Chapter XVII - Love and Loyalty
The Legend of Leanna Page: Vol. I
You’re reading The Legend of Leanna Page, the page-turning mythopoetic queer literary fantasy. *Click here for the Table of Contents and start of Volume I*
Previously: Leanna discovered Isolda had been selling food to the wealthy while the poor were left to starve in Masor’s drought. Madrick would not rise from his depression to resolve the issue, so Leanna convinced him to journey with her to the Aldorian Waterfall where the magic in the water brought back his spirits. Madrick had the royal scribe send an urgent announcement to every lagif in Masor: Their king had returned.
“What is this, Madrick?”
Princess Isolda stormed into the throne room where King Madrick sat in his rightful royal seat the next morning.
“My apologies, Isolda, did Clark not write it clearly?”
Isolda sighed. “Brother, you cannot simply… take power.”
“Why not? You did,” he replied.
“That was an entirely separate circumstance.”
“Yes,” he rejoined. “One which has now been entirely resolved.”
The princess was confounded. “What brought this on?” She asked. “Surely you had no sudden awakening. Last I saw you could hardly stand; or, at least, you had no interest in doing so.”
He paused before revealing, “Leanna inspired me.”
Isolda laughed furiously, then scowled. “That insolent page. What hath she done?”
“She opened my eyes to the truth. You have made a mockery of your position, Isolda, and I have come to set it right.”
“Do not insult me, brother,” Isolda growled. “I have done more to tend to this entire kingdom than thou hast done tending to thy own little bedchamber.”
“I quite resent that. I have a done great deal for our people.”
“You made some peasants feel important for a time. That is hardly a great deal.”
Madrick stood from the throne, beginning to see his sister anew. After all this time, did she still think so little of him? “Isolda, how can you speak so cruelly about my achievements? I brought our nation a level of happiness I am not certain it had ever seen before.”
“None of that would have been possible if I had not taken up your duties while you were wasting away with wine.”
He nodded. “I appreciate your diligence, Masor is indeed better for it, but that does not delegitimize my later accomplishments, nor your improper priorities.”
“My priorities?” She laughed. “With the exception of a brief period of years, your greatest priority has been seeing your flask is filled.”
“That may be true, but—”
“You can find no objection to my claim, Brother, you know I am right.”
He looked at her, astonished, taking a moment to think. Finally, he asked, “Why did you never help me?”
She paused, then shook her head. “Help you? I was occupied helping the kingdom.”
“We have advisors and lagifs and servants to whom you delegated everything. If you had so desired, there was plenty of time in which you might have helped a member of your own family. Do you understand that I have been ill?”
“You were not ill, Madrick, you were drunk. The fault for that lies entirely with you.”
“Yes, and I take responsibility for all I have done, but the fact remains that in order to change I needed assistance. I needed loving aid from someone who cared. Before Leif and Leanna, no one so much as offered that; least of all, you.”
Isolda scoffed, flustered. “What was I meant to do? Should I have allowed the kingdom to perish while I nursed you?”
“No.” He strode toward her, a saddened anger fueling his stride. “You could have helped me be a king. You had so much knowledge and understanding where I had so little, but my heart was good. Most of all, it is my passion for our people that has healed me. You could have helped me find that. You could have given me tasks, required me to make decisions. You could have taught me about leadership and shown me what it was that I was missing; instead, you simply took it all away from me. You left me with nothing.”
“You did not want it, brother.”
“I did not want any responsibility; I hardly wanted life at all.” A cry crept into his throat. “Was that any reason to push me toward throwing it away?”
Isolda fell silent. A touch of apology entered her eye, and she looked down. “Perhaps I indeed have not been good to you, Brother.” She met his gaze. “I am glad that, eventually, somebody was.”
“Thank you.”
“Nevertheless,” she continued, “I have worked dreadfully hard to earn my right to lead this kingdom. I will not allow that right to be trampled upon.”
His brow wrinkled in confusion. “Isolda, you do not have the right to lead the kingdom. That right is bestowed upon the oldest. That right is mine.”
“But you relinquished it.”
“I relinquished the duties, not the title and right. I am reclaiming what is mine.”
Isolda’s heart ran faster. “The lagifs will not follow you. In all matters of consequence, I am their queen, and they are quite pleased with it that way.”
