The Legend of Iski Flare: Episodes Six to Ten: The Legend of Iski Flare

By Georgina Makalani

The Legend of Iski Flare continues with a range of new dangers hidden in the dark woods, including some they may have met before.

Now Iski is trying to protect more than he realised he had.

These are faery tales retold. Some of them you may think you know, others may be unfamiliar. All of them need Iski Flare for the chance of a happy ending.

I suggest you don't wander into the dark woods without Iski Flare by your side.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Georgina Makalani
• Release date: Apr 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9780645767704

Book preview

Reflections

Episode Six

You have to stop talking about her, Flare snapped. I can’t take anymore.

But I worry about her, he said softly, stopping on the path and turning to her. Do you think she survived?

She’s a horse. She’ll be fine.

Nudge is more than just a horse, he murmured.

Flare slipped her hand into his and squeezed tight. He stopped but he couldn’t look at her. I’m sorry, she said softly. I know you and Nudge were friends and you needed friends.

She looked down at the ground. Despite his desperation to take her in his arms he stood stock still, and gave her hand a little squeeze. I needed you, he whispered, scared she would pull away.

During their time with the Red wolves, he had spent far more time watching Flare than talking to her. It had taken longer than he anticipated for her to heal and he wasn’t sure that she was as well as she once was. When the call came from a new queen for help, he was almost tempted to leave Flare behind. It would have been difficult to do, but always wondering if she wanted to be with him was somehow harder.

Flare started walking again, her hand still tight in his. What does this queen want from you, do you think?

It’s hard to guess, he said. I’m usually called for when no one else is able to help, or left to help.

She pulled him to a stop, again. That has happened, hasn’t it? That you had to step in where others have disappeared trying. He shrugged and made to move on, but she held him tight. Did you throw yourself into danger? she asked, concern clear in her pale blue eyes.

Are you asking if I was reckless? If I am reckless? he asked, his voice a little too loud.

She shook her head but looked down at the ground. I’m not sure what I’m asking or what I can ask.

He took her chin to raise her gaze to his and tried to ignore her flinch. You can ask me anything, at any time.

I know, she said softly. But it still feels strange. He reluctantly released her chin and she maintained eye contact. It might take me some time, she whispered.

He nodded and adjusted the strap of the bag across his chest. He had very few possessions and now he carried for Flare as well. She carried the bedrolls and although he longed to lie beside her of a night, she was still uncomfortable.

She would lie close to be safe, but maintained a distance between them. Yet he always woke in the night when she rolled against him, snuggling into the side of his body and snoring softly. It was the only time she seemed settled. He would close his arms around her, but of a morning she would be back on her own roll and avoiding eye contact.

Do you blame me for not finding you in time? he asked.

Let’s talk of the queen, she said, releasing his hand, stepping out ahead of him and running her hand across the bark of the nearest tree. There was something longing in the way she touched it.

The Faeries said they would return the magic, he said, trying not to focus on why she didn’t answer his question.

I’m not ready for it yet. And we were to talk of the queen, she said quickly, turning sad eyes his way.

I don’t know that there is anything I can add, not until we meet her. If only we could get there sooner.

Flare looked from him to the tree and although she smiled, he felt sad.

I’m not sure I can direct us, he said.

Think of the queen. Think of those who need help. You managed to get us to the Red wolves.

He nodded slowly.

You can do this, she whispered, but as she stood with her back to the tree, she gulped loudly and a small tear formed at the corner of her eye as he stood before her.

He wanted to kiss it away but instead gently wiped it with his thumb. Are you sure? he asked, putting his arms around her and pressing his body against hers.

Yes, she whispered, and he pushed them against the rough bark.

Iski instantly felt the warmth of the tree surround him as they moved through its heart. Flare stiff in his arms, but he held her tight in fear they could be separated. The cool air rushed around them as he stepped out of the tree.

Flare stepped back from him as soon as they entered the new forest, gasping for breath and he took a step forward and then stopped.

It feels different, she said with a shake of her head. I don’t remember how it felt when you saved me from Everard, but I remember how it used to feel.

