The Everlands Chronicles: The Truth

by A. J. Bell

  I stumbled with every other step I took. After a few hours, we came to a halt, and one of my personal guards removed the blindfold so I could see their city. There were hundreds of them, maybe even thousands. Gypsy men, women, and children were all dancing and singing and being merry. Held by the arms by two Gypsies, I was guided to a little cabin up on a hill where smoke was coming out of the window facing us, and I could smell fresh apple tarts being baked. As we entered the cabin, it was clear a welcome party was expecting us. Several young kids came running towards the old Gypsy and crawled over him. The man was smiling with delight. I was amazed to discover that he had a family that loved him.

  A woman in her mid-fifties came out of the kitchen with a tart in her hands, set it on the table, and embraced the man. “Valdo, you are home. Did you find what you were looking for?” she asked.

  “Found something else,” he said, nodding towards me.

  “And who is this?” she asked, looking at me. I lowered my gaze before answering, trying to calm down. At the moment, she didn’t present a threat.

  “I am his prisoner,” I replied softly.

  “She is not a prisoner, but a guest is more like it,” he said as he approached me and took my cap off. My hair was braided, but there was no denying the other obvious sign of my womanhood. The woman gasped, but said nothing.

  Finally, the Gypsy introduced himself. “I am Valdo, King of the Gypsies, and this is my palace,” he said, proudly pointing at his surroundings.

  He introduced his wife as Claire, once a maid in the Everlands, now the Queen of the Haunted Forest. She was beautiful. Her hair was golden, with thick curls, and elbow-length. With a smile that could melt the coldest heart, she was warm like a ray of sun on a misty morning. Having her so close in the room made me feel like I was home, a strange thing to feel in the house of the man who had kidnapped me.

  Valdo asked his wife to prepare a bath for me. I found it curious that I was indeed being treated more as a guest than as a prisoner, but I didn’t complain about it, just in case they would change their minds.

  I came out of my warm and relaxing bath, radiantly clean. My blacksmith clothes had been exchanged for a white, ruffled shirt and a long, ruffled purple skirt – simple, yet elegant. The skirt was ankle-length and completely open on one side, showing my bare legs.

  Neatly folded over the bed was a pair of doe leather trousers next to a pair of well worn-out black leather knee-high boots. I liked the way everything looked so good together, even the ruffles. Also on the bed were a wide leather belt with a sword sheath without the sword and a leg belt to carry a small knife or dagger, but it was also empty. I braided my hair quickly as I normally did, ready for whatever the King of the Gypsies had planned next. The door wasn’t locked and nobody was guarding it, so I left the bedroom without a problem. I came to a total halt, however, when I heard people inquiring about me. “Are you sure it is her? How can she just appear? Where is she? We all know she is dead!” were some of the arguments I heard.

  I stepped out so that everybody could see me. Some gasped, but most of them fell silent, even Valdo. He was staring at me as if expecting me to say something, but I just stared back at him until the silence broke. Someone asked me to prove I was the heir of Lerona. But I was not, so there was nothing to prove.

  “I am unsure as to what you expect me to do to prove who I am,” I said, “or what makes you think I am the one of whom you speak. My name is Elle Giles, the daughter of Robert Giles, Blacksmith of Stoneburg, and I cannot recall ever visiting Lerona.”

  Their faces, including Valdo’s, showed disappointment. I was also disappointed not be the one they desired me to be, the long-lost daughter of Karianna Blackrose, but I couldn’t explain why I felt that way. I guess deep inside, I always dreamed of a life full of adventure, and being the lost daughter of some important woman did sound more interesting than my life of hiding.

  Shortly after my confession, I regretted my statement. The Gypsies ran out of kindness. An argument started about bringing a stranger into their safe haven, someone who ran around with royalty and soldiers. The choices were clear: either I stayed with the Gypsies for the rest of my life, or I would be put to death like many trespassers before me. The final decision was mine.