Madrick chuckled. “You believe the lagifs of Masor, every one of them the eldest of their line, would be pleased to allow you to do away with our ancient heirship laws so you could circumvent the order of our birth?”
“I would be doing no such thing. The law will still stand, we will simply deem it irrelevant for our circumstances.”
“The law applies to the crown, Isolda. Do you mean to challenge the law? I assure you, there is no other way in which you can retake the power that belongs to me.”
Isolda turned away and paced the room. When she spun back toward him, she stopped and looked down her nose at her sibling. “You disappear for weeks, probably squandering the last drink the nation has, then suddenly return with a grand declaration because of the meager suggestion of a servant. How is anyone meant to trust this ‘passion’ of yours will not once again prove temporary?”
Madrick deflated, dropping his gaze. “As much as I will work to prevent it, my leadership may very well be interrupted again by my weaknesses. Still, I am not encumbered with them now. I have found hope again, and I refuse to allow it to go to waste.” He paced back toward the throne.
“Then I am afraid we have reached an impasse, for I will not so easily walk away from everything I have built.”
Madrick sat in his grand seat and, leaning forward, casually rested his chin on his fists. “Explain yourself to me, Isolda, for I am truly bewildered. Do you not see that peace can only come about when, at large, people are content? If you continue to disregard the greatest portion of our people, then they will never be content, and we will never have peace. Why are you so intent to fight against my governing style?”
“Because it not peace and contentment that I seek, Brother, but prosperity and grand historical notability. That is what my governing style is particularly suited to achieve.”
Madrick rose off his knees and sat tall. “Then you truly care nothing for the lives of our people?”
“I care for our kingdom. I care for our name and our royal posterity. Is that not enough?”
“No, Isolda. It isn’t.” He sat back, relaxing into the throne. “If you wish to challenge me, so be it. I suppose, with the lagifs soon arriving, now is as good a time as any. Shall we tell them together how you mean to enact a coup and throw our nation even further into disarray?”
The princess clenched her fists and clamped her lips together as they twisted in contempt.
The king continued. “Unless those are the lengths to which you are willing to go, Sister, then I am the crown, and you are the vice-crown, and there is nothing to be done to change it. Do you wish to see how many of our respectable lagifs will support you in a baseless insurrection?”
“Don’t be absurd.”
“Very well, then. I am Crown. When the local lagifs arrive, and the others watch from their glass, I expect to see you treat me as such.”
Isolda did all in her power to bury her contempt under a complying silence. She slowly strode back to stand beside her brother’s throne, vowing to hold her tongue until she could discover the fragile fault which would bring down his witless reign permanently.
Just then they began to hear voices clamoring outside the hall and shortly thereafter Leanna came stumbling into the room.
“Your majesty” – and seeing Isolda – “Vice-Crown. They’ve arrived.”
At a wave of Madrick’s hand, the grand doors were unclosed. A torrent of lagifs spilled into the room and the mirror to the side glowed bright and vivid with sudden use. All quickly fell silent at the unusual sight of Madrick on, what they thought to be, Isolda’s throne.
“My grand Masorians,” Madrick began, rising to stand tall before them. “You will have received my note, and so I will not bore you with speeches of why I have gathered you here today. The length of it is this: You, gentry, are not all that holds value in the Masor population. In this time – dire for all – it is ever vital that the gentry, peasants, and royals together are able to collaborate so that we might lose as little from our numbers as life will allow. I have come to understand you, lagifs, have found assistance in Isolda’s castle despite otherwise our civilry having to fend for themselves. Even we here in the castle, I admit, have eaten better than most in these times. I will change that. The entirety of our resources in Masor shall now be fully accounted for, and distributed equally to all.” Murmurs began to accumulate in the listeners, but Madrick continued, silencing them. “Save your thoughts, I will offer time for them. Now, only understand that this afternoon, assessors will begin arriving in the towns and villages, determining what is had and what is needed. I expect you, our noble lagifs, to cooperate best of all.”
Lagif Oscar Bisqueth stepped forward from the crowd with a request, now, to speak. King Madrick allowed it.
“Forgive me, dear King, say again. Surely a lagif might receive more than a peasant.”
