Jori - A Fairy Tale of Sorts Ch. 03

Jori Part 3 -- Transformation

A Fairy Tale of Sorts

Author's note: This is part 3 of a 4-part story arc. Please read parts 1 and 2 first. As always, character development is important to me so most of my stories start slowly. All characters, mythical and otherwise, are over eighteen.

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This time, he wasn't surprised.

At least, not by waking up with the crone. He was surprised by how good she felt to him. Last time, he'd been so upset, he hadn't really noticed. He'd had enough wits to ask to see her naked, when they awoke and she left the bed. His curiosity had taken over.

This time, he wasn't panicking. He was appreciating.

He held still as he watched her sleep, peaceful and completely relaxed, tucked in against him. She was old and she was frail, but somehow she was still beautiful. And her skin, though old and wrinkled, felt smooth and warm to him. The early morning light played across the furrows in her skin, making strange shadow patterns, teasing the imagination.

Like the knights on horseback, riding up her arm. Or the dragon in flight on her thigh. Her long, wispy hair lay across her little sack of a breast, like a little silver river flowing across a mill dam. So many odd images floated through his mind as he lay there and watched her breathe.

She moved once, mumbling, probably dreaming. The movement freed his arm so he could ease out of bed without waking her. Except this time, instead of figuring out how to leave, he turned his thoughts to making tea. And maybe some breakfast. Something to be nice to her.

He stoked up the fire and put water on to boil. He rummaged through her larder, looking for something to use for breakfast. He found the little cold-box behind her hutch and discovered eggs and sausage and chilled fruit juices. He found her supply of bread and nearby the jams and jellies which someone -- probably her -- had carefully preserved. It took awhile, but he finally found her bin of teas and was surprised at the variety. He took out some raspberry and peach, intending to blend them.

He had a fairly decent breakfast put together when she stirred.

She reached behind her and suddenly seemed disconcerted, feeling around. Realizing it was him she was looking for, Jori moved quickly to the bed. He was still undressed, not having bothered to put on clothes while making breakfast, so he quickly snuggled up behind her and took her in his arms, leaning forward to tell her softly, in her ear, "breakfast is ready when you are, my love."

She sighed and relaxed into him, and he could feel the smile on her face.

"Your love, is it?" she chuckled in her old crone laugh... not really a cackle, just, well... old.

"Yes, my Lady," he assured her. "My love. And I have breakfast for you, and then -- if you don't have any more chores of immediate need -- I plan to pamper you all day, and all night, and make love with you over, and over, until you are the happiest woman in this world."

She pushed her butt back into him.

"How do you know I do not have an important Council of Centaurs meeting to attend?" she asked, a very slight tease in her voice. "Or the High Fae Council? Or perhaps my agenda today included walking among my trees and plants and animals, and hearing all that there is going on in the world?"

"I do not," he admitted, seriously. "But if that is my Lady's schedule, then so be it. I will wait upon your return and have a hot meal and a well-attended bed waiting for you."

She rolled over to face him, taking his face in her hands.

"Oh, my Jori," she sighed. "You are such a wonderful man. I really don't want to break the magic of this moment, however..." and she started squirming towards the edge of the bed. "I must also heed Nature's call."

He let her go as she slipped outside to the privy there. As he watched the doorway, he was struck by inspiration. Breakfast in bed sounded wonderfully decadent. He rose and went to the fireplace, putting together a plate of food and a cup of tea which he brought back and set on the small nightstand beside her bed. Then he crawled back in.

She returned with a bemused expression as she surveyed the scene before her. Then she walked to the edge of the bed and pointed at the food.

"For me?" she asked innocently.

Jori nodded and she smiled, then crawled into the bed, sitting up against the headboard as she brought the breakfast to her lap and began eating.

"You are not eating?" she asked as she noticed him sitting and watching her.

"I have already eaten, my Lady," he told her with a shrug. "I am simply waiting for dessert."

She smiled and shook her head, going back to her breakfast. When finished, she set the dishes aside and drained her tea, then offered Jori the cup.

"More, perhaps?" she asked. "If it is not an inconvenience."

