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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 0:00:30 GMT -5
"I do." He said lightly. "Despite my father’s best efforts, I’m not perfect." "How are you not perfect?" "Soon you’ll be able to tell me." That made her smile, and he relaxed, sitting unceremoniously on a log. His long legs were now at awkward angles, but he didn’t seem to mind. "Surely you didn’t come here just to make me feel better." Rose said with amusement. "I did, actually. It seemed like a good idea at the time." Markus answered, with mock thoughtfulness. "Do you always act on impulse, then?" "There’s one of my faults. Just sixty-nine more to go." Rose laughed lightly, face flushed. Never had she imagined he’d be at all like this. She’d always seen him as stuffy and boring. He’d probably thought the same thing about her. Instead, he was sweet and kind, and funny, in his own way. She felt a sharp, stinging pain in one of her fingers. It was bleeding heavily before she could pull it away. Markus gallantly leapt up and darted over, kneeling next to the princess. "Broken glass." He said. "There was something else in there too." Rose said, though it was barely intelligible, as she’d started to suck on her finger. Cautiously, Markus reached into the rotting knothole, shifting through the broken glass. In a moment, he drew out two objects. "A little comb." Rose said. Markus held it up. There was a single, silver-gilt hair entwined in it. The second object was a small, bound book. "Weed ip." Rose said. Markus started at her blankly. She removed her finger from her mouth. "Sorry. Read it." "Let’s look at your finger first." Markus insisted. Rose held out her right hand as though she was showing off a diamond encrusted engagement ring. Markus took it, and looked over the cut. It wound almost perfectly around her index finger. "Let’s see... what would Laura do here... How does it feel?" "Fine." "Well, I’m no expert, but I think you’re going to live." "Stop sweeping me off my feet with your incredible expertise, and read that little book." He released her hand, and set the comb down. Markus jerked his hand back. "You cut yourself too." Rose said, trying very hard not to laugh. "‘Both of you are here before this book bleeding. It is my fault, for I have smashed the glass.’" Markus read. Rose frowned. "It doesn’t really say that, does it?" "It does." She moved around, to peer over his shoulder. "Keeping reading, Markus." "‘Forgive me. That was a shameless attempt to grab your attention. You do not know of it yet, but the two of you are responsible for giving me my greatest wish. Markus, prince of Everglade, and Rose, maid of his sister, I beseech you to let this book go no father than your four hands. Do not tell anyone of its existence. A word of caution to my readers. I understand that you both still mistrust my words, but toying with one’s destiny can be a dangerous thing. By no means should you read more than one entry a day. Who am I? That I cannot tell you until my own throat can speak it. You merely must trust that I am looking out for you."
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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 0:00:49 GMT -5
"Ridiculous." Rose said. "Such incredible horse feathers I have never laid eyes on." "You’re sort of talking like the book now." Markus said, suppressing a smile. Rose was not nearly so successful with her glare. "This is probably someone playing a joke on us, someone from our group." "Why the two of us? No one could have predicted we’d be in this exact spot unless..." "They already knew. Don’t be stupid. At the risk of sounding like that book again, maybe our destinies are somewhat intertwined." She sighed, carefully retrieving the comb. "I think it’s a girl." Markus said. The handwriting, the comb..." "The handwriting. Markus, the ‘g’s!" "You don’t think that...?" "It’s much more sensible than a guardian prophet." We should at least give this a test." "I’ll read the next entry then. If any of it happens tomorrow, I’ll try to believe." "She said not to read ahead." "Then I’ll read it, and you don’t. That makes sense anyway." "All right. Just be careful."
****
"Kenetari?" "Yes, love?" She glided over, a hint of a smile on her lips. Lydrion regarded her indifferently. "Is the girl with them yet?" "She’s joining them shortly. I sent my brother to make sure she makes no more mistakes. We can’t lose another army like we lost hers, can we?" "Her death would be most tragic, wouldn’t it? If I want to keep control over Tobias and Peregrine, I can’t kill her. I can make sure she doesn’t see the light of day for a very long time." "How perfectly heartless of you, darling." Kenetari whispered admiringly. She lovingly caressed his shoulder. Lydrion grabbed her hand, holding it so tightly pain shot up her fingers. "When you see them again..." "I won’t hesitate. He should have been dead the first time. This time, I’ll make sure of it." Kenetari assured him. Lydrion released his grip, and she drew her hand away, holding her fingers. "That’s exactly what I wanted to hear." "You know he means nothing to me now. When his blood runs down my blade..." She shut her eyes, sighing dreamily, "Everything will be perfect again."
