Hi everyone!

This is the first chapter of The Sound of Forgiveness, the sequel to The Taste of Revenge, which is a sequel to The Smell of Spices (the technical term for that is gee-too-many-sequels-on-a-Sunday-afternoon! Lol!)

The story takes place five years since the last chapter of Taste of Revenge, when Feu ran away because Uther was trying to kill her and without even saying goodbye to Merlin! ): Oh and she was also pregnant with Merlin's child…woops!…

Anyway, this story is fairly short compared to the other two, but I hope you enjoy! (: Reviews appreciated as always (:

'You gave up the fight
You left me behind
All that's done's forgiven
You'll always be mine
I know deep inside
All that's done's forgiven'

- Within Temptation, Forgiven.

Chapter 1

Dwyn heard the hoof beats stepping across the dirt-track road before her saw it. He smiled, showing black and missing teeth. He nodded at his men, each almost as scrawny and untrustworthy as he, and they hid themselves behind trees and bushes near by, waiting for the mysterious horse to come closer.

Dwyn waited around a small bend, he didn't need to worry how close he was by the roadside, he would see who was on the horse before they saw him. He pulled his knife out of his torn trouser pocket, just in case they faced any trouble. By the sound of it, there was only one horse, so it wouldn't be difficult for him and his six men to ambush and overpower whoever was on the horse.

After another minute or so, the horse finally came into view. It was a large white horse with a greying muzzle, it was not one that Dwyn had seen before, but he imagined a handsome stallion like that could fetch up a good price. But for the moment, he focused on the people riding the horse.

There were two people on the horse, both wearing cloaks and had their faces covered by hoods. The first person Dwyn could tell was a woman, she held the reins of the white horse in her hands, but she didn't direct it, as if there was no need to. She was wearing a dark blue cloak; another item Dwyn thought would make a good price on the market. The woman's hood was up, so Dwyn couldn't see her eyes, he could just see thin lips and slightly tanned skin. It looked like they had been travelling somewhere; that meant the woman must be rich. Dwyn licked his cracked lips, wondering how much money the woman might be carrying in her purse.

What surprised Dwyn most about this sight though, was that the second person, wasn't even a person, it was a child. The child was only small, and wore a dark green cloak; it kept its head buried in the woman's back, too scared to show the forest its face. Dwyn wasn't used to seeing what looked like a mother and child on one of these deserted, winding tracks. Perhaps they didn't know that such places were dangerous. Well, they were about to find out.

The white horse and its riders were right in front of Dwyn when he decided to step out in the middle of the road. The horse was going at a slow pace, so managed to stop in time, but it seemed unnerved by how this person had suddenly appeared in its line of vision, however it remained steady. The woman showed hardly any reaction at all to Dwyn's appearance, and the child continued to hide its face.

"Lost madam?" Dwyn asked as politely as possible, smiling a horrible smile up at the stranger on the horse.

"No," said the woman curtly.

"You should be careful," Dwyn continued, he was enjoying himself, he couldn't help it. He couldn't stop thinking about how easy their victim was and how much money the woman might be hiding. It wasn't every day he came across such a treat. "Dangerous people might be hiding in these woods."

Dwyn couldn't see the woman's eyes, but he was sure, by the way he lips thinned even more, that she was glaring at him. "Quite probably," she said in a low, hard voice. "You best let me pass then stranger before we account any trouble."

Dwyn put on a pretend expression of worry. "Well, there we have a problem," he told the woman. "Looking after these roads costs a lot of money, so I need a small payment before you can pass." He explained.

As soon as Dwyn said this, it was his men's cue. They slowly began to emerge from the undergrowth.

"It doesn't look like these roads get a lot of care to me," the woman told him.

"It's because we haven't had a lot of money to maintain them," Dwyn explained with a casual shrug.

"You lie." The woman snapped suddenly. "You want the money for yourself."

There was a pause, Dwyn wondered how the woman had found out he was lying. But it was too late for her now, so he shrugged.

"Ah, you saw through us. Alas, this is true," Dwyn couldn't help smiling. His men were stepping closer and closer towards the woman, the child and the horse on all sides. There was no way for them to escape, so there was no need to tell any more lies.

"I see through everyone," the woman said in a whisper that Dwyn barely heard, and it unnerved him a little, but there was no need to feel afraid, his men were now completely surrounding the horse.

"Mummy," suddenly said a very small voice.

It was the child on the back of the horse, which Dwyn realised was a small boy. He lifted up his head, showing large, blue eyes. He glanced around anxiously at the men that were surrounding them.

"Ssh, it's all right." His mother said gently. She hadn't even glanced at the men around her, but it seemed that she knew they were there. "We have nothing to give to you, thief," she said harshly, "you shall take nothing."

