I sort of hit a rut with broken chains, and due to having tons of work and moving house in the middle of it all I sort of lost all will to wright so to try and get myself back in to Chains, I wrote this, its an interlude that happens after the next chapter of broken chains, the one I am working on at the moment, and don't worry it only has 2 chapters
Sorry for the wait, now on to the story, Wildhart
Copper Chains, Chapter one
Aly walked though the palace gardens and sat on one of the low walls surrounding the raised flowerbeds. Projecting the image of a simple maid wasting a bit of time or even waiting to meet a lover.
With a small smile she swept hair behind her left ear innocently stroking a small black feather bound in to her hair just behind the ear and waited
It didn't take long, the dark grey dappled kadarung stallion, 15 hands high with his steal grey wingspan of 5 meters landed innocently on one of the palace lawns and started to graze.
One of her many spies, often called her children, though most were older than her 20 years, had mentioned this frequent visitor. He had also been seen in odd places round the city but he seemed to like the palace lawns.
She had mentioned the stallion to Dove and been told to just leave him be, what harm could he do, but she has decided to take a look at this winged horse and what she saw made her a little worried, the stallions eyes, There was to much intelligence in his eyes. she also saw, though not very obvious, the signs this kadarung had worn a harness or saddle of some kind, but not a bridle. He was one big steal grey dappled question.
She sighed, this startled the stallion, with a snort in her direction he galloped of and with one bound was airborne and away
A few days later, though the kadarung stallion hadn't visited the palace she had just picked up a report one of her children had left for her in a pile she had reserved for odd notes on the mystery of the Stallion. The kadarung had walked up to the tricksters temple though usual busy market traffic Lifted his tail and left an offering on the temple steps then calmly walked away, for a shy creature something was going on she lent against the wall of her office to think report in hand
"Disgraceful!" the report was snatched from her hand and there stood Kiperoth in his usual gaudy finery "I will defiantly be taking that insult up with his master"
"Will you now" another body had appeared this time a young boy sat cross-legged on her desk he wore undyed linen trousers and tunic, he was bare foot and attached to his wrists were shackles trailing broken chains also there was a solid iron collar around his neck, and though he looked like a slave, the grin on his face and in his green eyes as well as the naked sword on his lap said otherwise. There was also something familiar about this boy in both his features and his presence
"Why have two gods," Aly turned to the newcomer "you are a god?" he bowed to her with a smile
"Why have you decided to argue in my office?" she asked hands on her hips
"Why indeed" the newcomer said "this one" he pointed the sword at Kiperoth "owes me a debt and I have come to clam, from now until sundown the Copper Islands are mine as is the power from your worshipers"
Two red lines appeared on the surface of the blade as he held it out point almost touching Kiperoth's nose. The trickster god was stiff as if afraid of the blade
"Marked on the blade" the newcomer said "Sworn in blood"
"Sworn in blood" Kiperoth acknowledged, almost unwillingly it seamed, and disappeared
The newcomer sighed and unfolded his legs and with hands on the edge of the desk he swung his legs back and forth
"So" Aly demanded, "what was that about and who are you"
"That my dear Aly was about a debt, and I am Kencaris, God of Slaves and freedom. It was me Kiperoth asked to get you in to the Beltangs household as one, his powers don't really work to good that way and two certain of his siblings were keeping a close eye on him" Kencaris hoped of her desk and wandered to the other side of the small room as she went to the desk to see what had been disturbed
"Aren't they your siblings also, you are a god" Aly didn't sound impressed
"No more than they are Daine's" Aly glared at him using her aunts name " we are the same children of an immortal and a mortal, just with different choices, mind if I change " he calmly changed the subject grin still on his face
"Do as you please" Aly had her back to him but when she turned back she first stared then glared
He now wore simple leathers of a fighter, the sword was now sheathed on his left hip he had a circular pendant hanging round his neck and a copper band with a chain imbedded in it round his left wrist, what was worse was she knew this boy
"Richard Lucas is no god, a pain in the posterior but no god"
She remembered back when she was only 10 a warrior had called on her mother and they had gone away for a few days the warrior left behind a quiet and sulky boy, the warrior's son Richard Lucas
"I've grown some since then Alianne of Pirates Swoop but I am and will always be Richard Kencaris Wildhart-Lucas"
Wildhart that was the warrior's name
"So why are you here, and if you think to trail after me like a lost dog" she paused "where is YOUR lost dog?"
"Shadow is back on the ship I sailed here on, I may be a god but I'm the weakest of all of them so to save strength I travelled the mortal way" he sighed "as for why I'm here I need to talk to your queen about paying my debt"
With that he opened the office door and with a bow and a wave indicated for her to leave
"The queen is not here," she told him
"Nope she is on official business seeing to the settling and rebuilding of outlying farms"
Aly looked up at the sun and calculated
"And you only have 3 hours till sunset, and if you are on foot how do you expect to find her by then oh powerful god" She glared at him
The sarcasm was not lost on Richard, as it was only in this form most treated him as a real person
"With help" he smiled at her and placed two fingers from each hand in his mouth
I took Aly only a second to remember what this meant but before she could get her hands to her ears a loud piercing whistle deafened her
"How's your big black dog going to help?"
He smiled and pointed to the wall "I wasn't calling for Shadow
The dappled Kadarung Stallion landed and trotted up to them this time warring a simple harness with a few straps dangling from it
Richard reached up and unbuckled a wide belt similar to his own, that had been attached to the harness and passed it to her
"Windfether this is Aly, Aly this is my best friend Windfether" The Kadarung bowed his head
"Put that on" he indicated the belt in her hand as he removed and adjusted some of the loose straps on the harness "you will need it"
With a practiced swing Richard mounted the dappled stallion and started to attach two straps on the harness to rings on his belt. Once finished he put a hand down to Aly, she grabbed it and he swung her up behind him, his legs were set in front of the stallion's wings so she set hers behind them
"At your hips, on each side are thin leather straps attach them to the nearest rings on your belt and these" he flipped a lose strap over each shoulder "attach to both your belt and mine" he gave her a moment fiddling with 2 feathers tied in to the stallion's mane
"Ready, hold tight"
She barely acknowledged him before they were of at a gallop and one mighty leap and they were airborne