“I don’t know what to do, Francis! He won’t let me leave!” Kori exclaimed with glassy eyes to the elf on the other side of the bars.
Francis rolled his eyes. “Ah, those who are not elves are so foolish—nearly sobbing in front of their enemies… You want to save Maribel, don’t you, little waif?”
“Of course I do, but—”
“There’s no but. If you love your kingdom, you’ll save it. You shouldn’t need permission to save your kingdom—even from your king.” Francis interrupted her—folding his arms across his chest and crossing his ankles.
Kori frowned. “It’s easy for you to say! How do I know you’re not just encouraging me so that you can be freed and then escape?”
Francis shrugged nonchalantly. “You’ll never know until you do it, I suppose. You have the uppherhand right now, but you won’t when the queen comes knocking. You better do whatever you’re going to do fast.”
Kori closed her eyes. “I have to convince him… How would you convince your queen?”
Francis snorted. “I would debase myself—that’s the only way she listens to anyone. I’m not sure you’re willing to lower yourself the way I have, though.”
Kori’s cheeks were hot with embarrassment.
It’s as if he knows about my affair with Laurence.
“I don’t know what I’m to do…” Kori continued helplessly. “I can’t let Maribel be invaded. How will I convince him? How can I possibly make him understand?”
Francis hadn’t looked her in the eyes for more than a moment since she had arrived. Now, he looked at her compassionately. “Little waif, now is not the time to cower before your king. If you want my queen to lower your debt—if you want to erase the fact that you captured me, if you want a future for your kingdom where you and the people of Maribel remain free, you must stop at nothing to either convince the king to free me, or free me without his permission—even if you have to… Threaten him.”
Kori was about to vehemently protest, but she found that the words were caught in her throat.
She knew he had a point.
She felt tears beginning to gather in her already glassy eyes.
She wanted to show no weakness in front of a foreign elf. She dusted off her dress and dashed up the stairs so she would not cry in front of him.
She returned to her quarters in the Great Hall and sat on her bed silently.
She knew what she had to do, but she wasn’t sure she could go through with it.
She hugged her knees in silence.
On the one hand, she didn’t want to lose her king, her first friend, and her lover. On the other hand, she didn’t want to lose the kingdom that had accepted her and the people who had welcomed her with open arms.
A fire which had been dwelling deep down in her soul suddenly began to roar.
He took Eory from me. He killed his dog; he would have killed him when he meant him no harm.
Kori reminded herself to stoke the flame.
She stood up abruptly and thought she was suddenly willing to do what it took to save the kingdom. She marched to her door, completely intending to threaten the king, but then, as she placed her hand on the knob…
She leaned her forehead against the door with tears rolling down her cheeks and remembered a time long gone when the world which had previously been so dark and cruel to her, had suddenly become kind and compassionate.
__
Kori had been banished from Trella and had emerged from the dark forests into broad daylight. Because waifs were nocturnal creatures, the sun nearly blinded her eyes which were unused to its bright rays and she was exhausted to no end. She was starving and thirsty without food and water which she had run out of long before; her lips were chapped and she felt unimaginably dizzy.
The green grass, waving in the wind, swam beneath her eyes as she collapsed on her stomach.
Pained tears relentlessly spilled down her cheeks. “I shall die here… Maybe it’s for the better. I have no one left…”
She closed her eyes and thought she would die there and then, but she weakly opened her eyes some time later when she felt the ground rumbling beneath her fingers.
In the distance, she heard whistling being carried on the peaceful wind which kissed her hot skin.
The whistling kept getting closer and closer, but Kori didn’t care. She thought she was done for.
“What’s that? Good god! It’s a woman!” She heard something much bigger than a waif hit the ground nearby and rush to her side.
A human man rolled her onto her back with a strong hand. “A waif! Are you okay, miss? Hold on, I have some water.”
The man took a flask out of his pack which hung from his horse and manually sat Kori up so she could swallow the water.
It went down easily, and Kori never thought she could ever be so grateful for a drop of water.
In a moment, however, she turned her head to the side and wasted precious drops of it.. “Don’t waste water on me. I am a shame to all waifs; I’m a waste of life.”
