Purpleland: Chapter 7

Plans were quickly made for my return. Marcus, showing surprisingly that he might in fact have a sense of humor however deeply buried, housed Britt in a room adjoining mine. It seemed that there was no hope of delaying the departure. That gave me only one day to speak to Alena.  I found her in the field behind the main house. There was a rock there that we had often sat on together and talked for hours. Now she sat there alone. When she saw me she smiled.

“Come here Kail and sit with me.”

I came but did not sit. “You know I have to go back.”

She nodded.

 “And I will have to stay there, perhaps for years.”

“Of course I know.” Her voice was very soft.

“I want you to come with me.”

She looked up sharply.

“As my wife.”

“Oh Kail.” There were tears in her eyes and she put her arms around me. “I should have to leave mother and father and the mountain. I should have to be queen. I should never again be free. Kail, I’m seventeen. I have so much more I want to do.”

“But Alena I love you. I would die for you. Does any of that matter if we are in love?”

“You are in love.” Her voice was not cold only sorrowful. “I do love you but I do not know yet whether I should not be just as happy loving you as a brother.”

Her words struck something in deep me and I felt as though I had been punched. I pulled away from her.

“I love you Alena. I will always love you. I will come back for you when I can.”

She just looked at me with her sorrowful grey eyes and it cut deeply that she said nothing about waiting for me.

Many men have said they would always love the woman who is at the time the object of their affection but few maintain their passion. I will swear to anyone that what I said to Alena on that day was true. I love her still and my love has never waned. Soon death will come to seal the promise as fulfilled.

Purpleland: Chapter 6

Alena’s mother slowly gained back her strength and Marcus became used to his new duties so the three of us were often together. Marcus had not really been changed by his new title and it was like the old days when the three of us were always together but now there was no secret of my love for Alena. Even Alena’s parents knew about us. As often as the three of us were together Alena and I were alone. Her mother’s illness had made Alena more solemn and she laughed less often but when she did it was an even more beautiful sound than formerly. Nor did her solemnness dampen her shining beauty. It only served to add to all her other charms a gentleness which could not fail to enthrall me even more.

I knew that my father wasn’t well and that my happiness could not last. I knew that someday soon there would come a summons and I would be irrevocably saddled with a kingdom I had never wanted. But in those days I closed my eyes to anything I didn’t want to see. I didn’t want to think about what would become of my love for Alena when that occurred so I didn’t. I enjoyed her company and her laughter and closed my eyes firmly to the future.

The messenger came about a year after Lord Stephan’s death and he did not come to tell me that my father was dead and I was king but to bring a royal summons. My father had it seems regained some of his strength and now was made fully sensible to the fact that his young son would likely be king within the next few years and had no experience ruling. He now wished to impart his wisdom so that I would be prepared to take up the reigns of the kingdom. At least that was the impression conveyed to by the messenger, one of my father’s sworn body guards, dressed all in black and it seemed ready to spit me on his sword, crown prince or no, if I did not return with him. He glowered at me as if the fact that my father was dying was all due to something I had done.

His name was Britt and he made it clear that he cared very little whether I wanted to return or not. His lord had told him to bring me and he would take me back. We would leave the next day and not all the protestation in the world could sway him. In jest, I compared him to a boulder. He gave me a look that could have permanently frozen my tongue to my sword and informed me that the boulder would be rolling tomorrow and better be moving if I had any views as to not being crushed.

Purpleland: Chapter 5

The next few months were some of the best of my life. I spent almost all my time with Alena. Marcus was constantly busy and Shay spent all her time in the library so there was no one to disturb our time together. I wanted to tell her how I felt but at that time I seemed like I had all the time in the world and I was sure she knew anyway. We explored the mountain together and talked about almost everything.  She was so beautiful. I wondered that her father had not set up a marriage for her. She only laughed and told me that she was not likely to be promised until Shay was engaged. I asked her whether that was likely to happen soon but she had a strange reluctance to talk about her sister and I let it drop.

The days with Alena lasted four months before they were cut short. Alena’s mother fell ill and Alena spend all of her time by her side. I still spoke to Alena often but usually hushed conversations of five minutes outside the sick room. I would have been happy to sit with her by her mother’s side but it would have been improper for me, a man not part of the family, to be in a lady’s bedroom for any length of time. I strove to show every solicitude to Alena and her mother. I rode for the doctor whenever he was needed. I Brought Alena food and convinced her to eat. I did my best to distract her father form the worry that was eating his mind. Marcus also spared no expense for her care and went to express his sympathy to Alena almost as often as I.

It was during that time that I developed an odd friendship with Shay. It started when I went to the library one rainy day to find a book. There I found Shay. She had her head in her arms and was sobbing. I had never really liked Shay but seeing her so touched me and she was the sister of the girl I loved. I went to her and begged to know what was the matter.  She only sobbed harder and said something unintelligible about her mother. I told her to stop crying and that her mother was getting better. And she sobbed out that it was not just that, then she looked up and there were tears in her grey eyes.

“She loves Alena. Not me. Never me. And my father too, It’s always all about Alena with them. It’s not her fault of course, she can’t help being beautiful and adored by everyone but that doesn’t make it any better for me.”

I told her that I was sure her parents loved her just as much as they loved Alena but she shook her head.

“I went to her when she first fell ill and all she did while I was there was ask for Alena. Of course Alena would be the better nurse but I wish she could have been, for a half an hour, content with me.”

I had never thought about how Alena’s obvious beauty and favor with everyone would affect her older and much more subdued sister. But I saw that what she said was true. Her parents were always talking about Alena and her accomplishments and I rarely heard them even mention the name of their older daughter. I patted Shay’s arm rather awkwardly and told her she was very beautiful and that things were sure to get better. She smiled at me with tears in her eyes which were the same exact shade of gray as Alena’s but were still so different. Then thanked me and left. After that I would talk to Shay sometimes. She was extremely intelligent and I found that she could be pleasant company. Not that for a moment I thought of exchanging my love of the younger sister for the older. I was I love with Alena, desperately, madly, forever.

