Chapter 8
THE TALE OF THE THREE SISTERS
As night fell, The Queen, The Baroness and The Princess were welcomed to the formal banquet in the great hall.
They were well-rested and dressed in the gifts of finery laid out in the bedchambers.
The Lord Chamberlain ushered them to seats, side by side, in a position of great honour high above the salt.
Golden goblets of honey-drenched mead were placed before them, the smell as intoxicating and welcoming as a summer’s day.
The assembled courtiers listened with rapt attention as they encouraged The Queen, The Baroness and The Princess to recount the tales of their adventures.
‘We are sisters,’ said The Queen.
‘Alone in the world, except for each other,’ continued The Baroness.
‘Determined to do good,’ added The Princess. ‘We travel far and wide, but not, as we often suggest, at the behest of our husbands. Our journeys manifest because we feel compelled to move ever forward, as though we’re searching for an answer to a question we do not know.’
She placed her hand over her mouth, horrified by her own words.
The Queen and The Baroness did not react and The Princess felt a thrill of unease.
She would never ordinarily reveal this secret.
The wanderlust in their souls had been with them since childhood, but they never spoke of it; to do so would be a betrayal of their bond of blood.
She waited for a reproachful look, but it was as though her sisters had not heard her words.
‘Will you know when you find it?’ asked a tall man who stood alone, nonchalantly leaning against a pillar carved with images of dragons, his face hidden in shadows.
‘The question?’ asked The Queen.
‘Or the answer?’ said The Baroness.
‘Both,’ said the man, stepping forward into the light.
As he did, the three sisters gasped. For each saw their tormentor in the face of this man.
‘We will,’ said The Princess, her voice cracking with horror but compelled to respond. ‘We will recognise both and then our journey will be over.’
‘And what if you never find them?’ said the man, his features flickering, his face altering with each turn of his head.
‘Our journey will never end,’ replied The Queen.
‘And we will never return home,’ finished The Baroness.
The Princess stared at her sisters in shock. When she turned back to address the man, he was gone and the banquet continued as though nothing unusual had been discussed.