Connected to the King

Time Time Where Have You Gone?

The snow had fallen, leaving the land covered by a white blanket of cold yet alluring powder. Everyone in the castle refused to leave their chambers as the cold swept through the shutterless windows. My head spun more often, and waves of nausea pushed me over the edge as a secondary heartbeat throbbed in my ears. Was this Marcus' heart?

I counted the days on my makeshift calendar Mariam, and I had put together during Marcus’ departure. My heart fluttered with excitement as the sixth week had finally come. My pull to him had grown weak but our connection remained.

During his absence we would exchange views during down time between traveling but once the battle had begun, he removed his sight from me, knowing I couldn’t handle the c*****e that was going to ensue. I moved my chamber right beside his and slept in his chamber more often than my own, just so I could feel as if he never left.

I visited the front gates often during his time away, praying he would return home to me safely only for my heart to sink to the bottom of my chest as I was disappointed time and time again.

A sad overwhelming feeling of grief throbbed with my ever-beating heart as I looked out of my window. The sun peeked just above the horizon in its glorious red and orange hues. I awed at the sight.

I thought about Marcus’ absence and how things really were, here at the castle. This new life I had adapted to, the psycho assailant of mine, the discovery of my aunt Mariam and even the return of my elder brother Sebastian. I longed to see him again.

Turning, I glanced at my figure in the mirror. The sapphire silk gown Mariam instructed me to wear hugged my curves. I sighed reaching for my thick fox fur lined coat. "It'll be the same as last time," I mumbled to myself as I pulled on my coat and headed for the door.

Pulling the door open I smiled as my eyes met my guard, Gavin. His soft features had always put me at ease, knowing he has done a fair share of assisting me. Over time I've come to see him as family rather than my keeper.

Dominic recently escaped from the dungeons and was lurking around the castle. I haven’t seen him yet, but Gavin has done a great job at keeping me out of sight when needed.

"Good morning, Gavin, how was everything last night?" I asked as I shut the door behind me.

Gavin turned to me and smiled giving me a curt nod. "Fairly quiet, milady, nothing exciting to report. Are you off to breakfast?"

"Mm, yes and I can smell it from here, care to join? I know you must be starving. Call for Mariam too, we can all dine together." I ordered as I took off down the chilled hallway with hastened steps.

This castle is too cold. Why don't these windows have shutters? It would be much warmer if we had proper covers on these windows. I thought. I rounded another corner to the dining hall and instantly froze as my eyes landed on a few maids, their aprons were drenched in a red fluid, wreaking of iron. I jumped back, tripping over the skirt of my gown and fell on my backside, yelping in fear. My mind brought me back to a battle between my father and a man he called Nedget.

“Minerva, take the kids and go!”

Fire broke out around the small village, surrounding us as my siblings, Meredith and Sebastian and I stood behind our mother.

“Daddy! I don’t wanna leave you!” I shouted.

“Aurora, you need to go now! Minerva get them out of here!” My father shouted.

My mother grabbed me, grabbed Sebastian’s hand, and took off running with Meredith on our tail. The pools of blood that riddled the ground and splattered across our homes caused my stomach to turn.

Powerful blasts of energy pulsated from behind us, my mother’s grip on me tightened as we were knocked to the ground.

My mother pushed herself off the ground quickly pulling Sebastian and myself up and spun around to grab Meredith. She screamed for my father, begging, and pleading with the ancestors that he would have been safe from Nedget. “Roluth!”

A darkened silhouette appeared before us.

“If you make a deal with us, we will help your lover.”

“What is it you want from me?”

“Give us the power of your first born. If we encase Nedget to the void, we need a way to keep his bindings in place.”

“But why a sacrifice? Why must I give you a life I gave birth to?”

“Because you cannot harness her power for yourself. Too much power for one person will have you hungry for more.”

Sebastian and I turned to Meredith, her darkened eyes were widened, her white hair was disheveled. The small freckles on her face were stained with tears as she realized that she was the first born.

“Mommy, who’s Nedget?” Little me asked.

“A very bad man who is selfish for power.” She sneered, not taking her eyes off the silhouette.

“Minerva, we both know he is not the only selfish one here.”

I pulled myself from the terrible memory and stared at the two maidens. "W-what happened?" I asked. "Why are your aprons covered in blood?"

One maid lowered her head in shame as the other bit her bottom lip, "Milady, w-we don't mean to offend you. B-but…" She stuttered.

"It's nothing milady, Aurora, they were in the kitchen with me cutting up the most recent catch to prepare the soup." Mariam's voice sounded from behind me.

I let out a long breath and turned to face her, clutching the sides of my gown. "Oh?" Glancing back at the maidens I smiled, "Why didn't you say so?" I raised a brow. "Why don't you ladies go get cleaned up and join me for breakfast." I smiled sweetly at them.

The maiden closest to me gave me a small smile and nodded her head, grabbing the hand of the maiden beside her. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt…sure, we will join you for breakfast.”

"It'll be fun. Then we can play in the snow or sit by the fire in the foyer and tell stories. Or better yet you can help me pick out designs for the shutters and candle holders throughout the castle." I began listing off all the possibilities for change here and I wanted to include everyone's decisions as to not leave their voices unheard.

The maiden's eyes widened as she brought her hand to her mouth, "Y-you mean it? This isn't a sick joke, is it? Where you take us to the woods and sacrifice us is it?"

Those simple words stung my heart, did they really feel as if I was still a threat? I shook my head and turned to leave, only to feel an eerie presence emanate from down the hall.

