* This is a draft so any editing of any form is appreciated. This is written differently than a lot of my other short stories. It's an excerpt from a much longer novel I wrote two years ago *
Once upon a time, long, long ago, there lived a Kingdom of ZaShwan. It was a small kingdom but one of great happiness. They had a wise young king who ruled fairly and with understanding and kindness. The King’s name was Shamus and the people loved him. He was not truly happy though and longed for a queen to help him rule his small land. So one fateful day he disappeared. Five Years later our King returned to us. This excerpt is from his diary, the night of our final departure as we, the people, leave ZaShwan . . . forever.
~ZaShwan’s Royal Secretary~Robin
I return to my people on a unicorn of milk white jade. Her coat is as soft as a young dove’s down and her mane and tail as lustrous as the sea itself. Alas I left my kingdom in search of a fair maiden to bring back with me and help me rule my wonderful kingdom. I searched for five years and found no one with a heart kind enough, good enough, to rule my people. I was beginning to doubt my search when one day I found a small brown unicorn being beaten to death by her cruel owner, for her small back could not carry him. He was not a light weighted man either.
I paid the man for her, seeing as I could not stand such unfair treatment to be allowed if I could prevent it. I found a small valley in the forest above a tiny town and stayed there with her, caring for her, only leaving for necessary things from time to time. And so I nurtured the young Unicorn and as she healed she grew and one day, when I returned from the town, I found she had shed her dull brown coat and revealed the truly beautiful white unicorn underneath.
In the moons of her healing we had become inseparable so I return to my palace, not with a wife, but a friend. The people rejoiced over my return and we had a celebration in honor of Layia, the beautiful unicorn. It lasted for one full and wonderful week. At the end of the celebration I left the town and returned to my castle. My adviser, a wizard, had been alerted of my return and welcomed me most graciously. He told me that after I had settled in he would like to speak with me.
I forgot about our discussion and it was a week later that I finally remembered and found myself seated in my councilors room. He proposed to me his plan. He told me that the unicorn had been a waste of my trip. That even though she would remain my friend that soon I would once again long for the companionship of a wife. He told me that if I accepted, it was possible for him to transform Layia into a woman for me to wed. I was angered at this suggestion and fled the castle only to find myself heading toward the stables. I sat outside for a long while, contemplating our talk and realizing that my poor councilor had only suggested this in my best interests.
I approached Layia slowly and she greeted me in her green grassed pasture. I petted her and stroked her silky neck for a long while, my mind abuzz with things I could not comprehend. So I decided to ask her.
“Layia. Would you be happy as a human woman?” and she looked back at me with shimmering blue eyes and, to my amazement, spoke.
“Anything that would please you Shamus, would bring pleasure to myself. You saved my life and anything I can do for you to repay that favor, I would gladly and willingly accept.” Her voice was only a small whisper, as if the soft wind of an Autumn day had blown through the silver birches and if I hadn’t been listening closely I was sure I would have mistaken it simply for that.
And so it was, that the Wizard turned Layia into a beautiful young women, her beauty beyond description. We were wed within the moon and as happy as any newlyweds could possibly be.
We walked together in the gardens many times, talking of different things. Layia never mentioned that she had ever been a Unicorn, only the woman that she now was. And the people loved her. They loved her for her kind and gentle ways, her cunning knowledge, her beauty and fairness. She was indeed the Queen that I had so wished for this Kingdom.
Time went on and in the summer of the next year a small princess was born to us. Layia was the happiest mother I had ever seen. She never let the small babe out of her sight and though I worried the princess would become spoiled, the Queen knew just where the fine line of allowance lay.
The girl grew into a beautiful young woman herself and I knew that she would be the heir to the throne when Layia and my time passed away. Our kingdom was free from any warfare and still as pleasant and happy as a small kingdom could possibly be.
She was allowed to freely roam the three small villages that made up our kingdom. She left the castle to do so as much as her Princess duties allowed her. The people of the villages welcomed her and protected her from strangers. They loved her as they had loved her mother and they treated her as one of their own. She made many friends and learned many different trades through the kindness and willingness of the Village families.
