Chapter 3
There was
little for Tolian to do but contemplate his unusual situation. The Druidesses had gingerly loaded him onto a
small cart drawn by four deer. They were
polite and considerate of his predicament and suffering; they made every effort
to insure his comfort. None of that
changed the fact that they were abducting him.
This caused him no end of confusion.
Why? Why would a handful of women,
Druidesses, want to kidnap him? He could
make no sense out of it. For
ransom? No doubt his father would pay a tidy
sum for his return. He had determined to
interrogate one of his captors as soon as one came near enough to
question. Unable to move his neck or
limbs, he was obliged to wait until someone came within his line of
vision. He could hear that they were
quite close.
They had
been traveling for what seemed like hours before Brythia walked up behind the
cart to address him.
“Are you
comfortable? Do you need food or water,
Your Highness?”
“No,” he
said in an icy tone. “I’m not really hungry, under the circumstances.”
“I am so sorry that this is necessary. We have our orders to obey.”
“Just
following orders, eh? I suppose you tell
yourself that to relieve your sense of guilt.”
She frowned.
“No. You misunderstand me. I feel no guilt about this whatsoever. It is imperative that we take you as quickly as
possible to Hyge Bryth. You cannot
understand at this time, but your destiny lies in wait for you there. The fate of the entire world rests on getting
you there as quickly as possible.”
This was difficult
to believe.
The fate of
the entire world? thought Tolian. “That’s ridiculous,” he said.
“Perhaps it
seems so to you at this time, but, I assure you it is so. During our trip we have been instructed to
explain the situation to you. You will
come to understand. It has been
foretold.”
“Foretold?”
he said, mocking her. “Don’t tell me you
believe in magick oracles and such nonsense?”
Now, her
face grew cold.
“You will
learn the truth of that which you mock, soon enough,” she said angrily. “Now is not the time, you require your
rest. If it was not for this magick that
you demean in your ignorance, you would have died three hours ago.”
She then
left him to his thoughts.
They
travelled on for a while in silence. No
one approached him. He lay there staring
up at the trees, which stretched over the road.
He mused that it was certainly possible that he would have died. That thought brought Delorick to his
mind. Had someone really gone to assist
his friend? Perhaps they had simply
claimed they were going to help him in order to gain his trust. That really didn’t make any sense, as it
frankly didn’t matter if they had his trust or not. He was powerless when they discovered
him. He had to know.
“Excuse
me!” he called out.
In a
moment, Brythia was there. “Do you
require something, my lord?” She asked
politely.
“Yes,
information. My friend, Delorick. Did you really send someone to help him?”
“Of course,”
she said, “We have taken a sacred vow to help any who require assistance. I sent Lira and Clarista, our two best
healers, to tend him, as I had said. You
must learn to trust us.”
“Trust you,”
Tolian scoffed. “You expect me to trust
you after you set upon me with the intention of abducting me? How can you honestly expect me to trust you
after that?”
She wore a
hurt expression, “I have not lied to you.
I have never lied to anyone in my life.
Nor shall I ever lie to you or anyone else. In druidic teaching, there is a strict
requirement that we refrain from dishonesty in thought, word, or action. None of us shall ever lie to you,
Tolian. Not ever.”
The
straightforwardness of her response set him back, slightly. “I’m worried about
him.”
“That’s
understandable. You have my word that he
will receive the best care that is available in this entire world. Do not worry on his behalf. I am entirely certain that he’ll be fine.” She paused.
“You must be hungry now.”
She raised
her arm and the cart stopped.
She turned
to the others. “We will rest here and
take sustenance. Amristia, please feed
our guest.”
Brythia and
Amristia propped the prince up to an upright position. The elfroot seemed to keep most of the pain
at bay, but he did feel some discomfort.
This was the strangest situation Tolian could remember being in. Here he was
being doted on by two of the most women
he had ever seen, and he was their prisoner.
Part of him enjoyed being fed the honeybread and mead that they gave
him. The other part of him wanted to be
anywhere but in the confines of these demented, half-crazed women. Most likely, they weren’t even real Druidesses. No doubt, they were women who had become
disenchanted with their lives and assumed this fantasy life of pretending to be
the legendary mystical sisters of the forest.