He was up and out of the bed like a shot, taking the cup from her and hurrying over to the fireplace, to brew a fresh cup and bring it back to her. He felt her eyes on him and hoped it was with approval. In fact, she was admiring his fine ass. And fine everything else, for that matter. Farming life did have the advantage of keeping one physically fit, well into maturity. No less true for this newly minted man.

After returning her tea to her, he crawled back into bed and resumed his watchfulness.

"This is a very nice surprise, my Jori," she told him. "Unexpected and very welcome. I would know, though... what would you have of me now?"

"That you would let me pleasure you again," he told her honestly. "But have you stay in this form. Not change into your other selves. I would like to make love with you, my lovely woman."

She sighed as she put down her cup.

"I am sorry, Jori, I cannot..." she told him in a very soft voice. "Your pleasuring rejuvenates me, at least for a time, and I cannot control it."

He looked at her for a long moment before daring to ask, "is it that you are enchanted? Or cursed?"

"Something like that," she nodded. "Think of my rejuvenation as a respite from a curse, yet with the certain knowledge that I must return to this form. I suppose I should explain my origins." She settled back against the bed and fluffed a pillow up behind her before continuing.

"I was born a very long time ago to Sir Richàrd Gauvain, or White Hawk, and his wife -- my mother -- Lady Arlene. We lived on an estate not far from here. In fact, Forêt Gauvain was part of my father's holdings, though it is now known as Blackheart Forest. I was a very fair maiden and grew up in an idyllic world where all my needs and wants were met by my station. To be fair, both my mother and my father instilled a strong sense of noblesse oblige in me, insisting that I look after the health and happiness of our serfs."

"I used to love riding through these woods, confident that none would harm me or face the wrath of my father. I was, to put it mildly, blessedly naïve. I came to think of the woods and the creatures in it as mine, and treated them as such. I suppose it was only their infinite kindness that allowed me to survive with such delusions."

"When I reached the very precocious age of fifteen, I was given in marriage to Baron Lionel de Beauchene. It was an arranged marriage, the Baron being the liege-lord of my father. The Baron was old and overweight, and not particularly good with personal hygiene, but I did my duty and allowed him to breed me. I had already lost my maidenhead to one of father's Horse-master's Apprentices, so it did not bother me greatly. The Baron wanted sons. Unfortunately, all I gave him were daughters. I was seventeen during my first pregnancy, and it was during that time that my gift -- or curse -- of prophecy was discovered."

"I had always had feelings about the world around me as I grew up. A sort of sense of the Balance of Nature and what kind of things would happen in the near future, especially if the natural balance was out of kilter. I knew things were going to happen before they did. When I became pregnant with my first child, the feelings turned to revelations. Out of nowhere, a trance would come over me and I would see roiling clouds filling my vision, and words filling my mouth, which I would utter whether I wanted to or not. They were always prophecies, usually dire ones, and unlike other seers, I could remember in perfect detail precisely what I had said. And though I did not talk about it, I often knew exactly what the prophecy meant."

"I also found with my first pregnancy, and intensifying during my second and third, that there were a lot of mystical abilities I had acquired. Or perhaps they had been latent and were just becoming active. I found I could read minds -- quite disconcerting, believe me. I could sense illness, though there might not have been any outward signs. I could understand and communicate with a wide range of animals. I could predict the weather, from feelings I got from the plants around me."

"Most unusual to me was dream-walking. Not walking in my sleep as others do. Lying in bed or sitting in a chair while my spirit left my body and traveled around, mostly near my husband's castle but also abroad in the land at times. Just before I gave birth to my daughter Aimée, I had a very strange dream-walk in which I saw agents of the King murdering my husband's younger brother. They made it look like a hunting accident, but I knew it was not. I resolved to tell my husband about this very strange dream."

"I did not have a chance to tell him, for I went into labor very shortly thereafter. By the time Aimée was born and he was allowed to see me, he greeted me with a very heavy heart. He informed me that he had just received word that his brother had died in a hunting accident two days previous. I was struck speechless. He misinterpreted my silence and tried to console me, saying that sometimes the vagaries of Life were simply not just and that the innocent must suffer as well as the guilty."

