The darkness hadn’t been eternal. Lilliana awoke the next morning in her bed with an awful start, gasping as if she hadn’t breathed since that fateful encounter. Cassandra was already in the room, sleeping in a chair by her bedside before Lilliana’s cry startled her awake. Lilliana looked all about with wide panicked eyes, but seeing where she was, she let out a stuttered laugh and a sigh of relief. “A dream, a frightful dream!” Lilliana rationalized between struggled breaths. She threw her feet over the edge of her bed before wiping the sweat from her face. “Oh Nan, it was awful! It was coronation day, and I – I ran away, I did! There was this blackbird, and I followed it across a bridge – a magical bridge – into a… a Fen it was called.” Lilliana laughed at the ridiculousness of it. “There was a talking toad, there was, and a monster! It chased me through a labyrinth into a rose garden where a man wanted to have tea with me! But it wasn’t tea…”

  Cassandra just stared at her quietly with tears in her eyes. Lilliana turned about, confused by her silence. “Nan?” Lilliana asked. “What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

  “It wasn’t a dream, Lilly!” the fiery haired woman would snap in what was probably the first time she had ever raised her voice. “You’ve been asleep for days now… I was beginning to doubt whether you would ever wake up!”

  “Nan, I… I’m sorry…” Lilliana stuttered out, trying to wrap her head around things.

  “Sorry? You’re sorry?!” Cassandra cried. “Lilly, we had the whole city out looking for you! We thought someone… might have taken you! Why? Why on earth would you run away?!”

  “I… I just wanted a little adventure,” Lilliana answered, her voice hardly a whisper. “I didn’t think anything bad would happen.”

  “Well, something did!” uttered Cassandra, barely keeping her composure. Tears streamed down her face. “You disappeared, and we thought the worst. But then you appeared again, in your bed, changed…”

  “Changed?” Lilliana questioned. “I don’t understand, Nan. I’ve not changed!”

  “Look in your mirror and say that!”

  Lilliana stared quietly for a moment before shuffling off her bed. Making her way to her standing mirror, she crept at a snail’s pace, fearful of what she might see. She stood in front of her mirror and looked upon herself. For the most part she looked normal – five fingers, five toes. Her hair was still silver, and her skin was still lavender. She was about to beg the question, but then she noticed it: sprouting out of her brow were a pair of horns, raw and two-pronged. Lilly touched them tenderly and winced. It wasn’t wholly unusual for female cubi to grow horns, though they did get them much later in life than males, and they usually didn’t grow much more than buds. Lilly’s, however, was a fully developed crown. “Oh Nan, I look like a goat!” cried Lilliana in dismay.

  “It’s not a joke, Lilly!” snapped Cassandra, taking to her feet. “Look at you! It’s just confirmed our fears – that he found you!”

  “He?” Lilliana questioned. “You mean the man?”

  “He’s not just a man, Lilly!” Cassandra exclaimed before adding in a whisper, “He’s the Mad-God… And he’s been after you since you were but a babe.”

  “B-but why me?” whimpered Lilliana, already knowing the answer. She played the scene out again in her mind, of them sitting at the table. He wanted her to kill him, he said. “I don’t understand any of this!”

  “Why does a man called ‘The Mad-God’ do anything, Lilly?!” Cassandra pressed sharply before biting her tongue. She took a deep breath and shook her head. “The Council, the Council will know what to do. I have to let them know you’re awake.” Cassandra made her way to the door. “Be here when I return,” she said over her shoulder. Not waiting for a reply, she made her exit. Lilliana could hear the jangle of keys and the latching of a lock. She was trapped with her head on the chopping block, no escape to be made. Lilliana fell backwards onto her bed, groaning in defeat. “Oh Lilly, you idiot… What have you gotten yourself into?”

  All there was to do was wait, and wait she did, three whole hours before there came a knock at her door. “Nan, is that you?” Lilliana asked, practically jumping to her feet. “I’m sorry I scared you! I didn’t mean to, really! I just… I just wanted to do something before… Nan?” Lilliana walked to the door and tried the handle. It turned and the door swung open without so much as a creak. Lilliana quickly realized it wasn’t Cassandra on the other side, but one of the Councilmen, a short and portly man with a burly beard and mismatched horns. “Pardon the intrusion, Princess,” he said, wringing his fingers together, “but the Council will see you now.”

