Montague was shocked. Every time he heard the words, spell or mage, he shivered.
“I’ve been having such strange dreams lately,” she said, pacing faster. “A strange man haunts me, and then. I…I…have dreams that I’m being held under water, drowning. Last night I was being eaten alive by some…scaly creature. Every day it gets worse. Something just doesn’t seem right. And they’re not caused by hallucinations,” Olivia said. Her voice thick with tears.
“My dear, it is only natural that you are nervous about childbirth. The body goes through many emotional changes; fears become enhanced,” Montague said.
“No, you don’t understand,” Olivia dropped to her knees, crying. “Please, Montague.”
Montague drew closer and spoke casually to the queen. “I have never practiced any kind of magic; no spells, no rituals, no séances. I have no idea what I’m doing. I could kill you if I do anything or say even one word wrong.” The realization of his lack of experience with actual magic set in. Even though he had studied for years beside a great wizard, he knew nothing. A feeling of worthlessness came over him.
“Then, I order you,” Olivia mumbled.
The pain and desperation in her eyes were too great for Montague to deny the queen’s order. But he would never risk her life because of his ignorance. If his refusal to obey an order meant imprisonment, then he couldn’t look after Olivia.
“Fine, I’ll do it. But I beg you to reconsider,” Montague said. He had no intention of actually attempting any kind of real spell. He could say a prayer and draw a few symbols and make it appear as an incantation. “Come,” he said, picking up his bag. “We will perform the ceremony when we reach the falls.”
Olivia had planned to have the baby at the place where she and Alexandal first set eyes on each other, under the large redwood tree at Angel Falls only a few miles west of Ikarus.
The royal party left early. It was a cool, autumn morning and sunny across the skies without a single cloud. Lord Alexandal had compiled a small army of fifty soldiers to escort the royal party which included the queen, himself, the two foster children, Gretchen with five other handmaids, and Montague.
On their way, the party dismounted from their horses to walk through fields of vibrant plants and trees, hoping to sample the land’s delicious fruits and vegetables and filling their sacks for a later treat. But the ground was bone dry and there were fewer delicacies than usual. The lands had been thirsty for months. The air was dry with no sign of rain.
The journey lasted until late afternoon. They trotted to the bottom of the plateau and finally reached the valley where the freshest streams atop the hillside crashed down into the purest springs on the planet. The gorge had sandy beaches, and usually the water lapped at the banks, but the water level was dangerously low. The little drizzle that they had seen barely nourished the weeds. Swimming holes near the kingdom were drying up. The land needed water, the people needed water that, ironically, was the same element that had killed thousands nearly a year ago.
The sun made the shallow water’s surface sparkle and the mist from the waterfalls’ crash made every breath moist and smooth.
Alexandal halted at an assortment of stalky trees huddled together and threw his bags from his horse, then jumped off excitedly. “Here we are.”
“Excellent. The wind will be minimized by the trees and it’ll help trap the heat at night,” Montague said.
Alexandal helped Olivia down from the wagon. “I believe it was this one. Wasn’t it, my love?” he asked, touching the largest redwood in the group.
“It was,” Olivia said, kissing his cheek. “It seems right to have the baby here, where you proposed.”
Before night crept in, the Ikarus guards built a fire for supper and erected the royal family’s bison-hide bivouac. Later, they kept themselves occupied by telling stories about battles and swords, sex and whores as they took turns patrolling the camp.
The smoke of the late feast rose high above the hillside.
Inside the royal bivouac, Gretchen and the foster children arranged pillows and blankets for the queen. They sprinkled flower petals and lit candles all around. Montague peered out from the curtains blocking the entrance to find Olivia and Alexandal talking next to the redwood just feet away.
When Olivia saw him, she quickly wrapped up her conversation with Alexandal and headed toward the bivouac alone.
“Are you ready?” she asked Montague.
“Let’s do this casually, yes?”
Olivia nodded.
“Come!” Montague said to the children. “Let’s sing about happy thoughts so that the baby will feel safe when he arrives,” he said.
They sat around the queen, who lay across her feathered mattress. He asked everyone to recite common songs about love, family, and friendship while he drew symbols that he had seen before in his studies, but knew carried no kind of power without the correct words. He was even more terrified to attempt actual magic. This was all just a distraction. Making the queen believe he was doing something that he was not made him feel guilty. But it was a necessary deception.
In the moment, his life flashed before him. He missed the days when he was a child and everything was simple. He didn’t believe in monsters back then. What if he had never been exposed to all of this, he thought. What if monsters really didn’t exist?
After the short ceremony, Montague retreated to his tent. He imagined an angel, like Burton, coming to the rescue. How wonderful if he could put all of this in the hands of a being much more capable than himself to protect the world. He felt unworthy and was desperate for help.
SINCE THE day Montague had told her she was pregnant, Olivia Volpi had been pleading to the angels to make the night terrors stop. She wanted
