The King’s Forest

[The story so far is in the spoiler]

Across the bridge behind the old castle lies another world. A foreign king’s domain encircled by our own. Within its boundaries, the common man is no man at all.

I’d be lying if I said I’ve never wondered what life is like for those living on the other side. I’m sure the hunters could give me some inkling. They cross the bridge almost every morning and return by twilight with game both captured and slain.

Questions to ask? I could think of plenty, but they’ll never receive them from me. If I really wanted answers, I’d pick up a bow and find them myself. Of course, I never seriously considered doing that. I had my studies to attend to and my curiosity was of the mild sort. It had never been so great so as not to be quelled by looking into the world from afar. At least, that was the case, until that world looked back at me.

Across the gap between our hills, I met eyes with a doe. Showing an intelligence unbecoming of her kind, she bowed to me then gestured that I come to her side. A denizen of that foreign domain had given me an invitation.

It was surprising. One thing I remembered of the forest’s legend from when I was a child was that the King of the Forest—and by extension his children—hates us. Well, that and the fact that animals aren’t exactly prone to giving invitations to strangers. It’s not everyday that does and the like hand them out, you know? My jokes at the expense of the situation aside, the days just kept growing stranger for me. Thinking there’d be no greater harm in experiencing more of the absurd, I decided I would accept her invitation.

The bridge across is blocked by heavy gates on both sides, so I had to shimmy along the brickwork of the side railing to jump onto the bridge. Repeating the process once more at the forest side gate, I successfully completed my unlawful crossing. My punishment came almost immediately. Upon turning to the forest, I was startled by the doe. She had managed to sneak up behind me and the sight of her made me almost trip back from surprise. More than rules would have been broken if I had. I needed to be more careful.

Once I had my feet on safer footing, the doe bowed to me yet again. I had not been mistaken, the deer clearly had an odd awareness of formalities. “You may rise.” I said. I thought myself stupid for assuming she could understand, but the doe raised her head, turned to the forest, and started walking. When she reached the point where the treeline began, she looked back at me just standing there. “Right. I’ll come along.” I started following, close behind so as not to get lost. It didn’t seem likely, though, as the forest floor was quite soft and left clear tracks behind.

It felt like we walked for quite some time, but upon arriving at our destination, a clearing with a large tree at its center, I felt little fatigue. Once we came beneath the tree’s shade, the doe beckoned me to sit. I complied with her request and she proceeded to lay her head upon my lap. When I began brushing my hand along her fur, more critters—and some of the livestock we let roam the forest—started gathering and frolicing around us. It was irrational and wonderful in a way that I had only seen in my dreams and in a sense, this and that were the same. All dreams come to an end and it hadn’t felt so long before this one did too.

After experiencing much merriment, I awakened from my jolly haze and realized that I had lost track of time. Twilight would soon be upon us and though I had trouble believing the forest king actually existed, that didn’t mean I felt comfortable spending the night in the woods. Now that I was paying attention, I could hear the hunters gathering themselves in the distance for their return home. I could answer their calls, but that would of course lead to my father learning about this unsupervised excursion. Perhaps, I could follow the tracks the doe and I made on the way there instead?

As I thought of how I should make my escape, the doe began rubbing her head against my chest. I smiled and started petting her in return. She had probably felt my anxiety. My worries began melting away and I started thinking those fanciful thoughts that had brought me there in the first place. I was a guest. Surely, no harm would come of me as long as I remained with my host.

Putting trust into my new friend, I laid my back against the tree and relaxed. It was comfortable enough that I almost fell asleep, but my friend roused me when twilight came. All the critters who had gathered were starting to march further into the forest and she wanted me to come with them. Leaving the livestock behind, we walked until nightfall and a bit after before arriving at a larger clearing not nearly as picturesque as the meadow. If it weren’t for the three trees spread out within it, there’d be nothing, but grass there.

The critters gathered in the clearing’s center and made space for me as I approached. Once I had taken my place amongst them, they fixed their eyes on one of the trees. It was tall and grand with branches rich with leaves that shot out far in every direction. We stood looking at it for some time, but nothing was happening.

