Oh my goodness, another post so close together! It must be a miracle! Or the simple fact that I seem to be on a creative spurt at just the moment. Anywho another chapter for you fair readers, hope you guys enjoy it! I know I had fun writing it! :)
Chapter Nine: Protection
Elma had come to work under the rule of Queen Megara as many had before her. She was born into her servitude, forced to forgo her childhood, learning how best to please the one she called queen so that she may live to see additional sunrises. She was a quiet girl, keeping to herself and making sure she stayed out of the way; many took her silence as stupidity when in truth she was extraordinarily brilliant. Sometimes too much so for one of her station; a lesson she discovered early, silence was key to survival. She saw many fall before her eyes at the hands of Queen Megara, whether they were in her way or simply being made an example of, she knew death would await if she ever became more than the quiet servant girl who did what she was told.
Elma's silence was what had first brought Queen Megara's attention upon her. Her parents dead and gone, both at their own times examples of the queen's wrath, she had continued her service without uttering much more than what was necessary. Without much of a rhyme or reason in Elma's eyes the queen brought her into her select group of maids and serving girls, giving her express errands, running notes to important individuals or merely taking care of items around her room. For the sake of survival Elma simply fell into the routine that was laid out for her, doing as she was told and keeping out of sight and out of the way when she wasn't needed.
Years had passed and Elma had grown into a young woman. Her position had remained the same, never was she far from the queen's sight. It was one day however when she began to notice a change. It took place as it usually did, the queen had found a target that seemed to be hindering her progression forward and she was exploring options to be rid of it. This one, however, seemed different from the rest. The queen had become obsessed with a mortal woman, her image constantly in one of her looking glasses, mumblings of some sort of power ever on her lips. Elma simply shook her head when she first noticed, feeling horrible for the woman, she was sure that the mortal woman had never done anything to warrant the queen's crosshairs to be sighted on her. The woman was simply another soul that the queen would destroy in order to get what she wanted, Elma knew this, she had accepted facts like this long ago.
But the more the queen obsessed over this woman the more Elma began to learn about her and her concern began to grow. The woman was young but not young enough to not have started a family. She was married and had a young child, a sweet looking little girl. The queen's focus on the woman became so intense that Elma knew it was only a matter of time until something happened, and her deepest wish was that, if something were to happen, if something must happen, that nothing would happen to the child.
Then the fateful night came.
The queen had dismissed all of her serving girls except for Elma, making her assist with her dressings and preparations for a large event Above. It was to be a large party, a ball Elma believed, she didn't know the specifics, all that was certain was that the High King and Queen would be present and that Queen Megara had apparently been invited. Elma had thought nothing of that night's preparations, falling into her usual routine as she had many times before. However, Queen Megara had stepped into her private study for a moment; sneaking a glance Elma watched as her queen retrieved two small mirrors and a strange looking vessel from her desk, secreting it away in a small ornate bag she'd planned to carry that night. Just as Elma went to take a step back to return to her duties, the queen looked up, spotting her. Panic filled her body. Death, she was sure of it, was an instant away. She could almost feel its cold fingers working their way around her ankles, readying to drag her to the thereafter once given the nod. The queen smiled slyly, floating from behind her desk, back into the main room of her quarters, closing the door behind her.
"I'm glad you are so curious my dear. I have a special task for you tonight." Her smile was dangerous and the hand that rested on Elma's shoulder made her nervous. As they prepared to leave for the festivities that night, the queen gave her very strict instructions.
"You will accompany me tonight as you always do. You shall stay out of sight and not cause any problems or raise any suspicions. There will come a moment when I need you. At that express time I will leave the festivities, and you shall accompany me to a certain task. I will only have time to start things into motion, you will finish what I have begun. Once the time has come I will tell you more. If you whisper a word of any of this to anyone tonight, I will kill you. Do you understand?"
Elma had mutely nodded, panic still raging through her body. The entire night she stood in the shadows and waited. No one at the party noticed her, why would they, she was merely one of many servants in attendance, there to solely serve their masters and nothing else. She was beginning to believe that the fateful moment might never take place. Then the queen excused herself for a moment from the festivities, silently beckoning the serving girl over as she left. The moment they were together and out of sight of the others, the queen spirited them away. When Elma opened her eyes again all she saw before her at first was white. Snow lay everywhere, against the ebony darkness of the night, looked strikingly beautiful. They stood on a snow bank, surrounded by a dark forest, the sleeping trees silent witnesses to their presence.
