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ENCHANTED BEAUTY
By
Marly Mathews
© copyright by Marly Mathews, August 2008
Cover Art by Alex DeShanks, August 2008
ISBN 978-1-60394-218-8
New Concepts Publishing
Lake Park, GA 31636
www.newconceptspublishing.com
This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.
The Enchanted Kingdom of Thaliana
Chapter One
“Annabelle, you must come quickly! Your father has done it again … he’s determined to ride up to The Beast’s castle.”
“He isn’t a beast. He’s just a war torn lord that prefers to live life in seclusion. With the many bloody battles our lands have seen since the Queen went to war with her husband, it is a very wonder that we have any males left with a sensible head on their shoulders. Too many have ridden off to battle never to return.” Sighing, she stirred the lamb stew she was cooking over the hearth. Tonight’s stew wouldn’t be very filling, but it at least it was food. That was more than she could say for many of her neighbors. Now that so many provisions had been sent to the front lines to the troops, many people were almost dying with hunger. They just couldn’t go on at this rate. Their crops had been burned the year before by the invading army, and though they had driven their enemy away, they still had to fight for every single day of freedom as if it were their last. “You know perfectly well that he almost lost his life in the last great battle between the magic kind. He was lucky to escape with his life … that dark sorcerer could have easily killed him, had his sister not saved his life.”
“Some say he was the one that saved his sister’s life.”
“Some might say that. But I daresay his sister views it much differently. She sacrificed herself to that madman Oliver Blackburn because she believed it was the only way to save her brother from a most horrible fate. You forget I heard it straight from a witness.” Glynnis nodded her head in silent triumph.
“You forget that Lady Eleanor has a habit of telling tall tales especially when it comes to her service in the Queen’s Legion of Warriors. We shouldn’t even be pitted against each other like this. It is insanity. Our kingdom was once so peaceful.” Annabelle didn’t believe Eleanor’s story at all. Glynnis’ lament didn’t affect her one bit. Her cousin was to put it delicately, battle shy. She hadn’t offered her services to the Queen at all. Annabelle had signed up for the Queen’s Legion of Warriors as soon as the call for fighters had been put out. Unfortunately for her, she had been rejected because of her physical handicap. Many believed her to be a liability on the battlefield, if only they knew how quickly she could move despite her so-called disability. She’d been stricken half-blind two years before when a spell she’d been concocting backfired in her face.
Some believed her sight would return … others believed she deserved her partial blindness as a punishment for dabbling into the unknown world of magic. Only people ‘gifted’ with the sign of magic could be instructed in the enchanted ways. When she’d been born, she had lacked the necessary star birthmark that all of the witches and wizards of the land carried on their body in some location.
“So peaceful, my arse. We have been torn apart for as long as I can recall. Ever since the Queen was forced to marry that thing she had to call, husband. I feel deeply for her … her suffering must have been great. And, when he named himself King of Thaliana, he took all of her power and put her in the tower. She would have withered away there had her subjects not stormed the tower and freed her. Indeed, we have acted in the only way loyal subjects should behave. King Roland can go back to the lands of his birth and live out his last dark days there. We don’t need his type here in our beautiful lands anymore. They cast their shadowy magic across our lands and we are rewarded with hunger, death and suffering,” Annabelle pointed out.
“Yes, yes, I know your viewpoint and your belief that this war is a just one … but I really think you should be giving more concern to your poor father. He’s gone up there to stick his nose into the beast’s lair. He believes that Lord Markham harbors something that could cure your ailment.”
“It is not an ailment. It is an injury sustained from a terrible accident. I shouldn’t have been toying with that healing potion … I certainly learned my lesson to leave the mystical ways to the chosen ones. Look at the hand the Fates dealt me. They surely must have been laughing.” Annabelle heaved a heavy sigh. She gazed at the hazy outline of her cousin. Her vision was blurred so badly that she could only usually make out fuzzy shapes and colors. If the person were standing too far away from her, she wouldn’t be able to see them at all.
“Annabelle, you should go up there … with your lyrical tongue I’m sure you could convince his lordship to release your father.”
Annabelle stepped closer to her cousin. “What are you talking about, Glynnis? You must be out of your mind … you just said that father was traipsing up to the castle, why would he need to be released?”