Chapter Ten
Laura’s Dream
"Full moon." Raythor said blandly.
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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 0:01:08 GMT -5
"What of it?" Rose asked, leaning her head on her hand. "Just all those horrible beasts of the night, I guess." "Please stop that, Raythor. You’re scaring me." Laura said, shivering. She looked up at the moon unhappily, rubbing her arms for warmth. "I thought the maid’s quarters were cold, but I’m freezing out here." "It won’t be bad, once we get the fire started." Anella said encouragingly. She wasn’t exactly sure when that might be, as David and Kaslon were supposed to be starting the fire. Kaslon kept stopping to wink at Anella and Saria, and David kept yelling at him whenever he did. Neither of them were making any progress what so ever. Anella could tell it was paining Markus just to watch them. "Laura, would you mind taking a walk with me?" Markus said, averting his eyes from David and Kaslon. "Sure, Markus." Laura accepted, managing to keep the eagerness out of her voice. "Anyone else care to join us?" "I would, but I don’t want to miss the grand finale." Raythor said, indicating the fire boys. There was a general murmur of agreement. "We won’t be gone long." Markus got up, and Laura easily matched his stride. The moonlight cast strange silhouettes against the forest floor, and Laura found herself conjuring up images of ghosts. The deeper they got into the woods, the denser the trees became. Sinister figures replaced the ghosts in Laura’s mind. She had always been superstitious, from the very beginning of her memories, but she loved stories. Tales of heroes braving all sorts of dangers were her favorite. The truth of the tale mattered little. She loved the feeling a well told story gave her, one that tempted her deepest memories, the ones she had repressed or forgotten. Memories of her parent’s voices, her mother’s laughing eyes. Laura could only see her father’s face, and hear his calming voice, in her dreams. "What are you thinking about?" Markus asked, a little smile on his face. ‘The ghost of a smile’, Laura thought grimly. "Just a dream I have sometimes." "You’re not scared, are you?" "Not with you here." He rolled his eyes at that one. "Is it the... never mind." "No, really. I’m not scared." A look of understanding passed between them. "The dream where you’re in a different castle..." "And someone is singing in the background. I’m sure it was a women’s voice, far away." Laura took over, almost in a trance. "I was sitting in a big wooden chair. A large man with a deep, calming voice was sitting across from me and telling me stories. Then someone else, I can’t see his face for some reason, comes in. The man stops talking. A woman screams in the background, I think it’s the singer. The faceless man starts talking, and the storyteller gets up. There’s this flash, and suddenly there’s red flowing down the storyteller’s hand. The faceless man comes towards me, and the storyteller stops him. More blood runs down his hand. The faceless one says something else, but all I ever hear is ‘to save a whelp’. Then... nothing." "It’s just a dream. It’s nothing to worry about." Markus consoled. Laura smiled bitterly.
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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 0:01:23 GMT -5
"Of course it’s just a dream. The storyteller-my father- doesn’t care about me. He wouldn’t risk his own life to save me from anything." She looked down at her own, calloused hands. What would they look like, if her parents had raised her? "I don’t even know his name." "How could he not care about you?" "A man like that must have surrounded himself with many children. I’m sure he doesn’t remember me at all." Angry tears burned her eyes. "What’s wrong with me?" Laura stopped walking, stopped hearing the story tellers sweet voice in her ears. "What wrong with me?" She repeated softly. Markus put a hand gently against her cheek, brushing away a tear with his thumb. "Nothing, Laura-"Her face paled so quickly he drew back, both hands at the hilt. The sound of a girl’s voice singing floated over the trees. "No..." She shook her head violently, irrationally. "It’s just a coincidence. It’s someone from our group." The prince said, masking the fear in his voice. "We’re in the woods... wooden chair..." "That barely makes any sense." There was the faintest of rustles. Markus clutched so tightly to his sword that his fingers started going numb. Laura already held a dagger in her hand. A man stepped out of the foliage. Laura screamed. Markus drew his sword blindly, hitting nothing. Someone started laughing. "You should see the look on your faces." Raythor said. Kylara stood behind him, doing all the laughing. Raythor still wasn’t even smiling. "They sent us to find you. You’ve been gone a long while, and the fire brigade had finally succeeded." Laura starting laughing too, a release of all her nervousness. Markus reddened. "Next time, I’m going to kill you." The prince said firmly. "Hey, I’m not the one laughing." Raythor replied. "As long as neither of you is dead, my work here is done." "Did Ketra send you?" "Yes, she did. Why?" "Don’t ask." "Secrets, I understand." "If I were you, I’d also have such a blood-stained desire to protect my secrets." Kylara chimed in. Raythor looked back at her with detain. Laura blinked. It was becoming increasingly obvious to the maid that Raythor hadn’t taken to Kylara. So why had Ketra sent the two of them together? A piercing shriek shattered her thoughts. Laura wondered, for the flash of an instant, if it was her imagination. The look of horror on everyone’s faces told her different. "That sounded like Anella." Raythor remarked, with detached aridity. "It came from this way. Follow me." Kylara commanded, as though she were an unquestioned authority. The four of them started running.
