by Timothy Bond
"This Prophecy that you speak of,” Cadresean asked. "Just exactly where does it come from? Is this some kind of magic?"
"I am a little surprised you don't know about The Prophecy already, Brother," Rendil replied. "One of the foremost Prophecy Scholars is Brother Hewin from Caergana. He is of your order after all."
"I know Hewin," Cadresean said, "though I've never really spoken with him. He is somewhat of an odd fellow."
"People say that about everyone in your order," Randolf replied, "no offense intended."
"None taken, Duke Randolf," Cadresean replied, smiling. "So the story was interesting, but what does it have to do with us?"
"The part I did not tell you, the part that will draw all of us together in a life and death struggle, is that Queen Rozlynn is in fact an Elven Princess, and it is she who will bear The Children of the Prophecy to the King."
"What?" Cadresean questioned. "The Queen is an Elven Princess? How can that possibly be? If your story is true, and I do not doubt all of it, Elves only look similar to us, not identical. I've been up close to the Queen, and she is as human in appearance as you or I—though much more beautiful, of course."
"She has been altered by a very ancient form of magic to appear human," Rendil replied. "Not only that, but she also has a powerful spell that will enable her to become pregnant through her coupling with Leondis, and it will lead to twins."
"But if that is true," Karoel asked this time, "and the Queen will only become pregnant under the influence of magic, how can that be fate? How can that be part of The Prophecy?"
"The paths of prophecy are not always completely clear, I admit," Rendil replied. "Though as The Trinity gives us the freedom to exercise our free will, so does prophecy allow us to take whatever steps necessary to see that certain paths are followed. Fate controls many things along the path of prophecy, but ultimately, free will controls much more."
"If the Queen is going to bear these twins, The Children of the Prophecy," Ornwen spoke for the first time, "then I don't see the problem. After all, isn't that one of the steps necessary to keep us on the right, what did you call it? The right path of prophecy to prevent the darkness from coming?"
"The Queen will die in childbirth," Rendil said flatly, "and The Children cannot be raised by the King. They must be taken away and raised in safety. We will be tasked with accomplishing that."
"If the Queen should die," Randolf spoke now, "and I don't know how you can know that, but if she should die, then there is no safer place for them to be raised than in the castle of the King."
"Not according to The Prophecy, Duke Randolf. They must be taken away from the King and raised by humans, but remain hidden from the King at the same time. If they stay with the King, The Prophecy says they will die as well."
Everyone around the table was quiet for a few minutes, when finally Ornwen spoke up. "Then we must plan for how to do this, should the Queen die while giving birth. If she does not die in childbirth, Wizard, then I assume she can raise her own children and they are not these Children of the Prophecy."
"That is correct, Ornwen. If the Queen survives the birthing, then we are not on the path of prophecy where her children play a critical role in saving the world."
"I hope for the sake of my best friend," Anne said, tears now flowing freely, "that she was wrong, and that she is not the catalyst for this path of prophecy. Is it wrong to want that? Is it wrong to want my friend to live and raise her children like any other mother?"
"It is not wrong, Lady Anne," Rendil replied gently. "It is in the hands of the Gods, however."
"And I will be her midwife," Ornwen said stubbornly, "and give her the best possible care. She will not die if I have anything to say about it."
"I would not want it any other way," Rendil replied. "There is one other thing," he went on. "Rozlynn apparently does not know that she will die in childbirth, if we are on the right path."
"Then we must tell her!" Anne insisted.
"No," the wizard said sternly. "We must not. If she should decide not to give birth because of the personal risk involved, and this is the right prophecy path, then all will be lost. We will have no chance of defeating the darkness. I'm sorry, but that is how it must be."
Twenty-Two
It had been just over two months since the wedding, and most, but not all of the guests, had returned to their estates scattered throughout the Kingdom. A few remained to try to gain favor with the new Queen. Gifts for the couple continued to arrive and included some exotic fabrics from the Free Cities, which Rozlynn recognized as Elven silk. The trade between her people and the Free Cities continued, even while both denied the existence of the other.
"You can delay no longer.” Drianna sat with the Queen in the sorceress' parlor off the garden. The morning sun streamed through the windows, brightening the room, if not the mood. "There is no reason to delay and every reason for you to more forward, Princess."
"You must stop calling me that, Drianna," Rozlynn said, sipping tea and nibbling on a sweet cake. "I am Queen now, and we do not want anyone hearing you call me Princess, since no one knows of my life before arriving here."
"You want me to go?" the sorceress replied. "Then you release the spell. That was our deal. You release the spell, and I will leave you to live your life with the human."
"His name is Leondis," Rozlynn shot back. "You may address him as the King, His Majesty, or when we are together, you may call him Leondis. Please show respect."
Drianna looked at the Princess with a scowl on her face, though the other woman did not appear to notice.
"You know I can compel you to do this," Drianna said. "It would not be a difficult spell for me, and you would not control when or where it would happen."
"You wouldn't dare!"
"If you do not address this soon, today, then yes, I certainly will dare!"
The women glared at each other across the small table, the tension rising in the room. A knock on the door broke the silence.
"Your Majesty," a woman's voice said from the other side of the door. "The King is requesting your presence at once in his chambers."
Rozlynn rose and started toward the door.
"Today, Princess," the sorceress repeated.
* * *
"You must leave at once?" Rozlynn asked Leondis, as he selected some clothing from his wardrobe for his manservant to pack.
"I decided only this morning that I should attend the new Duke for a tour of the Duchy," the King explained. "He and Anne are ready to return to Eagles Reach, and this seemed like an opportune time to validate his appointment with a Royal Visit as well."
