Autumm Umphries The Untamed Gift Chapter 1 The Lad on the Road
Twyla and her body servant, Elvi, were riding through the mountains on the way to Twyla's knight training. Looking around, Twyla saw rocks big enough to squish her house back at the fief. She was amazed they were spread and stacked on each other in random orders. Excited, Twyla counted all the rock sizes until she got dizzy. Elvi noticed this.
"Mistress shouldn't we stop for bread and cheese?"
Twyla sighed, "We can make it by sun up if we keep riding."
"And get caught by bandits in the mid' of night!"
Twyla was frustrated with her body servant, "Like we have anything they want!"
"They can take your maidenly beauty to the slave house!"
Twyla growled, and all through there arguing they didn't hear the other riding party catch up with them.
"Excuse me ladies but would you need help?" The voice belonged to a tall man upon a destrier of blue roan colors.
The man with light brown hair and brown eyes had a kind mouth and kinder eyes; he looked as if he spent his life roaming with ease. The man was followed by a young man of Twyla's age, a hood covered his dark reddish brown hair. As Twyla checked the boy over, her cold blue eyes met his lively green ones, the feeling of utter relation and connection sent shivers up her spine. As she shivered, the two body servants, unaware, introduced each other.
Twyla found out the small boy was called Liam and his servant was Faolan, they were riding from the fief that protects the northern border east of Twyla's family. Faolan and Elvi were talking as Liam and Twyla made camp. Twyla watched the stranger with her friend and servant, Elvi was a head shorter than him and her beautiful strawberry straw colored hair flowed around her in her green riding outfit. Being so busy on watching her companion, Twyla and Liam ran into each other head first.
Twyla was sitting rubbing her head, when she looked into Liam's eyes. He had fallen on her and was looking at her with concern. That's when she noticed the cuts and scars on his handsome face bruises on his arms.
"My lady, you ok?"
Twyla was still looking over the fresh cuts on his hands. When she picked one up to look at it, to see if any infection set in, Liam lost his balance and fell completely on her, bumping heads again.
"Oh my, I'm so sorry."
"It is ok my lady, I'll be fine I've had worse."
"You don't have to call me lady; we are going to the palace to learn the same thing you know. We'll need as many friends as we can handle."
Liam looked up into Twyla's face excited, "Really you mean it?"
Twyla laughed, "Of course silly."
Liam stood up and reached out his hand to help her up. "Well lets formally introduce, I am Liam of Orenburg."
"I am Twyla of Birchgrove."
Liam ogled for a moment but accepted her ancestry.
Twyla smiled as Liam did the same. That's when they finished setting up camp and ate with their friends.
The next morning when Twyla woke up, Liam was gone. 'Hmm,' she thought, 'How strange.' She got up and packed, not knowing there were eyes watching her. It was when Liam had been gone for over an hour, his servant, Faolan, came to ask her if she'd seen him, she began to worry. They searched the surrounding forest, Twyla with her yew bow, Elvi with her staff, and Faolan with a sword.
Twyla watched the grass in their area for disturbances, when she found drag marks and blood. Holding in her fear, Twyla followed it by herself. When the blood trail began to fade, she heard a muffled scream. Looking down to the river that flows from the north to Cape Reagan in the west, Twyla saw men beating her new friend. Angry with power surging through her body, she hefted her yew bow, from the Island of Tyree, and shot three arrows killing the men on watch, one through the throat, another through the heart and last one through his lungs and heart.
Tears welled up in Twyla's eyes as she loosed more arrows, pinning the last man to the tree. She slipped and slid down the rocky terrain. Upon reaching the bottom she looked over her friend, who was already unconscious. It was not until after she wrapped up and tended to every cut on Liam, did she look at the man, pinned by five arrows to the tree. Twyla gasped and covered a scream, when she saw the man, only about six years older than her and her friend, did she see he looked exactly like Liam.