****
"Who is that?" "I don’t know. He just came out of the woods, but he says he’s a healer."
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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 0:01:45 GMT -5
"How do we know that for sure? Doesn’t that seem a little too convenient to you?" Rose pointed out. Dasher, the other speaker, gazed back at her calmly. "I see no malice in him." "You ‘see’ no malice in him?" "Lights can see better than any other element. I can see emotions. I was born with it." "Then what do you see in her?" "Just fear." Both of them had been trying to avoid the fact Anella had been shot. As of yet, the healer had not removed the arrow from her back. Blood stained the white of her dress, and she was breathing hard. The green-eyed, strangely white haired young healer had yet to do a single thing. Ranier, covered in sweat and his mistress’s blood, hadn’t strayed a foot from Anella since their return. No one tried to move him. Markus and Kylara burst through the trees, Raythor and Laura following seconds afterward. Laura’s hair was so tangled that an animal could have been living in it. The other three didn’t look much better. "What happened?" Markus asked. His eyes fell on Anella, and he cringed slightly. Laura gasped. "The horse brought her back like this." Blade explained. "Other than that, we don’t know much." "She was probably just mistaken for a deer by some hunter. With that ratty old horse, I wouldn’t be surprised." Kylara said, with an air of boredom. "Do I want to know who he is?" Raythor gestured vaguely at the healer. His eyes were taking in everything, as fast as they could. "That’s Tallith. Supposedly a wandering healer." Blade said. "He can stay if he wants to. The more the merrier!" Rea announced cheerily. Then she noticed the blood, and was so overcome with nausea that she had to leave. "He can’t until he does something!" Dione burst out. "Just look at how pale Anella’s getting!" "Patience, patience." Tallith said absently. "Don’t give me that crap, you useless bag of bones." "I need some water first." "Anyone have a flask?" "Here you are." Raythor said, offering his flask to Dione. "See that? That is what we call doing something. Observe it carefully." Dione told Tallith with venom, heading back toward the lake. "What if Tallith shot her?" Rose snapped, at no one in particular. "Which direction did he come from?" Raythor asked reluctantly. "Why does that matter?" "Just trust me." "That way." She pointed. "Anella was shot in the back, and she came out of that side of the woods. Tallith came from the opposite side, and the two sides are separated by this clearing. There are almost twenty people here, none of whom are blind or deaf. Tallith would have had to come through this clearing after shooting Anella, go into the other side of the woods, and come back out all in under a minute, without anyone noticing him. Or, he swam across
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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 0:02:17 GMT -5
the lake, in less than a minute. Do either of those options seem at all possible to you?" Raythor said, glancing at Rose grimly. Rose studied the dark haired boys face, and she didn’t like what she saw. "She’s going to die, isn’t she Raythor?" "No, I think-" "We have to find the people who did this! She’s probably dead already. I bet Tallith is working with them anyway!" Rose practically shrieked at Tallith. The healer looked up, shrugged, and went back to examining the arrow. He hadn’t been doing more than that anyway. "Rose, really, that doesn’t-" Raythor tried hopelessly. "I’m sure he works for those assassins that Kylara used to work for!" "Rose-" "Look at him! He’s probably going to shove that arrow in her back further, and defile the corpse!" "Rose, for god’s sake, shut up." Raythor said, still managing to keep his voice level. Rose was so shocked that she actually stopped talking. "Listen to me, Rose." The girl nodded mutely. "She is not going to die here, she is not dead, and Tallith is not going to kill her." He said slowly. Rose nodded again. Dione returned, viewing the entire scene with contemptuous disgust. "Here’s your water. Use it." Dione flashed Tallith a look that could have melted a rock. In return, he repeated calmly: "Patience, patience." "I’m through with this patience sh-" "Dione!" Rea interjected. "That is no way for a lady to speak." "Yeah, well, I’m done with it. We need a real healer." "Laura’s had some training." Markus said. "I can try..." The maid said doubtfully. "What about you, Dasher?" Blade challenged. "Healing isn’t my strong suit. I can shut the wound for a brief period of time, but..." Dasher regarded the arrow, then the pale girl, with reluctance. "Don’t worry; I’ll get the arrow out. Then we need to get her inside, somewhere." Laura said briskly, kneeling next to Anella. "Markus, Raythor, hold her arms. If she wakes at all, this is going to hurt." The two boys went to the opposite sides of Laura’s patient, each holding down an arm. "You really need to take some time to consider this." Tallith moaned unhappily. "We’re out of time," Laura said. Carefully, she took hold of the arrow, her mind running quickly over how to get it out with the least amount of damage. "Ready?" Her assistants nodded. Laura jerked the arrow out, causing the blood to flow again. Anella flinched. "Dasher, quickly!" Dasher’s star glowed, and a weak light covered the wound. Anella was muttering incoherently, but she was no longer unconscious. Laura grinned. "I got it out." She said with disbelief. "Why the heck couldn’t you do that, you moron?" Dione demanded of Tallith. "They’ve done it all wrong, really. Quite wrong." He answered her sadly. "At least they’ve done it." Dione said dismissively. Blade padded up a little closer, eying Anella, and then focused on the wound.
