I

Rane had never met a witch before; she was nothing of what he had expected. He had been told they were either hideous, and old, and evil or intoxicatingly beautiful. This particular witch was neither: plain of face and speech and manner. Despite all this, he trusted her enough to spend his last Kandor on a love spell. He had a very special woman in mind for it: the Queen of Xanara.


He had wanted free of his father for years now, and having no trade nor money for an education, he knew the next best thing was the love of a rich woman. His plans had accounted for every detail: he knew exactly how to get to the palace, exactly when and where she would be, and exactly how to cast the spell. He had now only to get to the palace, get to her, and cast it.


The journey was an uneventful one: passing through little villages just like his, being teased by elves and harassed by fairies just as always, but the city of Xanara itself was quite a shock! Rows upon rows and towers upon towers! People and dwarves and elves and wizards all bustling off in different directions– he had never seen so many creatures and so much excitement in all his life. And the palace – the grandest structure he had ever imagined! Taller than any other and cast in gleaming white stone. Tonight, he knew, was a grand feast open to the public, and there was already a line forming to enter the place.


Once in, and having taken in the grandeur of the palace’s design, he became terribly bored. He had many hours to wait before the feast. He had journeyed for days and days and just now, he thought, he would practice the casting of the spell one final time. He pointed the stone away from him, said the incantation softly, and pretended to pour the vial of potion onto the stone. Perfect, he thought! He curled up in a little gap between pillar and wall, and drifted off to sleep.  


He woke late, and had to fight for a seat near the high table where his Queen was. She was there with her husband and daughter, laughing and chatting away. She was attractive, for an older woman, with dark red hair and fair skin. He ate a little, and stole himself to cast his spell. He moved over to a side wall, so to better aim the stone, and began the incantation. Two unexpected things happened once he had poured the vial of potion onto the stone. The first was that both the king and queen immediately turned to look at him, with very similar looks upon their faces. The second: that he looked back on both with love in his heart.