Never Forgotten
DAPHNE
A gift from the dead?
Isabel… she sent me a sword?
Klyesque and I have just finished donning our former attire, the armor we arrived in. The circlet, but not the cloak. My hair is braided tightly, the enchanted ribbon tight upon my brow.
I have also added a belt in which to carry my new sword and switched out the boots I had been wearing, replacing them with a lighter, sturdier pair, made from the shed skin of the Dracuum of the Hidden Realm. A gift from the giant, pregnant female spider that now rests high above, in one of the kingdom’s fattest oaks.
And it is now, while Ash and company are busy bathing in the underground springs beneath my home, preparing for the banquet, that I finally decide it’s time to hear what Isabel has to say.
“She knows I do not know how to swing a stick properly and she sends me a sword?” I complain to Klyesque as I hand her the scroll. “Perhaps it’s not for me. Maybe it’s for someone else. You perhaps, or… or… Petra.”
Klyesque snickers, unrolling the scroll as her teal blue eyes flash with mirth. “I am certain that Ash read the missive the very moment it touched his hand, Daphne. It’s for you. And don’t worry about how properly you can swing a stick. Worry about how properly you can wield a sword, because that is a skill most valuable. And one that I just so happen to be proficient in, so worry not. We will start training tomorrow.”
My body tenses with the thought. “Using swords?”
Klyesque laughs. “No. Sticks.”
“Of course,” I hiss, falling face first onto the feather cloudlike surface of my bed. “I don’t want to be a knight. I want to be happy. That is all. Isabel was the night. Quite literally.”
“What does that mean?” she asks me and I want to yank out my hair.
Aquini said to keep my origins secret until the time was right. Is it now? Can I tell her? This woman who has become like a dear sister to me in so short a time?
Yes… I think I can.
Flipping onto my back, I stare at Klyesque and say, “My sister Isabel has known who I was to become since before I was even born. My mother sent different faeries to her throughout our youth. Fae that trained her. Fae that turned her from girl into knight. She made a deal with her long ago to protect me and to keep my identity secret. The very day she died. Magda was there. She is the one who performed the ceremony that removed a dead child from a mortal woman’s womb and me, from my mother’s. Making me a changeling. Isabel literally gave her life for me, only to become Queen of the Dead.”
Never have I seen Klyesque thrown off guard, but she looks it now.
Nodding slowly, she ambles toward me. “This is what you learned at the fountain. What you wouldn’t-” I shake my head and she corrects herself “-couldn’t share.”
“Not until the time was right.”
“And you believe it is now?” she asks carefully.
I nod. “I trust you.”
“Your sister was trained by fae to be a knight of fae?” she asks. “Did your other sister know?”
Shaking my head, I frown. “I don’t think so. In fact, I’m pretty sure she didn’t. Diana is different from Isabel… Different even than me. She’s almost… too fragile. Not weak but…” I trail off searching for the word.
“Mortal?” Klyesque supplies.
I sigh, pushing up onto my elbows. “Yes. That and… other things. For instance, her most favorite thing in all the world to do is comb and plait her hair. She loves dresses and flowers from boys. Sparkly trinkets and keeping her nails clean.”
“She’s a princess,” Klyesque jokes. “An innocent.”
My eyes crinkle. “Yes. Gullible as well. And now I learn that she has somehow escaped with the help of a faerie. How am I to know that she’s not been fooled by him, whoever he is?”
Klyesque shrugs. “Well, you can hardly control that which has already happened. Best work on honing your magic and…” she eyes my belt “...your swordarm.”
Sitting up, I nod toward the scroll in her hands and say, “Read it.”
Flattening out the parchment in her palm, she recites, “Dearest Daphne, I will make this, my first message, short and sweet. I am sorry for never telling you who you were, but by now you know I had good reasons. Even if you don't agree with them.” I laugh, thinking of how well she knows me. “All I ever wanted was to be a knight, so don’t you dare feel sad for me. I got what I wanted. You are now safe and I am too.
“The fates have shown me much. War is coming for you and you will lead a great battle. Before that happens, this is what you must do. Reseat yourself upon the stolen throne, your throne, the Woodland Throne. Seek out the blind boy I once told you tale about and retrieve your Oracle. He waits for you on the other side of the gate, where the False One rests.
“Gather your armies and allies and marry your prince. You will need the magic of all realms to defeat what is coming.
“I sent you a gift. Learn how to weild it and know true power. For it commands more than live souls.
"Look out for the ivory raven whenever you feel lost and know this, I watch over you and Diana, both, all the time, and I will not forsake you. With undying love, Isabel the Wise, Queen of the Dead, and your never forgotten sister.”