The Heiress of the Lake (2)

A dark fantasy serial. Chapter 2.

Read Chapter 1 here ⬇️

The Heiress of the Lake (1)

Chapter 2: A noble cause

Once out the castle, Auri ran as fast as her feet would carry her, splashing muddy water with every footstep, until the girl stopped. It was nearly pitch-black; the light came from the tiny windows of the low-class tavern Auri was visiting just yesterday. She stood in the ruins, catching her breath in the back alley of the tavern. Unexpectedly, a heavy beast ran her down; the girl fell into a puddle before she could draw her sword, the monster grabbed her by the foot and dragged the her into the darkness of the ruined buildings, away from the tavern’s windows. Auri shrieked and tried to rip her foot out of the monster’s jaws, but could not. Screams and yells were nothing uncommon in the ruined parts of the town and nobody hurried to the rescue when hearing them. 

Auri managed to roll on her back, as the beast released her shortly, just to jump on top of her, and to her horror the giant wolf turned into a man. Despite the dark, Auri was convinced it’s the same man with the silvery hair and the ice-blue wolf’s eyes. 

“Let go of me!” She screamed.

“Oh no! You’re such an easy prey. And a pretty one as well. Let me taste you!” He growled holding the girl down and sniffing her skin. His eyes shone ghastly in the darkness. His painfully tight grip wouldn’t let the girl pull out the sword. The man began to rip her clothes off, but Auri would not give in; kicking, screaming and biting.

“I do love a feisty little bitch! Not much point in fighting back. Morten doesn’t care who impregnates you, and I wouldn’t mind adding a bit of Wolfling blood into the Autumnian royal dynasty,” the despicable man licked the blood off her bruised cheek, while the girl shook with disgust. 

Something ran up to them with footsteps quieter than raindrops. A dark figure violently pushed the Wolfling man off Auri and into a large puddle. The Wolfling crashed into the dirt and howled; the intruder had stabbed the beastly man with a dagger. 

“Auri! Are you here?!” Marci’s voice resounded through the storm. The wounded man became a wolf again and dragged his feet deeper into the shadows of the ruins, the intruder disappeared out of sight as well, hearing Marcian’s voice.

“I’m here!” Auri yelled.

Marci ran up to her and wrapped the poor, wet, half-naked girl in his embrace. 

Auri shook crying all the way back to the castle. Marcial carried her to the chamber, laid her in bed, helped her clean up and get changed into a night dress, and he also treated her wounds. Auri’s leg had deep bite marks. 

“I’ll call the physician. You must inform the captain of the guards - that scoundrel deserves to be fed to the dragon,”

“No! Please, I don’t want Morten to hear about this. The Wolfling is his friend,” Auri begged. 

Marci shook his head disapprovingly, while treating her wounds. He took out his Snakegrass pipe and let the girl smoke the herb until she stopped shaking. 

“Will you stay with me? Marci, I’m scared,” Auri snugged in his embrace.

“I’ll stay here, don’t be afraid. He will never touch you again, I swear,” 

Both fell asleep holding each other close, Auri slipped into a peaceful dream; the thought of the wretched engagement and the horror of the night retreated with the warmth of Marci’s embrace. He was more than a friend, Marci was her brother and the golden bond between their souls shone ever so bright in the darkness. 

Marci was awakened by the maid walking into Auri’s chamber to wake her up. The morning was late. The maid wasn’t surprised to see the couple lying in bed together before the wedding - it was Autumna; a virtuous bride would be considered a rarity. 

Lady Gwen followed the maid, looking for her son. She smiled at the sight of the couple, although Marci was fully dressed, with his cloak still on.

He got out of bed letting Auri sleep and went outside the chamber to have a word with his mother. 

“I see you’re taking the engagement seriously, Marcian,” Lady Gwen smirked and continued, lowering her voice, “but you two must contain yourselves until after the wedding; poor girl appears to be beaten. She’s expected to look impeccable on her wedding day,”

“Mother!” Marci exclaimed frowning, “we did no such thing! No matter what people say, Auri’s virtue is intact. You know us. How can you think otherwise?”

“Nobody would dare to judge you, dear son. You shall be the High King of Autumna. What an honour!” Lady Gwen’s face beamed with pride.

“Mother you know very well, the cost of this power is too high. Me and Auri, we cannot be lovers!” Marci said sternly and turned away. 

