THREE
The manor house was as sagging and cracked as Joselin’s face. She was older now and even more so set in her ways. Nothing was to be repaired unless it was necessary.
Money was not flooding in like it did before when the brothel she had started was in it’s prime. Affluent men came and went at all times of the day back then. Now they were few and far between. The whores were getting older and no titled wealthy man wanted to sleep with them. That only left the drunkards and travellers.
Joselin had taken in Elle after she was found on their doorstep years ago. Joselin was growing more and more interested in Elle with each year she grew. She could use some young, virginal flesh to exchange for coins.
Joselin’s husband would not hear of it and kept Elle away from that world as best he could. He adored her and would take her on special trips riding through the countryside or playing in the meadows.
All Elle knew is that her father had sent her to live with Joselin to protect her until her time.
Queen Jayne’s death had affected him badly, for some reason, and he had not been right since. At least, that is what Joselin had told her. She was safer with them. Elle scoffed.
Joselin was never kind to her, she was always making Elle do all the chores while she slept or wasted her day in the filthy brothel.
For years, Elle has been treated like a slave.
Last week, Joselin had told Elle that she would be marrying her off to some wealthy brothel owner in London.
Joselin could not get her way with Elle, so this was her revenge. The brothel owner, from what Elle remembered, was a smelly, fat, balding man that had black teeth and spoke to women like dirt.
However, it was either accept the engagement or take a bed in Joselin’s brothel.
Neither seemed appealing, but Elle decided to accept the former.
She was getting worn out from all the requests. She cooked and cleaned, washed and mended clothing, fed the animals and took care of the manor.
Elle’s beautiful blue eyes had faded to crow black over the years, staring stonily at others. Like a cinder, Elle was fading away, soon to turn to ash. Her shoulders ached and fingers felt dry as the wood that burned in the fireplace. Living there was a never-ending nightmare that she feared she could never wake from.
She turned and walked down the worn stone steps and over to the small window that looked out onto the meadow. Pools of rust and gold skirted the trees as the leaves began to fall. A smile almost cracked across her face as the memories of her as a child playing with friends in the meadow, slowly crept back to haunt her.
She started to cry. She knew she had to leave or this life of servitude would be all she had to look forward to.
She looked out again at the meadow and sighed.
The dark branches seemed more and more appealing with each passing day.
As a child, Joselin had drummed it into her mind that the forest was a terrible place filled with demons and evil hunters, but she had to take a chance – she had to run.
Tomorrow, the man who she was engaged to would come down to wed her and take her virginity.
She trembled as she ran down to the back door, shaking so bad she had trouble unlocking it. The gravel dug through her soft shoes as she ran down the path.
Finally, Elle felt the soft grass under her feet and smiled. She breathed in the damp, loamy air as if it were her first.
The endless jewel-blue sky chased the time chiselled trees and the leaves scorched red as they drifted onto the grassy blanket. As darkness fell, the forest on either side of the meadow beckoned Elle into its reaches.
Clumsily, she stumbled along, listening to the soft babbling of the river in the distance. The branches reached down like hands, pulling her into its safe embrace. She glanced back at the sound of her name and saw her Joselin’s face glowing from a candle outside the manor. She was probably upset that Elle was not answering her calls.
Elle walked into the impenetrable darkness. The chilling wind whipped as it swept through the narrow trees. She reached her hand out in front of her face, yet could see nothing as it was lost to the darkness. Elle halted. Millimetres from her nose a cobweb glinted like steel. Black dots darkened its lines as she carefully manoeuvred herself around it.
Her breath rattled and heart pounded. The fog tinted trees suddenly seemed intimidating.
Suddenly, the truth in the stories was real. Her whole life she had been told to stay away from the forest at night. Was she now to pay the price for her ignorance?
Elle felt them before she heard them. The warmth and softness of skin slinking around her neck, fingers reaching up to her mouth before she had the chance to scream.
