There was only one thing in the world that Raven Blackwing wanted. Her heart...
Image Designed by Gail Ross Paper Dolls and Janet Sue Terry
Copyright (c) 2002 By Janet Sue Terry
The old mansion above the cove appeared bleak and brooding. Furthermore, the Lord of the manor, Raven Blackwing, was still restless despite a walk on the beach . Utimately he had to admit to himself that he missed Autumn Rose McVenom. Being a man of action he made up his mind to seek her out. It was time that he apologized for the way he had treated her. He notified Hirus Taer, his only servant, of his decision to go to Vandora for an extended stay.
"Aye, tis time," Taer nodded.
Blackwing had never understood the old man, and now was no exception. However, he did not bother to ask him what he meant by his statement. Instead, he picked up a bottle of ale and poured himself a drink. Taer was a weather worn mercenary that Blackwing had hired to watch his back. A pirate Captain made a lot of enemies over the years, and Raven Blackwing was no exception. Fortunately, Taer could cook, clean, and tend the horses.
"I'll be staying at the castle," Blackwing frowned. "That is, if the invitation still stands." However, the night before he was to leave for Vandora, he was pacing the floor impatiently.
The royal guard was going about their morning exercises as the queen stepped out onto the Palace stoop to enjoy the sun. A friendly wave here or there caught her attention as merchants opened their shops. She chuckled when a dog raced through the courtyard barking and trying to evade the laughing urchins who chased after him. The sounds and scents of both humans and animals waking to the day filled the air. Good sounds, sounds of happiness and well-being, sounds of peace.
A whiff of food cooking assailed her nostrils, reminding her that it was time to eat. Her bread maker was a wizard with pastry, and the queen was always willing to sample her latest recipes.
From the corner of her eye she spotted a motion at the gate, and saw that a rider was headed her way. Her heart fluttered with excitement for she knew instinctively who he was. He was easy to identify by the way he sat the big black stallion. As usual he seemed self assured with his broad shoulders, thick neck, big head, and arrogant stance. It was obvious to her that her early morning visitor was the wealthy, reclusive pirate, Raven Blackwing.
She raised her hand and touched her throat as he drew up before her, swung himself to the ground, and grabbed a canvas bag that he had secured to the saddle. He stood glaring at her as a scowl crossed his darkly handsome face.
Finally, when the silence had become unbearable, he spoke. "If your offer is still open, I would like to stay at the palace for while."
She realized that the request was hard for him to make, because a flush immediately stained his cheeks. "You want to stay here?"
"Yes," he nodded, and shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
The queen studied him, pondering the situation, wondering what his motives were for approaching her.
Sadness settled upon his face, and fear clutched his heart at her hesitation. "You see," he whispered in a deep emotion filled voice. "I love the woman who lives here, and to see her each day, even if it is from a distance, would be sweet ecstasy."
"Oh Raven," she cried and threw herself into his embrace.
Chuckling with relief, he hugged her tight. "Does that mean I can stay?"
She took his arm and led him inside the castle. Waving the servants aside, she guided him up the stairway and through a door at the end of the hall. "This is the east wing. It has a tower and a private entrance. Stay as long as you like."
"Do you have time to show me around?" he asked, with dark bushy brows raised in query. She nodded, and stepped into the room. He immediately shut the door, picked her up, and successfully found his way to the bedroom.
Although life went on as normal at the castle, the servants were whispering about the changes they saw in their monarch. She had blossomed, and looked ten years younger. Often a pink flush tinted her cheeks and a secretive smile played at the corners of her well-defined lips. She took more pains with her appearance, and she looked softer, and more vulnerable. She was definitely a woman in love, and the object of that affection was the new houseguest, Raven Blackwing, from Blackwing's Cove.
Queen Autumn Rose McVenom, often found herself humming as she sped through her daily duties. However, to bystanders the queen appeared dazed, and they did not miss the fact that she often over looked clues as she held court, thus requiring folks to repeat their testimony. Many were concerned by her infatuation with the pirate, while others found it amusing.
"Our Queen is in love," the cook was overheard saying. "Mark my words, before full summer comes we will have a new king on the throne."
The queen and the pirate spent very little time communicating with one another, or questioning what was happening to them. Their relationship had been so stormy in the past that they were satisfied to delay any confrontation that might come. Long nights of gentle kisses, soft caresses, and steamy lovemaking left them at ease with the world.
It was the queen who suggested that Blackwing update his wardrobe, and then sent the royal tailor around to have him fitted. Old man Timb could not understand his refusal to wear the frilly garb of the Lords and Ladies of court. The pirate stubbornly insisted on somber blacks, browns, grays, and navy blue. His one weakness in attire was his love for white, frilly, silk shirts. However, he was steadfast in his refusal to wear the dainty slippers that had become so popular, and ordered another sturdy pair of leather boots. A great dark blue cape finished off his order.