“Why is that, Bisqueth? Will they eat more than a farmer?” Madrick asked.
“Perhaps not, sire, but…” Bisqueth floundered, then found his pride. “Well, we are gentry!”
“Indeed, and as the gentry I trust you will respect your king’s decree. You asked that I say again, so I shall: All in the kingdom shall receive equal, including you, myself, and all others—” Madrick looked now to Leanna with the sudden thought, “except peasants with larger families, perhaps they should receive more—” Leanna shrugged and nodded while the lagifs groaned. “Regardless,” the king continued, “none will have luxury, but all will fill their plates; at least, so long as there is anything to provide.”
Lagif Lilac Huebert stepped forth and exclaimed, “The gentry are not meant to live like peasants, your highness. We can pay for the extra rations!”
“What good will gold do for a kingdom that starves?” Madrick rejoined. He returned to sit in his chair. “I have made my decree, and it shall be carried out as such. Consider this session adjourned.”
The lagifs all looked to Isolda, but the princess simply shook her head in helpless disdain. Before any could begin their disgruntled shuffle toward the door, Kn. Degora entered the hall, leading in a strong older peasant who held a bucket.
“Your highness,” Kn. Degora began addressing the throne, then looked from it to Isolda, then back to Madrick, making all attempts to hide that she was shaken. “This woman would not be halted at the gate. She requests an urgent word with you,” then added, “King.”
“This is highly irregular, Kn. Degora,” Isolda began. “These lagifs have no time—”
“I wish to hear her,” Madrick interrupted. “Come forth.”
The woman began a procession through the throne room, walking down an aisle created in the space left by the lagifs who parted to the sides. The difference between them was clear with a glance to their footwear alone. The woman’s dusty sandals were a stark contrast to the heeled boots and embroidered patterns of the wealthier feet around her. Nonetheless, to see the confidence in the woman’s eye, one would never suppose she thought herself less than any of her fellow Masorians.
She kneeled before the king, placing down her enclosed bucket, then stood again.
“What hast thou brought to us?” King Madrick asked.
“Water,” the woman replied. A sound of envy erupted from every throat in the chamber. She continued. “I regret this here is all I managed to carry, your highnesses, but the information I can provide will wet many more a parched tongue than one more bucket carried on my old back.”
Degora, without order, stepped before the woman and lifted the lid from the container to see inside.
“It is water indeed,” she gawked. “Water, your highness!”
“Miraculous!” said the king. “Whither hast thou acquired it?”
“Keep naught in concealment,” Isolda added.
“I meant never to conceal a thing;” the woman began, “however, seems so I’ve done it without that intent. Mine is one of the families that lives on the sands of the River. Me, my children, my ancestors, we’ve all lived off the River since long before any Oxbien e’er thought to call the land ‘Masor.’ As it is, sires, we hadn’t known such a terrible drought had been hurting people down South, or for certain at the castle! ‘Course would’ve said something earlier but was no one coming round to tell the River Dwellers things had changed. Sure, rain hasn’t been in, tide’s been low, and the heat—well, something dreadful odd about the heat—but we and the Pavols across the bridge have been living off the River all the same.”
“Your crops, have they grown?” The king asked.
“Not ours, but, just across the River grain grows a plenty, and them that tends it have been more than generous.”
All in the room stood silent a moment as the court heard the news.
“Is it enough to feed the kingdom?” Madrick urged.
“Might not be so much for a whole kingdom to get particu’ly comfortable over, but enough to keep it living, that’s for certain.”
“Ha!” Laughed the king. “This is brilliant.”
“Might I inquire?” Isolda began, a jealous eye to the king. He hid a distrustful glare, but he nodded and she continued, “If you all had gone such time unaware of the extremity of our conditions, what, prithee, brought it at last to attention?”
“You won’t believe the tale, your majesty, but I swear it came to me in a dream.”
“A dream?” Madrick asked, interest piqued.
