A/n: Hey there. I know it's been quite a long time. Sorry about that, but as you can see I am starting to jump back in to this story. Admittedly, I was starting to get overwhelmed with this story a few months back and since the last time I posted I just needed a break. I hope your still around to read it and enjoy it. For those who haven't read in awhile, the last chapter featured a new character, who has teamed up with Eugene to help rescue Rapunzel. Meanwhile, at the beginning of this chapter we get to catch a glimpse of the Kingdom as it suffers from the aftermath of the invasion. As always thank you for reading and any feedback you leave for me. Enjoy :)
Chapter 13
Aftermath and the Cabin in the Woods
A full day after the raid, the Black army was now fully encamped outside the perimeter of the city. Smoke still rose in to the atmosphere of Corona from fires which had at one point burnt so bright that they were just now beginning to be doused by the steady rainfall. A strange juxtaposition of sounds carried throughout the air. In some circles, some heard the sound of soldiers laughing while they sat around campfires, feasting upon freshly cooked food. In others, you heard the coughs of children whose throats had been scored by the smoke of the city. Mothers sobbed as their children starved.
A young couple screamed and wept hysterically as one soldier from the Black army tried to pry the wife from her lover's arms. The soldier succeeded, for the other man had suffered a grotesque injury to his leg, and began to carry her away with ghoulish intent.
He stopped, however, when he felt the point of a blade pressed in to his back.
"Let her go," snarled the man wielding the blade.
The soldier resisted, clutching the girl with an arm wrapped around her neck from behind.
"Let her go, unless you'd rather lose your life right now," the man continued. He pressed the blade in further, threatening to puncture.
The fiend loosened his grip and the girl sprinted back to her lover, sobbing in fear.
The man who liberated her turned to the young couple. They were dirty, and had sustained many wounds during the raid. The boy who clutched the girl had ripped off the sleeve of his shirt and wrapped it around his leg. Dried blood had soaked most of his pants on the right leg.
As the young man held his shivering lover against his chest, he looked at the man who had saved her. He nodded as if to thank him. The man tilted his chin down, acknowledging the young man's gratitude.
He turned back to the fiendish soldier who had tried to take the girl for his own. Two other soldiers, bearing the armor of Florencian soldiers, restrained him to be addressed by their superior.
The man drew close to the fiend, whispering in his ear in a menacing tone. "You think you can just do whatever you want?"
The fiend didn't reply.
"You and your people may think that you can run wild as you wish because the Duke hasn't restrained you from doing so," he continued, "but I am still your superior in this operation."
He gave a glance to his two men that restrained him, and then nodded.
The two men along with two other Florencian soldiers carried him off, passed some the prisoners, deep in to the woods. It is uncertain as to how they did it, but whatever they did to that soldier would be enough to keep in line.
The captain drew close to three other soldiers from the Black army who stood nearby and had seen the whole event take place.
"Remember who is paying you!"
The captain drew away from the scene and walked through the camp. He came to a large tent that had been erected about thirty yards from the beach. Behind it you could the city of Corona sitting upon its hill in the middle of that giant bay. To the captain's memory, never before had its skyline been so absent of light.
He entered the tent. It was easily twenty degrees warmer in there than the chilly fall air outside. In the center was a giant table covered with maps of varying scales, each displaying area of Coronan territory. Several advisors and superior officers within the ranks of the armies were scattered about the tent, discussing report details and debriefing on their mission objectives from the invasion. Around the edges of the tent were cushions and chairs, and even a buffet of freshly cooked foods.
Near the middle of the center table stood the Duke. The man next to him pointed at various spots on the map, while the Duke stood next to me nodding in confirmation of whatever the man was saying.
The captain, who had come for the purpose of speaking to the Duke, drew near to him and cleared his throat to announce his arrival.
"My lord, I have come with a message."
Marcus looked at the captain. "Yes, captain Wallace?"
The captain looked around the room at all of the people who stood within.
"That important, eh," Marcus replied. He patted the man he was just speaking with and motioned him out of the door. He then commanded that the rest the group leave the tent as well, which they obeyed.
Once the tent was cleared of any other people, Marcus ventured over to the buffet table. He plucked a piece of meat from a juicy turkey that sat on the table.
