I do not own.
Roy looked from the back of the knight to the speechless princess.
"Wait, wait, hold the sheep… what do you mean betrothed?" Roy asked for the princess.
"Betrothed is when a woman is pledged in marriage…" The knight started to explain.
"No, no, I know what the word means." Roy interrupted impatiently. "I mean how… when…. where… why?"
"My father did mention he was in negotiations with the Kingdom of Zenbakia." Reselda said hesitantly. "But I didn't realize it was so far ahead."
"I received your portrait." Senarius said simply.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Roy asked confused.
"Portraits of potential matches are exchanged between kingdoms for… consideration." Reselda explained.
"Oh." Roy thought for a second. "But that doesn't explain why he's here."
"I was on my way to Provdencia when I noticed you at the tavern." He answered.
"Why were you on your way to Provdencia?" Roy prompted. "I mean couldn't you send messengers or something?"
"You ask too many questions." Senarius responded flatly.
"I'm a curious boy." He said.
"Curiosity killed the cat." He said ominously.
"But satisfaction brought it back." Reselda retorted. "I too wonder why you would personally come to address the proposal. Also did you know that my father's kingdom is under siege?"
The knight nodded. "I found out while on my way. I sent my squire back for help."
That took both Roy and Reselda aback.
"You sent for help?" She asked incredulously.
"Of course." His terse answers were not helpful for Reselda in gaging this stranger's motivation.
"And where are we going now?" She asked.
"Someplace safe." He answered.
Reselda wasn't sure where that was but she would have to trust him for now.
The sky was starting to brighten and Conrad began to stir.
"Oww," Conrad moaned.
Roy and Reselda quickly went to the reviving man.
"Hey brother," Roy knelt next to him. "You didn't tell me you can do magic."
"I can't really." Conrad gingerly sat up. "I know some basics."
"That spell was more than basic." Reselda told him. "But you should practice to build up stamina. Sorcery drains a lot of your life force."
"I know." Conrad grimace before turning to Reselda. "How do you know that?"
Reselda blushed. "Oh, I dabbled a little in sorcery but father didn't think it was becoming of a young lady so I secretly studied the healing arts instead."
"That could be useful too." Senarius said from up front.
Everyone started. They didn't realize he could hear them.
"Are we there yet?" Roy asked.
"We'll get there when we get there." Senarius answered.
Reselda wondered where "there" is. She wanted to ask him more questions especially about when help will arrive for her kingdom.
The cart stopped abruptly.
"What's wrong?" Reselda looked up.
Senarius led the cart off the dirt road into some trees.
"Uh, what's going on?" Roy asked nervously.
Senarius placed a finger over his mouth to indicate that they were to be quiet.
"Heeyah!" The sound of whips cracking could be heard. From their hiding place, a decrepit looking caravan rolled by. It was accompanied by six guardsmen on foot. Two were in the lead. Two walked in the center and two were in the back.
"Gypsies." Senarius whispered.
"Look!" Reselda gasped and pointed.
Roy followed her finger and noticed for the first time the crest on a couple of horsemen accompanying the caravan.
"Principality of Baratrum." He said darkly.
"Let us out!" A woman's voice could be heard from inside the caravan. As the caravan rolled by, they heard pounding and more yelling for help.
Roy looked at his companions. Senarius shook his head. Reselda bit her lip uncertainly. Conrad was still dazed. "Come on." He pleaded. He looked around again. But their expressions didn't change.
"Too dangerous." Senarius answered.
"Reselda?" Roy looked at the princess.
"Senarius is right. We're out numbered, and they're trained soldiers. We don't even have any weapons." She answered.
"I saved you and I'm not a trained soldier." He argued.
"Technically the sheep saved her." Conrad interrupted absentmindedly.
Roy shot him a dirty look.
The pounding and yelling were starting to fade as the caravan passed them. Roy made his decision.
"Fine, if you're all too scared…" He grabbed the rusty sword that Senarius had offered him earlier and before anyone could stop him, he had jumped out of the cart. "Hey, you crooked-nose knaves!" Roy charged at them. "Have at you!"
He caught the first soldier by surprise, knocking him out with the blunt side of the sword. When he turned, the other guard was nearly on top of him. Roy barely blocked a blow from him. He staggered under the momentum of the blow. From the corner of his eye he saw the other soldiers coming. The pounding reminded him why he was there. He looked at the back of the caravan and saw chains around the door. With one swift motion, he broke them. To his surprise an ape wearing a red straw hat and blue shirt and a girl his age fell out.
"Ooof, you could have warned a chimp." The ape complained.
"Look out!" The girl pointed.
Roy whirled around and instinctively lifted his blade. Unfortunately, he was not able to block this time. He stared disbelieving at the red liquid coming from his midsection.
His vision blurred. He heard screaming. Strangely, he saw the soldiers being thrown back. Then everything went black.