Nevertheless, when the packages were delivered, the modern shoes and clothes were mixed in. "I ordered them," Autumn Rose admitted as he ranted about it. "You may someday find occasion to wear them."
He was not pleased, "don't try to tell me what to do," he warned her.
Raven Blackwing's days were spent wandering the cobblestone streets of Vandora, where he dropped by the Inn for a drink, or browsed the local shops. Sometimes, he climbed to the tower and sat before an open window gazing out upon the countryside. Despite the fact that the sun was bright, and yellow daffodils were popping up all over the place, the wind still held a chill. Nevertheless, spring was in the air, and he often chose to take a walk through the castle grounds just to watch the gardeners prepare for early plantings.
Despite it all, he had the one thing in the entire world that he had craved since he was a lad tending to the royal families horses. Autumn Rose. When he laid her down upon the massive bed, and her dark hair tumbled around her pale oval face, he could not help but catch his breath at the sheer beauty of the woman. With trembling fingers he loosened her frock until the great mounds of flesh were exposed. Still, he was never satisfied until he could see all of her, touch her, kiss her, and caress her. Her skin was like velvet and the scent of her drove him beyond insanity. Often times he would bury his face in her tresses just to feel the soft strands cushion his flesh. The ultimate joining of their souls and bodies was to be compared to an exquisite trip among the stars and moon. His spirit soared each time he claimed her, and each time was different, not to be compared to anything he had experienced before.
The touch of her full lips against his, drew up every inch of passion that dwelled within him, reaping the same results as a heady wine that renders one off balance and dazed. The brilliance of her hypnotic green eyes held him mesmerized and helpless beneath their gaze, enslaving him, capturing his very soul, and leaving him wishing for nothing more than to drown in them.
He was driven to explore her, to plunge deep within her being, to devour every inch of her. He was obsessed with finding the core of the woman, and it eluded him. Just when he believed that he had figured her out, she changed, and became a different person. Could man ever truly understand woman?
Raven Blackwing did not want to remember the way it had been before. He tried to push the memory of their previous love affair out of his mind. He longed to ignore the fear that engulfed him. Fear that she would jilt him yet again. That she would tell him that he was not good enough for her. After all, she was a queen, royalty, and he, a humble peasant, a stable boy, an orphan of questionable parentage, and a pirate of suspicious actions. He wrestled with feelings of insecurity, feeling like an intruder peering in through a window, or a trespasser who did not belong. Perhaps his greatest fear was that she would discover that he had hired an assassin to murder her husband. Despite the fact that his men had failed, someone else had killed the king before they could make a second attempt. If she discovered his vile deed, her love for him would turn to hatred, and she would sentence him to death. Still, he was in love with the queen of Vandora, and helpless to do anything about it.
The palace was quiet as the queen left her bedchamber and hurried to the east wing. She tapped on the door and it immediately opened. Raven Blackwing, with his tall physique, arrogant stance, thick thatch of salt and pepper hair, and bushy eyebrows grinned down at her. His dark eyes sparkled with mischief as his well-chiseled lips bid her enter.
Wrapping her arms around his waist, she lifted her head and waited for his kiss. "I missed you."
He coaxed her to the bed, extinguished the lamp, and began to remove her clothing. "I wondered if you were coming at all."
"I am here now."
"Will it always be this way?"
"Darling you know I have responsibilities."
He pulled her into his arms, "Come away with me. We can board a ship to some wonderful island and live normal lives."
She shrugged out of his arms. "Raven, I was born and bred to rule Vandora. I can't turn my back on my people."
"Where do I fit into your life?"
"Become my King, and help me rule my Kingdom."
Raven crossed his arms and remained silent.
She could barely glimpse the outline of his face in the darkness. "Don't sulk. We have so little time together."
"Is that my fault? Am I the one who neglects you?"
The queen slid her finger down his chest. "Right now you are my priority."
"Am I really?"
She whispered, "I shall have my way with you."
He covered the top half of her body with his own. "I never learned to take orders," he told her. "In fact I was whipped more than once for insolence."
"Your point?"
"I'm a pirate, what more is there to say?"
"Do you plan on causing me trouble?" she teased.
"You mistake me for someone else, milady," he whispered against her lips as his passion consumed him. "I am more rogue than royalty."
"Oooooh," she sighed at the pleasures his hands and fingers were giving her. "Then I am in trouble."
"That you are, for I have claimed you as my booty."