  I looked at Claire whose warmth was gone. Her smile had changed to a worried frown. Did the same happen to her? Did she have to make her choice of becoming one of them or die? I thought, before making up my mind.

  “I choose death!” I said, loud enough to fill each ear around me. “I refuse to become like you, a being with no loyalties – not to the Crown, not to each other – always hiding in the shadows, creeping upon innocent people on the roads to make them pay for what the Crown has supposedly done to you. How can you expect to be treated as people if you behave like savages? You say stay or die? I say death is a far better choice than to live a life of hate. I can assure you that, wherever this lost heiress is, she is far better off without you. What a shame it would be for her to call herself a ruler of thieves who aren’t willing to earn their meals but take them away from those who till the land and raise cattle, and a ruler of murderers who condemn people to the grave if they do not join their cause. You accuse the crown of mistreating your people; yet, you turn around and do the same yourselves. How then are you different from Prince Victor or King Tobias, whom you hate so much? Let death come swiftly, for I refuse to remain another minute among such animals,” I spat.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an old lady walking towards me. Her hair was white as snow and hung to her waist. She must have been close to ninety-years-old. Valdo came to her aid and brought her close to me. She reached out and touched my cheek with her hand, which was soft and warm, offering me a moment to calm down my anger. There was no threat in her eyes, nor in her voice when she spoke to me.

  “Reme baa hosa,” she whispered. Come back home. She then kissed my forehead and said, “E wita esaindo.” I’ll be waiting. I nodded as if she had cast a spell on me. I knew what those words meant. I could understand them just as clearly as English, but why and how, I didn’t know.

  She took off her necklace – a round golden shield with a jet rose with well-defined petals, surrounded by thorns. Engraved in a half circle around the necklace was the word “RABLAOSECK ETHRO,” Blackrose thorn, encrusted with diamonds. She put it around my neck while everyone watched her in awe. When the old lady left the room, the arguments arose again. Not only about letting me go, but also about taking back the necklace given to me by her.

  I was only allowed to leave the hidden city unharmed after Valdo threatened anyone coming near me to suffer banishment from the forest or death. In the end, Valdo blindfolded me again to avoid another uprising, but only until I was out of sight of the houses.

  I listened to the Gypsy stories he had to share as we rode. Among them was the story of the Loveless River. “Esteban, a Gypsy prince, fell in love with Saliah, the Crown Princess, heiress to the throne of the Everlands. Her family did not agree with their union, so in a desperate attempt to remain with her lover, she ran away to meet him by the Gree River. The rain that night made the Gree River spill over its banks, making its waters full of danger. Esteban had prepared a ferryboat for both of them to cross in, but halfway across the Gree, she fell into the turbulent waters. Esteban dove into the water to rescue her and was able to get her out, but he sunk back down after his foot got caught on something, and he never made it back to the surface. Heartbroken, the Princess returned to her own people in the Everlands. When she was crowned Queen, she changed the river’s name to Loveless, because if the river had known about true love, it would have swallowed them both or allowed both of them to live. Esteban’s spirit still wanders in this forest, and so does Queen Saliah’s. That is the reason why the Forest of Gree is widely known as the Haunted Forest.”

  He then said in solemnity, “Queen Saliah was a great ruler of the Everlands. There was peace among Gypsies and Everlanders during her reign.”

 
He was right about that. She was the greatest ruler both nations had known, and she was Sir Richard’s and Prince Victor’s grandmother.

  We arrived at the border of the Everlands. Since Gypsies were not welcome anywhere in King Tobias’s kingdom, I would have to walk the rest of the way by myself.

  During our journey, we were buried in the forest, covered by trees that prevented the light of day from falling on us, and so we weren’t able to predict that a terrible storm was on its way.

  Out of the goodness of his heart and upon my insistence, Valdo decided to give me back the things they had stolen from the Prince’s camp when they attacked us. The metals for the making of Clouds were back in my hands, also the unfinished armor for Prince Victor, as well as some other items they took from His Highness’s tent. I was not looking forward to the remainder of the journey since the Clouds I carried were quite heavy, but I truly needed them.

