Lily of the valley

4

Lily

It did not take long for the darkness and the maze of branches to separate the companions, Lily found herself alone. On edge. Turning to face every gust of breeze and snap of a twig. Heartbeat thundering in her ears. She could not tell whether it was day or night, there was only blinding blackness and a creeping chill. A woman's voice, soft and spellbinding drifted through the trees.

"Lily" It seemed to hum. "Lily... Protector of those greater than herself, she who kisses the feet of greatness just to taste what it might be like... to be more... more than a serving girl. Fierce loyalty to a family she is invisible to... Lily. Traitor to her own heart and for what?" The voice of Gustavo began to vibrate through the forest, so sweet and tempting.

"Lily." Gustavo sang, "Lily come back to me, I crave you Lily. I love you. We could have everything together Lily, everything you ever wanted. Leave her. Come be with me... Lily." And then the voice of Lily's Father, harsh and domineering, overlaid Gustavo's desperate pleas for romance. Lily just ran forwards, trusting her feet to carry her far away, but the forest just stretched on and on.

"Get out of my house! Harlot! The Gods will have you for this. Just you wait and see. My own daughter! A reckless slut!" And then the gentle voice of her mother. She continued to race through the trees.

"Geralt please, Geralt. She just made a mistake! She is your child, please, please don't do this. Geralt!" Then she could hear the sounds of her father beating her mother, soul crushing sounds of flesh colliding with flesh.

"Stop this!" Lily shouted to the branches, to the falling leaves, to anything that would listen. "Help me! Someone! Help me!" Lily screeched, weeping with fear.

"You always were a coward." The sweet voice of the forest responded. Lily heard her own screams of childbirth, her own panting and pleading as she created life. Then the cries of her first born son echoing about the trees, life was stolen from him so soon after birth. The three hours that he lived were lived in agony, in screaming and writhing. Lily screamed and screamed, clutching her chest as she ran from her past. How could she ever forgive herself for that.

"Lily, Mother of death, mother of pain, mother of disease. She whose womb is full of poison. Betrayer of life. The Gods shun you." The voice of the trees, of the fog, of the darkness continued to torment Lily. Lily wept and wept, her soul was torn apart by guilt, her heart broke for the second time since holding her dying child, half dead herself.

"Leave me witch! I am innocent!" A jury of male voices began to chant.

"Guilty, Guilty, Guilty"

"Murderess!" Cried out the mistress of the forest. Lily fell to her knees in rabid despair. All the voices of her past mingled like some yelling, tormenting choir. Gustavo, her parents, her child, the younger sister she left behind.

"Lily! Lily please! Don't leave me, Lily I am so afraid. Lily please, he will hurt me! Lily please..." Lily remembered the pleading whispers of her sister well, the night she caught her running away.

"Forgive me, please please forgive me. I had to, please believe me, I had to. For my child."

"You could have come back for me... He killed me Lily! You killed me." Lily's sobs echoed louder than the screaming voices.

"No no no no, I won't believe it! Liar. You are not real! None of this is real!" Lily pressed her hands against her ears and fell into the web of roots and thorns. The voices kept calling out to her until she passed out from fear, the brambles cut her flesh.

Katherine

Katherine of the mountain found herself lost in the darkness with neither horse nor riches, the cold bit though her satin gown and a deafening silence took hold. There was no sound of birdsong, of wind moving through the branches, everything was still. Katherine called out,

"Lily?!...Lily?" There was no response; again and again Katherine called out to her companion. Nothing but silence. Katherine began to pace in a circle, wringing her hands, pulling at her hair in frightened frustration. Then the voice of mist came to her, such a soft and gentle sound carrying words that cut like knives.

"I see the flower of the mountain comes to stand before me, such beauty, and such grace, you are exactly what I expected. I would bow before you but alas I am without a body."

"Whose there!" Katherine pulled a small, ornate knife from the folds of her gown and held it out before her, turning frantically. The lady of the wood laughed at the princess; her cackles echoed about the roots.

"Such a brave young thing... maybe you're just naïve. Princess of marble, of pearl and snow. Groomed and pampered, fattened up like a prize heifer, a mere commodity of sex and peace... and gold. Soon to be Queen of sand, sun and famine." Katherine slashed at the air, her dagger collided with nothing.

"Leave me witch!" Katherine called out.

"Do you think if your father loved you more than gold you would be sent away? Do you know that were sold to the highest bidder?" The voice of the forest continued to toy with her prey.

"It's tradition!" Katherine cried.

"Tradition!" The voice laughed and mocked. "Tradition is naught but a trick, a coercion, a way to keep you in line! Tradition means nothing." Katherine called out to Lily again, the darkness was maddening, the voice was maddening. Katherine wanted to deny what she already knew to be true, the truth wounded her gentle soul.

"Flower of the mountain..." The leering voice of Lord Ves weaved its way through the trees. "I only wanted to touch you... you led me to it, prancing about in front of me like that, what did you expect would happen? I bet you wanted it."

"Get away from me!" Screamed Katherine. The sound of Lord Ves' heavy breathing filled the forest, the first sound Katherine had heard when he woke her.

"You want me?!" Katherine called into the darkness, "come and get me, come and get me you fucker!" Katherine shouted with all the fury of a fresh wound, with a fire she didn't know she contained. "Come and get me!" Katherine spat onto the earth. The mist wrapped itself around Katherine's trembling body, it lulled her, it worked its way inside her head. Katherine fought the laudanum, she fought for as long as she could but eventually hit the earth with peaceful slumber.