Autumn Rose moved across the floor to peer out the window. She not only felt affection for Raven Blackwing, but also raging, mindless passion. She blushed as she remembered the feel of his hands upon her flesh, and his body stretched out next to hers. She sank down upon the window seat and stared off into space. A faint dreamy smile teased her lips. What could she do that would delight him? Perhaps have a grand tub of hot water drawn for a bath? She closed her eyes and imagined the two of them stroking one another with lathered hands.
Suddenly, a flood of doubts consumed her. Could she trust Raven Blackwing? Had he really changed? Did he have some diabolical plot against the throne? Was he out to settle an old score? Autumn Rose silently admitted that she was completely bewitched by him. She craved his attention, and only he could calm the raging passion that tormented her. These feelings weakened her, and marred her judgment. She needed Remington's cool-headed advice, and his wisdom. She decided to cancel her appointments and visit his grave.
The cemetery was quiet, and the sky overcast with the threat of a storm brewing. The queen solemnly found her way to the gravesite of the man she had loved above all else in life. She had not visited his grave since his murder because she could not face the fact that he would not be coming home. She felt piercing pain in her chest as she stood and stared down at the rounded mound of earth. "You would have come back to me if you could have," she whispered brokenly.
Her tears began to fall and she collapsed on the cold, damp sod. "I did not want to give you up. How cruel of the gods to take you away from me." Surrounded by her ancestors, she felt a peace as timeless as time itself. The air was brisk, and a chill stung her cheeks. She rested her face against the marble headstone and wept. Two blackbirds came to rest on the limb of a nearby tree, and studied her curiously. "Is that your mate?" she quietly asked the larger one, not really expecting a response, and not getting one.
The coldness of the earth was beginning to grow uncomfortable, but she remained on her knees beside the grave. She dried her tears as a flood of relief washed over her. How could Remington rest when she clung to his memory so desperately?
"I love another," she confessed. "You would not approve of him, my darling." Reluctantly, Autumn Rose McVenom remembered her youth. She had been a princess, Remington a prince, and Blackwing her groom. She was seventeen years old, when she had abandoned her fiance, her family, and her obligations, to run away with Raven.
As long as she could remember she had loved both Remington and Raven. One had represented bad, and the other good. She had lost the safe and good forever. "I love him Remington," she sighed. "For once I shall let my heart rule my head. I have to believe in him. I think he has changed, at least I hope he has. People do change."
She stood, rubbed her cold knees and breathed a sigh of relief, for she had gained a new insight into her life.
Unfortunately, Raven Blackwing stumbled upon the scene while out riding, and he watched from the shadows as the queen shed tears over her dead husbands grave. Although he could not hear her words it was obvious to him that she was still in love with Remington. Bitterness filled his gut as he quietly picked his way through the trees. Once on the main road he kicked his steed in the ribs and headed back to his home at the cove. He angrily gritted his teeth, for Remington, even in death, still held what he wanted most, Autumn Rose's heart. What business did he have in Vandora anyway?
Blackwing stomped barefooted down the sodden beach, his mood matching the raging storm. His clothing was soaked, and his long hair had been beaten down flat. He did not seem aware of the huge waves that almost captured him within their grasp. He stopped abruptly, dropped to the ground, and raised his hands heavenward: "She is not for me," he cried. Then in a louder tone. "She is not for me!"
He repeated his words as tears fell unheeded down his cheeks: "She is not for me!" Finally burying his face in his hands, his voice muffled, he sobbed pitifully: "She is not for me."
It was well after dark when he entered his home and uncorked a fresh bottle of ale. He took a swig, and then slung it against the wall. The amber liquid left an ugly stain upon the fine-grained wood. "There has to be more to life than what I am getting from a bottle," he mumbled. He made his way up the staircase to his bedroom, changed into dry clothing, and then threw a few garments into a canvas bag.
He took his stallion from the stables, and although it reared, and complained against the storm, he whipped it into submission.
However, Hirus Taer, still sleepy eyed, but alert, rushed to the steeds rescue. "Have you gone mad?" he demanded. "No human should be out in this storm, let alone a poor creature such as this horse. Where are you off to anyway?"
"I am off to tour the god damn world!" Blackwing roared above the thunder. "Maybe there's still a corner of it that I haven't seen."
"Well, that may be, but it can wait til morn," Hirus said taking the reins in an effort to control the frightened animal. "If you won't consider your own safety, then think of this fine stallion. It will surely have to be put down if it breaks a leg in the dark. The world has been here a long time and it'll wait a few more hours."
Blackwing leaped down, slung the bag over his shoulder, and glared at Hirus Taer as he led the horse back into the safety of the barn. "I could have had her!" he yelled.