“Because … well, you see .…”
Dawning clarity filtered through Annabelle’s mind. She chewed her lower lip. “Glynnis, you wouldn’t happen to be leaving out some very important details would you? As in pertinent information that would definitely cast some light into the confusing words you’ve just given me?”
She could hear Glynnis shuffling her feet. “Well, okay. I admit it … I’m telling you half of the story.”
“That’s not too unusual for you, Glynnis.”
She sighed. Her cousin wasn’t related by blood to her father and yet, sometimes the two of them could find trouble so easily … it boggled the mind as to why Glynnis was so much like her dear old Da, when she was so different from him. They were like night and day, and Glynnis was his perfect match. She went back to the fire, and stirred her stew once more.
“Glynnis, tell me everything I need to know … I can’t help father if you’re keeping me in the dark.” She put her hand up. “Don’t even say it, Glynnis. The barb you could give me right now would be downright petty. You might feel guilty for your part in whatever has befallen my father, but I don’t care one stuffing over what you feel, right now. Right now, I just want to get this mess that the two of you have created cleaned up.”
“Well, we … that is … we went up there initially to see if his lordship had any food that he might be willing to give the villagers. You know what they say about his castle, no food ever gets delivered there and yet, none of his staff ever starves … well, from what people have seen of his staff ....”
“Yes, fine, get on with it, Glynnis, before I whack you with my wooden spoon,” Annabelle threatened.
“When we arrived, the castle courtyard wasn’t exactly teeming with people. So your father, being the inventive man that he is, walked right up to the castle’s entrance .…”
“He didn’t .…”
“He did. Then, something went terribly wrong. I don’t really know what led up to it, as my memory just seems hazy now, but a bluish colored smoke billowed in the air when he tried to gain admittance to the castle, and then … it was lights out for me. I woke up three hours later with a note pinned to my chest. I can read it out loud for you if you want. The writing is very hard to read.”
“No … give it to me, these eyes still work when I hold things up to them closely.” Annabelle extended her hand for Glynnis to press the note into. Squinting, she held the letter close to one of her candles. The writing was quite expressive but Glynnis was right, the old fashioned tight script was quite hard on the eyes, and with the kind of vision she had, she was getting a headache just looking at it.
“Read it aloud to me, then.” She handed Glynnis back the note. As the note left her hand, a funny feeling lingered on her palm. She licked her lips. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but the paper had given her a sense of hope. A sense of promise, coupled with an undeniable sense of urgency.
Dear Intruder,
You are trespassing. Take this sign of mercy as a warning. Do not return to my lands. Do not attempt to rescue your husband … he is paying his penance for his greed. You were spared because I do not prey upon the weak. Spread these words of caution to your fellow villagers. I will not be as forgiving the next time an outlander steps foot on my grounds.
Yours in annoyance,
Lord Malachi Hawthorne, Earl of Markham
Annabelle paused to reflect on what Glynnis had just read to her. After a moment or two, she snorted in contempt. “He thinks my father is your husband … well, he isn’t too damn swift, is he?”
Glynnis dropped the letter and began wringing her hands. “Aren’t you even worried? The man is a beast. He is terrible. The Fates only know what horrible punishment he has in store for your poor father,” Glynnis whined.
“Poor was never a term I’d used to describe my father. Aye, his financial straits might put him in that category, but my father has always been able to take a licking and keep on ticking. He’s survived worse.”
“Worse? Are you mad, Annabelle?”
“Well, I have been accused of that before, dear cousin. But in this case, there’s nothing mad about my words. You forget, he spent some time in the royal dungeons a spell back.”
“Indeed he did. And he came out of there twenty pounds lighter and a full head of hair shorter.”
She sighed. “Listen to me carefully, Glynnis. I doubt Lord Markham will do anything of dire consequence to my father. In fact, father is probably trudging down the path as we speak, with his thoughts on my homemade stew.” She inclined her eyebrow, and lifted her gaze to the closed door. Nothing. Annabelle could almost taste the foreboding in the air. Deep down, she knew that her father was in it over his head. But what could she do? She was but a feeble sighted, young woman. “Wait a minute. Did he say he released you because he did not prey on the weak?”
“Aye.”
“I thought so. In that case, he must believe womankind to be weak.”
“I told you, he was a hideous man.” Glynnis shuddered.
