The Curse
Author: Sandylee Potts
Rating: T
Characters: Connor, Abby, Becker, Danny, and OC's
Disclaimer: Primeval belongs to Impossible Pictures, if I was in charge; Series 6 would have already been shot and would be ready for airing!
Spoilers: Season 3 onwards
A/N: This story is different from my 'Saving' series of stories. I liked the idea of Connor being a twin, so have brought his brother back, to avoid confusion in this story I have called him Ashley. The Other Characters, whilst are actors, have all been created by me and belong to me.
Thanks go to Basched for the Beta reading I have made changes since she read this so any other errors are all mine.
This story will be turning AU very quickly into the story, So be prepared for the impossible to happen! You Have Been WARNED! (Or enticed if you like.)
CAST:
Lord Cuttershall … Douglas Henshal
Lady Cuttershall … Lucy Brown
Peter Cuttershall … Eddie McClintock
Connor Temple … Andrew Lee Potts
Ashley Armstrong… Andrew Lee Potts
Madam Christina … Belinda Stuart-Wilson
Tom Ryan … Mark Wakeling
Sorcerer … Colin Morgan
Morgana… Katie McGrath
Stephenson… James Murray
Chapter 1
It started over eight-hundred years ago, in the year 1245. On a cold and dark night ...
The wind whistled through the forest, the trees shook and leaves were blown around, the clouds covered the moon and stars and the wind buffeted the walls of the mansion. Rain lashed at the windows on this the darkest of nights.
A young man rode his horse towards the mansion, his cloak flew in the wind behind him, and he kicked his horse to make him go faster; he chased the woman on her own horse in front. Breathless they reached the stables and quickly they pulled the horses inside. Tethering the horses hastily, the young man set upon the woman making her shriek with giddiness. She laughed as he pulled her around to kiss him. He pushed her onto clean hay, unbuttoning his cloak.
Falling next to her he pulled her closer, he listened to her as she gasped for breath, continuing he kissed along her jaw and down her neck. He was pulling at her white, tunic wanting to lift it up and over her head, when he stopped, he could hear the sound of someone approaching. The girl giggled underneath him as he put a finger to his lips indicating that they should be quiet.
He heard the man huff. Raising his head to see above the mounds of hay, he was not surprised to see his father's blonde haired footman.
"Master Peter, your father, has requested your presence inside the manor by the mistress's bedside." he spoke gruffly.
The young man huffed. "Thank you, Ryan." he turned to his female partner.
"Sorry, maybe another time."
With that, he stood up and shook himself off.
.
-o-o-o-
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Inside the huge mansion, servants scurried around, completing the tasks which they had been set, cooking, cleaning and keeping the house warm and welcoming. The candles had been lit and the walls were sparsely decorated with portraits of the family members, there was only one fire which was kept burning, the one which belonged to the mistress of the house.
The Lord of the Manor sat forlornly by his wife's bedside. There was a knock on the door and Lord Cuttershall's eldest son entered the room, his hair still wet from the ride and walk from the stables. His footsteps clattered on the wooden floor as he joined his brothers, Lee, Colin and his father by the luscious four-poster bed, he left the door ajar, and a manservant entered.
As the manservant entered, the lord of the house paused and turned to face him, his light brown, almost blonde hair lay flat on his head, his blue eyes, hiding the anguish he felt in his heart. His dear wife was dying, and there wasn't anything he could do to help. He held her hand and hoped that she would survive the night, her fever had increased, and her skin had grown paler.
"Yes Stephenson, What is it?"
"Sire, the footman returns with news of a healer, a woman travelling through the land healing the sick with a new tonic, a magical healing potion."
He felt the tug of his wife's hand in his, he turned to face her, and she shook her head, too weak to speak. Her skin was pale, almost as white as the pillow, upon which she laid, her dark hair fanned out behind her. He saw what she was trying to say, but his heart was not prepared to give up.
"Father should we really seek out this woman? We have no money with which to pay the healer, surely this is a waste if the potion does not work." Questioned Peter; the eldest of the Lord's children.
