Chapter 10
The Queen of Hearts
Beatrix approached the quartet, taking dainty shimmering steps as light as a feather. Indeed, with the flapping of her wings, Amy could not quite tell if her feet were actually touching the ground.
She paused and smiled at them and it was as if the heavens split open and rays of rain soaked sunlight sparkled over them, drenching them in joy.
Morpheus stood and approached Beatrix and grasping her right hand, knelt before her. His white beard and mustache became jewel toned, absorbing her radiance, which was growing by the minute.
Seeing Morpheus kneel, the others slid off their perch and quickly followed him into a kneeling position, their eyes frozen on her glorious form.
Morpheus rainbow hued mustache tickled Beatrix's hand as he kissed it, then he said in a loud clear voice "I, Morpheus Saffi, do pledge my allegiance and fidelity to you, Queen Beatrix Aquapura, high monarch of the Puretears Watershed realm and druid priestess of the first order. Let me be the first to welcome you back from exile." He kissed her hand once more, then released it and bowed to press his forehead to the ground.
The others followed suit, in a stunned and bewildered but humbled way, stumbling up to Beatrix and falling to their knees.
Is this Princess Beatrix? How is it she is the queen of a legendary race? This is the little girl I have been chasing over the last two days? Quin's thoughts outpaced his actions.
He mirrored the words of Morpheus though, in unison with the others, then lifting his head, he spoke directly to her. "Your majesty, I had no idea that you were a prisoner in the tower! I offer my deepest apologies for any actions that I took that delayed your freedom." The girls clamored to add their apologies and Beatrix waved their speeches to a halt, lifting Morpheus up from his kneeling position on the ground.
"It is I who should be thanking you!" she said, eyes sparkling with joy. "Alyssia, if it wasn't for you kidnapping me, I would still be locked away in that horrible room and if it wasn't for you, Quin, stealing away Alyssia's supply of my elixir, I would still be the same handicapped little girl she found in that bed, for I feel no surprise that a potion was used to enslave me."
"You have all performed a great service in freeing me and for that I shall be eternally grateful. I am pleased to call you all friends." She walked forward and lifted them all to their feet, clasping hands and hugging them in turn. Beatrix towered over them in newly found height and they had to crane their necks to look up at her.
"Amy, you were the only face I ever saw in my prison aside from the priests, but it was always a kindly face and I looked forward to your visits very much. Thank you."
Beatrix turned back to Morpheus. "You say I am a queen, but I still do not have any memory to guide me. How can you be sure I am this lost queen?"
Morpheus ran his hand through his beard, tugging at it while he thought.
"Some fragments of the histories before the silence mentioned a young princess who was lost in the early years of the Troll wars. She was taken during one of the first raids and never heard of again.
"I suspect that they took you, thinking to hold you for ransom. Alas, I do not know why you were never returned, as that history is lost, or faded into legend. The histories do not even say that it was a nymph princess, just a princess."
"The potion, how do you think it worked?" Amy asked in the silence that followed Morpheus' reply. "I used to help the priests prepare Beatrix's elixir and it seemed to be a very basic mix of common ingredients. It used water as a base, two sprigs of crushed bloodroot and an infusion of absinth."
Morpheus turned to her in shock. "Those are the ingredients of the elixir given to her? It is a miracle that she survived all these years. Had she been an adult, she would have died in the first year of captivity."
Beatrix blinked and shrugged her wings. "They gave me a tummy ache sometimes, but other than that I was not aware of any harmful effects. I know if they were late attending me I had horrible cramps."
"Withdrawal, my dear, and I think we can safely assume that the other effect was to prevent you from walking. It is difficult to escape a tower if you cannot walk."
The weir cats suddenly sat up from where they had settled to guard Beatrix. Ears twitched and they sniffed the wind. A low growl emanated from the throat of the cat closest to the forest and he suddenly bounded away into the woods, his companions following. They disappeared into the murky depths of the pine forest on silent feet.
Beatrix watched their departure long after they were lost from view. "They are going to scout the area around us" she said to no one in particular. "I can sense their intent. They mean to guard us while rest." She yawned suddenly, covering her mouth to muffle the sound.
Alyssia, who had been strangely silent during all this exchange, leapt forward and took Beatrix's arm. "You need to rest, come" she said, tugging on her arm and leading her back towards the camp. Aylssia's face was strained, her face screwed up like she was about to cry. She lead Beatrix back to the camp and reaching her mat, helped Beatrix to lay down and tucked her in, scratching around her like a mother hen. She smoothed Beatrix's hair back from her forehead and murmured "I'm so sorry Beatrix, I never meant for all this to happen. Please forgive me!" A tear leaked out from the corner of her eye, which she hastily dashed away. She kissed her on the forehead and rose turning her back on the now young woman.
Beatrix grabbed her ankle halting her. "I knew you were my freedom, Alyssia. I do not regret anything. Please believe me." Her eyes drooped in wearily. Alyssia looked back and grimaced. "Sleep, no harm will come to you while we are here."
Beatrix smiled and nodded. She was asleep before she could count to ten.
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