  “Eddard, right?” Lilliana asked, to which he nodded yes. “Are… are they mad at me?”

  “Furious, Princess,” he answered casually with a few curt nods. “Absolutely livid.”

  Lilly cringed at the thought but admitted defeat with a sigh – it was time to face the music. They’d scold her, wagging sharp fingers in her direction, but that was ultimately the limit of their power. It was Lilliana’s hope to get some good answers out of them between the reprimands. “I’ll get my coat…” Lilly told him, still in her nightgown.

  “Very good, Princess,” Eddard said in reply, closing the door politely. For a moment, Lilliana just stood there, staring across her room at her reflection in the mirror. She looked frightful, gaunt, and restless – a total mess, one with no Cassandra around to clean it up. Lilly frowned and sighed.

  Dressing herself didn’t take half as long as she thought it would, only taking the better part of an hour. Eddard, the ever patient, knocked once or twice to check if she was still there, but never pressured her to hasten. Finally at hours end, she was gowned, painted, and ready to face the executioner’s axe. “Alright, good Eddard,” She said, opening her door, “take me to the Council, please.”

  “As you say, Princess,” the portly man said surely before starting down the hall. “This way, if you will.”

  The man led her down the hall, down the stairs, through the great hall below and out into the courtyard. The council chamber was adjacent to the Caerwyn, a large stone tower descending into the cliffside. Lilliana swallowed hard as she spied it peeking up over the castle garden’s walls. She had only ever been there a few times and never on her own, usually as a tag-a-long to her late queen mother. The pair made the journey in silence, cutting through the garden and onto the cliffside path that led to the tower’s crown and entrance. The ocean winds ripped at Lilliana’s tangles of hair, defeating her efforts to look almost presentable, and very nearly throwing her off balance. “Careful, Princess,” Eddard would caution. “It’s a long way down. Hold the railing if you must.”

  “Couldn’t we meet in the throne room? Or anywhere else?” Complained Lilly as she clutched desperately to the stone railing lining the path.

  “Council business is done in the council chamber, of course,” Eddard said with a wag of his finger. “And… if this one is to be so bold – they were still in hot debate when Cassandra brought the news of your revival.”

  “They’re that mad, are they?” Lilliana asked meekly.

  “As I said: livid,” he answered shortly.

  At the end of the path there were two great oak doors, tall enough to fit giants, imbedded in a white stone frame. Two guards stood out front, leaning sleepily on their halberds. Eddard waddled over and coughed loudly to get their attention. Quick as lightning they stood tall, clicking their heels and crossing their halberds as they barked out, “No entrance is permitted while council is in session!”

  “Even if I’m on the council?” Eddard would ask as he propped up a golden thistle pinned to his tabard. The two looked at each other in question before saying, “No?”

  “Very good lads! Now open the door, would you?” Eddard said cheerily, patting one on the shoulder before motioning for Lilliana to follow. The two guards looked as if they wanted to bar her entrance, a great conflict in their minds, but Eddard then said softly, “This is the princess. She’s allowed to go where she pleases – within reason.”

  “So, you don’t think I did anything wrong?” Asked Lilliana, shuffling in behind him.

  “Not for me to say,” Eddard would admit, turning a sympathetic eye on her. “It’s up to the vote now – democracy and all that.” He turned to the guards once more. “The door please.”

  The inside of the council’s tower was cold and dark as they descended the stairs leading to the council chamber. There were no windows to light their path, only dimly glowing crystals in metal sconces that dotted the wall sparingly. “I put in a petition for better lighting,” Eddard said as he guided her down the steps, “but the budget went to fireworks for your coronation. Now we’ve no coronation or fireworks…”

  “I’m sorry?” Lilliana said with a hapless cringe.

