Chapter 5 The Glade in Londonatis.
As if waking from a distant dream Genia opened her eyes to a bright morning in a glade. It took her some moments to realise that she had come from a faraway land, so far away that it must have been in another universe.
She stretched and looked around. She sat on the wooden veranda of a small cottage. The stone cottage had four little windows, an emerald green door, green shutters and many happy plants growing up, around and in front of its walls. The veranda was well used, there was a witch’s broom, a few wooden chairs, a small oak table and bottles of blue and green glass dotted around. Big stone jars a foot tall stood in a line. Baskets of herbs and flowers, a pile of logs for the fire and several handmade pottery jugs were ready for use. Delicate wild flowers sprang from decorated vases resting here and there along the veranda’s simple balustrade. From the sloping roof of the veranda hung bunches of medicinal and magical plants drying in the sun beside several tinkling ceramic chimes, bird feeders and feathers of all descriptions.
Genia knew at once that this place was her home. She could picture every item inside and out. She got up and moved around as easily as if she had lived there all her life. Genia had an understanding of this place. It was as if she were coming to life though a meandering fog.
Jack, the woodsman, came slowly towards her from his cottage, beside which was his smithy. He wore his thick leather apron and was smudged with coal dust.
“I see you’ve come to, Princess.”
He looked at her kindly and patiently waited for her to speak.
“Jack. I know you Jack. So this is our new home. Tell me what you know for I am both calm and relieved yet scared and unknowing.”
Jack sat down beside Genia and called the boy. He ran out of Jack’s cottage. Kalo-Paidi was a lad of about twelve, always good natured, willing, strong and capable for his age.
“Princess,” started Jack, “ I shall tell you the story of this glade and then you shall know all that we know.”
Genia nodded and took a glass of raspberry leaf tea that Kalo gave her.
“ The place in which we find ourselves is an enchanted glade. We are in a great park in the city of Londonatis. It is called Hyde Park. This glade is invisible to those outside, we are shrouded in a magic cloak, no one can see in and no one can enter. The population of Londonatis may walk right beside us and never know that we are here.” He paused so that Genia could take all of this in.
“We have everything we need here. There is plenty of wood for our needs, a pool that fills with fresh water from an underground spring. The blessed sun streams into the open, grassy place where we live. We have our two cottages, my smithy and a garden for Kalo to grow food for us all. You have your own medicinal herb garden and workshop with your best beloved cauldron and a small, well-equipped laboratory. You have the finest loom and threads to weave your cloth. Your sweet sounding lute and harp lie inside, with music written by Greiglanders that is safely bound in leather and decorated by Lollie. There are sufficient books to entertain and teach you forever. They are magical bookshelves which will be forever replenished with new volumes to delight your mind.” Again he looked softly at Genia to see if she had heard him. She nodded and listened seriously.
“ When your child is born we shall care for you. We are able to leave the glade through the enchanted veil and walk in the park by night when we cannot be seen by others. By day we must reside here. It is true that we will be here for many a year. Should Prince Demetri find the portal from his world to this then you will be rescued from your distress. However, there is one condition for this rescue, he must recognise you as his one true love; he must recognise the same woman he knew before he went to war. His quest is not an easy one, for you will have changed Princes Genia, I now await your permission to show you how you will look to the rest of the world. Once your child has been born you will undergo a bodily transformation, you will cast off your youth and resemble an old lady. This has not come upon you yet, but I can show you in the magic silver mirror who you shall become.”
Genia was startled by this news. Everything was a great shock to her. She was trying her best to understand and accept all that she had heard. The thought of waiting for years to be reunited with her beloved knight, Demetri, was a great test of her fortitude. What if he never found the portal? What if he did not recognise her? It would be no good to say “This is me, your love and lady, Princess Genia!” The enchantment could be broken and return them all to Greiglands only if Demetri himself recognised his one true love.
Tears flowed down her cheeks. She was overwhelmed and exhausted at the same time. Kalo held out the silver mirror which she took with a shaking hand. As she gazed upon her future image she saw the most terrifying sight. The face that looked back at her was of, in truth, an ugly old crone. Genia would be bent over, her long grey hair screwed up into a bun on the top of her old head. Her eyes, whilst still the same windows to her soul, would rest in the deep, darkened sockets of a wrinkled old woman. Too tired and sad to almost breathe, Genia fell back in her chair to a near faint. Kalo and Jack aided her into the cottage and lay her upon the softest couch beside a pretty window where she could hear the birds singing. The sun cast its loving rays upon her sad wet eyes. Kalo helped her to drink a healing draft and she slept for two full days. After this she was fed good broth. She rose and accepting all that had befallen her with grace and dignity she began her new life in the glade.
