Story Saturday: The Sorceress and the Farmer's Legacy
*Note: It's been an insanely long time since I've done a Story Saturday, so long that some of my newer readers might not even know what it is. My short stories don't get as much attention as my reviews and news posts, so I've been focusing more on my books when it comes to creative storytelling. Since I recently released a new book, I've been devoting these last few weeks to expanding upon the realm of Imperium with a sequel to Hope and Love's Legacy. For a while, I considered the possibility of a prequel about how Amoura's parents met. However, I don't think it would be long enough for a full novel. Instead, I decided it'd be a fun bonus to share it with my readers here on The Princess Blog. I hope you enjoy this short prequel, along with the rest of the books in The Legacy Chronicles.
"The Sorceress and the Farmer's Legacy"
William grabbed his sickle and joined the small workforce of tenant farmers on Lord Thomas's expansive field to prepare for a long day of harvesting wheat. Eight-year-old Johnny raced to the front of the workers to eagerly fill in for his father while he was busy trading goods at the market. The bright sunlight formed beads of sweat that streamed down their backs as they chopped up endless grains of wheat.
Suddenly, a bright light appeared in the middle of the fields, accompanied by white feathers floating to the ground and entangling themselves in the uncut fibers. William groaned at the disturbance, which distracted many of the workers from their task, which would have taken all day with no interruptions. Now, they ran the risk of falling behind schedule, something he prided himself on avoiding at all costs.
"'Tis an ill omen!" exclaimed Horace, a thin teenager with a flighty disposition. "Mayhap today was not a good choice for the harvest. I will inform Lord Thomas."
William rolled his eyes as the coward dropped his sickle in the middle of the field and ran off. "Lazy boy. I'll not let a small disturbance stop me from finishing what needs to be done. Who's with me?"
Yet, his declaration was met with silence. The other workers stared wide-eyed between William and the mysterious glowing object in the middle of the field, idling away the precious hours of daylight.
"What is it?" asked little Johnny, his eyes wide with curiosity.
"All right, all right," replied William. "I shall investigate to satisfy the lot of ye, but then it's right back to work."
Dozens of eyes followed him as he approached the anomaly in the field. To his surprise, a beautiful woman with long blue hair lay prone in the midst of the tall wheat stalks. She sat up in her modest dress and rubbed her head as white feathers floated from her back like wings. Could she be an angel? What would a divine being want with a group of lowly tenant farmers?
William turned back to the others, who watched from a safe distance away. "'Tis nothing to fear!" he called out. "Get back to work. I'll join you shortly."
"Are you lost?" he asked the confused woman, his tone gentle yet urgent. "How did you come to be here?"
She pulled herself to her feet and pulled a large kerchief over her striking blue hair. She shook her head, gazing at him with intense green eyes. "Not lost, per se, but can you tell me what year I've found myself in, good sir?"
An odd question from an odd woman. Perhaps she was mad. Still, there was no harm in answering. Maybe once she was satisfied, she would let him complete the harvest. "'Tis the Year of Our Lord 1570." He plucked a white feather from her back. "To travel here with such a grand display, one might think you fell from the Heavens."
A warm smile lit her face. "Not Heaven. Imperium. I wish to learn your ways. My world, though enchanting in nature, is rather dull. We have no tasks to pass the time the way you do. Our every desire can be fulfilled in an instant, leaving our days empty and unfulfilled."
William rubbed his hand along his beard, trying to make sense of the woman's strange words. A world with no work to be done sounded rather dull, indeed. A startled shriek from one of the workers interrupted his thoughts.
"Come quickly!" shouted Jane. "It's Johnny. He's collapsed!"
William forced himself to break away from the angelic woman's intense gaze as he raced over to the child to deal with yet another interruption to his day. The boy lay prone in Jane's arms, his face pale and his breathing shallow. He sighed. This would not be a productive day, no matter how he went about it.
William clenched his jaw. "He's overworked himself. I knew he was too young for this sort of labor."
A pair of slender hands reached over and gently stroked the boy's forehead. The blue-haired woman had emerged from the field, revealing herself to the curious onlookers, who remained idle despite William's best efforts. "Why would such a young child be subjected to such difficult work?" the mysterious woman asked.
"He was eager to fill in for Lars when he went to market," Jane explained.
The strange woman's hands glowed with a soft, silvery light.
Jane's eyes went wide as saucers. "Who are you?"
"She's the ill omen Horace ran amok over," William said in a lighthearted jest. "'Twas nothing but a woman. There was no need for him to make such a fuss after all."
The light from the mysterious woman's hand faded away. Color returned to Johnny's cheeks, and his eyes fluttered open.
"By the saints!" exclaimed Jane. "She used some sort of witchcraft on the boy."
Johnny gazed with reverence at the woman who healed him. "You saved me. Are you an angel?"
She smiled and shook her head. "No, I'm a sorceress."
William guffawed loudly before anyone could react to her words. "What a jest! Mayhap she is not an angel, but a goddess of humor!"
