Lizabella: A Musical Fairy Tale 🎤

3: Madwoman

"This is the diligence your Highness gives his only child?" spat out Sage in disgust.

The king turned back to Sage. She certainly knew the whereabouts of his Achilles heel.

"And what do you propose should be done?"

The woman's watchful eyes swept the room. "The evil eye is upon them," she said, inching closer to the king. "From this very moment, the queen and the child must be protected at all cost. No one will be allowed to exit or enter her chambers unaccompanied-"

"Including the king?" Malcus interrupted, making no attempt to hide his derision.

Sage did not gratify him with a response and plunged ahead, rattling off rules and regulations like a general preparing for world domination.

"No expense must be spared. At all times. Night and day. Guard the queen's bedchamber with a thousand eyes. Let the queen never be left alone for even a moment-"

"You want me to place a battalion in the queen's bedchambers?"

"Yes," said Sage, raising her double chin in defiance.

"It is absurd! She already has countless maidservants!"

Sage shot the king a scalding glare. "I don't think his Majesty is appreciating the significance of the peril that is brewing in his own palace! If the princess somehow manages to survive the imminent danger I foresee, which would be no small feat," she said, wagging a disapproving finger at the king. "I do not see how she will survive the attack against her crown."

The king narrowed his dark eyes. He did not like this deranged woman or her demented premonition, and his patience was quickly wearing thin.

"Now," she said to herself, oblivious to the kings growing animosity. "How to secure your daughter's legacy? Hmmm . . . A crown for a crown," she murmured. "Yes. Indeed."

Sage looked up at the king. "The princess will need a crown of protection. A crown that will seal her fate forevermore. You must travel to the Seventh Kingdom-"

"The Seventh Kingdom!" Malcus burst out.

The guards instantly drew out their swords. The Seventh Kingdom was not a word one threw about, even by the king.

At the king's signal they gingerly slid their swords back in their sheathes.

"I have a kingdom to run!" he said, wondering just how delirious this woman was. "I cannot go flitting off to purchase crowns at whim."

The woman took a moment to think about this predicament. "I suppose I could be persuaded to go in your stead," she said, meeting the king's scornful gaze.

"At a price."

King Malcus's eyes flashed with rage. He motioned to the guards.

In an instant, two menacing guards grabbed her by the arm and yanked her away.

"Your Majesty!" she cried. "I see only eighteen-"

"Eighteen what?" barked the king, the limits of his patience thoroughly taxed.

"Years!" she shrieked, the words echoing shrilly through the room. "Eighteen years of life, and not a day more!"

Sage thrashed against the guards, screeching like a madwoman as they dragged her to the door.

"She must place the crown upon her head on her eighteenth birthday! With this crown she will capture the heart of her beloved, and from there will come her salvation!"

The guards lingered by the door, arms locked tight around Sage, waiting for the king to have his final word.

King Malcus took slow, deliberate steps towards the hysterical woman, struggling against the guards' grip, eyes darting like a wild dog, face flushed in a feverish frenzy.

Malcus was known throughout the land as a good and fair king. His people loved him because he loved them. He was absolutely devoted to his kingdom, fiercely protective of his loved ones. But should anyone threaten what was his?

Oh, they would be sorry.

He glowered down at Sage and said in a low growl, "Pick up your prophecy and get out of here."

***

The king pushed open the door to Queen Adelia's chamber. She looked dreadfully pale, draped awkwardly over the divan while a host of young maids fanned her energetically, and her right hand maid gently rubbed her back.

He was relieved to see the tremendous attention Madam Evilla was giving her. How the queen raved about those magic hands.

Adelia turned sluggishly to look at Malcus. "Is everything well, my dear?"

"Oh yes, my darling," he said, making his way over and cradling her frail hand in his own. "Everything is perfectly fine."