armed, and there were a lot of them.
“Horsy,” Matilda said as they rode by.
“Yes, lots of horses,” I said trying not to sound panicked. “Come on Matilda,” I said leading her back into the cottage.
My sister was sitting at the table reading.
“Papa!” Matilda shrieked, when she saw my sister’s husband Eric.
Matilda’s mother had died in childbirth. I blamed myself, because I hadn’t been there. I had been too afraid to tell anyone about our child. She was there alone when the birth happened. If I had been there, maybe she wouldn’t have bled to death. It still hurts to think of it.
When I found her, she had already delivered the baby. She was still alive, but barely. She was holding onto the baby, who was screaming. “Hold on,” I told her. “I’ll go find some help!”
By the time I found help, she was gone. In my official report to the king, I told him that I had happened upon the cottage when I heard the baby screaming. I knew that if he found out that I was the father, and I had kept this secret from him, that I would be executed.
He asked me if I would deliver the news to her parents. I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t refuse the order of a king. I trembled to think about it. I had barely contained my emotions enough when I reported to the King. I wasn’t sure how I was going to tell her parents what happened, without it being obvious that I was the father.
Anna’s friend accompanied me on the ride. She had just weaned her own child, and was still able to feed. I was happy for her company. She was the only one that had known about me and Anna. It was the only time in Matilda’s life that I was openly able to act like her father.
When we arrived at Anna’s home, her mother was outside gardening. She looked up at me puzzled. She had never seen me before, but I knew who she was instantly because she looked just like Anna. Then her eyes fell on Anna’s friend.
“What happened? Is Anna ok?” She asked.
Nicole began to cry,
“What happened?!” she cried.
Anna’s father came out. “What’s going on?” He asked.
I got off my horse, and took the baby from Nicole. “My name is Sir Owen,” I started. “I’m afraid that I have some bad news.” I hesitated, as I struggled not to choke on my words. “Your daughter died in childbirth.”
“That’s impossible,” her father said. “We would have known. How did this happen? She was at court. Surely if she had gotten pregnant at court, we would have known,” he said the color draining from his face.
I swallowed a hard lump in my throat. I began to feel tears forming in my eyes.
“No one knew,” Nicole said. “She said that she was returning home, and that was the last anyone saw of her. She was hiding in a cottage just outside the enchanted forest.”
“No!” Anna’s mother cried.
“And the father?” Anna’s father asked.
“No one knows,” Nicole said. “No one even knew that she was carrying a child.”
His eyes watered up, and then he clenched his fist as if he was furious. “I don’t understand. How could she do this? How could she dishonor the family like this?”
Her mother put a hand on his shoulder. “Now is not the time for anger,” she said. She wiped a tear from her cheek. “Is this the child?” She lifted the cloak from the babies face.
“Yes my lady,” I replied.
“May I?” She asked.
I didn’t want to give the baby to her, but I knew that I had to.
She took the baby into her arms, and stared down at her face. “She looks just like Anna,” she said.
“Yes, she does,” I replied.
Anna’s father eyed me suspiciously. “Did you know our daughter?” He asked.
I nodded. “I met her several times at court functions. I was the one that found her. I heard the baby screaming, so I entered the cottage.”
“If it wasn’t for Owen, your granddaughter probably wouldn’t have survived,” Nicole offered.
“What about Anna. When you found them was she…” Anna’s father asked.
“She was still alive, but barely,” I said struggling to contain my emotions. “I tried to find help, but by the time I found someone, she had bled to death.”
“I need to go inside,” he said. “This is all just too much for me.”
We stayed at the village several days, at the request of Anna’s mother. She said there was no one else in the village that could feed the baby. Finally they called for us.
Anna’s mother told me that they couldn’t keep Matilda. Her husband was angry over what had happened, and said that he couldn’t accept the baby.
I tried to comfort her as she cried. “I don’t know what to do,” she said.
“Don’t worry, we’ll find a place for her at court.”
