The maddness within a royal family centuries ago are similar to what goes on today.
NEOTIC CRYPT
How long had I been laying here? My bones were stiff, especially my arms, such that I could not move them. A bright light was sensed beyond my eye lids...the ones that would not open. The muscles of my entire body were as if they had been frozen, not a muscle twitching anywhere...especially my lips. I wished to speak, to scream to the all powerful one for immobilizing me!
That last moments of the true time that I had recalled were those scolding vehement words of Richard Jon, my master...the one that had supposedly married me. He had been ranting about the affair I was having with his older brother.
"You wench! How could you betray me, the all powerful one, Lord and King of Greyshire?"
As his hair moved away from the right side of his forehead I noticed a mark of burgundy color which I had never noticed before. It darkened as his temper raged. Deep from the back of his throat emerged a harsh growling sound, then he continued.
"And with my older brother...do you realize wench that he is not King, he is not worthy in this Kingdom! That is why I am the king. He may be only five minutes older than I, but it has been written at the time of our birth that I, Richard Jon, would be King simply because James was dropped on his head, and it was thought that he would not be right minded. At times I still wonder!"
Why should I not be attracted to him...James Earl? He was much calmer, worldly, and took the time to treat the feminine species the way they should be treated. Yes, James Earl did pamper me every minute he could with the books forbidden to women, luncheons in the open fields, and many stories of his travels. Of course he even mastered to have me stowed away in a sack which was thrown over onto one of his shipmates back...what excitement! Time with James Earl was not like the time I had to spend with Richard Jon, sitting in the court room listening to all the stupid politics and not even being able to voice my opinion! Hog wash! Or being beaten for not doing as he commanded, he even expected me to wash his filthy feet every night! Oh, the mere thought of that man sickens me.
Her memories were shattered momentarily as she remembered the raspy voice of the betrayed Richard Jon invading her thoughts now.
"Your lover has been taken to the deep depths of the palace where you will join him!"
Vague scenes of a strong heavy blow to the side of my head had knocked me flying not to the floor immediately, but across the room with my back slamming into his heavy wooden writing table. Slumping to the floor then, he grabbed me by my long cascading hair and had dragged me to the nearest wall. There he placed his other large iron clad hand perfectly around my neck and began pounding my body vigorously against the hard cold stone wall. With the other hand he had repeatedly pounded my face and abdominal area...as if he were trying to rid my body of something. My head and body were beyond pain, then numbness over took it…the light was dimming.
"I will tell all that I had sent you and James Earl to Wales to oversee my younger brother Michaela. He has been air headed and amiss these past few months while affairs of the state are falling apart. And you my little wench will pay dearly! Do not worry about OUR sons, yes I know they are mine...I watched you closely then to be certain that they were mine. Now you will never see them and I will think of you never."
Dragging me by the ends of my hair my limp bloody body was scrapping against the cold slippery stone floor. The corners of the palace walls were purposely used to bang my limp body against, tearing my clothes slowly. There was silence, and then two guards were being summoned to transfer my body to the sacred place only known to the king. Another individual was being summoned to make sure I had my inaugural gown on prior to being taken to the sacred room. I wondered why I needed such a garment if I were to die.
Darkness was upon me for awhile, I do not remember being dressed from head to toe in heavy garments and a headdress. What I do remember next I do not wish to think about…
My last waking thought that I remembered was that James Earl lay next to me on the royal crypt bed which was to be used only by the king with his ankles and wrists chained to the stone platform. Whoever had gently placed me next to James now rearranged my garments properly and whispered gently in my ear that I should take the potion offered as that it would keep me immortal for all time. She then unbound the wrists of James Earl and asked him to take a vial of the same potion. He did as he was told but he began to cough harshly, spilling some of the potion. The woman wiped his face gently and as she was doing these menial tasks James Earl looked into her eyes…
"You look just like my sister Esmeralda; she did a lot of magic when I knew her. Are you really here now to help an older brother?"
"Shush little brother, it is I, Esmeralda. The potion will soon take effect as you and the true Queen will awaken in 100 years from now. Richard will be gone, but records will be kept to show all that has happened and what you should do next. So fear not my Lord, you will just be sleeping along side the woman you love and both of you will awaken at the appropriate time to rule as King and Queen."
The sister left and I looked over at James Earl to say a last word before we slept. He looked pale, as if all the blood had drained from his body. I asked quietly if he was awake.
"Yes...yes. I am still awake. Let us pray that we have an uneventful sleep. That no one bothers us and that we will awaken together whole and with a sane mind..."
He had spoken so softly that I could barely hear him. Then he brought his hands together in prayer and he was breathing so faintly that I thought that he had died. Sleep over came my bruised body.
Now I lay here with a brightness that surrounds me, it does not warm me but it makes me feel warm. I can not open my eyes or more my limbs, but I can hear...I hear shuffling and sense that some one is to my right. There are no breath sounds in any direction, just a feeling, a feeling that some one is very disappointed. I am not afraid, in fact I feel powerful. What ever presence that is near me has been defeated. I hear shuffling of something move to the distance with the rattling of chains and something like a wooden rod being dragged. I will sleep a short while; maybe I will gather more strength to open my eyes.
The ghost of Richard Jon wonders into the shadows and blends into the surroundings. Before his image has dissipated I hear him say...
"The wench out smarted me! No one had ever known that it was I who had been dropped on my head and it was you, James Earl who were to be king. Mother favored me, promised me everything so I took our birth papers and had our names switched when we were eight years old so that I would become king. I had made a big mistake. After your death the midwife that delivered us came forth to prove who I really was by the burgundy mark on my right temporal area from the fall. I was beheaded shortly there afterwards, that was after the many years of being on trial. My only son Jon Earl ruled after me. Now I have waited a 100 years since both of your deaths to forgive my wife, but now that I have come to claim her she is untouchable."
This was entertaining with the setting lending itself well for a Gothic feel. I must say you have a vivid imagination and you might consider revising into a longer work! Glad I finally found it & thanks for sharing it!
When high school principal Jerry Egge is brutally murdered, Deputy sheriff Dave Jenkins begins an eerie investigation. Just about everyone in Soldier, Minnesota, is a suspect.
"Murder isn't usually this funny."
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