Signed and Sealed

 This whole bothersome affair had begun with a letter from the king.

Lady Ashwood's father had been away from the Golden Keep, delivering the yearly tithe to the kingdom's capital. When her master of letters had told her a bird had come for her she had assumed that it was from the offices of the king, a proof of tribute should any tax collector come asking for more. When she saw the king's own phoenix perched and waiting in her receiving room, she stopped stone still in the doorway.

The king's phoenix was a precious but powerful companion to the royal family. It was known to fly free around the kingdom until the king called it home. No one in the world would be foolish enough to try and hunt it after all so off it went whenever it pleased. There were only three occasions that would cause the king to send it soaring out as his personal messenger.

The first was to send aid in the form of a scroll or parcel or even a feather plucked from the phoenix itself, which could heal anyone who was close to dying. .

The second was to declare war, which had only ever happened once and long before lady Ashwood had even been born. It was a terrifying possibility but the king had always been a friend to the Golden Wood. There was no way her father could have said or done anything to threaten that relationship in the month he'd been there.

The third was to inform another royal or noble of a family death.

Lady Ashwood stared at the phoenix for quite a while before it made a handful of gorgeous noises at her that sounded very much like, you may approach me.

Exhausted from a day of holding court and unable to delay the inevitable any longer, she stepped inside the room and closed the door softly behind her. She took a deep breath, let it loose and crossed the room to the phoenix. It was a much larger bird close up, nearly the size of her torso with a long, long tail that even from its high perch upon a nearby candlestick brushed against the floor. Given its size it had been able to bring her whatever news the king had to send her from within an elegantly crafted scroll tube made of red gold. She carefully undid the leather buckles and straps that bound it to the phoenix’s leg and offered up grain and water to the messenger. It turned its beak away from the seeds but drank up the water gladly.

Lady Ashwood sat down at a table nearby and with shaking hands opened the scroll tube and tipped its contents onto the table.

Out spilled two bundles of rolled parchments, a small letter stamped with the king's seal and a small black box made of velvet and wrapped up in a rich, dark sea blue ribbon.

She narrowed her one good eye on the box but she let it rest where it landed and picked up one of the rolls of parchment. She closed her eye and unrolled the sheets.

She held her breath for one moment.

Two.

She opened her eye.

Proof of tribute papers.

She started breathing again. It took her a while to build up the courage to even look at the other bundle of parchments, stroking her long red braid of hair more times than she could count.

Damn it all.

Lady Ashwood snatched up the roll of papers this time and unfurled them in one quick motion without a moments paused.

In the graceful, steady hand of the king read-

Dearest lady Ashwood,

It has been a long time since I’ve seen you, only as a babe in your mothers arms. I’ve only been able to hear stories of your beauty and capability from your father as the years have went on. Even now he speaks only of you, sick as he is. I regret to inform you that your father took ill upon the road. Had my son not found him where he fell just outside the borders of the capitol, he would not have been able to receive the care he needed to survive even this long. 

The tail feather of a phoenix, the crushed scale of a dragon, and the dust of a fairy wing have been crushed, brewed and made into the tea that brought him back from what seemed to be the brink of death. 

I’ve told your father again and again that there was nothing he needed to do to repay me for these things. Though they are the priceless possessions of royalty in the eyes of anyone outside of the castle, they are simply the tools we possess to aid our friends. He seemed content with letting the issue lie.

Then his sickness returned, and he asked me instead for a favor.

Lady Ashwood, who am I to deny what could be an old friend's last wish?

No one should ever have to face this world alone. He has had nightmares of you sitting within the Golden Keep, no one by your side to aid you in duties he says he's honor bound to never speak of beyond the Golden Wood. 

I knew though, after all the stories your father has told me of you, that there was indeed a young man strong enough for the task.

Guardian of my kingdom, commander of my war band, my dearest adopted son Guilles Magnus Grey.

After much discussion I am happy to say that he and your father have agreed to the match and I am honored to welcome you into my family.

You will find your marriage contract signed and sealed by your father and I within this scroll, as well as a wedding ring made by the finest craftsmen in all the kingdom.

Though my duties bind me here, I will remain by your fathers side until the end. My son is already making his way to the Golden Keep, to be with you as soon as he as able. Though your father will leave us soon, know that you will never be alone with Guilles by your side. 

You both have my blessing and love everlasting.

I wish you nothing but happiness for all the days to come.

Yours,

King Magnus Goldwing Grey

As soon as Lady Ashwood finished reading the letter she did so again. And again. And again until the tallest candle burning in the room was reduced to almost nothing but its wick and her eye was too strained to read it again.

One eloquently written letter was all it had taken to lose her father and be bound to a stranger all in one go.

Most any other person in the world would either be heartbroken or absolutely furious over this. They may have sat there and sobbed the hours away or thrown a tantrum and tear the room apart. Regardless, they'd ultimately accept their fate. They'd wait for their new partner to arrive and plan for a funeral in the spring.

As heir to the Golden Wood however, Lady Ashwood knew full well what would happen if she allowed her father to die outside of its borders. The magic that rooted itself in the blood and bone of it's people demanded they return here in the end. Normally it happened quietly in the night, someone walking deep into the woods and vanishing into the dark, whoever they left behind waking up to find a new tree with gilded leaves standing on the edge of their lands.

Should someone die before returning to the Golden Wood, that seed of magic within them would shape their corpse into something new. A beautiful, glittering, wretched thing that would claw its way back to the woods and carve down anyone who crossed its path until it returned home to take root.

There would be time to mourn after her father stood tall and strong again amongst the other gilded lords and ladies that had lived and died before them. The king didn’t seem to think he could return home on his own so she must ride out to bring him home herself. She was certain that even if he did transform along the way, Lady Ashwood was certain she could find a spell or ritual to keep the creature he became docile enough to not attack anyone. 

Reaching for a new roll of parchment Lady Ashwood began penning a response to the king. She thanked him for everything, expressed her gratitude and excitement for the marriage and very politely told him to be ready for her arrival as quickly as her horse could take her. Signed, sealed and placed back in the scroll tube, the phoenix waited patiently for her to tie it back onto its leg.

“I wish I could ask you to keep him alive, you proud, beautiful thing. If you did, I’d give you anything you wanted within my power.” The phoenix paid her no mind to her or her wish. As soon as it was able it dove out the window and unfurled its magnificent fiery red wings again. Off it went into the sunset, burning bright as the sun until it vanished as a flare of light. Whatever magic it possessed allowed it to ride the light of the sun itself, Lady Ashwood knew, and in mere moments it would be in the king's castle with her letter.

For the rest of the night she wrote up plans for the staff. If a prince was coming then no doubt many others were coming with him. Rooms would need to be aired, bedding and curtains washed, fireplaces ready, halls cleaned and feasts prepared.

Lady Ashwood guessed that she had at least a full week, seeing as it took that long for a wagon to take her father to the capitol, laden with goods.

When she awoke the next morning at her desk, the prince and his men were already waiting at the gates.