It took Elma a moment to notice the road off to the queen's right. Still hidden in the shadow of the sleeping trees the queen stepped closer to the road, searching for something in the distance. Extending her hand towards Elma, the silent command came to turn over the bag that she had given the girl at the beginning of the night. Reluctantly Elma released the bag from her hands, watching as the queen removed from it the vessel she had seen earlier. Unstopping the bottle the queen poured its contents, inky and syrupy, on the ground, just as lights flashed around a corner not far from where they stood.
The bottle's contents immediately jumped to life, slithering down the hillside and onto the road, making it slick just as a vehicle rounded the last turn. Elma stifled a gasp as she watched the metal carriage swerve and lose control, careening off the road, before skidding and colliding with a tree a short distance from where she and the queen now stood. The strange contents of the bottle returned to their home within the vessel as the queen hastily replaced the stopper. Without so much as a word the queen descended on the wreckage hovering over the mangled steel like a predator over its fresh kill. Elma wasn't sure when she had descended the hill, but she found herself near the front of the wreck, close enough to see the two figures in the front. The man to her right was kicking at the door in an attempt to make the bent and warped metal shift enough to grant him leave of the vehicle; the woman in front of her slowly lifting her head off the dashboard, looking dazed and uncertain. The woman's eyes locked with Elma's for a moment, sending shivers down her spine, her pleading eyes searching for some sort of aid in Elma's. She was the woman from the mirrors. The pleading turned to terror as her eyes left Elma's face and took in the woman who now stood behind the serving girl.
Queen Megara stood tall and imposing behind Elma, her hand once again in the bag she had brought with them tonight. The woman within the car began screaming at the queen as she swept around the side of the wreckage. The queen tried the door once, finding the handle unyielding, she wrenched the door open with magic. Elma could now clearly hear the woman's cries, sounds she knew would stay with her for the rest of her life.
"Megara! Stay away from me you witch! Leave my family alone!" But the queen heard none of it as she produced one of the mirrors from her bag. She held the small looking glass up in front of her directing it at the woman still trapped in the mangled metal; her husband pulled her into his arms, in an attempt to shield them both, but to no avail. Elma watched as a bright flash of light enveloped the vehicle and the people within, the light becoming so intense she had to shield her own eyes.
When the light finally faded, Elma looked back to see the couple lying lifeless in their seats and Queen Megara looking extremely pleased with herself as she viewed the new contents of the looking glass. As if snapped out of a day dream, Queen Megara glanced about her surroundings before quickly shoving the mirror back into her bag. Elma stood, eyes fused on the face of the woman who now lay unmoving and gone, and could feel the tears pricking at the corners of her eyes, threatening to fall for this woman she didn't even know. Her attention was snatched away from the woman as the queen took hold of her wrist and dragged her around to the side of the wreckage.
"Look you, there isn't much time. I must return before I am discovered missing." The queen rummaged through the bag and thrust the other mirror into Elma's hands. "Your task is simple. That looking glass you hold will do most of the work. All you have to do is hold it up in front of the one who you intend to place within." It was then Elma turned and saw the unconscious child in the back of the car, still strapped into her seat. It was as though a ten ton weight had been placed in her hands, she couldn't possibly expect her to do this to a child, could she?
"You will complete this task. When you do the mirror will return itself to me. If you do not complete this task you will pay for your foolishness with your own life. Am I understood?" the grip on her wrist tightened, emphasizing the queen's words even more, until she could barely stand it and nodded her head vigorously if only to make the pain cease. Seeing her message had gotten across the queen released the serving girl, took a step back from the wreckage and disappeared from sight.
Elma stood, dumb, for a moment; the mirror burning her hands as the knowledge of what she was expected to do snaked its way deeper into her mind and heart. Her thoughts immediately turned to smashing the mirror, but quickly realized that this would only exacerbate the situation. Placing the mirror within a pocket on her dress Elma fought with the door until it finally yielded to her. Gingerly lifting the child out of her seat, she quickly checked her over, her attention zeroing in on a wound on the child's chest. The wound didn't appear too deep or severe, but she bundled the girl in one of blankets she found near her to, if for nothing else, keep the chill away from the child. With the child tucked away in the coverings, Elma took her in her arms, and did the only thing she could think of.
She ran.
The child secure in her arms she ran. From the wreckage, from cruel expectations of the queen, from the woman in the mirror, from her own fears, Elma ran deep into the dark night. The stars kept a steady paced with her as the dark sleeping trees around her whizzed by, the only sounds her panicked breaths and the crunching of the snow beneath her feet. She knew not where she was going or what she would do once there, all she knew was to run. So she did.
