The Rescue of Gillian Willasiri

The Rescue of Gillian Willasiri
     
By: ~Kenword~

     Lady Vera Victoria held the crystal Orb of the Elders in both of her hands. Without raising her eyes from the vision she was focused on, she nodded her regal head towards Marsden, the Wizard of Triem.
     
     “Come and see what I see Marsden,” she said. Her long purple black hair cascaded in silken waves, forming a stole over her shoulders. The Queen’s violet eyes worked carefully with the crystal’s light as it shot laser spikes out of it’s center, The heat transfer of her hands stoked the power of the highly polished enchanted ball.
     
     Marsden’s curiosity was balanced with his pure devotion to science, facts and truth. His own eyes, grey with flecks of silver, conveyed amusement with the situation. Though his youth dated back before the founding of the modern nations, he stood like a strong tower of rock and steel before his queen.
     
     As he drew closer to Lady Vera Victoria’s throne he held out his hands willing them to chill causing his flesh to turn an azure color.
     
     “Please, your majesty,” Marsden said, “Let me hold the Orb of the Elders.”
     
     The transfer of the revered crystal was done with great care and as the surface of the orb touched Marsden’s hands the light flashing from within quickly stabilized. Marsden’s look of amusement turned into a humble smile as he looked into the light of the orb. In the eerie light he made out a figure cast in hues of silver, white and blue. It appeared to be an exotic fairy with nearly transparent wings.
     
     “It’s Gillian Willasiri,” Marsden said. “It’s Gillian Willasiri?” He raised his eyebrows to convey to Lady Vera Victoria pain and betrayal with his inquiry. “But this place where I see her, it appears to be the Ice Forest of Mount Triem. When she left your courts didn’t you say she was going to serve the mortals of the Pacific Principalities?”
     
     Lady Vera Victoria gazed at Marsden and for a moment there was a half vacant, embarrassed look on her face. She recovered her regal composure within two blinks of Marsden’s mist covered eyes.
     
     “Well actually Marsden, that is what she told me,” the Queen of Triem said, “But then she went to the fairy colonies of Lillian Glenn and stirred up such fierce opposition to the Triem throne that I had to banish her.”
     
     Marsden studied Lady Vera Victoria carefully. Her honesty and forthrightness could never be questioned. She seldom held secrets and when it came to morality and justice there was no monarch who compared to her in all of the realms of the universe.
     
     “And you never felt you should tell me this?” Marsden asked.
     
     “Believe me I wanted to, but I thought she would quickly turn from a rebellious heart. Something dreadful happened when she was serving the mortals. She had very diminished magic in the other realm. It was rumored she was upset that her role thee was that of a house maid and nanny to children. Once she came back to Triem she seemed to resent me, the throne and everything of justice and light.”
     
     Marsden nodded his wizened head, the blond curls around his flushed cheeks lustrous in the light of the orb.
     
     “This is a most grievous end for my dear, dear friend,” Marsden said. “She was surely poisoned by the mortal’s hopelessness, Their despair can be contagious even for a fairy sprite immunized to such nonsense.”
     
     “I’d not though of that,” said Lady Vera Victoria. “You are right in your diagnosis. The poison has turned her against me. She needed time to recover.” The Queen sat back on her throne with an air of satisfaction.
     
     “Perhaps,” said Marsden, “But with all due respect your Majesty, banishment to the Ice Forest of Triem? It seems to me that such a life would only increase one’s despair and sense of hopelessness.”
     
     Lady Vera Victoria raised her noble chin and leaned forward toward her most loyal subject and lifted her hand in a gracious wave to acknowledge his age and wisdom.
     
     “I may have been hasty in my judgment. But that is done now. Not even you can turn back time. But it is my pleasure to compel you to make it undone. Are you ready to listen to my will?”
     
     Marsden stared deeply into the Orb of Triem and seemed to worship the image of Gillian. She was dressed in a common white tunic with no shoes. Her head was bowed as though completely humbled by her exile. Her long golden hair curled into a fluid mass over one shoulder and she cast her eyes to one side waiting patiently for her pardon.
     
     “I am ready, your Majesty,” Marsden said.
     
