So I was in the garden when I first heard it. My ears, sharpened by five years of blindness, heard the faint sound of horses' hooves - two of them, galloping full speed across the stone road leading to the mansion. I hurriedly walked towards the front gate, cocking my head as I did when I wished to hear more fully. Yes, it was two large horses, with a full, even gait and long strides that denoted good breeding. Royal visitors, then? I waited in the middle of the large iron gateway, my long, flowing black garments floating and swirling about me in the strong wind. It blew my hair back behind me in a black-and-white curtain, and it filled me with a sense of beauty and accomplishment. I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with the fresh, damp wind, then listened once again. Ah, the horses were slowing now. I put a pleasant look on my face and turned my blind eyes towards the road.
"Greetings, lady. Are you the lady of whom we have heard so much? The captive who has managed to send off the desperate messages to our humble hands, that we might rescue you forthwith? By my faith, lady, but you are as beautiful as they say. Your hair, as black as ebony; your skin as white as snow; your lips as red as blood."
I almost broke into a laugh at these words. Truly, I had never been called beautiful before. They must be a little distance away, still. Then I cocked my head again, for a new voice came onto the scene.
"Don't be a nitwit, Gary. This obviously isn't that prisoner lady, even if there were such a one in the first place. Obviously she's as free as air. And besides, she isn't a beauty. Her eyebrows are too big."
This time I could not help it. My emotionless demeanor was broken and I laughed suddenly.
"It is true - my sister is the one who is famed for her beauty. I, personally, had rather be famed for my wit. But then, I never expected to be famed for anything. Whither have you come, my lords?"
The first man spoke again. "I am Sir Gariadoc of the Castle Royal, and this is my brother, Sir Michael. We came because we recieved a message, containing dire news. We have come to rescue a fair maiden, held captive by her wicked stepsister. Are you that sister?"
"Gary, don't be stupid. If she was, she wouldn't very well say so, would she?" Sir Michael spoke again. I smiled, suddenly very happy.
"If it's Aurore you've come for, then you may most certainly take her away with you. You don't know how happy you've made me. Really. Aurore! Come, there are some men to see you!"
I heard the grin in Michaels voice as he answered,
"Is she really that bad? Maybe we should leave now, Gary."
But then I heard light, running footsteps. Aurore was coming, and there would be no leaving for poor Gary now. I could just imagine what she would look like, her inevitably blue garments swirling about her long, shapely legs as she ran, her golden curls tossing and floating in the wind and a winsome smile lighting up her starry blue eyes. I smiled and cocked my head again.
"By my faith. Was there ever such a vision of loveliness on this earth before?" I heard Sir Gary breath. I raised one eyebrow. Apparently, Gary was not immune to my sisters' charms.
"How can you stand to live in the presence of such a creature, good lady? Surely she must take your breath away every moment of the day," he breathed reverently.
I grinned wryly. "Well, that's not really a problem. I've been taking care of her for eighteen years now, and when you've seen a person in as many different moods and circumstances as that, you really don't get your breath taken away anymore. Besides, it's not really a problem for me."
I heard Gary nod.
"Ah, you, as a woman and her sister, are immune to her charms."
"No, Gary...she's blind," I heard Michael say. Observant fellow, but there was no more time for chatter before my sister came up. Her breathless, light voice grated on my nerves.
"Welcome, sir knights! Have you broken the spell? Will you carry my from this evil place?"
I heard Sir Michael shudder. So, he wasn't immune to the nerve-wracking shrill tone in her voice, either.
"My lady, I will carry you wherever I must, if only you will sit before me on this horse and let me at least look upon the glory of your back, as I cannot stand to long look upon your face." That was Gary, love-stricken. Not exactly poetic, but all right for a first try. I smiled.
"Go on, Aurore. You have my blessing. Sir knights, if I may bid you good day? I have work to do this afternoon."
I turned and was going inside when I heard Michaels' voice.
"My lady...what is your name?"
"I am Vivian, Sir Michael," I answered, turning my face towards the sound of his voice.
"Please, call me Mike," he answered. "Lady Vivian, allow me to escort you back to your halls. Gary, you go on ahead. I'll catch up."
I heard Aurore being swung up into a saddle and then horses' hooves cantering back down the road.
"I assure you, sir, I know this place well enough to carry myself around in it. I need no guidance."