"And who might she be?"
"The Queen of Vandora," Blackwing choked. "Who else is there?"
"That's your problem," Hirus said. "The world is filled with women, but that one lad is not for the likes of us."
"She was right in the palm of my hand."
"Was she now?"
Blackwing hung his head, "Yes, she was..."
"Aye.."
A few more steps and Blackwing turned to Hirus again. "You don't believe me do you?" Without another word, he rushed into the house and up to his bedroom. He stretched out on the bed and tried to sleep, but rest evaded him. In the wee hours just before dawn, he sat down at the small roll top desk and penned a message to Queen Autumn Rose McVenom.
Dear Autumn Rose,
I find that it is not in me to be a submissive male. In our case it will always be the same. You the great and powerful queen, me just a simple man pleading for scraps of affection when you have time. Fate has dealt me a cruel hand, for I have fallen in love with the wrong woman.
I must get away from here. This relationship is no good for either of us. It is merely a recreation of our youthful adventure, and we know where that got us.
You once said that you were confused. That describes my frame of mind tonight.
I fear that I would eventually bring you embarrassment. Besides, you can never be what I crave most of all. A woman who is all mine. Likewise, I can never be what you need. I am not now, nor ever will be a King.
Take care, and know that wherever I travel, you will be in my heart.
Raven
His first stop was in Vandora, where he gave a guard his letter and instructions for delivery. Then he rode away, determined to board the first ship he found that was headed to some far away place.
Queen Autumn Rose McVenom read the message silently. Those around the long dining table noticed how her face fell. She hurried from the room calling out to the guard. Once they were alone, she turned to face him.
He was uncomfortably aware that the news he had delivered had upset her greatly.
"Who gave you this?" she asked shaking the paper.
"Lord Blackwing himself, milady."
"How long ago?" she asked. "Can I catch up to him?"
"Nay, he came at daybreak and was riding hard off to the east."
"If he came so early, why am I only now reading this?"
"The gentleman said that I was to bring it to you during your morning meal. I was only following his instructions. I was not aware of any urgency, milady."
"You may go," she said, beginning to pace the floor. If Raven Blackwing did not want to be found, she would not be able to locate him. She was well aware of what a precious gift true love was, and how hard it was to come by. However, as heartbroken as she was, she had to acknowledge the fact that her realm would always come first with her. She could only hope that eventually, he would accept their situation and return to join her...
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Authors Notes:
This short story was taken from the 4000 plus, pages of text that was collected from the online novel the Realm of Vandora that was written over an 8 year period by 54 different people, including myself, writing as Autumn Rose McVenom, or simply Queen Venom, as she was often called. Rightly so, since I was the initial creator of the storyline. You can read more exerpts from this enchanting story by clicking the link. Realm of Vandora.
This condensed version was written specifically to enter into the short story contest at Writers Digest. Furthermore it was clipped from the original story.
In addition Megan Blue Terry, my youngest daughter who penned the part of Scarlett, the First Knight of Vandora, in the original story, is now in the process of penning the first novel for publication of Vandora, and it will be called "Scarlett, the First Knight of Vandora."
Added to all this there is a game called LORD at Realm of Vandora that has some addons from the story such as Scarlett, First Knight of Vandora, where the lady teaches you to fight, and rewards you with gold.
Many members of my family were involved in this story, including my late husband Kenneth G Terry, who penned the part of Raven Blackwing, a personality that in some ways mimicked his own moods and reactions perfectly. I sketched his likeness, and Gaill Ross turned it into a romantic paperdoll.
I sincerely hope you enjoy this view of the Realm of Vandora.
Great pace, moves right along.
Character development is excellent.
Perfect read to warm the heart on a cold winter day.
Ended too soon for me.
Makes a reader want more... Am looking forward to this author's next story.
Reviewed by
2/11/2003
Very emotional. It's something that most people can relate to. Great detail, I can picture the whole thing. You have pure talent and a great imagination.
This is awesome. I could read about Vandora all day. The characters have captured my heart. I hope there is more......
Reviewed by Megan
2/9/2003
I have fallen in love! That crusty old pirate has captured my heart! As for the Queen she is a strong and dominate female I love it! Go female power! I could read this story of Vandora all day, to be able to see such a beautiful city and meet such wonderful people would be inspiring. Great write Janet, keep up the great work!
The Matchmaker:
Angela Calminetti, mother of five, New Age practitioner and gifted psychic and telepath, is proud of her family ties and does everything she can to make sure that all of her younger siblings are as happy in love and marriage
Image Designed by Gail Ross Paper Dolls and Janet Sue Terry