You were unconscious, he murmured, remembering the fear that she had died in his arms as he tried to get them as far away from Everard as he could. You could see me, he said quietly and she looked up then with a quizzical look. When the faery first took you, he continued softly.

She nodded slowly. I tried to tell you I was there.

He opened his mouth to ask more, but the sound of horses moving toward them at speed made him stop and he put himself between Flare and the open space between the trees. He felt at his belt but he hadn’t replaced the sword and he missed the weight of the axe in his hand. He backed them up toward the tree they had just emerged from. He had nothing to protect her with, only the chance to move them to somewhere safer via magic through the trees.

Six men on horseback galloped into view, their dark armour menacing. As soon as they saw Iski they pulled the horses to a stop and the man at the front raised his visor. Iski Flare? he asked.

Yes, he said, still pushing Flare behind him.

Queen Adriane has sent us to bring you to her. Where is your horse?

Lost, Iski said quickly and Flare’s hands gripped tightly to the back of his coat.

Come. You can ride with me; the woman can ride with the captain.

Iski remained unmoving.

Our queen understands that you would not travel without your wife, the man said, climbing down from the large horse and motioning Iski forward. Travel together if you wish but the queen waits and she is not a patient woman.

Iski nodded as the man waved the captain down from his horse. As Iski closed his hands around Flare’s waist she barely stifled a moan. He lifted her quickly up onto the horse and then climbed up behind her. He was much taller than when he rode Nudge. He pushed his feet into the stirrups as he pulled Flare closer to him; she stiffened in his embrace as he took the reins and he fought the frustration building in his chest.

The road widened through the trees and the men around them urged their horses to move faster. Flare leaned into him but he could feel the tension in her body and he wondered again if it had been the right thing to bring her with him. That she might not have been safer staying with the wolves.

When they rode into the courtyard of the castle and Iski stepped down from the saddle and held his arms up to help Flare down he realised just how stiff and sore he was.

I’m a little happy that we don’t have Nudge, Flare whispered as he gently placed her on the ground.

I’m not missing her so much either, he said and was awarded with a little smile that lit up her face.

Queen Adriane waits, the soldier snapped, marching off ahead and taking Flare’s hand without hesitation, Iski followed quickly behind him.

The throne room was as dark as the armour worn by the soldiers. The queen wore black; her smooth, black hair, pulled back from her face was a contrast to her beautiful pale skin. The crown upon her head, bright and golden, appeared out of place in the darkness. She waved them forward impatiently. An uneasiness pulled at Iski’s chest and he again regretted dragging Flare into this adventure.

Iski Flare, she said slowly as she stood up from her throne, the dark metal of which appeared cold. You do not look like the legend I have heard so much about. She looked Flare up and down. And you bring your... she waved her hand at Flare as though she searched for the right word, her eyes narrowing.

Wife, Iski said loudly.

Are the children with you too? she asked.

Flare sucked in a breath and Iski, still holding her hand, gave it a gentle squeeze.

I heard you were in need of my help, Iski said clearly. You appear to have enough of your own men, what could you want from me?

There are bandits in the forest, outlaws terrorising the good people of this land and I cannot seem to find them. At least my men cannot, she said sharply, glancing sideways at the man beside her, the captain who had given up his horse for Iski. She would destroy us all, she said softly, her hand on her chest and a tear rolled down her cheek. It seemed out of place. Their leader, an evil woman, killed my stepdaughter, she said, her voice catching in her throat. The beautiful Eirlys, the only thing I had left of my husband.

Eirlys? Flare asked.

A strange name, the queen said. Her mother had hoped for a child for the longest time, and it is said that an old soothsayer saw her blood fall in the snow and told her that a child would soon be born to her, with skin as fair as the snow and lips as red as blood. And so she named the child for the snow she resembled, and died not long afterward. But it is of little matter now, for the child is dead and with her father gone I am left the burden of the crown. Her fingers reached up and gently brushed against the shiny crown atop her head.

Flare squeezed Iski’s hand.