“For being so hideous I haven’t heard any tales of terror concerning Lord Markham in the past. He desires his own privacy … can we really blame him for that?” Annabelle said.
Glynnis could not contain her rage any longer. Annabelle sighed as she watched her begin to pace the length of the small cottage. “What a foul beast. Doesn’t he know women were granted full rights two centuries ago? Now we stand proudly shoulder to shoulder with our men in battle.”
Annabelle shook her head. “You would say that. Why don’t you go and stand shoulder to shoulder with one of our brave men in battle? It would get you out of my hair, and keep you from finding all sorts of mischief with my lovingly devoted father.” She narrowed her gaze and stepped closer to Glynnis. “Glynnis, tell me the truth. I don’t think your motivation for daring the beast’s castle was as honorable or noble as you would have me believe. What did you and father really go up there to pilfer?”
“Pilfer? My dear sweet cousin … you know I wouldn’t go against one of the highest laws of my land. You know how poorly the crown views stealing. It is too shameful to even contemplate.”
“Glynnis.” She tapped her foot and held her hand up. A breeze blew in through one of the open windows almost extinguishing the flames of her lit candles. “I’m waiting, cough it up.”
“I give up. Your father will have my head for this, but if coming clean is the only way to make you see sense about the type of danger your father faces, then so be it.” She sighed and then went head long into her full disclosure.
“We were going up there to steal his collection of rare jewels that we’ve heard he possesses. Some of the gems are said to contain mystical powers … some of them were created for protection....”
Annabelle interrupted her before she could continue. “I’ve heard enough. I thought you and father would have something devious up your sleeve. No wonder, The Earl was so enraged. You tried to steal from him. To be enraged about taking food from him when half the country is starving is one thing … but to try to steal his family jewels … oh, Glynnis.” She gave her cousin a withering stare.
“It was your father’s idea. He said we’d make a killing on any of the pieces we didn’t decide to pawn, and he also hoped to locate the Hawthorne Family Jewel of Wishes. With that jewel, all of our worries would disappear—we’d have our hearts desire. And, if he couldn’t locate the Jewel of Wishes, we’d have some pretty valuable trinkets to pawn. You know the Ortri Black Market Place is still going strong despite the war … and well, we thought ....”
“You thought of profit and only profit!” Annabelle raised her voice to such a pitch that her ears screamed against the loud noise. She slumped down onto a stool. “So, what are we going to do?”
“We? Well, I thought you’d be the one to go and collect your father.”
“Collect? I’ll be lucky if I’m able to step foot on those enchanted lands of his. Let alone collect him as you say. No, I’ll have to find something to barter his freedom with. Something … alas, we don’t have anything of real value left in the house, except for .…” she trailed off and looked to her mother’s wedding ring, that she’d worn since her mother’s death. It was an ancestral ring, and it had been in her family for four centuries.
Glynnis’ eyes followed hers to rest on the ring. She gasped. “No, anything but that. That’s a Hawthorne Heirloom. I can’t let you trade it for your father … that ring has brought good fortune and prosperity to many of our ancestors, your mother entrusted it to you on her deathbed.”
“That’s why I have to take and use it. It hasn’t served me so well in the last few years has it? I’ve not been blessed with good fortune, nor have I been blessed with prosperity.” Annabelle looked around at the small two-bedroom cottage her father and she rented. “I must do this. As you said, my father faces a grim future, if he faces a future at all. There’s no telling how infuriated the Earl has become. I must go at once and talk some sense into him.”
“I’ll go with you as far as the borders of his castle lands. Then, I’ll leave you to it.”
Annabelle smiled and reached for her walking staff. She used it to guide her way. “I thank you for that much.” She patted Glynnis on the hand. “It will be alright you know … when have I ever failed you or father before?”
“Never, my dear, Annabelle. Never.” Glynnis smiled, hope shining in her eyes.
Annabelle heaved a great sigh. Butterflies swarmed in her stomach making her feel queasy. She looked around at the cottage one last time before she followed Glynnis out the door. Resting her eyes on the mantle above the great fireplace, she smiled at the image of her mother. Drinking in the lasting memory of the only home she’d ever known, she stepped over the threshold into what she knew would be the second part of her life. For if she failed tonight, nothing else would matter.
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