"Cassandra!" Helga cried.
"What?" panted the sorceress as she ran over. "No blood? This had better be important."
"It is." Helga handed Cassandra an old scroll. "I'm not entirely sure what it's talking about yet, exactly but it's important. Aparently four will come together, each will be met by great trials, some faced together, others alone. I've only gotten far enough to determine that someone, not of the four, will be bitten by two great serpents, and die."
"Why don't you go and see Godric, I think he's with Hat in the training yard. I'm going to take this to Archanes."
"Will we be able to help whoever it is?"
"I do not know." As the girl walked out of the library the sorceress continued, "They may not deserve help."
"Why are you here Thomas?" asked Rowena. The girl had come up to eat dinner with Thomas, after silently making it with Salazar.
"I am here to bring you home."
"This is my home now Thomas."
"No Rowena," said Thomas, sitting up and grabbing her hands, "this is not your home. Your home is with your family."
"I was disowned Thomas."
"True, but that makes no difference to me or your cousin. He will welcome you back and no one will question his judgement."
"That is not the point Thomas. I like it here, here I am treated as an equal not because the others were born into the same position I was, they weren't, but because they see me, not my family."
"People at home know you are their better-"
"Because of my family!"
"I see you." Thomas pulled the girl into a passionate kiss.
"If he thinks I'm going to leave her alone with him he's got another think coming." The parceltongue cursed as he hit his head on the top of the vent. Archanes had said that the castle was modeled after those of past and future, lucky for the young spy. "If he lays one hand on her I'll-"
"You'll what?" asked a passing snake.
"None of your business!" the boy hissed.
"Well then I won't tell you about their business."
"What?!" Salazar hurried along the vent completely forgetting the snerpent as it slithered away.
"I see you." Came the voice of that ************ (pick any word, most work). Salazar slowly peeked into the room and slithered away himself.
"What do you think you are doing?!" Rowena hissed (in english), careful not to scare the two basilisks. She pushed away from Thomas, knocking her chair over in the process and almost tripping on the bed next to his as she backed away.
"Rowena I-"
"No! No do not say it. Do not say what you do not mean."
"I do mean it!" Thomas stood, his eyes barely containing his anger. He softened as he looked in her eyes and reflected on her actions. "What has happened to the Rowena I knew?" he asked, reaching out to touch her cheek. She backed away. "What has happened to you? You were once so confident that that would have brought forth a shriek that shook the heavens!"
"People change."
"No, not you. There is a reason you don't cry out. Are you afraid that that brat will come in and cut me down? He cannot defeat me! I faced the most feared dragon in Europe to find you! I-"
"Then how did you get defeated by a few animals in the forest?" Rowena asked. "There are no dragons in our forest and none greater than Strabo, but then you're lying are you not? Word of Strabo's, yes I am on a first name basis with the most feared dragon in existence, would have reached here faster than the wind. And you could not possibly have defeated a dragon and then been beaten by something in that forest."
Thomas grabbed the girls throat. "Tell me," he breathed, eyes wild, "why you do not cry out."
"I-"
"Spit it out!"
"Slink! Slither!" The ground began to shake as the two serpents raced to the room.
"What is this?!" Thomas cried, finally releasing his hold on Rowena.
"You had best run Thomas, they think of me as their mother and are very protective."
"I shall return!" Thomas yelled as he ran from the room and castle.
Rowena breathed a sigh of relief as Slink and Slither entered the room. "Thank you, both of you. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come."
Salazar raced after the boy, looking to Thomas much like a bringer of death, even with his white charger.
"Come back here! You will pay if you hurt her!" After about fifteen minutes of racing through the forest Salazar slowed. "Come on boy, it's a full moon tonight, there's little chance of him surviving."
"I wonder how the others are doing," said Helga as she watched Godric practice.
"They are fine, I assure you," said Hat", sitting next to her.
"How do you know?"
"Because Salazar would die before allowing harm to come to Rowena and if anyone harms Salazar they'll have to deal with Rowena, not to mention every bird in the forest."
"You do have a point."
"Of course I do. My job is looking after all of you children, I should think I know something about the innermost workings of your minds."
Helga gave Hat a strange look, but decided to question him about his meaning later.
The sight that met Salazars eyes when he entered the room Thomas had been in was one he wanted to keep forever. Slink and Slither were curled up on the floor, Rowena lying the very center. Salazar slowly made his way over to her, careful not to wake the snakes, they got cranky when woken up.
"Rowena?" Salazar lightly shook her shoulder.
"Salazar?"
"Are you all right?"
"Yes."
"Did he-?"