You want me to find this outlaw, he said.

As the queen nodded, Flare said, A woman. You want us to find a woman.

You listen well, she said. But I think this is a job for a man, you can wait here.

Flare shook her head and Iski again moved between her and possible danger. We work together.

Do you? she asked. For I have heard you work alone. She will be perfectly safe here. The queen stepped forward and looked him over more closely, running her hand across his shoulder as she walked around them.

You do not even carry a weapon. How could you protect yourself and your wife while fighting such a woman in the forests?

We know the trees, Flare said.

We had some recent trouble, lost a horse and my weapons.

Really? she asked, running a finger down the side of his face. You did survive; perhaps you don’t need anything with you but your skill.

I could use an axe, Iski said quickly, wondering what else this woman wanted from him and whether they should have come.

Your wife will be safer with me, and that way you are sure to do the job you have been sent to do.

Iski clenched his teeth.

I have organised a room for you, my dear, she said to Flare. The man will show you. I would like you to go tonight, she said to Iski. An axe will be sent for, she said, waving at one of the soldiers who quickly disappeared. See that your wife is comfortable and then return to me.

A soldier led the way along a narrow, twisted hallway, to the base of a spiral staircase that disappeared into the darkness above them. Iski shook his head as Flare took one step at a time behind the soldier. She stopped several times, struggling with the exercise and Iski put out his arm, but she waved him off. When she stumbled, he had her up and in his arms and she squeezed her eyes closed as she leaned against his chest. I’m sorry, she mumbled.

Where are we going? he asked the soldier. This is too far. Is she to be a prisoner? Flare tensed in his arms, but the soldier stopped without saying a word and indicated a door in the wall. Iski stood still on the small landing staring at the simple door as an uneasiness gripped him. He was sure he had made a terrible mistake in bringing Flare to this place.

The soldier opened the door and walked into the room ahead of them. Iski was surprised by what he saw; it was bright and open and reminded him of a room he had stayed in at another castle. A canopied bed, a lounge before a roaring fire, a table and chairs with a bowl of bright red apples. The whole room was bigger than the cottage they had stayed in with the Reds. Iski sat Flare on the edge of the bed and went to the window. It looked over the forest beyond the castle, the wide road they had travelled cut a white line through the trees.

Don’t leave me here, Flare whispered.

I don’t know that we have a choice.

I can’t be a prisoner again. I can’t be away from you again, she said standing quickly, wringing her hands.

In two steps he was before her, his hands on her shoulders and she threaded her arms around his waist and pulled herself tight against him.

I haven’t been very giving, she said into his chest.

I understand.

Do you? she asked, standing back.

I’m trying to, he said, hearing the frustration in his voice that he hoped she didn’t.

So am I.

He took her face gently in his hands, small faded freckles still covered her nose, her pale blue eyes sparkled with threatening tears, and he brushed his lips over hers. I want you safe, he whispered. I need to know that you will be here when I get back.

She nodded slowly.

This might be the only way.

She nodded again and he turned for the door but she grabbed his sleeve. You will come back?

Of course, he said. We are destined to be together.

She gave him a small smile then and reluctantly released his shirt.

Iski found the queen pacing in the throne room as he returned. Her large skirts swishing across the bare stone floor. When she saw him, she stopped and Iski realised just how young and beautiful she appeared to be.

My wife is not a prisoner, he said.

Of course not, she said softly, walking to him and taking his hands. I think it would be too much for her to travel with you. I know that you want her safe.

Iski pulled from her hold and she waved someone behind him closer. A soldier presented him with an axe and he ran his hand over the handle before taking it from him. He tested the weight of it. It will do, he said softly, allowing the axe to fall down by his side.

The captain will point you in the right direction, she said. All I ask is proof of your good deeds.

And what proof would you like?

I want her heart in this box.

Iski stared at the box she produced and then into her cold, dark eyes. He tried to contain the shiver that ran down the middle of his spine, but he couldn’t hide it. Every nerve tingled and he knew no matter his concerns, he needed to go out into the woods. He held out his hand, took the small box and pushed it into his bag.