Somehow, they must have convinced themselves that they needed a prince
in order to forward their deranged plans.
That must be it, he rationalized.
Something
about that theory didn’t quite make any sense.
First off, how had they known where to find him? Perhaps, they had heard he was in Ursuk, and
it was not secret knowledge that he and Delorick were going to be in the
vicinity of the old bridge investigating the troll sightings. That seemed to explain everything fairly
well, except the efficiency of their treatment of his wounds and their use of
the mysterious elfroot. Still, it was
not too far fetched that they could have picked up a certain amount of lore
pertaining to herbs while engaged in their druidic fantasy.
The thought
of the elfroot brought him back to his physical predicament. He was unbelievably frustrated at being
unable to move. He was worried that he
might never be able to move again. What
sort of a prince would he make then?
Unable to defend his kingdom.
Brythia had said that she expected him to make a complete recovery in
time. She certainly had skillfully
attended his injuries, it seemed at least reasonable to presume she had known
what she was talking about. So, assuming
that he would soon be able to move again, he determined that his best plan was
to watch his captors and wait for a chance to escape.
They had
begun to press on. The sun was dancing
through the foliage on the horizon; the golden light shining on Tolian’s
face. He realized that for the time
being he would simply have to accept his capture with as much dignity as he
could muster. He had asked to be left
propped up as they moved down the road.
This allowed him to look ahead as the small troupe traveled. This had afforded Tolian the opportunity to
finally get a concrete idea of his kidnappers’ number and nature. There were five women in total, dressed in
the garb of the nature priestesses. They
were all quite beautiful, but none of
the rest, thought Tolian, could approach the grace and loveliness of Brythia,
who was the leader. They said little to each other as they
marched down the dirt trail with surprising speed. None of them gave any indication of being
even slightly tired, let alone winded by the harshness of their march.
Somewhere,
earlier, they must have turned off the main road, for they were now headed
roughly southeast. Tolian wished that he
had studied the maps of the area better when Delorick had suggested it. He was wondering if they were going to stop
to rest when Brythia, who was now walking a little distance in the front of the
party, stopped and raised her arm.
Tolian noticed that even the deer that were drawing the cart stopped
instantly. With no words to each other,
the women turned and faced the direction of the setting sun. They raised their arms in a salute and spoke
in unison:
“Hail unto
thee, Mighty Sun in thy Setting. Travel
in thy joy to the kingdoms of Night.”
With that
they turned and resumed their trek.
A clear,
cool autumn evening had set in, the soothing breezes brought sweet forest
smells to Tolian’s nostrils, a welcome relief after the stench of the
troll. He was extremely surprised that
his kidnappers had not stopped since their salute to the setting sun. Now the stars shone down on their path and
they kept moving with the same grim determination. They obviously
wanted to put as much distance between themselves and any pursuers that might
be on their trail. Tolian, however,
doubted that there would be any pursuers for some time. If Lira and Clarista managed to get Delorick
to safety, it would still most likely be quite a while ere his friend would be
in any condition to mount a search party.
He would be at a loss as to where to begin, because Tolian was certain
that the Druidesses would provide no clues.
No doubt they would claim to have no knowledge of him. Certainly no one from the palace would even
think to be alarmed, as they expected Tolian to be gone for several weeks in
any case.
By now the
darkness had settled over the forest.
Tolian could no longer see Brythia in the lead; in fact, Myrthis was the
only one of his captors that he could see.
No, he thought he could make out a couple of the others moving silently
in the darkness ahead.
Tolian was
surprised by a sudden command from Brythia, “Stop!” she said.
They halted.
At once
there was a furor of activity in the darkness.
Brythia’s
voice again shot out of the night, “Myrthis, see if the prince requires
anything.”
“Yes,
Brythia.”
Myrthis
turned to Tolian. “Can, I get you anything your Majestyness?” There was a definite streak of disrespect in
her tone.
“Some food
would be nice, unless you mean to starve me.”
“No, your
Lordship, we aren’t going to starve you, that’s for certain,” she replied. “How about some water ’til we have a chance
to make something warm to eat?”
