The Seven Enchanted Years of a Scottish Princess by Ailie Holland
This book is about Princess Edith of Dunfermline Scotland, daughter of King Malcolm III of Scotland and his Queen Margaret who was an Anglo Saxon Princess from England, forced to flee due to the Norman invasion of 1066.
Oddly enough Princess Edith of Scotland ended up marrying one of William the Conqueror’s sons, King Henry I of England.
When she married her name was changed to Queen Matilda II. She was a good and fair queen, she was pious and took care of lepers by not only providing them with two hospitals but also by visiting them herself, walking barefoot, washing the feet of the lepers herself, and kissing their hands.
While her husband, King Henry I was away fighting in the Crusades, she had some of the first bridges in London built, she also had the first public bathhouses and public toilets built in London. She wanted people to be able to be clean and free of disease and illness that was spreading throughout the land.
In truth, she disappears from the history books from age 13 to 19 and no one is exactly sure where she was. It was said that she fled Wilton Abbey in the dead of night. In my book, she most certainly does, and encounters some otherworldly beings in the woods.
As a fantasy fiction writer, I am free to place her in the Otherworld for those seven years of her coming of age. We will follow her in her adventures, from the historically factual framework of her story, into the magical realm of the Otherworld, my faerytale.
My story takes place between1093, when Princess Edith turns 13 and is betrothed to 53 year old Lord of Richmond, Alan Rufus (whom she does not end up marrying) and 1118, when she leaves the earthly plane forever. There is so much about Princess Edith, the life she lives in the world of men, and her journey into the Faery realm, to tell.
The Fair Folk arrange many meetings between Princess Edith of Scotland and Henry I (brother of Norman King William II of England) in this magical realm where Princess Edith lives. They are both very well educated and fall in love.
In true history, it is said that King Henry I not only saw Princess Edith of Scotland as a wise choice for his bride because of her ancient Anglo Saxon and Scottish roots, and the fact that she was related to most of the nobility in all of England and Scotland stretching back to before Christ. He also loved her.
In my fantasy fiction about her life, their young romance has time to blossom in the enchanting realm of the Fairfolk, with all of it’s faeries and other magical creatures. And she has time to mature and learn to be a good and fair Queen.