Michael - Mike, that is - answered quickly. "Ah, yes, my lady, but I wish to give it nonetheless. I must confess a certain curiosity in the way events have transpired. I hardly think that your sisters' message was accurate in her descriptions."
I smiled and reached my hand out. He held out his arm and I brushed my finger along the rough fabric of his cloak, resting my hand lightly on his arm. We walked along, Mike leading the horse with his other hand.
"What did she tell you?" I asked curiously.
"Oh, only that a wicked stepsister was holding her captive in a large castle of stone. And that she herself was a beautiful princess. Her writing style, however, was not of the clearest, most comprehensible sort, so somehow it got spread around that she had skin as white as snow, hair as black as night, and lips as red as blood," he answered matter-of-factly. I let out a small gasp of surprised laughter.
"She must have been describing me! But beautiful? I can't imagine why she would write such a thing."
When Mike spoke again, I heard the laughter in his voice.
"Well, she also stated that the reason she was held prisoner was because her stepsister envied her own beauty. Somehow, I'm not seeing you as the beauty-envying type."
I laughed.
"No. That is true. Well, I hope she is happy with your brother. I know I will be happy here. Your brother is very fair of face, is he not?"
Mike frowned.
"He's the handsomest in our family. How could you tell?"
"My sister wouldn't go so quickly with any other kind of man. What do you look like, Sir Mike?"
Mike hesitated. I felt soft dirt underneath my feet.
"Mike...would you like to come inside the castle and have tea? This way," I said and led him gently to the right. "Now, tell me what you look like."
"I'm of medium height, brown hair, brown eyes, lightly tanned skin. Um...big nose. Nothing else I can think of."
I laughed at his short description of himself. His voice matched his features, then - solid, practical, sensible.
"If I am to have tea with you, Lady Vivian - I'll have to be perfectly honest. My conscience would not let me accept your hospitality otherwise," Mike stated, his voice suddenly very serious. "My brother and I are not noblemen. We are the younger sons of a humble woodcutter."
I frowned.
"It is not likely, then, that my sister will stay long in your brothers' company. She lusts not only for a fair face, but a powerful position, glory and riches. But if you are woodcutters, how did you get such fine horses?"
"It's an old story...surely you've heard it before. The two young woodcutters go into the wood and share their lunch with an old woman, she turns out to be a fairy and gives them whatever they wish for. It's what happened to us. My brother wished for two horses, a little money and some rich garments. He figured that if he rescued and married this beautiful captive princess, she would supply the rest of the comforts."
I snorted.
"Silly chap, your brother, isn't he? Ah, well. Here's the castle, and you haven't said yet whether you're coming in or not."
"Well, I don't see why not," Mike answered pleasantly, and we walked into the coolness of my half of our mansion.
"A bit dark in here, isn't it?" Mike asked plaintively, his voice echoing slightly on the stone walls.
"Is it? I don't notice. Nurse!" I called. The plump, motherly woman hurried in through a stone door. "Some tea, if you please. Oh, and can you bring two torches with you when you come? Sir Michael wants some light."
Nurse curtsied and bustled out, reappearing momentarily with two very large torches in her hand. I felt the heat of them from across the room.
"The tea will be ready in a few moments, Lady Vivian," she said, and stepped out of the room. I am sure, however, that she was listening intently at the door to find out who this 'Sir Michael' was.
"So, why did you come along, Sir Mike, if you did not wish to marry the princess yourself?" I asked in a friendly, conversational tone.
"Oh, I just thought it might be nice for my brother to have an extra sword in case the 'evil sorceress' was all she was rumored to be. Tell me, are you proficient at all in the magical arts, or was that yet another part of the ridiculous story your sister wove?"
I smiled, and we began a very pleasant conversation, speaking of magical educations, exchanging pasts, and talking about books we had read in common. That was the most pleasant tea I had drunk in many years, and I lost track of the time all together. Tea was over far too soon.
"I must go find my brother before he loses his way. He's got no head for direction, you see," Mike told me.
I stood and tilted my head to the side, listening intently.
"A storm is gathering outside, Sir Mike. Can you not hear it grumbling and building in the distance? If you must go, then do so, but you are free to stay the night if you wish. I must go cover my plants - there are some roses in bloom, and I do not wish them to be bruised in the light hail that will fall this night."
Mike stood also, and I heard his rustling garments as he bowed once more.