Do you want ...? he started.

I have told you want I want. Now go forward and do it while I watch over your little wife.

Iski gulped down his unease, bowed before the queen and turned on his heel.

The trees of the surrounding forest were tall and strong and Iski instantly found comfort amongst them, despite his uneasiness at leaving Flare behind. He had to admit as he shifted the axe from hand to hand, that time away from Flare might not be a bad thing. He had barely left her side since he had found her; yet he had never felt more distant from her. He was determined to keep her safe and he tried not to push when she flinched away from him. She had lived through so much but despite being safe, and Everard dead, she was too quiet and he had the uneasy feeling she hadn’t told him everything.

There was movement ahead of him amongst the trees and he stopped, refocusing on why he was there. That he had been tasked with finding the bandit and returning her heart to the queen and he was only an hour out from the castle wall.

The queen had been focused on the leader of the bandits, but surely if there was a group of them, they would be easy to find. One woman terrorising a kingdom didn’t make sense and he wondered who this bandit might really be; and how she was a threat. The box in his bag felt heavy, but nothing was ever as it seemed. He would find the woman and her bandits first and then consider how to deal with the queen’s request.

Iski caught a glimpse of someone in pale clothing move between the trees and he thought of Mirabel for the first time in an age. He worked his way around the trees and then followed. It wasn’t long before he started to wonder if he was in fact following an animal of some sort rather than a bandit for the noise she made was incredible.

In the quiet of the night he heard her cry out. He shook his head as he waited in the new silence. Surely the queen’s men could have dealt with this woman or her group of bandits. He wondered if it might be a trap, that the bandits were luring him into something but then there were no signs that there was anyone else in the forest.

He found her lying in a small clearing, her dress tattered, her hair a mess; she wore only one shoe and she reminded him of Flare.

This couldn’t be the woman the queen was after.

She sat up slowly, a hand to her face and in the dim light of the forest Iski stepped forward.

She tried to stand quickly, but couldn’t find her feet amongst her tangled skirts. She looked wild and Iski put the axe down against a tree and stepped forward with his hands up. Are you lost? he asked. Can I help?

She shook her head, scrambling back from him and he stopped.

I’m not going to hurt you, he said squatting down. There is a castle nearby, I can take you there. We can find help.

Am I so near the castle? she asked, her voice soft and sweet and Iski wondered how young this woman was.

Do you know the castle? he asked, noting the gold thread that caught the moonlight woven through the dress she wore.

You have been sent to find me, she said. You have been sent to kill me or drag me back. She slipped off her remaining shoe and raised it to throw at him. The fine detail and heel, despite the mud, clearly didn’t belong to a bandit.

How long have you been out here?

I wasn’t as prepared as I should have been, she said.

How long? he asked a little more firmly.

She shrugged then. I’m not sure. I only knew that I had to run, but I worry for those I have left behind.

Who did you leave behind?

Everyone, she said clearly, as though he should have known the answer.

Is that why you haven’t gone very far?

Honestly, she said, brushing ineffectually at the mud and dust on her skirts, it appears that I don’t know the kingdom as well as I should. I assumed I could find my way to safety and to those who could help me.

So how is it that you haven’t been found? The queen has sent others to find you, hasn’t she?

The girl shook her head. I haven’t seen anyone.

Iski waited, looking over the princess before him. He raked his fingers through his hair and sighed. Why does your step-mother want you dead?

She wants the power. When my mother died my father was very sad, and as the years passed his grief only grew. Then she arrived and within days my father was happy, smiling and talking, and within the week they were wed. I just wanted to see him happy, but now that I look back at what he was, I think she had enchanted him.

Sometimes these things happen very quickly, Iski said, handing her a water skin.

She tipped her head in thanks as she took it. Within a year he was dead, she said softly, her pain evident in her words.

Are you suggesting that your step-mother killed him?

