A/N: Whoa, it's been yonks, hasn't it! All our once loyal readers have
probably given up too! Ah well! What can you do? And don't say post more
often! It won't happen!
Neways, here's chapter 10 (yeah! Double didgits!).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day, Thom was gracing the corridors with his presence. Suddenly, he noticed a shadow lurking behind a suit of armour. "Who's there?" he called, a slight tremor in his voice. When there was no answer, he drew a little of his Gift into his palm to make a light.
The light revealed a tall man peering through a crack in the wall. He had a neatly trimmed beard, as black as the Prince's, and was dressed in a long black cloak. "Oh, my apologiesss," said the man in an evil hiss. "Allow me to introducess myssself. My name isss Duke Roger of Conte. Perhapsss you've heard of me? Order of Mithrosss, Blue Robe, and 3 time winner of the Persssopilisss Mossst Handsssom Sssorcsserer award."
"Sorry, no." Thom replied. "Umm, why do you talk like that?"
"Like what?" asked Roger, immediately dropping his hissss.
"Oh. Nothing." Thom's reply was followed by an awkward silence. "Er, so. If you're famous, and stuff, can I have you're autograph?"
"Sure! Oh #$$%&. I don't have any paper on me. Would you like to come back to my office, and I'll find you one?"
"Jolly good! Let's go!" said Thom excitedly.
They soon arrived at a large black door, with 'Duke Roger of Conte' carved into it. Below this was a large sign, saying in bold red letters:
S. ecret
C. onte
U. ndertaking
M. ission
Headquarters
Duke Roger opened the door and showed Thom inside. The room was... breathtaking. It seemed to be made out of shiny black stone (if you've seen LOTR, think Orthanc). Everything was black. The walls, the floor, the furniture, even the ceiling. An evil blue and white fire cackled in the fireplace. On small, sharp tables around the room sat objects like human hands, animal skulls and pickled newts. One wall was covered by a book case, holding titles such as "How To Kill Your Aunt And Uncle Without Anyone Finding Out", "101 EVIL Things To Do", "Secret Organizations For Dummies" and, the most evil sounding of all, "Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone". Roger sat himself on a throne like chair behind a big black desk and began hunting through the draws for paper.
"Ah, here we go. Would you like red or blue ink?" asked Roger. "I'm rather partial to the red myself. It reminds me of bloo- uh, roses!"
"Ooh, red please!" said Thom.
"To whom should I make it out to?"
"Thomasina of Trebond, please."
"There you go. Now, I -" Roger was cut off by a man bursting in from a side chamber.
"King Roger! We need you to settle this bet!" cried the man.
"Right away!" said Roger enthusiastically, forgetting about Thom in an instant and following the man into the room. "What's it about?"
"We're taking a bet as to how long it will be before you claim the throne of Tortall. I'm betting 2 months, Delia's betting 3, and Alex is betting an hour and a half. What do you say?"
"This will take some time," Roger replied.
2 hours latter, the appropriate documents had been drawn up, and all that remained was for them to be signed and stored neatly in one of the clearly marked boxes on the left hand side of the room.
"Um," said Alex uncertainly, "I think I'd like to withdraw my bet." He looked around cautiously to see if anyone else had noticed the time he had set was already up.
"Come on Al. Just sign it already!" Roger hissed exasperatedly. Alex signed, and Roger moved to put the paper in its correct box. On his way there, however, he tripped over Thom's Secret Fairy Diary With Matching Padlock. None of the members of Scum moved to help their leader.
"Are you okay?" asked Thom, helping Roger to his feet.
"Are you still here?" Roger looked annoyed for a moment, but as he looked into Thom's deep purple eyes, his expression turned to one of adoration. "Thomasina, I must meet with you again. Tonight. Please, meet me in the rose garden. I love the red roses best. They remind me of bloo- uh, roses!"
"I'd love to!" said Thom, realizing he had just been asked out on a second date. I'll see you there!"
Happily, Thom left to prepare for the coming evening.
Roger smiled to himself. "There's only one thing you can do at a time like this," he said. "Strut!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: So, whadaya think? Love it? Hate it? Got any ideas for the next bit? We know roughly where we're going, but the bit in between is hard.
Thanx 2:
White Pheonix Erialis: Thanks!
the FLAMER: Yeah, there's 2. Hope you liked the rest too!
Evilstrawberry: Sry, Thom's secret admirer might show up again in the next chapter. We have plans. Hehehe...
Devilkitti8: Disturbing, yes. But isn't the whole thing?
Insert Catchy Name Here: SFDWMP is none other than the Secret Fairy Diary With Matching Padlock!
6-a opal: Heh. Poor Thomas.
Spice: Thanks!
Hannirose: Everyone thinks we hate Pepsi after that. We actually quite like it, epecially Pepsi Max cos it's sometime got pictures of the one, the only, ARAGORN!!!
Tomato Beatles Fan: She did it.
Ice-otter: Don't worry. Just tell them you're laughing at a pair of electric pink sunnies, and they will slowly back away and leave you alone.
Dyana-of-Tortall: Thanks!
Sarai-IceElf: That poetry was so fun to do!
SnogginGodess: Thanks!
Milly: See you when you get home next!
Mist Tiger: Frankly, no-one gets it. He's stuffed numerous times, but they just don't get it.
Rogue-kaiya: yup! Scary!
Some person: Thanks!