“Would it be better if the High King gave the poor girl to some scoundrel who’d make a bad husband and an even worse king?” Lady Gwen whispered furiously, “you are the one to keep Auri safe. You, Marcian, shall be the best ruler Autumna has seen! Do you not agree?”

“I would do anything to be a good ruler and a good husband, but I cannot… And pretending wouldn’t work, because of the consummation…” Marci blushed.

“Oh, you’ll get over it. Both of you can do it just that one time. Imagine yourselves away, forget about the court. I know you secretly visit whore houses in the ruins, Marcian, you know how it’s done. Be gentle with Auri, that’s all it takes!”

Marcian wiped his palm over his own face to erase the image of him and Auri making love in the consummation act, naked in front of the perverted court… Such was the Autumnian royal wedding. No desire rose within him, just disgust. Auri was a sister, his soulmate, no engagement could change that, and no power or good-will could justify tainting the pure love between them.

“What am I to do, mother?” Marci desperately sought for the answer in his mother’s eyes.

“Accept your fate. It is the will of the spirits. You described the Autumnian royal wedding when fortune telling yesterday. You were the groom, and your queen had black hair,” 

Marci’s eyes widened, indeed he remembered the blurred images caused by the Snakegrass and the enchantment. 

Auri called him from the chamber. He went back without looking at Lady Gwen.

“No, it’s just foolish nonsense! You could’ve seen all sort of gibberish after breathing in Snakegrass,” Auri shook her head after hearing about Marci’s vision.

“Do you remember what you saw?”

“I remember… he saved me from the wolf… he was bound to be a…ruler,” Auri suddenly realized, it all came together! 

“No! I refuse to believe it! There was another man, he saved me from the Wolfling yesterday!” She yelled.

“I saw nobody. The beast ran away when I came nearer,” Marci shrugged.  

The maid knocked on the door once more; the heiress and her future husband were supposed to attend the first fitting of their wedding clothes.

After many tedious hours of fitting, practising the ceremonial wedding dance and lessons in royal etiquette, came the first rehearsal of the wedding. Auri expected sheer torture, but it turned out much more worse when the High King decided to honour the rehearsal with his presence. Snarky, despicable remarks at every move Auri made; Morten indeed had something spiteful to say at her every attempt to look and move gracefully. Auri saw Marcian gritting his teeth and clenching his fists secretly; although her friend usually was patience itself, this rehearsal was nearly too much even for him to take. 

The High King requested the couple to linger in the hall for a chat, after the servants had gone away. 

“I’m expecting you two will produce an heir to the throne as soon as you can,” Morten said straightforwardly, “I’m surprised you’ve managed to avoid birthing a bastard all these years, but whatever you did not to get one - now you can let loose and work hard on it,” 

Marcian raised his eyebrows; the High King’s audacity was unbelievable. Auri sighed, she wasn’t surprised of Morten finding a new way to disgrace her. 

Both were lost for words. 

“Auriani, I believe you shall find your way out,” Morten said idly. 

Auri bowed and went away.

“I heard of your little encounter with my Wolfling friend Regnar last night. I must confess; I did ask him to keep a close eye on Auriani. He might have been following my command too eagerly. I’m glad you sorted things out; the heir of the throne must be pure blood Autumnian,” the High king spoke pacing around Marcian slowly. 

“Your task is to impregnate the girl, the sooner the better,”

“May I ask, why is there such a hurry, my Lord?” Marci said cautiously. 

“Curious, aren’t you? I was a curious young man, just like you. I see myself in you, my boy. The impeccable taste, the perfect posture. Your taste in women I don’t understand, but then again - keeping the heiress close is a smart move,” Morten pondered still walking in circles. 

“Is there a reason to be hasty with producing an heir?” 

“I’ll share with you, my boy. If I could have been fortunate enough to have a legitimate son, I would wish him to be like you,” 

“I’m truly honoured, my Lord,” Marcian bowed. 

“The girl seemed completely worthless until I found out her true purpose,” Morten glanced at the window, but saw nothing except his own reflection; it had gone dark outside, “after my dearest Aurora died, I was restless; first from the grief, then from the Dragonling’s fire. After the burning pain nearly drove me insane, I decided to end my suffering at any cost,” Morten flinched, obviously the burning seizure had begun once more, but he gritted his teeth, straightened his back, and continued, “I had found a Birdling sorcerer who knew how to preserve Aurora’s body untouched by death. My generosity convinced him to use the dark side of the Birdling magic. Combined with Wolfling guidance, we could revive Auroras body and bring her spirit back into it. But at a cost - it would require not only the powerful Birdling blood, but also the blood of Aurora’s kin. I had a choice to make - whether to search the land for her brother, or…”

“Auri’s blood?” Marcian tried to sound careless.

