003 - Older Than Dirt

Sienna drugged Prince Brendan. She had no problem doing whatever it took to get what she wanted and she wanted him. Actually, what she really wanted was to be queen of a rich land and Prince Brendan seemed the best way to get her crown. Sienna knew he had antediluvian beliefs. He was, after all, older than dirt after being under Ma-sha’s magic spell for so many years. He thought of himself as a paladin. He wanted to be Rose’s hero but Sienna knew he would be better matched with herself rather than Rose. Prince Brendan tried to follow his chivalric oaths but the fact that he was with Sienna proved he only wanted to fulfill his own needs.

While Prince Brendan slept in his drugged stupor, Sienna prepared her spell. She took his pale kid leather boots off of his feet. She removed his red and gold brocade overcoat and deep purple velvet breeches. She sliced off his linen undershirt and braies and pulled off his silk stockings leaving him laid out on his bed naked.

Sienna brushed his hair from his face and ran her hands over his body. A crown would not be the only benefit to her machinations this evening. She began her chant while she marked Prince Brendan’s forehead, lips, throat, chest, stomach, groin and feet with the consecrated oil she received from the Witch of Spawn Hollow. The old crone had given her the words for the spell, too. Sienna had it memorized which was not easy as it seemed excessively prolix and tedious and it had taken her almost an entire moon’s cycle to commit it to memory.

This sorcery cost Sienna a great deal. She promised the hag her first born for the woman’s dark religion once Sienna had her way. The ineluctable results would come from Sienna’s intransigent plans and preparation. Prince Brendan would not escape her this time and Ma-sha would not be around to foil her plans.

The words roiled and boiled from her lips as she threw incense on the fire. The flames shot up, momentarily brightening the room. She didn’t understand the words she said but she could feel their invidious and evil nature. When the flames died down, Sienna looked at Prince Brendan laying on his satin bed quilt. Sweat poured from his body and his muscles contracted and released in angry spasms. She continued to sing her binding song but the closer she got to the end the more violent became Prince Brendan’s convulsions.

Before the last word left her mouth, Prince Brendan’s eyes snapped open. He jumped from the bed and covered Sienna’s mouth with his hands, preventing her from completing her spell. They struggled as he called for his guards. By now, the spell was broken and could not be completed without starting from the beginning again.

Sienna tried to lay the blame for the evening’s happenings at Prince Brendan’s feet but the evidence of her plan littered the room.