True Love Lost

"Most dangerous is that temptation that doth goad us on to sin in loving virtue." ~ William Shakespeare

I came seeking my love but was caught in a trap of my own making. I would like to say that I thought through the idea - riding the Hag into Mab's compound, stealing into the sleep of my love, and unleashing her hold upon him. It had seemed so simple and easy, a plan that couldn't fail. Between the Hag's abilities and my own I thought the plan infallible. In my imagination we would be reunited, and our love would bloom unfettered once again...

It had not dawned on me until I was moments from him that it could go terribly wrong. That I would find myself trapped in Mab's twisted dimension, merely a ghost of myself. Yet that is what happened. I linger in a half-life much as Mab does, only I realize it and she continues to live in her delusions of grandeur.

Some things never change...

I was saved by faithful followers answering my call and something very unexpected: an unknown, a necromancer with a heart.

As I sang my ethereal song nearby followers found their path to me. They pretended to join the forces of Mab, hiding their true intent with as much help from me as I could muster. I admit it wasn't much....being halved takes a lot out of a soul. Six were given access to Mab's inner sanctum, her dimensional rift where she'd jailed me. Two had grown close enough to Mab to gain her ear as counsel. Two others made themselves indispensable to her, seeing to her every physical need. Two of the six fled, along with hundreds of others, when her madness became overwhelming. Or, perchance, influenced by my song" I did not know if I were contributing to the situation in either a positive or negative way, but I never stopped singing. I wanted to save them all.

I did not blame any of them for running away, nor did I try to stop them. I understood their panic. And I still have four faithful left ready and willing to serve me when the time finally arrives.

Then came the Cat with the Girl in the pouch. It was followed by the necromancer - the Shadow Man as Mab called him. But I knew something she didn't; he could hear me, hear my song. I don't know how he could hear me, but I knew he did when he glanced my way with a tilt of his head as if listening. He granted all of us the single most precious of gifts: a scroll that would set us free me from the tyranny of Mab. I was shocked and grateful. I wondered how he'd known" Was it my song" Or something else? I had no time to ask him, for he was there and gone too quick for me to act. So enthralled was I in their exchange and that tiny bit of hope. I feared Mab would most certainly notice and destroy it.

Even in my ghostly form it was easy for me to see the spell alight on the parchment, yet Mab didn't seem to notice the scroll at all. An oddity I immediately added to my growing arsenal against her. My momentary feeling of small victory was washed away as she captured the Girl in the pouch jailing her in a soul gem.

Another promise broken.

Mab has truly lost all her honor - if she'd ever held any'

Once, long ago, we had promised to honor the souls under our charge. We agreed that the gems would only be used to keep our kin safe from those that sought to destroy them - they were never intended to keep a soul captive. It seems there is no line Mab wouldn't cross, I knew it in that moment as clearly as an endless blue sky.

In the early morning hours, Fa'thea, a faithful servant of mine, collected the parchment scroll from the pocket of Mab's dress left on the floor forgotten. She placed the pouch on Mab's dresser in an effort to avert potential suspicion. It worked like a charm, Mab never seemed to notice the missing scroll. She seemed happy to remain fixated on getting even with some demon she called Howe.

We, my faithful servants and I, had our way out. Now, all we had to do was wait for the return of my truest of loves, Camthalion. I had high hopes that the spell would free him and the others under her influence like him as well.

Alas that is not to be! Every day Mab's insanity has grown in intensity and now the whispers have born truth; The Oberon has closed off the Land's anew and my heart has sunken to new depths of sorrow. My love could well be free of Mab's control, but as lost to me as my own body. I have no way home and he cannot return here - he is likely to die in the Lands for his trespass in Mab's name. Our ilk are not forgiven our bad behaviors even when we have been enthralled.

What have I done"

Had I waited too long for selfish reasons" Is my optimism my curse"

I do not have the luxury to lament. It was time for me to silence the songs and end this imprisonment! There was no reason to wait for there is nothing left to hold us here and every reason to flee.

In her fury, Mab has taken her once trusted counselors and hung them by their arms from posts erected along her walls. A slow, cruel death intended. Two of whom, Tanithil and Virion, are faithful to me. Her anger is boundless and she lays the blame upon them, harsh and sharp, for not foreseeing The Oberon's actions. Fa'thea prays in fervent whispers for my compassion, to save her husband from Mab's heinous fate.

I cannot continue this selfish endeavor any longer, it has become futile and pointless. Perhaps my true love will be lost to me forever" It is a risk I must take if I am to be true to myself.

I reply firmly, confidently to my most faithful, Fa'thea, "Yes my dear heart, it is time. Read the scroll."

I know not what will happen to us next, but I have faith it will be brighter than this.

Goodbye, Camthalion, wherever you may be. Know that I will always carry you in my heart.

(To Be Continued...)