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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 0:02:34 GMT -5
"Nice job. Nothing broken, little blood lost. Well done, Laura." Next to him, Anella’s hand gripped the dirt underneath her fingers, almost involuntarily. Blade lowered his head next to her ear. "Sleep a dreamless sleep of long ago, the pain of shadow’s past no longer yours to carry..." His whisper, almost a song, seemed to make the girl go slack. The look of pain faded from her face. Blade smiled, contorting his animal features. "What did you do?" Markus asked, clearly in awe. "It was just a sleeping spell. Of course, there is a draw back." "A drawback?" "Yes... that spell takes her pain and puts it into me. I need a few...volunteers, shall we say... to help with the burden." He gazed at the prince. "No one too wounded." "That counts Raythor out, so I’m in." Rose taunted. "You are so twisted." The dark haired boy answered, rolling his eyes. "I’ll do it." Ketra offered. "Yeah, me too." Dione said. "Fine. The three of you, hold still..." Blade’s symbol flashed. It would take awhile for the pain to set in, but he knew just what to expect when it did.
****
Dione was trailing behind, partially as a scout, but mostly to protect Rea. As slowly as Rose’s horse, Violet, was managing to go, the two ladies had managed to go even slower. "Is this everything you hoped it would be?" Dione said, her voice hard with sarcasm. "In its way, maybe more." Rea said regally. "Though, I never expected all of us to be so battered so quickly. We certainly look like the survivors of war." "We all did survive a battle." "Yes, I suppose we did." Rea sighed. "Dione, we both know how full your life had been. Filled with tragedy, and love. Filled with regret." Dione shifted. "I hate it when you talk like that." "I know. I, as a sheltered queen and only child, have seen my own parent’s death through, and supported my kingdom as best I can. I want to see the world as well. You, Dione, are my sole companion. I also wish for you to leave this with another friend. There is a life out there, waiting for you to live it, and I might not be a part of it." "But..." Dione faltered. She had never once thought of leaving the castle. Rea had found her at a time of her life when she’d had no options left. There was one regret still lingering, from all those years ago. Maybe she could leave the castle’s safety, just for a short while, and finally be rid of it.
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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 0:03:18 GMT -5
Chapter Eleven
What Starts the Fire
He couldn’t breath. The smoke was closing in all around him, and the heat was becoming unbearable. Outside, Caldria was shrieking his name, and waving her arms desperately. Lydrion looked up into his mother’s soot streaked face, the fear closing in tightly around him. He was being carried, and his mother was running, and the earth burned beneath her feet. His father was already dead, and he was numb, so terribly numb... In one terrible, jarring movement he was on the ground. Lydrion looked back, to see his mother yelling something at him. She couldn’t seem to move. Caldria started yelling the same thing: run. He turned, and he ran as fast and as hard as he could. Caldria took hold of his hands, and pulled him close. Behind him, there was a terrible noise, then a scream that seemed to go on forever... Lydrion woke up wondering when he had dropped off to sleep. The room was dark around him, but it always was. For a moment, he almost expected to find Caldria there, at his side, where she always used to be every time he... every time he had a nightmare. He rose from the chair he had fallen asleep in, and headed to the door. It had been a long time since his entire life had gone up in smoke. There was no time to think of it now, not when he had the future, the one he had created, waiting for him. The past was dead.