  “No worries,” the portly man said with a shrug of his broad shoulders. “They scare the old soldiers anyways. I could live my entire life without seeing something explode. I was in the civil war, you know? Like most of the elders here. So, be patient with us, if you will. We’re stuck in our ways because we remember what it was like before…”

  “Before what?” asked Lilliana.

  “It’s best if the Chief Councilman tells the story,” he said. “I’m sure he’s already written a book to throw at you about it.”

  They continued the journey in silence, down further than she thought the strange tower could even reach, until at last they were at the council chambers at the bottom of the structure. Eddard led her into the chamber with a beckoning wave of his arm. Inside it was much brighter, lit by wide windows that overlooked the sea below and a grand chandelier made from the same glowing crystals she had seen on her way down. Before her was a ziggurat of pews and podiums, with an old someone behind each. Every tier looked more impatient than the last, leading up to the Chief Councilman at the top who was practically scowling. Lilliana gulped and entered the room. She had never seen them so angry before and was, admittedly, a bit terrified.

  Between her and them was a table with a single chair sat at it – her chair she figured. Quietly she took her seat and eyed the room nervously. It was almost bare save the purple tapestries on the walls and the portraits of old councilmen between them. Lilliana shifted uncomfortably in her seat, feeling as if you could cut the tension with a knife. Finally, after what felt like an eternity of silence, she decided to speak up, saying, “Firstly – I… I don’t think I did anything wrong, I don’t.”

  “You don’t think, that is the problem,” the Chief Councilman said sharply. “Do you realized what you’ve done?”

  “No, because so far no one will tell me!” Lilliana snapped back. “Aren’t I a victim here?! It was a mistake to run off. I’m sorry!”

  “We’re all victims of your ‘mistake’,” the man growled amongst the growing chatter of council members. “We don’t know how you did it, but you broke the ward your father sacrificed so much to erect! Now we’re defenseless against the outside world! The peace you’ve grown oh so bored with is over!”

  “I didn’t know!” exclaimed Lilliana in her defense. “Why didn’t anyone tell me about the bridge or this Kelthazan character?”

  In an instant, at the mentioning of the name, all sound in the room stopped. For a moment, Lilliana could hear her own heart beating in her chest. Then, as suddenly as the sound stopped, the whole room exploded in conversation. Lilliana looked around wide-eyed as everyone was shouting over each other in a furious cacophony. Finally, at the sounding of a gavel, the Chief Councilman reined them in, shouting as he brought the hammer down, “Silence! Silence! Silence in the chamber!” As the shouting died down to whispers, he turned his attention back to Lilliana. “So, it’s true, he was there? The Fen-Lord?” Lilliana nodded. The old man tugged nervously at his beard as he thought it over. “Things are far worse than we thought then,” he said, all the rage in his voice given way to something else. Fear. They were afraid of him, Kelthazan, well and truly. Despite the whole poisoning her thing, he hadn’t seemed very threatening, Lilliana thought to herself. “Who… who is he?” she dared to ask.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Evil,” the chief said, plain and simple. “He’s the Mad-God… A villain! A demon whose sole purpose in life is to spread misery and ruin wherever he goes.”

  “Crown or not, Chief Councilman,” Barked another member, “it’s time to tell her. Before things get worse!”

  “Tell me what?” Lilliana begged. “Please, just tell me what’s going on.”

  The chief councilman tugged at his beard and sighed before saying, “Very well – I believe you are right, she needs to know now to fully understand the gravity of the situation.” Finally, she was going to get some answers, Lilly thought. The councilman cleared his throat, and then said in a booming voice for all to hear, “We were instructed to keep the outside world a secret until you were deemed ready… I don’t believe you are, but you’ve forced our hand.”

  “But why?” asked Lilliana.

