-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Clare?" said Marge shaking her awake. "Come on child! Don't sleep the whole day away!" she said cheerfully.
Yawning loudly and rubbing her tired eyes, Clare sat up on the bed, still in her clothes. Marge placed her hands on her hips surprized at her appearence.
"And still in yesterday's clothes too? You shouldn't stay up too late Clare, it is'nt good for you!"
She shrugged. Clare was old enough to care for herself. After pulling some pine needles out of her fair hair, Clare looked at Marge sleepily.
"What time is it?" she asked.
"Why its four in the afternoon! You must have come in really late, you poor thing." she said with a worried face. Clare gasped. "Four?! Is it really?" she shouted.
Marge nodded. "You need to learn how to navigate in the woods so you wont get lost!" Marge said optimistically.
Clare couldnt believe that she could sleep in that much, she's managed one and two, but up to four? Marak's sleep magic must have been strong for her to sleep in that late. Clare shooed Marge out of the room and got dressed, still thinking about Marak's visit.
"You'll be perfect!" she heard Marak speak in her head, still remembering his enthusiasum in his face. No, she told herself. He's a goblin; a horrible, rude and mean goblin she kept reminding herself. Clare looked into the mirror and saw herself blushing, and quickly wiped her face with a wet cloth. It was true that no-one had called her anything of the sort, not even David, but the fact that it was Marak who said it made her angry. Stepping downstairs, she saw Cynthia, Howard, and Marge engaged in a conversation.
"Oh hello Clare!" cheered Cynthia. "Decided to come out of bed today?" she giggled.
Clare smiled at Cynthia. "Yes, I'm sorry I didn't get up sooner, I was just very tired from last night's adventure."
"What did you do last night Miss Clare?" asked Howard. Clare looked into his soft eyes and wished he had'nt asked. It was easier for her to lie to Marge and Cynthia than him.
"Oh I ran around, climbed some trees, and of course got lost." she laughed. "I just have no sense of direction I guess."
Everyone engaged in the conversation afterwards on how 'inappropriate' it was for a lady of her status to climb tree's. Clare laughed at some of the accusations by Cynthia, but managed to change the conversation.
"We should have dinner at the hall tonight Marge!" exclaimed Clare excited. "I havn't had much time to spend over there, and I've been wanting to see the lovely furniture and tapestries Cynthia has been mentioning." or bragging thought Clare.
Marge clapped her hands together in delight. "Oh yes! That sounds lovely! Would that be alright Howard?" she asked sounding like a little child.
Howard laughed but of course agreed. Marge decided to cook some bread rolls to bring over, which Clare's stomach growled with anticipation. She felt like she could eat an entire turkey. When it was time to leave, Marge had the carriage brought over, and everyone rode all the way over to the hall; Marge and Cynthia giggling all the way over. Dinner was served in the half hour, and Clare politely ate a couple of servings of food. Strangely, David had not come down to dinner that evening.
"Is David sick?" asked Clare concerned.
"I don't think so, he said he was busy when I called him down." said Cynthia coldly. "It's so weird of him to skip out on dinner, and even more rude to skip out when guests are here!" she frowned with disappointment.
Howard took a sip of wine before intervening. "Now now Cynthia, the boy's been studying in his study for days now." he smiled across the table. "He's trying to get into another college to advance on his history major."
Marge cheered. "Oh really? Thats good for him! I'll bet you two are proud!"
Clare then saw the only proof that odd couple were married. They smiled at eachother and slightly blushed. It was so cute, thought Clare. Cynthia especially surprized her, but it seemed normal of Howard to do such a thing. Clare stood up and asked for a clean plate. A butler shortly arrived and handed her one.
"Where are you going Clare?" asked Howard, watching her place different courses of the dinner on the plate.
"I'm going to find David of course!" she smiled. "A growing man like him needs his meals!" Clare finished and exited the room and headed down one of the ground leveled halls. Knocking on each door, Clare looked to see which was David's so called study.
"David?" she asked trying the third door down the way. "I have some dinner for you."
Silence. Clare sighed, and was about to try another door when the door quickly opened. David stood in the doorway almost like he had ran over to it.
"Clare?" he asked surprized. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were here."
Smiling cheerfully, she held the dish out to him. "It's alright, here's your dinner."
Taking the dish into his own hands, he moved aside from the doorway. "Please, come in!" he smiled.