"Help yourself, captain."
"If my men don't eat it, neither will I."
Marcus squinted, perhaps because he sensed a hint of defiance in the captain's tone. "Suit yourself. What is it that you have come to tell me?"
The captain exhaled. "The king came forward to me. He said that he will agree to give you the location of the Evening Star, on the condition that the Princess is first returned to him and that the people will be allowed to return to their homes. As part of this deal he will relinquish his crown to you."
Marcus stared at the captain. After a moment of gnawing on the piece of turkey in his mouth, his solid stare turned to a grin, then his grin to a hearty chuckle.
The captain was not amused. "What is it, sir?"
The Duke exhaled, still fighting back the aftershocks of his laughter. "I swear, I don't know how Richard has made it so long as king with the way he deals with enemies."
"With all due respect, my lord, he didn't have much of a choice."
"It's not about what he chose, Captain, it's about how slow he was in doing it." Marcus' expression had narrowed in response to the captain's continued resistance.
"Should my men and I retrieve the princess then?"
"That won't be necessary."
"But, sir," protested Wallace.
"But, what," Marcus snapped. "Last time I checked you were a captain. You take orders from me."
"With all due respect, sir," the captain began, "you gave the king your word. I expected that you would be obliged to keep it."
Marcus' gaze narrowed in suspicion. "You do understand, captain, that this kind of talk is what causes bad things to happen to those who speak it."
Wallace remained silent.
"She was always just a bargaining chip to force his hand, so I could have the location of the evening star. He dragged his feet, and I was able to find its location on my own. He brought this on himself. Either way, it doesn't matter. She's key to me receiving the Evening Star's power. Without her, I can't attain it."
"You found it?"
"Some sources of mine have tracked down a lead on a lay man who knows of its position. They are on their way now as we speak. By tomorrow night, we'll have it."
Wallace erupted. "These are people's lives, sir. You can't just play with them like pawns."
Marcus snatched him by the neck and lifted him off the ground. Though smaller than the captain, he held him with ease high above his head.
"Quit acting so morally superior, captain. You were the one who pledged his allegiance to me."
"That was before I knew you would be hurting innocent people," Wallace replied, struggling to force the words from his constricted throat.
"You knew what I wanted," Marcus growled. "No matter what you say, or anyone says. The Evening Star will soon be mine. If you continue to have a problem with this, then you and your family can suffer with those whelps outside."
The two men glared in to one another. "Are we clear," Marcus continued.
Wallace didn't reply. Marcus released him from his grip, dropping him to the floor. He collapsed trying to catch his breath.
"You can tell the king," Marcus said, "that our deal is over. I will find out where the Evening Star is, tonight!"
As night began to fall, the rainfall increased from the rate it fell for most of the day. Eugene and his new alliance had taken extra cloth and wore them over their heads as hoods. They had been riding most of the day, stopping only a couple of occasions to stretch their legs and let their horses drink some water from a nearby brook. With the low visibility and lack of a clearly defined trail prevented them going any faster that a light canter, and even then it was rare.
"How much further are we," Eugene asked. His frustration from riding all day and not coming any closer to finding Rapunzel was beginning to surface.
"Refer to the answer I gave five minutes ago," Caleb replied as he rode ahead of Eugene.
Eugene cantered Max so that he had pulled even with O'Brien and his horse. "You've been evading my questions all day. If I didn't know any better I'd say you're either lost, or your trying to lose me."
O'Brien pulled back on the reins and faced pivoted on his horse to face Eugene. "If I'm lost, then you should leave," he sneered. "If you think I'm deceiving you, you're wrong. I would have lost you a long ways back. We'll get there when we get there."
Eugene nodded, stepping down from the confrontation. Each kicked in to the sides of their horses, prompting them onward.
As they walked Eugene noticed Max veer in to the other horse's path every few seconds.
"So what's her name," Eugene asked, indicating O'Brien's horse.
"Amara," he replied.
"I think my horse likes her," Eugene chuckled, trying to ease the tension.
A half grin appeared on O'Brien's face.
"Where'd you get her," Eugene continued.
