The Noldrin Witch
Chapter 1
Elise was born into the perilous circumstances of the lower class, but around her humble town, there was no danger greater than the danger of gossip. For this, she had already suffered many small cruelties.
She had been born just after her parents had run out of dreadful family names to curse their children with. In a stroke of luck, she had been the brightest and most sensitive of her lot.
However, as is not uncommon for people of the lower sort, misfortune quickly reached her at the age of eighteen when both her parents passed.
The little inheritance was quickly seized by her greedy elder siblings, and she was left with only two books to call her own.
The siblings had taken possession of the small hovel where they lived, along with every single piece of furniture, spoon, and frayed basket inside the dwelling.
Not being particularly attached to such sensible folk, Elise quickly looked for employment as a companion to an older lady who lived in town.
Her pleasant appearance opened the door to a better life, and soon after moving in with the wealthy woman, she began to feel that her fortune might take a turn for the better and that she might even marry an honorable gentleman among the circle of her new protector.
Excited at the prospect of being around more educated company, Elise was quick to make herself useful around Lady Patrice. The noblewoman’s house was large and filled with countless servants. The lady was kind by nature, and Elise grew to like her in no time.
Her protector’s grace, however, did not extend to Elise alone. The house was crowded with people pushing their way toward a more comfortable life under the good woman’s wealth.
Lady Patrice’s wing spread wide among those in need, so wide that one of her more faithful servants was a wretched woman who carried her daughter wherever she went.
While the woman scrubbed floors and polished silver, the girl busied herself clearing cupboards and devouring anything edible in the house.
The child’s healthy appetite seemed to Elise like that of a goose being fattened for Christmas.
To these people’s good fortune, Lady Patrice possessed not only a heart of gold but a hearty appetite to match, and her house was kept abundantly stocked, so that all might have their fill at any hour.
With little stomach for conflict and a fondness for life’s smaller comforts, the noblewoman never raised an argument nor voiced a complaint.
Not even when the loyal servant announced she had been blessed with another fatherless child did Lady Patrice ask her to leave. The lady seemed incapable of turning away from any situation, however self-serving or parasitic, that sought her attention.
Despite a few less gracious souls who took more than they gave, Elise lived for months without bickering or trouble.
Believing such things were perhaps natural among the elite and being so well treated by all in Lady Patrice’s service, the thought of protest hardly crossed her mind.
She rejoiced in the comfortable life she had secured for herself and regarded such absurdities and follies as little more than daily amusements.
Elise had always been fond of long strolls, and finding plenty of space to wander about on Lady Patrice’s estate, she soon found herself walking daily in the meadows surrounding her protector’s home.
She spent long stretches reading and, within months of rubbing elbows with the refined, acquired a more sophisticated manner of speech.
The polish came to her as naturally as grime to the gutters.
On her long walks, Elise had made the acquaintance of a small, wild bunny that lingered beside a bench near the lake where she would often settle to read.
She went there whenever Lady Patrice was busy in the kitchens or meddling in the lives of the unfortunate, which left Elise ample time to read through half the manor’s modest library.
She had named her small, furry friend Timothy and made a habit of bringing pieces of apple to feed the little creature.
She soon gained its trust, and the animal began to follow her like a pet, always waiting for the hour she would come to read by the water.
In a house full of people, it was the little creature whose company Elise valued most.
Lady Patrice, who took little interest in anything beyond emptying plates, quickly noticed that Elise maintained a slender figure despite eating heartily. Hoping to shed some of the girth she had accumulated over years of indulgence, she promptly set the girl to cook for her.
With a ready wit and a lively imagination, Elise proved a wonderful cook at once.
Eager to repay Lady Patrice’s kindness, she set about creating recipes of her own, guided only by a handful of books on the subject.
Her particular talent lay in baking. She prepared pies and breads that soon ensured Lady Patrice not only failed to lose a single ounce but gained a few stones over the course of the summer.
Even a couple of dishes she made with rancid oil by accident, the noblewoman gobbled without complaint.
Elise’s diligent efforts were greatly valued by her benefactor. Within only a few months, fortune seemed so firmly in her favor that she caught the eye of a young man of good looks and even better standing. The strapping lad in question was none other than Lady Patrice’s nephew, Edward.
The young gentleman had come to visit his aunt each summer without fail. To Elise, Edward appeared as a prince from a fairy tale—a rescuer, as if sent by the heavens to complete the happiness she had so recently found.
All the better, the handsome youth was but a year her senior and well practiced in the noble art of handling coin. Each year he came not only to enjoy the country air, but to keep Lady Patrice’s accounts in order.
Edward fell head over heels at the sight of Elise, who by then had acquired a good level of refinement, and most importantly, a wardrobe that accentuated her most enticing features.
She was a warm comfort to everyone around her, the very picture of grace.
But it was not Elise’s appearance alone that captured Edward’s attention; her wit and easy humor did much to captivate the young man’s mind.
The lad pursued her with such fervor that Elise was overwhelmed at first, but soon she allowed herself to believe his good intentions.