The sound of a horse's hooves clopped through the fields. Lord Thomas had arrived in all his finery. The other workers stiffened as they picked up their sickles and chopped as though their lives depended on it. William rolled his eyes at their false display of vigilance. Lord Thomas climbed off his steed with Horace close in tow, eying the workers suspiciously.
"What's going on here?" The lord's intimidating presence overshadowed the meek Horace, who led him to the gap in the field, where the woman had appeared. "I'm told there was some sort of disturbance."
William shook his head. "No disturbance at all, My Lord, just a visitor."
In one smooth, quick motion, he reached up and pulled the woman's kerchief over the rest of her blue hair before the lord could get a good look at her. No use provoking unnecessary questions when there was still work to be done.
"That woman used witchcraft on the boy!" Jane insisted. "He passed out from exhaustion, and she healed him."
Lord Thomas eyed the woman closely. "Is this true?"
"Not quite," she said. "My powers are—"
William darted between them, hoping to hurry things along so he could get back to work. "Oh come now," he interrupted, giving her a rough pat of warning on her shoulder. "Just because her soft touch helped awaken Johnny doesn't make her a witch. Any lad in his right mind would be privileged to wake up to such a lovely woman watching over them."
Lord Thomas was not amused. His eyes narrowed in suspicion at the mysterious woman. "What is thy name, child?"
"Solara," she replied.
The name sent shivers up William's spine. Her voice danced like windchimes on a breeze. It was every bit as lovely and exotic as she was.
Lord Thomas frowned. "And what brings thee to our fair kingdom?"
"I..." she glanced at William as the danger of her situation began to sink in.
She seemed unaccustomed to speaking to those who deemed themselves superior. William wondered what sort of position she held in the mystical place she came from to be so lost in such a situation.
His reaction to her silent plea was firm and immediate. "She's a neighbor of my Aunt Clara back in Yorkshire. Her house burned down in a tragic fire, and I offered to let her stay at my cottage until new accommodations could be made."
Lord Thomas narrowed his eyes at William. "Thou wouldst allow an unmarried woman to stay at thy cottage?"
"How scandalous," Jane chimed in to William's growing ire.
He shrugged it off. "The situation could not be helped. It will only be temporary, of course."
"Of course," said the lord, unconvinced. He sighed. "Seeing that you are my best worker, I am willing to overlook this little indiscretion, but I trust that you will not do anything to bring shame upon my noble house."
"Your trust is well placed, My Lord," William replied, bowing his head slightly.
Lord Thomas nodded. "Very good." He glanced around the field. "See that the rest of the wheat gets harvested before sunset, and make sure little Johnny gets home safely."
He hitched his horse as it trodded back to his massive estate in the distance.
Solara regarded William with intrigue. "Why did you tell him those lies about me?" she asked in a soft voice. Her words were accusatory, but she did not sound offended.
William shrugged his shoulders as her recovered his sickles. "Think nothing of it. I merely wanted to get through the workday without incident. Besides, with the grand and unexpected entrance you made from the Heavens, I doubt you have a place to stay."
A hint of a smile crossed her ruby lips. "I told you, I came from Imperium."
William shook his head and returned to his too-long-abandoned task of diligently chopping up the fields. Jane left to bring Johnny home, and Horace was still hesitant to harvest the grain when the mystery of Solara's identity had yet to be resolved, forcing William to work twice as hard. Yet, as Solara placed her hand on his arm with a silvery glow, the strength of ten men flowed through him. To his surprise, the task was completed hours before the sun had set.
Satisfied with the early day, the rest of the workers departed, leaving only Solara and William on the vast field of freshly harvested wheat. With no workload hanging over his shoulders anymore, he gazed at the mysterious stranger with fresh eyes, allowing her ethereal beauty and grace to rejuvenate him.
"I am always grateful for a boost in stamina, but I must ask. Did you do something to help me complete the harvest in so timely a manner?"
Warmth filled Solara's green eyes. "No more than you would have done for me. I believe you protected me from your lord earlier, and for that, I am grateful."
He chuckled. "No need to thank me. 'Tis as I said. I merely wished to complete the harvest. Now, let us take our leave. There is much for us to discuss, beginning with the color of your hair. You mustn't wear it that way, or you'll cause a disturbance, and I already promised Lord Thomas I wouldn't draw more attention to our strange situation."
Solara followed William on the long trek back to his tiny cottage. Her feet began to ache from the journey, yet her spirits were lifted at experiencing the efforts of mortals without using magic to teleport everywhere the way she did back in Imperium. When they arrived at the humble wooden shack, William turned to face her again and found her hair had lightened in color to a respectable platinum blonde, though he was loath to admit it didn't suit her as well as the blue. He welcomed her into his home.
Surprised by his humble surroundings that starkly contrast to the glittering palace she resided in back at Imperium, Solara was impressed by the respectable living William made for himself. This was meant to be a brief visit to experience how those without magic lived, but she found that his kindness, steadfastness, and humility left her wanting more. Soon, she could no longer imagine her life without him. They wed with a simple ceremony, and she fell pregnant with a beautiful daughter not long after. She began to forget all about her life in Imperium, until one fateful day, when she received a magical distress call from her sister...
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