"No. He just got angry when he realized that I don't love him."
"Oh."
The same snake that had spoken to Salazar in the vents came in. "There are some centaurs here to see you," it said, then slunk away as if none of it had been worth his time.
"I'll take care of them," Salazar said, taking out his wand and floating a blanket over, "you rest."
Before he could make it to the door he heard Rowena's voice, "What happened to Thomas?"
"He got away, but I don't think he'll come back."
"Let's hope not," Rowena said sleepily. As Salazar closed the door he heard her say, "Thank you Salazar."
"Grandmother!" Thomas yelled as he burst through the door of the little shop. "Grandmother where are you?!"
"My dear boy! So nice to see you again! But where is your lady friend?" Grandmother stood by her table, a cruel smile playing on her face.
"She screamed and called these beasts to her! She told me to run and I didn't know what else to do so I did run, ran from what I couldn't even see! Then that ****** (AN: again, most anything fits) came at me with his charger! What are you laughing at?!"
"Come and see." Grandmother led the way into the back of the shop, a part Thomas had never seen before. When he was well inside Grandmother said simply, "Lumos."
Now Thomas could clearly see what sat within that room. In the back corner was a cage and within it was a water siren. Her lower half was that of a fish and on the sides of her neck gills were plainly vissible, the rest of her though looked exactly like the girl that had not paid Grandmother just days before.
"I told you I would have to get back at her," Grandmother said, her voice full of mirth. The old woman walked up to the cage and reached in, beckoning the siren closer as she would an animal. "I am going to have to find a use for her eventually, but for now this is enough."
"What is enough?" Thomas asked. The siren had actually come to the old woman and was now being pet.
"Driving her mad of course!" The siren blinked suddenly and pulled back, her eyes angry. "As you can see my dear boy she is having problems adjusting to her new form. Her human self despises me, but the fish is a simple creature who merely wants to be loved by its owner. It is driving her mad."
"Oh," said Thomas, obviously disgusted.
"Just another reason why you should not cross me," said Grandmother.
Disclaimer: I own very few things in this story Thomas, Grandmother, Cassandra, Archanes and the sirn-girl included. I do not own Strabo. He belongs to Terry Brooks, I suggest you go read his Landover books: Magic Kingdom For Sale-Sold!, The Black Unicorn, and Wizard at Large. They are very good.
Review!
"What?" panted the sorceress as she ran over. "No blood? This had better be important."
"It is." Helga handed Cassandra an old scroll. "I'm not entirely sure what it's talking about yet, exactly but it's important. Aparently four will come together, each will be met by great trials, some faced together, others alone. I've only gotten far enough to determine that someone, not of the four, will be bitten by two great serpents, and die."
"Why don't you go and see Godric, I think he's with Hat in the training yard. I'm going to take this to Archanes."
"Will we be able to help whoever it is?"
"I do not know." As the girl walked out of the library the sorceress continued, "They may not deserve help."
"Why are you here Thomas?" asked Rowena. The girl had come up to eat dinner with Thomas, after silently making it with Salazar.
"I am here to bring you home."
"This is my home now Thomas."
"No Rowena," said Thomas, sitting up and grabbing her hands, "this is not your home. Your home is with your family."
"I was disowned Thomas."
"True, but that makes no difference to me or your cousin. He will welcome you back and no one will question his judgement."
"That is not the point Thomas. I like it here, here I am treated as an equal not because the others were born into the same position I was, they weren't, but because they see me, not my family."
"People at home know you are their better-"
"Because of my family!"
"I see you." Thomas pulled the girl into a passionate kiss.
"If he thinks I'm going to leave her alone with him he's got another think coming." The parceltongue cursed as he hit his head on the top of the vent. Archanes had said that the castle was modeled after those of past and future, lucky for the young spy. "If he lays one hand on her I'll-"
"You'll what?" asked a passing snake.
"None of your business!" the boy hissed.
"Well then I won't tell you about their business."
"What?!" Salazar hurried along the vent completely forgetting the snerpent as it slithered away.
"I see you." Came the voice of that ************ (pick any word, most work). Salazar slowly peeked into the room and slithered away himself.
"What do you think you are doing?!" Rowena hissed (in english), careful not to scare the two basilisks. She pushed away from Thomas, knocking her chair over in the process and almost tripping on the bed next to his as she backed away.
"Rowena I-"
"No! No do not say it. Do not say what you do not mean."
"I do mean it!" Thomas stood, his eyes barely containing his anger. He softened as he looked in her eyes and reflected on her actions. "What has happened to the Rowena I knew?" he asked, reaching out to touch her cheek. She backed away. "What has happened to you? You were once so confident that that would have brought forth a shriek that shook the heavens!"
