The Queen of Rosefield

Chapter 4

    Seven years had passed since Vicar came to the village to teach Malana to read and write.  She was now twelve and compared to the other girls her own age, she was small.  People still asked questions, but they now asked the Master Swordsman himself.  He now have several helpers in the swords shop he was teaching sword making to.

    "Master Swordsman, why is it that your daughter is given lessons in other languages and also learns the art of the sword?"  A young man asked as he took a break in his work.

    "It is a long story Rowan, and one that I cannot tell you except that it was commanded by the king himself."  The Master Swordsman said and looked at the young man.  "You are coming along good with the making of swords.  You keep up the good work and you'll be almost as good as me."  He said and slapped the young man on the back before turning toward the voice of his daughter.

    "Father!  Father!"  Came the voice of his young daughter.  "You must come quickly Father!"  She called as she stopped at the door of the swords shop.

    "I'm coming child."  He said as he headed toward her.  "What is it that has you in such a hurry to have me come?"  He said as he reached her side.

    "Father, who is the man on the black stallion?"  She asked and looked up at her father.  "His horse looks almost just like yours."

    "As I live and breath, it is the king himself come visiting here."  The Master Swordsman said and stepped from the shop with a smile on his face.

    "May I go up to him Father?  May I go and look at him?"  Malana asked as she looked up at her father.

    "Wait for a while.  He is coming here to receive his new sword that I made for him."  The Master Swordsman said as he rested his hand on Malana's shoulder.

    "Is the king your friend Father?"  She wanted to know.

    "Yes child.  Now go to your mother and tell her we have a visitor.  I'm sure she will be glad to see our king."  He said and urged her toward the house.

    "Yes Father."  She said and ran from her fathers shop as fast as she could.  When she returned with Gwen later, she carried a tray with goblets as Gwen carried another tray filled with breads and cheeses and a pitcher of ale.  She looked at the king and a small flicker passed through her mind.  "Father, have I ever met the king before?"  She wanted to know as she looked at the king who was sitting in her fathers chair in the empty shop.  "I feel as if I should know him?"

    "Child, on the day of your birth I held you in my arms."  The king said and looked upon the daughter his friend had raised.  "I'm the one who named you Malana."  He said softly and smiled a sad smile.

    "What brings you out my king?  You look so sad."  She said and stepped closer to the king.  One of the knights with the king stepped forward and she looked at him.

    "Lord Delmar stay there.  The child is harmless.  She's hardly more than a babe."  The king said and looked at Malana.

    "Is he one of your knights?"  She wanted to know.

    "Yes and no.  He is Lord Delmar of Devonshire.  He has three sons.  The eldest is marrying in a fortnight and his two younger sons are knights of my lands."

    "Are all of your knights as tall as Lord Delmar?"  She asked and looked up at the lord.  "Those three look like they are."

    The men laughed and Lord Delmar stepped toward Malana.  He watched as she looked him over before he turned and looked at the three knights standing behind them.  "As small as this child is, she has the heart of a lioness."

    "And she fights like one to."  Gwen said as she offered all the men drinks.

    "My king, why are you so sad?"  Malana asked and stood in front of the king.  "Can I help you my king?"  She wanted to know.

    "Only God can heal my pain, and my broken heart."  He said and looked at his daughter.  She looked just like his Sarah except she had his blue eyes and not her mothers black eyes.  His child.  His heir.  His daughter he hadn't seen in twelve years.  His to take back if he wanted to, but he couldn't break his best friends wife's heart.

    "Yes he can.  Mother told me her heart was broken until I came here.  Father told me that Mother was grieving herself to death because all of her babies died."  Malana said.

    "I remember speaking to your father the morning of your birth.  He said you would put life back into his Gwen's heart."  The old king said and looked into his daughters eyes.  "I'm sad because I no longer have a male heir to my throne."

    "Are you married?"  She asked.

    "Not any longer.  My wife died when she bore my heir, and now my heir is also dead."  He said.

    "I'm sorry my king."  She said and wrapped her arms around the kings neck and kissed his cheek.  For only a second the king stiffened, then he pulled his daughter into his lap and held her.  He felt her bury her face in his neck and he held her closer to him.

    "Let us leave them for a moment."  The Master Swordsman said and guided Gwen from the shop along with the knights and Lord Delmar.

    "Father, what is the girl doing?"  The largest of the three knights asked as he looked at the girl.

    "She is giving comfort to an old king the only way she can."  He said as he stood guard at the door.  "The God in Heaven is restoring our kings broken heart."

    "But she's only a little girl.  She's the Master Swordsman's child."  The lords middle son said and shook his head.  "How can a poor girl heal a kings broken heart?"

    "With love."  Lord Delmar said and looked at the Master Swordsman and his wife.  "She can heal his broken heart with love."  He waited for a while before he opened the door and looked in.  He saw the king and the little girl talking softly and he saw peace on his kings face as he spoke to the girl.  He watched as the king gave a large ruby to the girl and saw her as her face went blank as she looked at the ruby.

    "Master Swordsman, what is wrong with the girl?  She was speaking with the king, then her face went blank."  Lord Delmar said and turned to the Master Swordsman.

    Gwen reached the door of the shop first and swung open the door the rest of the way.  She watched as Malana studied the ruby with her fingers.  "Jonathon, she's doing it again.  I've told her to never do it around strangers."

