Chapter Twenty Three: A Small World After All
On the cart back to their base, Swift asked,
"Your majesty, how did you find us?"
"As fate may have it, I was leaving the cave I was residing in when I heard a commotion in the distance…" She explained until Reaver interrupted.
"Oh yes, 'I' this and 'I' that. Not like you had a loyal and dashing companion." Adds Reaver.
"Fine! We heard a commotion…" She said forcefully. Walter sniffed loudly. "In the back of the cave. It was very faint but we..." She glances at Reaver who looked victorious. "Decided to follow the sounds. We went through the tunnel noticing it was getting colder and icy. We then stumbled upon the cavern and saw you, Walter and…"
"The fool?" Reaver interjected as he glared at Ryan who was asleep on Sam's shoulder and snoring loudly.
She clears her throat and carries on.
"Ryan, fighting each other or the thin air. That's when we also noticed the hooded figure…"
"Ah, the culprit." Swift said.
"Yes, the culprit." Reaver confirmed sarcastically. "Goodness, how rude of you to interrupt. Carry on, my dear."
He looked amusedly at her who seemed less than impressed.
"It looked like he was controlling you." She continued. "Or making you hallucinate with this green mist he must have conjured up. So we devised a plan, Reaver attacks the Duoler while I tried to stop the damage you were doing to each other…"
Reaver huffs loudly and she loses her patience.
"What now?" She asked.
"Sweetheart, I have no doubt you are a brilliant fighter and skilled in the bedroom to say the least." Reaver said.
She blushes furiously and some of the men cough and turn away embarrassedly.
"Oh my!" Swift exclaimed appalled while Walter glared at Reaver.
"The less you say the better!" She hissed.
"But you are being far too modest and far too dull." He moaned. "Where's the action? Where's the drama?"
"You tell them then." She hissed.
"I shall!" He said revelling in the attention. "Gentlemen and slightly gentle woman, we had heard voices, barely even whispers. However, thanks to my bat like hearing with my delicate ears and my natural killer instinct, I knew something was wrong. My companion then used her powers to light us a way through the dark tunnel. The tunnel felt endless, as if the eternity of time had stopped in there. As we walked deeper into the tunnel of eternity, we noticed the temperature reflected the tempo of the violence we heard earlier. As we drew closer to a light at the end, we hear clashes of cold steel and the threatening shots of a gun and the cries of wounded and terrified men. We ran forwards, if not to keep ourselves freezing to death, and entered the cavern of crystallized ice. We slowly edged our way to peek across the huge stalagmite and saw three men in close battle with each other and the thin air. They were engulfed in a poisonous mist of sickly green and on a hill of snow, enjoying the show was the Duoler, cackling a wicked cold laugh. My companion and I conferred with each other. I save the day as she flits around uselessly around the men. As she prepares to launch herself onto the other side, I draw my trusty pistol and steady my aim and shoot. The villain is taken by surprise and cries out in pain as he hesitates with his spell. The mist was still hanging in the area so my assistant and I tear pieces from a dirty, disgusting blanket and cover our faces. She jumps down to save the men from themselves as I take shot after shot at the Duoler. The battle between The Duoler and I was intense, he was master of his will powers whereas I was masterfully skilled with my gun. I managed to do a good number on him with my wonderfully accurate aim and my lightening speed as I dodged his spells. He eventually realised he was out of his depth as his body continuously absorbed my bullets and disappears in a puff of smoke. And that is how I saved the day!"
He cried out the last line as he threw his arms up into the air dramatically.
"Me more than the Queen of course. But she still counts. She made a subpar effort." Reaver added as he started to clap mockingly.
Her old squad sniggered a little until Walter spoke,
"She is no longer our queen."
This silenced the men as she looks down at the floor in disappointment.
"Ridiculous. She is our queen." Swift interjected. "Your majesty, we have to take action. We have devised somewhat of a plan in regards to helping survivor camps and keeping our culprit's creatures at bay…"
He starts talking to her about strategic plans as she tries to take it all in. Walter takes a peek at her. She looked taken aback by the sudden talk of strategy but he notices how she squinted her eyes as she tries her best to follow. He chuckles to himself and smiles fondly.
As Walter smiled, Reaver follows his line of sight and notices who he was looking at. Reaver smirks at the idea that he may have competition…
When they arrive at base in Bowerstone, the former guards and soldiers there look in shock at the return of their queen. As Reaver exited the cart, the men drew their weapons at him again and he rolls his eyes.
"It's fine. He's with us." She said.
They look worriedly at each other but put away their weapons.
"Why don't you show them around, Walter?" Swift asked. "They'll also need a place to stay." He looked at the sunset. "Take them to where you sleep; it should be more than sufficient."