“Damn court,” she snapped. “If we hadn’t sent our daughter to court, we would still have her.
When we first arrived back at court, the baby stayed with Nicole and her husband. I had hoped at first, the baby would remain with them. But Nicole’s husband wanted no part in raising the baby. He said once the baby was weaned, that was it.
It was then that I approached my sister. She had just married my good friend Arthur who was also one of the knights. I told them the whole story, and begged them to help.
“Of course we’ll raise her,” Arthur said. “I will talk to the King tomorrow.”
The King had approved, and for the last two years they had raised my daughter as their own. I tried to see her as often as I could.
“Papa, why can’t I see the horses?” Matilda asked Arthur snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Because today is just not a good day sweet heart,” Arthur said.
“We should go,” I said to Arthur.
He nodded.
We said our goodbyes, and headed out ready for battle. We were half way to the forest when we heard them coming back. I saw her first, and then him. Both bodies were slumped over horses, both looked dead. As I approached I was appalled to see who they were. It was the Princess, and the boy.
“What happened?” I asked one of the knights, who slowed down to talk to me, as the horses with the children galloped ahead.
“The Princess took off into the forest and got attacked by an oar demon. The boy tried to save her, he even killed the thing.”
My eyes opened wide with amazement. “What do you mean? How is that possible?”
“I don’t know mate,” he said. “Maybe just a lucky day.”
“Will they be alright?” I asked.
The knight looked gloomy. “The boy is expected to recover, the Princess however is not.”
My heart sank. I knew how much the King cared for his child.
Isabel
When I first woke up, I was dazed and confused. I thought that I had died, as I look around the dark room. I tried to open my eyes more but couldn’t, they felt heavy and swollen. I suddenly realized that they were so heavy because they were swollen almost all the way shut. I tried to touch my face, but my arms didn’t want to work. I moaned in pain, that was when I heard my father.
“Isabel?” He whispered.
“Father?” I asked, trying to move my head to look at him. I could barely see him out of the corner of my eye. That’s when I knew that I had survived. I asked for my mother and he left the room to get her.
I closed my eyes again trying to remember what had happened. The last thing I remembered was being under the rock, terrified that I was going to die. How had I escaped? Had someone rescued me? I tried to remember, but couldn’t. All I could think about was the beast, and the pain. I still felt like my whole body was on fire. I would later learn that the oar claws contain poison that paralyze you, and that’s why I couldn’t move my arms, or open my eyes. That poison was still in my body. I didn’t realize how lucky I really was to be alive. If the poison isn’t treated soon enough, the victim can die. But how did I get out? I tried to remember again. Suddenly I re
membered hearing a voice, calling for me. The voice was familiar, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
Then it hit me, it was William. Had he been the one to save me? Suddenly I remembered that I could hear him fighting with the demon, and I could feel the rock sway as they fought. I remembered hearing him scream, and the demon crying out. Then I remembered him crawling under the rock with me. He was covered in blood and hurt. Had he gotten me out? Had he been the one to save me? Had he survived?
I tried to ask my mother that night about William, but I was too weak. As the days went on, I wanted to ask her over and over again, but every time I tried to say something, someone hushed me. It was five days before I felt well enough to open my eyes all the way. I could still barely move anything else, but I was beginning to feel the poison leave my body. It was like there was something heavy holding me down, and someone was lifting it off slowly and gently.
I finally found the strength to talk, before someone could help me. “Who?” I managed to ask.
“Who what?” My father asked.
“Was it William?”
“Yes, it was William,” my father said.
“What happened to him?”
“He’s alive and recovering from his injuries.”
So he had been hurt. I didn’t ask how badly. I didn’t want to know. I hoped that he hadn’t been hurt too badly. I looked over at my father. He had hardly left my bed side the entire time that I had been injured. It occurred to me that when he did leave, he was probably going to check on William. I wondered why William had saved me.
He had disobeyed my father. I knew that he must be in trouble for it. It didn’t make any sense. William