Purpleland: Chapter 4

We had been there about a year and a half when we received word that Lord Stephen had grown suddenly and violently ill and was not expected to live. Marcus, of course, had to go back immediately and I insisted on accompanying him. Right before we left Marcus went to speak to his young companion. He came away looking solemn and I got the impression that things had been broken off. For what reason I could not tell but I thought perhaps that it was because it seemed likely that Marcus would soon be lord in place of his father and must either take her as a wife or be apart from her until he was secure in his lands. They were both eighteen, not quite too young to marry but to ask a girl of that age either to leave her entire family or to keep up a connection to someone who could not possibly see her for several years was difficult to say the least. I thought it likely that for these reasons he had broken off their connection or else he had offered to marry her and she had refused.

We did not reach the house in time. Lord Stephan died only a few hours before we reached his side. I was not sure what to feel as a saw the one person who had truly played parent to me white and dead in the bed he had used his whole life. A young man of eighteen is not supposed to show emotion but I have to admit I cried. Marcus did not. Even as a small boy he had inherited his father’s reserve along with his almost white hair. Marcus simply stood by his father’s body with a face like stone and said not a word to anyone.

We buried Lord Stephan with his fathers behind his castle and I stood beside Marcus as they lowered him into the grave. Among the mourners I saw Alena and her family. At first I didn’t recognize her, so great a transformation she had undergone while we were away. She was now sixteen and where she had been mildly pretty when we left she was now absolutely and completely beautiful. She was in the black of mourning and her expression matched the occasion.  But nothing could dampen the radiance of her beauty. I was struck dumb and beside me I saw that Marcus was likewise afflicted. She hugged both of us tightly and told us how sorry she was. Then she on the verge of crying told us how in the end he had never stopped speaking of both of us and how she was sure he loved both of us as any father could love his sons. I thanked her and Marcus just nodded. Then her family joined us.

 Shay had undergone a very different transformation. She was also more beautiful but where Alena was light she was shadow. Not only was her hair dark where her sister’s was light and golden but something about her made me afraid while everything about Alena comforted and reassured. Shay nodded to both of us and expressed her condolences in a voice that was low and almost hypnotic. Their parents express similar sentiments and it did not take Marcus long to convince them all to stay so that Alena’s father could help him put his affairs in order. I was very glad of the chance to be closer to Alena and talked with her the whole way back. She was still the Alena I had known and by the end of the afternoon I was very much in love.

Elgaboth the Kidnapping, Chapter 8

Anna woke early. It had been two days since they had met Angela and things were going as well as could be hoped. Kurt’s ankle was not as swollen as it had been, though he still could not walk without pain. Angela had wrapped his ankle tightly and made something like a crutch for him to lean on. Something about their relations bothered Anna. Kurt was protective of her, asking her not to go out after dark, hobbling along beside her when she went to get water. In fact the only time his depression lifted was when he felt he was helping Angela in some way. There was a clear difference in the way he treated her and Anna and, while Anna did not wish for his attentions, she could not miss what the difference implied.

In Anna’s mind Kurt had always been in love with Lucy. Ever since their third day at Elgaboth, when he had spent all evening in a lively debate with her on all subjects, he had paid her every attention, flowers when she was ill, books when she was bed-bound, long walks around the grounds on good days, reading by the fire on bad. Anna did not want to burden her cousin by asking but she was almost sure that Lucy returned these feelings. She had been conflicted over the situation for a year now. On one hand seeing two people she loved so much find each other was a joy to her. But at the same time Lucy was nowhere near Kurt’s station.  Lord Falcona was much more liberal minded than many of the other lords, but would he consent to his son and heir marrying a commoner? Anna was not sure of Kurt either. Did he even plan to bring this up to his father? Or perhaps he was simply riding the high of his feelings while he was young, meaning to marry well later. She had resolved not to interfere and to trust that Kurt and Lucy would act honorably towards each other. This decision did not preclude a fair amount of significant looks and giggling between herself and Cassie.

This new relationship with Angela, however, made Anna nervous. She was not sure if this was a reflection of his love for Lucy, protecting someone like Lucy being the closest thing to actually keeping Lucy safe, or if Lucy and Angela were both his type and he would take what he could get. For you could not deny that Angela was Like Lucy. The same sweetness forged of suffering, the same care for others. They both had studied how to care for those in pain and both gave without a thought for themselves.

Anna still knew very little about Angela’s background. About all she would say was that her mother was not strong mentally and had been unable to believe that her daughter was pregnant. Nothing would convince her and finally Angela had decided it was best she go. Anna had never been one to ask hard questions and she did not now, believing that Angela would tell her what she needed to. The thought of what to do next weighed on Anna’s mind. She wondered whether it was safe to go back to Elgaboth, assuming they could find it again, but the thought of leaving Angela alone was too terrible to contemplate. Anna Decided they should wait to attempt a return until both Kurt could walk and Angela had recovered from her child’s birth. Kurt agreed with this so the three of them had settled to life in the tiny cottage.

Anna forced herself to leave the warmth of the blanket she and Angela shared. Kurt would need water when he woke and she couldn’t have Angela walking all the way to the stream with Kurt tottering unevenly beside her. She bushed the rotting door aside and stepped out into the brilliance of the day. It blinded her for a few seconds but when her eyes had adjusted she almost dropped the jug in surprise. Straight ahead two boys stood, staring rather awkwardly at the house. The taller one was painfully thin with dark hair and darker eyes. He had a tense, coiled look. The other boy was blond with a large nose set between blue eyes. He looked more anguished than anything else as though some worry was eating him from the inside.

The taller boy sprang into action bowing to Anna and speaking. “Ma’am, could you possibly help us with something? We are looking for a young lady, only a bit younger than yourself. She would have dark hair and green eyes.”

“Why are you looking for this girl?” Anna was suddenly suspicious. She did not know much about Angela’s past but she knew that she had wanted to leave it behind for a reason.

“You see,” said the boy, “She’s my sister.” His voice cracked for a second. “And I have to make sure she is well.”

Anna’s suspicions climbed higher. Angela had spoken of her mother, stepfather, and stepsister, but had never mentioned a brother. She wondered if this was, perhaps, the one who had seduced and betrayed his Angela. “And who is he?” She asked turning to the younger boy.

The older boy shot a hostile look at his companion. “He has a debt to pay.”