She did until she noticed her sounds weren't the only ones in the forest any longer. Skidding to an abrupt stop, in an attempt to catch her breath and gather herself, she saw shadows shift just beyond her line of sight. Shadows that moved swiftly and deftly between the trees, seemingly floating over the snow covered ground. Fear gripped her heart. Where they the shadows that had caused the wreck, sent by the queen to discover her progress? Elma clutched the child even closer to her as the shadows began to move closer and take a clearer shape.
Wolves. All of them wolves; teeth bared, eyes red with fury, hair bristled as they slowly stalked forward. There was no escaping the way she came, Elma pivoted, turning to make her escape into the forest behind her. As she did she found herself cut off by more wolves. Surrounded, Elma felt the cold air sting her lungs as she stepped back from the edge of the ever shrinking circle of wolves, their snarls and growls growing louder with every passing moment. A lone figure stepped out of the shadows and walked towards the circle, towards Elma. He passed by the perimeter of wolves as if simply walking through a gate; he stood in front of Elma, tall and imposing, the night clouding his features, as he began to reach for the child in her arms.
"No!" Elma screamed, turning the child in her arms away, scrambling backwards, only to be pushed back to the center of the circle by the increased volume of the snarls and yips behind her.
"Give me the child." The voice that came to her was clear and demanding, but the threatening tone was not lost on her.
"I said no!" Bravado began to course through her veins, she wasn't simply going to let go of the babe, not now. "The child is mine. The queen may not have her! I care not was she does to me, but the child is mine! You'll not have her!"
The man before her simply stood for a moment, saying nothing. He did not continue his advance nor did he or the wolves retreat, but their sounds began to die, fading to a strange eerie silence. The silence was almost deafening, until the man finally spoke again.
"We are not here to harm the child, but to protect her. The child's mother was my dearest friend, as well was her father. We were watching when the wreck occurred, when we finally came upon it they were dead and the child gone. From what you say you are not responsible, if that is the case than who? Who did this?"
Elma opened her mouth to speak, then hesitated, remembering the scene that she'd left behind. If this was in fact a trap sent by the queen to see if she'd completed her deed, revealing the truth would surely mean sacrificing her own life; but in some strange way, death and the fear it had held over her, meant next to nothing now.
"I am young. Some have called me dumb or simple because of my silence. I lost my family when I was young, and had long ago given up hope of ever having one myself. Of ever being held by one who loves me, of holding one I'd give anything to protect. Until tonight, until I came upon her." She looked down at the face of the sleeping child in her arms. Courage blossomed in her chest as the child nestled closer, still unaware of what was going on around her, seeking warmth as she dreamt. "My lady, the Queen Megara; though I have no proof she is the perpetrator. She wished me to dispose of the child in her stead, but… I…"
The man before her moved in closer, until he was barely even a foot away from Elma, his dark eyes searching hers for any hint of falseness or deception, and she stood her ground, unwavering, eyes looked with his. Finding none his demeanor changed, as did the wolves around him, calming themselves until she almost forgot they were even there.
"In the Above there are those who respond to emergencies like the wreck you left behind. They have been notified and will be here shortly." He held out his arms, patiently waiting for Elma to move. Looking to the child in her arms once more, she bundled her tighter, tucking her face away from the cold and the elements before gently placing her in the arms of the man before her. "I thank you for what you've done, I promise you, we shall keep her safe, until she is found. I promise you that."
Elma nodded as she watched the man cradle the small child in his arms, safe. Reaching inside of her pocket she removed the small looking glass the queen had placed in her hands. All you have to do is hold it up in front of the one who you intend to place within.
Elma stepped forward, placing a gentle kiss on the forehead of the babe. "Rest easy little one, you're safe now, the Beldam cannot harm you."
Stepping back Elma squared her shoulders, readying herself for what she must do.
