The Wicked Queen of the Wilderness

There was once upon a time a Rebel King. The Rebel King ruled his kingdom with no rules. He had a large magnificent palace, a bustling city, and many many servants, but no rules. He sat on the throne and waited for his royal gifts to arrive to him, without much thought at all. He would receive fruit from the North, frozen ice from the Blue Mountain, and wonderful glass and table-wear from another kingdom, and he received, weekly, beautiful daughters from the wilderness’ dark queen, never wondering why they came.

This also happened to be a time when the Lord himself still used to walk about on this earth amongst men, and it happened that He was traveling through the Rebel King’s kingdom. One servant, who was dressed quite spectacularly, approached Him and explained the politics of the Rebel King, that he really didn’t rule with much rules at all. He invited the Lord to the palace, and when he met the Rebel King on his throne, he said, “Now, dearest, drink to me,” and the Rebel King received the Lord.

After the King had drunk, the Lord said, “You have scarcely drunk at all,” to which the Rebel King replied, “I have eaten nuts from the mountaineers, drunk wine from the church, licked the pot from the Garnet Mountains, and received a blow from the one of the wild queen’s daughters, and all of this just before you entered. Do you have a blow to offer me as well, my Lord?”

“I must give to you, a blow; dearest, this wild queen, whose treasures you receive so often, is your only wife. And with a blow, she hopes to change to a queen waiting for her beloved. She sends her finest young to you, the rebel king, and puts so many of them to death, for you are her only husband, and you must have your way with her.”

“She is a very strange queen, but now you have refreshed me. If I could but say something to her!”

And to answer this the Lord said, “If thou hast seen and learnt that this is your wife, and know it very well, thou wilt go about the land and find her, in her wilderness.”

“That is true,” said the Rebel King, “He heareth the cry my of my closed palace doors, for nothing has moved me ever, before the Lord.”

He replied, “In sooth, my dear, if thou cries, then the queen of the wild will let the whole world hear her storm, and if she cries unto God as thou dost, then it should fare ill with her, as she is a wicked queen.” And the Lord gave several more blows, and the Rebel King said, “What dost the queen long for?” - “Ah, my beloved, the wicked queen longs for the whole world to be wild.”

And so the rebel king set out to find the wicked witch of the wilderness.

The Wicked was beautiful and fair in appearance, but at heart, she was black and ugly. She led her wilderness through very evil times. The step-daughters in her kingdom, who were often so beautiful, were taken away, put in pretty dresses, and given as gifts to the queen’s holy husband, the Rebel King. Besides that, the women of the wild kingdom did their utmost to torment each other, mock each other, and strew the wilderness into ashes, only to allow the Wicked Queen to pick them up, or crash them down by her will.

A dusty and dirty young daughter of forest named Darilean, who was beginning to become fair, once was approached by the wicked, who took one look at her and decided to bring her back with her, to send to her husband in hopes to please him.

When the queen’s two stepdaughters saw the queen enter her wild palace with Darilean, they hurried over to her and informed her that a King had arrived. In response, the queen summoned white doves, and at last when she summoned them a crowd of all the birds under heaven arrived, and the queen picked the most beautiful bird and fastened them the Darilean’s clothes, and said, “Do not say a word, as you would be laughed at!”

And she entered her door with Darilean and her step-daughters, holding a large, mirrored looking glass, viewing the Rebel King from three angles.

The Rebel King cried, “O gentle doves, Come to me!”

And the queen approached the king without saying a word.

And the king approached young Darilean, and kissed the fair daughter.

To the Rebel King, the Wicked Queen said, “This one will be put to death, these two you may have as well, if you wish.”

Then came two more white doves, and the queen attached them to her step daughters.

The King said, “All of this is no good to me, my love; when you cannot come to me, for you have no dove, we have no dance, and I have no queen.” Then she turned to Darilean, and said, “If that is what you wish, take the fairest among us.”

“What I wish, is to marry the Queen of the Wilderness.”

The queen remained silent for a moment, then a tiny black bird flew in through the window and onto the queen’s looking mirrors, and she held the bird and approached the king, and said,

“Then you must kill this black bird.”

The king was so befooled that he thought his love was not shared. She gazed at him, then the dark queen took the bird in her hands, and swallowed it whole, and said “Heareth the cry of a young black raven, for no raven is to marry.”

“Where hast thou learned this?”, said the king

“Faithfully from God.” Answered the queen.

Then the King said, “I have but traveled three days to meet my queen, if I too had but something to eat!” And then he took in his hand took Darilean’s dove, and swallowed it whole.

And he said, to the queen, who was quite impressed, “When I think of it, I feel quite sad, but what can I do? I wish to take young Darilean and yourself as the queen of my kingdom.”

And she instantly took to Darilean, and whispered to her that she would be going with the Rebel King to live in his palace, and she took leave of the wilderness and traveled to the Kings palace where he married young Darilean and took as his wife the queen of the wilderness.