          The blond boy squirmed and said softly, “I’ve known Angela since we were children.”

So they were looking for Angela. Anna was unsure of what to do. She could not know if they were enemies until Angela saw them. Unfortunately if they saw Angela there was not much she or Kurt, in his weakened state, could do to defend her.

“Wait here and all get you some water, then we can talk about this girl.”

The boys nodded, though the older one sent her a suspicion glance.

Anna hurried inside and gently shook Angela awake. “There are two people looking for you.”

Angela turned pale and looked as though she wanted to run.

“I want you to look out and tell me what you want me to do.”

Angela nodded weakly and put her eye to a crack in the door. At the sight of the boys she started violently and without a word burst out the door. She threw herself into the arms of the older boy and sobbing clung to him.

“I thought you were dead. I thought your spirit had left the earth. I mourned for you. How are you free? How are you here?” Questions and exclamations meddled into a single train of noise and Angela clung to her brother.

At the sight of Angela the other boy had turned whiter than Anna had thought possible and was looking almost sick. Anna thought he might benefit from someone to talk to so she stepped forward and introduced herself with a “Hi I’m Anna.” She wondered if he was the father dragged along by a vengeful brother and quickly cast him in the role of “seducer and betrayer”.

The potential seducer and betrayer, looking younger than ever, shuffled his feet uncomfortably. Angela was still sobbing uncontrollably into her brother’s shoulder.

“I’m Jack.” He paused. “You have to understand,” he said in an undertone. “Jordan was taken away years ago. She thought… we all thought he had died in a prison camp. And now he’s back like some sort of miracle.”

Anna nodded not fully understanding but not ready to ask anything just then.

Angela finally seemed to remember them. She smiled at Jack, who Anna was beginning to suspect was incapable of either seduction or betrayal. “Good to see you Jack.”

Jack attempted a returning smile but it did not make it to his lips. “I’m glad we found you.” He said softly.

Angela turned to Anna. “Anna meet my brother Jordan.” At the last word she started crying again and hugged him.

Anna reassessed Jordan. Now that she was no longer thinking of him as a potential seducer and betrayer he was quite good looking. There was something too thin and too tense about his tight muscular frame and something too cold in his dark eyes but now that he was with Angela even these flaws had faded slightly. He had a dark mop of wavy black hair and darker skin than his sister. He moved gracefully almost like Cassie. That thought snatched her mind away to the dark chamber she had so studiously avoided. Thoughts of what could be happening to her friends at that very moment.

Jordan nodded coolly towards her. “We will speak later about what brought you here but I thank you that my sister was not alone. My sister and I have much to speak of.” He smiled at her and she shuddered with happiness.

“Of course,” said Anna.

The walked off and sat on a fallen tree together, Angela’s young joyful voice rubbing the edge of bitterness off her brother’s face.

Elgaboth the Kidnapping: Chapter 7

Lianna stared at the bodies. She had killed them without thinking, without even trying. She did not know or care why they had come to take her from the cage but as soon as he opened the bars and grabbed her wrists she had killed him. She could do it again. They had only to touch her and she could descend into the maze again. She knew the way now and she could not forget the tantalizing gleam of her power. The darkness inside her had stirred at the sight of blood and had come fully awake at the taste and smell of death, and the part of her that usually fought the darkness was so numbed that before she knew it the darkness had her. She let out a high pitched laugh and kicked his body from her contemptuously. By then two other guards where there, but they did not come to close. If they had she would have killed both of them. Elwin was crying and babbling questions. The prince in the other cage stared at her like she was some monster of legend. It was then that he came. He stood alone in the grass taking in the dead bodies, and the convulsively sobbing Elwin.

"Lianna. Come here."

His voice held much more intense power than the other commands she had resisted before and she found herself shuffling toward him and she fought the command desperately.

"I will not hurt you."

When she reached him he took firm hold of her wrists. She tried to kill him but this time it did nothing. He tied her wrists with a silver cord and suddenly she was out of the maze, or at least the maze disappeared.

He turned to the men. “You are witnesses that he was told not to approach until I arrived. His blood is on his own head. Get someone to bury him.”

The two men bowed and backed away.

"Follow me," He motioned to Lianna.

She found she could no longer even begin to resist so in a few moments she was in what appeared to be his personal tent.  He turned to regard her with his mismatched eyes.

"Has anyone told you what you are child?"

She just looked at him with her broken blue eyes.

"Do you know why you can do what you just did?"

She continued to stare but this time slowly shook her head.

"Do you know anything about demonspawn?"

Her head came up and she finally spoke "I am not..."

"Yes you are. So am I thanks to my dear mother. You're not first generation. I would say second or third. Do you know any of your grandparents?"

She gave no response, anger making her fierce.

"Well as most of your half siblings are not twins I would venture a guess that it was your father. He died before you were born right?"

She continued in sullen silence.

"And I would venture to guess he was not exactly a kind man."

"What is your point sir?" Her voice was sharp.

"Only that one of your grandparents or perhaps great Grandparents was a demon. You're from Pinkland I suppose. Their demons are quite notorious for interbreeding even if they're bound to the mountains. I take it you're fey. Your sister seems almost normal."

"Leave her out of it."

"As you wish, do you know what fey means?"

"No."

"Well demonspawn are always twins, right up to the fourth generation and one of the twins is always fey. The fey twin is much more affected by the demon heritage. Both the twins will usually have powers but the fey will be much the stronger. Sometimes the fey goes mad, sometimes he or she is born an imbecile. Both twins are usually morally lacking, particularly the fey. It is rare to meet a first generation with any kind of moral conscience. Would you like to hear more?"

"I think you have told me quite enough."

"Very well, I will take you back to the cages and see that you have no other chances of using your new talents on any one, especially your sister."

She whirled to face him, eyes blazing. "You think I would kill my sister?"

"As I said demon spawn are lacking something morally. I know of more cases than I like to think where the fey killed the other."

She turned icy. "Sir, I have no intention of injuring Elwin in anyway. That is the one thing I could never do."

He looked at her quizzically. "Tell me you were never jealous of your parent's preference for her. Tell me you never looked at her and hated her because she had what you didn't."

She was angry again. "You, sir, cannot know anything..."