As she grew older, she also obtained many suitors who wished for her hand in marriage. Word had spread by travelers to the kings ears of different lands and I had been visited by many who wished for her hand in marriage to their son in exchange for an alliance. I had refused each and every one of them, telling them that she would not help rule their country but her own when the time came. I angered many countries with my refusals and enemies toward our small Kingdom grew.
On Canaria’s sixteenth birthday Layia banned her from visiting the villages any longer without an escort with her. It was no longer safe for her to do so. I had seen people sent from other kingdoms lurking our market places, waiting to steal her away and so this rule was only for her own safety.
Canaria did not understand her loss of freedom so withdrew into herself and became a shy, quiet, and reserved person. She spent much time by herself to Layia’s and my worry.
So it was on the night that she didn’t come down to the dinning hall to eat that I left Layia to entertain the guests and decided I needed to talk with our daughter. The stairs were hard on my left hip which wasn’t fairing too well and by the time I had finally reached the top I was gasping for breath and in great pain. Canaria had recently moved her belongings to the highest tower where she could view all three villages.
She was sitting quietly on her bed, dressed in a lacy white nightgown. Her long white hair, the duplicate of her mothers, flowed loose down her back and her large blue eyes were moist, her pale cheeks covered with diamond like tears. She turned to look at me but remained silent. I maneuvered myself to a chair and allowed myself to sink into the softness of it. The room was filled with silence, Canaria refusing to talk.
“Canaria . . . what is wrong my child?” she looked toward me again, her sad eyes boring into mine.
“Do you think that if I decided I wanted to fly that I would be able to save myself from falling?” Her soft voice carried so much sorrow I cringed, not understanding what she meant.
“What . . . ” she cut me off.
“It would be so easy. Two steps, leaning out and then . . . I would fly. And then it would be over. All of it. The pain I feel inside my heart, the loneliness, this emptiness.” Her finger trembled and she pointed to the billowing white curtains and the opened window. Was Canaria really planning to kill herself?
“Canaria. I don’t understand what’s wrong. If you told me, I might be able to help.” She yanked her head back toward me, hatred seared in her crystal blue eyes, her anger for me infinite.
“You and mother, that’s what’s wrong with me. I was fine before you banned me from living. That was my life, the people out there. They taught me, loved me, cared about me. Just like I use to think you and mother felt about me. Then you took it all away. Now they are gone. All my friends, my family . . . ” She was crying again and I was thinking. I had no idea that the villagers had meant so much to her.
“But you can still see them . . . ” she cut me off again.
“Only while I’m with an escort. Take a wild Unicorn for instance. You take her and train her and allow her to run while under a bridle. You could say, ‘But here is your freedom to run and play again’ But she will never be free again, unless you are brave enough to take off her lead and let her go . . . ”
I was stunned that she should mention her lack of freedom in comparison to that of a unicorns. Her mother had never told her that she hadn’t always been a woman.
“I didn’t know.” It was a dithered response but all I could manage to say.
Time passed and her mother, worried about her health, decided to allow her to roam free once again save for market days. I had hoped that instead of leaving to marry a prince that she would choose to marry someone she truly cared about from our own land but Canaria never mentioned having any feelings for anyone. She was seventeen, nearing her eighteenth birthday, when she disappeared.
One of the village boys came to us. He had a black-bruised eye and a broken arm. He was trembling harshly when he told us that they had been down at the stream, just Canaria and him, when all of a sudden a man had come from nowhere and grabbed Canaria. He had tried to get her away from the man but he had been knocked out cold and awoken to find her gone.
I sent out search parties immediately but all in vain. Her eighteenth birthday passed and then her nineteenth, all in her absence. I had hoped that I would hear of a kingdom’s marriage to a mysterious girl yet I never got any such news.
It was four years later when I finally heard from a young man. His name was Tazan and I recognized him as the boy that had reported of Canaria’s capture. He told us that he had searched the land for her ever since that day and he had heard rumors of a white witch living in the next town over that had become sick. The only reason he had heard the news was that apparently the witch had been a wonderful healer and now that she was sick, people were worried what they would do without her.
I quickly gathered a small escort and brought Tazan with me to the Village of Sabah. We found the witches house without too much trouble and I commanded the escort to wait outside while I went in alone.
