Ticklish&InLove
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Weeks passed during which time the Dragon King spent late nights talking with Sir Henry and The Fairy Queen by the hearth, learning all they knew. Three times he and his dragons smelled poison before food was served to the princess and prevented her death without her knowing. Working closely with the two, the three dragons set upon unraveling the mystery behind the attacks of one so beloved, while at the same time insuring that one of them was always near the princess at all times. Realizing how much safer she was traveling the land with her knights, the Dragon King relented, insisting only that Tine Dearg stay by her side while he worked to discern the threat inside the castle.
Yet in the evenings, he would fly to her, reading the minds of the knights to learn where they were. He could easily see why their company fit her spirit so much more as he would observe from a height way beyond the human eye, yet with his keen eyesight and hearing, could see and hear everything on the ground. He loved the joy with which she ran, climbed, fought and joked with her men. He felt a swell of pride as he saw her return with a stag over her shoulders and understood the camaraderie she shared with them when together they foraged for mushrooms, root vegetables and wild herbs to make the stew along their travels. Here, in the forest, beneath the canopy of stars and branches, where battles were fought honestly with the blade and shield, she was safe.
Then, one night, a week from the day the couple was expected to announce their wedding, a storm blew into their campground. Together the nights had to fight against the wind to grab their belongings, circle the horses and move under cover. The Dragon King was sitting beside the Fairy Queen as she and Sir Henry snuggled by the fire. At midnight until dawn, he would be transformed into his younger self, and the two were quite content. Yet, the fire gave out a strange piercing scream that sent a shudder through all three. The Fairy Queen frowned, “That is not one of my banshees. It is mortal magic. The fire tells us there is something wrong afoot.”
In that moment the doors closed around the three in the great hall and feet could be heard approaching.
Sir Henry looked up and shook his head, “If they are coming here now, you can bet they are already closing in on the princess.”
The Fairy Queen nodded, gesturing to the fireplace even as she turned the three into owls. Immediately, all three flew up into it and out of the castle. Looking down from above, they saw several of the house maids running out towards an army sporting the same signil the raiders had worn. Several of the enemy knights jumped off their horses and embraced one of the servants in kisses of reunion while the old midwife stood aghast, yelling at them all, screaming “Traitors!” at the top of her lungs.
The Fairy Queen turned her into a mouse just as one of the older maids attempted to slit her throat. Then screeching like a barn owl, she grabbed up the mouse in her claws, careful not to hurt her and joined the others, speaking human tongue to the perplexed midwife, “Stay calm. You are safe now. We will go into my hills and you will tell us all you know of these raiders. Obviously, this betrayal has been a long time coming.”
“Yes, your majesty!”, the midwife turned mouse squeaked, “This man, the leader of the raiders, wants to rid the world of the Tuatha de Danann. He brings a new religion. But he must marry the princess to make a proper claim to the throne. He does not respect the balance. He believes the earth is a servant alone.”
“Ridiculous!”, Sir Henry roared as he flapped his wings, “The old ways shall never die! We are eternal. Man was meant to live alongside earth and fae. The marriage of dragon and mortal will confirm that according to the most ancient prophecies of all our people.”
The Dragon King soared beside them all in silent contemplation, “If there are no dragons in the new world they seek to create, humanity will become a rogue dragon itself. Who then will remind them of the wisdom we have held?”
The Fairy Queen shook her head, “There have been many changes across the earth. We will never die. But we may have to learn to keep the balance in other ways. Hidden ways. And if the prophecy holds true, then it is even more important that the princess marry you. I had not thought upon the prophecy at all during all this matchmaking. But in the future there will be many more women like the princess, who fearlessly follow their passion. If there is a chance the future will be balanced, it begins here, not with the loss of blood, but in the love you two share. Dragons move across worlds. When you finally share your bedchamber, you will combine the dragon spirit with a daughter of man. There is powerful alchemy in that. Wed, and none of us will be forgotten in the hearts of men.”
The midwife waved her tail excitedly, squeaking out towards the Dragon King, “That is true, my lord. All humans come into this world connected to a great web. The old ways tell us there is shared memory in that place, the ancient of ancients that was here before all of us, even dragons. Introduce the princess into deep passionate love, the kind they will tell stories of down the centuries, and the daughters of men will inherit her longing for dragon’s passion in their own souls. It may take centuries, but if you two wed, and live out your days feeding your joy into the web, even those that cannot see and hear fae will not be able to help but to be affected. The memory will grow, like ocean waves until the day it lights up like wildfire across the hearts of men!”
“Like dragonfire”, the Dragon King sighed sadly, “I understand this, of course. But she will want to fight for her father’s kingdom. We see things from the view of eternity. How can a mortal understand?”
Sir Henry answered, “The midwife understands because she spends her days tending to new souls entering the world. She knows the blood and screams of birth between the veil. The princess spends her days on battlefields. She too knows the blood and screams that exist near the veil. She will understand the need for protecting the balance above all else, even the kingdom. But she cannot do it without finding the balance in herself. She must fall in love for that.”
The Fairy Queen added as they began to swoop down into towards her mound, “The old ways are the invisible ways. The raiders may very well when their battles. But the real war is over protecting humanity’s heart and its connection to the earth. The princess will understand sometime in order to win wars, some battles must be conceded. Conversely, others must be fought.”