****
"Who is this, Ranier? Your girlfriend?" A boy Raythor didn’t recognize asked. Raythor ran the entire insane story over again in his mind. He had been riding Ranier, who had bitten Violet in the butt to make her go faster. Violet was carrying the still unconscious Anella, who’d managed not to fall off. The two horses had started running, and hadn’t stopped until they’d arrived here, where ever that might be. Now a strange boy wanted to know if the two horses were having an affair. Raythor supposed he had in fact died of blood loss several days before. That would explain so many things. "She’s hurt. The blonde girl on Ranier’s girlfriend." Raythor’s own mouth continually amazed him. Before he’d joined this quest, his mouth might have shriveled up from disuse. Now it worked under the most extreme conditions. "You’re in luck. My mother is a healer." The boy informed him. "My name is Tirian. I’ll go and get her." With that, he disappeared into the house, which was presumably his own. Raythor took a second to gather his wits, and then finally dismounted with a thud. Anella seemed fine, as far as he knew. His eyes settled on Dasher’s light seal, a thing Blade had called ‘weak magic’. To him, that meant only that strong magic was beyond his comprehension. The seal faded, as quickly as it had first appeared. Raythor swore under his breath, hastily ripping away part of Violet’s cloth saddle and using it to slow the blood flow. When Markus and his passenger, Rose, arrived Raythor was still standing there. In the interval his hands had also become drenched in a considerable amount of Anella’s blood. Rose, who, up until this point, had been squeezing her eyes shut and holding onto Markus’s waist for dear life, was horror struck. "What are you doing?" Rose asked. "Don’t ask. Just go find that stupid blonde boy and tell him to hurry up." Raythor said, now really having to force himself to keep calm. Why did everything in his life have to involve so much blood? With that, the door banged open. An older woman, with her beady eyes glaring, stepped out into the sunlight.
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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 0:03:34 GMT -5
"Get her in here!" The women bellowed. In the resulting scramble, Anella was transported inside and the other party members were left outside. Markus blinked a few times before deciding it was better off that way. "Dasher’s seal broke." Raythor informed his companions, shaking his hands. Rose recoiled instantly from the resulting red drops. "You look as though you’ve just killed someone." Rose commented. "Could you not tell me that?" "Why? Do you have some strange aversion to being compared to a killer?" "Do you happen to know anyone who doesn’t have that ‘strange aversion’?" By the time they were done arguing, everyone else had arrived in their usual disheveled mass of humanity and horseflesh. Markus, Rose, and Raythor did their best to explain what was going on, telling the story over and over again. Laura kept inquiring about everyone’s health, particularly Markus’s. "I’m fine." The prince assured her for the forth time. "Really I am." He was mystified, as usual, by her overzealous concern. Rose, who was not at all confused by Laura’s actions, kept glaring at the maid rather viciously. Blade stood by, listening closely to all three versions of the story, a smirk plastered across his canine features the entire time. "So then, Dasher, if healing isn’t your strong suit, what is?" "Stop being so high and mighty, just because you’re a shadow." Dasher retorted. "Everything I’ve learned, I had to teach myself. I’m just expected to sit there and look pretty." "No one said you were doing a poor job of that." "Is that some feeble attempt at a compliment? Because let me tell you, I’ve heard them all before." "Compliments aren’t my strong suit. I apologize." He whispered softly. "Then what is?" Dasher questioned, but her voice shook slightly. Blade didn’t answer. He knew he didn’t have to.
****
"Do you think they’re cold out there?" Laura asked, peering out the small room’s window. The old lady, whose name was Sinclair, had just enough room for eight people. That boiled down to all the girls. All of the male-persuasion, human and elementist alike, had been sent out to the nice drafty barn with the horses. Dasher had been lucky enough to slip past Sinclair unnoticed, so far. "Who cares?" Rose grumbled. "They deserve it anyway." "Darn straight." Dasher bristled from the floor. Only her upbringing kept her from using harsher terms. "It’s just exactly what they deserve." "For saving my life..." "Sweet talking me..." "Using that stupid, sarcastic voice..." "Showing me up..." "Bleeding all over the place..." Laura wondered if Rose and Dasher were actually listening to one and other, or just ranting in unison.