“Fine,”
Tolian said.
She
carefully and poured some cool water
into Tolian’s mouth. It was refreshing.
He drank greedily. Myrthis, despite her insubordinate attitude patiently
wetted his thirst.
“That good?”
she finally asked.
Tolian
nodded, then realizing that that was rather impolite, said, “Thank you.”
“It is my
honor to serve you.”
“Then why
your disrespectful tone?”
She again
adopted that mischievous smile, “I do not respect your worldly regal position,
for I feel that all men and women are created as equals. There is no place for people who think of
themselves as better than others, as you royal types so often do. I am, however, honored to serve you, as you
are the chosen one of the prophecy, who is destined to save the world.”
Tolian
laughed, “Save the world? From what?”
Myrthis
fell grim, “You will not laugh so much when you know. It’s not my place to say anymore at this
time.”
As she
departed to busy herself with the work of helping make camp, Tolian felt that
he had truly fallen into the hands of madwomen.
He mused on his unfortunate situation, as he peered into the shadows
watching the others busy themselves.
Brythia had come up and released the deer which had been harnessed to
the cart. The deer bowed before
her. They then moved off in to the
woods. As they disappeared into the forest
Brythia called after them with clicking sounds.
There was something unnerving about the whole scenario.
Someone,
who Tolian would later know as Kilfrie, got a fire started with miraculous
speed. The small kindling pile quickly ignited
and wood (which must have been previously gathered and hidden somewhere near)
was placed on the fire. Tolian could feel the fire’s warmth even from
the distance of his position on the cart.
The flames threw gentle light about the clearing, which they revealed.
Amristia
and Myrthis lifted him out of the cart and carried him over to the fire with
surprising ease. They laid him down on a
warm pile of blankets, which had just been prepared, and covered him. It hadn’t occurred to him before how chilly
it was until he got next to the fire’s warmth.
A feeling of well-being stole over him, despite the unusual surroundings
and current circumstances. Ironically,
he had expected to be out in the woods before a nice fire that evening. Although he had imagined he would have been
sitting next to Delorick, and not five crazed young women.
Before
long, Myrthis was feeding him some delicious, though unknown, variety of stew.
“This is
quite good. What is it?” he asked.
“Wild
vegetables and herbs and, oh yes, some mushrooms.”
And there
was more of that honey bread which he had enjoyed earlier. He ate greedily. When the others saw that he had eaten his
fill they bowed their heads, and intoned, once again in unison, “We thank you,
Great Mother of the World, for the bounty you have given us, your Daughters of
the Light. May we use this energy to
fulfill your sacred purpose.”
Then they
began eating. They were seated around
the fire, cross-legged on their blankets.
They ate in the same silence that seemed to mark their other
activities. Tolian’s attention went to
the night birds that had begun their evening calling. The choir of frogs and insects started their
night’s fanfare. A whole symphony of
natural music issued from the surrounding woods. When the women had finished their meals,
Brythia took their bowls and disappeared, presumably, to wash the dishes. The rest of them started to hum. They began quietly at first, their soft tones
blended ever so subtly with the song of the cicadas. Their
song grew in volume and complexity. Some
of them sang a light falsetto while still others carried on in the low
humming. The wild creatures seemed to
respond to the song of the humans. The
whole thing evolved a great rhythmic aspect, a soft driving. Amristia lilted a
melody of astounding clarity and beauty.
Tolian closed his eyes, lost in the symphony that had come up around
him. He was shocked to feel an urge come
over him to join in the melody. He, of
course, refrained. He could not sing
along with these people. It was unreal.
Brythia
came up behind him.
“Drink
this,” she said. She knelt next to him
and eased a small cup up to his mouth.
He
hesitated.
“I promise,
it won’t hurt you in any way. It’s
medicine against the troll’s poison,” she assured him.
It
burned. It tasted bitter and nasty. It made his head spin.
“Sorry
about the taste,” she apologized. “But
it will help you regain your strength.”
The
spinning got worse and worse. A
heaviness came over him. He grew tired. Sleepy. In another moment, he slipped into a deep
sleep.
Copyright 2002, 2015 Diana Hignutt
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