Note Regarding Music Cues: As I write, I almost always listen to music to help me get to the place where I need to be for a particular scene. I saved the links to the tracks I listened to while writing this story. The beauty of posting my work online is I can easily share those links. Below, anytime you see a [MUSIC] link, that’s what I was listening to at the time. Of course the timing will not necessarily fit however slowly or quickly you read but you’ll get the idea. Enjoy!

Part I

[MUSIC] Several days later, Andrea heard the keys turning in the lock of her door.  Presuming it would be food or another visit from Andreas, she remained seated on the floor.  The door opened and she heard footsteps but no coughing.  The person paused and then, clearing his throat, a man spoke, “Your Grace, I have been sent by His Majesty to escort you to the garden.”

Andrea looked up to see a man of average height and stout build just inside the light cast by the opening in the ceiling above them.  He appeared to be young although mature.  He dipped his head in deference as she moved to stand before him.

“Your name?” she asked.

“Leslie, Your Grace,” he replied lifting his eyes back up.

“Very well,” she replied. “Lead the way, Leslie. I’m sure I have no idea how to get there anymore.”

He knelt before her to unlock the shackle from her ankle. Standing back up, he extended an arm to her, “Ma’am….”

As they headed for the door, Andrea saw the flicker of torches in the corridor. She could scarcely believe she was leaving her cell.  Stepping over the threshold, she saw the guard who always waited just inside during Andreas’s visits stand at attention.  He did not follow as Leslie guided her to the right and down a flight of stone steps that curved toward the right and down to another heavy wooden door.          

Opening it for her, Leslie stepped to the side.  Andrea blinked several times, seeing actual daylight for the first time in ages. As she stepped outside, there was a wall almost immediately on her left which led a short distance away to form a corner with the wall that went to the right and beyond her view.  She started walking, hearing Leslie close the door behind them.

She followed the curve of the tower wall until she saw the far side of the courtyard before her.  As distant as the memory was, she knew that just a bit farther ahead, and to her right, lay the garden.  Her footsteps began to quicken in anticipation and then abruptly stopped.

Although she could not see the full length of the garden, it hardly mattered.  The only word that came to mind was ‘ruin.’  Before her lay nothing but ruin.  The flower beds she expected to see were nothing more than a tangle of weeds and even those looked as though they were struggling.  The trees, that should have been tall and robust, looked stunted and shrunken.  Although there were the first leaves of early spring, they hung limp and forlorn.

“Ma’am…,” Leslie said, from behind her.  

“What...what happened to all of it?” Andrea asked, hardly able to get the words out, as tight and dry as her throat felt.  She didn’t feel as though she were going to cry. But a ragged gasp escaped her mouth. 

“I’m sorry. I guess we’ve all just grown accustomed to this,” Leslie said, hastening to add, “This must be nothing like what you were expecting.”  Andrea turned and looked at him, though it appeared she didn’t see him.  Instead, she looked as though she were searching for an answer to her question and finding nothing in his face, she turned back to the garden.  

She started walking again, deliberately stopping at each tree as though to greet it, and periodically reaching down and brush away dead leaves and weeds in search of plants and flowers she knew once thrived in their place.  Reaching the middle of the garden and the center of the courtyard, she saw the eight-foot-tall marble fountain that once served as ‘home base’ in their games of tag.  Now, the basin of the fountain was clogged with debris, which would have stopped the flow of water had there been any.  

She felt hot tears forming, and unbidden, they started to roll down her face.  Brushing them aside, she started walking again, touring the garden. Or at least what was left of it. Having come back again to the fountain, she looked in the direction of the dull sun, obscured by thick clouds. Although it was spring, given the gauzy light and the drab surroundings, it might as well have been an unseasonably warm winter day. 

“Leslie, would you be able to procure gardening tools?” she asked, without turning around to look at him, lost in thought as she stared at the fountain.

“Ma’am, I would need His Majesty’s permission for that but…I do not see why that should be a problem,” Leslie replied.

“Well then,” she said, now turning to face him, “You might as well ask him for seeds while you’re at it.  If there is a chance he will approve anything I ask for, I might as well go for as much as possible, right?”

The smallest hint of a smile crossed Leslie’s face, as he tipped his head down in agreement.

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[MUSIC] A week later, Andrea and Leslie were back in the garden.  It was warmer but the sun made only intermittent appearances behind the clouds. Still dressed in her dingy chemise, she showed no concern for it, as she crawled into the basin of the fountain and started raking the dead leaves and other organic debris into a pile. Leslie, dressed appropriately as a member of the Court, endeavored to gather the muck up into the wheelbarrow they’d brought for the project without completely soiling his finery. 

Having cleaned the basin and the dish at the top of the fountain, all that remained was to start pouring water into the primary drain which would restore the cycle of water and air to the fountain’s system.  Leslie and Andrea had brought several large buckets of water and together, they hoisted them up and dumped them in.  After the third bucket, they could hear a gurgling somewhere below their feet. 

Laughing, Andrea grabbed the last bucket herself and dumped its contents over.  As she dropped the bucket to the ground, they both heard the gurgling make its way up the column of the fountain and after a few minutes, water started to spill over the sides. It was hardly the steady flow she remembered but her laughter exploded as she started dancing in the basin under the dish above her as a small shower of water started to come down. 

Her laughter became contagious and as she frolicked in the shallow water, she looked up to see Leslie, his arms folder over one another and wrapped around his chest, chortling in happiness as well.  Having expended so much energy, she stopped dancing but the smile on Andrea’s face could not be dimmed in the least.  She stepped over the low wall of the basin and sat down on the edge, breathing heavily.

