Saving Summer

Chapter Four: The Tale of Bronwyn and Leofric

Sir Leofric was a handsome knight who was beloved by the people of Prinaes. He was always off on an adventure to fight some sort of horrific monster and protect the realm. It was on a mission in the Autumn Kingdom that he met Princess Bronwyn. The King of Autumn at the time, King Vaeril, requested that Sir Leofric rescue his eldest daughter from an ogre that was holding her captive. Sir Leofric promised the king that he would bring his daughter home safe and sound. After leaving the castle of the Autumn King, Sir Leofric made his way to where the ogre was hiding. In the darkest part of the Forest of Shadows, Sir Leofric found the ogre’s cave. He slowly started to make his way inside the cave, taking care not to make too much noise so that he did not alert the ogre to his presence. As he crept further inside the cave, Sir Leofric could hear the princess’s pleading sobs. She was begging the ogre not to harm her. The sound of the princess’s sobs broke his heart. Her voice sounded so lovely even in this state and it pained him to hear her suffering. When he finally reached where the ogre was keeping the princess, Sir Leofric received his first look at the princess. The moment that he saw Princess Bronwyn’s face, Sir Leofric knew that he was in love. She was the most beautiful woman in the world. No other woman could compare to her beauty and he knew that he had to make her his.

Sir Leofric made quick work of taking down the ogre. With a few swipes of his lethal blade, Sir Leofric slayed the ogre. He untied the princess and she thanked him for saving her. The two made their journey back to the Autumn King’s palace on horseback. It took them a week to get back there and in that time, the two fell in love with each other. But Princess Bronwyn told Sir Leofric tearfully that they could never be together as she was already betrothed to the prince of the Winter Kingdom, Prince Amadeus. Sir Leofric assured her that she would not have to return to the Autumn Kingdom to be married off, so he came up with a plan. The two would run away to a far away land and create a new life together. Princess Bronwyn agreed that this was a spectacular plan and the two headed off towards a coastal town on the edge of the Autumn Kingdom to pay for passage on a boat to Koshain. 

But unfortunately for the couple, someone recognized Princess Bronwyn. Before they could board the ship, the city guards apprehended them. They accused Sir Leofric of kidnapping Princess Bronwyn and escorted them both back to the Autumn Kingdom palace. King Vaeril was furious when the guards explained the situation to him. He could not believe that Sir Leofric betrayed him by attempting to whisk his daughter away to a foreign country. The king demanded that Sir Leofric lose his head for his crime. Upon hearing this, Princess Bronwyn pleaded with her father to not kill Sir Leofric. She protested the claims that Sir Leofric had unwillingly tried to take her away from Prinaes. Princess Bronwyn told her father that she wanted to go with Sir Leofric because she loved him. She did not wish to marry a man that she did not love and she begged her father to understand that she would run away if he killed her beloved.

King Vaeril saw the truth in his daughter’s eyes and he agreed that he would not kill Sir Leofric. However, Princess Bronwyn’s words did not sway her father to change his mind about her betrothal to Prince Amadeus. The deal was already done and Prince Amadeus was expecting Princess Bronwyn to arrive at his palace in the Winter Kingdom in two weeks’ time. King Vaeril told his daughter that she would be leaving tonight in order to make it on time for her wedding to Prince Amadeus. She was to pack her belongings and be ready to depart in an hour’s time. 

Princess Bronwyn was devastated. She did not want to be without her beloved and explained as much to her father. King Vaeril decided to take pity on Princess Bronwyn and turned to Sir Leofric, who was standing there by her side. He told Sir Leofric that while he could not offer him his daughter’s hand in marriage, he could offer him a position at her side. King Vaeril told Sir Leofric that the Winter Kingdom was always in need of knights. Not wanting to be without Princess Bronwyn, Sir Leofric agreed. He followed Bronwyn to the Winter Kingdom and protected her and Prince Amadeus until the end of their days.

Hearing the story of Princess Bronwyn and Sir Leofric always brought tears to Queen Yesenia’s eyes. She could not imagine watching the love of her life be with someone else. It was truly heartbreaking. She reached into her purse and pulled out a silk handkerchief. Dabbing her eyes so not to smear her makeup, Queen Yesenia cleared up the tears. King Agostino sensed his wife’s feelings and placed his hand over hers, squeezing gently. He let go shortly after but gave her a knowing smile that nobody else saw.

The rest of the crowd seemed to be in awe of the witch’s magic. They were all muttering amongst themselves excitedly. Though the story had been told numerous times, everyone agreed that this was the best version. It felt as though they had witnessed everything happening first-hand. It was truly a marvelous experience and the crowd believed that the witch deserved to win the talent show for her extraordinary display.

The announcer ushered the witch off the stage after her score was given. The witch turned on her heel and walked off the stage. Once the woman was gone, the announcer faced the crowd. His arms were spread wide and the broad smile was back on his face.

“What an incredible display of magic! So captivating! Our judges will surely have a difficult decision ahead of them in order to choose the winner! So many wonderful acts have performed tonight! We shall take a short intermission to give our judges the chance to determine the winner of the talent show! Be back in about ten minutes.”

The announcer disappeared once again backstage with the contestants. As soon as he vanished, all eyes were on the judges’ table. It was so silent that you could hear the sound of the crickets chirping in the early evening air. Queen Yesenia found their stares a little unnerving and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. But then she decided that she would probably feel the same way were she in their position. This year’s talent show had definitely been one of the best ones in recent memory. Who could really blame them for being eager to know who won?

Pierre Chamont leaned in so that only the others could hear him, “As a fellow performer, I feel like there’s only one act that was worthy of winning. That witch’s demonstration of magic was a show of smoke and mirrors. I have seen real magic and I was honestly not impressed by her. That man that could do the different voices….now he was phenomenal!”

“I am going to have to respectfully disagree,” Duchess Locke whispered back. “That witch put on the most wonderful presentation of magic that I have ever seen. How many witches do you know that can use magic like that? She practically made that story come to life!”

Pierre rolled his eyes, “You are far too easily pleased if you think that was great. She was mediocre at best. I am sure that Sir MacFargus will agree?”

“I fell asleep during her act. The story was too boring,” grunted Sir MacFargus, sounding sleepy. “I think the fire breathers were the best act of the night.”

Pierre’s eyes bulged as he heard Sir Fargus’s confession. He appeared appalled by Sir Fargus’s response but recovered before saying, “Well, I guess it all comes down to what our king and queen think. What do you say, Your Majesties?”

King Agostino shared a look with Queen Yesenia. They both knew exactly what act they were going to choose.