"I will think about it. Let me see this storm of which you speak, then make my decision. But do not let me keep you from your garden. Please, go."
I smiled and nodded, then walked the twenty-seven steps to the doorway, fourteen steps down the stairs, and then the long, fifty-one steps to the garden, taking a small three-step detour to avoid the stone fountain in the middle of the garden. At last, I stood in the midst of my garden. My garden was where I spent all of my time, when I was not studying in the library. My garden held all of the plants I used for magical purposes - nightshade, sage, rosemary, thyme, and many other herbs. It also held roses, pansies, lilies, and many cooking herbs. In the middle of it all was a small apple tree. I breathed deeply, smelling the dankness of clouds, the spring-like smell of rain, and a colder smell that stung the nostrils - that smell meant hail. I closed my eyes and envisioned in the blackness of my mind a large, blue tent. I envisioned every detail of the tent, from the little wooden pegs to the vastness of the blue, water-proof fabric. I formed it in my mind, and when the image was perfect, I gestured with my hand.
"Sosensi sylsenso,"
I muttered. There was a pressure in the air, like something was lightly compressing a bubble of air around me. Then the pressure was gone and I heard a flapping of cloth. I smiled in satisfaction. I had created the perfect covering for my little garden. I waved my hand down, envisioning each of the pegs sinking deep into the soft brown earth. Then, I concentrated as firmly as I could and spoke the Seeing spell. A brief glimpse of my garden, covered by a large tent, was all I needed to see. I let the Seeing spell go and started tiredly back to my library.
On the way there, however, I remembered Mike. I needed to know if he was staying the night or not. I didn't know why, but I wished he would stay. I wanted to speak more with him. I had not spoken with another person for more than five years, besides Nurse. It was so interesting to have a real conversation about the outside world. Well, that is what I told myself. If I had cared to look deeper into my own heart, I might have seen a small seed of pale, early version of love springing up there, peeking slightly through the untilled soil of my heart. At that time, walking back through the light beginnings of rain, I did not recognize the feeling for what it was. Or perhaps I did not want to recognize it. I'll never know.
I was halfway to the castle when I heard the heavy, running footsteps of Mike.
"Mike the Woodcutter...what is your decision?" I asked him. He reached me and stopped, laughing. It had begun to rain in earnest now, and I could feel little hard pebbles of hail forming in the midst of the soft water droplets.
"It appears that the weather has made this decision for me, Lady Vivian. I would not succumb my horse to a ride through hail. It would seem that I am forced to invade upon your hospitality for the night."
I answered quickly,
"Oh, no! You are not invading my hospitality! You are welcome to stay as long as this storm lasts, which I fear from the sound of it, may be for some days. Nurse will show you to your room. Supper will be served in the dining room in two hours. If you don't mind, I have some work to do, so I will speak to you again over supper." I paused as we reached the steps. "I am glad to have you staying here. I will be in my library, if you wish to see me for any reason. Nurse!" I called into the doorway. She came hurrying out.
"Yes, Lady Vivian?"
"Show Mike - er, sir Mike - to the Blue Room, if you please. And set the table for one more person. We will keep a place for Aurore in case she returns tonight."
Nurse curtsied and beckoned to Mike.
"Come with me, if you please, sir."
Mike hesitated, then went forward. I smiled reassuringly and the two went inside. I began the short trek across to the library, putting a small shield around myself to guard myself from the sleet that was falling in hard sheets now.
I closed the large wooden door behind me and sighed, breathing in the scent of books, ink, dried herbs and magic. This had been my workroom for the past five years, and had seen me through all of my magical struggles and studies. I sank down in my chair and closed my eyes. I felt on my desk for the project that I had been working on - injecting a sleeping potion into an apple without changing the appearance. A lady wanted it to give to her husband, so she could run off and do something. It was proving to be more of a problem than she had expected. She had several apples on her desk when she had left for her walk - but now they were gone! Where could they be -
"Lady Vivian?" A small, tinny, nasal voice sounded from the doorway.
"Snapgul? What are you doing here?" I was surprised at the new voice. This voice undoubtedly belonged to one of the dwarves who did maintenance on my castle - chopped wood, hauled water, that sort of thing. There were seven dwarves in all, brothers, and they lived in a large, roomy cottage just outside the mansions' walls. They rarely came to actually speak to me.
"My lady, I was just giving your library an annual cleaning. I put everything back except your apples - and I was just coming back to put them on your desk when I saw you. Here you are, then."