He cut her off "I can know everything. You are fey she is not your parents, being human will naturally prefer the other just as mine, being demons, will prefer my sister." His eyes soften just a bit and his voice was almost a whisper. "I would not trust myself alone with her had I just discovered I had the power to kill. So I will not trust you alone with your sister. I do not mean this as an insult my lady." He bowed to her and offered her his arm.

Lianna stared at him. "You play the gentleman now?"

He looked her in the eyes with infuriating coolness. "I am attempting to run this operation with as little discomfort to all concerned."

Lianna stared incredulous.

"My lady, consider that no one, excepting the fighting men, has been killed. None of the ladies have been menaced, injuries or defiled. Yes I have burned your school and essentially kidnapped all of you but I ask you: Would you prefer I had refused this command of my mother's? She would have sent someone else. And trust me if she had not of your little friends would have been returned with their lives. And their deaths would not have been easy.” His eyes again softened. "I am well aware my lady that I am no paragon of virtue but I have been so placed that there are few roads left open to me. I have not the benefit of your moral philosophers or your holy orders. I have only my conscience, a sorry thing but one that most first generation demonspawn cannot be said to own.”

She ignored him and he led her back to the cage. This time he placed her not with Elwin but with Jon, the Blueland prince. Neither spoke.

Elgaboth, the Kidnapping: Chapter 6

If they had but known it the procession of prisoners passed with a mile of where Anna and Kurt slept, but by the time either woke their friends were many leagues beyond. Anna woke suddenly to find huge green eyes staring at her. She sat up with a start. About three feet to her left was a girl, very beautiful in an extremely youthful way. Her dark hair cascaded down her back and contrasted with her tan and creamy skin. The large green stared out at Anna. Anna would have guessed was thirteen or fourteen if she had not been very obviously in the latter stages of pregnancy. Anna did not know all the customs of Greyland but she did not believe they gave girls in marriage that young.

“Hello,” she faltered, quailing under the bright green eyes.

 “Hello,” said the girl. “Are you in need of anything?” The mesmerizing green eyes seemed to fill with concern.

Anna sat up slowly. “Yes, I suppose we are. You see…” she stopped, this girl seemed friendly but at the same time Greyland was not on the best of terms with Mixupland and Kurt could be held for quite a ransom if someone took it into their heads to hold him for one. “We lost our way in the dark. Where are we?”

“Greyland, the Quinila province, we are not particularly near any towns or even villages since we are so close to the border. Is there some way I can help you find your way?”

“Well,” said Anna carefully, weighing their need for help against the fact that she knew nothing of this girl. “My brother,” she indicated Kurt, sleeping a few feet away, “hurt his ankle rather badly. I don’t think he can walk for long. Do you know of a place where we can rest for a few days until he can walk?”

“Well,” said the girl. “There are always inns and the like in the towns but the closest one is about half a day’s walk at a good pace.” The girl seemed to ponder something. “If you come with me I will show you a place you can rest not far from here.”

“Thank you.” Anna a slight lessening of the pressure that had followed through her veins since the sound of screams had disturbed her sleep. “My name is Anna, what’s yours?”

“Angela,” Said the girl.

Anna put her palms out in a gesture of friendship. “I am glad to know you Angela.”

She knelt down and gently woke Kurt. He woke to pain and tried to push her away but eventually Anna had him sitting up. She introduced him to Angela as her brother. His first name was so common that she did not think it would hurt to use his real name. Kurt’s mood seemed to lighten with Angela’s acquaintance. Between them they helped Kurt to get up. Then he leaned heavily on Anna as Angela led him through the forest. They came to a small hut covered over in ivy. Angela opened the door to reveal a dark room with several pots and pans, a heap of blankets and a small fireplace. Herbs hung from the ceiling in profusion. Anna helped Kurt over to the blankets where he gingerly lowered himself to the ground.

“Can I see your ankle?” asked Angela kneeling beside him.

Kurt nodded wearily; the walk had taken a lot out of him. She carefully rolled up his pant leg.   

“We are going to have to get your boot off.” She said looking at it hard.

The idea seemed to sap Kurt’s remaining strength. He lay down with an arm over his eyes. Angela gave the boot a few experimental tugs, then, suddenly, yanked it off his foot. Kurt sat up and released several choice words which belied Lady Falcona’s careful upbringing. Angela jumped back looking a bit scared. Anna had no such scruples.

“Oh lie back Kurt. That was the only way to get it off.”

Kurt snorted but lay back obediently.

“Do you think it’s broken?” asked Anna as Angela knelt to examine the ankle more closely.

“How long ago did this happen?”  She looked from Anna to Kurt.

“Last night,” Said Kurt. “I jumped out of a window and landed on it wrong.”

“How did it feel then? Could you move or walk it at all?”

“Oh I could walk, even sort-of run, at first.”

“Then it’s not broken. The bone might be chipped but the immobility is caused by the swelling, not the other way round.”

“Great news.” Said Kurt, there was a hard edge to his voice. “Maybe I won’t be utterly useless.”

“Can we do anything?” Said Anna wishing she had paid more attention to her grandmother’s vast medical knowledge. It was odd to realized how much she and Lucy relied on each other. Never having a strong interest in anything medical she had always had Lucy to remind her of the name of that obscure plant that relived headaches or the way to correctly treat a broken bone. She forcefully pushed back thoughts of Lucy and the ways Lucy had relied on her.

Angela picked an herb from the ceiling. “This will ease the pain if he chews it. This,” she said pointing to another white colored leaf, “will make him sleep if the pain is too bad. But do not use it often.”

“Thank you,” said Anna. “Do you live near here? I don’t mean to force you to help us, but if you could check in on him or something. I just have no idea what I’m doing.”

Angela blinked her huge eyes. “I will be here.”

“What do you mean?” Asked Anna, confused.

“This is where I have been living. I was with the gypsies but they had to go to their gathering and outsiders aren’t allowed. They took me there because it’s so far from everyone they said I’d be safe.”

“You’re all alone?”

Angela nodded.

“But what if… “ Anna was in the awkward positon of not want to assume that her new friend was with child and wanting to know how she planned to deliver alone.

Angela seemed to understand. “In gypsy culture babies are birthed alone. They told me what to do if the pains start but they wouldn’t have helped even if I was with them.”

