Short Stories

The Immortal

"HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?!" 

She smiled pleasantly. "Annoying, isn't it?" 

I stared in bewilderment. How was this possible? Who was she? Where did she come from? Why was she here? "But I don't understand... you should have drowned. You should be long dead." I stuttered.

"Well, it's a long story..." She said calmly, sitting down with her legs crossed on the rough stone. "I suppose it started when I first died." 

"First died?" I breathed. This was not a normal day. I sank to the floor, legs crossed like hers, and took a deep breath. "Tell me." She smiled again, and spoke:

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom. It was known across all the lands for two things; the castle, and the forest. The castle was beautiful, with towers reaching high into the sky, and the stained glass windows shone in the sunlight. It was the home of the Queen, King, and the Princess, who reigned fairly and wisely. The were beloved by all their subjects.

The forest was forbidden by order of the King for any subject to enter. The thick trees hid what was inside. It was the home of the witch. No - one had ever seen the witch, only caught snippets of singing at night sometimes.

One day, the King and Queen called for their daughter, and they told the young Princess that she had reached the age where she was to be married, in order to make a peaceful bond with their neighboring Kingdom. Needless to say, the Princess was outraged, and that night she packed a bag, hid her fine gown under a dark cloak and slipped out of the castle. 

"Yes you go girl"  "Um ok, anyway;"

After hours of walking in the night, she arrived at the edge of the vast forest. She entered, and the trees closed in around her. Despite the stories of evil spirits and dangerous creatures, she found it beautiful. Fireflies flitted between the tangled branches, and the floor was soft with moss. When she reached the deepest part, where the tree roots riddled the floor like veins, she saw a beautiful woman standing there.

The Princess asked if she was the witch who lived here, and the woman said yes. "why have you ventured so far into the woods?" The Princess explained that her parents meant for her to marry, and she needed her help. "Surely with your power, you would be able to help me." She said.

The witch smiled. "You can stay here with me if you so wish, Princess. I  would like company." 

"I like her she's definitely a lesbian" "Ssh" 

The Princess agreed  gratefully, and the two women lived together in the twisted forest for years, the witch teaching the Princess her magic and the ways of the animals and plants. All the while the Kingdom searched in vain for the runaway Princess. 

One fateful day, the Princess and the witch heard the pounding of hooves, and they realised that the search had reached the forest. "Take this potion, quickly, it will protect you from any harm that may befall you." And she handed her a vial of liquid. The Princess drank the liquid, and the two got on the witch's horse, but before they could go anywhere soldiers on horses came crashing into view, and an arrow flew into the witch's heart. 

"NO NOT THE COOL LESBIAN"  "Just let me tell the story ok"

The Princess screamed, but as an arrow came streaking through the air into her chest she felt no pain. The witch's body on the ground and the soldiers all around her, she took a wand whittled out of  an old yew tree and cast a charm around her, creating a force that kept them out. With them trapped, she rode out of the forest and out of the kingdom, wiping away tears. 

After days of riding, she reached another Kingdom, where she traded the little gold she had taken with her from the castle for a tiny, run - down cottage. To earn money for food, she sold charms and curses the witch had taught her to the subjects, and she quickly became renowned as the Kingdom's witch, no - one suspecting that she was the Princess. A man entered, asking for a spell to allow him to escape his parents, the King and Queen of this kingdom, because they have him betrothed to a missing Princess. 

The Princess explained that she was the missing girl, and the Prince laughed. "We found each other on our own, then. So what am I going to do?" The Princess smiled. "I have an idea." She brewed a strong potion, and gave it to him. "Pour this into your parent's wine, and they will fall into an eternal sleep. Then as we both have claims to the throne, we can rule this land fairly." She said. The Prince nodded, and took the potion. 

"Oof that's kind've extreme" "Yes that is sort of the point, ssh"

That evening he came to her door and told her that the plan had worked, and they had been presumed dead. "I am to be crowned King at dawn, and I have told them that you will be Queen. Don't worry, they won't recognise you -  they only know you as a young girl, since you have been gone for so many years." The Princess smiled. "Thank you."  And the Prince smiled back. At dawn they met at The Prince's castle, dressing themselves in fine robes, and stood on the castle's balcony, the subjects in a crowd below. The royal advisor placed a golden circlet on the Prince's head and a golden tiara on the Princess'.  "I now decree thee rulers of this Kingdom." He said, and the crowd erupted into cheers. 

Over the next years, as the new monarchs, The King and Queen ruled as fairly as they could. Any particulary violent generals mysteriously got turned into goats ( no - one questioned it ) 

"HA" "Would you be quite"

This made the kingdom more peaceful than it had been in years. Crime was at the lowest in years, since anyone who started a fight somehow ended up covered in boils, and anyone that showed her less respect because she was a woman was made to scrub the castle until they learnt better. As the years rolled by, The King and Queen grew closer and closer, first friends, and then beginning to be something more. 

Eventually, the two fell in love. "Aww" "Yes it was aww now shush" The Queen thought it was hilarious. "Literally the whole reason we ended up together was because we didn't want to be together." She said with a smile. The King grinned back. They were wed, and the Kingdom rejoiced in the time of peace and prosperity. They had never had such benevolent rulers.

Until the golden era came to an abrupt end.  A riot broke out outside the castle, with cries of "Witch!" and "Trickster!" and flaming torches. The castle's soldiers tried to hold them back, but they broke past the castle gates and held their torches to the wooden drawbridge, setting the whole place alight. The King and Queen were trapped in a chamber as the flames and smoke grew higher and higher around them. They crouched in an embrace until the flames ate them up - or rather, the King. The Queen stood amid the charred rubble untouched, her gown singed, her crown blackened, but her skin unharmed. 

"Jesus Christ that's dramatic"  "Ssh"

Tears running down her face, she silently stole away to a deep pool of water beneath a tall waterfall in the farthest reaches of the kingdom. Overcome with grief and exhaustion, she jumped into the water, letting herself sink slowly to the bottom, and closed her eyes, so that she would not be found for many years until she had recovered from her misery. And she fell into a deep sleep at the bottom of the pool.

Centuries passed, and still she remained in her slumber. Kingdom grew and burnt, Empires rose and fell, rivers changed course and trees were felled, and still the Queen slept on. Until on a warm midsummer's day, a young girl decided to swim in the pool - now a vast lake - and as she swam to the bottom with her tank of air, she saw a still figure. 

"That's me!" "Yes well done, I think you can guess what happened next." 

I blinked in surprise. "So you're actually IMMORTAL??!" I said in shock. She laughed and nodded. 

"It would appear so, yes." 

"That is the coolest thing I have ever heard oh my god-"