Narrated by Aubrey
(A Century Ago)
Fisher King's wife, Queen Morgana, grew depressed about her husband's sudden death which was due to an illness he had suffered with. Despite how she felt, she knew she had to cope with it so that she could continue running the kingdom. It was now her only responsibility, and she needed to keep it strong and protected, especially because the neighboring kingdom of Camelot was an enemy to her kingdom due to the many wars they had fought together. Ever since her husband had sent Zophar away to the Dark Realm, Camelot became their enemy to avenge their king. Most of the wars were ambushes from Camelot, which resulted in the weakening of Corbenic, and Morgana was worried that another ambush would wipe out her kingdom entirely since Camelot's army was larger than hers due to all the men she had lost through all the wars.
Then the time came when Camelot came back to ambush, and this ambush wiped out Morgana's kingdom; for it was the largest battle Corbenic had to fight against and the bloodiest ever recorded in history. In addition, the wraiths had attacked, taking so many lives as well, and they were controlled by the Camelot king who had the wraith medallion with him in battle. This final ambush resulted with major devastation, and even the local villages were burned to the ground.
Queen Morgana felt like she failed her people and that she did not have what it took to be their queen, especially now that her husband was not there for her, someone she had sorely depended on and who made her feel truly happy, content, courageous, motivated, and strong. But now that all changed. She grew depressed and felt like she did not have the strength to bring her kingdom up from the dust. Not only that but she also did not want to live a life of constant fear. It was too much of a burden and responsibility for her which she did not want to take.
A day later, when she was walking around where there was destruction, suddenly, she saw something round, golden, and metallic partially sticking up from the ash. Curiously, she picked the object up and immediately realized it was the wraith medallion. She concluded that the Camelot king had accidentally lost it during the battle, and she was very glad he did; for she wanted to destroy the medallion so it would never cause harm again. With her magic, she tried to destroy it, but every attempt proved useless which frustrated her. She realized that magic was not enough to destroy it, but she did not know what more could. To keep it safe from any foe's hands, she attached a small chain to the medallion, making a necklace out of it, and she wore it around her neck.
Because Morgana wanted to resign from her position, she contacted Fisher King's closest relative, Sir Kingsley, a very rich noble who she knew would likely accept the responsibility of being Corbenic's next king. He accepted the responsibility, and as soon as Morgana announced to the people their new king and of her resign, she handed the throne over to him. Then she soon decided to move far away from Corbenic to start a new life, a fresh start somewhere living in peace and solitude. She took all her most valuable possessions with her and took a ship out to an island called DunBroch where she decided to move. Once she arrived, she paid some housebuilders to build her a small cottage in the middle of the woods, far away from civilization. Once she moved into it, she took up the occupation of woodcarving, and even though she knew she would barely get any business due to her living so far away from people, she worked day and night carving because that alone gave her a little comfort, it took her mind off of all her troubles, and it reminded her of her husband who loved and appreciated her woodcarving.
One day, Morgana took a boat far out in the DunBroch Sea to drop the wraith medallion into the water since she could not destroy it herself. She could not bear to look at it anymore because it reminded her of her troubled past. Once she dropped it into the sea and sailed back to the shore, suddenly, to her alarm, she saw the medallion lying on the shore right in front of her. Very frighted, confused, and upset, she angrily threw it back out at sea, but when she turned around, it was back on the shore in front of her again. She had no choice but to hold onto it so that no one would ever find it.
It was now fifty years later. One day, when the witch carver headed to the village to buy food, she decided to bring the wraith medallion along in hopes of finding someone she could sell it to. Now she didn't care who, all she cared about was getting it off her hands and gaining money out of it, which she desperately needed. She ended up selling the medallion to a foreigner named Jefferson who came from a realm called Misthaven, also known as the Enchanted Forest.
