The Forgotten Reign
An Original story by Lady Scholastica Joycors
Written at the Request of their Royal Majesties, Anton and Luned, for 12th Night
THERE WAS ONCE IN DAYS OF YORE and ages long past a King and Queen who began their reign during a dark period of time when an illness of unknown properties was creeping across the face of the kingdom. Anton was king by right of arms and Luned was his lady. They had spent the past several months as heirs to the kingdom but when it was time for them to step up into their new roles there was no grand coronation, there was no mighty feast, in fact there were hardly anyone there except a few of their officers and the past royals.
The next day their majesties met with their officers of state to discuss how they could communicate their wishes to the populace and yet discover without danger to themselves, what the state of their kingdom was in. Anton and Luned dearly cared about the people under their reign and wanted to serve them to the best of their abilities, but didn’t know how to proceed. They were surrounded on all sides by a sickness which effects the lungs and no one not even the priests who ran the infirmarian knew how to cure the humours of the lungs or the chills and sweats that accompanied it. The Stuart suggested perhaps the disease could be controlled by people staying home and their seneschal suggested using a scarf or cloth to cover their nose and mouth when they were out in public. All in attendance thought it was a reasonable idea and the King and Queen decided that each week they would herald an announcement across the kingdom to the populace to offer them hope and suggestions to stay safe. So, it was that in the spring of the year their majesties sent out their first broadcasted message to their baronies, cantons, and shires. This was the first of many.
Every week they sent out messages across the land with suggestions on how they could combat this plague, but it was of little avail. Some people would not cover their faces, some shops closed their doors for fear of contracting this lung disease, people were tired of staying home and not visiting or doing daily shopping. Those who lived out further continued their day to day lives as if nothing happened until someone died and then they complained to the heralds that their majesties were doing nothing to stop the spread of this plague. These tales saddened their majesties who wanted to do more to help their people, but did know what else to do and they knew that they must protect themselves so they could protect their people.
One day a holy man stops by the palace to offer blessings to the King and Queen and was led into the Throne Room, the guard stood outside the door. After a short chat the holy man took interest in a large tapestry on the wall which showed an image of their majesties with their dogs. The king being very proud of his dogs walked over in front of it when the man suddenly blew a powdery dust into their majesties face and they both froze. The holy man was really a Mage who came to help them with their problem. The Mage escorted them behind the tapestry down the corridor where he said, “If wisdom is what you wish to find it does not exist within these walls, so each day you must leave these walls and as a dog you will walk this kingdom to discover how to best serve your people. Once back inside the walls of the castle you will be restored to your former shapes. When you have gained control of this illness this enchantment will end. Now go.” He then pushed them outside and disappeared and Anton and Luned now looked and acted like their dogs.
They realized that fate had dealt them this card and they prayed that Almighty God would protect them. In their form as two great dogs they ran to the center of the town at mid-day and found the streets fairly empty and noted that as people left their homes, even the children crossed themselves and then covered their faces, while others carried bundles of Angelica, Wormwood or Valerian which they were constantly smelling. Then they noticed people putting their laundry out the windows to dry and the women chatting from one side of the street to the other. In other places they saw people sitting in their homes just drinking and laughing. The sun soon began to set and so they ran back to the palace on all four legs and as soon as they entered the castle they resumed their former shape as the Mage had said. This was a bit unsettling.
The next day the king called in his steward and seneschal and told them what had occurred with the holy man who was really an enchanter and while it was alarming they also saw it as a chance to learn from the people. “Please keep this a secret,” said the king, “and handle our daily affairs while we are out searching for answers. We promise to meet once a week with the other officers and to continue to communicate with the populace weekly with survival helps.” Day after day after day their majesties traveled into their realm and looked for answers. In the guise of dogs, they could go just about anywhere and if they were patient, they learned great things they could share.
