*gives muse a cookie and gives Nuada a rub down (sicker)...Enjoy
Please read and review...Muse needs more cookies...
The throne room, a short time later....
Jareth watched Pen descend the stairs, wearing her night gear. He also noticed she wore a band around her throat, a sign of her lost voice. She came to sand beside the throne, her green eyes darkened by the emotions behind them..
"I will not be a pawn in this..." She signed. "I am owed vengeance too."
Jareth nodded, it was true enough. His brother had destroyed the guild for something as petty as power.
"Then stand beside me Guild Mistress, we will greet our enemies together..." He said. "Do you know how to draw a long bow?"
She nodded, it had been a long time but she remembered.
"An arrow for a traitor's heart..."
"You will only have one shot...Drow."
She gave him a wicked grin, producing a small container that held her mixture of grease and lamp black. When she was finished applying it, and in full gear all would swear a drow had pulled the bowstring upon that fated arrow.
"One of the light Siders will back you up." Jareth said. "He will be aiming for the queen's heart."
She grinned, "King's rook takes queen..."
He could not help but find amusement in her chest analogy.
"Something like that..." Jareth said. "Finish your preparations, the queen will most likely attack at twilight..."
She nodded and began applying the mixture to her skin, time would be short.
The encampment...
Two dark figures approached the Royal tent. One remained outside to keep watch while the other slid in. The figure said something in a low voice and one of the boggles wiggled out from a fold in the blanket. It chittered about the queen having come to gloat a short time before.
"I know little one, We move shortly." The figure said, then began folding up the blankets and fine sheets around the king. "Full darkness..."
The second boggle chittered too as it wiggled itself out, the figure hushed them both before finding what they were looking for; a large dark blanket. The second figure came in, frowning.
"She's coming..."
"Damn it, distract her...We need another few minutes..."
"On it, just get him out of here..."
The first figure nodded, they had to work quickly.
Nuada was shrouded in layers of blankets, as the ride through the Labyrinth was going to be rough. They would be riding in the mist of the cavalry, hidden by galmour and old magick. The two boggles would be providing the Galmour and the one holding the king the old magick. With any luck they would be beyond the Queen's reach before the bitch knew what hit her.
An hour later...
The horns sounded, calling all the mounted riders to the fore. The figure hefted his burden, slinging Nuada across the back of his horse. The glamour would make it look like he had a bed roll fastened behind him. The figure hoped to get beyond the walls quickly, or else the King was going to a pin cushion on top of being heavily bruised from the ride. The Goblin archers had uncanny aim and nasty barbed arrows that hurt like hell going in and coming out. The figure took his place, waiting for the second signal.
The outer walls of the Labryinth...
The archers were lined up, watching and waiting. Pen stood not far from where Jareth stood in the center. He had called up just enough to give the illusion that his armies had been near wiped out as he had reported. In her great cloak she looked like one of the Light siders that had been spaced among the Goblins. She ran her fingers over the Goblin bow, strong for something so light.
It had been an age since she'd pulled a bow string, but she had not forgotten the lesson of how and patients for the shot. Her eyes looked to the plane beyond, focusing for one figure that was her target. He would be easy enough to spot, for he wore a coronet upon his brow. She had heard that Jaeren had claimed the leadership of the guild for himself, saying there had been no heir. That was easy enough to learn from one of Jareth's spies, as was he was riding with the Queen in the High King's stead. The bitch hadn't wasted any time in choosing another consort, considering her husband still drew breath.
"...The King should be within the walls after the first volley." Jareth had told her. "Take your shot, then leave the wall, I have healers waiting."
She had nodded, all it would take was one shot. She fingered the owl feather fletching on the one arrow. The barb had been coated with a rather nasty poison. Even if Jaeren survived the shot, his hours were numbered.
Outside the walls...
The calvary horses danced eagerly to charge forward. The queen and Jaeren would ride before them, as the defenses were smashed. Jaeren would guide the queen through the maze and into the castle. The goblin prince was eager to drive a dagger into his brother's heart, he would be king.
"They are a puny force, just as the report said." Jaeren said. "My brother is mad to defend with so few."
"Then this will end quickly, and the executions can begin..." The Queen said. "Starting with my husband's little whore..."
Jaeren wondered why she was so fixated upon Pen, perhaps because of the precarious position of her own son. Pen's two sons were elder and thus could possibly be chosen as heirs. He would have placed Tam Lin upon the throne, giving them a puppet, but the council had ruled in favor of reinstating Nuada to the throne. Now they would have to deal with the mess.
The horn sounded a second time as the weak light sank below the horizon, the cavalry surged forward as a volley of arrows began. Riders were felled as the arrows rained down, many being trampled in the charge The figure spurred his horse faster, the sooner he got past the wall the sooner he could get the king to safety.
Pen stood on the wall, her arrow knocked and ready. She spotted Jaeren just as he road ahead of the mass of riders. The bastard was trying to make the wall and breech its defenses. She aimed, closed her eyes and released. Her arrow hit him in the thigh, not a fatal wound but enough to unhorse him and send him ass over teakettle to the ground. The second arrow flew past her ear, missing the queen but taking out her horse.
Got you... She thought and hurried down from the wall.
She made her way down to where Jareth had stationed the healers and began to aid in treatment of the wounded.
The figure broke away from the charge, spurring the horse on under the cover of the arrows. The wall was made and the figure passed inside. Two healers rushed to take the well shrouded king from the figure before he pitched forward, one of the goblin arrows had found their mark in an unintended target. Two other healers helped the rider down and began treating his wounds
Nuada was carried into a large tent and unshrouded. Pen gently pushed past the healers when they got him stripped of his clothing and the blankets. She leaned close and kissed his temple, then began the series of touches to rise him out of Reverie. She pulled back and into the shadows when his eyelids began to flutter.
She did not wish him to see her like this, after what her skills has cost. She would shed her night gear and clean the grease and lamp black from her skin before she allowed him to see her again. It was the least to be done, for even if their bond was repaired that one doubt that she would be waiting for him with blade in hand would remain.
Some hours later...
Nuada felt something warm and liquid upon his skin, leaving behind the scent of wildflowers. The soft sound of a basin being set down, and the wringing of a rag. He tried to protest, but a gentle hand touched his forehead. He felt warmth and a sense of stillness, he opened his eyes to Pen's countenance. He reached up, ever so painfully, to touch the band at her throat. Her hand met his half way, then their fingers laced.
"Lochain told me..." his voice was harsh from disuse. "You should not have..."
a gentle kiss to the tip of his ear, and then to the scar upon his temple. Even that gentle touch made him remember that even he had paid a price.
I could not have done any less... He heard faintly in his mind.
"My heart..." he began, before her finger traced his dry lips.
She shook her head, No, don't...
She brought her hand laced with his to her heart before she leaned over and kissed him.
In the labyrinth...
The queen and a small band had breached the walls, riding through upon a fresh horse. Someone had retrieved the Goblin Prince before he could be trampled, pulling out the arrow. Now one of her personal guard held him in the saddle while he guided her. He did not know this is what Jareth wanted, to end this war. The walls seemed to shift and change, hindering their progress. Jaeren watched near helpless as the routes he knew vanished, seeming to funnel them into the nastier parts of the maze.
"It's toying with us..." He slurred, the poison starting to effect his speech.
The queen was not happy, as now and again archers would appear on the walls to pick off a few more of her guard.
"Lead us through, or your brother won't be the only one executed this day."
Jaeren pointed to an opening, they would go that way.