Everything faded as she was dragged across the uneven, forest floor. The terror from that alone was enough to make her pass out.
‘It is time, Princess,’ one of the shadows whispered.
♚♚♚
Elle awoke to the pungent smell of herbs and wood burning. Her hands and feet were bound to a chair and she could not see a thing.
Fear consumed her as she heard footsteps on creaking boards coming toward her. Finally, the person stopped in front of her and Elle’s heart pounded loudly in her ears.
The smell of daisies hit her face when the unknown person bent over her. She could hear the ragged breaths coming from them. A hand touched her face ever so gently and moved down to her neck. Their skin was soft and warm, not at all what she had imagined.
A woman's raspy voice called out, ‘If I take off the blindfold, do you promise to not scream?’
Elle nodded and tried to steady her breathing.
The woman gently removed the blindfold and moved Elle’s hair out of her face.
The woman spoke again. ‘Would you like a bit to eat, child? You are surely hungry. You have been out cold since I stopped you from falling into the ravine in the woods. I had to drag you back here myself to my home.’ Elle craned her neck to the side to see where the lady went to. She came from behind her and started to remove the rope that held her steadfast to the chair.
‘Where am I? Who are you?’ Elle asked with a small voice.
The woman freed her feet and stood to gain access to her wrists. ‘My name is Melina, The High Priestess of The Nine,’ she replied as she moved the athame, a double-edged dagger, closer to Elle's wrists. Elle was quite aware of how deadly it would be if she moved now. One accidental slip with the dagger and it could end her life.
‘Please do not hurt me.’ Elle pleaded.
The woman lips curved into a smile. ‘I will do my best child. Now hold still. I do not want to hurt you.’ Melina took a deep breath and cut the ropes. ‘You are in a cave in the heart of the forest. I live here with the other eight members of our coven. We are a Pagan family that have been living here for centuries. I am a Seer of sorts. I foresaw you coming into the woods and falling into the ravine to your death. I saved your life.’
Elle didn't know what to think. Had there truly been a ravine there or was she lying? How far had she made it into the woods? Where was her father? Why was he not here? She never remembered a cave as a child.
Stumbling into the forest in the dark was not such a clever idea after all.
‘From one master to another it looks like,’ Elle muttered under her breath.
Elle did not get up for fear the woman was still going to do her harm. Instead, she looked around at her surroundings, taking in every nook and cranny.
To her left, the cave walls were cut out with what looked like separate rooms, twisting and turning in every direction. She could only see so far, but it looked like she was in what one would call a kitchen. Dried herbs and flowers hung from stalagmites jutting from the rocky ceiling. ‘So, that is where the smell had come from when I first woke,’ she thought to herself. It was a good smell, one that took her back to memories of she and her father walking through the meadows before she had been taken to Joselin’s brothel.
A wooden bowl of steaming liquid was placed in front of her, snapping her back to reality. 'Wait until it cools a bit, my dear. Do not want you burning that tongue of yours.' Melina said.
She felt leery about eating even though her stomach was paining her from hunger.
She wondered how long it had been since she last ate. ‘What is your name again?’ Elle asked, feeling rude.
‘Melina, my name is Melina, Elle.’ Melina walked to the table carrying her bowl and sat down beside her.
Elle looked up. ‘How do you know my name?’
‘My dear, I have known you since you were a baby. William, would bring you riding in the woods and playing in the meadows. I have been watching over you since your father sent you to live with that awful woman.’ Melina cooed. ‘William and I go way back, way before you were born. I grew up with him. He was a great man.’
‘Great?’ Elle asked, noticing the past tense.
Melina lowered her head. ‘He lost his mind after Jayne’s death. He has led a group of our own to the castle. He would not listen to me. I told him it would end badly. He is going about it the wrong way.’
‘About what?’
Melina let out an exasperated sigh. ‘Getting you on the throne.’
Elle choked on her breath. ‘Excuse me?’