For instance, In the barony of Hidden Mountain they found that the women were cleaning their floors and clothes with vinegar to protect them and there were far less people sick in this barony, so one week the heralds, in their majesty’s weekly announcement, told everyone that vinegar was a great deterrent to the disease.
In the barony of Windmasters Hill they heard that people believed the air was too stiff and loud noises were needed to break up the air and so drumming circles and singing were heard at nightfall so the air was clear and they could rest easier. So that week the announcement from their majesties was to have the bells toll from local churches at sundown and that drumming and singing lifted the spirits and cleared the lungs.
Now while, these weekly announcements were helpful and things began to look like the disease was decreasing, there were still deaths and that made no one happy and just as their majesties were beginning to think they would be able to hold a crown tournament to find their heirs to take over, the plague numbers rose and they lost many good souls and the tournament was postponed.
There were days that Anton and Luned wanted to stay home but the enchantment forced them go out every day, even if only an hour. At one point they visited the church outside the city walls to see how things were in the infirmarian and found all the beds full and much coughing and chills and priests and the nuns attending to the sick. Outside they were burning aromatic herbs to ease their pains and inside they were mixing herbs with warm ale to rid the body of phlegm or they boiled mint and parsley with wine to help chest pains. Again, this was put into an announcement from the throne and heralded to the people.
The people knew the voice of their majesties, but they had never seen them, and really didn’t know much about them, but they knew they cared.
Recently while they were traveling through the barony of Bright Hills they notice a huge kettle in the middle of the town square with a fire beneath it. Luned snuck up to the pot looked in then gave the cook a funny look. She scratched between her ears and said, “the stone is for the minerals and what people bring will feed us a tasty stew.” True enough people brought whatever they had and added to the pot and when it was fully cooked, one family member filled their pot to feed their family. Everyone ate and when sunset came they all began to beat drums, or sang to clear the air.
Another time as they were in Ponte Alto they witnessed a fool who wanted to rile up two friends. The friends had built their houses across from each other so at night they could sit in front of their houses and visit and talk about the day. One day as they were taking an afternoon break from farming they saw the fool walk between them on her way into town and the one friend said, “wasn’t that a beautiful red coat,” the other friend said, “yes it was a beautiful blue coat.” This began an argument of what color the coat was and at the end they decided not to be friends anymore when the fool turned around and said, “you are both right and both wrong for my coat is both red and blue. I guess it depends on your point of view.” Both friends stopped fighting and began laughing till tears rolled down their cheeks and they hugged each other as the fool walked away.
The king and queen in their guise as dogs saw and heard so many stories like these that they could fill a book, but they were never recorded. When the following spring came and the air cleared and the sweet smell of renewal was in the air, they also saw the disease mostly controlled so that the king raised the ban on group meetings and a crown tournament was arranged and a new heir was found. As for Anton and Luned when the new heirs had been trained they held a grand coronation and feast and then silently left the castle free of their enchantment and responsibilities of the crown. They, simply disappeared to a small corner of the kingdom to live out the rest of their days in peace with their great dogs. No one remembers much about that reign for there were no grand activities, no competitions, there were no battles that a bard wrote into a song or poems, nothing to remember them by. What was remembered about that long dark reign was that someone cared about them, and that every single week they heralded announcements from the throne with stories and suggestions and hope.
My tale now is through be it false or be it true I leave that decision up to you.
The Hidden Reign presented as the home page for Kingdom Twelfth Night. This story was written and told by Lady Scholastica Joycors (aka MyLinda Butterworth) which shows the effects that Royalty can have on their kingdom even when they are working in the shadows. Written as a tribute for the good works of Anton and Luned who have ruled in dark times but are always displaying hope for the future.
©2021 Written by MyLinda Butterworth on a topic requested their Majesties Anton and Luned for Kingdom Twelfth Night. This article appeared for the first time in THE YEOMAN - February 2021
Permission is granted for republication in SCA-related publications, provided the author is credited and receives a copy.
Comments