Walter looks unhappy about the decision but grunts in agreement. He beckoned the two over as he showed them where they can find the artillery, the storage and supplies, the mess hall (which is a standing but slightly battered furniture shop) and the other men's sleeping quarters (in case of an emergency.) He takes them over to their make shift war room where he, Swift and Turner discuss tactical plans. In the room they find Turner hunched over a map and he looks up at them when he hears them arrive.
"It's good to see you again, your majesty." He said as he extends his hand to which she accepts.
"I could say the same for you. If only it was in better circumstances." She said politely.
"Yes, if only." He agreed. He turns to face Reaver and he frowns slightly. "So I've heard that you are not in fact, the culprit and that he simply adorned your image."
"That is correct." Reaver said.
"How callous but the more allies the better, I suppose." Turner said as he also extended a hand to him.
"This would be a better and more comfortable alliance if you wipe that suspicious look off your face." Reaver said coldly as he places his hand in Turner's.
"Come on, I'll show you where you'll be staying." Walter said as he gestured out of the room.
"Will the Queen and I be staying in the same room?" Reaver asked as he attempted to put his arm around her but she slaps his hand away.
"No." Growled Walter. "You'll be staying in separate rooms."
He takes them to what had used to be a pub. It has seen better days but at least it survived. He takes them past a lounge area, upstairs and down a corridor. Walter points to the room closest to them.
"That." Walter said as he looked at Reaver. "Is your room."
"I think I'd rather stay with the Queen." Reaver muttered disgustedly as he looked into his room. Walter clenches his teeth and takes her (with Reaver still following out of interest) to the room that was at the end of the corridor which was as far away from Reaver as possible.
"This will be your room, M'lady." Walter said as he pointed into the room. "It may not be as spacious or as comfortable as your royal bed chambers but it's the biggest and best room here."
She looks in to see a double bed, a set of drawers and a wardrobe with enough space in the room to still walk. She also noticed a window and balcony opposite her.
"This is more than enough. Thank you." She said warmly and smiles.
Walter turns away as Reaver peeks into the room.
"I most definitely prefer to stay in the same room as the Queen." He said.
"Well you bloody can't!" Walter snapped as he looked towards Reaver.
"You don't have a say in this, my room mate does." Reaver said slyly as he puts a hand on her shoulder. "How about it? We can be bunk buddies." As he finished the sentence he uses his other hand to stroke down her neck and down to her chest. She grabs his hand and she flicks the other one off her shoulder.
"No thanks." She said simply.
"As cold as ever I see, and after we had such a nice moment in the cave we were residing in too." Reaver said. "No matter, I'll find a way to heat you up again." He winked as he tries to tickle her chin but she slaps his hand away.
"Anyway, I'm rather exhausted after this thrilling adventure." He yawned. "Come join me if you're feeling lonely, my lady. Tatty byes!"
He walks off to his dismal room and closes the door.
"Wanker." Walter muttered.
Walter looks to the Hero but quickly averts his gaze.
"If you need anything, I'll be in the next room." He said quietly.
"Oh ok." She said.
She wanted to spend more time with him but even when her heart knew what to say, she choked on her words. She watched sadly as Walter went into his room, close his door and she goes into her room, closing the door softly. She slid to the floor as she starts to cry silently.
She cried until her face was damp with tears.
She shakes her head and wipes her tears away and decided to look out of the balcony. She watches the men fortify the nearby buildings, carrying crates of more supplies and polishing their weapons. She thinks of how well they have coped without her and it dawns on her that she didn't cope without them.
She is watching proudly at her men as Bowerstone becomes cloaked in the evening's darkness. The men began lighting up torches around the base and they began to walk off into their sleeping quarters whilst a few guards patrolled the area.
She moves away from the balcony and flumped onto her bed. She doesn't feel tired and recalling what Walter had said, goes to knock on his door.
She taps on the door, there was no answer but she could hear a low snoring downstairs. She edges quietly to see where the noise is coming from. She looks to see Walter asleep by the fireplace in the lounge area in a worn armchair. He is surrounded by empty bottles and he is still clutching onto a half empty beer. His blanket is lying by his feet and he is snoring loudly. She tip toed towards him to place the blanket back over him and she tucks it around his arms. He shifted his body a little and he moved his head a little as he mumbled,
"M'lady."
Before continuing his snoring again.
She smiles but feels someone watching her so she looks up just as she heard rapid footsteps walking away and the click of a door. She creeps back upstairs to investigate. She carefully and slowly reaches for the door knob to her room as she felt her heart pound in her chest. She opens the door quickly as she draws her gun
Author's Notes
Hey everybody!
Gosh, how late am I this week with Albion's Lost Years (^_^') I'm sorry, I've been very distracted with writing a new story, not a fanfiction this time but an original story :D
Still, not a very good reason not to upload ALY, so I beg for your forgiveness and I hope you accept two chapters in one week as a token of my apology. Enjoy, my lovelies! 3
Special mention to Dearestevergreen for the favorite and for following the story. Thank you so much ^^