  Valdo grabbed the necklace hanging from my neck and rubbed it gently with his fat fingers. “This will keep you safe from every Gypsy in the land. Wear it always. Wear it proudly.”

  I had walked away a bit of a distance when he yelled, “E wita esaindo,” I‘ll be waiting, just like the old lady had done.

  The Gypsies hadn’t killed me, but walking uphill for almost eight hours in the pouring rain almost did. My load got heavier with every step. I had been down the road of Gether before, but always on horse. I had just one more hill before I could see the Royal City, but that climb was one of the steepest of the kingdom, and it would take all my strength to get to the top carrying the metals for the armor to be finished. My choices were limited – go up now or go up later. Waiting for a ride from some stranger was not a choice because nobody was out in the storm.

  I felt like my life was draining from my body with every drop of rain and thought of leaving the armor behind. I finally reached the top after a long fight to keep my feet moving while burdened with my father’s trade. Storms like the one I was in were rare in the middle of the summer in the Everlands. The sun was nowhere to be seen, and the cold made me shiver, making it even more difficult to continue.

  Thankfully – or so I thought – anyone that stood on top of that hill could be seen by the watchmen in the towers of the Royal Palace. They were always alert, so I was sure once they saw me, they would send a party to investigate what a lone traveler was doing out and about on a storm like this one. I was certain they would help me and take me to the Prince. I had no idea that, after meeting these soldiers, I would wish to go back and become one of the Gypsies.

  I saw the riders approaching as my knees buckled and sent me to the ground. My chest was breathing heavily. Little by little, my muscles became numb until I fell unconscious.

  I struggled to open my eyes, which felt so heavy. I found myself lying on some hay spread on a cold floor. Water was dripping on me from the leaky ceiling, but the water on my face was even colder than the outside rain had been. There were no windows, and the moisture in the air made it hard to breathe. The only light came through a little opening in the door.

  I must have hit my head hard because the pain was unbearable. I lifted my hands up to assess the damage to my head, and was shocked to discover that my hands were clasped by iron shackles. They were chained so tightly together that they started to bleed almost immediately when I tried to free them. The shaking of the chains made the guard outside my cell aware of my awakened state. He took a peek through the opening in the door. “The Gypsy woman is awake,” he said.

  The words sounded loud in the silence of the prison. Two more men rushed to join him as the door opened.

  I stood up to meet them. The three men were heavily armed, as if I was a threat to them, chained to the wall like an animal. The shortest one held a part of the armor of Clouds my father had made.

  “Where did you get this?” he asked.

  “It is a gift for His Majesty, Prince Victor, sent from Sir Richard of Stoneburg. His Majesty is expecting this gift for his upcoming birthday.” My words seemed to insult them.

  “His Majesty,” interrupted another one, “does not make deals with Gypsies.”

  “Leave the lady alone!” yelled someone in the cell across from mine.

  “If she were a lady, she would not be here. All I see is another Gypsy pig,” said the soldier holding the torch. His description of me infuriated me. In my anger, I threw myself at him. Sadly, my chains prevented me from getting close enough to teach him a lesson he well deserved. The only damage I made was to my own hands as I was jerked backwards by the strength of the chains nailed to the wall. The soldiers burst out laughing at my misstep.

  Chapter 4

  “You better make sure that I can’t get myself loose. If I get close enough to you, I will bring you down,” I said, enraged.

  “Why don’t you mess with someone who can actually take you down?” the prisoner across my cell yelled.

  One of the guards spat in disgust and signaled with his head for the others to follow him. The next thing I heard was the prisoner who stood up for me being beaten by them, nonstop. After they left him, only heavy breathing and coughing from the Gypsy could be heard.

  “Are you alright?” I asked softly.

  “As good as it gets for criminals like us,” he said in between coughs.

  “I am not a criminal,” I said to him.

  “It doesn’t make a difference to them. We’re Gypsies and that makes us criminals; no judgment needed. We are sentenced to death the moment they catch us. We will hang by the end of the week, when there are enough of us to fill the gallows,” he said, scornfully.