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Upon reaching the mound, Clíona of Carrigcleena was shocked to see her fae donning their ragged banshee attire, already crying as they prepared to leave.
“That many deaths, already?”, she asked, leaning on Sir Henry for support.
“Aye, it will be, my queen. Unless we bring the townspeople into the mounds, or so the runes tell us.”, one of her servants answered as she offered mead to the others. The Fairy Queen raised her hand to stop Sir Henry when he almost had it to his lips, “If you drink that, you will forever be one of us. You will not be able to walk the earth as a mortal again.”
He smiled, stroking her cheek, “The wisdom of age tells us when it is our time to concede the directing of eras to a new generation of men,” he held up the crystal glass, toasting the queen, “and women. What is there for those like me who follow the old ways if there is no land to tread upon? I am earthly. I will either die upon earth or return to her womb here of my own volition.”
Tears formed in her eyes as she looked at him, caressing his cheek, “And what service to the earth and humanity will you be if you live fully among the fae?”
He smiled, “I’ll be the old beggar who tests the hearts of men with asks for food, then disappears blessing those who treat me well and scaring those who don’t. Tales will be spun, and others will come to recall the old ways of hospitality because of it.”
Clíona of Carrigcleena embraced him one last time and kissed his mortal lips before he sipped the honey wine. He immediately looked more vital, his eyes twinkling with ageless mischief as he pulled her into his arms.
One of her maidens smiled and tossed his old clothes into the fire, “I’m glad to know I will not be washing your blood off your clothes this evening, Sir Henry. You are much too beloved by all of us for that.”
The realization of how close mortality was for his own love struck the Dragon King to his core as he now turned to see the banshees placing all various modes of dress into their baskets, preparing to take them to rivers.
Shaking his head, he turned, roaring, “Stop! If all these humans die, we lose the people who remember the mysteries we are sworn to cherish. I am almost their king. Can we not bring the villages into the mounds?”
The Fairy Queen turned compassionate eyes onto her ageless friend, “We do not kill them. Our job is to announce their deaths by washing their clothes in the rivers, reminding them that their blood is one with the earth’s veins.”
“But surely there are hundreds of thousands of people who exist across this earth who will never know what these people know should they die.”
The midwife nodded, “I have helped hundreds of children be birthed and their children’s children. I tell you now that those who live among these mountains, hills and woods all are descended at least in part from the Tuatha de Danann.”
The Fairy Queen stood silent for a moment then turned and shouted after her banshees, “Stop! Tonight, you hold a different task in your hands. Do not don your rags. Instead, lead the sons and daughters of men to the nearest mounds. They cannot bring anything other than what they wear on their backs. If they come bearing iron, they will not be able to enter. I want this land empty before morning. Let those who are left behind tell the terrifying tale of how all who saw you disappeared into the night. Let the tale terrorize the hearts of these raiders. But bring the innocents to me, young and old, so that the earth has memory of there once being a race of man that knew us well.”
Nodding. She turned to the Dragon King, “Your cunning has saved the kingdom you do not yet hold responsibility for. Now go and save your wife and her men.”
The Dragon King rose, flying out of the mound, watching in wonder as below the banshees exited the mound, for once not shrieking, but rather sharing their true beauty with the earthly world around them. Thousands flew over the hills, into mountain valleys and oceanside villages, bringing with them throngs of people, old and young, following them into the nearest mounds, walking through the earth as if it were no more than a mirage. In some places the raider knights attempted to pursue, but found that no matter how fast they raced, they could never catch up with the slow tread of the villagers ahead of them.
In some places, when a villager risked his or her life by potentially being discovered by a raider knight in order to help a feeble old man hide, or tend to his wounds, they would find themselves rewarded by being embraced by the old man, only to realize upon pulling away that they were in the land of fae and the old man was the princess’ advisor, made young again.
When the raider knights returned to the castle they had taken, they would come back bearing strange tales of a great blue dragon to the north that killed hundreds of raiders with one swoosh of his claw, drowned their ships before they reached port with his tail and set fire to their supplies. They also shook with terror as they described women in glowing white robes leading mortals astray or women who could at once change from breathtakingly beautiful into hideous monstrosities.
But those stories were no less strange than the tales told by the castle’s household of how the princess’ advisors and suitor had disappeared despite being locked inside the great hall by iron doors, or how the midwife had changed into a mouse. There was even a tale of how two of the cooks, innocent from any knowledge of the traitors among their midst, had been thrown in the dungeon for offering food to a beggar, but had somehow disappeared completely right before they were to be executed, leaving only an iron pan and set of measuring spoons behind.
Others whispered about how the princess’ page boy appeared giggling madly right before some mischief fell upon an unfortunate soul. He especially delighted in tormenting the traitorous maids in the kitchen by curdling cream and upturning the stew.
A green knight of extraordinary beauty also became part of the tales, as the maids whispered about how he would appear at the windows of unsuspecting women, wooing them by seeming to know everything they wanted, dreamed, or ached for. Taking them for dances across the sky and making love to them through the night. Their screams of ecstasy would be loud enough to wake the household, yet in the morning, their bodies would be found either devoured or torched, on the rooftops.