I heard his short steps approach, then reached out and felt the shiny, hard smoothness of the six apples that I had experimented with.
"Thank you, Snapgul...but from now on, please don't clean in this room without asking. I am experimenting with a sleeping potion and I'd hate for you to get hurt by accidently eating an apple and overdosing," I smiled at him, then picked up my syringe, filled with a sleeping potion. My motion apparently indicating to him that I wished him to leave, he took a bow.
"I am going back to my cottage, Lady Vivian. If you have need of any help in your garden after this storm passes over, my brothers and I will be happy to help, as usual."
I waited until his presence was gone, then plunged my syringe deep into the apples' core. I squeezed the syringe empty, speaking a containing spell as I did so. Then I briefly lifted the veil from my eyesight and groaned. You could tell, even in a brief glimpse, that the apple was bulging with liquid unnatural to its' own juices. If the containing spell wouldn't work, what would? I mulled over it, pulling at my lip, oblivious to any sound until my concentration was suddenly broken by a voice.
"Lady Vivian? Your nurse sent me to tell you that it's supper time."
I adjusted the black band that was tied across my eyes.
"Tell me, Mike, what you would do. I have to fill an apple with this large syringe full of liquid, without letting the liquid show or the apple bulge unnaturally. How could this be accomplished?"
He took a breath, hesitated, then thought some more.
"What if, instead of filling it with the liquid itself, convert the natural liquids of the apple into the liquid you want. Is that possible?"
I smiled excitedly.
"Good lord, man, why didn't you tell me you were a genius? That's brilliant! I shall have to make a few tests, and I may explode a few apples, but there's no reason whatsoever that it shouldn't work. Let's eat!"
I stood quickly and stumbled on my chair. Mike reached out quickly and caught my elbow, supporting me. I smiled up at him and we walked together through the driving icy rain to the castle. We were encased in a bubble of my magic, so we were dry and warm the entire walk. I felt especially comfortable with my arm tucked through Mikes', but that was irrelevant. Too soon, that walk was over and we had reached the supper table. It was set for three, but Aurore was still gone. Mike dropped my arm and pulled out my chair for me. I sat, then he sat and we both began to eat.
I don't remember all that we said to each other that evening - I know it was nothing unnusual, only small talk and pleasantries. I still remember, however, that warm, comfortable, happy feeling that I had, as if I was folded in a warm blanket, or a cocoon, and I never wanted that dinner to be over.
Of course, all things must come to an end, especially a perishable thing like dinner, so Mike went up to his room to sleep, and I went back to my library to work. I worked late into that night, working on converting apple juice into sleeping potion without changing the taste of the apple. After many different tries and failures, I finally got the right spell. It was a mix between a changing spell, containing spell and cooking spell. It sounded garbled and strange, but it did the trick. Smiling, happy but tired, I stumbled my way once again to the castle, up the stairs and into my own room.
The next morning broke in a cloudy, rainy and dismal manner that usually would have had me depressed. This particular morning, however, I knew that Mike could not travel, and was stuck in my home once again. So with a light heart I rose early and dressed. To my normal somber, black, many-layered garments, I added a touch of red ribbon to tie back my hair. It was a small whim, just something I thought my look more pleasing to the eye. More pleasing to whose eye, I did not think about, but I'm sure that my heart was considering Mike.
Since no one else was awake yet, and breakfast would not be for a while yet, I went outside. It was drizzling slow, fat drops of rain, but I did not mind and I let the drops fall on my face like large fresh-water tears and dampen my hair. I strode towards the front gate and listened intently to the morning, as I did every day, to see that all was well around us. I heard, faintly, the sound of running feet and...Aurore? Crying? Oh, no. I waited at the gate and slowly the crying and sobbing got louder and louder. Soon I could distinguish words among the sobs, inarticulate cries of 'betrayed!' and 'disloyal wretch!' and 'I'm in disgrace!'
I sighed and put a sympathetic look on my face. When her footsteps were very close, I heard her give a gasp.
"Vivian! I didn't see you!"
"Aurore. What are you doing back here?" I asked, calmly and resignedly. Overrunning my words with her sobs, she continued speaking as if she hadn't heard me.
