Forever and Ever After (book1)

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

This would be part of a fairy tale when the Prince marries his Princess and everyone lives happily ever after. But our tale has loose ends that needed to be tied up that can only be tied by Isobel.

Charming and Isobel’s marriage was in their third month when a female voice sang in her head, not the gruff voice of a dragon but something that sounded smaller almost musical.

Help us Isobel; help everyone this night and every night to come. Come to the Troll Bridge and bring a chisel and hammer with you. You need to protect those you love and the worlds all around you.

The voice was unrecognisable to Isobel as she jerked away from her deep sleep and tried not to wake Charming as she listened intensively to her instructions but although she did not know the owners voice, she trusted the voice with every fibre in her body.

With a racing heart Isobel got of bed and quickly dressed, for many reasons she couldn’t figure out why she should meet anyone on the Troll Bridge or why it was so urgent but she didn’t think it would be wise to wait until sunrise to find out.

She wore a long royal shirt of dark green, made especially for her and thin tight trousers along with small ankle boots. She grabbed a hair tie from the dressing table Charming had asked to be put in their room and pinched a belt from his draws. At least when she got into the forest she would start to blend in with the foliage until she got to the bridge.

Before leaving, Isobel quickly leant over Julian’s crib and kissed his soft dark hair before turning back to her bed and went to kiss Charming’s forehead. She brushed Charming’s hair off his forehead, realising he needed a haircut, she couldn’t believe how much she loved him. It hurt to turn her back on them but she did and left the slumbering Father and son to sleep a little longer.

Isobel detoured quickly to the armoury, although it normally sorted only weapons, Isobel had found normal tools left behind by some of the servants in the corners. She threaded a chisel through the belt and weighed the small hammer in her hand and carried it out of the castle.

The sky stained pink and orange when she arrived in the forest. She kept her head bent as she ploughed through the overgrowth. It had been a long time since she could wander freely without an escort; it seemed peaceful without anyone at her heels telling her constantly how to behave or how to act.

She thought she heard noises above her head, sometimes whispers of voices but she didn’t see anyone around even though she knew they were there; the thieves she once was a part of.

When she broke through the tree line by Troll Bridge, the small clearing was exactly as Isobel remembered it. The large branches spread out where they had been thrown, the stone wall still looked like it was going to crumble but it still stood untouched and it still gave off that unwelcome feeling.

Standing at the edge of the bridge, pacing the width was a woman in white. Her hair flew straight down her back to her waist; beautiful white just like the clouds in the sky. Her skin held no colour and as Isobel got closer she had no colour in her eyes either.

“Who are you?” Isobel demanded as she got within arm’s reach of the bridge. “Why have you called me here?”

The white woman turned to Isobel and studied her with emotionless eyes. I am Diana, high priestess of the magic kingdom, she said with her mind. She didn’t move while she spoke, her eyes didn’t blink as she spoke, nor did she move her mouth or any part of her body while she was talking, as if she was only an image standing in front of Isobel. You are the Amazon of legend; you will set your world free from magic and our world from the destruction of man. I have come to set you on this final task to separate the two worlds once and for all from all the stories I have heard though out the kingdoms. The stories tell me about your courageous acts towards both magic and man.