"Silence, I will not have you talk about your mother as if she was not here, and whilst I am alive, I will not let any harm come to her." His Scottish accent more pronounced than ever. He turned back to his poorly and unwell wife.
Peter's brother's – the dark haired, twins smiled at each other, at fourteen they still felt that they were too young to be without their mother.
Resigned Lord Nicholas Cuttershall thought of the magicians, healers, soothsayers, fortune-tellers, exorcists, witches, and wizards, all of which roamed the British Isles, looking for fame and fortune. He thought it prudent to send a messenger to fetch the healer, to see if she could help his ailing wife, he was not prepared to stand by and watch her die.
The Cuttershall family had been one of the richest families in the kingdom, Lord Cuttershall being one of the most influential people around for miles, but, a year of drought, hardly any rain, had caused the crops to fail. The landowners were hungry, bread and basic foods were hard to come by, livestock were dying, poorly fed on the most meagre of hay bales.
.
-o-o-o-
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Lady Cuttershall was a kind and gentle, person, and she always helped those around her. She had been kind to the footman and his wife, and when his wife was with child, she had done the utmost to help, even delivering the babe herself. The footman, a man called Thomas Ryan, began his travels at first light, eager to please his Lord and hopefully save the life of his Lady, whom he adored and respected. He found the old woman and took her back to the Mansion. The old woman was bent over, her gnarled hands held a stick to aide her, and she walked with a limp.
She had given the Lady Claudia a potion to drink, making her feel better instantly, but when she had asked for payment, the old woman was beaten by Lady Claudia's eldest son, Peter. Imprisoning the healer, he had told the traveller that they had no money with which to pay her.
The old woman was no ordinary healer; she was a witch; Madam Christina, and she had great powers. She had broken out of her prison, and reaching the Lady's bedroom, had cursed her and all her descendants to a lifetime of misery. They would be forced to live as wolves, until they could break the curse.
The witch had then disappeared into thin air, leaving the Lord and his three sons begging for mercy.
Weeks later, Lord Cuttershall had requested the presence of a wizard called Merlin. Informing him of their inability to pay him, Lord Cuttershall had proceeded to tell him of their dire circumstances. His eldest son had already succumbed and had become a wolf, and his younger sons, the twins, were suffering with the same ailments.
The sorcerer, asked the Lord of the manor to provide an herb which grew in the thickest of forests. Sir Nicholas sent his stable hand, a man by the name of Roger Temple, to retrieve the root and bring it to them.
The root was ground into a powder and it was presented to the Lord's offspring in the form of a drink. The eldest child Peter, returned to normal, as did his brothers. The sorcerer then requested that he be given Lady Cuttershall's necklace. She was reluctant, but after reassurance that he would not take it with him, she conceded, and gave him the heirloom.
"By the power vested in me from the gods above, I change this necklace into a thousand rings." He raised his hand over the necklace and spoke with a deep voice that echoed across the hall and through the corridors, his eyes began to glow, a deep red, orange and then returned to a clear blue, there was a flash, and the necklace became a hoard of rings.
He turned to the Lady Claudia Cuttershall.
"I cannot undo the magic of Madam Christina, but I can do this. Keep these rings safe. You must give one ring to each of your descendants. They will be forced to live as humans by day, but would succumb by not just the light of the moon, but strong emotions, and will become werewolves once more." He took one ring and putting it through a thin strip of leather, hung it around Peter's neck; he proceeded to put rings around the twin's necks too.
"The ring will protect each of your sons, and these extra rings must be passed on to the next generation. The curse itself can only be broken by bathing in a golden cauldron, full of water from the River of Life. You will only be able to find both the cauldron and the river by passing through a naturally occurring glowing portal, a glittering globe, consisting of all the colours of the rainbow."
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-o-o-o-
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So like I said... This story is AU, very much AU and will remain that way.
To those of you who enjoyed it, please let me know by pressing that button down there.
To those of you who didn't, I would still like a review as to why you didn't enjoy it, (Not that it's going to make a blind bit of difference, because I will still carry on!)