Laertes was determined to go through with his plan that evening. The dark clouds that hid the moon were giving him an advantage. Anyway he didn't see sense in waiting any longer.
Setting fire to the stables of the Countess would be only a start. He had a string of nasty little suprises planed for her that would make her life just a little bit more inconvenient. Laertes was no dreamer. Of course he would like to see Countess Sophie deprived of all her power. But one man couldn't overthrow her. Not even when he was as fueled by anger as the young redhead.
The odds seemed to be in his favour. No one was to be seen around the wooden stables. Only the soft noises of the horses cut through the silence of the deserted yard. Laertes felt a pang of guild as he heard the animals but it couldn't be helped. They would be victims of his war against the Countess. She wouldn't have wasted a thought on horses in his place. Even the death of her subjects didn't seem to bother her too much, if it was necessary for her schemes.
Laertes shrugged of his hesitation and silently approached the stables. Setting fire to them was nearly too easy. As the flames were strong enough not to be extinguished by the occasional gust of wind he left the yard. His heart was pounding hard in his chest as he silently climbed the old stonewall and made his way through the woods surrounding the Manor. Most of Sophie's guards had accompanied her on her journey to the borders of the realm. But Laertes still counted him self very lucky that the others seemed to relax their duty more than a bit during her absence. Maybe they helped themselves to a bit of her good wine. Well, the Countess would not be amused …
With every step away from the manor he felt his heartbeat return to normal. He made it! His first plan worked out! That was certainly worth a beer in the nearby tavern. Laertes had not been inside a tavern for a long while. The smell of beer and burned fat greeted him like an old friend as he opened the wooden door and entered the gloomy room. The good humored shouting and singing would have not suited his mood before but now he felt as if everyone here would be saluting him. He ordered a beer and sat down at a wanky table in the corner. Soon his eyes adjusted to the dim candlelight. The maid that brought his beer was Sally. He knew her from before and she gave him a surprised smile as she recognized him.
"Didn't think you would show up here again, Red One", she said as she put down his pint in front of him. Her hand touched his briefly.
"Come to the back later. I still have a little something stored away for you."
Laertes gave her a nod and leaned back against the wall. The beer was as good as he remembered and he allowed himself to close his eyes and let some memories surface.
But he wasn`t granted the time to feel some sense of self respect or redemption. Sophie's guards found and arrested him before he even finished his beer.
Someone must have seen him. Maybe the stablemen or the kitchenmaids. It all had gone to smoothly to be true anyway.
Laertes didn't put up a fight. He knew before that he would be send away to live the life of a forestman, an outcast with no connections to his former life, should he be caught.
The thought of this punishment hadn`t in the least resulted in any hesitation on his part. Not much was left that bound him to his former life and what was he was happy to ignore and abandon.
The smoke was still curling up from the remains of the stables as the guards let him to the cellars of the manor.
"At least they didn't succeed in putting the fire out at once", Laertes thought. Sophie still would be outraged that someone got so close to her. She prided herself on being the most powerful magician in the realm. It certainly would not have been so easy for Laertes to enter the manor grounds had she been around. Rumors said that her little finger twitches when ever someone intrudes her grounds. That twitching wouldn't have helped her miles away.
Laertes smirked at that thought and watched the heavy cellardoor fall shut behind the guards. He looked around the cell. A straw mattress in the corner, a jar of water and a small lantern were its only contents. He layed down on the mattress and closed his eyes. It would be days before the countess returned. He might as well get some sleep.
To his astonishment he felt no fear. Staging his revenge on the Countess as a forestman would be more difficult but it certainly would be possible somehow. He hadn`t failed yet.
Only a few minutes seemed to have gone by as the cellardoor opened. Laertes jerked awake. In the dim light he could see the frail figure of the Countess entering his cell. She was accompanied by her guards. It was unlikely that she would need them. People in the village whispered she could kill with a wave of her hand. But it was said that she did not like to torture her prisoners herself.
Laertes got up. He wondered how she could have come back so quickly. But this was the Countess afterall. Maybe she had guardians around her grounds that were not human. Some wizards could possess the mind of animals. Maybe she had some owls watching over her manor and following every intruder while she was away. It would explain why the guards had found him so quickly. As she looked him over he felt a stab of fear. He had known – yes experienced himself- what a powerful sorceress she was and yet he had gone against her. Had he misjudged the situation? Well, it was too late for doubts now.
"And who are you to dare setting fire to my property, young man?"
The Countess´ voice was deep and smooth. It seemed to come from an other woman. A kind woman that could be the favorite grandma of every child.
But she wasn`t known for her kindness.
Laertes smiled. He would not make it easy for her.
"If you can look at me without a memory telling you who I am, you won`t get the answer from me either."
These words should change his life in a way he did not expect.
Sophie was also not known for being amused by riddles and this one was no exception. She ordered to send him to the forest as he thought she would. But he had not foreseen the second punishment.
The Countess send a man to fetch a sliver bracelet. She told her guards to hold him tight. Then she grabbed his arm. An odd sensation shot through Laertes as her cool dry hand touched his skin. It made him shiver. Sophie's gaze rested on his face as she closed the silver bracelet around his wrist. She spoke a few words softly under her breath and the silver turned cold. A pulsating pain shot through his arm and Laertes realized with shock what she had done to him.
The Countess had bound him to her will. He was one of the Bound Ones now, the unfree men that had to obey every order of Sophie no matter if they wanted to or not.