  “Because of the prophecy,” answered the councilman. “It all begins with your birth. The labor was difficult – deadly even. Your birth mother was dying, so your father enlisted the help of a man called Azenroth – the Necromancer – to try and save her. He was too late, and she tragically passed… But the Necromancer’s dark magics showed him a vision, a glimpse of the future. It was a future of eternal twilight – of darkness and ruin, of the world’s ending. And the face of that darkness? Your own.” Lilliana didn’t know what to say. Was he truly saying what she thought he was saying? That she was destined to bring an end to the world? “And it all begins with that man – that monster, the Fen-Lord,” the chief continued. “It was his influence that would start you upon that path. So, in his infinite wisdom, your father erected a barrier, separating us from the outside world, to keep us all safe from this cruel fate. But it’s broken now, and you’ve been corrupted by the Fen-Lord’s magic. It would seem that your destiny won’t be easily avoided…”

  “I would never do anything to harm anyone,” Lilliana said firmly, finding her voice. “I don’t care about what any prophecy says, I don’t! I love my people, and I would never harm them.”

  “You may feel that way now, princess,” The Chief stated, “but you drank his blood… Did you not? His evil is now within you. There’s no telling what effects it will have on you – how it might change you. You’ve already begun changing. It’s as plain as the horns upon your brow. It won’t stop there. Eventually, it will consume you, as it has with so many unfortunate souls in the past.”

  “Then what now?” asked Lilly. “What’s to happen to me?”

  “We put it to a vote,” the chief councilman said. “You have more sympathy here than one might believe. You’re to remain free. We cannot judge you for crimes you’ve yet committed. The council will be watching, however, for any sign of change – any sign of his influence. Until we feel as if the danger has past – if we feel… You’re to remain ward of the council with your coronation postponed indefinitely. We just cannot risk you having the power of state at this time.”

  Lilliana swallowed and nodded her head. It made as much sense as anything they had told her, she guessed. She was just glad they hadn’t voted her into a windowless cell for the rest of her days. “With that being said,” The council chief announced, “there is much you need to know about the outside world, about the Lords and Ladies of the Isles.”

  “He’s not the only one?” asked Lilliana.

  “Not nearly,” answered the chief. “There are several others. How many, we do not know for sure, but there is no doubt to whether they will make their ways to your court now that the barrier has fallen. News will spread fast, and you’ll need to be prepared to face them when they arrive.”

  “What do I need to know?”

  “Firstly, they will count you amongst them,” informed the council chief. “You are a legacy. As your father had been Lord, so shall you be Lady of the Isle.”

  “Are they all… like him?” asked Lilly, wondering exactly what being a Lady of an Isle entailed. The chief shook his head and then said, “No, some are quite honorable in fact. They all hold more power than any one soul should, but some use it for good instead of selfish evils. That doesn’t mean you should trust them, however. Even the good ones have machinations they wish to see come to fruition. They won’t hesitate to use you to see them done.”

  “So, what should I do?” Lilliana asked. “I don’t know the first thing about being a Lady of the Isle!”

  “We will guide you the best we can,” answered the council chief with a nod of his head. “We will do our best to deviate you from this dark fate. Just know, princess, that we will keep the best interests of the people in mind. And if that means… passing judgement upon you, then so be it.”

  “I thank you for your honesty,” Lilliana said softly and truthfully. “All I care about is the wellbeing of my people. And if… if what you’ve told me is true, then I trust you to do what is right for our people.”

  With nothing else to say, Lilliana took her leave. She made her way back to her room alone, and she was glad for it. She had a lot to think about, like what it meant to be a Lady of an Isle, or how she was to destroy the world. All she had wanted was to escape her commitments for an hour or two, and now things felt heavier than the crown ever would have. Lilliana threw herself down on her bed and screamed into the comforter. It felt good to get some of the overwhelming anxiety out somehow. She rolled over and stared up at the ceiling, once again wondering what she had gotten herself in to. If they had just told her about the bridge or the barrier, she would have stayed well enough away! Damn them for lying to her, damn her father for telling them to, and damn the Fen-Lord for forcing this upon her. Damn him and the horse that brought him. It was unladylike, but Lilliana dared a curse – damn them all!