The woman shook her head as she bustled around. ‘We will explain later, for now, eat.’
Elle looked at her in disbelief. Was she really telling the truth, and if she was, why did she not come to her aid when Joselin took advantage of her?
Why did they want her on the throne? She was as far from royalty as one could be.
‘If you have been watching me, why did you not come and save me? I was treated like a slave, almost forced into prostitution and I was almost forced into marriage. If I had not of run off, I would be getting married now and raped,’ Elle explained.
Melina ate a spoonful of soup and looked at Elle stonily. ‘I was coming for you in days if you had not decided to leave yet. You must believe me. I am a friend and only want the best life for you. Now, eat before your soup gets too cold and I have to throw it out.’
Elle leant down and sniffed the soup before taking a spoonful. It tasted of the earth. Onions, mushrooms, garlic, potatoes, and a hint of something she could not explain. Melina was enjoying hers and handed her a piece of bread she pulled off the loaf on the table.
‘There is no butter. We have been out for days. I cannot risk going into the market right now since you are here. I am sure they have sent out a search party by now, but do not worry, my child, they will never find you here. In fact, if you were to leave the cave, you may never find your way back inside. You will stay here with us, safe and warm. Are you tired, Elle?’
She was nice and warm now that the soup and bread had filled her belly, but not ready to sleep just yet. She was too relieved to hear that she would not be going back to her stepmother and that ridiculous engagement.
‘I am not really tired at all. Would you show me around since I will be living here? Where are the others that dwell here? Am I to meet them soon? Where will I sleep? Is there anyone my age here?’ Elle’s questions flew from her mouth excitedly.
‘Yes, my dear, let me show you around. The others will be back before nightfall. They are gathering provisions from the forest. They know you are here and will welcome you with open arms.’
She took Elle by the hand and led her to the first opening on the far, left-hand side of the cave. ‘This is where the chambers are located. You shall share a room with my sister, Cassie. She will show you the way of our world and help you complete your daily tasks for the first few days until you are confident you can achieve them on your own. Cassie can teach you how to find the cave entrance once you have left it.’
Elle checked out her new home with child-like amusement. The stone was cut into perfect curvatures like it was naturally made this way. Smooth rock was very difficult to achieve without the correct tools and labourers.
‘Melina, how did the rock become so smooth, and...and so warm?’ She ran her palm over the thermal stone.
‘Awe, my child, you will learn soon enough of what the land provides for us and what we do to give back in order to continue its great bounty. All in due time, Elle.’ She took her into the other rooms within the ‘family's’ sleeping quarters. ‘This room is the triplets Jerilynn, Jayne, and Janell. The triplets are very hard to tell apart when not clothed, but they wear only one colour ever. Jerilynn pink, Jayne lilac, and Janell, yellow. They may vary their shades but never, ever dress in another’s palette upon pain of death. You see, they were cursed at birth by an evil Wiccan witch, Sairaika, who despised their mother, Danni’s union with their father. She was jealous of the marriage, her rage driving her to the audacious act of weaving a blanket for each of the daughters using only wool from the black sheep. She coloured these blankets with a death potion, one that I foresaw in time to warn their parents. Each child was then scorned to forever wear the colour of the flowers their mother wore in her hair the day she took away Sairaika’s beloved.’
Elle gasped. ‘That is so awful.’
Melina nodded but said no more about it. ‘However, we must focus on the plan at hand.’ Her mind seemed to wander, her eyes clouded as she focused on something Elle could not see.
Elle’s eyes widened. ‘What is wrong?’
Melina shook her head, her eyes glossing back to brown. ‘I am so sorry, my dear, but your father has passed on just as I foresaw.’ She blinked back tears. ‘We must not go to the castle yet. We must wait. Wait for him to come to us.’
‘For what? Who killed my father?’ Elle asked, not knowing how to process the emotions flooding her.
‘Patience child. He will come soon and you will see.’