But to Dwyn, that sounded like the woman did have something worth taking. He knew people lied, they did it all the time to try and protect themselves, and he always knew when they were lying. He took a step forward, and his men did the same.

"I think we should decide for ourselves about that." He said darkly.

The little boy glanced around wildly at the men surrounding him, clearly terrified. But still the woman kept her eyes fixed on Dwyn.

"I have nothing to give." The woman said a little more harshly.

Dwyn grinned. "I prefer if I find that out for myself."

"You will take nothing." She repeated.

"No," Dwyn grunted, getting slightly annoyed now. He assumed that the woman would be afraid and give up her possessions quickly, but it seemed she would need a bit of persuading. "We will take what we want."

The woman's endless gaze was beginning to affect Dwyn; shivers ran up his spine as he felt her eyes continuing to dig into him, as if she could see everything inside him. And yet he still couldn't see her eyes.

The woman said nothing, but it seemed that there was nothing needed to be said. She didn't need to tell him again that he would take nothing.

"Fine," Dwyn said between gritted teeth. "It seems that you'll need a bit of persuading. How about the boy?"

As soon as Dwyn said this, his men launched an attack. One of them grabbed the reins of the horse to prevent it from trying to flee as it reared up in panic. The other five men grabbed the little boy and tried to pull him off the horse.

The little boy screamed and cried out for his mother. Now the woman finally took notice of the men, looking at each of them in turn, telling them desperately to leave her little boy alone, not to hurt her son. The boy tried to put up a fight, but the men pulled him off the horse with ease. One grabbed hold of his shoulder and put his other arm around his chest to stop him from trying to run.

Everything suddenly went very calm when Dwyn handed the man holding the boy his knife. And the man put the knife to the boy's throat.

Suddenly, the little boy stopped squirming and crying. He became as still as a statue, staring up at his mother with wide blue eyes. All of Dwyn's men were still, and the woman had stopped shouting. Still sitting on the white horse, she turned her attention back to Dwyn.

"You'll regret this." She hissed at him between gritted teeth.

Dwyn laughed, thinking the game was up, and ordered the woman to also be pulled down from the horse.

That was when things went drastically and terrifyingly wrong.

As the remaining four men tried to pull the woman down from the horse, the hood of her cloak fell, revealing her face.

A cascade of long, golden hair flowed down the woman's back. For a moment Dwyn could have sworn that her eyes were a deep blue, but within seconds they had suddenly turned a bright green colour, filled with pure hatred and anger. The woman's teeth suddenly grew into fangs, and she lashed out at one of the men trying to pull her down from the horse.

The man was hit hard over the head by a hand that no longer had fingernails, but claws. With a surprise of cry and pain, blood trickling down his face, the man fell backwards. Before any of Dwyn's men were able to pull the woman off the horse, she jumped off herself, attacking any of the men that came near, fighting her way to get to her son.

Dwyn's men put up a good fight, but they were no match to the sudden, unexpected strength and fighting skill of the woman. Some tried to knock her to the ground with sticks, but she simply turned and scratched at their throats, bit at their faces until they fell back in fear and pain. All the time the woman was hissing and spitting with anger.

Soon Dwyn's men were either lying on the floor bleeding, or fleeing into the forest. The woman only needed to step towards the man still holding her son. He took one look at her bright green eyes and the blood spattering her cloak, before dropping the knife and running into the trees.

Finally the woman turned to Dwyn, the only man still standing in the forest. She stepped menacingly towards him, and he stepped back, eyes filled with terror. He had never seen anything like it.

Dwyn raised a shaking finger, pointing at the woman, he opened his mouth to say something, but the woman spoke first.

She leapt towards Dwyn, grabbing him by his tatty colour with such a tight grip he wouldn't have been able to get away if he tried.

"Let this be a warning to you." She said between gritted, fanged teeth. Her eyes slowly fading back into a blue colour, but the hatred still remained. "Keep away from my son."

Dwyn took one look at the bloodstained teeth, and nodded hastily, his heart thudding in his rib cage. For the first time in his life he was preying, preying for his life.

Fortunately, his nod was enough for the woman, as she let him go, allowing him to run into the forest as fast as he legs could carry him. Dwyn only glanced back once to see three of his men lying on the ground, and it looked like only one of them was still alive. Swearing his revenge silently, Dwyn disappeared into the trees.

Now a lot calmer, the woman went back over to her son, whose eyes were filling with tears.

"Mummy," he said in a tiny voice, "you promised you wouldn't do it again Mummy."

"I know darling," the woman said gently, pulling her son into a soft hug and stroking his dark. "I'm sorry, but it will be all right. I promise."