In Corbenic (Present Day)
King Otto's younger brother, Bartholomew, became the next king of Corbenic. But unlike Otto, he was not weak-willed nor gullible. He was on good terms with Camelot because he knew Zophar was behind the battle with Camelot, and he ensured Camelot that it would never happen again. The two kingdoms were back to being allied with one another and were prepared to fight against Zophar.
One early morning, Zophar managed to get inside King Bartholomew's throne room where the king sat, pondering. There were no guards around which made the king vulnerable. Startled by the dark wizard's sudden appearance, he quickly stood up from his throne and demanded angerly, "Why are you here, Dark Wizard? Am I your next victim?"
The dark wizard replied with a malicious grin, "That is correct. You will not see the light of day for long." Then immediately, he choked Bartholomew to death using his magic. "Rest in peace," he murmured triumphantly. "Now I shall take your throne."
In Camelot (Present Day)
We were all devastated about all the destruction in Camelot caused from the war such as from the fires Corbenic had set off. It was so tragic. Even the local village was burned, leaving so many people homeless. It was such a depressing sight that I could not stop crying. Lancelot invited all the homeless people to stay in the castle for the time being until their houses were rebuilt. I never knew of another king being so generous and selfless like him.
Suddenly, we all remembered Tiana and very much hoped that her restaurant did not get burned, and I had my fingers crossed. As we all rushed over to it, to all our disappointment, it was burned. "Oh, no!" I exclaimed with sadness, and everyone else was very sad too. Kaylee and I went inside Tiana's burned restaurant and found Tiana on her knees, sobbing, and we softly approached her compassionately. Tiana turned her emotional face up to us and wiped her tears away. "I'm so sorry," I said with sympathy.
She stood up and replied, her voice trembling with emotion, "Everything I ever lived for... it's... it's all gone." Then she covered up her face with her hands. "I don't know what I'll do now. I have nothing left, no living. Now I'll end up as a homeless beggar on the streets."
"Well, that's not going to happen," said Lancelot, approaching. "You are more than welcome to stay in the castle for as long as you like."
"Thank you," replied Tiana; "that is a mighty kind offer, but I don't want to intrude."
"No, please," Lancelot urged. "It would be an honor to have you as our guest."
"The pleasure would be ours," Hook added, making a sudden appearance too. "I do hope you accept."
"Well....," Tiana replied, giving it thought, then she said, "Well, alright then. I suppose just for a little while if you all insist." Then she let out a smile and wiped the rest of her tears away. "How can I ever repay you all for your kindness?"
"Just by being our guest," Lancelot replied. "And I shall be more than happy to fund your new restaurant."
Tiana burst into ecstatic tears of joy and replied, looking very touched, "Thank you, thank you so very much. I don't know what to say." Then she gave each of us a hug, and once we escorted her out of the burned building, everyone else welcomed her joyfully. We immediately took her to the castle, and once we arrived, Tiana was given a grand room to stay in, and Guinevere gave her some of her own dresses to wear.
In Corbenic (Present Day)
News had spread all around about the death of King Bartholomew, and many suspected that the dark wizard was responsible for this. In the courtyard, a funeral for the king was held, and a crowd of people were there paying their respects. Suddenly, Zophar made an appearance in front of the crowd, which caused immediate chaos since many of the people knew he was the dark wizard whom they feared most. As they began to revolt against him, shouting angerly, Zophar suppressed the angry mob by shouting out loudly, "SILENCE!" And as soon as he got all the people's attention, he began lying to them. "Let me make this known to you all. I was not responsible for the king's death."
"Liar!" many people exclaimed indignantly.
