All right, I've turned in my sophomore paper and taken the AP bio, so I
can finally read something other than Waste Excretion in terrestrial
vertebrates and write something other than Patient Confidentiality in
Modern Health Care. I still have hopes of finishing this story by the end
of the year, we'll see how evil my history teacher gets. Once again, the
location and some of the characters belong to Tamora Pierce.
Neal's jaw dropped and so did his book; Stella quickly rescued it from the mud and gave it back to him. He was so dazed he could hardly reach out his hand to grab the book.
"Stella ?" he said finally as though she were the obscure answer to some little known philosophical debate.
She nodded grimly; there was no point in trying to lie at this point.
Neal continued in a more matter-of-fact tone. "Do you realize that there are three Rider groups assigned to tracking you down? Not to mention whatever underworld spies you father has hired."
Suddenly it all seemed highly entertaining. "Only three," Stella giggled. "Only three Rider groups," she shouted again before erupting into hysterical laughter. She collapsed into the mud in her waves of uncontrollable mirth. After all she had been through and all the help she could have used earlier and how worried she had been about being caught.
"Well, I don't think anyone would have been assigned to look for you if it weren't for your father and Daine. I mean, Pinecone's a nice horse and all but he's not a national treasure." Stella burst into tears. Neal wondered if it was simple shock or the madness he had heard sometimes came with Wild Magic. "Come on," he muttered, "I'll take you to Lady Allana and we'll get you home."
"Do you think I'll be able to talk to the king before my trial?"
This question banished from Neal's mind the last vestiges of hope for Stella sanity. He sighed, wishing once again that he hadn't decided to become a knight. Ah, the beauty of hindsight. Then bent over and scooped Stella up in his arms. She wasn't heavy but she was very muddy.
"Wait, we have to go get Pinecone and Lord Lucas." Neal decided not to ask whether or not she had kidnapped Lord Lucas. He had encountered the child at a few parties and knew that no one in their right mind would want to hold such an annoying boy for ransom, no matter how much money was at stake. Then again, he wasn't sure that Stella was in her right mind.
"I take it they're back that way," she said, gesturing with his chin. She nodded. He set off at a brisk walk and quickly reached Stella's campsite.
"What are you doing here?" whined Lord Lucas.
"I'm, um, rescuing you from you kidnapper," Neal sounded utterly unconvincing, even to himself.
"Thank you so much," Stella said.
"She didn't kidnap me, I hired her."
"Oh," said Neal. "Well let's put Stella on a horse and go see what the Lioness has to say about all this."
"My father says that the Lioness is an idiotic liberal who doesn't know the proper place of women."
"Your father," said Neal, "is a mindless conservative who will never think an original thought in all his life."
"Too true," said Lord Lucas, shocking Neal and leaving Stella only mildly surprised.
After Lord Lucas had helped saddle the horses-without complaining-and pack up the gear-without complaining-Neal felt fainter headed then Stella looked.
The Lioness decided that she had definitely had more than enough brandy when the bedraggled group entered her campsite. She recognized Stella immediately, though she looked thin and old and weary, but it not her a few moments to place Lord Lucas. She grabbed the only pack she could reach without putting weight on her injured leg and began hunting for something more to add to the soup.
Stella hopped down and began stammering about Pinecone and Night Wizards and bandits and Old Heather, none of which Allana understood.
"Don't try to explain anything until you've eaten," she told the girl. "You look like it's been two weeks since you've had a good meal."
"Two and a half," said Stella, "and that's if you count mediocre inn food."
Neal pulled the saddles off Pinecone and the pony. A few minutes later they sat down to dinner. Stella was ravenously hungry, but startled at how quickly she grew full, she had been on short rations for too long.
"Eat more," said Allana, who hadn't had the opportunity to mother hen anyone in weeks-excluding Neal, and she felt strange being a mother hen to him because of the professional nature of their relationship.
Lord Lucas licked his bowl clean and fell asleep at his log. Neal got up and found a spare cloak and some blankets to wrap him in.
Stella wanted to fall asleep too, but the Lioness wouldn't let her.
"You've got to tell us your story first, or my curiosity will kill me in the night."
So Stella told them her whole story, beginning with the night she ran away and ending with tripping over Neal; it took over an hour to tell. Her voice gave out in the middle and the Lioness brewed her a cup of tea. She must have slipped something extra into it because after the tea she felt much more alert. Neither Neal nor Allana said anything while she was telling her story and it was too dark to read their faces, but Stella felt as if their silence were somehow encouraging.