"People change."
"No, not you. There is a reason you don't cry out. Are you afraid that that brat will come in and cut me down? He cannot defeat me! I faced the most feared dragon in Europe to find you! I-"
"Then how did you get defeated by a few animals in the forest?" Rowena asked. "There are no dragons in our forest and none greater than Strabo, but then you're lying are you not? Word of Strabo's, yes I am on a first name basis with the most feared dragon in existence, would have reached here faster than the wind. And you could not possibly have defeated a dragon and then been beaten by something in that forest."
Thomas grabbed the girls throat. "Tell me," he breathed, eyes wild, "why you do not cry out."
"I-"
"Spit it out!"
"Slink! Slither!" The ground began to shake as the two serpents raced to the room.
"What is this?!" Thomas cried, finally releasing his hold on Rowena.
"You had best run Thomas, they think of me as their mother and are very protective."
"I shall return!" Thomas yelled as he ran from the room and castle.
Rowena breathed a sigh of relief as Slink and Slither entered the room. "Thank you, both of you. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come."
Salazar raced after the boy, looking to Thomas much like a bringer of death, even with his white charger.
"Come back here! You will pay if you hurt her!" After about fifteen minutes of racing through the forest Salazar slowed. "Come on boy, it's a full moon tonight, there's little chance of him surviving."
"I wonder how the others are doing," said Helga as she watched Godric practice.
"They are fine, I assure you," said Hat", sitting next to her.
"How do you know?"
"Because Salazar would die before allowing harm to come to Rowena and if anyone harms Salazar they'll have to deal with Rowena, not to mention every bird in the forest."
"You do have a point."
"Of course I do. My job is looking after all of you children, I should think I know something about the innermost workings of your minds."
Helga gave Hat a strange look, but decided to question him about his meaning later.
The sight that met Salazars eyes when he entered the room Thomas had been in was one he wanted to keep forever. Slink and Slither were curled up on the floor, Rowena lying the very center. Salazar slowly made his way over to her, careful not to wake the snakes, they got cranky when woken up.
"Rowena?" Salazar lightly shook her shoulder.
"Salazar?"
"Are you all right?"
"Yes."
"Did he-?"
"No. He just got angry when he realized that I don't love him."
"Oh."
The same snake that had spoken to Salazar in the vents came in. "There are some centaurs here to see you," it said, then slunk away as if none of it had been worth his time.
"I'll take care of them," Salazar said, taking out his wand and floating a blanket over, "you rest."
Before he could make it to the door he heard Rowena's voice, "What happened to Thomas?"
"He got away, but I don't think he'll come back."
"Let's hope not," Rowena said sleepily. As Salazar closed the door he heard her say, "Thank you Salazar."
"Grandmother!" Thomas yelled as he burst through the door of the little shop. "Grandmother where are you?!"
"My dear boy! So nice to see you again! But where is your lady friend?" Grandmother stood by her table, a cruel smile playing on her face.
"She screamed and called these beasts to her! She told me to run and I didn't know what else to do so I did run, ran from what I couldn't even see! Then that ****** (AN: again, most anything fits) came at me with his charger! What are you laughing at?!"
"Come and see." Grandmother led the way into the back of the shop, a part Thomas had never seen before. When he was well inside Grandmother said simply, "Lumos."
Now Thomas could clearly see what sat within that room. In the back corner was a cage and within it was a water siren. Her lower half was that of a fish and on the sides of her neck gills were plainly vissible, the rest of her though looked exactly like the girl that had not paid Grandmother just days before.
"I told you I would have to get back at her," Grandmother said, her voice full of mirth. The old woman walked up to the cage and reached in, beckoning the siren closer as she would an animal. "I am going to have to find a use for her eventually, but for now this is enough."
"What is enough?" Thomas asked. The siren had actually come to the old woman and was now being pet.
"Driving her mad of course!" The siren blinked suddenly and pulled back, her eyes angry. "As you can see my dear boy she is having problems adjusting to her new form. Her human self despises me, but the fish is a simple creature who merely wants to be loved by its owner. It is driving her mad."
"Oh," said Thomas, obviously disgusted.
"Just another reason why you should not cross me," said Grandmother.
Disclaimer: I own very few things in this story Thomas, Grandmother, Cassandra, Archanes and the sirn-girl included. I do not own Strabo. He belongs to Terry Brooks, I suggest you go read his Landover books: Magic Kingdom For Sale-Sold!, The Black Unicorn, and Wizard at Large. They are very good.
Review!