Jack was a wise and protective woodsman. Despite his young face and strong body he was in fact hundreds of years old. Kalo tended to Genia’s needs and was a constant cheery companion as her pregnancy developed. Kalo was Fae, he was not even really sure from whence he came, but he knew everything he needed to in order to look after the princess. The days passed pleasantly as Genia grew large. She practised her magical arts and began to weave a beautiful tapestry to the glory and honour of her love for Demetri. The great scene began with their friendship as children depicting adventures they had enjoyed at The Summer Palace. The tapestry was of great solace to Genia, she was able to lose herself in joyful memories and sat back delightedly every evening to admire her work.
These three were perfect companions and in some ways their time in the glade passed happily and uneventfully. That is until Genia should be delivered of her child.
Throughout a cloudy and sullen day Genia barely knew how to stop between chores. Firstly, she sorted all of her flasks and bottles in her laboratory, dusting between everything, rearranging her notebooks and cleaning every drawer in her apothecary’s chest. Then bustling around she swept the whole cottage with her witch’s besom. Dust was flying everywhere.
“ A fine job you’re doing there, my cottage needs a bit of a helping hand too!” laughed Jack.
They lunched on a fine pottage that Kalo had made with hunks of brown seed bread on the side. The men put their feet up to jaw away the afternoon with tales of the Southern Coastal Lands where nature was at its most curious. Legends had come down the ages of strange seagoing creatures, only seen by fishermen of the deep who dared venture past the Sea of Par, past Rivermouth and into The Long Sea itself. Jack loved to while away a lazy afternoon telling Kalo and Genia all about the tales of yore.
Genia sprang up from her chair.
“I haven’t time to waste jawing!”
She hurried into the garden, took in all the sweet smelling washing and had it all put away before you could say ‘By Greta!’. The men watched her as she weeded the garden, trimmed the shrubs and gathered armfuls of pungent flowers for the cottage. At last she eased her large pregnant body into her chair beside the others.
“ Well now Genia, have you ever seen a busy little harvest mouse tidying her nest just before she has her babies?”
“No, why?”.
“I dare say that you shall have your baby very soon now.”
“No!” she said in a determined way. “I don’t want to have it yet”.
Kalo and Jack laughed quietly at her .
“Nature will take its course. Now you tell us what you would like to do.”
So it was decided that Genia would have her baby by the clear pool in amongst the soft grass. Jack and Kalo made her a comfortable nest of soft sheepskins, pillows and velvet covers. They put a basket of tempting fruit and cordials beside this. Jack placed a box of soothing potions within reach and encircled the bank with pretty lanterns of green and pink glass. A small fire pit was laid and lit for comfort. A woven basket of fairy willow lay with soft cobweb shawls for the baby. Sponges from the coastal lands were on a silver platter holding a silver bowl full of cool, clear water. Over this place was an ancient oak through which honeysuckle grew and scented the bower. The arms of this dear tree were outstretched for Genia to hold on to when her time came.
It was not long before Genia’s pains had started. She walked around her garden for as long as she could and Kalo and Jack kept her cheerful even though they could see grave worry on her face; she bore this with dignity. As night came upon them they took her to the bower amongst the pretty lamps. They removed themselves to a nearby tree and played sweet music to her through the night. Time bore no relation to anything she had ever known and many hours of pain gave way to a peaceful period.
“This is not my time,” she mused.
She was wrong for within a short period she was pushing in earnest and holding the branch of the oak tree tightly. She strained and pushed and pressed her chin against her chest and breathed as deeply as she could, but she did not cry out for help. All the while she held dear in her mind the image of her true love, her knight and true friend, Demetri.
At last the baby came out with a cry and she held her to her own breast. The girl child suckled and Genia, exhausted with effort had never been so happy. She wrapped the babe tightly in the swaddling webs and called for the men to come.
Their joy was great and honest love did they feel for Genia and her baby. They were all smiles.
At length Genia said this to them,
“I shall tell you now of a strange dream I had last night. I dreamed that I went back to the day when Lady Sage told me that I must flee The Western Farmlands to save the people from the evils of Lord Ivy. She told me that I must away with my child to protect the Kings and their Kingdoms. One thing I remember very clearly was that I had felt unwell for many days after I had drunk deeply from my goblet. The liquid was sour and made my body hurt. I believe now that I had drunk an enchanted brew, a witch’s brew! In my dream the child I brought forth was half human and half fish. A mer-child. And now with a pain in my breast, a pain for the true love of my baby, and a pain for the bewilderment that it causes me, I shall show you my child.”
They looked from her face to the body of the tiny girl and it was there for them all to see that the baby had a fish’s tail.
