I soo sorry for the gigantic wait!I had written up the next four chapter, (or most of them anyway) But because my laptop is nearing four years of age I backed up all my important documents onto a flashcard. (Yes, all my chapters are on that beautiful flash drive of mine.) and then... *waits for a drum roll* I lost the bloody thing! :( Who does that? Oh wait... Me. As you can see though, I found it! (Well actually my cat did. My grandmother found him playing with it and put it on my bookcase. I gave him lots of treats and loving for it. :) ) So finally I have done my part and uploaded one of these chapters. :) (I found out that I have the timing on the other three as not realistic... (Kuz it takes 6 months to go from Italy to Europe, and it requires going over an ocean... I really need to stop writing when Im tired... So i'm still trying to fix those... my 13 hour days are not helping though... oh well)
Well, I've quit my old job, started a new one, and completed pretty much all my placements. Two weeks left, then I can start working! Which means much more time for me, and you wonderful readers! (I do hope I havent lost all of you. :'( I would cry.) So excited! :D
Alright, I'll stop my chatting so you can get on with reading...
Enjoy the chapters! :)
Disclaimer has never changed... Still exactly what it was in the first chapter...
Chapter 12
Never should have come
It was like a flame licking my chest, that's what the pain felt like. When mother said that there were signs of infection and started putting on the herbs to help it heal, that was when the pain almost become unbearable. Lucky for me my sister came up with this amazing plan to have me sleep through most of the major healing. That was just over seven weeks ago. I look down at my chest and it's still wrapped in cloth and painful... Sometimes, if I move in the wrong way, it bleeds again. We had hired a messenger to run over as fast as he could to tell the King that I had received some injuries to my chest. Hopefully he made it there.
During one of my rare moments of alertness I asked my father about how long it would take for him to get there. My father responded in his usual way, "He will get there when he gets there." Not good enough, so with a bit of prying dad said that it should take about a week or two on horseback if he only stops at night to rest and care for the horse. At first I thought it was impossible as it took us two years to make it to where we are now, but then when I actually thought about it, we stopped in pretty much every single town on the way to put on a production in attempt to make a little cash or food. (Granted I wasn't really in any, something about not being ready yet...) With my sister also teaching me how to use the different weapons that the caravan had collected, we stopped in many clearances and stayed for a few days in them to give me a chance to absorb it all.
Ah yes, Lillianna. She's a tough one she is, but she's kind and patient. She made sure I was ready before showing me any of the other weapons. (Yes, me, with weapons. I didn't believe it either.) Lilli said it was mostly for self-defence purposes only. Although she says that, then shows me how to sneak up behind someone and place a dagger to their throat. Granted it is while the person is distracted, but it still tells you something. She had really drilled it into me how to twirl ribbon. How manly. But it looks really cool, and it made me feel better when dad started doing it, then laughed his ass off after. Rule of the ribbon for men? Look like your having a good time, then when nobody can see you, laugh. Make fun of yourself, actually have fun with the idea that your doing one of the most girly things ever, short of wearing a dress and spinning wool.
Nodding, Ovid folded his letter in half then grabbed the dark wooden box that was on the table beside him, placing it onto his lap. Turning slightly to his right with the bed under him creaking, and hissing in discomfort, Ovid went into the simple brown bag Lilli had made for him and pulled out the key. Quickly he unlocked the small box that Clara gave him, put the letter into it closed it up, locked it and placed it back onto the table to his left. Sighing he put his key back into his bag and turned around to see his mother standing at the door.
"What are you up to sweetie?" She asked a gentle smile on her face.
"Just writing. What are you up to mother?" Ovid asked gently lifting himself out of his bed and wandered over to the older woman.
"Oh, nothing much." Clara responded pulling her oldest into a hug. "How is that chest of yours?"
"Mom, it's still healing, you know that." Ovid laughed hugging his mother back gently, not wanting to press against the angry slash across his chest.