"Oh, Vivian, I never thought I could be so...tricked and deceived! Such a disgrace! He was such a wretch! We were scarcely a half days' ride into the forest when he revealed to me that he was no lord or prince, but only a woodcutter. I screamed and cried, and demanded that he take me back here. Instead, he told me he wanted no woman who was too good to be a woodcutters' wife and threw me off his horse, riding treacherously away before I could stab him! So I walked back here, and my poor feet are weak and weary!"
"Well, good for him, to stand up for himself that way,"
I said approvingly. I hadn't thought that Gary had it in him. Her sobbing speech hadn't surprised me in the least. I had expected that such a thing would undoubtedly happen.
Aurore sighed and wiped her eyes, her sniffs loud and wet. I felt no sympathy for her. As I was about to turn and leave her there on the road, crying, I heard Mikes' footsteps coming up from behind me. Aurore looked up at him and her eyes widened.
"You wretch! You miserable cur! You humble, no-good, woodcutter! Out of my mansion this instant! You and your brother are nothing more than deceivers and horrible thugs, and I despise you!"
I looked at her, shocked.
"Aurore! Last I heard, I was the heir to this mansion! I am the mistress of this place and this is my guest. You will not speak so to this man, who has stayed here out of necessity and provided me with some valuable company in the stormy hours."
Aurore gasped.
"Vivian! How can you say such dreadful things? I refuse to live in the same house as this...this woodcutter, and I am appalled that you are doing such a thing!"
I smiled. This could be the answer to all of my problems.
"Very well. There is no way Michael can travel in this sort of weather, so he must stay here. But you will not stay with him in the mansion. Therefore I, the owner of this mansion, give you leave to stay in the large cottage outside of these walls with the seven dwarves, who I am sure will guard you very well, indeed."
In the shocked silence that followed, I turned to Mike.
"Do not fear, sir, that your presence is unwanted by the mistress of this mansion. You are welcome here for as long as you wish. Forgive my sister for her insults."
Aurore gave vent to a long moan and sank down onto the road.
"My own sister, betrays me and leaves me in the hands of those nasty little dwarves who give me the shivers! Ohhhhhh, what is to become of me?"
I began walking away. I knew that Aurore would come around eventually and, with her foolish pride insulted, go to the cottage. The dwarves would welcome her - they had always been just a little bit in love with the beautiful Aurore, and would love her company. There was room in their cottage for her, and she would likely only need to stay there for two days, three at the most.
"Come, Mike, I wish to show you the result of your brilliant suggestion last night."
I led him to my library and showed him. He was quite delighted and began asking technical questions. He was an eager listener, and I an eager teacher, so we whiled away many hours in this pleasant manner.
The next three days were very stormy, but on the fourth day the sun shone brightly. There was not one hint of a cloud in the sky. Mike, however, seemed as reluctant to leave as I was to let him go. He and I together put off his departure for that day, and the next, until the days lengthened into weeks, and the weeks, months. During that time we spent many hours in my garden, and many in my library. He had a natural aptitude for magic, a good memory and he could read. So he read aloud to me, and I taught him magic. When we were in the garden, I told him the names of the plants, and he reminded me of what they looked like. He developed a habit of taking my hand and guiding it along the contours of something that interested him, to get my opinion on it. I grew accustomed to the pleasant, warm roughness of his large hand, so gently guiding mine. The small, pale seed of love that had sprouted in my heart since that first day that we had met soon grew into a healthy, green plant. Its' roots grew deeper each day, and each day the thought of Mikes' departure grew yet more painful. I never knew how he felt about me - there were no spells that could tell you what lay in the hearts of others. Every night, after I had finished analyzing the spells I had done that day, I would go on to analyze what Mike had said, trying to guess if it had a double meaning. I never found anything other than gentle affection in his demeanor towards me, though I looked so hard.
What of Aurore, you wonder, when Mike and I were spending so many hours procrastinating and learning to love? Frankly, I forgot her entirely. Once she passed out of my sight, she passed, too, out of my mind and I forgot that she existed. I excuse myself now, that it was the foolishness that comes along with love that made me forget her. The only word I had of her was near the beginning of her stay in the dwarves' cottage, when she sent to me for her clothes, her comb and brush. After that, I forgot her entirely. I should have remembered, though her plotting from before. She had a devious mind, and bent all her will on getting revenge at me and finding a noble, rich husband at the same time. And when she focused, her mind could be cruel and clever, indeed.
TO BE CONTINUED AGAIN...
. Can't Wait to read next part.
