Hey, I'm back. Sorry for the cliffy in the last chapter but the situation nearly screamed for it. He, he… I love cliffys.
I wasn't be able to write much this weekend, because our school ball took place this weekend and my class had to organise it. Thursday and Friday we had to set up, Friday evening at 8 o'clock p.m. the whole thing started, until 4 o'clock in the morning. Normally I only had to be at the wardrobe from 10 o'clock p.m. until midnight, but there were so many people (3000 at all, I was told), that I helped out another hour at the wardrobe and then for the rest of the night at one of the bars. Of course it had to be the bar next to the DJ. Everything vibrated because of the bass. I quickly got a sore throat because you had to scream to be heard. But drunken people are quite an interesting species; I could see how hard it was for them to decide in which of my three outstretched hands they should put the money. I'm always surprised how much alcohol you can get into one single human body, like they want to replace their blood with alcohol. Saturday at 3 o'clock p.m. we all had to come back to clean the whole mess up. But everybody liked our ball and said that we set new standards and that it was the best ball ever. We had great music, great decoration and a security team which didn't get drunk themselves.
But now I feel more than sick. I didn't drink alcohol myself but I caught a cold on Saturday because they opened all the doors in the hall and it was freezing. By the way there are two inventions, which in my opinion are the most important in the whole human history: The bed and the bathtub. They might be simple, but they work.
~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~
Chapter 31: Adrian
She felt dried out. Her head was throbbing and spinning. She groaned lightly and tried to open her eyes. It was fairly dark around her. She had problems to make out anything around her. Her actual physical status didn't help either. She heard a noise in front of her. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and stared at the man standing above her. She noticed her hands and feet were tied together. She frowned at that. 'What has happened?' Then suddenly her memory came back, Damian, the moving shadows, the men. She stared up at the man who stared intently at her. She knew she was at his mercy. She was tied down, not able to move and she didn't have any magic to protect her. Also, nobody knew what happened to her. She felt the fear collecting in her stomach and tried to prevent her body from trembling in fear. She had to be strong, she didn't want to give him the satisfaction to seeing her afraid of him.
The man knelt down next to her. "How do you feel?"
Sam frowned and glared angrily
at him. "What have you done to Damian?"
The man didn't move. "Damian? Is that that arrogant noble boy who thought he
would be able to beat you? My men just knocked him out. They didn't harm him."
Sam eyed him carefully. How should she know he told the truth? She couldn't even see his features or eyes, not to mention trying to read his facial expression.
"You don't have any other choice than believing me. I wanted you, and only you. There was no need to harm anybody else. It would have drawn too much attention to me and my men."
"What do you want?" she hissed.
The man took her chin with his hand and moved her face to face his. "I want answers. The truth. No lies. If you tell me what I want to know this will be over for you soon."
Sam narrowed her eyes. "Tell me one single reason I should tell you anything."
The man reached at his side and took something from his belt. A knife.
Sam froze and stared at the weapon moving towards her. Her whole world focused on this one thing in that moment and she felt the fear in her stomach becoming more and more intense, flooding over her whole body, setting it in alarm, and the knowledge of her helpless status made it more intense than ever before.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Damian woke up groaning. He felt as cold as ice and he was lying on something hard, definitely not his bed. It took him some time to comprehend were he was.
'What happened? The last thing I remember was Sam. I must have been knocked out from behind.'
He tried to stand up and felt like vomiting any minute. He had been hit really hard. His eyes scanned the hall and he noticed that he was alone. Then suddenly an idea came to his clouded mind.
'No. That can't be. She wouldn't… She brought some friends with her and they knocked me out from behind. That wench. How dare she… She will pay. Until now I tried to be fair, but that's finished. From now on things are becoming serious.'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sam was staring at the man intently, rubbing her wrists to get some feeling into her numb hands. He had put his knife back into his belt and was waiting for her to get up. She slowly raised and waited for his next action. He turned around and walked out of the only door of this dark chamber. After some hesitation Sam decided to follow him. Whatever was going on here, she wouldn't find any way out of her situation by staying here in the dark. She went after him and exited the darkness into the light.
The blinked at the sudden change and her eyes tried to get used to the bright light. She found the man staring at her intensely. His moss green eyes locking with her own. She gasped and felt her body go stiff in shock. "You are a clan leader, aren't you?"
He was young, with short black hair and soft features. But his gaze and stance showed his strain. He studied her face and nodded.
She narrowed her eyes and eyed him carefully. "Who are you?"
The man seemed to battle with himself. "That isn't important at the moment. Before I tell you anything I want you to tell me your name first."
Sam frowned. "MY NAME? You kidnapped me without even knowing my NAME?"
"I know who you pretend to be.
I want your REAL name. Who is your father? Tell me!"
He hissed.
Sam was taken aback by his questions. She stared at him, wondering if she should tell him the truth or not. "Why should I? How shall I know that you aren't a traitor as well?"
The man shook his head. "I know that it is hard to trust anybody in our time, but if you can't trust me anymore, one of your kind, who else?"
Sam glared at him and lowered her head. He was right. She was at his mercy right now, and if she couldn't even trust him… "I'm Samira of. …. Oakswood. My father was Sir Allister of Oakswood."
"Then it is true. You are…" The man's face seemed to lighten up a bit. "My name is Adrian Kayne. I'm the head of the Worker Clan. I came here to see you. I came to meet the keeper of the holy sword."
