Marrok

Chapter 23

Seren was in a silent and darkened mood as she rode alongside Maifynn on her dappled grey horse towards Aberon. Dawn was drawing near and the sky was akin to orange flames blazing across the horizon.

Maifynn was wrestling with her conscience. She had heeded the warning from Mallow about the prophecy that she would not live to see fulfilled. She knew in her heart that she would not see the next dawn break. Her life charmed with the longevity and magic of her kin had spanned for centuries and her time living amongst mere mortals had aged her appearance. She now felt as old as she now looked, with her long flowing silver hair, wrinkled and sagging skin, and limbs that did not flex as they once did. She thought back to simpler times before man had settled here in the continent of Aurora, before the great war that had ripped her world apart. How her kin had been forced to hide themselves from the world to avoid being used for their powers by those who could not wield such magic within them. She had not fallen by the power of the sword in battle, but she had loved a man and that fate had cast her out, only then to be cast aside by him.

She looked across at Seren, whose brooding expression bore that of her father. Maifynn desperately wanted to tell Seren of her heritage but knew her heart had grown cold. Maifynn blamed herself, but she knew it was now too late. The grey stone walls of Aberon rose up upon the horizon as if reaching out to seal her within their mortar.

A young man saw Seren and Maifynn in the distance and ran into the castle to announce their arrival. Running back out of its imposing entrance doors into the courtyard, he waited nervously. He walked quickly to their side, conscious he could alarm their horses with sudden movements, and offered his assistance to Seren. She refused and almost kicked him away as she dismounted herself, her toned legs bearing the impact as she thudded onto the ground. Dismissing her arrogance, he walked to Maifynn's horse and waited for her to swing her leg over and then gently held her petite and aged frame as he helped her down.

Whilst Seren walked towards the castle entrance with a steely determination of purpose, Maifynn held back. She looked upon the imposing grey stone walls and the stone carvings set above its entrance, two serpents twisted upon a broadsword under entwined branches of hawthorne. 'Quite fitting' she thought, my own tree spirit protects them.

Seren had stopped outside the open doors, standing on the entrance steps. She looked back at Maifynn, staring up at Aberon's coat of arms. "Maifynn," she called out, impatiently.

Maifynn looked at Seren and sighed resignedly before walking slowly across the gravel courtyard. The blazon orange of the sunrise had now diminished, pushed back by the powder blue of the day beginning.

A young woman wearing a simple tunic and apron was waiting impatiently inside the entrance as Maifynn joined Seren and walked through the entrance doors. She bade them to follow her and took them up a grand stone staircase which spanned three levels before leading them down torch-lit corridors towards Jane's bed chamber. She lightly knocked on the door and opened it, showing Seren and Maifynn into the candle-lit room.

Lord Hymos rose from his chair to greet them, his eyes saddened and red from tears, whilst Lady Grace remained oblivious to their presence, her head resting at Jane's side whilst she held her daughter's hand.

"I'm glad you have arrived. We know not what ails her. Please, Maifynn, do what you can and what you must," Lord Hymos asked.

Maifynn stepped forward, out of Seren's shadow and went to Jane's bedside. Lady Grace raised her head, her relief at Maifynn's presence released with hopeful tears.

Seren remained near the door of the bed-chamber, in a disconnected silence, as if watching the performance of a play.

Maifynn bent down and gently caressed Jane's forehead with her fingers. Jane's complexion was now ashen and Maifynn knew there now little time to save her. The poison from the butterfly orchid she had distilled into the fragrance had now worked its way through Jane's bloodstream and would soon stop her young heart from beating.