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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 0:03:53 GMT -5
"They mean well." Laura put in tentatively. She was answered by a hostile silence that only made her smile. "You’re too nice for your own good." Dasher said disgustedly. "Especially to them." Rose agreed vehemently. Laura sat down on her bed and started laughing. "What in heaven’s name are you laughing about?" Dasher asked. "It’s just that people keep telling me that," Laura answered cheerfully, "and I just don’t understand why it’s a bad thing." Rose quietly asked herself who else had told Laura that. She feared it had been Markus. "She is sort of right. We’re all going to have to put up with each other for a long time." Dasher said rationally. "Frankly, though, the boys are still annoying the tail off of me." She said the word boys as though it weren’t an obvious euphemism for one of them in particular. "Then let’s get to know each other. Wouldn’t that be nice?" "Wouldn’t that be nice..." Rose repeated under her breath, rolling her eyes. "Well, I don’t mind starting. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about doing it later." Dasher said. She spent a lot of time weighing her options. "Please do." Laura intoned brightly. "Well, I’m a Light princess from the city of Vale. I’m the oldest child, and I have a younger sister and brother. My parents spend all of their time trying to find me a suitor, but I’ve only seriously considered one of them. I’m still not so sure about him." "What’s his name?" "Whose?" "The suitor." "Baine." "Why only him?" Something in Laura’s face made Dasher want to tell her everything. As though she could never hurt anybody. "Because... because he’s different. All the suitors tell me how beautiful I am, or what they could give me. He said... Baine, I mean... that he could never marry anyone he didn’t know. He said he wanted to get to know me. The real me. I’m just a bit..." "Jaded?" Rose suggested. She was glad she’d never had to put up with any of that. It had always just been Markus, looming over her head like a vulture. "‘Jaded’ isn’t exactly the word I would use. That sounds a little too royal, don’t you think?" Rose laughed a little. "Yes, I suppose you’re right." "He must be a sweet boy, if you trust him." Laura said. "What about you?" Dasher inquired. "Hmm?" "Do you like anyone?" "What? No. Of course not." Laura answered quickly. It felt horrible, to lie to them, but she didn’t like to admit, even to herself... "What about you, Rose?" "I’m engage- I mean no." Rose said. "You humans are so strange." Dasher said, eyes shining. Laura, still feeling guilty, smiled back.
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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 0:04:19 GMT -5
"Maybe we should try to, I don’t know; look out for each other or something." Rose said blankly. "Good idea." Laura said enthusiastically. "I agree." Dasher said. "Let us look after Anella as well." "Then I pledge that the three of us...no, the four of us," Rose corrected, "I pledge that the four of us are always going to be there to help each other out." "And help with the boy troubles." They all regarded each other solemnly. It was a few minutes before Rose started into her own thoroughly fabricated story.
****
"I’ve never said it, but thank you for saving my sister." Markus said, from his hay bale. Raythor, who hadn’t sat down since he had been injured, was leaning against one of the support beams. "I would imagine the princely creed demands it of you." The dark haired boy replied carelessly. "Well, despite that, she is my sister and you did save her." "Not to interrupt or anything, but Anella’s kind of cute." Kaslon said earnestly. His smile faded slightly, presumably because David had kicked him, but it returned. "I agree. It’s a very quiet beauty." Tallith said. "Then who’s a loud human beauty?" Blade asked. "Saria." "Well, what about elementist beauties then?" Kaslon piped up, eager to learn of a whole new realm of blondes. "Most would say Dasher." Blade responded, remaining noncommittal. "What do you think, Markus?" "I’m sure my fiancée is very lovely." Markus said automatically. "Yeah, yeah sure. Give us a straight answer." "I uh... always thought Laura was pretty." He amended hurriedly. Kaslon laughed. "All right, what about you Gabriel?" "Rose." The blacksmith shrugged. "She has those big eyes, though." "Like a puppy." "I’d forgotten the attractiveness of puppies, I suppose." "What about you, David?" Tallith interjected. "I’m married." David said passively. "Caldria is pretty, for a brunette." Kaslon said. "Which leaves...Raythor." "I find the fact this conversation originated on the attractiveness of a wounded party slightly disturbing." Raythor said. "I’d take that as an admission, what about you guys?" They all nodded. Raythor rolled his eyes. He said, blandly: "Somebody’s coming." A brief hush fell, before the sound of footsteps became fully audible. The door creaked open. "Anella’s awake. You can come and see her now, if you’d like." Tirian informed them. Markus scrambled to his feet.