Sam looked up again. "You've found me. You know who I am. And you know the danger that you put me in by kidnapping me and drawing attention to me. So now tell me what do you want."
The man looked at her seriously. "Yes, I know who you are. I assure you that I never would endanger YOU. But I need to know some things. I need to know what awaits my people, my clan. And I don't want to listen to the half-truths of the other clans anymore." He stepped closer and whispered. "I need to know it, your highness, why do you let him continue killing our people?"
Sam stared back into his eyes. She saw the pain lingering in them. The man in front her was honest, he was here to find out how the future of his clan would look like. "I know exactly what you want. You want me to make a decision, right here and right now. You want me to decide against the centuries-old laws of our people. You want me to… start a war."
The man just stared at her. He wanted an answer, and he wouldn't go until he got one. In front of him was the last hope he had for his clan. Yes, she was young, but she would grow up soon and she would have the power to decide the destiny of his people. He had searched for help at every other clan, with no success.
Sam couldn't stand those eyes anymore. She turned around, rubbed her eyes and tried to calm down. She noticed for the first time that she was in a quite comfortable living room. She walked towards an armchair, sat down and buried her face in her hands. She had known this day would come. The day she had to decide which side to choose. She whispered just loud enough for Adrian to hear. "How can I decide something like that? What right to I have to decide between life or death?"
"It is your duty and your right, given to you at the day of your birth. Like me, you don't really have a choice when it comes your place in society. But it is in your hands HOW to fulfil your duty."
Sam looked up and found Adrian kneeling in front of her, staring at her pleadingly.
"I know it is hard, I know what the other clans expect from you, but PLEASE think about it. You don't have to go with the old ways; you are a new generation. I know my clan didn't play a very important role in the past, but I beg you, please, save my people. The traitor is slaughtering them. They can't defend themselves. Only you can help them."
"But even if I did decide to fight him… who would follow me? The other clans would refuse to help me break the laws. And I can't fight against a whole army alone."
Adrian took her hand and leaned forward. "You won't be alone. My people will follow you. They will follow the one who is willing to lead them back to their freedom. And there are some members of the other clans who aren't happy with the actual circumstances either. We could meet their leaders. There is a village near this palace, in the Royal Forest. Our people newly build it. There we could meet. We could talk, make plans…. I only need to know, are you willing to lead us? We need you my lady." He straightened his back and waited for the answer with pleading eyes.
Sam stared at him and whispered: "Do you know what you are asking from me?" Now she leaned forward. "If I face him, if I decide to fight him… I will die. I've seen it in my dreams. I had visions of it. I know it. When I go home and try to kill him I will die by his hand. And with me my line will die out and all hope of our people will be gone as well."
Adrian looked shocked. "You…
had visions… about your death? When?"
"Since I was five years old. Regularly. Up until I lost my magic."
Adrian felt pity rising in him. Seeing your own death when you are only a mere child. He felt bad asking so much from her. He had already felt bad when his men had brought her. She was so young, so innocent, and so vulnerable. And here he was asking a 13-year-old girl to die for him and his clan only because she was born into the wrong family at the wrong time. Just because everybody else who could have been able to take her place had already died while trying to.
Sam watched the emotion on his face change, she knew he understood her, understood what he had asked for. She saw the pity and the helplessness. He was young, in his late twenties, if she guessed right. 'It isn't right that so much responsibility is put on the shoulders of a few people. But there is nothing I can do about it. And I can hardly expect other to do things I'm not willing to do.' She sighed and put her hand on his cheek. She suddenly felt old and tired, but determined.
"The reason I came to the palace to become a knight is because I wanted to achieve at least one thing that wasn't dictated to me by destiny. One thing I can be proud of. And it was a possibility to prepare myself for the upcoming fight."
Adrian's eyes grew huge with realisation.
Sam nodded. "The Chamber of Ordeal will decide which path our people will go in future. I decided long ago that I will fight the murderer of my family and my people. No matter what Galina says. If I survive the Chamber I will act like a knight and protect the weak and helpless. We created this monster and we will fight it. No matter what price I have to pay, I won't stand by watching him destroy the lives of the innocent. Not as long as I am still alive. But I will only fight against him and the other traitors of the Warrior Clan. It is not our duty to free the whole country from the false king they supported too eagerly. This is only between our people. I can't do more than that."
~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~
Well, that's it for today. What do you think about it? You didn't expect me to let Sam be caught so early, did you?
I still have to think of a name for the new country where Sam comes from. Let's see what my mind spills out.
Thank you for the many reviews. I loved them. I thought if you could take the time to write them, I can take the time answering them.
Myfanwy: I'm glad you like my story. I already have a beta- reader, but thank you for offering to. Kalle is about to correct my old chapters and I will replace them as soon as she's finished.
Lady Rhian: I think it will take some more time to finish this. I never thought it would be so successful or so long. But I've decided to shorten their time as squires a bit, so it won't take an eternity until it ends.
kaiken: Don't be worried. I'll finish this, even if it kills me.
Keziah: I think there are more than a lot of chapters left. Even if I shorten the squire years, there is still so much I want to write. I wouldn't be surprised if I have double the number of chapters until the end.
ggg: OK, OK, it was just a joke. Not even I would be that cruel. I already have plans with Nat. Him being evil doesn't fit in the plot.
tbiris: I know it's about time she gets her magic back. It will happen soon. I promise! But if I give it back to her too soon the whole plot won't work.