"Let me finish!" Zophar roared, silencing the people once again. "Now, I don't blame you all for assuming it was me who killed your king, but the truth is, I was not the one, so I am innocent. I promise you all that I will never again inflict any harm to this kingdom. I came here to tell you all the truth of who the murderer is. Very early this morning, I arrived here to make amends, informing the king that I would never let harm come to this kingdom again. As I was about to walk into the throne room, suddenly, I heard a window crash and saw someone jumping out of the window, escaping from the throne room. I'm sure many of you people saw the broken window. Anyway, once I ran inside the throne room, there I saw the king lying on the floor, dead. I wish I was there sooner so that I could have prevented this crime from occurring, but unfortunately, I was too late, and the murderer got away. Once I approached the corpse, I saw a knife stabbed into the king's chest, which was never removed. Then I discovered something that was proof of who the murderer was." He then held out a knife to the crowd and continued, "I found this knife stabbed into the king's heart. It has the initials, J.B. on it. Can anyone tell me who this belongs to?"
Suddenly, a young woman named Isabella gasped with horror and exclaimed frantically, "That knife belongs to my husband, James Bradly! How did you get it? You cannot accuse it was him who murdered the king! That's absurd! He would never commit such a crime! He has always been very loyal to the king."
The crowd began to stir then Zophar replied to her, raising his voice over the commotion, "Then why did I find your husband's knife in the king's heart?"
"You must be mistaken!" Isabella exclaimed. "You must have the wrong knife!"
"Then come take a closer look at it," the dark wizard responded maliciously.
Isabella came over, and once she took a close look at the knife, her face grew pale with horror. "No!" she exclaimed with panic, arousing the crowd once again. "It can't be! I won't believe it! You must had stolen this from my husband and are framing him for a crime he never committed!" Then the crowd shouted with agreement.
"Oh, I am not framing him, I'm only showing evidence," Zophar responded. "And there are people who can testify seeing this knife in the king's chest, the ones who took the body away."
Suddenly, a few voices were heard, and one man in the crowd said, "Yes, we did see a knife stabbed into the king's chest with the initials, J.B." Then he added skeptically, "But how do we know that you didn't put it there, Zophar? You were the only one who informed us about the king's death."
The crowd again broke out into chaos, and now all the people were suspicious. Then Zophar hollered angerly, "If you all cannot accept the truth, then ask James Bradly." He then turned back toward Isabella and asked, "Is your husband here with you right now?"
"No, he went to the market early this morning to buy food and has not returned yet," she nervously replied.
"How long ago may I ask?" Zophar questioned.
"About nine hours ago," she responded, her voice trembling.
"That long ago?" Zophar replied suspiciously. "Does it normally take him that long to go to the market to buy food?"
"Well, no but---" Isabella replied, but was quickly interrupted.
"So, doesn't that make you wonder, or perhaps curious, of why he's been away for that long?" Zophar said.
"Well, yes, but I'm sure he will be back very soon," Isabella anxiously replied. "He probably lost track of time."
"Perhaps," Zophar responded, sounding unconvinced. "It's quite ironic how a little less than nine hours ago I arrive at the throne room to see someone jumping out of the window."
"It must had been someone else who stole my husband's knife to kill the king, making it look like it was my husband who was responsible for the crime!" Isabella yelled. "I will prove it once my husband returns and tells the truth!"
"We shall see," Zophar responded with a smirk.
Suddenly, a man wearing a top hat with a feather, a purple-colored blazer and pants, and a necklace of sharp teeth ran into the crowd, exclaiming, "I can witness that what Zophar says is true!" Then the people turned their attention to him once he stood in front with Zophar. "Very early this morning, I saw a man walk into the throne room, and he was wearing a brown cloak that had a sewed patch on the back of it. But obviously, I didn't think he was walking into the throne room to kill the king. But as I was walking past the throne room, I suddenly heard a window crash which made me turn around to see what the commotion was about, and I saw that same man in the cloak, who had entered the throne room, jumping out of the window then running away. And because I thought he was stealing from the king, I chased him down but unfortunately lost sight of him. For nine hours, I've been trying to search for him to have him arrested, assuming it was him who had murdered the king after I heard the terrible news. No one wants a murderer on the loose, especially with children running all about."
