himself, he paused long enough to utter, “That is not the whole truth of it, Aibell.” Turlough looked stricken as he watched Aibell’s face turned ashen.
His silver-blue eyes had a look of concern in them. He wanted to spare her feelings as best he could.
”I was lied to? Lied to?! Whatever for?”
“Aye, but it was for your protection.”
She had not realized that she had spoken her thoughts aloud until Turlough answered her in his rough voice, confirming her fears. Looking straight ahead, Aibell whispered, “By Father’s orders?”
“Aye.”
“Sweet Mother Above! -it was not a dream?” Aibell murmured under her breath. But Turlough heard.
“Tell me of this dream you had of Kaelis.”
The Princess told him of the keening vision of her mother, the haunting words.
“Amazing…” Turlough summed up the situation well. “Kaelis said there was a Guhli'am in your chambers? If you found that-“
The door to Turlough’s chamber ruptured like an over ripe peach at the assault from the other side, silencing the captain and the Princess. One young guardsman was wheezing, hunched over with his hands braced on his knees for support. Two others, stood behind him, looking from the asthmatic guard to Turlough, waiting for one of them to speak.
“Kythrhal! What is the meaning of this?” Turlough picked up the wheezing man by his chain mail and leather tunic single-handedly, clearing him completely off the floor. With his other hand, Turlough pushed back the polished silver helm of Guardsman Kythrhal and peered intently into his face. “I am waiting.”
“Captain, sir… Them orders you gave us last night concerning Viscount Urlian Jiv Eisloh’n… well, they was put into effect.” One of the guardsmen spoke.
Turlough looked over to Aibell, having forgotten momentarily that she was there. “With your permission, Your Grace, we shall finish our conversation later?”
She nodded her acquiescence, saying “Yes, I have things I must attend to.”
As she left, all guardsmen knelt on one knee, and lowered their head in reverence.
The door closed, and they all popped back up, eager to continue with their report.
Thank you for reading! If you’d like more of the story, help yourself to the rest of the posted chapters:
Prologue | One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight