by Kami Bryant
“It is her heart,” said Juniper.
“How can that be her heart?” asked Beau.
“It is an image of her heart. This is what beats inside her chest.”
“But it is covered in gears and clockwork pieces,” said Beau astonished.
“Her heart has been corrupted with evil magic. It is unnatural,” hissed the mage.
“How can that be?”
“Someone removed her heart from her body and replaced it with this abomination.”
“Mormorant?”
“Most likely,” replied Juniper.
“This is how he controls her? She wasn’t always so cruel and evil, she was gentle and sweet. Is it the heart that has turned her cruel?”
“I imagine so. I doubt she has any of her own emotions left, but only that which the demon feeds her.”
“Fix it,” demanded Beau. “Turn her back to what she was!”
“I can’t. It is too far gone.”
“You have to!” shouted Beau turning toward Juniper, tightly gripping the mage’s shoulders and gently shaking her. “Please.”
“I can’t. The only way to remove the corruption would be to transfer the clockwork to another heart. It would be the only way to cleanse the evil from her body. And it would take a tremendous amount of energy. More energy than I could possibly wield by myself.”
“There has to be a way to reverse the spell.”
“It has been there for a very long time, maybe ten years. It has spread far.”
“Ten years? When I was banished?”
“Most likely,” replied the mage.
“He did this to her and banished me to certain death, so he could control her kingdom?”
“I doubt she can make her own decisions anymore. She is like a doll, an automaton, a clockwork girl,” said Juniper as she floated across the floor away from Beau. “You should kill her and then kill Mormorant. She is not the woman you remember; she is just a pretty doll. Killing them both is the only way to save your kingdom.”
“No,” shouted Beau. “No, I am going to save her, and you are going to help me! Please, find a way.”
“You are still in love with her? Even after all this time? After all that has happened? After all the people that she has tortured and killed!?”
“You said yourself that she is not responsible for her actions! It isn’t her fault. He did all of that.”
Juniper sighed and then whispered, “Fine,” as she floated out of the room. “We will find a way.”
Beau sat down on a wooden chair near the bed with Em’s sleeping form and gazed upon her. “I will never give up on you,” whispered Beau. “Never. I promise.”
Juniper sat on a stump far from camp in the quiet meadow. Her black eyes were closed, and her violet hair fell across her face. Beau thought she looked to be in deep meditation as she sat there.
Beau walked up to her and said, “Why is she still sleeping, Juniper? It has been three days.”
“I put a spell on her while I studied her enchantment.”
“Damnit, Juniper you could have told me that. I thought she was dying!”
“I forgot,” whispered Juniper, her eyes still closed.
“Fuck,” said Beau as he plopped his ass down on the grass beside Juniper’s stump. He sighed as he sat there. “Have you figured it out?”
“Maybe.”
“Really?”
“Maybe,” repeated Juniper.
Beau hissed his annoyance and impatience. He flopped down on the grass and took four deep breaths to calm himself. He then once again sat up and asked Juniper, “What have you come up with?”
“Why is the corruption and enchantment centered in her heart?”
“I don’t know, Juniper, so that she is cruel? So, she no longer can love?”
“The heart does not control one’s feelings but yes, the heart is symbolic for love.”
Beau sighed and pulled his dirty blond hair away from his face. “Okay Juniper, why is the enchantment on her heart?”
“So that it can spread throughout her body. The heart pumps blood into the body. Any infection in the heart will spread through the entire body.”
“How do we stop it?”
“It is too far gone to stop it,” replied Juniper.
“Then how are we going to save her?”
“The corruption can’t be stopped but maybe, it can be stopped from spreading more. If her body can fight the infection, maybe then she can be released from Mormorant’s influence.”
“And how can we do that Juniper?” asked Beau rubbing his eyes with frustration.
“I don’t know,” said Juniper quietly.
“Fuck,” said Beau slapping his hands across his face. “Talking to you is like talking to a machine,” sighed Beau.
“Wait,” said Juniper. She jumped up and floated away. “Come!” she shouted behind her. “Come!”
Beau jumped to his feet and followed the floating mage. “Wait Juniper!” he shouted and sprinted after her.
“Come!” replied Juniper. “Come!” she urged as she floated back to camp.
“Juniper!” yelled Beau. He sprinted to catch up. As he ran through the camp he could see Juniper vanishing into the hut that housed the sleeping Em.
“Juniper?” he asked as he walked through the door. The violet-haired mage floated three inches off the hut’s floor. Blackness obscured the whites of her eyes until only a fathomless void stared back from her face. “What the?” whispered Beau. “You are freaking me out, Juniper!”
“Where am I?” demanded a cold voice.
Beau turned with astonishment and saw Em sitting up in bed. Beau had asked Miranda to remove the masquerade gown and now Em wore a simple white cotton shift.
“Where AM I !!” shouted Em. “I am Queen Emberlyn and you will respond!”
“Ask her what is the last thing that she can remember,” hissed Juniper in her unearthly voice.
“What?” asked Em. “What is that?” she asked in her cold voice.
“What is the last thing that you remember Em?” asked Beau.
“Excuse me!” shouted Emberlyn. “I am Emberlyn Miriam Julia Chittenden, queen of Mirovia and you will address me as Your Majesty!”
“You are my prisoner and you will answer me, Your Majesty.”
“How dare you!”
“What is the last thing you remember Em?”
“I was at the masquerade ball. I was dancing with a tall man. You. I was dancing with you.” Emberlyn looked down at her body. “What am I wearing? Where is this place? What is this place?” she asked as she looked around the hut with a scornful glare.
“No,” said Juniper. “What is the first thing you remember ever?”
“What?”
“Do you remember your mother Em?” asked Beau. “Do you remember me?”
“You are my jailer,” said Emberlyn. “You were there at the masquerade.”
“NO!” shouted Juniper as her slight form floated closer to Emberlyn. Her black gaze captured Em’s brown eyes and Em stared into them.
“Juniper?” whispered Beau. “What are you doing to her, Juniper?”
“WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU REMEMBER!!” An evil voice resonated from the tiny mage sending a chill down Beau’s back.
“Please Juniper,” hissed Beau. For the first time since he met Juniper in Traetan he felt afraid of the petite being. “Please Juniper,” he repeated.
“I was in a bed,” said Emberlyn quietly. “I opened my eyes and I was in a bed. I looked around the room. A bandage was wrapped across my chest. A small man wearing brown pants and a white tunic stood at my bedside. He was bald headed, and he looked down at me with a wide smile. It was Mormorant,” continued Em. “I was in my room. I was bandaged and Mormorant stood beside me.”
“Do you remember anything before that?” asked Juniper.
“No,” said Emberlyn.
“Okay,” said Juniper, and as if she were a puppet with her strings cut, Emberlyn fell to the bed with
her eyes closed.
“Juniper!” shouted Beau as he rushed to Em. He put his finger against Em’s throat. Her clockwork heart was still beating. Her chest still rose up and down as she breathed.
“She is sleeping,” whispered Juniper. Beau looked over and saw that all the blackness had bled away from Juniper’s eyes. Her black pupils and irises gazed back at him. The whites of her eyes had returned.
“You scared me Juniper,” said Beau. “Please don’t do that again.”
“She doesn’t remember anything before she woke up after Mormorant’s enchantment. She remembers that her chest was bandaged. He removed her heart from her body and infected it with the corrupted clockwork.”
“So, how do we stop the infection from spreading? How do we remove the corruption?” asked Beau.
“Do you think she is still in there somewhere? The Em that you love so deeply?” asked Juniper.
“Yes. I know she is. I feel it.”
“If her memories can be restored. If she is still in there, maybe then she can be saved. You need to make her remember who she was before Mormorant changed her.”
“How am I supposed to do that?” asked Beau.
“Did she love you?” whispered Juniper.
“Yes,” said Beau. “With all that she was.”
“Are you sure?” asked Juniper in her eerie hissing voice.
“Of course, I am sure,” replied Beau.
“Then make her remember how she loved you. Maybe then she can be recovered.”
“So, if I can make her love me again, you can fix her?”
“Maybe. I will still have to remove the clockwork from her heart and transfer the pieces to another human heart. But maybe she will have a chance.”
“How long do I have, Juniper?”
Juniper reached out her white bony hands to Em’s sleeping form. The glowing holographic picture of Em’s clockwork heart again rose from the sleeping queen’s chest and floated to Juniper’s waiting palm. The clockwork heart hologram shrunk smaller and smaller. Juniper’s left hand slipped into the pocket of her cloak and pulled out a black stone the size of a quail’s egg strung on a leather cord. With her left hand, Juniper placed the stone into her right palm. The holographic clockwork heart shrunk until it joined with the black stone. Beau watched with astonishment as the stone glowed blood red, indigo and gold. Beau could just make out the tiny clockwork gears etched across the stone that still glowed an otherworldly glow.
“Here,” said Juniper and offered the stone to Beau. He took the stone and examined the glowing purplish red and gold stone. At the center of the stone he could just make out a tiny black pinprick sized dot.
“If the black spreads and covers the stone completely then it will be too late, and she will be lost to you forever,” hissed the mage.
“Okay,” said Beau and tied the leather cord behind his neck. “No pressure,” he sighed.
Beau walked into the hut carrying a cream-colored corset, black leather trousers and black knee length leather boots. He opened the door and saw the very angry queen pacing the floor wearing only her white shift, her feet bare and her dark brown curls wild and loose trailing down her back. When Beau walked in, she turned and glared her angry stare, her dark brown eyes flashing with rage.
“You will release me at once,” she commanded.
“No, I will not,” replied Beau calmly. “I brought you some clothes to change into,” continued Beau. “I am not an expert with woman’s attire, but I believe that since the stays of this corset are in the front, that you are able to manage it by yourself. Or would you prefer that I send in Miranda to help you?”
“I prefer that you return me to my castle at once!” shouted Em, snatching the clothes from Beau and throwing them at the wall of the hut. The leather boots bounced off the flimsy walls made from woven tree branches and landed to the soft moss floor.
“No need to have a tantrum, Em. Put on the clothes and I will show you around the camp.”
“Who are you?”