    "Let her be Gwen.  It's nothing for us to be ashamed of."  The Master Swordsman said and held to his wife's shoulders.

    "But the priest said she shouldn't do that around people.  That it wasn't right."

    "What is she doing?"  Lord Delmar asked and continued to watch the girl.

    "Father, she's praying.  Look at her lips.  They're moving in prayer."  The youngest of the knights said as he watched Malana.

    "Who does she pray to?"  Lord Delmar asked and looked at Gwen.

    "Why none other than our Father in Heaven, Jesus Christ.  The king himself has sent a Godly man to tutor Malana and for these last eight years she had led a Godly life."  Gwen said.

    "Look Father, she has finished praying and she is laying her hand upon the kings heart.  Surely the God in Heaven has sent up to this child to restore happiness to our king and heal his broken heart."

    "Yes, but these battles we have been fighting has taken it's toll on the king, not to forget Prince Malligant's death."  Lord Delmar said.

    "Come back in, we must see the fine swords the Master Swordsman has made before we leave."  The king said and when Malana tried to leave the kings arms, he wouldn't let her go.  "No child, let me hold you for a few minutes longer.  Your prayers have brought new life into the bones of this old king, and a new hope into my heart."  He said and gently kissed her brow as he thought of his long dead wife and this daughter she had given him.

    "Yes my king."  She said and continued to sit in his lap as he held her in his arms.  She was soon lulled to sleep by the beating of his heart and the love she felt from the old king himself as he gently stroked her hair and looked at her face.

    "Malana the Swordsman!  Malana the dirty one!  Malana the crazy one!"  Voices of several boys and girls taunted Malana and and a rock flew through the door and struck her on the arm.  A second rock flew through the door and hit her on the left cheek while a third rock struck the king in the right temple when he tried to protect Malana.

    "Father!"  Malana screamed as she was suddenly dumped on the floor by the king as even more rocks were thrown into the swords shop.  "Father!  Mother!"

    Lord Delmar and his three sons rushed from the swords shop and the children throwing the rocks scattered quickly.  The king looked at Malana and saw the blood that was trickling down her left cheek.  "Jonathon!  Gwen!  Clean the blood from Malana's cheek and see how bad the cut is.  Lord Delmar, summon everyone in the village.  The ones who did this must be punished."

    "Yes my king."  Lord Delmar said and went about doing as the king ordered.

    "Who do you think you are gathering up the kings villagers like this when all that happened was some boys and girls threw rocks into the swords shop at that crazy Malana girl."  The priest said and looked up at the shocked face of Gwen as she stepped out of the swords shop.

    "Never have I heard you say that about my daughter."  Gwen said as she looked at the priest.  "You, who are supposed to be a Man of God."

    "She is the spawn of the devil!"  The priest said and raised his hand into the air.  "She should be punished for her birth!  She is no child of yours.  Just look at her and you should know.  She looks nothing like you.  Your husband found her and brought her to you, we all know that."

    "No, she is not the child of my body and yes, everyone knows that.  But she is the child of my heart and I love her as if she were my own child."  Gwen said and looked down at Malana and spoke again.  "I could love no child of my own body any more than this child that our king sent to me."

    The priest shook his head and looked around.  "The king sent no child to you.  He has no heart for children."  The priest said just as the king stepped from the swords shop.

    "It's the king."  A woman of nearly thirty said from the back of the group.  She made her way forward and knelt before him as she spoke.  "My king, do you remember me?"  She asked.

    "Yes, I remember you.  You were the young wet nurse whom I handed Malana to on the day of her birth."  He said and reached down to take her arm and stand her up.  Other people began to bow before the king just as several horsemen began to enter the village with more villagers in front of them.

    "You cannot do this!  I demand to know who called this gathering in front of the swords shop!"  One man yelled as he was shoved forward by a knights foot in his back.

    "Your king ordered this."  the knight said and shoved the man with his foot again.  "Now on your knees before the king."

    "Never!  As long as the priest stands, I stand."  The man said and looked up to see the king watching him.  His mouth opened and he suddenly dropped to his knees and bowed his head.  "Forgive me my king.  I am your humble servant.  Ask me what you will and I will do it."

    "I want the ones who threw the rocks into the swords shop and called Malana names.  Bring them before me at the castle in a fortnight or I take all of the children from this village."  The king said and looked at the shocked faces of the people.  "Now all must listen to this decree.  From henceforth if any harm comes to the girl Malana, the punishment will be death.  If she is even ridiculed behind closed doors, the punishment is a cut out tongue so you may no longer even speak.  No one is to do or say anything harmful to the child of the Master Swordsman and Gwen."

    "My king, are you truly the one who placed Malana in the arms of my mother like she said?"  A boy of nine asked as he walked up to stand beside Nurse.

    "Yes, I gave her charge of Malana on the day of her birth."

    The boy looked at the king and then at Malana.  Tears formed in his eyes and he wiped them away with the back of his hand.  "I threw some of the rocks into the swords shop and called her the crazy one."  The boy said and looked at the king.  "I'm sorry I did it.  It's hard to go against so many when they pick on you."  He said and tried to stand as straight as he could.  "I give you my life to do with as you please my king."  He said before he bowed his head and went to his knees.

    "Honesty is a virtue and I like that in a man, or boy in this case.  You will come with me when I leave and become a page at Rosewood."

    "Thank you my king."  The boy said and bowed his head.  "I thank you."