0o0
Roy thought he was dead. He felt like he was dead. Everything seemed to hurt.
"Greetings, traveler." An ethereal voice said. Roy opened his eyes. In the blackness a glowing sphere appeared.
"What are you?" Roy asked confused.
"A bargain has been made. You will be my host." It said.
"What?" Roy yelped. "Who made that decision?"
"Your other choice is death."
"Oh, well…" Roy didn't finish. The glowing sphere smashed into him. A chill entered Roy's body starting from his middle and spreading everywhere. Gasping, the chill turned to a burning sensation.
Roy sat straight up panting as if he just woke from a nightmare.
"He's all right!" He heard Conrad say with relief in his voice.
"What happened? What's going on?" He looked down and touched the bandages. He didn't feel anything. He began pulling the bandages off. Underneath it was completely normal.
"He's healed." Reselda's face appeared.
"Of course he's healed." Roy looked over to see the girl from the caravan.
"Fey's don't lie." She said hotily.
"That was very foolish of you." Senarius addressed him sternly. "You've put all of us in danger."
"Hey, grumps. I for one am grateful that he came for us." The ape interrupted. He made a sweeping bow. "Bofer at your service. And this is Lady…"
"Oh shut it, Bo. I'm Siren. This is my caravan." Siren introduced herself.
"Why does the Principality of Baratrum want a gypsy cart?" Senarius asked bluntly.
Siren glared at the knight. "Maybe because this is no ordinary gypsy cart." She walked to the back of the caravan and opened it up. She beckoned for them to come in. The inside was larger than it looked. Siren walked to a table and opened a small wooden box. They were momentarily blinded by a bright light.
"Are those…" Conrad gaped at them.
"Yes, parts of the spirit orb." Siren nodded.
"I thought it was only a legend." Reselda said softly.
Siren laughed. "Just because it's a legend, doesn't mean it can't be real."
"What's a spirit orb?" Roy asked.
"Legend has it that the spirit orb was created by a benevolent mage from Provdencia who wanted to use it help his people." Senarius said.
"But he didn't realize until too late that some people wanted to use it to benefit themselves. Devastating wars ripped through the land nearly destroying the people he wanted to help." Reselda added darkly.
"The mage broke the spirit orb into five pieces in placing them where no human could ever find them." Conrad finished.
"Does everyone know about this?" Roy asked staring from one person to another.
"Apparently…" Bofer answered.
"Wait if no human can find them, then…" Roy stopped and stared at the ape then to the girl.
"Now you get it." Siren smirked.
"And that glowing sphere that healed me…" Roy stammered.
"Was one of the orbs." Siren completed his sentence.
"Huh?" It was the only thing that Roy could get out.
"Wow, you're dense, aren't you?" Siren shook her head.
"Because you helped us, we used one of the orbs to heal you." Bofer told him.
"But it talked to me… it said I was the new host." Roy squeaked.
"Host… heal." Bofer shrugged. "Same thing."
Roy clutched his body.
"You're fine." Siren rolled her eyes.
"Will there be any side effects?" Conrad asked looking at his brother.
Siren shrugged. "I don't know. I don't know much about your human magic. Fey magic works differently."
"This is what the king of Baratrum must be collecting." Reselda looked in the box. "There's three in here."
"There's one in him." Bofer stuck a thumb at Roy.
Reselda looked at Senarius her face white. "Do you think the last one is in…"
"The king of Baratrum must think the final orb must be in Provdencia." He said.
"My people are in trouble." Reselda said.
"That's an understatement." Bofer snorted.
"I must get back!" Reselda implored them.
"If you go back, they'll kill you." Senarius argued. "We need to wait for my squire to bring help."
"It'll be too late! Besides, we have the orbs. We can use them." Reselda countered.
"Do you know how to use them?" Senarius asked.
"No." Reselda admitted reluctantly.
"Then it does us no good." Senarius said.
The sound of horses from the distance interrupted their argument.
"Riders from Baratrum!" Bofer said alarmed.
They scrambled out of the caravan. From the distance, they saw the
Senarius cursed. "We've been careless." He ran to the front of the caravan. Hopping into the driver's seat, he turned around. "Get in the caravan unless you want to face the soldiers."
They quickly went in. The door barely shut when the caravan lurched forward trying to get away from the quickly approaching soldiers.
Sorry for the delay. I've been busy, busier than when I was not working from home.
Hey, if you guys are stuck at home like me, there are several new writers and stories for this fandom you should check out. Yosdellilan Skywalker has a couple of stories out as does MsChupacabra, Lilith Deckerstar, Crystalmoon101, theWriterunknown, and ScarletEmpress2017. And there are some old writers like DraftsmanFive, Silvanna Nightlight, and Razorbatz still around. Go read, review, favor, and follow those stories you like. Be safe, be well. See you soon.