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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 0:05:06 GMT -5
"Is she going to survive? How bad is it? Has she said anything?" "She just told me about a dream she had. She’ll be fine." "Thank heaven." "If I might ask, how did you know Ranier’s name?" Raythor said. He, Markus and Tallith had followed Tirian outside. "Anella bought the horse from me. We’ve met a few times after that." Tirian said. A few of the other boys had started to move as well, but Tirian said sternly: "We shouldn’t over stimulate her at first." Shortly the four of them entered into Anella’s room. Her bed was surrounded by most of the girls. "Anella, are you feeling better?" Markus said, as he and Raythor walked in. "Yes. I don’t remember coming in here at all, though. Just pain and the voices..." Anella said, resting the tips of her fingers against her forehead. "I had the strangest dream..." "It started with Blade whispering something. Then there were all these golden horses running away from this man on a giant red horse. I’m not sure why he was chasing them." "The first part wasn’t a dream." Rose said, a little hostilely. She hadn’t been able to sleep, due to the pain she was bearing. Her eyes were blood shot, and her hair disheveled. Ketra also looked as though she hadn’t slept, but was more composed and far less crabby. Dione simply hadn’t turned up. "You look truly lovely, Rose." Raythor said sarcastically. "Try not to start something. It will bother Anella." Laura pleaded. "You’re all exhausted." Anella said sympathetically. "Go back to sleep. I’m really feeling better." "It’s not just that, Blade’s spell must still be working." Dasher noted. "I hadn’t noticed." Rose snapped. "I could take it off, if you think you could handle it Anella." "Handle what?" The shy girl said. "The pain. Blade used a spell to remove it from you. It went into Rose, Ketra, and Dione." "I don’t want them to suffer on my behalf." Anella said firmly. Dasher nodded. Her star flashed, and Anella’s eyes squeezed shut. Anella felt her back burn with pain, which faded slowly to a dull throb. Her eyes opened again. "It’s not bad." "I’m going to sleep before I kill someone." Rose grumbled, wandering out of the room. Ketra followed her. "Is Dione all right now too?" Rea asked. She’d been standing there quietly until this point, focusing on a stain on the wall as if it were a magnificent thing to behold. "Someone should stay in here with you, Anella." Markus said. "I wouldn’t mind." Saria said, breezing into the room. "Neither would I." Rea said. "I am the queen, after all." "Yes, you are." Raythor said, with a fake half grin. He left quietly. Slowly, everyone else did too and the door slid shut behind them. Markus was the last one out. His hand was still on the doorknob when he spotted Rose. Wondering to himself why she was still awake, he took a few steps forward.
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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 0:05:25 GMT -5
"Rose?" Markus whispered. She didn’t move, her eyes clouded, and stood facing the window. "It felt like fire... heat you couldn’t escape..." "Rose? Can you hear me?" Markus looked at her face, but she was still acting like he wasn’t there. He shook her gently, and Rose’s face contorted into a silent scream. There was a white flash and the girl was gone. "Rose!" Behind the prince, a door creaked open and an even more disheveled Rose peered out, uttering unhappily: "What the heck is it now, pretty boy?" "Weren’t you just there, looking out the window?" "No. I was in my room, trying to sleep until you shouted at me." "But-" "You’re so tired that you’re hallucinating. Oh... That book said ‘Take care of Anella for me.’ That was all. I think she knew." Rose smiled. "Go have fun in the drafty barn, and get some sleep." "Rose-" "Talk to me in the morning." The door closed. Markus just stood there, staring at the place the Rose look alike had been. All he could think about were Kenetari’s terrible eyes, and how she could have written those words.
Chapter Twelve
We’re not so different
Anella woke up and forgot completely where she was. It came back, in small doses, with the dull pain in her back. The throbbing had gotten worse over night, and it stung when she moved. She could see Saria a few feet away flopped across a chair, her head lolled to the side. Rea was curled up in a little ball in the chair next to Saria’s. Anella rose to her feet, and the pain shot up her back, then faded slightly again. Neither Saria nor Rea budged as she left the room. The sunlight felt good against Anella’s skin, with all the warmth of a friend one hasn’t seen for a very long time. Her twisted, unsure memories of the night before seemed far away. Surely no pain was too much to bear, on a morning as beautiful as this. Her only reminder was the tight bandage wrapped about her middle, and she suddenly wanted to get it off so desperately, and forget every ounce of fear clinging to it. She turned her thoughts away. Today was the fifth day of Rea’s quest. Already, she felt sort of close to the others here, all the people who had been there to save her life. Maybe that’s what fighting against something, anything, together did to you. Standing there, ready to die, learning only the important outer parts of this assorted mass of royalty and peasantry. Everything harder to see, everything that meant something... that would come later. "Good morning, Anella." Blade said pleasantly. It was strange, how quickly she had gotten used to speaking to him. "Good morning Blade. Do you love the sunshine too?" "Strangely, yes. Never understood it. Makes my fur so glaringly obvious." "Well... that doesn’t matter. You’re not really like an animal."