"We found each other," he replied. "About five years ago, when I was a captain, my squad and I were charged with escorting my brother to the capital of Messina. I can't remember why exactly, I believe it had to do with establishing a trade agreement. At the time, thugs roamed the woods around our villages and were robbing our farmers, and then selling our produce to fund their dirty work. It's hard to believe it now, but my brother was actually successfully capturing and imprisoning some of their most important members.
"As a result, many of those men made it their mission to kill him. This one day we were attack by a gang of these miscreants. Somehow I'd been separated from my men and knocked from my horse. I ran from them as fast as I could, but I just couldn't get away. Long story short, I ended up falling off the side of a small hill, and there she was just sitting there in the grove like she was waiting for me. I knew it was crazy to try to approach a wild horse, but she just stood there and let me get on. She saved my life."
Eugene didn't say anything; just reflected on the story he'd just heard.
"It's funny," O'Brien continued, musing to himself more than actually speaking to Eugene, "the things that change our life seem to come when we're least expecting them, but we find later that's when we needed them most."
The group continued for several more moments, saying nothing, but just riding in silence.
Suddenly, Eugene felt Pascal spring up from the ball that he was curled in on his shoulder. Pascal poked in him in the neck and pointed off in to the distance.
"Does the frog see something," O'Brien asked.
"It's a chameleon," Eugene corrected. "I think he does. Is that what I think it is?"
Eugene pointed in to the distance at a light several hundred yards away, barely visible amidst the fog, rain, and dense forest.
"Eugene, I think we're in sight of our goal."
The two riders kicked their heels and snapped their reins, thrusting their horses in to a cantor.
After just a few moments the riders had arrived at a small cabin. Lights were on in the inside of the house. Smoke rolled out of the chimney, and from inside there was the sound of someone playing on an out of tune fiddle.
"This is it," O'Brien said as he tethered the reins of Amara's halter to a nearby tree. "This is definitely it."
"You're sure," Eugene asked as he tied Max to another tree next to Amara.
"I'm sure. Just be warned, the man you're about to meet is – interesting."
The two ventured up to the front door of the cabin. O'Brien rapped his knuckles against the face of the door. "Luke Parish, open up!"
The music stopped inside. Several seconds passed.
"Luke Parish, just because you stopped playing doesn't mean I don't know you're in there."
From inside there was the muffled sound of a curse. Eugene looked over and noticed shaking his head, as if he had been through this routine many times.
The door swung open and a man in overalls appeared. He had no shirt on, and his long shaggy hair was twisted in knots and sticking out in awkward places.
"What do you want, O'Brien," Parish queried. His voice had a baritone hum, and the more he spoke it sounded like saliva was permanently lodged in his throat. On top of this, he spoke slower than most people, immediately causing Eugene to think that his intelligence was about as low as the pitch of his voice.
"Whoa, Parish. Can't a friend just stop by to say hello," O'Brien replied.
Parish stared blankly at the two in the door way, as if all thought disappeared from his head. His lower lip quivered as if he were thinking to himself, but his eyes stared in to the distance showing no signs of life. After multiple seconds of awkward silence passed, Parish smiled. "Of course, you're always welcomed to Luke's place."
The two men ventured inside of the Parish's house. O'Brien pulled up a chair for himself at one of the tables next to a shelf full of books. Eugene stepped over toward the fire place to warm up some after being in the rain all day.
"Who's he? How'd he get in here," Parish asked as he observed Eugene next to the fireplace.
Eugene turned in bewilderment.
"You didn't see him at the door," O'Brien asked, equally confused.
Parish stared at Eugene once more, with the same strange stare he had just a moment ago in the doorway; lip quivering and his eyes looking right through the man he was facing. A few seconds passed and a deep, slow chuckle rose up through his throat. Eugene thought a chunk of the man's spit would shoot forth along with his laughter.
"Oh yeah," Parish chuckled. "Now I remember."
Eugene squinted in disbelief; his mouth fell agape.
"Luke this is my friend, Eugene."
"Pleased to meet you," said Parish.
"And you too," Eugene replied, still in bewilderment, "I think."
A wide grin formed on Parish's face. He nodded and chuckled quietly to himself as Eugene shook his hand.
"Would you two like some soup," Parish asked, turning back to O'Brien.
