A King's Madness Corrected

A King's Madness Corrected

Postby Treadwell » Mon Apr 20, 2015 1:43 pm

18 October 213.

Night. The bedroom of King Richard Andrew Aengus of New Hibera.


"I am at the end of my wits. As your physician, I--oh, by Tubbius's great belly, you're crying, Richard. Why? Whatever has upset you?"

20 April 215.

Morning. The asylum cell of King Richard Andrew Aengus of New Hibera.


"There is no Marian. There are no children. The kingdom remains divided."

Three simple facts. A simple mantra repeated often for the last eighteen months. Good, common sense. Truth.

Truth long denied by a fairy left addled and delusional by the consequences of having symbiotically incubated a Hiberan Rock Rodent for ten months prior to these eighteen.

"Oswald Grimley sits upon the throne of Old Hibera--alone."

Another fact.

"Your father and your grandfather, rest their souls, had nothing to do with spells that would change a fairy from man to woman under any circumstance."

Still another.

No progress made at all. A fat fairy king with bushy pink beard stands in a cell and wears a woman's gown, still cares for four plumply stuffed sacks he thinks the daughters of a womb he never had.

Until now.

One daughter/sack drops from cradling arms to bed. At first, a moment's gasp, a suck of breath. Then a quivered, quavering admission as light, lavender and pale, ripples through the room and recognition slowly flushes slack jowls.

"There is no Marian. There are no children. The kingdom remains divided."

"Richard?" from behind.

"Orin?"

"Richard?" Sterner. Seeking assurance.

A slow turning of pink body. A blinking of tear-filled eyes as shaking hands try to unbutton the gown from his chest.

"Orin? Orin!"

A plaintive whimper as hands lift from gown half undone and close on the bars of his cell door.

"Help me, brother? I am most wrong!"

Night. The royal bedroom of King Richard Andrew Aengus of New Hibera.

Richard Aengus stands amid a room unvisited for some eighteen months. He is dressed again in proper garments: a purple robe, a brilliant yellow sash from right shoulder to left hip, the heft of his amethyst-tipped scepter in his left hand.

"The people, Orin. . . ."

"Yes?"

"They must have thought me lunatic, mad."

Silence.

"We still rule the caves, Richard. There have been no fanciful portals between realms, no marriage of two powers to reunite the kingdom. We have lived in quiet solitude. I have led the kingdom in your. . . state and have maintained the Church of Tubbius here. Prayers were made daily at all hours for your recovery."

"Kill the rodent, Orin."

"It was suitably crushed under a rock ten months past, Your Majesty."

"Good. Good."

White-sleeved arm slowly circles the king as far as it will go. The two Tubbian fairy leaders stand side by side again.

"What would you do tonight? I feel you should rest. No stresses. No fears. We will watch your progress and your health until you are well enough to speak to your subjects."

"I would hunt."

"Hunt, Richard?"

"Hunt, Orin! Do I still have my bumbles?"

"The enchanted bees that draw your sledge? Of course, but--"

"Then see them hitched! I would find and skewer a firefly again, or brave the dangers of a rabbit if there is one!"

"You have spent this year and a half in a cell, Richard, with minimal walks around the palace to maintain your body while your mind. . . ventured."

"And what better way to find myself again, brother, than to do what I love?"

A nod.

"Guardsman!" to the greenwing outside the door. "Saddle the bumbles!"
"Looks like a table to me. Do you think it could hold up someone as bulbous as Treadwell?" -- Dr. Brennan, Myrken Wood Rememdium Edificium
User avatar
Treadwell
Member
 
Posts: 2101
Joined: Sun Mar 16, 2003 5:00 am
Location: NC, USA

Return to Myrken Wood



Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 8 guests

cron