Jack and Kalo sat close by and attended Genia carefully. She had everything she needed in this hour, except her dear Demetri.
“I have seen this before,” said Jack. “ This is indeed the product of a witch’s brew. But do not despair, there are two possibilities for this to come right. You can nurse your baby by the pool, by day she shall swim and by night she shall sleep. When she is weaned she must go and live in the nearby Serpentine Lake. She can live as a fish by day and you can transform her by magic at night time. I shall teach you how to make the Silver Pear. This pear is like no other. You will pass through the veil out of the glade every evening and attach the pear to the silver birch that stands tall by the lake. I shall summon Hecate, a dog, to guard your child and he shall lead her to you at the Silver Birch. She shall eat of the pear and by night become human. She will enter the glade with you each night and we shall teach her how to become a learned Princess. When the time comes for your enchantment to be broken, she will return with us to Grieglands and fulfil her own destiny.”
Jack took a long pause while the very tired Genia took all of this in. She was resolved, she would look after her child by the pool and when the babe was big enough she would place her in the great Serpentine Lake in the Park. Not one tear did she shed, for she knew that strong magic was at force here and no amount of crying would change it. She resolved to be the best mother she could, despite the curse, and lay back into sleep cradling her dear baby who she named Scylla.
Yet another blow was to befall Genia, for when she awoke she had indeed transformed into an old crone.
Jack and Kalo treated Genia as they always had done and tried to make their life as happy as they could. They played with the child, they bathed, sang to and cuddled the child. They read to Genia and played sweet music to her. They helped in her glorious garden and foraged and fetched for her potions. Genia read wonderful books and her bookshelves did indeed produce lovely story books for Scylla. Hecate, the dog, had come to be the child’s guardian and sat loyally beside her every day. Scylla was a very happy baby and had no idea that all mothers were not as ugly as her own. Scylla was not sad to be taken to the Serpentine where she had great freedom and loved her fish-life by day. Each night Hecate took her to the Silver Birch where she would eat of the Silver Pear and return with her loving mother to the night Glade.
Scylla grew up and began to watch the people of Londonatis as they passed through Hyde Park. She saw humans and Smarles, tall Luna people, busy, noisy Baffle people, Moon sprites and Fairies and many others who made up the population of this busy city. Most of all Scylla was interested in other girls, what they did, what they wore, how they laughed and joked and the boys and girls they seemed to like.
Genia had not been idle in her time at the Glade. She had been teaching Scylla all that she needed to know to grow up. Genia had been relentlessly weaving her own sad tale into the tapestry. Genia, Jack and Kalo made their time in Londonatis tolerable and often pleasant. They gardened and cooked, played music and Genia wrote poetry and songs. She had also been using all of her magical skills and knowledge to try and catch a glimpse of the old world in her powerful cauldron. It had not occurred to her that this may lead to yet more sadness but she was determined to try all the same. One shocking day she saw a swirling purple mist and within the haze she could see through time and space. Genia did not know what to expect or who to expect. At first she was delighted to hazily and dimly see Diana and Celeste by magic, but instead of reassuring her it had dismayed her beyond belief that they did not know her and they could not recognise her. Many tears were shed that afternoon and try as they might Jack and Kalo could not comfort her. Genia’s only solace was that she had the love of her dearest daughter and as usual she eagerly looked forward to nightfall when she could see Scylla again.
Every night Scylla was happy to be with Jack, Kalo and her dear mother.
Around the time of her thirteenth birthday Scylla broke a string on her favourite lute and suddenly the world changed. She was angry. She was angry that she had no friends, she was angry that she had no father, she was angry that she was neither human nor fish. Most of all she was angry with her mother. How dare she give birth to a monster? How dare she agree to lose her life as a Princess and be condemned to live her life in exile? It was ridiculous to suppose that her father would ever come and free them.
“I hate you mother. I hate you for what you have made me. I shall never forgive you.”
This broke Genia’s heart but she did not say so. She tried to cheer her child but she could not make things better. Jack took Scylla aside and explained to her why all this had happened. Scylla was not ready to forgive her mother but promised that she would continue to eat the Silver Pear and visit the enchanted Glade every night, but she could no longer promise to do this without sorrow.
It happened that Scylla’s heart now had a little hole in it. This little hole shone with a green light which could be seen by a very wicked witch indeed. The witch of the lake, the guardian of the lake, The Midnight Lady. This lady had seen Scylla grow up and while Scylla’s heart was whole The Lady’s evil magic could hold no sway with her, but now that there was a small, green space there, The Midnight Lady could enter in and would one day consume the young mermaid.