"I then experienced my first public prophecy. I was lying in my bed with my daughter on my teat, when I experienced the trance and the clouds, and I spoke the following words in a voice not truly my own. I said, 'The storm approaches which the Lion cannot weather. Death shall wear fair countenance and smile upon the taking of the life. The tempest shall shake the world to its roots and none shall be spared the privation.' I came out of the trance to see all in the room staring at me."

"This was the first time anyone other than my handmaiden had heard any of my pronouncements. 'What do you mean, Angelique?' my husband asked, but I could not tell him. I was not sure. All I could say was that our family was in danger and we must be vigilant."

"Later dream-walks revealed more of the story to me. In fact, they showed me what eventually came to pass. The King's brother, Duke Damien, along with Cardinal Lévesque, had plotted to overthrow the King. All those loyal to the King were to be arrested on false charges, spirited away and imprisoned, or killed. All their lands would be forfeit. I warned my husband, as the knowledge came to me, and to give him his due, he listened. He was careful to stay neutral and not become embroiled in the royal politics."

"It was eleven months later and I was pregnant with my second daughter, Désirée, when the King met with his hunting accident and Duke Damien ascended to the throne. As I had foreseen, those loyal to King Marceau disappeared and their lands were seized by the Crown, and large grants were given to the Church, under the control of the Cardinal. My husband, fortunately, was not one of the victims. I continued to give him advice based on my perceptive abilities and he continued to navigate the treacherous political waters."

"It was after Désirée was born and I was pregnant with my third daughter, Gisèle, that I had a series of premonitions regarding a great famine and drought about the sweep the land. They would be accompanied by great pestilence and disease, and I did not become very popular in voicing them. I predicted an epidemic which was fatal to the very young and the very old. I predicted war on our borders from invading barbarians. I came to be looked at as a sort of social pariah, and it became worse when my predictions came true. Even my husband began to fear me. Rumors began that I had the power to cause these things to happen, in order to elevate my own importance and self-esteem."

"When Aimée was seven years old, and Désirée five, and Gisèle three, I had a series of premonitions which scared even me. In my dream-walks, I would see a monstrous huge dragon from the tales of old pillaging the countryside, laying waste to everything and everyone. All the King's soldiers were impotent before it and no one knew how to stop it. Men were throwing their virgin daughters in its path, hoping to placate it. Towns were pooling everything they had to raise a bounty in hopes of attracting a warrior up to the task of killing it. And nothing was working."

"When I timidly broached my visions to my husband, he did listen -- he always had -- but he dismissed my visions as an overactive imagination. After all, no one in living memory could remember a dragon. No one even knew of someone who had, or even had an ancestor who had battled one. The dragon, he decided, was a mythological creature and my mind had probably seized upon it as a metaphor for the current King and our political situation."

"As the dream-walk visions not only continued, but increased, I tried to convince him... but he only became more convinced that I was losing my mind. He was already somewhat afraid of me. The insidious rumors of my ability to control events had already begun to work on him. Some of his closer counselors -- men more of avarice than benevolence, to my mind -- suggested I should be removed from the area, lest my presence actually cause my catastrophic predictions to come true, right on top of them. They began to refer to me as Sybille, the Prophetess. Over time, they bent his mind to their will. They turned the people against me. My Lord became convinced that I had become insane and that I did, in fact, have the power to wreak destruction upon all of them."

"Nothing I did could dissuade him. Not logic, nor affection, nor crying, begging, pleading. Nor threats. In the end, I believe I might have actually gone mad, for I saw in my visions the destruction of my family -- husband, daughters, all. The King heard about my ravings, through those same counselors, I am sure. He ordered my Lord and husband to banish me, beyond any inhabited lands. My Lord had no recourse but to obey."

"In one of his last acts of charity towards me, he determined that these woods that I so loved were 'beyond any inhabited lands' and sent me here, under guard to be abandoned to the woods. His other charitable act was to send my daughters to the Abbey at Couronne de Chêne, which is now St. Germaine, there to live in the Convent until their majority. That, at least, spared them the horrible death that descended upon my husband, his household, his castle and his lands."

