The town crier announced the next suitor from a line that stretched beyond Gardenia’s gates. “Jeremy Ilk, firstborn son of Boris Ilk, Lord of High Hill!”

The future ruler of High Hill stepped toward Lia and her father. Jeremy took a knee before her, the sunlight sparkling off the many diamonds sewn into his maroon tunic.

“My lady,” he began softly, taking Lia’s hand and kissing it where dozens of other suitors had already placed their lips, “words have failed to warn me of your magnificence. As I kneel before you today, your eyes make the sunshine dim, and your lips make the lushest bloom pale in comparison.”

“Well, that’s all very nice of you to say,” Lia replied, yanking her hand away before Jeremy could pepper her with more smooches.

Jeremy soldiered on, undiscouraged. “I have come today to ask for your hand in marriage.”

“Oh, well, thank you, but no.”

Othello twisted his neck to give Lia an incredulous look. This was the greatest offer yet!

Rejection only seemed to invigorate Jeremy, who now had his hands clasped in desperation. “I have come to offer you all that my name and my birthright grant me. House Snell shall join House Ilk and our children will inherit over a third of the known world!”

“A third!” Othello interjected, plum-colored in frustration. “Lia, a third!”

Jeremy continued, “Our mines are overflowing with gold and diamonds. The vaults of High Hill are legendary-”

“And one day all that land and all those riches are going to make some other lucky girl very, very happy,” Lia finished for him. “Next suitor!”

Jeremy retreated in defeat as the town crier announced the arrival of the next suitor.

Lia wiped some sweat from her brow. “Father, we must get through this next suitor a touch faster. Otherwise, we may end up standing here all day!”

“And why was Lia Snell so stubborn?”

In the shade of a nearby bower in the garden, Willard watched the proceedings of the day intently, his expression matching the rancor festering in his heart.

“Because her heart belonged to another…”

As some something-someone from house something-or-other approached, Lia glanced over her shoulder at Willard, who grimaced and turned away, disappearing deeper into the gardens.

“Indeed. Lia Snell was in love with her very own twin brother, Willard Snell. The young heir and his maiden sister snuck out of their rooms under cover of night and convened in the secret catacombs hidden beneath Castle Gardenia. This underground network that bore their many secret night kisses was the deepest, darkest cave system in the entire kingdom.

“The two lovers chased each other throughout the upper levels of that labyrinthine system, always returning to the surface before they were too deep to find their way back. They were, of course, blissfully unaware of the dark forces puppeteering their every maneuver.”

By now, Bradshaw had found the courage to follow Arienne across the support beams. The two of them moved in parallel with each other until they reached the center of the great hall, where they both met on either end of a massive support. Holding on to opposite ends of the support for balance, Arienne looked around at her little brother.

“You’re not afraid anymore?” Arienne asked.

Bradshaw shook his head, hoping she would continue the story.

Arienne grinned, and he felt his knees weaken.  “Just you wait,” she said. “You will be! 

“On the second day, an even longer line of suitors gathered to win Lia’s hand. Of course, all Lia could think about was her tryst with Willard the previous evening. So, while these two shared their secret love in that old, dark place, Rowan Lancaster, the king of the realm, in need of a wife after the tragic death of Queen Pennifer, came to Gardenia and asked Othello Snell for his daughter’s hand in marriage.

“Othello sent every other suitor home, of course, knowing there would never be a proposal better than one from King Rowan. Lia refused, but her father could not stand to see his daughter throw away such an opportunity. So, he swore he would lop both her hands off if she refused to marry into the royal family.

“That night, Lia wept with only her brother by her side to comfort her. So, when the day of Lia’s betrothal arrived, do you know what she did?”

“What did she do?” He asked, spellbound.

“She ran away with Willard to that old cave that only they knew about!

“Now, you must remember, Lia Snell was the most beautiful maiden in the kingdom, so the king spared no expense in searching for her. Teams of knights and trackers combed the mountain ranges around Gardenia in search of Lia Snell and her brother. King Rowan led the search party himself. He sent word out to every skilled tracker and knight in Unitare that the one who found Lia Snell and her brother would be rewarded their weight in royal gold…

“And it wasn’t long until the entrance to the catacombs were found, and it was reasoned that those two had escaped beneath the city. Before they could be dragged out of there, however, the two lovers ventured deeper and deeper into the darkness. So far down below that even the bravest knight would not go in after them, even for all the gold in the kingdom…”

“And did they live happily ever after?”

Since they had arrived, clouds had formed in the skies above them. As the moon passed behind cloud cover, the six shafts of light faded, leaving only Arienne’s outline visible. Bradshaw clutched the central support as he listened, unable to see his own hands in front of him.

“No one knows for sure. The Snell siblings were never seen nor heard from again, and the king ended up marrying Xandrea Sutton. What we do know is that the next morning, after they had given up searching, the Blackstar annihilated Gardenia, and a blight befell Unitare. The soil soured, killing that year’s entire harvest and sparking the Blackstar War. The Snell line ended in tragedy, and nothing good grew for an entire generation.”

Bradshaw waited in the dark. 

“There are those, however, who say that in the light of unholy flames, deep below the surface, unimaginable things, cursed things, took a hold of those two.”

The moonlight returned gradually as Arienne spoke. She was now sitting midway across one of the long, horizontal supports, bare feet swinging.  

“Some say Lia was turned into something not quite human. Some say accursed Watchers pinned Lia to a stone sepulcher encircled by the Seer’s mark! Some say they used unholy magic to keep Lia alive whilst they cut her open from the base of the ribcage to her navel, removing her innards and replacing them with carved rune-stones, fire-powder, and other cruel humors!

“Some say Willard Snell is said to still stalk the ruins of Gardenia… But Lia Snell, once the most beautiful maiden in all the land, she can never leave the darkness, for to look upon her now would stop the heart of anyone so unfortunate…”  

Some time passed in silence. Arienne was stretched out on a beam. She reclined her head and looked up through a skylight at the moon, the clouds, and the stars.

“You weren’t scared, were you?” Arienne asked.

Bradshaw was laying on the beam across from her, staring up through his own skylight. He wanted to tell her that the story had not scared him in the slightest but had instead unearthed something deep inside of him that he did not yet have the words to describe.

“It’s your fault she’s dead, you know.”

Neither of them talked for a while, looking up at the night sky, remembering.

Everyone else spoke in code around him, but, in that moment, Arienne’s bluntness came as a tremendous relief.

“I know.” 

“It’s not your fault, you were just a little baby, but still…”

“I’m sorry…”

“I barely remember her anyway…”

Bradshaw turned to look at Arienne and a force took hold of him. It was a force that he would not understand until four years later, looking back on this night from the same perch as he watched the feasting below.

All his memories with Arienne, watching her, following her, listening to her voice, spiraled around this moment. Bradshaw had carried the truth from year to year, like a lost messenger refusing to ask for direction, wandering until he stumbled onto his destination, wherever that was.

It was here, he was sure of it. Now, bathed in moonlight, Bradshaw reached across the void between them. Leaning out, stretching his arm, he tried to touch Arienne like a castaway signaling a passing ship. He was afraid, afraid of what he felt, afraid of what it meant, afraid of being alone. She was just out of reach, so he leaned out further.

“Bradshaw!-”

His grip on the support beam slipped and the weight of his body carried him over the edge. The fall made his memories of that night a blur, like a dream he couldn’t quite remember. He also broke a leg, two ribs, and his collarbone.