The pain would be with him every day from that moment on. It was not unbearable but not easy to ignore as well. Should he dare to refuse Sophie's orders the pain would increase slowly but steadily until it was not endurable anymore.
"Three times 50 orders my young friend, then you get your own free will back. If you survive that long that is."
Sophie turned his face towards her and her smile was devoid of any warmth.
"Would you care to answer my question now?"
Laertes resisted. Three days. Three days of agony that nearly drove him out of his mind. Then the pain got to strong even for him.
As Sophie entered his cell on the third evening he told her what she wanted to know.
Perhaps the Countess had suspected him of being part of a secret plan to overthrow her. Her bored listlessness as she heard who he was made Laertes wish he was.
But he had acted alone. And he would be alone for a long time.
Sophie's guards brought him to a remote forest where he lived from that day on.
ooooOoooo
As the years went by Laertes changed. The young redhead that had only lived for his revenge and had taken pride on his anger became a true forestman. The rough winters and everyday challenges to survive made him quick, hardy and ruthless. He valued and protected his life with every mean necessary. Each day that ended without him surrendering to the harshness of the forest was appreciated. In many ways he liked his life in the forest at the borders of Sophie's realm. It was lonely. But for him it was the kind of freedom he had wished for when he decided to set fire to Sophie's stables. Sometimes unwelcome memories still plagued him but that never lasted long. Laertes would have his revenge but he would wait until he was a free man again.
He had given up on resisting Sophie's orders a long time ago. It was of no use to suffer more pain than he was in already. His enslavement couldn't last long anymore. Only a dozen orders were left now and Laertes was determined to see Sophie fall once he was free.
He was chopping wood one day in front of his small hut when he felt the familiar cold spreading over his arm. The silver bracelet glowed slightly. Sophie wanted him at the manor. Laertes put the last bit of wood away and hid his ax. He briefly wondered whether he should put on a clean shirt. It could be his last journey to the manor. If he kept his usual slightly respectless way with the Countess she might be irked enough to order him around. She liked to prove the power she had over him. And as only a dozen orders were left …
He would like to enjoy his freedom not in rags. His thoughts were disturbed by the noise of men coming through the forest. Sophie's guards came to accompany him to the manor. Laertes shrugged and forgot about the clean shirt. It did not matter really.
The guards treated him roughly as always. They did not like him. His sarcastic and humiliating remarks had ridiculed them more than once in front of their mistress and their comrades. No one liked a Bound One who thinks he is smarter than everyone and turns out to be right.
The Commander of the guards who brought him into the audience room of the Countess was no exception to that. With more force than necessary he pushed Laertes to his knees.
Laertes did not hide his grin and looked around the room rather unimpressed. The Countess stood with her back to him and did not turn around as the Commander announced their arrival.
On a cushioned chair sat Sophie's granddaughter. Fiona was wearing the plain blue cloak of the healers which certainly still was an annoyance to the Countess. Sophie had wanted her granddaughter to be her successor but Fiona had already in young years refused to meddle in black magic.
Maybe she would have deserved some respect for that attitude and the will to disobey her grandmother from Laertes. But from what he had seen of her she was in all other aspects the loyal granddaughter. Her dark hair was held together by a broad silver hairclip that showed Sophie's coat of arms. On the ring finer of her slim pale hand Laertes noticed the signet ring of the family. So Fiona was still working for the countess although she left the manor some time ago.
"You will accompany my granddaughter to the lost Islands, Bound One. On this journey you will be responsible for her safety and well being. Make sure she arrives safely on the islands and help her with her task there."
Laertes arched an eyebrow in surprise. He did not expect to be trusted with such an responsible task. He was not the only one surprised.
"A Bound One, Grandmother? Surely your soldiers would be more suited? The journey is a dangerous one …"
It sure as hell was. The lost islands itself were in the hands of the ghouls. After the last war they retreated from the forests of the realm to those islands and had not been seen around these areas for a long while. Still in their own territory they might be very dangerous nonetheless. The journey towards the island was not safe either. Most of the way let through abandoned areas that were taken over by outcasts and raiders
The commander seemed to disagree with his mistress as well.
"With all due respect my lady, please reconsider your choice."
Sophie finally turned away from the window and faced Fiona.
"There is nothing to reconsider. Your safety, my child, is most important to me. In the end you always can trust a Bound One to follow my orders. They can not be bought or suddenly discover a liking for a life as a farmer who doesn`t follow the Countess`orders. This one can`t abandon you. It would be his death and he knows it."
Sophie cut of the Commanders assurances of his loyalty with one impatient wave of her hand.
"Enough! You, Commander Rouh, will accompany the two of them to the banks of the lost lake. But you wont go to the islands with them. " She gave Laertes a disgusted look.
"Now, get that man down to the washing rooms and make sure he is clean. I don't want Fiona to suffer his stench all the way to the islands. He shall shave as well."
With these words they were dismissed. Laertes felt the commander grab his arm harshly and was pulled upright. He followed the man who still visibly was hurt by the distrust of his mistress. Sophie did not even seem to be aware of her cruelty.
Laertes could not help a grin spreading over his features. He was looking forward to his first bath in years and sensing the discomfort of the grumpy soldier next to him brightened his mood even more. He did not like men who obeyed Sophie without a silver bracelet making them to. Worse were those who actually adored her. Commander Rouh seemed to be just that kind of man. While Laertes went down the narrow stairs he realized that he started to warm to the quest before him. Maybe it was not so bad afterall.