  Lilliana rolled over and stared at herself in her standing mirror, staring at her new horns. They itched. If this was just the beginning, she wondered what else would change and whether she would be the same person when it did. The council didn’t think so, and the Fen-Lord said as much already, that she would change – becoming a warrior, a god-slayer. Even though this was all his fault, she still didn’t want to kill him. Hit him with a shoe and maybe have him flogged, yes, but not kill him. She meant it when she said she didn’t want to hurt anyone. It made her feel bad just thinking about it.

  Eventually Lilliana fell asleep, and for the first time ever, she dreamed. She was back in the Fen, listing ghostly between those shadowed pools that dotted the landscape. It was almost peaceful. The world was as the prophecy stated, gold with twilight. She was different now, not confused or afraid, but strong and brave. Nothing in the world could scare her now, not Lords or monsters, not change. Lilliana was a warrior, like the late Queen Mother, courageous and ironclad. Lilliana blinked and found herself in the labyrinth again, face to face with the Fen-Lord. But he wasn’t the same as he was. He was barely human: pallid and cavernous features, his skin tight against the bone. He looked like a corpse, but living. Streams of sticky black tar-like substance trickled from his eyes and mouth, and he wheezed in pain as he looked up from his chair at the table. A smirk spread across his face. “Here to finish the job,” he said softly, “I hope.”

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” Lilliana answered.

  “Don’t think…” Kelthazan began with a pained groan. “Don’t think I’m going to give you much choice, to be honest.”

  “Why?” Lilliana begged to know. “Why do you want me to kill you?”

  “Look at me,” he told her. “I’m not exactly in my prime. I’m practically dying already. Won’t you let me die as me?”

  He was changing, she realized, just like she was, and he too was afraid. This realization only made her angry. He was suffering and instead of suffering alone, chose to spread his suffering to her. “Why?! Why does it have to be me?!” Lilliana shouted, slamming a fist down upon the table. “Why not anyone else?!”

  “Because it’s destiny,” the Fen-Lord said with a strained chuckle. “Your destiny. My destiny. You can’t outrun fate. I’m destined to die, and you’re destined to kill me.”

  “To hell with fate!” spat Lilliana. “I’m not going to let fate decide who I am! I choose my path – me! I’m not going to be a pawn to you or destiny.” The Fen-Lord laughed a bit louder and shook his head. “Change fate, huh?” He mused in his misery. “I dare you to try.”

  Lilliana woke up angry. Angry about the dream, the man in it, and the world in general. She scooted to the edge of her bed and seethed. As far as first dreams go, that one had proved to be awful and an experience she didn’t wish to have a second time. None of that courage or fearlessness passed on into the waken world. Once again, she was afraid, just angry and afraid. Lilliana pushed herself to her feet and walked over to her balcony. It was nightfall, the world a twilit hue just like in the dream. Lilliana groaned and made to shut the double doors leading to the balcony. But before she could make it back inside, she heard an avian croak – the cry of a raven.

  Lilliana turned around and watched as a single black feather fell from the sky, landing before her. “Nope!” she denied, walking backwards back into her bedroom. “Not this time!” This time there was no way in hell that she’d follow it, not even if it led to the land of chocolatey delights instead of a backwater bog. “Shoo!” she’d exclaim into the void. “Shoo! I don’t want anything you’re bringing, bird! You bring nothing but trouble, you do!” But it wasn’t a blackbird that fell from the sky above, but a man. A black knight landed silently before her in a cloud of feathers, his tattered cape whipping violently in the wind behind him. Lilliana stumbled back with a shriek. Startled to silence, she didn’t dare take her eyes off the wicked looking man. He was tall and imposing, with black armor adorned with cruel and monstrous faces. Black feathers decorated his hair, which seemed to perk up when he noticed her. Almond shaped eyes of jet narrowed at her, contorting his green features into something of a glare that froze Lilliana’s heart dead in her chest.

  Lilliana struggled to find her voice, finding only a whimper where words should be.

  “Lady Aldridge?” he would say, his voice smooth but threatening. Lilliana didn’t know what to do, whether to scream for help or what. Instead, for whatever reason, she just nodded. Instantly the man’s demeanor changed: his stance was relaxed, his face twisted into a smile, and his voice warm and welcoming as he then said, “Good, good! I’m so very glad you’re awake! I wasn’t sure it was you – pardon me saying, but cubi all look quite the same to me. Everyone’s purple and silver!”

