Six For Gold

The summer rain came at 7:05 am.

It pattered on the lily pads covering the lagoons and when she surfaced it bounced on her face like needles - felt like them too

The forest was a lush creature, huddled in on itself during the downpour and she heard it whine as each leaf was smattered on the way down. From one soaking to another - from one baptism to the next - the lagoon had washed over her and now, as she stepped out, the rain did the same. She tilted her face towards it. It trickled through her hair and washed strings of blood down her back and into the lagoon.

She stood naked on the grassy bank, her skin sore under the clawing rain. But the magpies were having fun. There was a frenzy of calls as they swooped from tree to tree. They dipped in and out of the silver strings which fell into the clearing, it was a mossy cave, glimmering with emeralds.

Behind her the three lagoons slumbered, they barely moved under their heavy green amour of algae, lily pads and water lettuce.

She looked back at them. No movement.

She looked over at her small groundskeeper hut through the trees, it sat on the edge of the woods just before the neat lawns of the manor house. She was sad to leave the birds. But she should put some clothes on and await the mayhem.

The manor house and it's grounds of lawns, gardens and orchards sat on the most southern point of the kingdom. Through the trees the mud soon turned to sand and a thin strip of beach stretched along the blue foaming sea. A sea which channeled slowly into swampland.

She sat at the log burner, the kettle hissing on the stove. She kept the door slightly ajar to hear the rain, she could smell the soil, the petals, the grass and apples knocked to the ground, all soaked. It mixed with the smoke from the glowing embers.

It was 8:09 when the Duke barrelled across the lawns towards her hut. He was a giant, ginger haired with a ginger beard, smiley but with a voice that boomed. He puffed in the doorway

"Have you seen my nephew this morning?"

She could let them search for a few hours, they might even go into town and ask around. But she wasn't in the mood for all that.

"I heard something early this morning..." she pondered "I went down to the lagoons but there was nothing there"

"What did you hear?"

"Like a shout or a scream"

It only took them half an hour to find the prince. The stable boy and two kitchen staff waded into the lagoons, gently poking the water with wooden poles. Then they dragged him out.

He was naked.

They all gasped. Not at his nakedness. But at how his left shoulder had a deep chunk missing from it and the end of his right leg was missing. He was pulled onto the bank like a rag doll, who had been snagged on something and torn apart.

“This was done by an animal…” they murmured

“I’ve seen a seal in these lagoons!” the cook’s voice boomed over everyone

“So have I!” one of the stable boys cried

The prince had seen the seal too. And the seal had seen him. Her head smooth like sandstone, eyes black as midnight and her grey wet skin reflecting the blue sky in shimmers. Just visible through the lily pads.

She had to change each time the prince came wandering over from the manor house - checking nobody could see him before he scurried towards her hut. The first time she ran and changed out of fear, then she watched him from the lagoons, entering her hut, looking through everything. He took a dream catcher with green woodpecker feathers and a few pages from her notebook.

The second time and the third she was lucky to have spotted him coming and changed once again. He hung around there, waiting for her. Arrogant in the space he took up and then aggressive in his annoyance - waiting for the girl who was alone in this world, in the hut just out of sight of the main house.

He was only staying for the summer. But the summer still had a month left and he was growing mean at her avoidance.

"These lagoons lead out to sea... It's been back a few times, it'll probably be back again" the stable boy theorised.

They decided they would come back with a large net, attach some blades at the end of poles and get some fish to tempt it. She shook her head and repressed a smile.

“You heard something. Why did you not come to the house and get help?” the Duke demanded. She turned slowly, sucking in her lip thoughtfully.

“Have you ever heard foxes mating?” she asked. They looked at her blankly “well, they scream terribly.”

They all stood dumbfounded. She shrugged.

“There are many things in nature that sound awful but, it’s just nature, no need to raise the alarm.”

She left them. The grass squelched under her bare feet as she went back to the hut, the water for the tea would be ready by now.

“She is odd” whispered the cook

“Yes, odd” the Duke agreed

The rain had stopped but the magpies still swooped above them, landing on branches and shaking droplets down onto them. Six for gold. They had found their golden boy.

By Storm Stewart

A bar tender by evening and a fantasy novel reader all night, now Storm has started building her own fantasy worlds. 

Storm welcomes your comments below...