“Just so, your highness. I remember it more vivid than anything, though a week ago now it was. The voice of some girl, the likes of which I swear I never heard, jolted me from a dream about – well, that’s beside our purpose here – but I started seeing these scenes of Masor; villages, farms, towns, hither city!, like I was a cloud flying over it all, except I couldn’t’ve been since there were none. Everything was so dry, not a drop in the wells – you know how it is – and the smoke. All that smoke, the sun burning red behind it. This voice, this girl, she told me how she’d seen the Gwahanu and knew I could help the whole kingdom if only I knew the truth. Woke up straight then, I did, and I bounded out to the nearest village, asked how things were, and heard again all that I’d just been told while I was asleep! Was right then I hurried back for a bucket then hurried here. Been walking all week, I have.”
“Unusual,” Isolda declared.
Leanna looked down to hide her pride.
Madrick felt the same as Isolda, this being now his second recent meeting with inexplicable magic, but all the same, “Why worry on that now?” he said. “There is sustenance at the Gwahanu enough to save our people, and surely we shall make good use of it.”
An anxious breath, so long held, now released throughout the chamber as all accepted the good fortune. The king asked the woman her name.
“Lucinda Stone, your highness,” she said proudly.
“Lucinda, the crown is grateful to thee,” Madrick pronounced. “Prithee, rest today here in the castle. We shall gather a force that will return with thee to the River at dawn tomorrow and carry the resources to every person in our land.”
“Thank you,” Lucinda said. “Thank you, your highness.”
The king went on. “I hereby place my page, Leanna, as the head of this force. Leanna, thou hast a greater understanding of the townspeople in need. I want thee at the forefront. Thou shalt chose thy knights from those who remain and accompany them to the River. But now, wilt thou please show Lucinda to a chamber where she may rest.”
“It will be an honor, your majesty. Thank you for your trust.” Leanna bowed, and Madrick smiled. “Come, Lucinda,” she said. “Follow me. You have my greatest esteem for making the journey here.”
Lucinda stared in amazement at the young girl whose voice was so familiar. She burned to ask, but at the page’s knowing smile, Lucinda simply mirrored the countenance and followed Leanna out of the throne room.
The court was filtered from the chamber until King Madrick and Princess Isolda stood alone inside.
“Madrick,” Isolda began sternly, then started once more with an attempt at gentility. “Brother, wherefore would you appoint your servant to charge this mission when you have a sister – a vice-crown – far more qualified and willing?”
“I made myself clear,” said the king. “She hath a better understanding of the people.”
“But I am the princess, Madrick, she is a page! Moreover, she has so recently been the cause of our intensified destruction. How can you reward her so?”
Madrick thought solemnly, then responded with genuine truth. “She brought me life again when no one else could. Despite her recent error, grave as it was, she is wise, and she means well.”
“What could she have done that could have such an effect?”
He smiled, unwilling to let Isolda twist the true memory. “She said I was a good king,” he replied simply.
Isolda scoffed. “She blinds you, Madrick. That page will be the downfall of your reign.”
He smirked and raised a brow, standing, beginning to walk out of the room, and stopping beside her on his path. “I may be able to say the same of you, Isolda,” he warned, then, pleased with himself, left the chambers. Isolda stalked out behind him, fuming, and halted before Kn. Degora who had remained to guard the royals in the hall.
“Degora,” she said with quiet fervor. “I need something against her, something damning.”
The knight sighed. “I have followed her for months, my liege, and discovered nothing beside that the servant is the daughter of another servant. Perhaps there is nothing more to find.”
“What of when she went into the Woods?”
“Many a young Masorian has done the same, and it has come to nothing since. The page may be more simple than you imagine.”
“You would deny me?” The princess’s eyes burned into the knight.
Startled, she replied, “Never, your majesty.”
“Go,” Isolda demanded. “Find something, anything, and be quick about it.”
“I will do what I can.”
“Do more,” she ordered, then stormed off down the hall.
As the first rays of light brushed low against the horizon and the color of early evening Sky began to impede upon that of the noon, Leanna sighed in relief, the final preparations now being set for the next day’s expedition. In the excitement of the hour, she had suppressed her anxieties around leading such an important mission and now, when they were allowed to settle, she realized just how breathless they had made her. She stood now on the steps outside the main castle entryway and watched as the knights she had been directing now scurried out of the courtyard to pack their essentials. The sun beheld her from an even level, hovering just above the citadel wall, nearing scarlet in its vicious blaze. She watched it in return, daring its rays to harm her, and it seemed to acquiesce, sinking slight. The slightest hint of a cool wind blew through the courtyard and Leanna, marveling at the moving air, fell to relax in her solitude upon the steps.