Thank you for reading and please review!
Neal's jaw dropped and so did his book; Stella quickly rescued it from the mud and gave it back to him. He was so dazed he could hardly reach out his hand to grab the book.
"Stella ?" he said finally as though she were the obscure answer to some little known philosophical debate.
She nodded grimly; there was no point in trying to lie at this point.
Neal continued in a more matter-of-fact tone. "Do you realize that there are three Rider groups assigned to tracking you down? Not to mention whatever underworld spies you father has hired."
Suddenly it all seemed highly entertaining. "Only three," Stella giggled. "Only three Rider groups," she shouted again before erupting into hysterical laughter. She collapsed into the mud in her waves of uncontrollable mirth. After all she had been through and all the help she could have used earlier and how worried she had been about being caught.
"Well, I don't think anyone would have been assigned to look for you if it weren't for your father and Daine. I mean, Pinecone's a nice horse and all but he's not a national treasure." Stella burst into tears. Neal wondered if it was simple shock or the madness he had heard sometimes came with Wild Magic. "Come on," he muttered, "I'll take you to Lady Allana and we'll get you home."
"Do you think I'll be able to talk to the king before my trial?"
This question banished from Neal's mind the last vestiges of hope for Stella sanity. He sighed, wishing once again that he hadn't decided to become a knight. Ah, the beauty of hindsight. Then bent over and scooped Stella up in his arms. She wasn't heavy but she was very muddy.
"Wait, we have to go get Pinecone and Lord Lucas." Neal decided not to ask whether or not she had kidnapped Lord Lucas. He had encountered the child at a few parties and knew that no one in their right mind would want to hold such an annoying boy for ransom, no matter how much money was at stake. Then again, he wasn't sure that Stella was in her right mind.
"I take it they're back that way," she said, gesturing with his chin. She nodded. He set off at a brisk walk and quickly reached Stella's campsite.
"What are you doing here?" whined Lord Lucas.
"I'm, um, rescuing you from you kidnapper," Neal sounded utterly unconvincing, even to himself.
"Thank you so much," Stella said.
"She didn't kidnap me, I hired her."
"Oh," said Neal. "Well let's put Stella on a horse and go see what the Lioness has to say about all this."
"My father says that the Lioness is an idiotic liberal who doesn't know the proper place of women."
"Your father," said Neal, "is a mindless conservative who will never think an original thought in all his life."
"Too true," said Lord Lucas, shocking Neal and leaving Stella only mildly surprised.
After Lord Lucas had helped saddle the horses-without complaining-and pack up the gear-without complaining-Neal felt fainter headed then Stella looked.
The Lioness decided that she had definitely had more than enough brandy when the bedraggled group entered her campsite. She recognized Stella immediately, though she looked thin and old and weary, but it not her a few moments to place Lord Lucas. She grabbed the only pack she could reach without putting weight on her injured leg and began hunting for something more to add to the soup.
Stella hopped down and began stammering about Pinecone and Night Wizards and bandits and Old Heather, none of which Allana understood.
"Don't try to explain anything until you've eaten," she told the girl. "You look like it's been two weeks since you've had a good meal."
"Two and a half," said Stella, "and that's if you count mediocre inn food."
Neal pulled the saddles off Pinecone and the pony. A few minutes later they sat down to dinner. Stella was ravenously hungry, but startled at how quickly she grew full, she had been on short rations for too long.
"Eat more," said Allana, who hadn't had the opportunity to mother hen anyone in weeks-excluding Neal, and she felt strange being a mother hen to him because of the professional nature of their relationship.
Lord Lucas licked his bowl clean and fell asleep at his log. Neal got up and found a spare cloak and some blankets to wrap him in.
Stella wanted to fall asleep too, but the Lioness wouldn't let her.
"You've got to tell us your story first, or my curiosity will kill me in the night."
So Stella told them her whole story, beginning with the night she ran away and ending with tripping over Neal; it took over an hour to tell. Her voice gave out in the middle and the Lioness brewed her a cup of tea. She must have slipped something extra into it because after the tea she felt much more alert. Neither Neal nor Allana said anything while she was telling her story and it was too dark to read their faces, but Stella felt as if their silence were somehow encouraging.
Thank you for reading and please review!