“Forgive me if this seems impertinent, but do you have no family?”

“I lived with my Mother and step-father, but I couldn’t stay there. It… it wasn’t working.”

“Angela, how old are you?”

“Almost fourteen.”

Something shifted in Anna’s brain. Up til now she had been thinking of Angela as an adult helping Kurt and herself who were still nearly children. She realized now that Angela was almost two years younger than her, essentially homeless, with no one to care for her. She determined then and there that, at the very least, she would see that Angela had someone with her when the baby came. “Do you know when?”

“I would expect in a week or two it was eight and a half months ago.” The last sentence was hesitating.

Kurt interrupted them from the corner. “So are we going to do anything about what happened?”

Anna turned to look at him. “I don’t see what we can do. Even if we could get back to Mixupland the authorities must know now and what would we do beside alert them.”

“I see.” The hard edge was back in his voice.

Anna didn’t feel that further talk would help him any. She reminded herself again that he was simply afraid for Lucy and Cassie, but that just brought back her own fears about her friends. Angela looked back and forth between them.

“Angela, why don’t you show me where we can get water.”

The pair went outside and began walking toward the sound of running water. 

“You have to forgive Kurt.” Said Anna, “Several friends of ours are in danger and he wishes there was something he could do.”

“That’s alright,” said Angela looking at the ground.

“So is there no where you can go to have the baby? It will be dangerous for both you and the child if you have it out here.

Angela shook her head. “Nowhere…” she hesitated. “There is one place, but I don’t know where it is or I don’t know where they are. Now, there’s nowhere I can get to.”

“Alright, we’ll do our best.”

When they returned Kurt was in the same position as when they left. His eyes were closed but Anna could tell by the way he held his head that he was awake.

“Kurt, put your foot up.” For a second Anna had needed to see him move, to be sure he wasn’t leaving her there alone.

Kurt made a no-too-friendly grunt and moved his foot onto the small stool.

Anna spent the rest of the day learning about how and where to find food. When she finally allowed herself to rest her mind was weighed down by the responsibility she now felt for Angela and Kurt. Whenever she was able to forget this for a time, her own fears would creep in upon her and she would wonder if Lucy needed her to care during one of her attacks or if her friends were even still alive. After being woken several times by Kurt crying out she finally fell into a fitful slumber.

Purpleland: Chapter 3

Those times, as good as they were could not last. In the fall of my sixteenth year I received word that my father was ill and needed me. I persuaded Lord Stephan that Marcus must come with me and the two of us set off on what seemed to us at the time as a grand adventure. I had not been back since I was eight and the large capital city, not to mention the palace, seemed to me irresistible romantic. Marcus, though glad to go with me, was, as in everything, more restrained in his excitement.

The Palace was a disappointment. It was bigger than Lord Stephan’s home and there were more servants and it did have a ball room that was often used by many sparkling people. But I could see no real improvement to Lord Stephan’s tidy keep and the sparkling people gave me no real pleasure for Lord Stephan had warned me before I left that all of them would want something from me and I found that to be only too true.

The City on the other hand did not disappoint. Many days Marcus and I would but on the clothes of the sons of wealthy merchants and wander the streets. It seemed to me that every tale I had ever heard came alive there and anything could be bought for the right price, spices, tea, drink, women. The last Marcus would not touch but I am ashamed to say I had my share, they were all around and I was curious lad in my sixteenth year with all the passions of a hot blooded family.

 Of course Marcus was not completely free of dalliance. We had not been there a year when he began to court a young girl of our age. She was a noble woman from the south and he found her pretty and lively and I had to admit than she did not lack beauty. Her auburn hair was cut fairly short and her green eyes held youth and vigor. Her father was not particularly wealthy or particularly powerful but he was secure in his holdings and hoped to become more secure by marrying his two daughters above their station. Her family encouraged Marcus as his father was no minor lord and as she was a noble woman Marcus felt no apprehension that she would be ill received by his father.

But I had not come to court girls or to wander the market place. I had come because my father had called. He had grown older, had shrunk with a disease that was eating him from the inside out, but I only vaguely realized this as before I left my father was essentially a stranger to me. The years had only widened that gap. I had left a spoiled child, I returned a high spirited youth. He seemed to repent of his earlier neglect of me but it came too late. I would visit him daily and speak to him on whatever subject he chose but my mind was all the time looking forward to the moment when he would dismiss me with a wave of his liver spotted hand. I regret not knowing him, and though the fault was for the most part his, I wish that then I had really learned to love him. I missed out on knowing both my father and my son and that I regret with everything in me.

Taken By the Wind: Chapter 2

                Jehu awoke with a start. Looking around, he saw he was in a clearing surrounded by luscious orange trees. He noticed his friends Emily, Charles, David, and Wallace were already awake and helping themselves to a breakfast of stale bread and oranges. He wondered what they were all doing, then it struck him: He was kidnapped.

            Wallace, noticing Jehu was awake, handed him an orange and a piece of bread. The look on Wallace's face was as somber as he'd ever seen the jocular fellow. Wallace was a good-natured lad from the highlands of Greenland. Wallace was massively built with arms that were like tree trunks. His broad shoulders and sturdy legs were complemented by a mop of flaming red hair atop his brow and a slight beard across his chin.

            "Eat up" said Wallace, "You are going to need it"

       

Once Jehu devoured his breakfast he took stock of his surroundings. He noticed eight hooded men on the outskirts of the clearing. A scouting party had returned and the eight men were joined by two more. They ran into the clearing and gruffly got everyone moving. They were joined by five more men, the men totaled at fifteen. They marched for days, keeping a quick pace, the hooded men were getting anxious. Jehu knew they were headed for Velquins Bridge that spans Bortroses rift. The only passage into Talmesh from this forest for three hundred leagues. Bortroses rift was a natural border between Talmesh and Orange land. Once they get past that bridge there was no hope of ever returning safely.

Jehu saw the bridge and his heart sank. There was nothing that could be done. They were lost to the Talmeshese.

Thwack!