Once again, thanks to everyone who reviewed. Now you all know what comes next! REVIEW! If u do, you get a present! You get your own, personal shout- out! So what are u waiting 4? Let us know what you think!
~Googlepuss
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day, Thom was gracing the corridors with his presence. Suddenly, he noticed a shadow lurking behind a suit of armour. "Who's there?" he called, a slight tremor in his voice. When there was no answer, he drew a little of his Gift into his palm to make a light.
The light revealed a tall man peering through a crack in the wall. He had a neatly trimmed beard, as black as the Prince's, and was dressed in a long black cloak. "Oh, my apologiesss," said the man in an evil hiss. "Allow me to introducess myssself. My name isss Duke Roger of Conte. Perhapsss you've heard of me? Order of Mithrosss, Blue Robe, and 3 time winner of the Persssopilisss Mossst Handsssom Sssorcsserer award."
"Sorry, no." Thom replied. "Umm, why do you talk like that?"
"Like what?" asked Roger, immediately dropping his hissss.
"Oh. Nothing." Thom's reply was followed by an awkward silence. "Er, so. If you're famous, and stuff, can I have you're autograph?"
"Sure! Oh #$$%&. I don't have any paper on me. Would you like to come back to my office, and I'll find you one?"
"Jolly good! Let's go!" said Thom excitedly.
They soon arrived at a large black door, with 'Duke Roger of Conte' carved into it. Below this was a large sign, saying in bold red letters:
S. ecret
C. onte
U. ndertaking
M. ission
Headquarters
Duke Roger opened the door and showed Thom inside. The room was... breathtaking. It seemed to be made out of shiny black stone (if you've seen LOTR, think Orthanc). Everything was black. The walls, the floor, the furniture, even the ceiling. An evil blue and white fire cackled in the fireplace. On small, sharp tables around the room sat objects like human hands, animal skulls and pickled newts. One wall was covered by a book case, holding titles such as "How To Kill Your Aunt And Uncle Without Anyone Finding Out", "101 EVIL Things To Do", "Secret Organizations For Dummies" and, the most evil sounding of all, "Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone". Roger sat himself on a throne like chair behind a big black desk and began hunting through the draws for paper.
"Ah, here we go. Would you like red or blue ink?" asked Roger. "I'm rather partial to the red myself. It reminds me of bloo- uh, roses!"
"Ooh, red please!" said Thom.
"To whom should I make it out to?"
"Thomasina of Trebond, please."
"There you go. Now, I -" Roger was cut off by a man bursting in from a side chamber.
"King Roger! We need you to settle this bet!" cried the man.
"Right away!" said Roger enthusiastically, forgetting about Thom in an instant and following the man into the room. "What's it about?"
"We're taking a bet as to how long it will be before you claim the throne of Tortall. I'm betting 2 months, Delia's betting 3, and Alex is betting an hour and a half. What do you say?"
"This will take some time," Roger replied.
2 hours latter, the appropriate documents had been drawn up, and all that remained was for them to be signed and stored neatly in one of the clearly marked boxes on the left hand side of the room.
"Um," said Alex uncertainly, "I think I'd like to withdraw my bet." He looked around cautiously to see if anyone else had noticed the time he had set was already up.
"Come on Al. Just sign it already!" Roger hissed exasperatedly. Alex signed, and Roger moved to put the paper in its correct box. On his way there, however, he tripped over Thom's Secret Fairy Diary With Matching Padlock. None of the members of Scum moved to help their leader.
"Are you okay?" asked Thom, helping Roger to his feet.
"Are you still here?" Roger looked annoyed for a moment, but as he looked into Thom's deep purple eyes, his expression turned to one of adoration. "Thomasina, I must meet with you again. Tonight. Please, meet me in the rose garden. I love the red roses best. They remind me of bloo- uh, roses!"
"I'd love to!" said Thom, realizing he had just been asked out on a second date. I'll see you there!"
Happily, Thom left to prepare for the coming evening.
Roger smiled to himself. "There's only one thing you can do at a time like this," he said. "Strut!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: So, whadaya think? Love it? Hate it? Got any ideas for the next bit? We know roughly where we're going, but the bit in between is hard.
Thanx 2:
White Pheonix Erialis: Thanks!
the FLAMER: Yeah, there's 2. Hope you liked the rest too!
Evilstrawberry: Sry, Thom's secret admirer might show up again in the next chapter. We have plans. Hehehe...
Devilkitti8: Disturbing, yes. But isn't the whole thing?
Insert Catchy Name Here: SFDWMP is none other than the Secret Fairy Diary With Matching Padlock!
6-a opal: Heh. Poor Thomas.
Spice: Thanks!
Hannirose: Everyone thinks we hate Pepsi after that. We actually quite like it, epecially Pepsi Max cos it's sometime got pictures of the one, the only, ARAGORN!!!
Tomato Beatles Fan: She did it.
Ice-otter: Don't worry. Just tell them you're laughing at a pair of electric pink sunnies, and they will slowly back away and leave you alone.
Dyana-of-Tortall: Thanks!
Sarai-IceElf: That poetry was so fun to do!
SnogginGodess: Thanks!
Milly: See you when you get home next!
Mist Tiger: Frankly, no-one gets it. He's stuffed numerous times, but they just don't get it.
Rogue-kaiya: yup! Scary!
Some person: Thanks!
Once again, thanks to everyone who reviewed. Now you all know what comes next! REVIEW! If u do, you get a present! You get your own, personal shout- out! So what are u waiting 4? Let us know what you think!
~Googlepuss