Slowly, the leader of the raiding knights began to feel fear against his back and neck, like the breath of a beast. He called to him the midwife who was one of the only humans left in the nearest village. The old woman laughed at him when she was thrust on her knees in front of where he sat, on the princess’ father’s throne.
“How do I end this madness?”, he asked.
She smiled, “You cannot. You ignore the balance. The princess and her people have never forgotten to respect the fae.”
“They are demons!”, he roared, hitting the throne with his fist.
“You do not deserve to sit on the throne. You have not earned it.”, she replied, undaunted.
“Then tell me where the princess is and I will force her to marry me and then I will have earned the right.”
She shook her head again, “You cannot force a heart. Marriage is within the heart. All your evil knights and their swords could not force a single heart. Ceremony means nothing.”, she spit on the ground before him.
His jaw dropped with outrage, “How dare you!” and threw a dagger at her, to which she merely leaned out of the way from with a bored sigh.
Irritated, he asked, “Have you no fear?”
“Oh I fear. I fear greatly for all that you would have our kind forget.”
He leaned forward and swore, “There are new ways rising in this world and women like you who cavort with whom you call fae and who we call demons will be cleansed from the earth.”, he waved for his guards to drag her away, doing his best to ignore the unease he felt in his gut as she laughed all the way.
One of the maidservants protested later that imprisoning the midwife meant imprisoning one of the few townspeople left who still tended crops nearby.
The leader of the raiding knights simply replied, “Torch her crops. Torch her house. Torch all of it. It must be cleansed.”
Meanwhile, the princess’ knowledge of the woods kept her and her knights safely out of sight. Cut off from the villages and mounds by a campground of enemy knights too big to take on, they waited in the dark, appearing so briefly right before they made a kill that the enemy believed them all to be part fae. Those who did catch a glimpse of the Golden Knight and heard a male voice speak, sent word back to their leader that the princess was not the Golden Knight and must therefore be in hiding. They also sent word of how some strange beast seemed to be forever beside the Golden Knight’s side, at once both a man and yet possessing the attributes of a dragon, protecting him with fiery breath, supernatural speed and great wings.
When the leader of the raider knights heard these tales he recalled what he’d been told by the Scots back on the mainland. If he was going to have any success in capturing the heart of the green land, he would have to capture the heart of the princess before the Dragon King did. Assuming the green scaled protector described must be the Dragon King, he suspected some mode of fae magick had made the princess appear as a man. “Idiots!”, he fumed as he stormed out of the castle, kicking to the side a nearby beggar outside the castle door, “The green protector you describe must be the Dragon King! Tonight we ride to capture my bride!”, then without looking added over his shoulder as he mounted his horse, “Mount up now. It will take all day to reach the forest line. Then we attack in the morning hours. And toss that beggar into the moat before we go.”
The raider knights did as told, ignoring the pleading in the old man’s voice as they tossed him over the wall without looking. Then walking back towards their horses, they realized there had been no splash and looked over the wall once again, astounded to see nothing. Thinking it best not to tell anyone since most would think them crazy, they agreed to keep silent.
Meanwhile, Sir Henry landed, crouching on his hands and feet inside the Fae Kingdom having used the reflective surface of the water as a portal. He stood, at once transforming into his youthful self and addressed Leannán Dóiteáin who was speaking in whispers to the Fairy Queen, “If you are quite done sampling the traitorous maids, perhaps you would appreciate what I have to tell you.”
Leannán Dóiteáin looked up evenly at Sir Henry, “Once a traitor, always a traitor. They each tell me all they know long before I kill them. They die in ecstasy before they feed me. And then I don’t eat those with the blackest hearts. I burn their bodies. So, believe me, it is far sweeter than any of them deserves.”
“And far more merciful than how they interrogate those who defend us and our ways, from what I hear.”, the Fairy Queen spoke up, “I will be sneaking into the castle to save the midwife from being burnt at the stake tonight.”
Sir Henry nodded, “That is good timing. Especially as the leader of the raider knights plans to travel today to meet up with the princess, attacking her knights at dawn tomorrow, so he will be away.”
He turned to Leannán Dóiteáin, “He believes your friend who protects the princess is the Dragon King. The raider knights are telling tales of a half man half beast who protects the Golden Knight. He suspects the Golden Knight’s male appearance is due to fae magick.”
The Fairy Queen’s forehead creased with worry, “They are blocked from the mounds by raider knights’ campsite. If they do as you say, they will be surrounded by the enemy on two sides and impenetrable mountains behind.”
The Dragon King who had listened to everything growled, “Let me go to her. Let me save my love.”
The Fairy Queen looked up with a compassionate look, “I know you hate me for binding you here. But you already have killed too many mortals in your pursuit of her. We must protect the balance.”
The Dragon King gnashed his teeth together, “They do not care for the balance. You say the only hope of redeeming their race is for us to wed. Now this odious excuse for a human is pursuing half of that hope.”, then closing his eyes and reining in his temper, he offered the Fairy Queen a breathtakingly charming smile, “I promise not to kill any mortals, so you can free me with a clear conscience my beautiful queen.”
“Oh you are ever the cunning one…”, she murmured, fighting a smile.
His grin grew into an ever more mischievous one, “Dragons always are.”
“Fine!”, she waved her hand and his legs and arms were released from the little clouds of light that had bound them.