"So, Woman," Zophar said, turning back to Isabella, "was your husband wearing a brown cloak with a sewed patch on the back of it when he left this morning?"
Isabella trembled, tears coming into her eyes, and she replied, very distraught, "Yes." Then the crowd gasped.
"Well, I guess that's enough proof," Zophar said with a smirk.
"No!" Isabella exclaimed boldly, wiping her tears away. "I won't accept that! How do we know that this man who claims to have seen what my husband was wearing is not in on this hoax!"
"Yeah!" some of the people in the crowd exclaimed.
"What these evil men are saying are lies!" Isabella angerly yelled. "If any of you people cannot see it, then you are blinded! My husband is a good man and a friend to many, so don't accuse him of a crime I know in my heart he never committed!"
"I agree with the lady," said a man in the crowd. "James Bradly is a good friend of mine. We've been friends for many years, and he has always been there for me. I can't imagine that he'd actually be a murderer. That sounds absurd, and I do believe he is being framed."
"Thank you," Isabella said with appreciation, turning to the man.
"I agree with the man," said an old woman also in the crowd. "James Bradly treated me with such kindness the other day, kindness that I'd never forget. That man has a good heart I tell you. I also believe he is innocent!"
Isabella smiled at the old woman, then Zophar said, "Well then, if James Bradly never returns for let's say by tomorrow, then we can conclude that he does not want to be found due to the fact of knowing he left his knife in the king's heart, which I assume was not intentional of course since it would give away that he was the murderer."
"Unless if he never returns because he was killed by you!" Isabella exclaimed in rage. "And that could be why you have his knife!"
"Accuse me all you want, Woman, but the truth is the truth," replied Zophar with a sneer.
A day later, James Bradly never returned which made Isabella very sick with worry, and she cried; for she feared that he would never return. She could not understand why her husband never returned, and she feared he was killed. Many people finally fell for the lie since James Bradly never returned, and they thought there was enough evidence, the knife and the witnesses, to prove he was the murderer. Posters with James Bradly's face drawn on them and the words, Wanted. Murder Suspect of the King. Reward if found, were put up everywhere around the village.
As Isabella was walking through the village, she came across one of the posters which she angerly tore into pieces. "What is wrong with you people!" she yelled out. "You should all be ashamed of yourselves for letting my husband's face be plastered all around!"
Suddenly, a man approached Isabella and said to the sobbing woman, "I'm very sorry what has happened. But I believe he is innocent. I'm Lawrence Naveen by the way."
(Yesterday Morning)
After Zophar had killed King Bartholomew, he wanted to frame someone else for his crime so no one would think it was him. He had intentions for killing the king for a plan he had devised in which he hoped would succeed. He made the king's corpse temporarily invisible with his magic then headed to the market. He spied on a man who was wearing a brown cloak with a sewed patch on the back of it, and this man was driving a wagon. He parked it behind a building where he was isolated from people. The man then gave his horse water, and as it was drinking, Zophar saw the man take out a unique-looking knife and leisurely start carving at a piece of wood. Zophar then disguised himself and took on a pretense, approaching the man and asking, "Excuse me, Sir, would you mind telling me the direction of where the nearest village from here is?"
"Why, only ten miles from here, north," replied the jolly-sounding man.
"Thank you," replied Zophar. Then he turned his gaze onto the knife the man was holding. "What a fine-looking knife you have there. Would you mind if I had a look at it? I'm actually in the hobby of knife-making myself," he lied.
"Go ahead, have a look," the man replied, handing the knife over.
"How exquisite," Zophar remarked, studying the knife and looking at the initials on it that read, J.B. "What a fine piece of craftsmanship. Those your initials?"
"Indeed, they are," replied the man. "It's James Bradly by the way. Pleasure to meet you."
"The pleasure's all mine," Zophar replied with a malicious grin. Then suddenly, he snapped James's neck with his magic which instantly killed him, and he turned the body into dust. "Rest in peace, James Bradly," he murmured with a sinister gaze.