She nodded. I was kept in my room, only to come out when I needed to be paraded before someone of influence who she needed on her side. And then she stopped calling me out. On my eighteenth birthday I was to be crowned as the rightful heir to my father’s kingdom. But I heard whispers ...

Where did you hear whispers if you couldn’t leave your room? he interrupted.

You don’t believe me, Princess Eirlys said, staring him down.

I need to be sure, he said.

I would sometimes sneak into the kitchens; the cook always had a treat for me and I made friends with one of the maids.

You heard information from them?

Sometimes, other times I overheard it myself as I travelled along the servants’ passageways through the castle.

Passageways?

You can’t have the servants seen to be carrying things around, she said, speaking slowly, almost sounding like the queen herself. That simply won’t do. They must remain out of sight. The food is to appear as though by magic upon the table.

But you could travel through the passageways and hear what was said on the other side of the wall?

Quite easily, she said. Once you know where they are, there are secret doors all over the castle. She rarely checked that I was where she told me to be and so I could move around freely and listen to what was said.

What did you hear?

That the queen’s step-daughter had been killed during a daring attack by bandits. And I knew then that I would be killed to prove her story right. I needed to go for help before she destroyed the kingdom my father intended to be mine. Instead of making my way back to my room, I travelled the length of the castle, following an old story from the kitchens that if you walked the tunnels long enough you could find your way outside the gate. And eventually I did.

How long were you in the castle walls?

She shook her head slowly. I don’t know. There were times that I thought I passed the same point again and again. Times when the lanterns died and times, I feared they were in the tunnels, running after me and I dropped the light and ran until I could run no more. Sometimes I thought I could hear voices, and then I had days when I could hear nothing but my own crying.

He nodded once for her to continue, but he wondered just who this story was for.

When I emerged in the forest, I cried out with delight, but I had left so many behind. There is a group of men my father worked with, that the queen pushed from the castle, who I think can help me. She looked behind her and then turned from Iski but he reached out and grabbed her arm.

You are dragging me back? she asked, her voice high and scratchy. Does she hold something of yours; something of value that will ensure your return with my heart in a box? You could help me find my way out of the trees, help me to find the help I need to win my kingdom back.

She has my wife, he said. I know you have been wronged but there must be another way.

There is: the men my father trusted. Help me Iski Flare. Help my kingdom.

He dropped her arm.

I’ve heard stories of your adventures, who else would she send after me? She held out her hand to him. I am Eirlys, my father called me the Snow Princess.

He left her hand where it was, his head was thumping and his heart beat too fast in his chest. He needed to return to Flare, he couldn’t leave her where she was and yet he knew he needed to help the princess. Could you not show the people that you are alive? Prove her a liar.

There is too much fear, it won’t matter if I am alive, the people won’t stand against her.

I can help you find these men and then return for my wife, claiming I couldn’t find you.

Do you think she will return your wife without you giving her what she asked for?

He nodded slowly and then shook his head.

You are bound, she said. You must deliver me or you can help me to defeat her.

He opened his mouth and then closed it without saying a word.

Princess Eirlys waited. He knew he should have left Flare with the wolves. That she wouldn’t be safe and he knew the only thing he could do was help this young woman find the men she needed to take back the crown from her step-mother. Flare was safe, she was tucked away in a quiet room and he hoped the queen would leave her there until he returned.

He stomped his foot in frustration, the action surprising them both. I will help you, he said. Where are these men?

Beyond the forest edge is all I know.

Iski picked up his axe and pointed into the trees with it. Try this way.

Eirlys walked in the direction he indicated. He tried to focus on the trees but he could only think of Flare waiting for him. It only took a few moments before he realised, she was leading them back toward the castle. He took her arm and she glared back at him. He stepped around her, running his hand over the bark of the tree he passed, breathing in the scent of the forest.

I’ll lead, he said, turning back to the princess with her arms crossed. Do you want to find these men or just return to the castle, because you are only leading us there.

She held out a hand to indicate that he led the way and he wondered if she would indeed follow him. He held the axe tight, swung it over his shoulder and headed into the forest. They travelled in silence, their footfalls and the occasional owl the