      “Well then my dear wizard, this is the edict from the Throne of Triem and the mandate of your queen: this day I compel you to bring Gillian Willasiri back to Triem and to this court. You may engage in whatever magic and sorcery needed to get to and from Mount Triem and to defend your charge, but you must use none of these measures to make Gillian return with you. She must return of her own free will.”
     
     Marsden’s skilled fingers worked over the orb as though he were searching for an edge or a tab or flaw in the ball of light. His hands at last completely engulfed the Orb of Triem and he pulled the crystal into his chest as he bowed.
     
     “As you wish my Queen,” he said. And as if those words were the key to some ancient spell, Marsden suddenly disappeared.
     
     He felt the chilling sensation in his feet first and as he materialized in a mound of snow in the Ice Forest of Triem his nose and taste buds were rocked by the powerful odors of sardine paste and garlic. His knees quickly shrank into the icy snow to be face down before the glorious beauty of Gillian Willasiri.
“I sense the presence of Ogres,” Marsden said to Gillian’s feet.
     
     “It’s nice to see you too,” Gillian replied. “Let’s see. I know, I sense Queen Mother.” Her laugh was haughty with just a smidgen of disdain.
“I’m not kidding. Don’t you smell that? There are Ogres all around this forest.”
“Actually Marsden, my love, they have made me a rather wonderful proposition,” Gillian said.
     
     The zero degree temperature around Marsden’s body helped to clear his head. He knew he had only about fifteen minutes of survival time in this cold. He wondered how a scantily clothed fairy could thrive in the forest’s freezing conditions.
     
     “They will allow me to return to Triem’s court with you,” Gillian continued, “But I have to get them the Elder’s Orb, I believe you are carrying my ransom.” She pointed a delicate finger at Marsden’s chest.
     
     “But if the Ogres are here, in the Ice Forest of Triem, which is virtually impenetrable by ordinary means, then they must already have an orb,” Marsden said, more to himself than to Gillian. He studied the shy face of the fairy he had secretly cherished. “Are you really ready to return to Lady Vera Victoria? And serve her however she commands?”
     
     “That’s right. I will serve her gladly.” She held out her two hands towards the wizard who struggled to stand without letting go of the orb. The foul aroma of overheated sardines and garlic seemed to fill the air as Gillian reached out her hands. There were Ogres closing in on them. Marsden could smell them. He could almost taste them.
     
     He tried to conceal his suspicion and yet study Gillian at the same time. She did not flinch under his gaze. This small clue was easy for Marsden to interpret. His Gillian was always embarrassed by even the most innocent glance at her. The wizard began to double over as if assaulted by the cold. He willed his body heat to activate the powers of the Elder’s Orb. “If the Ogres needed the Elder’s Orb,” Marsden mused to himself, “Then they did not know how to use the power of the crystal that was already in their possession; and fairies? Could they really endure zero degree weather? Surely their hyper sensitive wings could not endure such harsh…”
     
     Suddenly the Elder’s Orb responded to Marsden’s body heat. With both hands serving as rockets he launched the blazing crystal into the air. He raced ahead of the spinning orb with his index finger leading it on a circular path through the broken frozen tree branches with complete control. As the flaming sphere gained speed it began to radiate sunlight all around what was quickly becoming a green forest. Revealed in the newly created summer were eight Orgres. They staggered in the light and scorching heat of the newly created sun. They all were tightly bundled in white fur cloaks that they were now powerless to remove. Each one fell on their face with heat stroke as the Elder’s Orb of Triem brought the forest temperature up to over 100 degrees in just under two minutes.
     
     Marsden turned his eyes to what was now just an image of Gillian. It melted away and in its place was the crystal orb used by the Ogres to cast the image of his fairy love. From out of the Orb the real Gillian came flying at full fairy speed into Marsden’s arms. As he caught her, a river of joy was unleashed from his overly rational heart. He spun Gillian around with abandon in the light of the new season he had created.
     
     “You are my hero Marsden,” Gillian said kissing delicately the cheeks and chin of her rescuer. “Thank you for always being my love. Now take me home.”
     
     “Promise I’m not coercing you?” Marsden asked.
     
     “I promise,” Gillian replied hugging his ancient neck.
     
     
     
~Kenword~