Her thoughts then turned to Kennedy. Leanna realized now they had not shared a dream these last several nights, and she wondered how Kennedy might be occupying herself. The thought was due to no happenstance, for Kennedy in that moment wished dearly to speak to Leanna and, sensing so, the latter opened their channel for mental communications.
Leanna? Kennedy’s voice rang through clear, and its sound brought a smile to Leanna’s lips, as well as a warm flush to her cheeks.
Looking out towards the Sky, Leanna answered, “I am here, Kennedy.”
Leanna, I must see thee. She sounded urgent.
“Art thou well? We can dream tonight as soon as—”
No, the fairy interrupted, not a dream, my friend. Please. Come to me. Meet me in the Woods tonight.
Leanna explained to her all that had gone on that day and the importance of her preparedness to leave for the Gwahanu at dawn. Kennedy was sympathetic but begged again.
Something has happened to me, Leanna. I am not harmed; still, I am frightened.
Without further question, Leanna decided, “I will come. Whither will I find thee?”
Shall we meet in the Forest of Lufian? It is still remembered for the Oxbien’s death; no fairy would wander there now, and Masorians never traverse that far into the Wood. We will be alone.
“Lufian?” Leanna confirmed, brow raised at the thought.
Kennedy replied shyly, If it seems suitable to thee.
Leanna beamed. “I think no place should suit our meeting more.”
Neither of them could see the other smile, but both felt the glow of their feeling. They set out at once.
After weaving behind townhomes and between shopfronts, Leanna stopped just before entering the Wood, searching the space behind her, ensuring herself she was foolish to feel anyone might be following her. Casting aside doubt, she walked amidst the Infinites and picked up speed, continuing faster until she found herself running, and did not stop for even a breath before standing at last beneath the magical canopy of the Forest of Lufian. It was not long before she saw a bright iridescent glow reflect off the Trees before her. She turned behind her to see the source.
“Kennedy,” she gasped. “Is it thee?”
“It is, Leanna,” the fairy replied.
“Thy wings!” Indeed, the violet complexion of the young fairy was no longer matched by wings of her hue, nor had they but a simple lavender shine. Leanna gazed in awe at her dear companion whose wings had mystically transformed into articles of such splendor with every color shining from within them. Anchoring the sight was Kennedy’s fine countenance that Leanna had only beheld behind the veil of visions for so many years, and at last she spoke the only words that appeared to her mind. “Thou art a beauty,” she said.
Kennedy turned away from the kindness. “Think the sight of me not lovely, for my greatest fear is now forever attached to my back.”
Leanna stepped nearer. “I don’t understand. What happened?”
“Dost thou possibly recall, long ago, I might have spoken to thee about how the heir to the always unmarried, always childless Queen of Alquoria is chosen?”
“Isn’t it that the magic within the Anwansi Pool somehow designates someone itself?”
“Yes, and dost thou perchance recall how it makes its choice known?”
Leanna thought a moment then gasped in remembrance. “The wings of white!”
Kennedy nodded, fearful to even say it aloud. “Anwansi has chosen me to be its queen. A queen, Leanna! What am I to do as Queen?”
The human smiled. “All thou wert meant to! This is glorious. Why dost thou fear?” Leanna asked.
“I am disliked,” Kennedy began. “I am a menace to the traditions of Alquoria. At only sixteen, I have thoroughly succeeded in turning away any esteem the Elders might have had for me. I have made good friends of warriors and commoners, but the royals at large shun me. If ever a queen was to be locked away from her people, deep underneath the pool, never to see the sun, I would be she! What am I to do in a prison, Leanna?”
The human rushed to the fairy’s side and stroked her arms, speaking with a soft touch to her firm tone. “Thou wouldst wait but a moment until I could arrive and rescue thee,” she said. “There is nothing in this land capable of stifling thy purpose, nothing that could silence thy voice. It is thy spirit that always empowered mine. There is nothing in this world I would not do for thee, and if ever thou art at risk of forgetting that, I shall remind thee, my love."