“But the girl was still a child; not enough blood, said Heron the Birdling sorcerer. We had to wait until she’s grown. And since she might not survive the infusion, I need to make sure my dynasty continues,” Morten’s seizure released him, the High King sighed relieved. 

“I don’t have all the time in the world, my Wolfling friend informed me - a year would pass before the pain drives me mad and then, I shall suffer years before the death of my flesh, helplessly trapped in my burning body,” Morten looked into Marci’s eyes. 

“A dark enchantment of this sort should have some consequences,” Marci returned the High King’s gaze, straightening his shoulders. 

“Indeed, I made the right choice of a successor; you think two steps ahead, my boy,” Morten tapped him on the shoulder.

“My dearest Aurora and I, we shall lose the chance to ever enter the realms of Foreverold and join the blessed spirits in their eternal peace. But… with those tainted souls of ours I don’t believe such a chance ever existed. I would gladly sacrifice the eternity for one night of pleasure and relief, one more night with my Aurora,” Mortens eyes teared up as he stared through Marci, he was lost in the daydream. 

“And what about Auri?”

“Oh, her? First, she’ll produce an heir. Then she will sacrifice her blood to revive her mother - is that not a noble cause?” Morten smirked. Marcian could barely contain himself. The monster! Auri was raised like a farm animal for him to devour. 

“I shared my secret with you, because I see myself in your eyes. I knew you would understand. Now that you know the gravity of my endeavour, I trust you shall keep it to yourself?”

“Of course, my Lord,” Marci bowed and turned to leave.

“And Marcian?”

“Yes, my Lord?”

“The heir. I expect you to do your best to impregnate the girl. Work hard!” Morten gave him a dirty smile. 

Marcian bowed again without a word, and paced out of the hall, although he wished to run away and never look back. 

***

Marci had changed. The following two weeks he avoided Auri as much as he could. They barely spoke, and Auri desperately missed her friend.

“What has he tempted you with? Are you indeed willing to betray our friendship?” She whispered while both practised the royal wedding dance. 

“Auri, we can’t change our fate. Maybe it’s better we submit to it. I don’t know how can we escape,” Marci’s voice was powerless. 

“What did he say to crush your courage? You have never been a coward!” 

Marci grabbed her hand furiously.

“A bit gentler, if you may,” the Ceremony master corrected him. 

A few long minutes the couple stood staring into each other’s eyes.

“I have had enough of this!” Marci yelled and marched out of the hall. Auri shrugged and followed; it was not like her friend to lose his patience so easily. Something had been on his mind; she was determined to find out what.

She followed Marcian into the rain and the storm outside, but did not dare to tag along into the ruins; Auri feared to encounter the Wolfling, and she was unsure if Marci would come to the rescue this time. He had become distant, always immersed in his thoughts and easily irritated; that was not her Marci anymore. She went back, but stopped behind her mother’s tomb. There was an abandoned grave, it was a grand, high, grey marble pedestal. Forgotten by all, it had overgrown with thorns and weeds. Auri knew that Morten’s bastard was buried there, though nobody spoke much of him. 

She lingered at the abandoned grave, despite the sprinkling rain; Autumn was coming. Although sunny days were scarce in Autumna even in the summertime, Autumn came with never-ending showers.

Auri leaned over the grave to read the inscription. 

“Lord Herkian, the son of Morten,” she read and sighed. How peaceful it would be to lay in the soothing embrace of the earth, untouched by cares of the mortal world. 

“Do not wish for an early death, Lady Auriani, for it may find you sooner than you think,”

Auri noticed a figure of a tall man observing her in the fog behind the tomb. She did not have the sword with her, the girl stepped back ready to run. The man approached. It wasn’t the Wolfling. She had seen this old man before; his eyes were strangely bird-like, his short black-and-grey hair slicked back. 

“You are the Birdling sorcerer, the one who keeps mother’s body intact,”

“I am Heron, the Birdling Sorcerer” the man confirmed calmly and looked into her eyes.

“How can he not see the golden Thilian sunlight caught in these eyes?” Heron said with a sad smile.