"It's just that we have only been married two months.” She stepped up close to him and placed her hands on his shoulder. "I am not ready to let you go quite yet." Her eyes twinkled and Leondis knew exactly what she wanted.
"You are insatiable, my love," he said, pulling her in for a kiss. "The business of the Kingdom goes on however, and I am after all the King." She pushed back playfully and then pulled him after her toward the bed.
"Not now," he said, a little more sternly than he meant, releasing her hands and moving back toward the closet. "Randolf is already packed and waiting for me to join them."
"Then let him wait," she replied. "You are the King, not Duke Randolf."
"Roz.” Leondis had naturally picked up the familiar name that Rozlynn lived with her whole life. "Please don't make this more difficult than it already is."
"Then take me with you," she insisted. "If you are to go with Randolf on a tour of the Duchy, then I should be there as well. You can show off your new Queen to the people at the same time."
The King stopped sorting through his clothing and stared into the closet before answering.
"It is also time that you take a leadership role here in Solenta, my love. While I am away on the boring business of the Kingdom, someone will need to run things here. The Queen of the Realm is expected to take that role whenever the King is called away."
The Queen stayed back and let Leondis select several more pieces of clothing, which he tossed on the bed for the servants to pack. She looked toward the one remaining servant and signaled him to leave the two of them alone.
When the room was empty except for the King and Queen, Rozlynn stepped in front of Leondis and took his hands in hers.
"Roz, please," he said again, starting to pull away gently.
"Alnauk-verak, destian-indain.” The Queen released the spell.
The light fled the room accompanied by a clap of thunder. Rozlynn's head spun, and it felt like someone had filled it with wool. Her mouth went dry, her ears rang, and her eyes watered.
A warmth then flooded over her, not unlike that magical feeling when two people reach the pinnacle of lovemaking. Wiping her eyes, she saw that Leondis had fallen to his knees in front of her, a look of surprise on his face.
She dropped to her knees to be next to him.
"Leondis?" she said softly, her voice hoarse and her throat dry.
"My love?" He focused his eyes on his Queen. "Wha—"
"Don't speak," she interrupted him. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him fervently. The King responded with passion unlike any that Rozlynn had experienced in her long life. They made love there on the floor, then again on the bed, then across the divan, and finally fell asleep in each other's arms curled up on a great bear rug in front of a cold fireplace.
* * *
When Duke Randolf went to find the King later that afternoon, he was summarily dismissed. The King had changed his mind, would not be traveling to Eagles Reach, and Randolf was to leave at once.
"The King is not joining us?" The question came from the Lady Victoria, one of the women who had tried to win the King's heart at the Royal Ball many months ago.
She was from Eagles Reach, and Randolf was nearly certain Leondis was going to choose her as Queen—until the wizard brought in the Elven Princess, of course.
"He is not coming, no," Randolf said, as he walked forward to the lead carriage he would be sharing with his wife.
Victoria looked longingly up at the castle, as the coachman ushered her inside and closed the door. She continued to stare out her window as the line of carriages made their way through the inner and outer gates of the castle and entered the city of Solenta. She hoped that Leondis would appear, riding after the small caravan on a grand stallion, and join the Lady in her carriage. If she could not be the Queen, she would settle for being the King's mistress. This position she already filled on those nights when the Queen was not willing to see to the needs of her new husband. A month away from the Queen was more than enough time to make their arrangement permanent.
Though she must return to Eagles Reach, Victoria swore she would come back to Solenta to be with the King, in whatever role he would allow her to fill.
* * *
The Lady Drianna rode alone through the gates of the city, leaving once the spell was released, as she had promised the Princess. Though darkness was falling on the city, the sorceress feared no one on the road. She led a sturdy packhorse with the meager possessions she brought with her and those she had accumulated in the ten months she lived in Solenta.
She managed to find some interesting potions and powders in an apothecary shop. These came from the jungles in the far south, past the Free Cities and across the Great Desert. As she rode along deep in her own thoughts, another rider came up beside her. She startled briefly until she smelled the familiar pipe smoke that seemed to always trail from the wizard.
"Rendil," she said to the shape in the darkness.
"Drianna," he replied. "It is done then?"
"It is done," she replied.
"We have more work to do now."
"You have more to do, Wizard. My part is finished."
"You cannot just walk away now, Drianna," Rendil insisted.
"I can, and I will," the sorceress replied. "I've given up much. Much more than you know, and I have no more to give."
"The Prophecy says otherwise."
"I will not let prophecy rule my life," she said, still looking down the road.
"If only we had that option," Rendil replied. "The Prophecy has its Queen and will soon have its Children. None of us can escape what fate has in store for us."
"We can try," Drianna replied, as tears streamed down her face in the darkness.
The End
This ends Prophecy's Queen, the prequel novella to the The Triadine Saga.
In the first book of the series, The Watcher's Keep, we join the twins shortly after their sixteenth birthday. Leondis has discovered the truth about their birth and sent his personal guard to hunt them down. The adventures begin, as The Children of the Prophecy face seemingly insurmountable obstacles on their way to fulfilling their destiny.
Join us as the adventure continues!
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Also by Timothy Bond
THE TRIADINE SAGA
Prophecy's Queen
The Watcher's Keep
The Dragon Rises
A Kingdom Fallen (summer 2015)
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About the Author
Timothy Bond is an American currently living in Penang, Malaysia.
He often travels to the Upper Aren on weekends, where he has a condominium at Eagles Reach.
When he is not writing, he can be found paddling his canoe on Lake Estonan or running the rapids of the Lower Estonan River.
Email the author at [email protected]
