Hey! New story from me! I hope y'all like it, and I promise to update Hunted soon. Please review and tell me if you like it!
Lord Ilar didn't know what to do. The idiots from the town of Snowsdale had brought him a mad woman and expected him to make some decision about her. Why they couldn't just kill her and be done with it he didn't know. They had told him she'd been fine for the first twelve years of her life, until her ma had been killed by a group of bandits. After that, she had gone mad, running with the local wolf pack until they had managed to kill all of the outlaws. Apparently, this was what the imbeciles were struggling with. She had rid the town of the brigands that had killed the whore\midwife, and they didn't have the heart to kill her. Idiots.
"Lock her up in the dungeons until I can find a better place for her," he drawled. More like put her in a cage until the townsfolk leave and he could find the time to kill her. The guards grabbed the girl from the two men who were holding her, and dragged her, kicking and screaming, into the fortress.
"She will be dealt with," he told them. "You may return to your village."
The townsfolk turned and walked away, slumped over from exhaustion. When they had disappeared over the hill, Ilar turned and went back into his castle. He had things to do.
Daine came back to awareness in a cold stone room. She was lying on the floor, and she was stiff. She tried to rise and stretch, but she soon found that that was made impossible by the chains around her wrists, ankles, and neck. She could stand, but only in a hunched over sort of way. It was much easier to sit back down. She looked around, and saw there was a door. It seemed thick and would be hard to open, but she was sure she could do it when someone came and let her out of these chains.
Then she wondered why she was lying in a cold stone room with chains restraining her from moving into any sort of comfortable position. Suddenly, images filled her mind. A pillar of smoke rising from the hill where her home was. Ma's, Granda's, Mammoth's, and Cloud's dam, all laying dead at her feet. The wolves coming to help her grieve when they came to investigate the smell of fresh meat. Their promise to help her find and kill the monsters who murdered her pack. Becoming a monster herself.
Daine sat still through the rush of memories, and when they were over, stayed in the same place. She deserved to be locked up, she realized. This was the reason she was covered in chains. She leaned over her knees and sobbed.
After a while, she heard the door open to admit a stocky man in his forties, with a pot belly and a sneer on his face. He looked at her for a moment, and then beckoned to the guard outside.
"What is your name?" he asked.
"Veralidaine Sarrasri, sir," she answered.
"Well," he said through his smirk at her name, "I don't see any evidence of madness here. The Snowsdale people must have just wanted to get rid of the town bastard after her mother died. Let her go."
The guard looked hesitant, but walked over and reluctantly unlocked the girl's shackles. He then led her outside, making her eyes water at the sudden burst of light. All of the animals in the courtyard rushed to her, making sure she wasn't hurt. She giggled, and then asked where her pony cloud was. All the animals went silent.
"Where's Cloud?" she asked again, feeling they were keeping something from her.
"Oh, you mean the evil mountain pony? We disposed of her quite easily. She made an excellent stew." Said the man with the belly.
Daine felt herself spiraling downwards into the madness again, though she tried to fight it. Without warning, she launched herself at the important looking man. The guard caught her.
"How dare you try to attack me!" he spluttered as she struggled against the burly guard's hold. "I am the lord of this fief, and I demand an apology!"
"You killed Cloud!" was her only response. Then she pointed her finger at Ilar.
She was caught completely off guard when all the animals in the courtyard with them attacked the lord. He screamed, and everybody in range came running at the sound. Including Ilar's sixteen year-old son, Oliver. He ran into the middle of the crowd, pulling animals off his father.
Oliver managed to wrestle most of the cats, dogs, birds, and squirrels away from Ilar, only to reveal a red-faced, furious Lord of the Castle.
"Kill her! Kill the beasts too! Kill them all!" he screamed.
"Father, I'm sure it was a mistake. Look at her," he pleaded, pointing to Daine, who was looking suitably pitiful from where she was collapsed on the ground. "She looks harmless now, and we can probably just lock her up again. And I want to find out why the animals helped her like that. It was strange."
"You're right, my boy," admitted Ilar. "You can have her for your studies, but keep her on a leash and don't let her hurt you."
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Don't hate me. things aren't all as they seem. Now don't forget to review!