"The queen is a ruthless woman, she may return for the child once she's noticed what I've done. I trust though, that you will continue to guard her as you did this night." The man simply nodded his agreement. A sad smile played across her lips as fresh snowflakes silently began gliding down all around her. Taking a deep breath, Elma lifted the mirror to her face, making eye contact with her own reflection. The wind picked up whipping the flakes around as a bright light began to flood out of the mirror, enveloping her, growing brighter until with one last burst of light the small looking glass fell into snow on the ground where Elma once stood. The small mirror began to glow, as second later, shooting up and off into the sky and out of sight. The lone man stood watching as the glow faded from the sky; turning attention to the child in his arms, the smile that came across his face was a sad one, remembering the girl's parents. Remembering the promise he had once made to them, and how it was so similar to the one he'd made just now, with the dark haired servant girl. The wolves that now gathered around him fell in step behind him as he moved throughout the woods, child in arms. He came to a large slumbering tree not too far from the accident, far enough away to not be discovered by those who meant harm. Checking that the child's bundling was secure he laid her gently against the base of the tree, amidst the large roots to shelter her from the wind. Straightening up he changed his form, and where a tall man once stood now stood a large black wolf. He stepped forward, encircling the child using the warmth of his body to keep her safe. The child turned, burying her face in his thick fur while her small fingers knotted themselves in a tuft near his side.
He lay there with the child, while the others kept watch, alert to all. He lay there until he caught a familiar scent and heard the footsteps approaching; separating himself from the child he stretched before sitting patiently in front of her, waiting until the red hair woman came into view, followed by two others. He locked eyes with her, slowly nodding to her before the woman rushed forward and claimed the child in her arms. Nodding back she thanked him under her breath, before standing and hurrying off to the sirens and commotion in the distance. He watched them fade from sight, knowing the child was safe now and would be cared for, he turned and led his kind into the deep silent woods, the promise he made echoing in his ears. Protect and watch over the child, as he had promised the mother, the father, and now the servant girl; protect and watch over the child he would.
Queen Megara sat slumped over in her chair, the small mirror resting in her lap her head in her hands; the only light came from behind, the entrance to the room of mirrors having been left open in her haste.
How? HOW? How could this have happened? The face of the young servant girl stared back at her confident, defiant, sure of herself and of her decision. When she had returned from the gala that night she'd found the mirror where it should be and placed it next to the first. Whenever she had gone to look upon the figure within the looking glass they had turned away. She had been satisfied with simply catching sight of the dark hair, the mother having been her initial target, she'd found it more pleasing to watch her reaction in her mirror as oppose to the child's.
Everything had gone so wrong. Thanks to the whim of a foolish servant girl the child had lived; a tiny child had managed to escape her. The photo Kern had brought to her stared up at her from the floor, mocking her; those grey eyes stared back at her, those lips shifting into a smug grin, taunting her. A small insignificant child had escaped a powerful queen.
A maelstrom of anger began building in Megara's stomach. Rage pulsed through her veins, its venom seeping into every nook, every extremity; bleeding into her very soul, her body began to shake with fury, as a roar of disgust and pure ire tore loose from her mouth.
"KERN!" bellowed Megara as she exploded out of the mirror room, clearly on the war path.
"Yes my queen?" the shadow man bled out from the darkened side of the room, the sun having set while the queen had sat stewing.
"This girl," she spat waving the photograph. "You know where she is, correct?"
"Yes…" he answered, uncertain.
"I want you to find this, this, brat! And bring her to me!"
"Certainly your majesty, but what of your search for the Tamer?"
"Forget the Tamer! Damn the Tamer! I want that girl!" the queen raged. In her fit her hair had begun to loosen from its clasps giving the infuriated woman a purely mad look about her. "That little bitch thinks she can out smart me?" she hissed under her breath. Concentrating on her right hand, small sparks began to form, clustering together until, in a brief explosion of light and color the vessel from her desk sat in her hand. Tearing the stopper out of the next she splashed a half circle of the inky contents around her.
"Take your kind and find her, Kern! Bring her to me! Drag her back by her hair, kicking and screaming if you have to but bring her to me! I'll destroy her myself! As I should have done, years ago! I'll make the wretch pay!"
Kern smiled as he watched the splatter on the floor begin to move and twist as the queen raged on; his kin growing and shaping themselves it their various forms, none of them were able to take on as complex and complete of a shape as he, but it had been quite some time since he had seen this many of them released from their prison in the vessel. A dark chuckle trickled pass his lips as the various shadow beings began surging towards him, circling around him waiting for his next move.
"As you wish, my queen." His dark grin grew larger as he dipped into one of his signature bows. Rising he trust his hand out, a nearby window flow open, the sound of its panes clattering against the outside of the castle were quickly muffled by the sound of the dark shadows rising and rushing out of the window into the night. Surging out and up, heading straight to their target in the Above, to carry out the queen's sole command, to bring back the girl.
Standing, alone now, in the center of her room Megara took one last look at the photograph before it exploded into flames in her hand.
"You will be mine you little witch!"
And so the plot, like burnt gravy, thickens!
All the emotions this chapter! All the emotions!
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