“Morten would accept me if my eyes were blue, like hers,” Auri glanced at the tomb, “or if I were the son he dreamed of,”

“He had a son,” Heron lowered his sight looking at the grave, “the Lord of the Lake he was, but, of course, Morten would not dare to write it on the boy’s grave,”

Auri’s eyes posed a question.

“Nobody speaks of him in the castle, I know. Nobody speaks of Thilians as well, your mother’s kin. They survived. At least some of them. Thilians live in the new kingdom of Hebeny,” Heron gave her a strangely sympathetic look. 

“Yours is a heavy fate. I wish it would not be so. I was a Healer once, though now I do not deserve to call myself one, I still regret the loss of an innocent life,” 

“What do you mean, Lord Heron?”

“I am no Lord. I’m a servant to my own greed,” the old man paused, “your father’s intentions toward you are malicious to say the least. I’m afraid I cannot stop him. If not I, somebody else will be willing to fulfil his plan. Forgive me, Golden one,” Heron closed his eyes, turned into a heron bird and ascended into the mist, creeping from the marshes around the castle.

“Beware of the Wolf!” 

Auri could swear a bird’s voice cried out the words.

Auri turned around in an instant, nothing could be seen, the tomb sank in the milky fog. Maybe it was Heron’s warning, or perhaps the memory of the Wolfling’s attack, but Auri felt somebody watching her. Cold chills ran down her spine, slowly she stepped back. Auri couldn’t distinguish images drawn by her imagination from the shapes distorted by the mist. She could almost hear quiet growling coming toward her. The girl gave a muffled shriek and stepped further back. Quiet footsteps ran to her. Auri covered her face, she would not escape the swift attack of the beast. 

“It’s me! I’m here, Frogling,” it was Marci, running up to her through the thick fog. He held the girl close. 

“You came back,” she whispered shaking.

“Forgive me. I shall never leave you again. I have decided to do whatever it takes to protect you,” Marci comforted her. He looked back as they went to the castle.

“I heard him too. You should carry the sword with you at all times. That son of a bitch was gone for some days, but I saw him creeping around the ruins just a moment ago,”

Marci guarded her all night and every spare minute he had, but he could not protect the heiress at all times; the High King’s successor had his own schedule filled with royal duties. 

The frantic wedding preparations took over the whole castle. Servants ran around decorating the hallways, carriages and carriages of goods over-crammed the drawbridge to the castle grounds. Despite the mist and the rain covering the sky above the castle, the High King demanded fireworks and a fire show to be carried out to amuse the wedding guests. The last remaining dragon in Morten’s possession was summoned from the Northern hills of the land Autumna. Although the High King had an old grudge with the dragon named Red, he had no other and the beast was supposed to blow fire into the air after the wedding. It would be well fed not to attack the guests. Red was not easy to tame; a treacherous creature, but Morten was willing to take the risk just to impress his guests. 

Auri and Marcian were supposed to spend the last night before the wedding apart; such was the tradition, but the girl could not stand to be alone. She walked back and forth, the chamber felt like a dark tomb; she had to see Marcian. Auri took her sword - although she knew how to use it, she had no courage to stand up for herself. Auri learned sword fighting only because of her friend; she tagged along to his sword fighting lessons and eventually obtained the skill. 

The princess looked over the sharp blade; she was not much of a sword-fighter. Auri would rather run and hide than fight. Sparing with Marci was a game, or sometimes a way to let out her anger when it could not be done otherwise. 

 Auri was all out of Snakegrass, surely Marci would have some, he always did. She needed a smoke to calm down and fall asleep before the wedding day. 

The princess told the bodyguard by her door not to follow her, as she had done before, and the guard did not object - the chance to snooze was far too tempting. 

The night was late, no servants walked in the hallways, Auri ran forward carefully peeking behind corners; the castle was enormous and Marci’s chamber - on the other side of it. 

A pair of glaring blue eyes encountered her behind the next corner. The very person Auri feared to meet, stood in the darkness of the dimly lit hallway.

“What a charming coincidence. We have some unfinished business,” the Wolfling growled with his eyes narrowing. He was ready to attack. 

Auri swiftly pulled out her sword and held it between the beast and herself. 

“Don’t come near me!” Auri chirped, the sword shook in her sweaty hand. 