“Leannán Dóiteáin,”, he called out as he walked swiftly out, “You are among my most cunning. Call the other dragons to our aid. Tell them they are not to harm a single hair on any of the raider knights’ heads. But that I fully expect the campsite preventing my love and her knights from escaping to the mounds to be gone by morning. Then you will help me to do the same with the raider knights when their leader arrives with them tonight.”
Leannán Dóiteáin smirked as he stepped in perfect stride with his king, “Delighted, my king.”
Together, the dragons lifted great stones and placed them in circles around the land, blessing them in fire, as only their breath could with stone. In this way, the villages who were trapped, like the princess and her knights, in the high mountains found their way into the doorways, disappearing between the stones. The raiders whispered of blue fire that burned bright amidst rock and dared not enter the circles themselves.
Satisfied with the escape routes into the land of fae now dotting the countryside, The Dragon King and Leannán Dóiteáin visited the princess, finding her by following her thoughts as she and her knights lay hidden among the dark forest shadows. Embracing her with their wings, they asked her to kiss them so they might revert into human form. The Dragon King held her in his arms, having explained the sacrifice she and her people must make to preserve the balance. She wept, but brushed her eyes in annoyance with her own tears and looked him deep in his eyes, “But I don’t understand. Our marriage would have brought the worlds of fae and mortal closer together. Would that not have been a greater balance?”
He smiled, “Sometimes the Earth Mother has other plans. These people are devoted to something new. It may well be that our fate is to keep truth preserved among the hearts of men who in time will remember how to hear us. We have set up the stone circles. Their decedents will hear the tales of portals into the land of fae and maybe one or two will find their way into the Earth Mother someday. For now, our greatest responsibility is to protect the spirit of the land.”
Nodding, the princess pulled the iron blade her father had once given her. It was her most precious possession, and like the land, it felt like leaving him behind to have to part with it. She was about to throw it into the trees when Tine Dearg stayed her hand, “Wait for the right moment, princess.”, then gestured to Leannán Dóiteáin to come forward, the red dragon reached under his cloak and pulled out a golden chalice
Leannán Dóiteáin for once didn’t wear a smirk on his face as he apologized with tears in his eyes, “It was all I could save from the bridal carriage your majesties.”
“It is more than was ever expected!”, the princess gushed as she received the beautiful cup.
The red dragon looked up at the Dragon King, “I fear they have begun melting down your carriage and seek to use your stones to piece together altars for their new beliefs. They believe they can redirect the power in the stones for their own desires.”
The Dragon King shocked the others by throwing his head back with laughter, then looking up to see the four of them were now surrounded by the princess’ puzzled knights, he explained, “The stones cannot be directed. If they seek to bend their new beliefs to their personal desires, they cannot direct anything wisely. No, the power of the stones is of the earth and can only help those who listen and seek to learn. How they display them, how they cut them or where they place them will not matter. Let them scatter them to the winds, for wherever they are put, the Earth Mother will whisper and those whispers will feed into the hearts of men.”
With this knowledge, the princess’ knights each fell on bended knee, removing their helmets. The Dragon King removed his glove, taking the iron blade from the princess’ hand and letting the handle scald his own, holding it high above his head. Gasping the princess held up the chalice in both her hands to catch his tears as they fell. The moon broke through the clouds and reflected off the sides of the golden cup, reflecting its light into both their faces. The Dragon King thrust the blade into the chalice, mixing the blood of his scalding wounds into the tears and moonlight. Together, they held chalice and blade as one, then trading the objects, the princess placed the blade into a loop along her side as the king handed the cup to Leannán Dóiteáin. Tine Dearg stepped forward and ripping cloth from his cloak, wrapped their wrists together, whispering, “As it was done in ancient days, so it is done again, and so it will be done in the times ahead. Bound by dragon tears, dragon blood and the sacrifice of her father’s lands, blessed by moonlight and witnessed by those who have fought beside her, let all now bear witness, these two are wed.”
The trees began to quiver, every shadow shivering as if in celebration. But soon the soft tread of leaves and pine needles could be heard. Emerging from the woods, as if made by the branches itself, a man made of roots, leaves and nests came forward. He smiled at those assembled, his green eyes silent, but full of life. Awestruck, they all fell to the ground as the ancient one stepped closer, placing his own hand on top of the couple’s handfasting. There was no great roar, nor great words of eloquence spoken. Instead, the miracles that surrounded them were the miracles of the earth…the dancing fireflies circling the group like stars that who kissed the earth with their dance, the animals emerged, their eyes reflecting the light of the moon, dragonflies and moths landing on their shoulders. The midnight flowers began to open and the fragrance of honey, pollen and moss grew thick upon the air.
The Greenman didn’t leave, instead, his seemed to dissolve into the forest, his body breaking apart into the individual lives of those who lived within its mysteries, leaving only his hand which fell apart into leaves blowing about their feet. His eyes hovered, the last to go, deep and green, moving backwards into the dark shrouded woods. But blinking twice, they came forward again, revealing themselves to belong to a great stag with horns that towered above the trees, leaves growing from the tips like branches. The stag winked at them and took off running wild and free.
Speechless, the knights turned to the couple for direction.
The princess, now newly made queen, smiled serenely, “Whether we live through the night or not, we are already victorious, for we have witnessed the ancient one will still thrive.”