I was prepared to be disappointed as the bedroom door creaked open and I approached the small bed. My heart fell. Canaria lay among the covers, a peaceful look of sleep across her face. What had happened to my beautiful young daughter? The woman was as pale as death itself and her white hair cut short to her shoulders. Grey bags lay under her sunken eyes and she looked like a living skeleton, her bones showing harshly. Who had done this to her?
“Canaria.” I kneeled by the bed and touched her face. Her eyes flicked open and she stared at me. Her blue eyes milky. No recognition flashed across her face and she remained still.
“I wouldn’t be here if I were you.” A cruel voice spoke behind me and I turned to see a stocky man standing in the doorway, he had black and golden hair and an evil smile.
“What have you done to my daughter?” I gasped and he smiled.
“I was going to sell her to a king for him to do with as he pleased but when the girl attacked me with magic I decided to keep her. I took her voice away and had her taught in the way of a witch. She then healed people, making a nice profit for me I might add, as she became more and more famous for her ability. That’s all there really is to it.”
I had no time to think. I drew my sword and the evil man was dead, a cruel smile still lay on his lips, as my sword protruded from his back. I picked up my daughter and she didn’t protest. She weighed hardly anything. I placed her in a carriage and we returned to the palace.
I called physicians and healers from all over the Diamond Rhombus to heal my daughter and they were able to restore her speech to her even though she still never spoke, and slowly she seemed to be recovering until one day a great Wizard finally arrived and after examining my twenty-three year old daughter turned to me.
“Your daughter’s soul is broken. She must heal from that before her body can be healed. I believe that too many trials have befallen her that it would take an eternity for her to heal, since time is really the only thing that can heal her spirit as she forgets her pain and moves on.” This caused me to think about different possibilities and I planned and thought about what to do for three years. Finally I called the Magician back and proposed to him what I wanted to do. He agreed that it would be a splendid idea, but more importantly, a plan that would save my beloved daughter.
And so it began. He put spell after spell on a certain room prepared especially for Canaria. It took five moons and then it was done. The whole castle had been bewitched. We moved Canaria into the designated room and she smiled at me. I was shocked. And then she spoke for the first time in nine years.
“ Daddy?”
“Yes Canaria?” my voice shook and I could hear Layia crying behind me.
“What’s going to happen to me?” Her pale blue eyes looked worried and I gently caressed her forehead.
“You’re going to go to sleep Canaria. You will wake when your heart can finally accept what happened to you and you can put the past behind you. You will heal when you are ready to move on. Only then will you wake, ready to move on with life.” She seemed to accept what I had told her and so we laid her in the feathery bed and she closed her eyes, her brows creased in thought.
“I won’t wake up for a while then, will I?” her eyes flashed open and she looked at me again.
“That’s right. It may be a long, long time.” She nodded then grasped my hand.
“Daddy. Can you do something for me since I might not be able to wake for a while?” the look of trust she gave me comforted me, assuring me we were doing the right thing by leaving her here and I nodded.
“Can you find my baby?” I was once again shocked at her and looked to Layia who was still crying with joy at the speech of our daughter. I turned back to Canaria but the spell had already started to work and she was asleep, her chest falling and rising, her small body would never age until she again woke.
I followed the crowd of people out of the castle and Tazan approached me.
“Sir. I know she will not wake in my lifetime but I still feel guilty about not being able to protect her that day so long ago. Please, allow me to stay here and guard the castle. Please?” I looked at him and knew his intent was true.
“If that is what you wish, then do so.” He nodded and then I mounted my Unicorn.
“Stay if you wish. But she will not wake in your life time and you cannot enter the chamber. Are you sure?” he nodded.
“Yes. I must. It is what I have to do. I must protect her.” I nodded.
“Then so be it, Prince Tazan, that you will stay here, forever with the title of inherited prince forever. Except now the curse of this valley and do not regret your decision.”
I turned away from the man and together Layia and I led our people away from the valley which had been our kingdom for so long. The people of the land had accepted that to save their princess they would have to leave the valley and never return until the day she finally awoke.
As we stood on the edge of the hill that led down away from the valley, a billowing fog rolled from the castle and filled the valley, hiding the castle from view. I could see thorns and tree’s protruding from the ground, quickly growing to create a barrier and protect the Princess and the Palace of Eternal Sleep.