  “Who are you?!” Lilliana exclaimed, finding her voice. “And what are you doing on my balcony?! How’d you get up here? Are you an assassin?”

  “An assassin? No, not today,” the man said innocently. “As for what I’m doing… My Master wished for me to check up on you, see if you’re still doing well, which you appear to be, thankfully. He’s been so worried about you! Worried that you might die like the others… They all died horribly, I’m told. Horrible deaths, my Lady, absolutely horrible.”

  “Your master is the Fen-Lord, isn’t he?” Lilliana pressed, piecing things together. “What, he didn’t kill me the first time, so he’s sent you to finish the job proper?!”

  “No, my Lady, not at all, I swear it!” the man blustered. “The last thing my Master wants is to see you perish. Quite the contrary, in fact! He wants to see you thrive and grow!”

  “Oh – I’m sure he does!” She said with narrowed eyes, stabbing a sharp finger at him. “He wants to see me grow into a monster, just like he is! Well, you tell him that that won’t be happening! I’m not letting him – or anyone else for that matter – decide my fate! So, go, fly back to your master and tell him I’m not playing his game, I’m not!”

  “I don’t think any of us have much of a choice in that matter,” the green knight said, sounding rather disheartened. “Don’t you see? Much worse will happen if you don’t play your part in things.”

  “That isn’t what I’ve heard,” Lilliana informed with a huff. “I’ve heard of the Necromancer’s prophecy, I have. You want me to destroy the world! My father knew, and that’s why he locked us away.”

  “Lord King Gauvain was a wise man, yes…” the intruder admitted softly, much to her surprise. “But he’s always been… overly sympathetic and emotional. He let love drive him, his love for you, when this is beyond the life of one person.”

  “Oh – so I’m selfish for not wanting to murder someone?” Lilliana asked in disbelief. “Why me? Why not anyone else? Why not you?!” the princess looked him up and down and huffed. “You look more than capable, you do, ghastly as you are.”

  “I would if I could, my Lady,” the knight claimed. “I would take this responsibility from you. But I am bound to him by means arcane to me. He could disable me with but a word if he so chooses.”

  “If he wants to die so bad, then why would he do that?” pressed Lilliana pointedly in a kind of ‘got’cha’ moment. She shook her head and swore, becoming hyper aware of her new horns. “Your story makes no sense! None of this does. It’s no wonder they call him the Mad God; it is. Unless you can magically undo what he’s done to me, we’re done here. Run back and report to your master. He’s just going to have to find someone else, he is. And that’s final.”

  The black knight looked at her for a breath. He looked sympathetic but it was a tired kind of sympathy, like he had done this song and dance before. “Alright, my Lady,” he said, turning about. He mounted the stone railing with a hop and then said over his shoulder, “Goodnight, my Lady. Until we meet again.” In a burst of umbric magic and black feathers he was gone in an instant, a murder of crows on the wind that quickly faded into the night sky. Lilliana stared in shock and awe for a moment before her anger caught up with her and she screamed out over the balcony, “Which will be never!” She huffed and grumbled and spat cruel words as she marched back into her bedroom, closing and locking the doors behind her. Next time she heard a caw or spied a loose feather she’d call the guards and have him arrested, she swore as she threw herself down on her bed.

  Lilliana rolled over and stared up at the ceiling. If the man hadn’t been the stooge of an ne’er-do-well god he might have been handsome, she thought idlily before cringing at the thought. No he-the-hell wouldn’t, she adamantly told herself. He was no doubt as wicked as his twisted Lord. He did have pretty eyes though. And the way the moonlight shimmered off the feathers of his hair… Oh gods, Lilliana thought, cupping her face in embarrassment. Did she fancy him after a five-minute meeting? “No. No! Go to sleep and forget it ever happened! No more stupid thoughts – you’re in enough trouble as it is!” Lilliana groaned and thought about it for the rest of the night.