Edward would spend his days writing poems, recounting his family history in earnest detail, and declaring his admiration openly before Lady Patrice.
It was little wonder, then, that Elise came to see her happily ever after within only a few weeks of courtship.
After having finished his work on Lady Patrice’s books, he returned every fortnight to spend time with Elise. With the passing months, it was only natural that she came to trust him more and more.
Lady Patrice was delighted to the marrow when Edward announced he wished to make Elise part of the family. The betrothal was to be celebrated in the coming summer, as he knew Elise liked the idea of holding the merriment under the warm winds by the lake.
With the prospect of a brighter life now before her, Elise let herself delve deep into fantasies of romance and eternal love.
For the first time in her life, she felt she had stepped into heaven and saw her future groom with kinder eyes than perhaps he deserved.
The young man was comely by anyone’s measure; his strong torso had the sort of shape that could melt any woman’s heart.
And although Edward was not burdened by an excess of height, Elise found that his frame, better suited to low ceilings, was all charm and no flaw in any regard.
She saw him as perfectly suited to spend the rest of her days with.
Elise, already somewhat versed in the conflicts of the body’s natural desires, decided not to risk a surprise, or worse, a great misfortune on her wedding night.
She therefore found it fitting to have some small notion of what awaited her.
Edward, in spite of being a well-bred young man, was no stranger to such carnal inclinations and encouraged Elise’s curiosity with remarkable enthusiasm.
No sooner had Elise approved of Edward’s performance in the matter than she saw no further cause for delay and allowed him to parade about their beloved town of Noldrin, proclaiming he had found his wife and subtly implying that the wedding must come to pass at any cost.
Prudent as Elise liked to think of herself, she also shared some of her wishes and hopes with a few willing ears, an economy of discretion she would soon come to regret. In a small town between rival territories as Noldrin was, such confidences traveled faster than fire through dry straw.
The whispers reached Lady Patrice at once, and being much averse to confrontation, the wealthy lady resolved to hold her tongue and hasten the preparations for the occasion.
During the months of hushed gossip, Edward visited even more frequently, and people’s imaginations soon began to run wild.
With little more to do than prepare meals and tend to their trades, the good folk of the town had no desire to leave any tale untold, and before long, the rumors outpaced the reality of Elise’s situation.
Nevertheless, Elise went into town so rarely that she worried little about any ill will from the good people of Noldrin. She figured she was soon to be betrothed, and any impropriety would be neatly amended in a matter of months.
But happiness is rarely unattended for long, and as is often the case, joy comes only to harden the sting when reality fails to shape our deepest wishes.
As Elise was occupied adding to Edward all the virtues imaginable and painting her future life with the kind of splendor reserved for a romance of the century, her hometown was in a perilous political state.
Noldrin was, by its very nature, a land of quiet tension.
Nestled between two powerful kingdoms, Falaine and Bromheim, it was only natural that the people of the town be acquainted with both the virtues and the vices of each realm.
Though Noldrin belonged to Falaine by right, Bromheim had long kept a watchful eye upon such fertile lands.
The small town of Noldrin produced more grain and cotton than much of Bromheim itself, and being so near and already familiar with its customs, it was hardly surprising that the kingdom would seek to claim such a modest prize as its own.
Only a wooden bridge separated the two nations, and the shallow river that softened the meadows between them did little to discourage the ambitions of the foreign side.
The blending of traditions proved, at times, more a curse than a blessing. News was treated as currency, and shifting loyalties were no matter to trifle with.
Bromheim was present in Noldrin not only in the architecture of half its dwellings but in the saints invoked within its only chapel. The very cut and fashion of the garments worn about the town square stood as plain signs of Bromheim’s growing influence.
The people of Noldrin had long favored modest dress, yet the allure of Bromheim’s fashion quickly reshaped that centuries-old restraint into something rather more revealing.
The men took to wearing leggings so tight that the townsfolk first found them scandalous, only to grow accustomed to them in no time.
A woman needed only a single glance to know all she cared to know.
It was during these times that a political council between the King of Falaine and a commander from Bromheim gave rise to a tale that would spark the final cause for conflict.
The commander, Sir Langohr, was a fine fellow known less for valor than for his talent in twisting words. The crafty man visited the king with every intention of coaxing a few explosive remarks about the monarch of Bromheim.
To Sir Langohr’s good fortune, the opportunity was not spoiled, and he ended the meeting with just the right amount of venom to spin a tale of convenient outrage.
The good people of Bromheim, divided as they were by their own stubborn ways, found it impossible to declare war outright, as they were not certain that all the cities of the kingdom would unite in a common cause against Falaine.
So the general, Sir Langohr, took it upon himself to see that his tale reached the King of Falaine as well, trusting, with some confidence, that His Majesty would be inclined to begin the proceedings.
The monarch of Falaine, known as a proud man, was quick to announce war upon hearing his words so carefully rearranged, and with that, the King of Bromheim found himself appearing the injured party and able to gather without question the alliance of all the armies in his kingdom.
This marked the series of events that would put Elise’s happiness and comfort to the test and reveal in time the true nature of Edward’s so-called love.