Londonatis was a wonderous place. Of course the city was alive with magic but the greater proportion of the population did not know this. The needy and the greedy would always seek out magic and sorcery to steal and use for their own ends, which were usually greed, power and subjugation. The Londonatis folk were comprised mainly of humans, Smarles and Lunari who had only one memory of living harmoniously together forever in this land. Of course there were hundreds of other great peoples who came from continents far and wide, too numerous to mention. The population of this small island had seen many invasions and migrations over thousands of years and there was a wonderful mixture of languages and cultures. The noisy Baffle people were also present in abundance and what fun they were. They were indeed baffling because they spoke very loudly, even at close quarters, and were relentlessly joyful and productive. That is why the old saying went “If you want something doing, and doing well, ask a Baffler”. What was much more of an ancient secret was that fairies, Moonsprites and wood nymphs really did exist, they were not just the stuff of children’s bedtime stories, and they quietly went about their fairy and spritely business diligently under the cover of nature and magic. They too revered the deities of nature and Greta-Rosetta, the Great Oneness. They could commune with space sprites and interpret the great scientific findings of the Rosetta Mind, the one, knowing mind. Their interpretation was of a simple form, but it was enough to say that if Greta-Rosetta spoke through space and time, then the space sprites could tell the fairies and Moonsprites. They could, in turn, tell the Smarles and they would tell all of the talking, flying animals and the few wizards and witches from the human world.
Human witches and wizards were usually all on the side of good and came upon magic, as if called to it, in their teenage years. They would study under the elders and in turn they would teach the youngsters when they had reached magical maturity. Very occasionally a witch or wizard would go bad like an old pear, mouldering away inside, but this was very, very rare. A bad pear could be recognised instantly by a good magician. No one really knew why a learned magician would go bad but there were a few theories; that they had received a bang on the head and couldn’t remember the reason why they had the power of magic in the first place; that they had been severely mistreated and considered that their personal pain would be reduced by causing pain and mischief to others; finally that they were enchanted by a learned bad pear with evil on their mind. All in all it was a relief that there were very few bad pears in Londonatis and the peoples of a magical persuasion kept an ear to nature and space to warn them of any foreboding doom.
It was a good job that Genia was protected in her glade and in her turn Scylla was protected. Yet by and by a cold wind was blowing through Hyde Park and it rippled on the waves of the Serpentine. The grebes and coots were all awash, the fish swam lower in the water and songbirds kept to the safety of their roosts. The cold wind hung with a dark mist above the lake one day and caused all the visitors to the park to hasten home as their clothes were becoming saturated with damp. On the lunchtime news the weather report said that the weather had been ‘very localised’ in Hyde Park that day and that ‘an unusual fog had hung in the air, which was not present on Hyde Park Corner just beside the gates. The diners in The Ritz were not just happily oblivious to their surroundings as they normally were, but they were oblivious to the menacing evil that was spreading from a throbbing, sinister vibration that was emanating from the lake. Circular ripples spread out from this centre point and when at last there was no one to witness the evil, when there was no visibility left to see the evil, when there was only vibration to sense the evil, a woman of extraordinary beauty rose from the lake. She was dressed from head to tail in watery garments, her gown was neither cloth nor weed, her hair was neither black nor blue, her skin was of a gothic hue. She held up her scaley hands and long protruding nails, dirty with silt and mud, spread out with webs between her fingers. This lady held her head aloft and breathed deeply of the wet air. She cupped a handful of green lake water and half poured, half spilled it into her beautiful mouth. Her face shimmered with a ghostly light and despite her unearthly appearance she was mesmerizingly beautiful.
Scylla slid to the surface and peeped at this wonderful apparition from between the bullrushes. Her eyes were wide with disbelief.
“Another creature of the water? A creature just like me?” She mused.
“Fear not Scylla. I am The Midnight Lady and I come in peace. I am the guardian of the lake and I come to greet you and share my goodness and love with you. I shall bestow upon you many gifts and joys and we shall become ever more dear to one another.”
Scylla could not believe her luck. A fellow creature of the water, a friend to call her own who didn’t live in that stuffy glade, someone who would know and understand her. Her heart was bursting with new found hope as she slithered lower in the water, swam to The Midnight Lady and held her cold, cold hand. The lady grasped her hand with tight, wet, webbed fingers and pulled her under the water where they frolicked for the rest of the day. When night came the lady had mysteriously disappeared. Scylla rose from the water, met Hecate at the water’s edge, Hecate growled, which he had never done before, she then found her mother, her ugly, old mother, with the Silver Pear. She ate the pear and vanished through the veil into the glade. The green hole in her heart caused her some pain as she passed through the veil but she deceitfully behaved as she always did and told no one of The Midnight lady.
