~BLACK WATERS~
by IceAngel
SUMMARY - My version of Deltora QuestIII. The south sea turns black, and Sharn falls ill to a poison so deadly an antidote cannot be found in Deltora. Loyalties divide and hearts are torn apart by the quest to save the mother of the King. But is it all just a plot to draw the King from his people and leave the Deltora defenceless?
GENRE - 'action/adventure' for the usual Deltora action and 'romance' for Lief/Jasmine and some other relationships I've included.
MAIN CHARACTERS - Lief, Jasmine, Barda, Doom, Sharn etc . .
DISCLAIMER - All characters and places belong to Emily Rodda. I don't own copies of the books so if anyone spots any mistakes in the plot or spelling of people and places, let me know. Enjoy! please take a moment to R & R :D
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 1 - Midnight Meetings
The wall of the kitchen garden was more than twice his height, but Lief had no trouble scaling it. He knew the foot holes by heart and even the dark he could climb easily. Sharn would kill him if she discovered he had been out of the palace in the middle of the night.
There had be so much work to do lately, finding homes for those who had been rescued from the Shadowlands, organising the suppliance of food around Deltora. Lief felt as though he were a prisoner in his own palace.
It had been almost a week since he had seen Jasmine! He would have thought nothing of it before, but since their return from the horrors of the Shadow Arena, they both had felt the time spent with each other was more precious.
They had arranged a secret meeting outside of the Palace that night, where they could not be overheard. But Jasmine had never appeared and Lief was worried about her. He had waited as long as he could, hoping she might have only been delayed, but dawn was drawing nearer and Lief knew that if he were not in his bed when his mother came to wake him, there would be trouble.
Keeping low under the shadow of the wall, Lief crept stealthily towards the door of the kitchen. All of a sudden he froze. He had heard something, a light crunch of a twig or branch snapping under the weight of a foot. There was something moving close to him, he could feel it. His heart beat loudly in his chest as he struggled to keep his breathing steady. There was a sound like a boot being moved softly through dry leaves, and then what he thought must be low breathing from behind him.
Lief could not see the ruby in the darkness of the night, he did not have any way of telling whether the stalker was a friend or foe. He had forgotten to bring his sword, thinking Deltora would be safe at least for a while after falier of the Shadowlord's evil schemes.
Turning quickly, he gazed into the darkness behind him. "Come out!" he shouted, "I know you are there."
All at once, a hand grabbed him by the left shoulder and whirled him around, holding his arm in an iron grip. Lief raised his right fist to strike, fear racing through him.
Just in time he saw who his so-called attacker was, "Barda!"
"Well met indeed, boy. Should you not be in bed?"
Lief shrugged Barda's hand from his shoulder, trying desperately to calm his racing heart. "Surely the king has the right to go to bed when he pleases!"
"Would you like me to tell your mother that?" Barda laughed, seeing Lief's reaction.
"You frightened me. We did not expect you back from Tora for days." Lief said, changing the subject. "Did you find a home for Tira?"
Barda grunted in reply, his face grave. "She will be happy with the Torans. Though it may take many months for her to recover from what they did to her." Lief shuddered as he thought of thousands of pink slithering worms that might have infested the whole of Deltora. He wondered whether people like Tira, who had been infested, had been conscious of what they were doing. Did they know they were betraying their loved ones by serving the Shadowlord?
He realised Barda was staring at him. The man narrowed his eyes, "and what *were* you doing sneaking round the kitchen at night, Lief? I thought you had grown out of those habits long ago." Lief smiled. He often forgot that Barda had been watching him all though his childhood. The man knew the places he and his friends had frequented, and most likely the secret passage he had found to the kitchen on his birthday.
"I was just out for a walk." Lief lied. "You have not been at the palace lately, and there has been so much work to do."
Barda was not convinced. "How is Jasmine?"
Lief tried to stop the redness from rising to his cheeks, but Barda knew him too well to miss it. "I thought as much," he drawled, "Moonlight meetings, how romantic."
"Barda!" Lief exclaimed. "There is nothing between Jasmine and I. We are just friends."
Barda replied with and infuriatingly knowing smile. Lief shook his head, determined not to let the man get the better of him.
They walked together towards the kitchen door, easy in the silence because of their long companionship.
"How is your mother?" Barda asked at last. And from his tone Lief guessed he had been dying to ask the question all along.
But he never received the answer, for at that moment, a terrible cry pierced the silence of the night. It came from the direction of the kitchen door. Lief and Barda ran forward at once, searching in the darkness for the one who had cried out.
There, slumped on the doorstep of the kitchen lay a man. A man, if you could call him that, with raven hair, a pale face and eyes so hollow and dark that they seemed to have sunk back into his skull. Lief knelt down by the man at once, while Barda hammered his fists upon the door, calling for assistance.