"Yes, but don't forget, she is our mother, she worries about everything. Just watch, in three years and she will still ask you if it hurts." Spoke a soft voice from behind the older woman. Letting go of his mother, Ovid looked around to see his younger twin sister standing there with two steaming plates of food. "I just finished making lunch. Wanna eat with me?"
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
With Ovid and Lillianna eating in the kitchen, Clara walked out of the house they were staying in. It was a simple log cabin, made with the wood from the nearby forest. The whole caravan stayed to help build it for Theo after his wife committed suicide and Luke was born. Theo had built some more additions onto the house since she last saw it, the training pit in the back, the barn on the side for the two horses they owned. There was even room for the four bulls and two horses that Dario had bought in the nearby village of Ardea to replace the ones that where killed in the raid.
After the raid, they had sent Concetta on the horse that had the least amount of injuries to go find some help. Dario and Clara had gone in the opposite direction back to the village they had just left to see if they could buy a horse there, but with no luck. Luck came to them through Connie though as she came back not even after half a day with Theo and Luke in tow and their two horses. With the help of Theo's healthy strong horses, and about three days and nights, they had managed to pull all three large caravans back to his house, and the other injured horse. The bull unfortunately was dead, so they decided to bury him in area that he was slain. Dario saying that "he was too much a part of the family for us to eat him for dinner." The rest of the caravan agreed. Shortly after arrival, both if the horses had passed away as well from their injuries. They also where properly buried.
Turning around, Clara looked at the three large forest green caravans that were resting just off to the side in the front of the little house. Theo, Enzo, and Gianni were all milling about in the area, fixing anything that had been damaged, which luckily wasn't much, for two of the caravans. The third was reduced to a pile of lumber and wheels, parts from it being used to repair the other two. Luke and Dario were in the barn tending to the horses and bulls that were in there.
Theo had grown in the last sixteen years, the crows feet starting to show around his eyes, the grey strands starting in his hair. He was always a smaller man, just a bit taller then Clara herself, but with some hidden powers. He had no problems picking up and hauling the largest trunks of wood for his cabin, or fighting against the horses that did not want to pull the caravans at first. He was a farmer with his large garden on the other side of the house, fallow for the winter months. He was always a jolly man, and even after his wife had died, he never blamed her, and never spoke badly of her to his son. Although the stress of raising his child showed on his features, he never did find a new wife, and didn't look for one either.
Luke was a different story. Small for his age, he was also a bit on the slower side, but still smart in his own way. He could work with animals in a way that would make Smithy proud. In weeks, the boy could train a horse to do pretty well anything that he wanted, from riding to pulling a cart. The lanky boy of sixteen acted like a nine year old at the best of times, and at the worst, a six year old. Perhaps that was the reason him and Viola got along so well. The five year old girl was currently playing with one of the cats in the back yard, her squeals making it over to the front of the house.
Wrapping her cloak tighter around herself to ward away the cold breeze of fall, Clara happened to look up toward the sky to see a large green mass flying in her general direction.
"Dario! We have a problem here!" It wasn't just Dario who answered the call, all the men within hearing range came running towards where she stood.
"What's wrong?" Theo asked being the first one to reach her side, closely followed by the other men.
"I see something green, and large flying in." Clara spoke with venom pointing towards the large mass in the sky.
"That couldn't be..." Gianni gasped looking into the sky.
"It is."
"Dragon."
HA! I finish! Even with one of the most annoying cats I have ever had the chance to meet meowing for the last 10 minutes straight. :l (No, she is not my cat, she is my boyfriends older brothers cat. she just wants to go outside, but its raining now. So we are not letting her.)
But I managed to get the chapter done! :D
That totally reminds me, one of my wonderful readers and reviewers asked for the recipe that I had all the way back in chapter one. (That feels so long ago. :P ) I've posted the recipe on my profile page for anybody that is interested. :)
Tata for now. :)
