Purpleland: Chapter 23

John woke me. Shook me out of what I had thought was death. Death comes quickly though, probably tonight, and this visit from John is the last one. I end my confession here. This has been the story of a lover not a hero, of a foolish man, not a king. Do not think this is all I was, but know that I told this only to you. The rest of my story you can read about in any record book. How I ended the Westeroth rebellion, how I avoided war on more than on occasion. But I give this part of me to you because it is the only thing I can give only to you. Do with it what you will. It is the last an only thing I have been able to give you.

The End                

Purpleland: Chapter 22

She comes in; the shadows cling to her like dead leaves.

“Do you honor me now? Now that I have taken your kingdom from you? Now that everything that was yours is mine?” She stands triumphantly, like a warrior after a long campaign.

I look at her through my hollow eyes. There is nothing to say, nothing even to beg for.

“I have made you pay for preferring Alena, haven’t I? You and Marcus both, shells of what you could have been. Alena’s daughter a virtual prisoner and her son… Oh I have plans for her son.”

There is still nothing to do or to say.

She smiles now. “It is so funny to remember that you thought I would be content to play second fiddle to a dead woman.”

Still I do not move or speak.

She seems annoyed by my lack of reaction. “I killed her you know. It was easy, like blowing out a candle.”

I still do not respond. This something I had guessed long ago when the terrors of the night first began to show their faces as that of my wife.

“You are not surprised by that.” She says. “You knew I hated her. But this will surprise you. I killed your first wife.”

This does shock me. I had never connected Aria’s death with Shay.

She smiles again. “I’ve waited so long to tell you. You see it was quite clever really. When she visited Marcus and Alena I knew right away who she was. I knew that if I wanted to be your queen I would have to get rid of her somehow or other. So I gave her a bottle of wine. I knew you wouldn’t touch anything from Marcus but I thought that she perhaps would. The Wench took her sweet time about tasting it but when she did it worked like a charm.”

I remember the wine and pray that she truly does not know why Aria waited so many months to take it.

She is getting ready to leave. “Die then, knowing what I have done to you, knowing everything you have worked for is meaningless, knowing that your line ends.” That sentence gives me more hope than anything. “Know that I played you from the beginning. That no matter how beautiful or kind Alena was, no matter how strong and good you and Marcus were.” She leans forward until her face is inches away from mine. For some reason I think of that night we spend together so many ages ago. “I have won. I convinced Marcus not to tell you that he and Alena were engaged. I ripped up the letter telling them you were coming. I convinced you to continue your feud with Marcus after Alena’s death. I killed my husband so I would be free to be queen. I killed Alena because she outshone me from childhood and because it was the only way I could get you to marry me. I convinced you I was pregnant by you when the child I later killed was mine by one of my servants.  I killed every child you planted in me because I do not share power. I killed your wife because she was in my way and I am killing you for the very same reason. I have won and you and Marcus and Alena have lost.” She smiles again. “I could not send you to your grave without you ever knowing that Shay, who you avoided, disregarded and finally took as a consolation prize is better than any of you.” She moves her hand to cover my eyes almost gently. “Sleep now Kail. Die childless and heirless and utterly defeated.”

I close my eyes and feel myself slipping away.

Purpleland: Chapter 21

It was during one of my rest bits that I saw you. You will doubtless remember your family’s visit to court in midsummer. Probably you remember seeing me as well. What you could not have realized was that of the hundreds of great men and women present I cared only to see you.

I could not let your family leave the court without speaking to you. Fortunately Shay was away at the time and I invited your family to a private dinner, ostensibly to thank your father for his service in the Westeroth rebellion.  You know what I saw at that dinner. A scene, which, I am sure, was only a small taste of what you suffered at the hands of your aunt. When I gave you away I thought it was for the best. I thought… I imagined… Well, none of that matters now. What I saw of your aunt that night shattered all my illusions about the situation I had left you in.

At the same time I was proud of you. You never argued or repaid your aunt’s treatment in kind but I saw the fire in your eyes and knew that she had not broken you. The little you were allowed to say was full of good sense and I was certain that you were a son I would never need to be ashamed of.

I called for your Uncle the next day, furious that he had allowed his wife to treat you with such contempt. I met with a guilt-ridden and overwhelmed man, who, despite his kindness and battle-field valor, was no match for his overbearing wife. From the very beginning she had resented you and, having never liked Aria and assuming that you were illegitimate, she let all of her anger and frustrations out on you. Your uncle begged me to take you, but at that point it was impossible. Shay had gained so much power already and my health was failing fast.

               Perhaps I should have brought you to court as a squire or arranged for some family in the capital to foster you. We could have had at least had some kind of relationship. But I feared even that proximity to Shay and, in the end, I paid for you to attend school far away from both your Aunt and my wife. At Elgaboth I hoped you would find safety, happiness, and training worthy of a king. And, from what John tells me, I believe you did.   

It was not long after that, not long at all, when I became bedridden. I finally opened my eyes, far too late, to what my wife was, and what she was doing to me. I tried, far too late, to exert my authority so that she would never rule. I called, far too late, on every alliance, in the hope that someone could stop her. No one could even get through to talk to me.

Finally when I felt death approaching, when desperation seized hold of me, when there was nothing else left, I had Roland take a secret message to Marcus. And Marcus, who I had not spoken to in almost twenty years, sent his only son. I hear him pacing as I write this. He says he can visit only once more. It will not be long now. Shay has enough support to be queen in her own right. She does not need me and whatever poison she has been using for all these years has left very little of me to kill.