She turned to the noise of footsteps to see Faolan. He was white with rage or relief, she'd never know, but the next words out of his mouth sent cold shudders through her entire body.
"Master Doyle, Liam's older brother."
Twyla jumped as the stranger laughed, "Faolan so your still protecting this worthless hunk of meat? You deserve so much better."
Faolan spit on Liam's brother, "You actually think this work was mine? I'd have killed you given the chance! Master was getting so much better too, he actually made a friend."
Doyle laughed again, "Like they care about the scrawny bast…"
Twyla jumped to her feet red with anger, "You might think that but I'm the one who pinned you to that tree, killed all your friends, to save that boy you think is so worthless! Well you're wrong! I may have only met him last night, but he is strong, independent, and he matters to me, which you do not!"
Doyle lifted his head to see this speaker, "A worthless boy like him should be locked up and beat for his crimes."
Twyla stiffened as Faolan punched her captive in the face knocking him out.
"Don't listen to him miss. Ever since their mother died birthing Liam, Doyle has seen him as the evil. My sister, Losie, raised him in our house, see here, his father loves him dearly and he is the heir to the family fortunes, it's just that, he was afraid Doyle would kill him." Faolan began to untie Liam as Twyla held him up. She set Liam on the ground to help Faolan break the arrows and tie Doyle up to take to the nearest soldier camp for trial. "After their mother died Doyle became as bad as they come, when he became thirteen, Doyle, raped my sister Losie, she came by child and has a little girl now. My niece is three now, but see here the only thing Master of Orenburg could do was, strip Doyle of his title and banish him."
Twyla was shocked, "So is that where all of Liam's scars and cuts are from?"
"Mostly yes, some are from his younger sisters' cats. He loves the things to death."
Twyla smiled and helped Faolan pick Liam up into the saddle of the horse brought by Doyle. 'Any friend of animals is a friend of mine.' She thought happily.
When they got back to camp Elvi fussed over her mistress's dirty, blood stained clothes, and took out her stain preventing magiced coin, she carries around for these instances. After the fussing was over, Twyla was helping Faolan build a horse-drawn cot to throw over Liam's horse and the new one Twyla called Crescent for the irregular star on its face. When they were read with prisoner in tow, injured on the cot and everything else in place, down the road they went.
They stopped at the nearest soldier checkpoint and wrote out the report for Doyle who was finally coming to. While they had stopped, Twyla picked up some ointment to help heal her friend, since he was starting to bruise up. A little while after they had left the check point, the judge had ruled Doyle to work at the Quarries for ten to twelve years and see the convict train on the way.
Twyla was putting some of her new ointment on Liam, when he jumped up scaring the life out of Twyla. Liam looked around before realizing he was safe, he looked Twyla in the eyes sending that same weird jolt through her, stronger than before.
"Doyle." Liam said in a hushed tone.
"He has been sent to work hard labor for the next ten years."
Things were silent between them for a little while as Twyla finished cleaning his cuts again.
"So when did your brother start hitting you?"
Liam flinched, "When I was two he kicked me into a wall breaking my arm. My father tried to keep us apart. When father remarried, he broke my leg; then our sister was born, he cut open my stomach. Then small cuts and scrapes until his thirteenth birthday when he raped Losie and got her with child.
When father took away his title and his right to be his heir, well it was suddenly my fault he tortured my for two days then left me to die, Faolan found me barely alive. On my fifth birthday, he almost succeeded in drowning me. Before I left for the palace, he caught me in an alley and cut me up with his goons."
Twyla held her hand to her mouth in complete disbelief. Liam hid his face as he waited for her to respond. She went to put her hand on his when Elvi snuck up on them.
"Master, mistress, it's time to head to the palace. You have to be there tomorrow for your page inductions and Mistress Twyla you have to be there in time for your first magic class."
Twyla sighed and got up, helping Liam up as well. They went to pack up their camp and feed their horses. After all was done they were bound and ready for the palace and their knight training. Tomorrow they would start as pages, the first of many years of hard work.
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