Three orange feathered arrows sprung into three of the warrior’s chests as they crumpled to the forest floor. Jehu acted quickly, he grabbed a knife from the nearest fallen warrior and began to cut away at his restraints. The other warriors were soon in combat with a border patrol of Orangelandese infantry. Jehu hastily cut away his restraints and set to work on Wallace's. The Patrol soon became overwhelmed, although they outnumbered the warriors these hooded figures were incredible warriors. Soon of the 18 Orangelandese soldiers only 2 remained. Jehu and Wallace now free from their restraints, ran. They didn't make it far before they were chased down by the hooded figures on horseback. The warriors retied their restraints and added the other two soldiers, five of the warriors had died and they threw their bodies into the abyss. They left the rest of the Patrol to be fed on by Carrion.

Jehu began his forced march across the small bridge and into captivity. They had passed into Talmesh.

Elgaboth, the Kidnapping: Chapter 5

The procession of prisoners stopped in the late afternoon. They had crossed the Greyland border during the night and driven the prisoners west all day. Lucy’s legs ached and her knee was agony. She could ride, and ride well, for an hour or even more but she was not nearly strong enough for this.

When the man called a halt she felt near fainting. She nearly did faint when the man chivalrous helped her down from her horse and her foot hit the ground. The pain that snaked its way up her leg and agonized her knee. The man, without comment, without so much as looking at her picked up Lucy, and carried her like a child to the base of a large tree. After a few sharp commands she was brought water which she drank gladly. She could see the other girls drinking as well. Most were crying, some were almost asleep already but none seemed to be suffering from more than the long day of forced marching. The place they had stopped would have been pleasant had it not been for the lack of any color on the long barren plains land. Tree sprung up every few feet and would have been inviting if they had not been so exactly spaced. The whole country had the feel of something not quite right.

        “Tell me about your attacks.” The man’s voice broke into Lucy’s reverie.

“What?”

“Your attacks of pain, how often they occur, when you last had one, what you do to ease the pain.”

          She continued to stare at him blankly.

          “I need to have this information in case you fall ill on the road.”

          Finally she seemed to understand. “They come about twenty times a year, though not evenly, usually clustered with a few spaced out. They can last anywhere from a few hours to two days. They used to be longer. Sometimes applying heat and cold alternatively can relive some of the pain.” She stopped.

          “And your last one?”

          “Two weeks ago and it lasted six hours.”

          He nodded. “Can you tell when they are coming?”

          “No,” Her pale blue eyes were hard.

          “Why were you there?”

          Lucy took a breath. “I would prefer not to speak of it.” She had no idea where Judy had been that May morning when the cursed sickness first took shape, but more lies would only trap her later.

          He laughed in a distant hollow way. “Sleep then and dream of kinder days.” He walked off toward the cages where some tall men with grey hair and stiff uniforms had appeared. Lucy guessed that they were Greyland troops and her heart leapt. Greyland was, at least in theory, allied with Mixupland. But it sunk again when she saw the greeting was cordial. The guards inspected the prisoners and left with three boys and two girls. They kept pointing at other of the female prisoners but the man shook his head. Lucy knew one of the girls vaguely as a Greyland Earl’s daughter and surmised that they were handing over the Greylandese prisoners in exchange for safe passage. By then she was asleep; dreaming of color and of cold.

Elgaboth, the Kidnapping: Chapter 4

Alexander had never ridden so hard in his life. There had never been such a need. His daughters, the ones he had protected all their short lives, the twins he had sworn to love and protect on his wedding day and the daughter who, ever since her big blue eyes had met his, had held his heart in the palm of her hand.

He and his wife had been alone together in the garden of his summer home when the first messenger arrived. The next had appeared while the first was still speaking. They both reported a loss of communication with outposts and Alexander realized with a growing sickness that they were the two closest to Elgaboth. There was only to gather as many men as he could spare without compromising the security of the remainder of his family and then to ride. They had come to the first outpost late in the evening and found it burned to the ground with several soldiers dead around it. They had rested the horses for an hour and covered the bodies then rode on through the night.

Orion rode beside Alexander. They had been friends since childhood and had ridden together often. Orion’s dark face mirrored the crown prince’s scowl. He had no blood relatives at the school, had no close relatives at all , but his wife’s sister and brother were there and having no family of his own they were doubly important to him.

As the light of day began to creep across the wooded path they traveled the mist seemed to cling to trees around them. For Alexander and Orion their personal fears were not the only thing tormenting them. The political consequences of an attack on Elgaboth were likely to be war.

Suddenly two figures appeared on the road waving frantically. It took about a minute until recognition dawned and Alexander pulled his horse up short, dismounted and gathered Judy into his arms. Beside her, pale and stone faced was John.

Judy sobbed out disjointed sentences into her father’s shoulder. Orion called a halt and the men began taking wat rest they could while Alexander and Orion questioned the two escapees.

“Are you alright?”

She nodded quickly, “But they took everyone else and Lucy and Cassie were taken and who knows what he is doing to them and Kurt and Anna were behind the wall.”

Orion cut off the flow of words. “Kurt? What happened to him?”

John stepped forward for the first time, “Kurt was with us when we escaped but he was injured and couldn’t get over the wall. Anna wouldn’t leave him.” John’s voice betrayed his shame.

Orion sighed heavily.

“Anna?” Alexander looked at his daughter again. “Your maid?”

She nodded. “Cassie and Lucy were taken first. We locked our door and they hadn’t been able to break it down yet when John and Kurt came to get us out.”

“So Cassie was taken?”

Judy nodded again.

“Did you see Elwin and Lianna?”

Judy shook her head.

Alexander nodded then looked straight at his daughter. “It will be alright.”

“It can’t be. He took everyone…”

“It will be alright.” They looked at each other for a few moments. When they had finished Alexander picked up his daughter and placed her on his horse.

“Your mother is west from here.” He motioned to a lieutenant. “Take your company and see my daughter safely home. Then follow me to Elgaboth.”

He returned a little later and focused on John. “Now I need you to tell me exactly what happened.”

John told him all about the attack on the school, and the escape, sparing no detail he remembered.

“How did you find us?” put in Orion after he had finished.

“I knew there was an outpost down this road so we traveled in the woods along the side of the road and prayed that they hadn’t taken the outpost before Elgaboth.”

Orion nodded.

“Who is your father?” Asked Alexander.