The Dragon King pulled her close and nodded, “Now we know for whom we fight for. We are all part of the Earth and will love as one, live as one and if need be, die as one.”
Gathering close, they made their plans…
(Continued in Chapter 7 at http://www.tickletheater.com/showthread.php?p=719116#post719116
Yet in the evenings, he would fly to her, reading the minds of the knights to learn where they were. He could easily see why their company fit her spirit so much more as he would observe from a height way beyond the human eye, yet with his keen eyesight and hearing, could see and hear everything on the ground. He loved the joy with which she ran, climbed, fought and joked with her men. He felt a swell of pride as he saw her return with a stag over her shoulders and understood the camaraderie she shared with them when together they foraged for mushrooms, root vegetables and wild herbs to make the stew along their travels. Here, in the forest, beneath the canopy of stars and branches, where battles were fought honestly with the blade and shield, she was safe.
Then, one night, a week from the day the couple was expected to announce their wedding, a storm blew into their campground. Together the nights had to fight against the wind to grab their belongings, circle the horses and move under cover. The Dragon King was sitting beside the Fairy Queen as she and Sir Henry snuggled by the fire. At midnight until dawn, he would be transformed into his younger self, and the two were quite content. Yet, the fire gave out a strange piercing scream that sent a shudder through all three. The Fairy Queen frowned, “That is not one of my banshees. It is mortal magic. The fire tells us there is something wrong afoot.”
In that moment the doors closed around the three in the great hall and feet could be heard approaching.
Sir Henry looked up and shook his head, “If they are coming here now, you can bet they are already closing in on the princess.”
The Fairy Queen nodded, gesturing to the fireplace even as she turned the three into owls. Immediately, all three flew up into it and out of the castle. Looking down from above, they saw several of the house maids running out towards an army sporting the same signil the raiders had worn. Several of the enemy knights jumped off their horses and embraced one of the servants in kisses of reunion while the old midwife stood aghast, yelling at them all, screaming “Traitors!” at the top of her lungs.
The Fairy Queen turned her into a mouse just as one of the older maids attempted to slit her throat. Then screeching like a barn owl, she grabbed up the mouse in her claws, careful not to hurt her and joined the others, speaking human tongue to the perplexed midwife, “Stay calm. You are safe now. We will go into my hills and you will tell us all you know of these raiders. Obviously, this betrayal has been a long time coming.”
“Yes, your majesty!”, the midwife turned mouse squeaked, “This man, the leader of the raiders, wants to rid the world of the Tuatha de Danann. He brings a new religion. But he must marry the princess to make a proper claim to the throne. He does not respect the balance. He believes the earth is a servant alone.”
“Ridiculous!”, Sir Henry roared as he flapped his wings, “The old ways shall never die! We are eternal. Man was meant to live alongside earth and fae. The marriage of dragon and mortal will confirm that according to the most ancient prophecies of all our people.”
The Dragon King soared beside them all in silent contemplation, “If there are no dragons in the new world they seek to create, humanity will become a rogue dragon itself. Who then will remind them of the wisdom we have held?”
The Fairy Queen shook her head, “There have been many changes across the earth. We will never die. But we may have to learn to keep the balance in other ways. Hidden ways. And if the prophecy holds true, then it is even more important that the princess marry you. I had not thought upon the prophecy at all during all this matchmaking. But in the future there will be many more women like the princess, who fearlessly follow their passion. If there is a chance the future will be balanced, it begins here, not with the loss of blood, but in the love you two share. Dragons move across worlds. When you finally share your bedchamber, you will combine the dragon spirit with a daughter of man. There is powerful alchemy in that. Wed, and none of us will be forgotten in the hearts of men.”
The midwife waved her tail excitedly, squeaking out towards the Dragon King, “That is true, my lord. All humans come into this world connected to a great web. The old ways tell us there is shared memory in that place, the ancient of ancients that was here before all of us, even dragons. Introduce the princess into deep passionate love, the kind they will tell stories of down the centuries, and the daughters of men will inherit her longing for dragon’s passion in their own souls. It may take centuries, but if you two wed, and live out your days feeding your joy into the web, even those that cannot see and hear fae will not be able to help but to be affected. The memory will grow, like ocean waves until the day it lights up like wildfire across the hearts of men!”
“Like dragonfire”, the Dragon King sighed sadly, “I understand this, of course. But she will want to fight for her father’s kingdom. We see things from the view of eternity. How can a mortal understand?”
Sir Henry answered, “The midwife understands because she spends her days tending to new souls entering the world. She knows the blood and screams of birth between the veil. The princess spends her days on battlefields. She too knows the blood and screams that exist near the veil. She will understand the need for protecting the balance above all else, even the kingdom. But she cannot do it without finding the balance in herself. She must fall in love for that.”
The Fairy Queen added as they began to swoop down into towards her mound, “The old ways are the invisible ways. The raiders may very well when their battles. But the real war is over protecting humanity’s heart and its connection to the earth. The princess will understand sometime in order to win wars, some battles must be conceded. Conversely, others must be fought.”
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Upon reaching the mound, Clíona of Carrigcleena was shocked to see her fae donning their ragged banshee attire, already crying as they prepared to leave.
“That many deaths, already?”, she asked, leaning on Sir Henry for support.