Walking inside, she saw that the room itself was'nt that large for a study. From what she could tell, it used to be a bedroom, but David's paper covered desks took up most of the space. On the sides of the walls were bookshelves and candles, and in the far right corner was a large crate. The room had pretty glass double doors, a window took up most wallspace and a small armchair sat next to it. Clare looked around the room and was amazed by how much things were stuffed into such a small room.
"It's quite small isnt it?" chucked David behind Clare, taking a bite out of chicken.
"A little." admitted Clare. "But it seems real cozy for a study! And I mean," Clare moved near the window. "Look at the view! I could never get tired looking out of this window!" she cheered, taking a look herself. The dense forest was beautiful, and the sun had just disapeared from the horizon. The sky was still a pinkish color, and the first stars were just starting to shine in the sky.
"It's true." he smiled and walked closer to Clare. Feeling David's close presence, she blushed, and was glad she was facing the opposite direction. David set down the dish on the nearby armchair. It was quiet for a while, the sky just turned a light purple by the time David broke the silance.
"You like me dont you Clare?" he asked out of the blue.
Clare felt her face blush even more. How could he ask such a question so suddenly? And how could he say it so easily? Turning in surprise to his question, Clare clentched her hands nervously. Did she like David? Sure there were things about him that appealed to her, but there was some feelings of mystery that made her uneasy. Before she knew it, she felt something on her lips. Clare lifted her eyes up, and noticed that David was kissing her! Shocked and feeling like her face was on fire, she froze, unsure what to do. Oh crap. she thought to herself instantly. Why she couldnt move, Clare did'nt know, but she could'nt do anything but stand there and let David kiss her. It was such an awkward feeling, she almost wished she never felt anything for the man. Suddenly, in the corner of her eye, she noticed a flash of silver, and felt her heart stop.
A second later Clare was behind the armchair, gasping for air. She looked back at David, still shocked with what happened. In David's right hand held a dinner knife, the same one Clare had brought him with his dinner. He had plunged it into the wall, where it was stuck. Clare could'nt believe her eyes. David, a calm and smart man had just tried to kill her for no reason! Moving herself into a more defensive position behind the chair, she watched David pull the knife out of the wall.
"Why?" she felt herself finally speak. Her heartbeat pounded in her ear like a marching band, she started to shake with fright. David almost seemed to frighten her more than Marak did. David turned to the frightened Clare and let out a cruel smile, she almost could'nt believe this was the same man.
"Stay right where you are Clare," he said darkly. "If you hold still it wont hurt as much." David licked the knife, Clare felt her skin and blood turn cold. What a horrible and creepy man, she thought and wiped her lips with disgust. How embarrassing to let such a man kiss her. Clare had nowhere to go and he was much stronger than she was. David started trying to get behind the chair, and as he did so, Clare started to move herself around the chair; using it as a barrier. Seeing that he was getting nowhere, he angerly threw the chair aside. Clare darted towards his desk hoping to escape, when David tripped her and she fell flat onto the carpeted floor. Seeing the end was near, David rushed towards Clare at full speed, ready to come in for the kill. Frozen, Clare prepared for her sudden doom, about to scream at the top of her lungs, when suddenly the window glass shattered. Confused why the window broke, David turned to look in the window, but was suddenly covered by a large black coat. It completely covered him, and he fell back cursing and fumbling under the fabric. Clare gasped and stared at the window in shock.
Outside the window stood shirtless Marak, only wearing black pants and shoes. But it was'nt just his chest Clare stared at, it was the large hawk wings that unfolded from his grey back. How a goblin could have such a feature confused her, but Clare didn't care at that moment. Marak dove inside the room, and picked up Clare instantly. Clare sat in his arm confused if she should try and stay away from him or try and last against David. Marak carried her through the window, and glared over his shoulder at the fumbling David. He wore such an angry face, Clare felt as if he would kill David in some horrible manner that would be classified as cruel and unusual punishment. Finally David managed to break out of the large cloak and somehow had a revolver in his hands. Marak took off immediately, Clare hugged Marak close as he carried her into the dark sky. She could hear David's curses over the sounds of his gun as they flew higher and higher into the night.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Whee! Isnt this interesting? No? A little? Aw poo. Either way, chapter three is one of my favorites I've done so far! The shirtless thing is something called: fanservice. Hopefully OfficalRambler gets the joke! I hope you like it! Thanks!