A silence fell between the two as they held one another. Their chests rose and fell at the mercy of their accelerating breaths, and their gazes hovered between the eyes and the quivering lips of the young woman before them. Kennedy looked shyly to the ground.
“How is it that between the two of us we manage to find all the trouble?” Her wings lost a touch of their light as she spoke. “Thou art despised by thy princess as I am by the Elders.” Leanna chuckled in agreement. “If only thy father had not surrendered the Jewel to Guiomar, we might have faced only one complication at a time.”
Leanna looked to Kennedy and gently raised her chin so they met eyes.
“I am not so afraid of trouble,” she said. “Not when thou art beside me.”
Kennedy sighed, the corners of her lips finding their warmest smile.
“I love thee, Leanna,” she said.
In an instant of the fullest connection, every truth they held was shared between their minds, and with not a single moment more left wasted apart, they were then wrapped in the embrace of passion. Each one’s lips parted to become ever more attached to that of the other and they drew their waists together, arms tightly encircling one another, as every color spark rained down on them from Kennedy’s wings in a shower of excitement and care.
The Trees of Lufian smiled.
But Kn. Degora, concealed behind overgrown roots, wrinkled her nose and turned away from the treacherous page who fraternized with fairies and who had familial ties to the Jewel that had caused the terrible state of their kingdom. All that had perplexed the castle about the young Masorian who would go to such lengths to defend the people of Pavoline now fell into perfect clarity. Surely, it was more than sufficient to eliminate any of the page’s influence over the king.
Late that night, once the two lovers had – at great length – persuaded themselves to part, Leanna snuck through the door of the small cottage she shared with her mother only to find, upon entering, that she stood in the little house alone. She lit a candle and discovered a small parchment with a few words, though none written in her mother’s hand.
Come to the castle, she read.
With wrinkled brow, Leanna diligently extinguished the flame, walked out the door, and headed straight to the palace. Kn. Degora waited on the castle steps, unmoving, as though carved from their very stone. Leanna entered the courtyard at a brisk pace, slowing now as Degora started towards her.
“Have you seen my mother, Degora? She is not at home.”
Kn. Degora said nothing, but secured Leanna by the arm and led her inside.
“What is this?” Leanna asked as she was pulled up the steps. She received no answer but knew better than to struggle against the knight.
Shortly thereafter, they entered the throne room, the several candelabras only shining a dim light on the scene. King Madrick sat solemn on the throne. Princess Isolda stood proud beside him, and – Leanna was astonished, then vexed, to see – Esta knelt in drying tears at Isolda's feet. Isolda glanced to Madrick, but he would not raise his gaze from the ivy leaf he examined in his hand. Degora shoved Leanna’s shoulder to make her kneel. Once on the hard floor, Leanna glared at Isolda, and the princess glared in return. Isolda never broke her gaze with the page as she spoke.
“Kn. Degora, report again your finding for the court.”
She did: “Leanna Page was found conspiring with a fairy royal—”
“Conspiring?” Leanna interrupted.
“I saw thee tonight,” the knight snarled.
Leanna’s eyes widened in shock, then wrinkled in rage, finally simmering into a stoic understanding. “You have misconstrued the meeting, knight.”
The king shook his lowered head, scowling in fury. “Why should we believe thee, with your actions in Pavoline, and now this? Fairies!” An alarmed silence followed his rageful question.
Leanna looked to him with sincerity, bemused that his trust could dissipate so suddenly. “I wish you well, Madrick. Same for all Masor.” When she managed to win Madrick’s glance, Isolda stole it away.
“All she says is a lie, Brother. What loyal servant has once been smiling to their kingdom’s enemy?”
“The fairies are not your enemy,” Leanna tried.
“They took my parents from me,” the king reminded her.
“They didn’t.”
“Cease thy lies!” He bellowed. “I have told thee of them all these years. How hast thou maintained thy delusions?”
“I know the truth of them, your highness, I always have.” Leanna’s heart raced. “It is you who are mistaken. Guiomar Ranzentine is the enemy of the Oxbiens, not the fairies. It is he who brought on this drought, it is he who—”
Isolda interrupted, prodding. “Yes, and who offered him the power to ravage us so?”