“Aye, it will be, my queen. Unless we bring the townspeople into the mounds, or so the runes tell us.”, one of her servants answered as she offered mead to the others. The Fairy Queen raised her hand to stop Sir Henry when he almost had it to his lips, “If you drink that, you will forever be one of us. You will not be able to walk the earth as a mortal again.”
He smiled, stroking her cheek, “The wisdom of age tells us when it is our time to concede the directing of eras to a new generation of men,” he held up the crystal glass, toasting the queen, “and women. What is there for those like me who follow the old ways if there is no land to tread upon? I am earthly. I will either die upon earth or return to her womb here of my own volition.”
Tears formed in her eyes as she looked at him, caressing his cheek, “And what service to the earth and humanity will you be if you live fully among the fae?”
He smiled, “I’ll be the old beggar who tests the hearts of men with asks for food, then disappears blessing those who treat me well and scaring those who don’t. Tales will be spun, and others will come to recall the old ways of hospitality because of it.”
Clíona of Carrigcleena embraced him one last time and kissed his mortal lips before he sipped the honey wine. He immediately looked more vital, his eyes twinkling with ageless mischief as he pulled her into his arms.
One of her maidens smiled and tossed his old clothes into the fire, “I’m glad to know I will not be washing your blood off your clothes this evening, Sir Henry. You are much too beloved by all of us for that.”
The realization of how close mortality was for his own love struck the Dragon King to his core as he now turned to see the banshees placing all various modes of dress into their baskets, preparing to take them to rivers.
Shaking his head, he turned, roaring, “Stop! If all these humans die, we lose the people who remember the mysteries we are sworn to cherish. I am almost their king. Can we not bring the villages into the mounds?”
The Fairy Queen turned compassionate eyes onto her ageless friend, “We do not kill them. Our job is to announce their deaths by washing their clothes in the rivers, reminding them that their blood is one with the earth’s veins.”
“But surely there are hundreds of thousands of people who exist across this earth who will never know what these people know should they die.”
The midwife nodded, “I have helped hundreds of children be birthed and their children’s children. I tell you now that those who live among these mountains, hills and woods all are descended at least in part from the Tuatha de Danann.”
The Fairy Queen stood silent for a moment then turned and shouted after her banshees, “Stop! Tonight, you hold a different task in your hands. Do not don your rags. Instead, lead the sons and daughters of men to the nearest mounds. They cannot bring anything other than what they wear on their backs. If they come bearing iron, they will not be able to enter. I want this land empty before morning. Let those who are left behind tell the terrifying tale of how all who saw you disappeared into the night. Let the tale terrorize the hearts of these raiders. But bring the innocents to me, young and old, so that the earth has memory of there once being a race of man that knew us well.”
Nodding. She turned to the Dragon King, “Your cunning has saved the kingdom you do not yet hold responsibility for. Now go and save your wife and her men.”
The Dragon King rose, flying out of the mound, watching in wonder as below the banshees exited the mound, for once not shrieking, but rather sharing their true beauty with the earthly world around them. Thousands flew over the hills, into mountain valleys and oceanside villages, bringing with them throngs of people, old and young, following them into the nearest mounds, walking through the earth as if it were no more than a mirage. In some places the raider knights attempted to pursue, but found that no matter how fast they raced, they could never catch up with the slow tread of the villagers ahead of them.
In some places, when a villager risked his or her life by potentially being discovered by a raider knight in order to help a feeble old man hide, or tend to his wounds, they would find themselves rewarded by being embraced by the old man, only to realize upon pulling away that they were in the land of fae and the old man was the princess’ advisor, made young again.
When the raider knights returned to the castle they had taken, they would come back bearing strange tales of a great blue dragon to the north that killed hundreds of raiders with one swoosh of his claw, drowned their ships before they reached port with his tail and set fire to their supplies. They also shook with terror as they described women in glowing white robes leading mortals astray or women who could at once change from breathtakingly beautiful into hideous monstrosities.
But those stories were no less strange than the tales told by the castle’s household of how the princess’ advisors and suitor had disappeared despite being locked inside the great hall by iron doors, or how the midwife had changed into a mouse. There was even a tale of how two of the cooks, innocent from any knowledge of the traitors among their midst, had been thrown in the dungeon for offering food to a beggar, but had somehow disappeared completely right before they were to be executed, leaving only an iron pan and set of measuring spoons behind.
Others whispered about how the princess’ page boy appeared giggling madly right before some mischief fell upon an unfortunate soul. He especially delighted in tormenting the traitorous maids in the kitchen by curdling cream and upturning the stew.
A green knight of extraordinary beauty also became part of the tales, as the maids whispered about how he would appear at the windows of unsuspecting women, wooing them by seeming to know everything they wanted, dreamed, or ached for. Taking them for dances across the sky and making love to them through the night. Their screams of ecstasy would be loud enough to wake the household, yet in the morning, their bodies would be found either devoured or torched, on the rooftops.
Slowly, the leader of the raiding knights began to feel fear against his back and neck, like the breath of a beast. He called to him the midwife who was one of the only humans left in the nearest village. The old woman laughed at him when she was thrust on her knees in front of where he sat, on the princess’ father’s throne.
“How do I end this madness?”, he asked.
She smiled, “You cannot. You ignore the balance. The princess and her people have never forgotten to respect the fae.”
