By Maradas Graham

Perhaps, gentle readers, you humble author should begin in the manner that most tales are begun. Perhaps the reliable "Once upon a time" would do for this tale. Indeed, it only happened the once, and truly, there was a time it occurred upon. Why then, noble readers, would your author want to tamper with a good thing? It is a tried and true method for beginning a fairy tale, is it not? Ah, you most patient of listeners, but you forget! That is a method for beginning fairy tales, and this tale isnt about a fairy at all, but only a mortal woman. So how shall your fretful storyteller begin this tale? How shall I? How shall I

Long ago, before the world was split apart, before the lands were sunk and sundered, in a time when people were spread few and far between across the continents, there lived a young woman from a town that no longer exists in our day and age. She was a girl of pure virtue and a kind heart, with nothing but the best intentions. It is said that the road to the Queens Palace is paved with good intentions, but then again, your humble spinner of stories doesnt believe that the man who originated that phrase ever actually met the Queen. It is your authors opinion that the road to the Queens Palace is more likely paved with broken glass, or rocks for tripping upon, or other such unpleasantness. Still, this girl had only the best of intentions, as has been said, and a good heart to match them. The problem with good hearts, however, is that all too often they are weak hearts, and the best of intentions can be spoiled by love.

This young woman was as mortal and as unremarkable as they come. She was not overly fair of face, though pleasing enough to look upon. She was not gifted with a brilliant mind, though she could write tolerably well and figure sums in her head. In those days, however, there were far fewer letters to the alphabet, and even fewer numbers to calculate. These were the early, early days, and people were still very new and few in number. It had not yet occurred to them to make much of war upon each other, and so it was not all that unusual to find a girl so pure of heart and mind. For these reasons, it can never be known what about her caught the kings eye, for surely she was no more lovely or fascinating then any other girl, but the king of her lands became quite taken with her.

It began innocently enough, when the king was riding his horse through the fields worked by the peasantry. The idea of kings and peasants is nearly as old as the idea of people, you see, and perhaps even older. The king was riding past a field of wheat, which gleamed golden in the noonday sun, when he spied a young woman wiping her brow against the hot afternoon. The king paused his horse there, caught by the sight of such a secret moment, for surely no peasant would have wiped his or her brow free of sweat had they known themselves to be in the presence of the king! It was not until the girl had wiped her face and rolled her shoulders to free them of the ache of working the fields that she saw the king, mounted upon his horse in all his glory. Immediately, the girl dropped to her knees, and pressed her freshly-clean forehead into the cool dark earth before her, trembling in the kings sight.

The king was quite entranced by this girl, her simple human gesture having so transfixed him, and he bade her rise. She stood, trembling, the shadow of the kings horse falling across her. She was not sure who he was, only that his garments and stature marked him as important, and thereby to be obeyed without question. For a long time the king watched her, silently, and as she stood shaking before him, she began to cry from her fear and confusion. This show of frailty touched the king deeply, and he stepped down from his horse. Taking the girl into his arms, he sat her on his mounts back before climbing back onto the beast himself. With nary a word, he rode off away from the field.

Some time later, the king stopped his horse under a beautiful tree bearing apples that seemed made of gold and silver, so brightly they gleamed in the sunshine of the late afternoon. Spreading his cloak upon the ground for the girl to sit upon, the king picked several of these fruits from the tree and offered them to her. Kneeling beside her on the cloak, the king began, very gently, to ask the girl questions. She was shy, of course, a bit simple as the more honest common people can be, but she answered his questions as best she could.

She called herself Aelfwynn, likely not her true name, of course. It was common in the old times to introduce oneself in such a manner, for Aelfwynn in the Old Tongue means Elf-Friend, or by modern words Faerie-Friend. To call herself thus was courtesy to the Fair Folk. It was deemed unwise to give your name over to a strange faerie, but one couldnt slight the Fair Ones. To introduce ones self as Elf-Friend was to say, "I do not know you, stranger, though I respect you". It mattered not to the king, who would have been as transfixed had her name been Hogshead or Molly-Wort. And truly, your humble storyteller apologizes for misleading you about this story containing anything about fairies, but it was only a very small mention, and you can hardly fault your most humble author for including that which is a most favoured subject. It will not happen again.