“Beauregard Bartholomew Kitchingham at your service, Your Majesty,” said Beau with a courtly bow. “My friends call me Beau.”
“What is this place?”
“This is my camp and your new home, milady,” said Beau with a grin. “Come on now, Em let me show you around so that you can meet your royal subjects. They are so excited to meet you.”
“Who are you? What is this place?” repeated Em.
“I already told you. This is my camp. The people living in this camp are excited to meet you. And this is now your home. Now, will you get dressed? Or would you like me to do it for you?” asked Beau with another grin.
“You most certainly will not, sir. I am a queen. I would never allow such a scoundrel as you to ever be near me in such an undignified way.”
“Okay, okay,” said Beau. “I was just kidding. I will be waiting outside. So, hurry up already.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Emberlyn wore black leather trousers, a cream-colored corset and black knee-high boots like a commoner. She had no idea what had happened to her black velvet and red silk gown from the masquerade or the ruby collar. The ruffian standing beside her most likely had stolen it. He was tall. He had bright blue eyes and long dirty blond hair that he had tied back in a messy knot at the nape of his neck. He wore a white long-sleeve cotton shirt, brown trousers and brown boots very similar to the black ones that she now wore. He had an extremely muscular build and he had dirt underneath his fingernails. Em was disgusted that this ruffian had dared to put his hands on her royal person. With embarrassment, Em realized to that she was sexually attracted to the tall scoundrel which made her shudder with rage. How dare he, thought Em. He is disgusting, and I hate him.
“What is this place?” she growled at the ruffian who had introduced himself as Beau.
“This is the home of your royal subjects, my queen. We are known as the Forsaken.”
“What? I have been kidnapped by a group of rebels, led by you? The Scoundrel of the Forsaken!”
“I never agreed to that name. Why can’t I just be Rebellion Leader of the Forsaken? Who decided to call me Scoundrel?”
“I think it fits you very well,” said Em. The Scoundrel chuckled a deep and very male laugh that made Em’s body tighten with her excitement. Her continuing attraction to the man only succeeded in making her angrier. As soon as the opportunity presents itself, I am going to bash in this man’s sexy face with a rock, she thought to herself.
“Come along Em,” continued Beau. “I want you to meet everyone. I am going to have you help Emmeline in the gardens.”
“You are going to what?”
“Place you with Emmeline to help her with the garden. That is where we get our food, Your Majesty, we grow it.”
“In the dirt?”
“Yes, Em and we don’t have any maintenance automatons, so we do all the planting and weeding ourselves. Everyone who lives here helps with the maintenance of the clan. We help each other, and everyone has a job. You should be honored, working in the gardens is a very important job.”
“I am not going to wallow in the dirt like some kind of animal,” said Em and with as much dignity as she could, turned back to walk through the door of the nasty stick hut where she intended to stay until she was rescued.
“Damn it, Em! Why are you always so stubborn?” The man called Beau, followed her and grabbed her around the waist and threw her over his shoulder. He then put his right arm across the backs of her knees as she screeched her displeasure. He wore his white long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up past his elbows and he also wore a cranberry striped vest that Em was getting much too close a look at to her liking as her nose bounced off the man’s back.
“Get your fucking hands off me!” howled Em.
“Well that sounds much more like the Em I remember,” chuckled Beau. The more Em screamed, squirmed and kicked at the tall man, the more Beau laughed.
“Put me down at ONCE!!!” commanded Em.
“Do you love me, Emberlyn?” asked Beau.
“What?!” screamed a shocked Em.
“You used to love me.”
“You are crazy!” screamed the queen.
Beau sighed and walked away from the stick hut with Em screaming on his shoulder. After a moment, Beau dropped the screaming Em on the ground. A young golden blonde woman dressed in a blue blouse, dark blue trousers and a lighter blue corset stared down at the screeching queen in astonishment.
“This is Emmeline,” said Beau. “Em meet Emmy, you will soon be the best of friends I am sure,” grinned Beau. The young girl named Emmy gave a little curtsy to the angry queen. “She is going to show you around the gardens. What do you think, Emmy? Should our Queen Em start with some weeding?”
“I WILL NOT!!” howled Em. “You will hang for this! You will be cut down with a plasma protoblaster. You will be keel hauled under the hull of a warship!” screamed Em.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah Em. Whatever you say.”
“You will be drawn and quartered, and your remains will be fed to rats.”
“Okay, great. He leaned down to Em and glared into her eyes. “Emmy is in charge,” said The Scoundrel. “You will listen and do exactly what she says.”
“I will not,” repeated Em.
“Everyone here helps everyone else. Some of us hunt. Some of us steal. Some of us sew clothes and some us fight but everyone contributes. If you do not help, then you will not eat. Do you understand that Em? If you don’t do as I say, then you won’t get any dinner. Is that what you want, Em? Are you ready for a hunger strike, you who have never gone hungry in your life? These are your people,” said Beau with a sweeping gesture at all the people staring quizzically at the exchange. “These are the poorest of Mirovia but they are still your people. These are the ones who suffer and die while you live in your gilded cage and stare down at us. You will help Emmy NOW!”