“They are demons!”, he roared, hitting the throne with his fist.
“You do not deserve to sit on the throne. You have not earned it.”, she replied, undaunted.
“Then tell me where the princess is and I will force her to marry me and then I will have earned the right.”
She shook her head again, “You cannot force a heart. Marriage is within the heart. All your evil knights and their swords could not force a single heart. Ceremony means nothing.”, she spit on the ground before him.
His jaw dropped with outrage, “How dare you!” and threw a dagger at her, to which she merely leaned out of the way from with a bored sigh.
Irritated, he asked, “Have you no fear?”
“Oh I fear. I fear greatly for all that you would have our kind forget.”
He leaned forward and swore, “There are new ways rising in this world and women like you who cavort with whom you call fae and who we call demons will be cleansed from the earth.”, he waved for his guards to drag her away, doing his best to ignore the unease he felt in his gut as she laughed all the way.
One of the maidservants protested later that imprisoning the midwife meant imprisoning one of the few townspeople left who still tended crops nearby.
The leader of the raiding knights simply replied, “Torch her crops. Torch her house. Torch all of it. It must be cleansed.”
Meanwhile, the princess’ knowledge of the woods kept her and her knights safely out of sight. Cut off from the villages and mounds by a campground of enemy knights too big to take on, they waited in the dark, appearing so briefly right before they made a kill that the enemy believed them all to be part fae. Those who did catch a glimpse of the Golden Knight and heard a male voice speak, sent word back to their leader that the princess was not the Golden Knight and must therefore be in hiding. They also sent word of how some strange beast seemed to be forever beside the Golden Knight’s side, at once both a man and yet possessing the attributes of a dragon, protecting him with fiery breath, supernatural speed and great wings.
When the leader of the raider knights heard these tales he recalled what he’d been told by the Scots back on the mainland. If he was going to have any success in capturing the heart of the green land, he would have to capture the heart of the princess before the Dragon King did. Assuming the green scaled protector described must be the Dragon King, he suspected some mode of fae magick had made the princess appear as a man. “Idiots!”, he fumed as he stormed out of the castle, kicking to the side a nearby beggar outside the castle door, “The green protector you describe must be the Dragon King! Tonight we ride to capture my bride!”, then without looking added over his shoulder as he mounted his horse, “Mount up now. It will take all day to reach the forest line. Then we attack in the morning hours. And toss that beggar into the moat before we go.”
The raider knights did as told, ignoring the pleading in the old man’s voice as they tossed him over the wall without looking. Then walking back towards their horses, they realized there had been no splash and looked over the wall once again, astounded to see nothing. Thinking it best not to tell anyone since most would think them crazy, they agreed to keep silent.
Meanwhile, Sir Henry landed, crouching on his hands and feet inside the Fae Kingdom having used the reflective surface of the water as a portal. He stood, at once transforming into his youthful self and addressed Leannán Dóiteáin who was speaking in whispers to the Fairy Queen, “If you are quite done sampling the traitorous maids, perhaps you would appreciate what I have to tell you.”
Leannán Dóiteáin looked up evenly at Sir Henry, “Once a traitor, always a traitor. They each tell me all they know long before I kill them. They die in ecstasy before they feed me. And then I don’t eat those with the blackest hearts. I burn their bodies. So, believe me, it is far sweeter than any of them deserves.”
“And far more merciful than how they interrogate those who defend us and our ways, from what I hear.”, the Fairy Queen spoke up, “I will be sneaking into the castle to save the midwife from being burnt at the stake tonight.”
Sir Henry nodded, “That is good timing. Especially as the leader of the raider knights plans to travel today to meet up with the princess, attacking her knights at dawn tomorrow, so he will be away.”
He turned to Leannán Dóiteáin, “He believes your friend who protects the princess is the Dragon King. The raider knights are telling tales of a half man half beast who protects the Golden Knight. He suspects the Golden Knight’s male appearance is due to fae magick.”
The Fairy Queen’s forehead creased with worry, “They are blocked from the mounds by raider knights’ campsite. If they do as you say, they will be surrounded by the enemy on two sides and impenetrable mountains behind.”
The Dragon King who had listened to everything growled, “Let me go to her. Let me save my love.”
The Fairy Queen looked up with a compassionate look, “I know you hate me for binding you here. But you already have killed too many mortals in your pursuit of her. We must protect the balance.”
The Dragon King gnashed his teeth together, “They do not care for the balance. You say the only hope of redeeming their race is for us to wed. Now this odious excuse for a human is pursuing half of that hope.”, then closing his eyes and reining in his temper, he offered the Fairy Queen a breathtakingly charming smile, “I promise not to kill any mortals, so you can free me with a clear conscience my beautiful queen.”
“Oh you are ever the cunning one…”, she murmured, fighting a smile.
His grin grew into an ever more mischievous one, “Dragons always are.”
“Fine!”, she waved her hand and his legs and arms were released from the little clouds of light that had bound them.
“Leannán Dóiteáin,”, he called out as he walked swiftly out, “You are among my most cunning. Call the other dragons to our aid. Tell them they are not to harm a single hair on any of the raider knights’ heads. But that I fully expect the campsite preventing my love and her knights from escaping to the mounds to be gone by morning. Then you will help me to do the same with the raider knights when their leader arrives with them tonight.”