There was blood pouring from a wound on the man's chest, a wound that had been made recently for the knife was still embedded in his flesh. "Barda," Lief whispered, raising his eyes to the standing man.
One look at the knife told Barda what he needed to know. The man's attacker was still out there somewhere in the garden! With a shout, Barda thumped upon the door again. Then turning he said, "Stay with him, Lief. I will search the grounds." he hammered on the door again in desperation, reluctant to leave his king until help arrived. "By the heavens, they are sleeping like the dead in there not to hear us!"
A shudder ran through Lief at Barda's words. "Go, Barda! They will come, I will stay with him."
With a reluctant glance, Barda disappeared into the darkness. A moment later the door was flung open and Sharn, dressed in her bed clothes and over gown, stood in the lighted doorway.
"Mother!" Lief breathed, "quickly, he has been stabbed!" Sharn, ever practical, asked no questions as to why her son was standing at the door in the small hours of the morning with a strange man, and ushered them inside.
"Who did this, Lief?" she asked, calling one of the servants who had been woken by their knocking to carry the man to a clean bedroom.
"Barda is searching the grounds. If they are still here, he will find them."
"Barda?" Sharn raised her eyebrows, unbelievably calm in the situation. "Go and call the palace guard to help him, it is not safe for him to be out there alone."
A sudden horrible thought entered Lief's mind. "Jasmine!"
Sharn looked at him, surprised.
"We were supposed to meet," Lief gushed, "but she never came. You do not think . . ." He could not go on, so horrible was the thought. He turned away and ran for the entrance hall where he knew someone would be on guard. His heart thundered so loudly that he could not think. Jasmine might be alone the garden with a dangerous enemy, what would he do if he lost her?
He burst from the corridor into the wide entrance hall, stopping short when he saw Barda had reached there before him. The man held a body in his arms and Lief did not need to look closer to know it was Jasmine . . .
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A/N: I'd really love to know what people thought of this. I'm hoping it will expand into quite a long tale. There needs to be more 'quest' fanfics about Deltora - From what I've seen Pen2 has been doing it all on her own so far - come on Deltora fans! Get writing!
Anyway, I'm in the middle of 2 'lord of the rings' fics, another DQ fic and several others at the moment, but I'll try my best to update this soon if there is enough interest. I hope you liked it.
IceAngel :D
by IceAngel
SUMMARY - My version of Deltora QuestIII. The south sea turns black, and Sharn falls ill to a poison so deadly an antidote cannot be found in Deltora. Loyalties divide and hearts are torn apart by the quest to save the mother of the King. But is it all just a plot to draw the King from his people and leave the Deltora defenceless?
GENRE - 'action/adventure' for the usual Deltora action and 'romance' for Lief/Jasmine and some other relationships I've included.
MAIN CHARACTERS - Lief, Jasmine, Barda, Doom, Sharn etc . .
DISCLAIMER - All characters and places belong to Emily Rodda. I don't own copies of the books so if anyone spots any mistakes in the plot or spelling of people and places, let me know. Enjoy! please take a moment to R & R :D
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 1 - Midnight Meetings
The wall of the kitchen garden was more than twice his height, but Lief had no trouble scaling it. He knew the foot holes by heart and even the dark he could climb easily. Sharn would kill him if she discovered he had been out of the palace in the middle of the night.
There had be so much work to do lately, finding homes for those who had been rescued from the Shadowlands, organising the suppliance of food around Deltora. Lief felt as though he were a prisoner in his own palace.
It had been almost a week since he had seen Jasmine! He would have thought nothing of it before, but since their return from the horrors of the Shadow Arena, they both had felt the time spent with each other was more precious.
They had arranged a secret meeting outside of the Palace that night, where they could not be overheard. But Jasmine had never appeared and Lief was worried about her. He had waited as long as he could, hoping she might have only been delayed, but dawn was drawing nearer and Lief knew that if he were not in his bed when his mother came to wake him, there would be trouble.
Keeping low under the shadow of the wall, Lief crept stealthily towards the door of the kitchen. All of a sudden he froze. He had heard something, a light crunch of a twig or branch snapping under the weight of a foot. There was something moving close to him, he could feel it. His heart beat loudly in his chest as he struggled to keep his breathing steady. There was a sound like a boot being moved softly through dry leaves, and then what he thought must be low breathing from behind him.
Lief could not see the ruby in the darkness of the night, he did not have any way of telling whether the stalker was a friend or foe. He had forgotten to bring his sword, thinking Deltora would be safe at least for a while after falier of the Shadowlord's evil schemes.
Turning quickly, he gazed into the darkness behind him. "Come out!" he shouted, "I know you are there."