 “Lord Falion of Purpleland.”

“I will arrange for an escort to his estate.”

“Your majesty, I want to ride with you.”

“Your father will be worried.”

“He will not be.”

“And your other family?”

“There is only a sister and she will not have heard.”

“How old are you?”

“Sixteen.”

Alexander looked at Orion. “When I was sixteen…”

“When you were sixteen the world might have been destroyed and you wouldn’t have noticed but you can’t judge everyone by that.”

“Sir, I had to leave friends behind at Elgaboth.”

“Alright,” Alexander looked at John again. “You can ride in the back.”

John bowed. “Thank you sir.”

After he had left Alexander turned to Orion. “I wish Kurt had gotten out with them.”

Orion nodded. “I’m more concerned about Cassie, you know what they are.”

Alexander’s face was hard as flint.

Orion realized his mistake and apologized. “Sander I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking about them.”

“We’ll get them back, all of them, or this country will be caught in a war we will never see the end of.”

Selena, Princess of Greyland

Angela of Greyland

Elgaboth, the Kidnapping: Chapter 3

Once she knew Judy and John were gone Anna grabbed Kurt’s arms and began to drag him farther into the woods. She could not see any likely hiding places but she kept on dragging her friend with the determination of one whose hope will stubbornly live on without reason. This time, however, Anna’s unreasoning hope did not betray her. As she stepped backward there came a sinking under her. Anna had discovered one of the many secrets of Elgaboth, though this one was an accident.

Long ago in Greyland there lived a weaver. He was not poor nor was he rich. He lived alone because his wife had died but his children and grandchildren visited often and he did not long for more company.

Now in Greyland there was a law that all redheads belonged to the king. Every time a redhead was born they were officially recorded and every year their parents received a visit on the child’s birthday. If the child’s hair was still red the child was taken.

This particular weaver had a granddaughter who was so condemned. As her first birthday approached everyone prayed and hoped that her hair would change, but day after day each strand of her beautiful rose-colored hair remained.

A month before her birthday her grandfather began the tunnel which Anna had just discovered and two days before the young girl’s birthday she and her grandfather were absorbed by the ruin that was Elgaboth. Just as forty years later the authoritarian country of Greyland absorbed two refugees of the burning fortress, Elgaboth.

Anna was able to pull Kurt’s inert form through the tunnel and cover it again with branches. Long after the soldiers had combed the woods, after they had bound the instructors, and after they had marched a caravan full of princes, lordlings, and the loved daughters of half the kings on the continent. After all these things Anna again found the courage to move. She did not, could not, know that the dark men she so feared had no intention of staying more than a moment longer then he had to in Elgaboth. She did not, could not, know that this was not an invasion but a hostage exchange. So as it was the idea of going back held to much terror for her to contemplate.

In History lectures they had learned a little of the history of Greyland. When the founders had come to the continent a thousand and some years ago it had been the only country that would not take one of that race for king and hence the demons were not bound there. The kings of that country set out to stamp out the demons and their spawn. With great and terrible magic their sorcerers banished color from the grass, the sky, even the dirt was grey in that land. Somehow this did manage to hold the demons at bay but not their children. Demonspawn wreaked havoc in the lad even centuries after color was banished. This led to the kings taking even more drastic actions. It began with the twins. Everyone knows that the children of demons are always twins down to the fifth or sixth generation and they decided that the only way to ensure peace in the land was to keep all twins under guard. This also solved the problem of Labor in to build the great cities they had planned. The people were too terrified of the demons and the violence of their descendants to protest when a small fraction of their children were taken to do the king’s work.

This policy seemed to work for a period of about fifty years. The capital city of Greyland was built, people enjoyed more peace than they had known before. But because of that peace mothers began to question why it was that they had to give up their children to a king who really had no business making slaves out of his own people. People stopped reporting their twins. They would hide one for a year and say they were nine months apart. Some would be sent off to relatives and passed as another’s child. It was one of these who changed Greyland forever.

Al Keder was a twin sent to live with his great aunt. She was old and senile but many said she had been a witch. Whether that is true or not under her lackluster car Al Keder grew up to be a man known for his cruelty. He was known to torture animals and no one in the town had ever heard him utter one word of kindness or even civility. When he was seventeen they drove him out of town with curses and blows. That seemed to put the final touch on his madness. He used the dark powers inside him to destroy the village. If you go there today there is only a scorch mark about a mile wide where the town once was. But he was not finished.

He traveled to the king’s summer home where the king’s favorite daughter was residing while she waited to be married to one of the Lords. There he smashed his way through the guards, took the princess and murdered her in cold blood.

He was finally caught, laughing to himself in a pool of her blood. The king was devastated. He had Al Kader slowly tortured to death and he himself struck the death blow. Then he did something extreme. Al Kadar had been a redhead, so had several well-known demonspawn and it was known that the demons of that area when they appeared to men had flames on their heads. The king ordered all redheads rounded up and put in work camps. Those who could not work were to be killed.

Now to issue a decree that applies only to future children is on thing but to actually round up, neighbors, friends, and relatives of your citizens is another. Most were too horrified by recent events to protest but a group of rebels fought the king’s troops.  They fought bravely but were badly defeated. The remnant of that army fled into the mountains with their families.

After the rebellion the king grew even more bitter. He issued more decrees banning anyone from owning anything of color. Over time people began regarding color itself as the enemy. Children with green or blue eyes were looked on as suspicious and women were forced to cover their hair and sometimes their faces to avoid showing color.

So when Anna, a twin, found herself lying on grey grass in a country suspicious of everything she was in no little danger. Fortunately she was wearing her white nightgown and nothing colorful. Neither was Kurt as his clothing of choice that night had been black.

There was nothing she felt she could do. Dragging Kurt farther would be extremely difficult and she had no idea where they would go. She decided to wait until he woke up and fell into an exhausted sleep with her hand on his arm so she would wake if he did. Many hours passed in that colorless land before either stirred.