Leannán Dóiteáin smirked as he stepped in perfect stride with his king, “Delighted, my king.”
Together, the dragons lifted great stones and placed them in circles around the land, blessing them in fire, as only their breath could with stone. In this way, the villages who were trapped, like the princess and her knights, in the high mountains found their way into the doorways, disappearing between the stones. The raiders whispered of blue fire that burned bright amidst rock and dared not enter the circles themselves.
Satisfied with the escape routes into the land of fae now dotting the countryside, The Dragon King and Leannán Dóiteáin visited the princess, finding her by following her thoughts as she and her knights lay hidden among the dark forest shadows. Embracing her with their wings, they asked her to kiss them so they might revert into human form. The Dragon King held her in his arms, having explained the sacrifice she and her people must make to preserve the balance. She wept, but brushed her eyes in annoyance with her own tears and looked him deep in his eyes, “But I don’t understand. Our marriage would have brought the worlds of fae and mortal closer together. Would that not have been a greater balance?”
He smiled, “Sometimes the Earth Mother has other plans. These people are devoted to something new. It may well be that our fate is to keep truth preserved among the hearts of men who in time will remember how to hear us. We have set up the stone circles. Their decedents will hear the tales of portals into the land of fae and maybe one or two will find their way into the Earth Mother someday. For now, our greatest responsibility is to protect the spirit of the land.”
Nodding, the princess pulled the iron blade her father had once given her. It was her most precious possession, and like the land, it felt like leaving him behind to have to part with it. She was about to throw it into the trees when Tine Dearg stayed her hand, “Wait for the right moment, princess.”, then gestured to Leannán Dóiteáin to come forward, the red dragon reached under his cloak and pulled out a golden chalice
Leannán Dóiteáin for once didn’t wear a smirk on his face as he apologized with tears in his eyes, “It was all I could save from the bridal carriage your majesties.”
“It is more than was ever expected!”, the princess gushed as she received the beautiful cup.
The red dragon looked up at the Dragon King, “I fear they have begun melting down your carriage and seek to use your stones to piece together altars for their new beliefs. They believe they can redirect the power in the stones for their own desires.”
The Dragon King shocked the others by throwing his head back with laughter, then looking up to see the four of them were now surrounded by the princess’ puzzled knights, he explained, “The stones cannot be directed. If they seek to bend their new beliefs to their personal desires, they cannot direct anything wisely. No, the power of the stones is of the earth and can only help those who listen and seek to learn. How they display them, how they cut them or where they place them will not matter. Let them scatter them to the winds, for wherever they are put, the Earth Mother will whisper and those whispers will feed into the hearts of men.”
With this knowledge, the princess’ knights each fell on bended knee, removing their helmets. The Dragon King removed his glove, taking the iron blade from the princess’ hand and letting the handle scald his own, holding it high above his head. Gasping the princess held up the chalice in both her hands to catch his tears as they fell. The moon broke through the clouds and reflected off the sides of the golden cup, reflecting its light into both their faces. The Dragon King thrust the blade into the chalice, mixing the blood of his scalding wounds into the tears and moonlight. Together, they held chalice and blade as one, then trading the objects, the princess placed the blade into a loop along her side as the king handed the cup to Leannán Dóiteáin. Tine Dearg stepped forward and ripping cloth from his cloak, wrapped their wrists together, whispering, “As it was done in ancient days, so it is done again, and so it will be done in the times ahead. Bound by dragon tears, dragon blood and the sacrifice of her father’s lands, blessed by moonlight and witnessed by those who have fought beside her, let all now bear witness, these two are wed.”
The trees began to quiver, every shadow shivering as if in celebration. But soon the soft tread of leaves and pine needles could be heard. Emerging from the woods, as if made by the branches itself, a man made of roots, leaves and nests came forward. He smiled at those assembled, his green eyes silent, but full of life. Awestruck, they all fell to the ground as the ancient one stepped closer, placing his own hand on top of the couple’s handfasting. There was no great roar, nor great words of eloquence spoken. Instead, the miracles that surrounded them were the miracles of the earth…the dancing fireflies circling the group like stars that who kissed the earth with their dance, the animals emerged, their eyes reflecting the light of the moon, dragonflies and moths landing on their shoulders. The midnight flowers began to open and the fragrance of honey, pollen and moss grew thick upon the air.
The Greenman didn’t leave, instead, his seemed to dissolve into the forest, his body breaking apart into the individual lives of those who lived within its mysteries, leaving only his hand which fell apart into leaves blowing about their feet. His eyes hovered, the last to go, deep and green, moving backwards into the dark shrouded woods. But blinking twice, they came forward again, revealing themselves to belong to a great stag with horns that towered above the trees, leaves growing from the tips like branches. The stag winked at them and took off running wild and free.
Speechless, the knights turned to the couple for direction.
The princess, now newly made queen, smiled serenely, “Whether we live through the night or not, we are already victorious, for we have witnessed the ancient one will still thrive.”
The Dragon King pulled her close and nodded, “Now we know for whom we fight for. We are all part of the Earth and will love as one, live as one and if need be, die as one.”
Gathering close, they made their plans…
(Continued in Chapter 7 at http://www.tickletheater.com/showthread.php?p=719116#post719116
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