Leanna, bewildered at Isolda’s accusatory tone, stared to the princess until remembering Kennedy’s words about her father and the Jewel – the same words Kn. Degora would have heard. Her gaze fell to her mother who responded with naught but apologetic helplessness. The young page collected her breaths then looked back to the royalty before her.
“My father erred in an effort to support us.”
Isolda turned to the king, “A father loyal to Pavoline, might we recall,” then returned to Leanna. “One who has intentionally doomed our kingdom. Didst thou make any effort to stop him? Didst thou think to inform us? We might have undone it while we had the Ranzentines in our castle.”
“I tried to warn you, your highness! You would not hear of it. What else could I have done?”
“Thy warnings might have been more explicit. We might have sought the proof!” The princess screeched.
“I would have had to relay my knowledge, and my reason for it, thither before Guiomar. He would have murdered my father in the next instant.”
“That is not the concern of Masor,” Isolda replied.
Leanna remained stern. “I shall not apologize for protecting my father’s life when all he has done in all his days has been to protect mine.”
Isolda clicked her tongue. “Thou art a traitor, dangerously disloyal to our kingdom.”
Leanna shook her head, astounded, seeking to defend herself. “I helped return the health of our king, did I not?”
Isolda scowled, and Madrick felt the knife of betrayal fall deeper in his chest. Wounded, he asked, “With what magic, Leanna? I persuaded myself those stories of the waterfall might have come from within Masor so I did not have reason to distrust thee, but it is impossible. I know of no magic that does not have root in the world of fairies. Art thou so intertwined with them that they share with thee their magical secrets?”
Leanna sighed. No effective lie occurred to her, and she knew to refuse him an answer was to imply her guilt. She thought of Kennedy, fighting proudly through the disapproval of the royals, and knew at once her only path forward was through the truth. She looked straight to the king.
“There were no stories about the pool, your highness,” she began. “Knowledge of it came to me in a vision. In the same manner, I have communed with my father as he sits trapped in the cells of Pavoline, kept locked away by Guiomar to unearth my mother and I who know his secrets. In mystic dreams, I have met with the same beauteous fairy I did tonight near nightly since my youth; and, it was that same magic – born embedded within me – that permitted my thoughts to carry into the dreams of Lucinda Stone.”
Madrick stood, stunned, and Isolda stared at the page in awe.
Leanna continued. “Your highness, in truth, I do not know what I am, but I know I am part of Masor; and part of Pavoline; and, in equal share, part of the fairies, whether somehow in body, or in spirit and love alone. I have no loyalty to any of the human monarchs in our world that could cause me to revoke that love.”
Madrick crushed the ivy leaf he held in his seething fist.
“If—” Leanna went on. “If you have such hatred of them that you will not see beyond it to the truth, then you must let your hatred fall upon me in its path. I will no longer pretend to favor your delusions – my king.”
“Dungeon,” Madrick croaked, leaving no space for Isolda to demand the same. Leanna raised a prideful chin, hiding the ache in her heart. Madrick looked to the knight expectantly. “This instant, Kn. Degora. Remove this traitor from my sight.”
“Yes, your highness.” Degora secured Leanna’s arms behind her and muscled her around toward the door.
“Wait!” Leanna pleaded.
“I have no heart left for thee, page,” the king declared.
Though his words came at her like daggers, she shook her head. “Not for me. I beg you, find sympathy for my mother.” Esta cried at her daughter’s strength. “She hath done no wrong in all her life but fall into a love that left the world inexplicably with me. Do not hold her responsible for my crimes.”
“She shan’t be employed in the castle!” Isolda scoffed.
Madrick nodded, “But we shall not pursue her beyond that. Esta, thou hast my word. Thou art not welcome here, but thou art free.” He turned back to Leanna. “Now go.” He waved at Kn. Degora who continued to march Leanna from the chamber. She had one final glance to her mother before the grand doors were shut between them.
From a small, wide-eyed trespasser, to servant, to traitor, Leanna walked back through her memories of the Masorian castle, shoved now down halls and stairwells she had never yet seen where the tapestries ended, windows became scarce, and a few meager ensconced torches were all that attempted to shed light on the dark stone walls. At last, at Kn. Degora’s direction, she walked into her own cell and watched with dread as the bars closed in around her.
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