Lily of the valley

23

Time froze again, and then raced forwards centuries, until the trio were once again stood in the ruins of that magnificent palace.

"What happened next?" Asked Lily of those more knowledgeable than herself. The witch shook her head,

"I do not know, I can only see what happens here." The witch answered.

"Hans' brother ruled." Katherine explained what she had learned in childhood history lessons, though she could no longer trust the accuracy of any of it. "He was emperor, the mountain held the empire for over a hundred years. Slowly the separate kingdoms began to take some back control though deals and trade."

"Do you understand why I had to show you this?" The time witch prompted Katherine, the princess shook her head.

"You must recreate the council of Kings, you must find a way to negotiate lasting peace." The witch was pleading the young girl to understand the weight that rested on her shoulders.

"But how, I can't do that! I will just be a wife not a King." Katherine was stricken, the burden was too great to bear; she was only a child.

"You must find a way. The Gods demand it!" Katherine's breathing was deep, she was weakened by a mountain of stress. "And you Lily must guide her. She is the shield, she is the sun and you must be the one to wield her."

Lily bowed her head and accepted her task, it was nothing compared to Katherines'. "I will do this, and so will she." Lily had long wished for peace in Fayrith and she would see to it that it was done.

Night was closing in and the ladies of the mountain were exhausted from all they had witnessed and all of the weight they now bore. Lily prepared their sleeping bags on the flagstones of the ruined castle, they had no food or water.

"Do you have anything to eat or drink?" Lily asked the witch, her tongue was sandpaper dry in her mouth and her stomach ached with hollowness. The goddess of time vanished into the ether and reappeared moments later holding a jug of water in one hand and a tray of meats, breads and cheeses in the other. Foods plucked from the past where they could not be missed. She vanished again and brought jewelled drinking goblets and firewood.

The trio sat around the flame which was a great respite from the moorlands nighttime chill. The wind howled through the ruins, it twisted around the women and lifted Katherine's fair hair into the air. The water was icy and satiating, the food was of the kind Katherine was accustomed to eating back on the mountain. Rich and fragrant. 

"What will you do now?" Katherine asked the displaced witch, her task had been completed and yet she remained in the mortal world. There had been no divine summoning, no fading away up into the heavens. 

"I suppose I shall pray." She felt that she had been abandoned by the Gods, by her brothers and sisters. She was homesick and wretched. But she possessed the strength of a god and would endure. 

"You are welcome to come with us, you might be more comfortable in Maequil?" Katherine offered, looking around the freezing, shelterless ruin. 

"I have an eternity to unravel here, I don't need another." The witch's own burden was great, to be lost in a world of constant twisting and shifting was maddening and ruthless. She longed to return to the sky, to swim in the light of a thousand suns and watch mortal life from afar. Katherine and Lily spent the evening trying to discover more about the strange moorland wanderer but she remained steadfast in her secrecy. 

They slept together around the fire until golden morning light woke them, it streamed through the heather and rock onto their resting faces. The fire had reduced to just embers and twisting grey smoke, rising and curling high into the sky. There was the sound of steel being unsheathed and great plodding footsteps. A sword was placed against Katherine's throat, another Knight grappled with Lily, he held her arms against her back while she desperately struggled. The witch simply dissappeared into vapor.

"You stupid bitches, you led us right to you." The Knight who held the sword mocked the Princess who lay unmoving on the rock. Terror gripped her, as fierceness gripped Lily. Lily writhed and swore and spat in a feeble attempt to reach the flower of the mountain and to shield her from harm.

"Isolde will be delighted to collect your heads." The second soldier laughed, "and our reward will be great."

"Up." The first knight commanded Katherine and she obeyed. The knights had a pair of black shire horses that stood beside them and huffed with impatience. "On the horse." The knights lifted Katherine and Lily onto the backs of the mares and then climbed on themselves.

"Try anything and the servant dies." The second Knight growled to Katherine, he flashed a silver dagger into her line of vision and held it against Lily's lower back. The Queen would want Katherine delivered alive but Lily was disposable.

There was a sound, a shrieking, that rushed across the moorland. It was agonisingly loud and pitched, they each covered their ears in shock. The abstracted sounds came together to create form. It was a voice and it spoke,

"I banish you!" The knights began to cry out in fear, they had begun to fade. They were cursed with increasing translucence.

"What have you done to us witches!" The second Knight roared, he slapped Lily across the cheek and his armoured fist drew blood. The women did not reply, bewildered yet hopeful themselves. The men continued to fade and in time they faded out into nothing. Katherine and Lily looked at one another with relief, they did not know what had happened but gave credit to the vanishing sylth.

"Leave this place." A voice broke through from the heavens, no longer the voice of an earthly witch but the sound of a goddess. There was a powerful divinity to the words, they commanded respect and obedience. Katherine and Lily were happy to obey. They made themselves comfortable on the horses and rode South, cantering hooves kicked up dirt but left no tracks in the heath. The wind rushed through their hair and the midmorning sun glared down upon them. They felt free, Isolde was a thousand worlds away, they felt they had escaped her icy grasp.