My eyes wandered to the other two trees. The one to my right was ripe with fruit. It’s branches hung low and it’s produce littered the ground around it. The one to my left was charred. Its branches had long since fallen away and I doubted that it was even still alive.

I began to wonder if I should ask them what we were waiting for, but whatever was going on looked a bit more complicated than something that could be explained with pointing and gestures. Could they even communicate what we were doing well enough for me to understand?

While I was pondering this, a booming voice rang in my ears. “My children,” the voice said, “Who have you brought before me as I awake from my slumber?”

I looked for the voice’s source, but saw no one. It definitely wasn’t one of the animals. Was it the tree? Such a thought was absurd, but at this point I could believe absurd. I looked towards the tall tree. “I am Diane, Crown Princess of Vallis.”

“And for what reason do you dare present yourself before me, murderer? Have you come to face your crimes?”

I frowned. “I am no murderer.”

“Then what would you call your people’s carnage against my children?” His children? This was him? The King of the Forest really existed?

After some hesitation, I answered. “I haven’t killed any of your children.”

“Yet are you not as guilty as those who have when you partake of their flesh?”

I hesitated again. This really was the king; the king who hated humans and that had exceptional reason to hate the royal family. “I didn’t know things were like this. I thought it was all legend. I wouldn’t have let this happen if I—”

“Your ignorance does not excuse your crimes. What good does your excuse do for this grieving father?”

I swung myself forward. For the first time, I bowed to someone. “I’ve seen my error. I won’t condone my people’s actions any longer. I’ll never let anyone harm your children again.” My friend, the doe, nudged me to get up. I turned to her and she nestled her head against me. There was trust between us.

Her father, however, shared none of it. “You speak lies.” He said. “I can see the hunger in your eyes. You still crave my children’s flesh.”

“That’s not true.” I tried to say, but I was stumbling on my words. I covered my mouth. The mere sight of my animal companions was making me drool uncontrollably. Just a minute before, I had barely felt hunger, but now I was being overwhelmed by such unsavory desire. Never before had an urge been so strong.

“See my children.” The King said. “She is no friend to you. To her, you are only prey.”

“That’s not true!” Again, I tried to protest, but saliva wouldn’t stop flooding my mouth. The animals around me started backing away. I looked towards the fruit-bearing tree. Surely, if it was just a matter of hunger, its fruit would sate me, but as I thought that, a wave of dissatisfaction came over me. I didn’t want fruit, I wanted meat. I turned towards my friend. She was still by my side, but when we met eyes she started sprinting away.

“What is not true? You say that you are not a murderer, but you have partaken of the flesh of my children. You say that you have changed, but your heart remains that of a predator. As I see it, both in action and in mind you are a murderer and now that you stand before me, you must face your crimes.” With those words the ground began to shake.

I turned away from the tree and started running. There was no place left for me there. My words could no longer reach the king and my host had abandoned me. Back from whence I came, I darted out the clearing. The forest began fighting me from my first step. The trees’ canopy blocked out the starlight, so I could barely see in front of me. The fauna grabbed at me as I passed by, tearing both cloth and skin. The once smooth grass and ground became uneven and it took all that I had to keep myself from falling. But still, I ran as fast as I could. I couldn’t slow down, I couldn’t afford to. I heard them, I felt them. Thundering steps, the footfalls of giants were coming right behind me.

With death behind me, I continued on, far beyond fatigue and when I felt that my legs would soon give out, my goal appeared right before me. The gap between the hills, I had arrived at where the forest ended and my estate began. For a moment, I felt safe, but I was running too fast. Bolting past the treeline, I found only a small patch of ground to support me before the hill sank.

I fell. I rolled and tumbled down the hill and my body was raked against the uneven stone that kissed its side until I reached the hard ground below. And when it was finally time for the staff to come looking for me, it was not until the morning after, when the hunters set out for the forest as they almost always did, that they found my body.

The End