"My connection to that world was severed in those moments, and my connection to this forest established. May I have more tea, Jori? Perhaps we should move to sit by the fire."

"As you wish, my Lady," he answered, absolutely fascinated. "I would ask that you not put on your shift, though."

Her eyebrow definitely went up in a look of quizzical surprise. "Why?" she asked, beginning to ease out of the bed.

"Because I get great pleasure from seeing you thus," he answered honestly. "You are fascinating to me, and your wrinkles are at odds with your aura of power and knowledge. I like them both, and would like to enjoy them both."

She just smiled as she moved slowly to her chair by the fire, not donning her shift as she usually would have. He was delighted, and hurried to fix her a new cup of tea. He brought it to her and then sat expectantly, hoping for the story to continue.

She settled in and sipped her tea a bit as she gazed into the fire. She knew he was watching her, and she found she actually enjoyed it. He had let go of all pretense and was truly being himself -- she could feel it. And he deserved to hear the rest of the story.

"When the guards escorted me to the woods and forced me in," she went on, "I had only my clothes, a pack with more clothes, blankets, food, minor medicines, flint and steel, a waterskin, a knife and so forth. I was as prepared as anyone might be who was expecting to spend a couple of days camping out under the heavens. I had asked for, and been allowed to take, my personal bible, an herbal which had belonged to my mother, a book on geometry which had belonged to my father, and my diary. The guard were under orders to watch me beyond sight as I entered the forest, and to watch the road thereafter until daybreak, to be sure I didn't try to emerge and slip off to a town somewhere."

"I realized I was in deep trouble. I needed to find or make shelter and get a fire going. Otherwise, I would be just so much carrion. I walked into the woods until I couldn't see the guards anymore, then began searching for water. I discovered the same stream which runs out back, but farther upriver. For shelter, I found a bramble thicket. I managed to hollow out the base of it, enough to crawl under, then set about trying to start a fire. Luck did not fail me and I ended up with a small campsite, safe enough for the night. I knew full well, though, that it wasn't the place I would spend the rest of my life."

"Although I had an ample supply of water, I ran out of food in short order. My mother's herbal helped me locate edible plants, and I survived for awhile on them. One night, while listening to the wolves baying, I sought comfort in my bible and when I opened it, a parchment fell out. Opening it, I found a letter from my husband. In short, he apologized for having no choice but to obey the King. He said that once a week he would have his men leave a bag of food and supplies near the place they had made me enter the woods. He hoped it would help me survive."

"It may be a failing on my part, but I could not hate the man. I was appreciative of this gesture and sought out the place, finding two bags hung up in trees to help keep the animals away. That made my life easier for awhile, and I turned to my father's geometry book to help me figure out a way to make a shelter. With only a knife, it was a massive challenge. I managed to construct a bower within the brambles, which served to keep most of the predators at bay. Then came the night I saw the fiery glow on the horizon and knew the dragon had attacked. The supplies stopped coming. I was alone."

"I fought for as long as I could, but in the end, fate struck the fatal blow. Or what should have been. I fell and twisted my leg. I could barely move and I was away from my bower. Wolves showed up to investigate and I knew my life was at an end. And strangely, the one regret I had as I contemplated my demise was not seeing my daughters grown to womanhood. I resigned myself to my death and turned to face my doom."

"I received a shock so strong, it threatened my consciousness. I distinctly heard, in my head, the Alpha Dog of the wolves say 'she may be the one. Take her to her den.' I had no idea what was happening, and was ready to ascribe it to hallucination. Instead, two huge wolves approached me, slowly, sniffing the air and my clothes, and then my hair and skin. I stayed perfectly still. In fact, I was petrified. Then they astounded me. I was still wearing my pack, and they each grabbed a strap in their massive jaws and began to drag me through the forest."

"I nearly passed out from the pain in my leg and my fear of them. I did piss myself, I admit. But they kept dragging me until they finally let go of me and I was in front of the small hole in the briar patch I used to enter and exit my bower. Then they backed off and sat some distance away with the rest of the pack and watched me. It took me some time to get myself together, but finally I exerted my will over my injured body and dragged myself into my bower, clawing all the way."