"Alright time to go, ladies again go get cleaned up and meet us in the dining hall. The only magic you're going to see today is the magic wonders of building what I call a snowman." I grabbed Mariam’s hand as the maidens bowed their heads and dismissed themselves. My nerves stood on edge as footsteps stopped right behind us.

The hairs on the back of my neck rose, my heart skipped a beat as I steadied my oncoming hyperventilation. "Mariam, let's go," I pulled her into the dining hall.

Stopping for a moment I looked behind me as Gavin appeared behind me. I smiled up at him and brushed off the eerie feeling and made our way over to the table.

Mariam, Gavin and I sat at the table before Mariam called for the servants. Our mouths instantly watered at the sight of the deer bone soup, bread and a bowl of greens for each of us. The wonderful aroma filled our senses. I turned to the servant who stood with her head bowed beside me waiting for me to dismiss her.

"Maiden, what is your name?" I asked her.

She dared not look at me as she answered. I could see her visibly shaking, "Milady, I am Heather. Is there anything more you need?" Her voice shook.

"Miss Heather, please do not be afraid. I only ask because I don't like using the term maiden, you have a name and I'd rather use that." I replied. "Have you ladies eaten yet?" I gazed at the three before us.

All three had replied in unison, "We do not eat until after the lady of the castle eats."

Shocked, I placed my hand on my chest and turned to Mariam and then Gavin as they sat on either side of me. "Oh, this simply won't do. There is plenty of space for you here. Come, fetch yourselves food and come join me, also bring two extra servings for the maidens that will be joining us." I ordered as I waited for the others to join.

As if right on cue the two maidens hurried into the dining chamber and stood behind the seats beside Mariam. I motioned for them to sit as Heather and the other two females returned with their dishes and two extras.

I smiled as they all took their seats. "I am so happy you all could join me this morning. I just want to get to know you ladies a little better so we could all get past our fears."

They replied in kind with smiles of their own, but I could feel the tension in the air. Hopefully I could help ease their fear with this gesture of kindness.

We all sat around the table, telling stories of our childhoods, and got to know one another better.

“Oh, Heather, tell everyone about the time you climbed the tree just outside of the front gates for the last apple.” A maiden named Erica giggled.

Heather’s face burned with embarrassment as she lowered her gaze, “Why would you bring that up now? It’s such an embarrassing story.”

With raised eyebrows I couldn’t help but wonder, “Well, you don’t have to share but it does sound pretty interesting. How about I tell you guys about the things I did as a child. Maybe I could give you a little history about witches and what we really do.”

Mariam pursed her lips and excused herself from the table for a moment, Gavin’s body tensed beside mine and the maidens in the room all stiffened.

I raised my hands in a nonthreatening gesture. “I promise it has nothing to do with spell binding or sacrifices. Just playful magic, like healing myself, flowers, and trees, or helping with chores, because who likes doing chores?” I chuckled.

Heather smiled at me and nodded. “I see, so harmless magic so to speak.”

I jumped up and snapped my finger, “That’s it! Very harmless. Here let me show you.” I twirled my finger at the empty dishes in front of me and chanted a small incantation, “Gentrivita, la moureha.”

The small bowls stacked themselves on top of the plate and moved toward the center of the table and out of the way.

The girls around the table gasped and Gavin clapped his hands in a round of applause. “Well, that was interesting.”

“Oh, that is very helpful! I don’t know why they’ve always taught us to fear you.” The last maiden named Brooke spoke up.

I shrugged my shoulders and resumed my seat. “I honestly can’t say we are all this way, but I can tell you that I am not here to harm anyone unless they are a threat to me or anyone I care about.”

The tension in the chamber seemed to have faded into nothing and the smiles accompanied by the laughter that circled the table brought joy into my heart.

A sudden tug of my heart strings caused me to freeze. I brought my hand to my chest, rubbed the sore spot, and rose from my seat, quickly dismissing myself. What was this feeling? Is Marcus hurt? Did something happen? The swirling images of the castle came into view. My eyes widened as I called for Mariam and Gavin to follow me to the front gates.

We rushed through the stone corridors toward the gate, stepping through the threshold as a guard posted in the watch tower above blared the horn, signaling the return of our King. My heart leaped with joy as his figure came into view.

A toothy grin formed on my face as I watched in cheerfulness, "He's finally home!" I jumped for joy as he and his war horse sped away from the formation directly toward me. It was truly a sight to see.

"Marcus!" I shouted with glee as his horse came to a raging halt a few feet from me and allowed Marcus to hop off with ease.

His steel armor was smeared with blood, his hair and beard were also drenched. I pushed past the uneasy feeling of death and rushed toward him. "My King, you are finally home."

Marcus could not hold his excitement back as he scooped me into his arms, enveloping me in his love and warmth. "It's been too long." He nuzzled my neck. "I'm glad you came."

"I felt your arrival before you had even got here. I saw it through your eyes. Your connection to me is weakening though.”

As I rested my head against his shoulder a wave of nausea washed over me. I hadn't the slightest clue as to why, but I didn't care at that moment. I savored this loving moment and wasn't going to let anything ruin it.

"I know. But I am glad we won. Without you we would have never seen them coming and for that I am forever grateful." He pulled away from me, gazing into my eyes with a sense of humility and adoration. I couldn't help but smile as a stray tear escaped my eye.

"I'm glad I could be of service to you. Now and always."