"In a minute," O'Brien replied. "But-"
"No you've been outside all day, first we eat soup, then we talk about why you came to visit Luke, okay?" Another gravelly chuckle erupted from the man's throat as he ventured toward the fire place where a large cauldron hung over the fire.
Eugene watched him as he poured the soup in to some wooden bowls. That's the first smart thing he's said yet.
"Soup for you," Parish said, handing the bowl to Eugene. "And soup for us." He handed a bowl to O'Brien and kept one for himself.
Eugene stared suspiciously at his soup while the other two slurped it up and gnawed on the chunks of beef that were in the broth. The soup looked normal; its texture wasn't the problem for him. He wasn't sure if he trusted the cooking of man that could barely remember how he had gotten in the cabin after knocking on his door.
He looked over at O'Brien, who winked and continued eating his soup. Finally, Eugene grabbed the spoon and shoved a spoon full of the beef soup in to mouth.
"So what brings you to my castle," Parish asked, while finishing the remaining portions of his dinner.
"Eugene is in a predicament," O'Brien replied.
Parish set his bowl on the floor and narrowed his gaze toward Eugene, their eyes maintained contact with each other for several, long awkward seconds. Parish then cleared his throat.
"Ah," he began. "You've lost something, haven't you?"
Eugene paused. He looked toward O'Brien with a look of confusion. Just a few minutes before could barely remember that Eugene had come in with his companion, and now he was able to peg Eugene's problem with nothing but a look.
"Taken, actually," Eugene replied.
"Don't make no difference. You don't have it, and now you lookin' for it."
"You have no idea."
"What's her name," Parish queried.
Eugene's vision snapped to meet Parish's once more, stunned. "How did you know it was a person?"
A gravely chuckle erupted from Parish's throat. "People think Lucas Parish is stupid, but he knows when a man lost his woman. It's the look in the eye. Ain't no other one like it."
Eugene didn't respond.
"So what's her name," Parish asked again.
"Rapunzel."
Parish burst in to another set of laughter. "The princess? The princess! How did you manage to catch that fish? You devil! O'Brien I can tell ya right now that I like this guy!"
Eugene glared at him, and he restrained his laughter.
"Lucas," O'Brien began. "We don't have much time, and as far as I know you're the only one that can help us."
Parish looked both men in the eye and smiled. "How can I help you?"
"The Evening Star," Eugene began. "Do you know anything about it?"
Parish looked toward the ceiling and muttered to himself, thinking. "That is an old legend, except I don't think it is."
"Your right," O'Brien replied. "I know you have something to help us, Lucas."
Parish narrowed his gaze in to O'Brien and grinned. With the snap of his fingers, he turned and headed toward a closet door. "Follow me!"
He opened the door, and flung it open. The closet was empty.
"Oh come on," Eugene complained. "This is serious. We don't have any more times for your games. Can you help us, or not?"
Parish chuckled. "This ain't no game."
"Your right," Eugene exclaimed. "It's just an empty closet!"
With a raised brow, Parish turned and placed his hand on the wooden floor in the closet. He tapped his knuckles against a piece of wood which sounded unusually hollow compared to the rest of the floor. He pushed his finger in to an indentation on floor, and lifted the section of wood upward. Beneath it revealed a staircase leading to an underground cellar.
Parish turned and smiled toward Eugene. "Not all things are what they seem."
Together the three men ventured down in to the cellar. Once at the bottom of the steps, Parish lit a lantern, revealing the cellar was actually an underground library. Around the four walls of the room were bookshelves. Each was loaded with tomes, dealing with a variety of subjects. It comprised of a fiction collection, as well as a non-fiction featuring titles about science and history. In the middle of the room were two cushioned chairs and a small table.
One section of the library had a collection devoted completely to Coronan folklore and mythology. It is to this where Parish went and began perusing the books for one that could help them in their search.
His fingers landed on one that pleased him. Stories and Tales of Coronan Legend. He pulled this from the shelf and began leafing through the pages.
"Here it is," Parish said. "The tale of the evening star."
He walked back to the center of the room and sat in of the cushioned chairs as he began to read from the pages.
"Once upon a time," Parish began reading, when he was interrupted by Eugene.
"Can't we just skip to the part to where it can be found?"
"No," Parish replied. "You can't find nothin' without knowin' how it got there."