“It has been…it has been a very long time since I’ve heard anything like this in the garden, Your Grace,” Leslie said, the smile on his face still evident but now more subdued. 

She tilted her head up to him, and as she did so, the sun broke through the clouds, illuminating her face forcing her to squint.  She did not reply but lowered her head back down to look at the rest of the garden.  She recalled happier memories, when she and Andreas would race through the garden, laughing and shouting about who “was it” which changed so often it hardly mattered.  As clouds moved back in front of the sun, darkening the garden again, she could not help herself, as her own memories also darkened.  Andreas actually ended up “it” in the end. 

“Ma’am, we should get you into dry clothes. You’ll catch a chill,” Leslie said, stepping back. 

“I’m well acquainted with having a chill, Leslie.  Very well acquainted,” she said as she stood up.  “But yes, we’ve done more than enough for today. More than enough.”

He turned to follow her and as he did so, he couldn’t help but notice that Andrea was standing a little bit taller.  He could see the quiet but unmistakable bearing of someone royal born, whether she remembered it or not.   

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[MUSIC] Over the next several weeks, working tirelessly, especially for someone who had for so long been confined to a single room and with a barely sustainable diet, Andrea slowly brought the garden back to life.  The fountain, now flowing freely provided a soothing backdrop to their work.  Leslie tried to keep up with her tilling, planting, and weeding but Andrea struck him as someone possessed with bringing life back where there had been none.  Each evening, back in his own chambers, he reflected on her transformation and pondered what the future might hold. He was not the only one.

Having cleared another section of the garden, Andrea was hunched over delicately placing seeds in the soil when she heard Leslie abruptly stand up and say, “Your Majesty!”

Andrea turned and looked up to Andreas walking toward them.  Standing up and quickly trying to brush her knees off, she called out, “Your Majesty….”

“I see you’ve,” but before Andreas could finish, a coughing fit began. As it subsided, he continued, “I see you’ve been busy, Andrea.” He looked about him surveying the utterly transformed garden.  “It reminds me of….”

Before he could finish, she interjected, “Our childhood?” He turned back to her and she attempted to smile demurely. 

“Do not think you can play on reminisces,” he said sternly.  “Those days are long past and change nothing now.”

“Your Majesty,” Andrea began to implore him, “I meant only to….”

“I know exactly what you meant to do,” he said, a gravelly cough interrupting him. “I appreciate that you like pretty things,” he smirked. “But I have been guarding this kingdom from threats you cannot possibly imagine and cannot be,” he swept his arms about him, “distracted by tending to delicate flowers!”

Although he had indicated the flowers with his arms, Andrea knew full well he meant her.  She did not feel wounded by his outburst. It took her a moment before she realized what she felt was pity.  She felt pity for this man who thought his only purpose was to defend. He was so afraid.

“Your Majesty, perhaps this burden would be easier to bear if you shared it,” she said gently.

“Share it?!” he responded, saliva flying as he spit the words out.  “And just who do you think would be up to the task?” he said as he took a menacing step towards her. 

“Someone…” she paused thinking about the right words to say next, “…obviously someone who shares your royal blood.  Someone who has a spirit and heart up to the task.”

Andreas took a step back, looking incredulous.  His face darted from her to Leslie and at nothing in particular around the garden. “I cannot…I cannot believe my ears,” he rasped out at last.  “There is one kingdom and one ruler.  And if you think for even a moment you could handle…” and at this he yanked the crown off his head and shook it at her, “…the sheer weight of this responsibility…!”

Having now worked himself up into a complete frenzy, the choking fit that overtook him alarmed Andrea and Leslie both.  As he doubled over, he threw his hands out onto his knees in an effort to keep from falling forward by the sheer force of the racking coughs now gripping him.  As he did so, the crown fell out of his hand, clattering to the ground.  Andrea’s eyes widened as she saw flecks of blood splattering onto the ground.

“Leslie!” she called out, “Fetch the Kings’ attendants. Now!” she commanded, as she rushed forward to help guide Andreas to a nearby bench.  Unable to resist, he staggered toward it and slumped down.  

As his coughing subsided to a ragged wheeze, he said through little gasps, “Well…look at…you…just…taking…command.”

“That was not taking command, Andreas…Your Majesty,” she said somewhat exasperated.  “You needed…you need aid.”

Scorn laced his laugh. “You actually…have…no idea,” he said at last.  “But…I fear…I’m afraid….” Before he could finish, they heard the rush of footsteps coming from the entrance to the courtyard announcing the arrival of more help.

“Your Majesty!” shouted one of the attendants, “We have brought you a chair to get you back inside and the doctor has been summoned!”

“I’m right…here!” Andreas replied with annoyance. “You don’t have…to shout!”

Standing, Andrea moved to help lift him up but he was unable to provide any assistance and so two attendants stepped forward to help lift him up by his arms and swivel his body around and into the wheelchair. 

Before they could say anything more, the three men whisked him away from her and as they started down the path, Andrea noticed that Leslie had come with them but stayed behind with her, watching them depart.  Once out of sight, he turned around and faced Andrea.

“Your Grace,” he said as he started walking toward her. “Perhaps it is best if we get you back inside as well. This has been enough excitement for one day.”

“Yes, it has,” she said.  And then she bent over and picked up the crown, forgotten like a toy, in the commotion.  She looked at it closely, turning it over in her hands.  The alternating rubies and lapis lazuli shimmered and glinted in the sun.  “I suppose you should be returning this to the king,” she said, handing it to Leslie. 

“I am not sure he’ll be able to bear its weight…for a while,” he said, taking it. 

“Was he ever,” she said, in a matter-of-fact tone. “Well, let’s clean up, shall we?” 

“Yes, ma’am,” Leslie replied. “There is much to do.”

Part III