Zophar returned to the throne room, and there were still no guards present. With his magic, he broke the invisibility spell from the king's body. He then stabbed James Bradly's knife into the king's heart and left it there. Then he left the throne room and made it known to the guards about the king's sudden death.
(A Day Later)
Zophar appeared to the duke named Derick who was eating dinner alone in the dining hall. "Why are you here, Dark Wizard?" he fiercely demanded, standing up, startled.
"Fear not," Zophar replied with a malicious grin. "For I bring you no harm."
"Well, you are not welcome here!" Derick boldly replied. "You will always remain a foe to this kingdom, and even if you were telling the truth of who killed the king, I don't care. As long as you are around, you are a threat, and I still don't trust you. So begone and never return!"
Zophar smirked and responded, "We shall see about that." Then suddenly, he threw magic sand at Derick's face, which instantly spelled him. "Now you were about to say something?"
The duke had a blank look on his face, then he replied, "Ah yes, I wanted to tell you how much I honor you for what you have done, for finding out who the murderer of the king was. You shall be rewarded greatly and respected by all. Now I'd be more than honored if you joined me for dinner. There's plenty and I certainly can't eat it all myself."
"I'd be pleased to join you," Zophar replied with a grin of triumph. He was happy that his plan was turning out. He hoped to become the next king of Corbenic so he could then take over Camelot as well.
The duke had posters of the accused James Bradly placed all around the village, and it would not be long until the people of Corbenic would honor Zophar. A few days later, hysteria spread everywhere because of news that a giant army of invaders from only twenty miles away was coming to attack Corbenic. War horns were blared. "It's the northern invaders!" exclaimed horsemen, galloping all around the village, warning everyone.
The northern invaders were enemies to Corbenic, even more of a threat than Zophar. The reason why was because of the former king Otto's bad history with them; for he had been responsible for bringing about these enemies when he had sent some of his men to go kill King Thorsten, king of the northern kingdom of Alistair. But it was not known why King Otto had wanted him killed. And as a result, Thorsten's son, Ryker, who became the next king, started to revolt against Corbenic by ambushes to avenge his father's death, and ever since, Corbenic has never been at peace.
There was very little time to get the Corbenic army ready, and the duke, now left in charge with running the kingdom and preparing the armed forces, was panicked. Zophar offered to lead the Corbenic army as commander, which the duke greatly appreciated. When Zophar stepped up to the army which was now ready, he proclaimed to them, "Fear not, for I shall lead you all into battle, and I assure you we shall conquer! I owe this to Corbenic and hope to prove myself that I am no foe to you all. I am the most powerful sorcerer in the realm, so they should fear me more than you should fear them. We will be invincible!"
Suddenly, the Corbenic army cheered since they knew that Zophar could be their only hope for winning and finally ending the conflict between Alistair. Zophar, riding a black horse, led the army into battle, and war was on once the two armies clashed. He wiped out many invaders within seconds, using his dark magic. He even made giant, thick, thorny twigs come up from the ground, which entangled around men and horses and pulled them down, squeezed them, and impaled them to death. It was a bloody and brutal scene, and very soon, the Corbenic army outnumbered the army then won once Alistair surrendered.
Zophar was honored by all and was now referred to as Corbenic's hero. Because he had gained the trust and favor of the people, he got what he desired, to be king; for the people wanted him to become their next king, especially the duke. Zophar, very pleased by this request, accepted, and he became the next king of Corbenic.
(Last Night)
Zophar had a plan. Because he knew that Corbenic were enemies to one another, he went to Alistair and lied to King Ryker, telling him that Corbenic was going to ambush his kingdom, and the gullible king took his word as truth. Zophar knew that if Alistair attacked Corbenic, then this would be his opportunity to gain Corbenic's favor by fighting for them. And if this plan succeeded, he believed he could become their king.