The man turned her chin back and encouraged her to drink the water. “There’s no such thing as a waste of life. I can see the fire in your eyes; you can’t hide your will to live…”
Kori blinked slowly and gazed at the man who already had her naïve heart. “Who are you…?”
“My name is Laurence. What’s yours?”
“Kori.”
__
Kori quickly wiped tears from her eyes. “I love you, but I have to do this to you. You have lost your way, and I will be your wisp and get you back on the right path. I’m doing this for you as well as the kingdom!”
With no more reservations and doubts, she threw her door open and went to go confront Laurence.
Out in the hallway, she asked a maid running by whether she had seen Laurence.
“He’s in the garden with the queen.” The maid answered.
“Thank you.” Kori replied.
She descended to the first floor of the Great Hall down two staircases and watched the king through an open arch connecting the hallway to the garden.
He was playing with his child with Queen Harriet in tow--laughing gaily at how much fun the three were having.
Kori lost some of her resolve.
I can’t do this to him now… Not when he’s having so much fun…
And the waif turned away and took two steps back into the hallway before the elf’s voice echoed in her head.
You must stop at nothing to either convince the king or free me without his permission—even if you have to… Threaten him
.
Kori spun around and clenched her fists.
If not now, then when? I must be strong.
Kori marched out into the garden with resolve in her heart.
Queen Harriet waved to her cheerfully. “Hello Kori! Harold was just saying he wanted to play with you!”
Kori smiled sweetly at the young prince as he lovingly embraced her. “Play with me, Kori! Play with me! Conjure some magic and—"
“I’d love to, but I’m a little busy right now. I have urgent business with Laurence.” Kori interrupted and met Laurence’s eyes accusingly.
Laurence folded his arms across his chest and could not hide his tenseness; he said a little too snippily to his family, “leave us.”
Queen Harriet was surprised at his tone, but obeyed without question. She grabbed Harold’s hand and led him out of the garden.
Kori clasped her hands in front of her and narrowed her eyes determinedly.
King Laurence looked back at her—wondering just what she was planning.
“Laurence, I’m not playing games with you. Let me release the elf with your blessing, or I will tell Harriet of our affair.” Kori demanded with stony eyes.
Laurence’s mouth was agape—he was astonished at the lengths she was willing to go to. “You wouldn’t dare! You’re too kind—too sweet! Unless that monster Eory has rubbed off on you!”
Kori turned her back on him. “She’s still nearby. I’ll go tell her right now.”
“E-even if you did, she would not believe you! She is a wonderful, loyal wife—”
“She might not believe it at first,” Kori agreed. “But it would stick in her mind—and it wouldn’t just be her I tell. I would tell as many people as I could, and they would drag our names through the mud until it would be all Harriet could think of. Your reputation and hers would be ruined.”
The moment was pervaded by a nasty and menacing silence.
Kori didn’t know why, but she was shaking.
She heard Laurence approaching behind her.
She wasn’t expecting him to grab her shoulders and spin her around.
His fingers did not leave her thin shoulders and his nails ruthlessly dug into them. “You heartless bitch! Why would you ruin a wonderful marriage like this? Why should you drag my reputation through the mud and make the people doubt me? I saved your
life
!”
Kori froze under his gaze. Her eyebrows knitted as angry tears ran down her cheeks.
“Answer me!” Laurence yelled and slapped her across the face.
Kori put a hand to her cheek with blank eyes and murmured, “they already have reason to doubt you if you won’t even bother with trying to save their kingdom.”
Laurence raised his hand again and Kori turned her cheek defensively.
His hand wavered in the air.
He lowered it in a moment with a gasp of frustration. He turned his back to her. “You have my blessing. Take the elf and go.”
Kori’s face lit up for a moment, but then it turned to a frown when she realized she may have lost the man she loved forever. She turned toward the castle hallway and said through a lump in her throat, “thank you, Laurence.”
__
With Laurence’s blessing, Kori made plans and preparations to set out to Alanheim.
First, she oversaw a letter Francis wrote to the queen to make sure it said what she wanted it to say and would put her in good standing with the queen. Francis then sent it to the queen via carrier Pidgeon.
Laurence didn’t even come to see her off as she set off with Francis two days later with twenty soldiers travelling alongside them.
It broke her heart.