The king and the girl sat on the blanket and spoke until the sunset, when she begged with great distress to be returned to her home lest her father miss her and beat her soundly for her absence. The king was a kind man, and returned her to her home, but came every day there after to steal her away and spend the afternoon beneath the apple tree. Aelfwynn soon fell deeply in love with the king, and so it never occurred to her that here might well be a queen some where who would not smile upon the attention the king paid her.

Alas for Aelfwynn, there was indeed a queen, left behind by the king every day as he rode to meet with his newfound love. The king was not a bad man, but he was a man like any other, and though his heart was good, good hearts are often weak. Though he cared dearly for his queen, he loved Aelfwynn like no other, and could not keep away from her, no matter how his wife may be hurt. He tried to quell his love for the young common girl, but he could no more put out that love than he could pluck the sun from the sky like a lantern and toss it into the sea to set the waters boiling.

The queen was not a hard woman, nor was she a jealous or cruel woman. She was only a woman, like any woman, who wanted her love requited and her husband faithful. For a time she stayed blind to the love affair, for it was only one of words and never one of deeds, and could real harm truly come from the king quoting words of love to this poor, simple girl? In time, however, the queen began to suspect that words would soon turn to deeds, and this she would not tolerate. The queen was a very powerful woman, and was in fact the true ruler of all the lands. Her allies were many and her enemies few, and she had a strength behind her that the king could not begin to counter. As she watched her true love pulling farther and farther away from her, the queens hurt and anger grew beyond even her great patience.

Aelfwynn never once suspected that there was a queen, let alone that she was suffering for Aelfwynns joy. She only knew that she loved her king, and so when he told her that he would make her his wife, she could do nothing but agree. The king was mad with love, and being a king, believed himself to be above the law of the land. He thought that no one could stop him from marrying this girl, despite the fact he had a wife and queen back home in his palace. One night, the king and Aelfwynn stole away and were married in secret. Unable to bear being apart from her, the king brought Aelfwynn into his kingdom to live, and together they were greatly happy, though Aelfwynn was soon to learn the awful truth about the true Queen, who had Aelfwynn watched like a hawk and soon discovered the shocking news of the marriage.

Now, this queen was very powerful in the ways of magic, and she was also greatly angered. In a fit of jealous and justifiable rage, the queen lay a curse upon the two lovers, now so wrongly man and wife. The two were cursed to always be together, and yet always apart, to rule as king and queen but never together, and with the breathing of that curse, the kingdom began to break apart, and a great war began. This was long before the Shattering, but must surely have felt like the world was tearing in half. Sad to the core of her spirit, but believing herself to be right in her actions, the true queen hid herself away, and tried to heal her broken heart as she watched what lay before her.

The kingdom lay in ruins, and the king and Aelfwynn, his new queen, despite their great love, could not stay together amidst this turmoil. Kept from the man she loved by cruel fate, Aelfwynn began to hate him, and the hate soon blinded her to the love she once felt. Alone and miserable, an innocent common girl no more, Aelfwynn had lost everything that she truly cared about. The great love was now only a poison, eating away at her heart. Time after time, Aelfwynn sent armies against her husband, and time and again they were thwarted. She sought in vain to destroy the thing she had once held more dear than her own life. In the end, all that was left was a shell of what Aelfwynn used to be, and even that faded into obscurity after time. Her true name, and that of her king, are blown away by time, and only a dim lesson lingers behind them.

I tell you this, my noble listeners, as a warning against loving to much. Even the strongest of love can bring about your ruin, and the truest love can turn to the truest hate. So love wisely, noble readers, and do not tempt fate too greatly! This is not a fairy tale, only a tragedy, and take with you know a warning and a word of caution. Always make sure you know just who it is youre eating apples with, and, intriguing as they might be, watch out for those mystery men!