Greenland Map

Greyland Map

Elgaboth, the Kidnapping: Chapter 2

Lucy sat perfectly still in the group of prisoners. She did not understand why everyone else seemed to suddenly be struggling with all their might to simply breathe; she felt nothing. She reached over to do what she could for Cassie who was on her knees gasping for breath. The guards were similarly struck dumb but they at least seemed to be able to breathe. She looked up. The man with the white-blond hair stood over them. His piercing mismatched eyes searched the ranks of assembled prisoners. They lighted on Lianna and Elwin, Judy's half-sisters. They were Identifiable not just by the fact that they were identical but by their hair. When Judy, who shared a name with her daughter, left Pinkland she had not left all its traditions behind, at least with her oldest daughters. Their pale blond hair had never been cut and now Lianna's single braid fell past her knees and Elwin's lose hair hit the ground.

The man grabbed Elwin by the hair and dragged her forward. "I want your sister, I want Judy. Now Judy will step forward or her sister will be the one who suffers." He began to hack away at Elwin's hair; the pale strands fell all around her. "Next it will be her fingers."

Lianna stood. She showed no sign of the paralysis that gripped everyone else. Her pale hair glinted in the moonlight, and her face, so like Elwin's but so different, was set.

"You should know better than to play with the daughters of the North." Lianna's voice and her eyes were filled with ice and darkness. It seemed to Lucy that black mist began to surround Judy's half-sister.

The man looked straight at her but she did not even flinch. His eyes widened then be began to smile.

"Does your mother know about this I wonder? If so she must never have told you."

He stepped back and signaled to two of his men. One of them slammed his spear butt towards Lianna's head. She Cried out in a voice not her own and fire surrounded her. The other soldier came at her from behind and a dark something flew from her had toward him. “ENOUGH,” The mans voice was much more powerful this time and he made an odd gesture with his hands toward Lianna. She cried out again and the fire around her went out as she fell unconscious towards the ground. One of the soldiers caught her as she fell. The black mist seemed to cling to Lianna and the men holding her.

Something exploded from the back of the crowd. The twin blueland princes and a few other boys had taken advantage of the man’s distraction and thrown themselves at the nearest guards. “HALT,” The powerful voice came again and almost all the boys froze and were easily over powered. All except Jon. He continued to wrestle unabated with the guard he had selected. The man looked startled  and flicked his head towards Jon but Jon was ready and he spun around and smashed both his fists into the lackey who was trying to knock him out. The silver bracers around his wrists seemed to change in the air and cover his hands like gloves. The man with the spear fell boneless to the ground. The man did not this time try to use magic. He nodded at several more soldiers and soon Jon was brought down by force of numbers.

“To the cages and make sure he had no opportunity of escaping.”

The man grabbed Elwin by the arm. “What I said still stands. Give me Judy or I take her fingers.”

Someone had to step forward thought Lucy. But Judy wasn’t here. Then a thought struck her. She and Judy were about the same size and if he truly didn’t know what Judy looked like he might take her white blond hair for Judy’s golden-blond braid and her pale blue eyes for Judy’s dark blue ones. She didn’t let herself think about anything but the knife over Elwin’s fingers as she stood.

“I am Judy, Princess of this land and I ask you why you have invaded this neutral ground.”

The man turned slowly toward her and smiled. “Now we are getting somewhere.” He motioned toward the two men holding Lianna. “Take that and the double to the cages. And I want you to take off your clothes and burn them. I also don’t want anyone going near either one. Is that clear?” The men nodded and hurried away.

“Why are you taking my sisters away?” Lucy did not flinch under his gaze.

“What are you girl?” he said almost to himself.

“I am a princess and it would behoove you to remember that. I asked you a question.” Lucy did not know where the words came from but somehow the reserve that kepter her so quiet most of the time was gone.

“Well you see little princess, your mother’s first husband had a dirty little secret, I would guess about his mother. And that renders it important that they be kept safe. They will not be unduly harmed.”

“Know this fiend; any harm to them will incur a blood debt far beyond your ability to pay.”

Her light blue eyes met his mismatched ones and they held each other for a long moment.

“After tonight there will be enough blood to go around,” said the man. “Come, we have wasted enough time.” He strode forward, took Lucy’s wrist in his powerful hand and motioned to his men. Thick ropes were brought out and laced around wrists and necks until the entire school was strung out across the courtyard in two long lines. The teachers and remaining guards were tied hand and foot and carried into the teacher’s hall.

“What will happen to them?” Lucy asked.

“They will be left for your families to find.”

He stepped forward dragging her along behind him. Her foot hit a root in the dark and pain shot through her knee so intensely that she could not breathe for a moment. He turned in annoyance.

“What is it?”

“My knee,” Lucy gasped when she could speak. There was no point hiding what he would find out as soon as they began moving.

He made a grunt of annoyance and lifted he petty coat. She noticed that he placed his body between her and his men. Once her leg was exposed the ugly metal brace which had entombed her fragile leg since childhood and had followed her every step like an unwanted dog eager for a master.

He met her eyes again. “A cripple?” and recovered her leg.

She met his eyes. “To family, yes. To marriageable men I am whole and unblemished.”

“And how pray tell did a princess lose use of her knee.”

“Doubtless you know of the Arnes Caren sickness.”

He nodded but showed no sign that he knew, as everyone did, that Arnes Caren was the Opus Magnus of the dark magicians of his country. That it had been unleashed on a small outpost of Mixupland soldiers and had quickly gotten out of hand infecting more than half of the population in a one hundred mile radius. It would have spread further had not the Toram, a secret brotherhood dedicated to the study and cure of disease quarantined the area.

“I was five years old,” Said Lucy, reverting to the truth. “Do you even understand the atrocities your country has committed?”

He did not answer her but straightened up, seeing that his men had finished with the prisoners. “We move out now.” He looked back at Lucy. “Can you ride, your highness?”

She nodded stone-faced.

He took the bridle of a large black horse which had just appeared behind him. He lifted Lucy easily onto the horse and led them forward. The men had been waiting for such a sign and began to prod the lines of prisoners into motion. She caught sight of Lianna, Elwin and Jon looking no worse than before in cages on a cart. She searched desperately with her eyes for Kurt or Anna but could see neither. She did find and hold Cassandaline’s eyes for a long moment before she was prodded onward by spear butts.

The procession set off at a surprisingly fast pace with Lucy at their head. A jolt of pain snaked its way up her leg with every motion of the horse.