  We kept quiet until he started to hum a song, resigned to his helpless future. I knew the melody well enough; it had gotten me in trouble with the Gypsies not too long before today. I joined him, singing the words while he kept humming:

  “The moon and the sun, as one shall become, no longer apart will they ever be.

  The day and the night shall share the same home, deep in the forest the music will ring.

  Love once forbidden now will bring freedom. A black rose will seal the fate of us all.

  A kiss on the forehead, a blessing is given. A Blackrose of power hangs from her neck.

  A wandering thorn will bring forth new blossoms. The thief, the beggar for her will right their ways.”

  My cell door opened. I fell silent instantly. I stood up and waited for the first guard, the one with the torch, to come close enough to me before charging. He did not see it coming. I punched him in the face, and he fell to the ground at the same time his torch did. The soldier behind him took his sword and aimed it at me. I jumped back as his sword slashed the air in front of me, missing me by an inch or so. I slid on some of the water that had been dripping from the ceiling and went down hard myself. Lucky for me, I had fallen next to the torch. Without hesitation, I used it to block his next blow and then kicked him in the face with such force that he hit the back wall. I turned to get a hold of his sword, but the first guard, now on his feet, stepped on it with one foot and kicked me in the face with the other one.

  “That’s enough!” I recognized the annoying voice. Sir Daniel had only spoken the words “Prince’s orders” for me a couple of times before, but his voice was unforgettable.

  He was the same guard that Prince Victor had assigned to protect and assist me during our trip. Sir Daniel took the keys from the fallen guard and removed my chains. “His Majesty is not going to like this,” he said, examining my wounds with the light from the torch.

  Taking me by the arm, he guided me through the door. The other guards tried to argue, but he silenced them with a wave of his hand. I stopped and looked back to the cell across from mine. The prisoner there had stood up for me even though he did not know me. By walking away, I was leaving him to his death.

  “I can’t leave, not without my friend.” I rooted my feet to the ground and shook Sir Daniel’s grip off.

  The Gypsy called out from his cell. “Do not be stupid. Take your freedom if they a
re giving it to you.”

  “You cannot help him,” said Sir Daniel, who started walking again.

  I followed him only to take the keys from him and open the other cell door. The Gypsy was lying on the floor with his hands and feet bound and blood all over his face and clothes. His face was swollen from all the beatings he had received since his arrival, but I still recognized his features from my previous encounters with the Gypsies. He had Valdo’s facial features. I could have sworn I was looking at Valdo in his youth. I sat next to him and gently put his head on my lap. His hair was short, almost to the scalp, and his goatee needed a good trimming. By the expression on his swollen face, I knew he recognized me too.

  “Please tell His Majesty where to find me if he needs my services. If he does not require my assistance, he can see me hang on the gallows by the neck with the other Gypsies you have imprisoned.” There was no defiance in my voice.

  “They kidnapped you! And now you are putting your life in danger for one of them,” Sir Daniel said, confused.

  I held up my blood-stained hands and gently rubbed my wounds. “Gypsies did not give me these; they did not put me in a cell either. They gave me clean clothes and let me go. Can you not do that also? Give a life for a life.”

  Sir Daniel turned around, annoyed at my request. “Bring him to my quarters,” he said in exasperation.

  “And my bag with all my belongings must be brought over as well,” I added, staring at the guard still holding the piece of unfinished armor in his hands.

  Sir Daniel ignored his companions’ murmurs until we arrived at our destination, particularly the questionings of the one I had kicked to the wall.

  Upon our arrival at Sir Daniel’s quarters, we realized that our numbers had dwindled. The guard I had kicked to the wall was no longer there. Sir Daniel assured me that it would not be long before we were overrun with soldiers in pursuit of the two criminals that he had helped to escape, according to how the missing guard would tell the story. I was thinking of what the consequences would be for Sir Daniel, but he did not seem worried at all.