Free From the Wood, Yet Slave to the Heart

Colin was growing impatient. He took to pacing his chambers, and even put off a rather important meeting for a week so he could try to gain better composure over himself. A few months had passed. The first snow had fallen just the week before and the halls were now cold and drafty. It was the first official day of winter, even though others had been calling the cold weather ‘winter’ for a fortnight. Colin was restless.

On warmer evenings, he walked his cool, drafty corridors, waiting for any signs of Raya to walk in on him, hoping against hope that he’d find her before Tessalyn had predicted. It was foolish to hope against what his aunt had Seen, but he couldn’t help himself. His heart wrenched unbearably at the thought that he might never find her again, but leapt for joy when he thought he might see her again before the month was out, or even the week. He knew it was almost a foolish hope, but hope was all he had, other than the words of the Seer.

“Colin?” a tentative voice came from his door. He turned from his pacing to see his mother glancing at him worriedly.

“Yes?” he asked her, slightly embarrassed to have been caught in his fretful stage.

“It will all turn out,” she said soothingly, approaching and placing a gently hand on his arm. “She’ll turn up sooner or later, and we’ll all be much happier. For now, just focus on running the kingdom. It will help take your mind off of things - trust me.”

“I’ll try, Mother,” Colin said wearily. “As I have tried, and tried, and always failed, I shall try once more.”

“All will be well, my son,” the former queen Naomi said comfortingly, “All will be well in time. You must give all things time to sort themselves out.”

Colin nodded, slightly comforted but still with a burning hole where his heart should have been. He felt that, until he found her, the feeling of loneliness and emptiness he felt would never leave him be.

Colin awoke rather suddenly one month later, and he had no idea why. He rolled out of bed, accidentally taking with him one of his satin sheets, and went to his washbasin to wash his face and hands with the luke-warm water that a maid would come and replace every half-hour so that when the king awoke, he would not have to bathe his face, arms, and hands in cold water. After he dried his face and arms and hands, he dressed in clothes he quickly selected from his wardrobe. A slight pang in his stomach led him to realize he’d fallen asleep before eating his dinner last night, and as soon as he put on his fine leather boots, he made his way towards the kitchens.

As he walked, he couldn’t help but realize that more people seemed to be out than usual. There was Gwyn, the Spymaster’s niece and also one of his spies, who saw him and rushed off after bowing rather quickly - she tended to bow rather than curtsy, as she rarely wore skirts. And there were others of the spymaster’s men out, too. Norma, his wife, Chewyn, his second-in-command, and Peru, Norma’s cousin’s son, were just a few of the others that rushed away from Colin. He could only come up with one reason as to their awkward behavior: they didn’t want him to think they were being lazy. As for how many people were up, perhaps it had been like this for a while and he just had not noticed it, not being one to leave his rooms before dawn, even if he was awake.

“Paopu,” he called to the slightly exotic chef, already clanking pots and pans around in the kitchens, “is it safe to enter?”

“It always is for you, Your Majesty,” the cook stopped to bow, but Colin waved it off.

“Could I perhaps have some small morsel before breakfast? I’m afraid I did not get to try any of your excellent cooking last night before I drifted off to sleep.”

“I’ll get you something right away, Your Majesty,” Paopu said, dutifully preparing pans and raw slices of bacon - made not from hog, but from a rampaging giant boar taken down by a hunter just on the edge of the Goblin Wood a few days before. A huge cut had been given to the palace as a gift, with the hunter’s best wishes. A few small, purple cuts of an exotic fruit called naru were also in sight. Paopu knew that naru was Colin’s favorite fruit to have alongside whatever his morning meal was, and it had been so since he was a boy.

“You don’t have to call me that,” Colin said, sighing, but with a wan grin on his features. Wan it was, but a grin nonetheless.

“Ah, but it feels so wonderful to address you so, my young king, for I had given up all hope of seeing you again just as you fell back into our world with tales of a golden-haired beauty and a dark elf who saved your two hobgoblin friends and yourself from creatures in the Wood.” Paopu paused and looked at the young king with a slight grin. “It is like the sun has come out at last and warmed the hearts of your people, but a cloud has covered some of the light whenever we see the sadness in our young king’s eyes.”

“I’m sorry I caused you all so much sorrow,” Colin said, truthfully, promising himself that he will try to right any wrongs his own sadness had caused in his kingdom.

“It is not I who needs an apology, but I who should offer one. I am sorry for speaking so bluntly, Majesty.”

“It doesn’t bother me,” Colin replied, softly, “I rather think it’s just what I needed to hear.”

“You don’t want to hear that your meal is ready?” the cook asked with a grin. Colin grinned back.

“That is swell news, as well. I thank you, Paopu.”

“It is my honor,” was the reply.

Colin was sitting in his study not two hours later, going over reports he had let sit far too long. Nothing of Raya in them, he noticed with a slight feeling of grief, but then again, he recalled what his mother had told him about all things needing time to sort out, and he pulled the next report over.

Wolves had been terrorizing a minor farmstead - Colin let out a sigh of relief when he realized that this was a new report, so he hadn’t put it off for too long.

“Fayrel!” he called to the guard who stood outside. The guard appeared in the doorway, bowing.

“Majesty?”

“Send a group of men, a hunting party or similar, out to the Pareven farmstead. Here is a letter with instructions for them, and a letter for the owner, Erav Pareven. Dismissed.”

“Yes, Majesty,” Fayrel left with the two papers in his hand.

Colin could no sooner look back down at the other papers before another voice said from the doorway, “We have a lead on the girl, Majesty.”

Colin dropped his quill and stood so quickly his chair fell over, and he gaped at the spymaster incredulously, hope and glee blossoming in his bosom.