SHADOW AND LIGHT (CHIAROSCURO)

THE WITCH OF MOLDOVIA

Penelope had caught the sight of Ferdinand grovelling on the floor next to my feet, and I could see the confusion on her face. So to avoid any unwanted talks or gossip among the maids, I sent Ferdinand away with a smile.

“It seems I have a guest in my mansion. Lord Ferdinand, we shall discuss this at a later date. Leave me!”

“Of course, your majesty! As you wish!” he said then bowed in earnest, looking very relieved as he immediately left my chambers without looking back.

Once he had left, Penelope asked me with concern in her voice, "Was there a problem with the lord chamberlain, sire?"

"Nothing, my dear. Just a dog finding another master."

"Huh...?" Penelope was confused.

“Now tell me, who did you say wanted to meet me?”

“Oh yes, her royal highness, Queen Patricia Pecunia Gladia has paid the mansion a visit and demands to see you, sire.”

"I see, then we must not make her wait then..." I said as I left the room with Penelope right beside me.

In the dining room, I was seated there on my dining chair and I was still in my chamber robes.

I sat at the end of a long dining table illuminated by hanging crystal lights, the decor of the dining was magnificent, with golden plates and beautiful flowers on the table.

I had Penelope serve me a plate of well-cooked steak and vegetables with a full glass of red wine on my side of the table.

On the other side of the long dining table was my stepmother, Queen Patricia Pecunia Gladia.

She was clad in all kinds of purple and red jewels. She had glowing white hair, green eyes, a regal figure and a pale complexion. She was shockingly beautiful for her age.

"Does the woman ever age!?" I exclaimed in thought at the sight of her unnatural beauty.

She wore a darkish green dress, beautifully laced black gloves, a golden tiara, and gold-embellished shoes. She wore two rings on her finger, her golden wedding ring and a ring with a black diamond on it.

I had ordered Penelope to serve Queen Patricia with nothing more than a wine glass of water. Once she had served her the glass of water, Penelope returned, standing by my side as I ate, waiting on standby for me to finish my meal.

My stepmother stared at her wine glass with a suspicious gaze.

“Oh, come now, 'stepmother'! Why don't you take a drink? It's not like it's 'poisoned', after all,” I said in a menacing tone.

She slowly takes a sip of her drink and says, “Hmm... Sublime.”

I chuckled, “Of course, it is.”

“Well, I see that you're doing well here, in this... Poor disgrace of a land.” Queen Patricia stated with a dirty smirk across her face.

I noticed that her statement had put a small frown on Penelope, no matter how hard she tried to hide it.

So I cleverly responded, “Oh Yes, stepmother. I've been trying to save up on resources so that I have actual meals for actual guests, not leeches that tend to feed off of this so-called poor disgrace of a land.”

“And you're saying that I don't deserve actual meals?” she rebutted.

“Oh no, far from it. I'm saying that you're not qualified to be a guest.” I bluntly answered as I chewed my piece of juicy steak deliciously slowly.

“Pfft!” Penelope silently chuckled at my response.

Queen Patricia ignored her and asked, “So what am I, if not a guest visiting my precious son?”

I bluntly and promptly said, “You came here to spy on your so-called son. It's pretty obvious, dropping in unannounced, no satisfactory reason, just visited to find a fault to your so-called ‘precious' son's rule, 'stepmother'...” There was no hesitation in my words, I frowned at the very thought of calling my stepmother.

“I see that my visit is not welcomed,” she said as she proceeded to drink the water from the wine glass.

With a stern and unwavering look, I said, “No, stepmother. If you planned to visit as you claimed, you would have sent a letter of notice to my manor and proceeded without the pleasantries. But alas, you didn't, did you?”

I added, “Which begs the question, why would you, the queen of Gladia, ride all this way just to 'visit' my estate immediately after the day I had sent a certain golden knight away with his tail between his legs?”

There was a pause between us at that moment, all we did in those few minutes was stared at each other from opposite sides of the table, until...

“A golden knight? Just who could you be talking about? I don't know of any golden knight?”

“Oh, just a small guardsman golden knight by the name... Caspian?” I taunted to lure her into a mistake.

And she fell for it, “Caspian? Not Cassian?”

I smiled, “So you do know Sir Cassian, the captain of the golden knights, stepmother?”

She took another sip of her water and drank it all, abruptly dropping her glass down after.

I looked at her trying to hide the truth with her obvious mannerisms. She hadn't changed at all since I'd known her...

When my father married her to gain political relations with the kingdom of Moldovia, I was just 11 years old and my mother was still alive.

At the time, many rumours were indicating that she was a witch that charmed many men in Moldovia and stole their riches with her magic and aphrodisiacs.

But it was never proven or brought to light, after all, she was a princess of Moldovia. It never made any sense for a royal of her standing to lure men just to steal their riches. So I ignored them.

But after my mother's death, through deep investigation, I found an undying fact that had remained in the ears of the people that lived in Moldovia. And the fact was that she had been engaged to four princes of different kingdoms in the past. But for some reason, they had all either mysteriously died or disappeared.

With more research on my side, there was also the case that she never seemed to age especially given the fact that she should be 59 years of age. And yet not a single wrinkle, wear or tear on that body of hers.

“Damn! She truly is The Witch Of Moldovia,” I thought as looked at her pristine figure while taking another bite of my steak with a drink of wine.

She looked almost as young as me.

I got tired of the silence in the room, so I kept my wine glass down and asked, “Stepmother, you still haven't answered my question...”

I asked once more, "WHY ARE YOU HERE?”