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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 0:05:45 GMT -5
"I’m not?" "Not by human standards, I mean. You talk, and you live in families. You don’t hurt each other, not unless you think you have to. You have wars, and kingdoms, and royalty. You’re really not so different." He inclined his head, thinking that over. He imagined he could have said that humans were very like elementists as well. "No." He responded finally. "I suppose not." "Blade, about your spell..." "Yes?" "What was it suppose to do? Everyone was talking about it last night, but I wasn’t sure..." "It temporally channeled your pain into the others bodies. And it allowed you to sleep." "Was it supposed to heighten the pain in the recipients?" "It should have. I’ll admit it was enough to keep me up." She looked slightly concerned, and he shook his head. "It was a shadow spell. We don’t do healing." She nodded, asking: "Then how come the combined pain didn’t keep me awake?" "It was lessened when it returned to you. That’s why it has to be increased at first. But, as I said, shadow ‘healing’ spells are tricky. There’s always a catch involved. It’s also possible that Dasher did not reverse the sleeping portion of it either. That might explain why you had a little trouble remembering last night." "Did I say that?" Anella asked. "No." He smiled. "I just guessed. I tried this on my brother once, when I... well, it just made sense, I suppose." "Blade?" "Hm?" "Thank you."
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Kenetari turned the sword over lovingly in her hands. They had been through a lot together, her and that sword. She slid it back into its sheath with a smile. If only it could find the prince’s flesh now, make sure that he never.... "He did say tomorrow, father?" She asked coolly. "Yes. He did say tomorrow." Sabbath Whitestar answered. He wasn’t a large man, and looked more sickly than anything else. His face was pale and drawn back, and his eyes were colorless and empty. When she was little, Kenetari had called him ‘skeleton man.’ Sabbath certainly did resemble a member of the walking dead. The door creaked slightly, and both their heads turned. "Uh... father... I was wondering..." Benvolio stepped hesitantly into the room, shifting his weight. "Could I help you and Lydrion and everybody?" "You know who would trust a cute little face like that?" Kenetari said, grinning at Benvolio. "Caldria. If you could make her believe that you wanted to help her that would be very useful to us. Especially Lydrion." "Of course. I’m sure I could do that." Benvolio said firmly.
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Post by Markus Everglade on Jun 19, 2009 0:06:02 GMT -5
Great. Thanks." She turned back to Sabbath. "Father, what is all this ‘vessel’ nonsense I keep hearing about? You think Markus’s archer girl is it?" "Yes. Glasswater’s daughter. I was sure of it, after the mother was killed." Sabbath said. "When I saw Charity alive... there was something about those eyes of hers. So much like a cats, like an animals." "Don’t cats have green eyes?" "So does Vyncent. The two of them together..." He shook his head, lost in thought. "I’ve seen so many children, but none of them had that strange energy Elaura does."
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Saria had been trying to make Blade fetch a stick for almost an hour. Blade hadn’t moved once, and kept watching her and her twig like a disinterested cat. Thunder, on the other hand, repeatedly brought back the mangy thing. Few people had been able to stomach watching the whole fiasco for long, but Rea was enjoying it. Saria and Rea’s tendency to drift away into their own ‘thoughts’ at a moments notice was apparently a bonding experience for them. Dione stood with them as well. She wouldn’t leave Rea. Next to her was Dasher, who wouldn’t leave Saria. Everyone else had bolted. Markus had headed straight into the woods. Naturally, Laura had followed him. They had found there way to a small stream, and were sitting next to it. Laura had folded her legs to one side, the bad one on top. It was becoming harder and harder to pretend it didn’t bother her. "Does that still hurt you? I know you’re trying to hide the limp, but this looks just like the time you twisted your ankle whenever you walk." Markus commented, trying to skip a stone over the waters surface. It sank instantly. "It’s really gotten better." Laura lied calmly. "Try not to worry about it." Markus smirked. He knew she was lying. "Maybe it’s a good thing that we’ll be spending a few days here." He said. "Not only for you, but for Anella and my sister and everyone else as well." "I don’t want to be a burden, and hold us up." Laura responded, voice laced with guilt. Markus sighed, rolling his eyes. "You just keep saying that, but..." "Markus!" Laura exclaimed with mock outrage. She smiled. He has always been able to make her smile. She watched as he tried to skip another rock. Again, it sank. This time though, she saw something else. A faint blue light surrounded the stone as it disappeared. Markus didn’t seem to see it, his expression blank. On a whim, she picked up a stone and flicked it away with her wrist. It bounced four times before sinking. No blue light. She must have imagined it the first time. Unless... "Hey! How did you do that?" Markus demanded. She didn’t answer for a moment, thinking about that blue light, about his hair, about his eyes... "Laura?" "Once you can shoot a bow, it’s easy. You, my prince, are a terrible archer on all accounts." She said smoothly. A stone flew by her ear, ricocheting off the water. "Twenty guesses who threw that." "I barely need one." "Hello, Raythor."
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