All at once, a hand grabbed him by the left shoulder and whirled him around, holding his arm in an iron grip. Lief raised his right fist to strike, fear racing through him.
Just in time he saw who his so-called attacker was, "Barda!"
"Well met indeed, boy. Should you not be in bed?"
Lief shrugged Barda's hand from his shoulder, trying desperately to calm his racing heart. "Surely the king has the right to go to bed when he pleases!"
"Would you like me to tell your mother that?" Barda laughed, seeing Lief's reaction.
"You frightened me. We did not expect you back from Tora for days." Lief said, changing the subject. "Did you find a home for Tira?"
Barda grunted in reply, his face grave. "She will be happy with the Torans. Though it may take many months for her to recover from what they did to her." Lief shuddered as he thought of thousands of pink slithering worms that might have infested the whole of Deltora. He wondered whether people like Tira, who had been infested, had been conscious of what they were doing. Did they know they were betraying their loved ones by serving the Shadowlord?
He realised Barda was staring at him. The man narrowed his eyes, "and what *were* you doing sneaking round the kitchen at night, Lief? I thought you had grown out of those habits long ago." Lief smiled. He often forgot that Barda had been watching him all though his childhood. The man knew the places he and his friends had frequented, and most likely the secret passage he had found to the kitchen on his birthday.
"I was just out for a walk." Lief lied. "You have not been at the palace lately, and there has been so much work to do."
Barda was not convinced. "How is Jasmine?"
Lief tried to stop the redness from rising to his cheeks, but Barda knew him too well to miss it. "I thought as much," he drawled, "Moonlight meetings, how romantic."
"Barda!" Lief exclaimed. "There is nothing between Jasmine and I. We are just friends."
Barda replied with and infuriatingly knowing smile. Lief shook his head, determined not to let the man get the better of him.
They walked together towards the kitchen door, easy in the silence because of their long companionship.
"How is your mother?" Barda asked at last. And from his tone Lief guessed he had been dying to ask the question all along.
But he never received the answer, for at that moment, a terrible cry pierced the silence of the night. It came from the direction of the kitchen door. Lief and Barda ran forward at once, searching in the darkness for the one who had cried out.
There, slumped on the doorstep of the kitchen lay a man. A man, if you could call him that, with raven hair, a pale face and eyes so hollow and dark that they seemed to have sunk back into his skull. Lief knelt down by the man at once, while Barda hammered his fists upon the door, calling for assistance.
There was blood pouring from a wound on the man's chest, a wound that had been made recently for the knife was still embedded in his flesh. "Barda," Lief whispered, raising his eyes to the standing man.
One look at the knife told Barda what he needed to know. The man's attacker was still out there somewhere in the garden! With a shout, Barda thumped upon the door again. Then turning he said, "Stay with him, Lief. I will search the grounds." he hammered on the door again in desperation, reluctant to leave his king until help arrived. "By the heavens, they are sleeping like the dead in there not to hear us!"
A shudder ran through Lief at Barda's words. "Go, Barda! They will come, I will stay with him."
With a reluctant glance, Barda disappeared into the darkness. A moment later the door was flung open and Sharn, dressed in her bed clothes and over gown, stood in the lighted doorway.
"Mother!" Lief breathed, "quickly, he has been stabbed!" Sharn, ever practical, asked no questions as to why her son was standing at the door in the small hours of the morning with a strange man, and ushered them inside.
"Who did this, Lief?" she asked, calling one of the servants who had been woken by their knocking to carry the man to a clean bedroom.
"Barda is searching the grounds. If they are still here, he will find them."
"Barda?" Sharn raised her eyebrows, unbelievably calm in the situation. "Go and call the palace guard to help him, it is not safe for him to be out there alone."
A sudden horrible thought entered Lief's mind. "Jasmine!"
Sharn looked at him, surprised.
"We were supposed to meet," Lief gushed, "but she never came. You do not think . . ." He could not go on, so horrible was the thought. He turned away and ran for the entrance hall where he knew someone would be on guard. His heart thundered so loudly that he could not think. Jasmine might be alone the garden with a dangerous enemy, what would he do if he lost her?
He burst from the corridor into the wide entrance hall, stopping short when he saw Barda had reached there before him. The man held a body in his arms and Lief did not need to look closer to know it was Jasmine . . .
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A/N: I'd really love to know what people thought of this. I'm hoping it will expand into quite a long tale. There needs to be more 'quest' fanfics about Deltora - From what I've seen Pen2 has been doing it all on her own so far - come on Deltora fans! Get writing!
Anyway, I'm in the middle of 2 'lord of the rings' fics, another DQ fic and several others at the moment, but I'll try my best to update this soon if there is enough interest. I hope you liked it.
IceAngel :D