“I love the smell of fear. Come, don’t be afraid, princess. Hm…” the Wolfling slowly sniffed the air around him.

“But the scent of a virgin I love even more. Who would have thought you’re still one? An Autumnian virgin, you indeed are something,”

Auri’s sword shook uncontrollably.

“Don’t hurt yourself with that thing, princess!” The man smirked, “your Autumnian man cannot satisfy you, can he? Come, you’ll have a chance to know a real man, before tomorrow.” 

Auri froze in fear. The Wolfling turned into the beast, the poor girl dropped her sword and ran. The monster caught up to her with merely two jumps, he turned into a man and pinned the girl against the wall. 

“Let’s finish what we’ve started, shall we?”

“Let go of her!” Marcian shouted, running down the hall; the sword swung held by his steady hand. The Wolfling turned around. Poor Auri sat down on the floor leaning against the wall, powerless from fear. 

“The next High King… at least you know how to use your sword, if nothing else,” the Wolfling grinned, turned into a wolf and ran off. Auri noticed him limping, obviously he wasn’t completely recovered from the stranger’s attack in the ruins. 

“I was on my way to you,” said Marci while escorting the girl back to the chamber, “knew you’d be out of Snakegrass.” 

Auri hid her face in his embrace. 

“Please, take me to the Winter garden! I can’t stay alone tonight!” she begged.

“Alright, but just for a little while, and then you’ll go to your chamber for a good night’s sleep; tomorrow will be a long day.”

The “little while” stretched into long hours - Auri wished to forget all about the upcoming day; there was only tonight, the Winter garden, a bottle of good booze, a sweet scented Snakegrass pipe and her brother Marci. 

“How will we survive tomorrow?” she asked lying next to him. Badly intoxicated, both stared at the blooming plants above their heads, casting ghastly shadows from the flickering candle light.

“Trust me, Frogling, I’ve got it all figured out. Just follow my lead.” 

Both laid silent for a while.

“What escape is there for us, Marci? You saved me from the wolf, just like the fortune telling showed. It must be our fate.”

“Fate or no fate, honestly, Frogling, do you want to sleep with me?” 

Both looked at each other lying closely on the day bed. Indeed, it would be easy just to embrace and let nature have its way.

“No. You’re handsome, but you are my brother. Always have been,” Auri smiled ruefully.

“I feel the same,” he smiled back and kissed her on the forehead. 

Suddenly loud voices broke the peace of the tender moment. It was the High King’s voice, and some others’. 

Both friends quickly rolled off the daybed and jumped into a thick, blooming bush nearby.

“It’s been years since I’ve come here. Soon enough I shall visit the Winter garden with my dearest Aurora. We spent many beautiful hours right here, on the daybed,” Morten said sighing.

“But my Lord. How long will you wait? What if she does not give birth after nine months? If she gets impregnated later you would not have that much time,” old Birdling sorcerer Heron calmly objected.

“Why must you always be such a killjoy, Heron?”

“I’m merely suggesting you consider other options. Find Lady Aurora’s brother in Hebeny. Leave the heiress alive, for the sake of your kin.”

“I shall not run after some Thilians, when I have the solution at hand. Marcian will not fail me. He’ll produce an heir soon enough, and when the child is born, Auriani will serve her purpose. She is, what Regnar calls, an easy prey,” Morten smirked at the Wolfling following them into the Winter garden. 

“Meanwhile, you, Heron, get me enough Birdling blood for the enchantment. Silver and gold is out of the question.”

“Of course, my Lord,” Heron bowed. 

“Watch the girl Regnar, but not too close! I need her alive,” the High King requested casually.

“With pleasure, my Lord,” the Wolfling growled. 

The three left the Winter garden, discussing some terrifying details of the enchantment, concerning blood, the spirits of the dead and other things poor, frightened Auri was too shocked to comprehend. 

“Am I to be sacrificed to revive my mother?” she whispered.

Marci did not reply, staring down at the worms wiggling in the moist, richly watered soil at his feet. Auri’s eyes widened. Marci couldn’t face her.

“You knew… that’s why you changed. You knew, didn’t you?!” 

“I gave my word not to tell anyone,” Marci explained. 

“A word you gave to Morten is more important than telling me?!” Auri shouted in his face.

“A word I give to anyone is important, and I keep it,” Marci replied sternly. 

“Then you can shove your word, and our friendship! I hate you!” Auri yelled and ran away crying. 

---

Chapter 3