IN THE LAND OF FANTASIA C 2011 JoJo

CHAPTER 6

“Grogan is… your father, Delphistra? How can that be? Why didn’t you ever tell me this before?” Coalis asked, his eyes filled with concern.

Delphistra sighed. Wiping her eyes, she sat up. “It’s a long story Coalis. My beloved mother, Ariandra, was forced into a marriage with Grogan by my wicked Grandfather, Marjum, the Horrible.”

Coalis gasped. “Your Grandfather was Marjum the Horrible?” he asked. “I’ve heard a lot about him. He was a man who was cruel and merciless, by all accounts, and he enslaved a lot of the Dell people.”

“Yes, that’s him alright. You can have no idea how greedy and evil my Grandfather was. Mother told me all about him. He treated her and her sisters like … slaves. They had to scrub floors, wash his filthy clothes, cook, keep his castle clean – Mother said it wasn’t a castle as much as it was a fortress, with armed soldiers and prison bars over all the windows. Mother said there was never any hope of escaping – none.” A small tear trickled down Delphistra’s cheek. Coalis took her hands in his and gently squeezed them.

“One of Mother’s jobs was to … clean and polish his boots every morning. Grandfather put his boots onto his smelly feet (Mother said they smelled terrible) and yell for Mother to come and polish them. He forced her to kneel at his feet and polish his boots. No matter how hard she tried to do a perfect job, it was … never good enough for Grandfather.” She paused and gulped as she tried to control her emotions. “When Mother finished polishing his boots, he’d always hit her across the head and knock her flying, telling her she was useless and had done a bad job.” Tears poured down Delphistra’s cheeks – Coalis thought his heart would break seeing her in such pain.

“Shush, shush, you don’t have to continue telling me if you don’t want to,” he murmured as he gently stroked her cheek.

“Yes, I do,” Delphistra cried. “You have to know all of it, now that the Wall of Ignorance has been taken down. Only that way can you protect yourself from what is to come!”

“Alright, sweet Delphistra, so tell me.”

“Grandfather owed Grogan a great deal of money. Mother told me that Grogan came to Marjum’s Castle with a battalion of men, ready to take possession of it, killing Marjum and all his troops. Marjum invited Grogan into the castle and started … negotiating with him.” She paused, while a shudder ran through her tiny body.

Grandfather summoned all his daughters into the Main Hall and paraded them in front of Grogan. ‘You can have any one of my daughters in exchange for the money I owe you,’ he said. Grogan licked his lips greedily and looked each young girl over. He saw my Mother. Pointing his finger at her he said ‘Very well, I’ll take her.’ When Grandfather noticed how keen Grogan was to take Mother as his wife, he became greedy.

“‘Now now Grogan,’ he said. ‘That daughter comes at a higher price than the others.'”

‘How much higher?’ Grogan growled. Grandfather looked keenly at Grogan and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “‘A hundred gold pieces more than I already owe you,” he said.

‘”Done!’ Grogan said. Mother said Grandfather looked annoyed, because he realized he could’ve named twice that amount of money and Grogan would’ve paid.

Mother cringed in the corner in terror. “‘Please Father, no, please don’t let him take me,'” she whimpered.

“BE QUIET YOU STUPID GIRL!” Grandfather roared. “YOU WILL OBEY ME!”

Without a word, Grogan pulled a huge handful of golden coins, and without bothering to count them, tossed them towards my Grandfather. They fell all over the floor and Grandfather instantly got onto his hands and knees and started scrambling around, picking them up. He paid no attention while Grogan strode over, scooped my Mother up in his arms and strode out of the castle with her.

They were married the next day by the Priest who lived in Grogan’s Castle and was as much a prisoner there as Mother was. He’s been captured by Grogan in a war he’d waged against the Kuzikstans, and Grogan had only spared his life if he agreed to perform whatever priestly functions Grogan wanted.”

“I was born a year later.” Delphistra gulped then whispered “Grogan wanted to kill me because he’d wanted a boy.”

“Oh Delphistra, how was your life saved?”

“My mother saved me.”

“How did she manage that, Delphistra?”

“I can’t tell you that Coalis, it would put her life in danger. Please don’t ask.”