Chapter 12 - Comfort and Ease
Lief stared in rapture towards the white lady. Her voice was soft and as delicate as the mists. He felt drawn to her...
Then suddenly a sickening feeling in his stomach made him hesitate. Perhaps it was his good sense that revolted, or perhaps it was something to do with their next clue...
The beautiful voice rose another note, and he felt all his worries disappear with it.
He rose, and approached her beckoning hand.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jasmine gave up struggling after a few moments, seeing it was getting her nowhere. She tried to slow her breathing, but the feeling of the cold mud swallowing her more every moment defeated this purpose.
Fili's panicked twittering on her shoulder did not help to steady her mind, but it did give her an idea. She lifted her mud soaked hand to her lips and let out a shrill whistle. Even among all this wretched fog she knew a bird would hear clearly.
"Kree!" she shouted, "Kree!"
The mud had risen to her waist, and she could feel is slithering beneath her shirt and pulling her lower with its weight.
She was searching desperately in the foggy air for any sign that Kree had heard her call. She had not seen him since they entered the Jungle of the Dead and though she thought he would be following them above, she could not be sure.
There was something above her. A shadow of some kind. "Kree!" she called, and almost cried in relief as the bird gave his answering cry. The black shape swooped down, quickly assessing the situation.
Jasmine's first attempt to rescue herself had been to try to catch hold of the long strands of snakegrass that grew close to the bog she had slipped into, but they had been too far away. She pointed to them now, "swiftly Kree!"
The bird's understanding was sound, and immediately he grasped the end of a long strand of the weed in his teeth and flew with it till Jasmine could grab hold of it.
The mud sucked greedily at her as she pulled herself towards the bank. She could feel it within her clothes, weighing her down.
She knew then that she must follow the trails between the snakegrass. Perhaps Lief and Barda had already realised this and were waiting for her at the end of the mists. So with Kree upon her shoulder, and the warmth of Filli against her skin, she made her way into the endless whiteness.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Leaning his weight on the foot on the bank Barda strained and wrenched his muscles until his boot came free of the greedy, viscous mud.
He swiped the back of his sleeve across his forehead in agitation and worry, where were the others?
"Lief?" he called again, "Jasmine!"
But only the mist answered him with their sensual hiss and sickening white caress.
Yet as he peered into the whiteness, he suddenly caught sight of a figure moving away from him. It was a woman with dark hair.
"Jasmine!" he called uncertainly, knowing full well it could not be she in that flowing white gown.
The figure did not turn to face him, only kept moving away through the paths that trails between the snakegrass. Paths! He saw them now! Before he had only seen a random pattern but now it was easy to pick out the trail leading away into the mists. He would follow!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jasmine woke beneath a ceiling of rich brown wood.
She lay there for a moment, then suddenly sat up straight in alarm. Where was she? What had happened? Sharp pains stabbed through her head, and arms ached with a strange numbness.
She looked around to try and gauge some idea of where she was from her surroundings. The room was large, and lit dimly by candles set in holsters on the walls. Upon the floor was furry a rug that seemed to have been made from some type of animal. The heads of beasts stared back at her with glazed eyes from the walls, and she grimaced with the thought of their needless deaths.
Once she had decided she was alone, she threw back the thick hairy covers of the fourposter bed and stepped onto the cold bare boards of the floor. Her feet were also bare, though she gasped in shock when she realised she was not wearing her normal travelling cloak and garments, but... a dress!
It was red velvet and she stared at her reflection in the glass behind the door. She looked so different! For a moment the thought that someone had dressed her without her consent disgusted her, but the reflection in the looking glass drew her attention away from the strangeness of her situation.
Dark eyes framed by dark hair stared back at her, and she allowed herself to wonder, for a moment, what Lief would think of her if he were to see her dressed as a traditional princess of Deltora might be. A little shiver of pleasure ran down her spine.
Suddenly she realised what she had been thinking! She was no princess! She was just a wild girl not bred for the society of the royal court.
And where was Lief? Probably still trapped out there in the swamp! While she... she.. how had she come here? She remembered walking into the mists with Kree.. Kree! Where was he?
The strange pain in her wrists seemed to hint at part of the story, and she looked down to see grazes on the other sides of her hands. Perhaps she had fallen...
But she would go outside this room and discover where she was, then see if she could get the people who owned this house to help her search for Lief and Barda.
The stepped cautiously to the door, twisting the iron door nob in her hand. It was not locked. That was well, she was not a prisoner here.
Jasmine found herself to be upon a balcony with a dark curling banister sweeping down the staircase to her left. The red carpet beneath her feet felt strange, though she could not say why.. From below she could here voices, and suddenly she froze. She recognised that voice!
There it was again! A hearty laugh, one which she hadn't heard since Sharn fell into her death sleep. Then Barda was here!
She quickened her pace, and reaching the bottom of the stairs she tried to judge in which way to turn. To her left there was a wide arch which opened to a sort of wide antechamber, and from that direction she heard the noise of plates being shifted and voices in loud conversation. She approached cautiously, peering through the smaller arch before she entered the long dining hall.
At the other end of the room four figures were seated around the end of the long wooden table.
"Jasmine!" Barda called out, catching sight of her as she entered, "come and eat!"
Jasmine looked in wonder at the food spread out before them, and was almost disgusted by the amount of waste that would be produced by this one meal alone. There were lucious amounts of meat set out extravegantly on sivler platters, salads piled higher than their heads, and several large white cakes placed strategically a
She was glad to see Lief, healthy and well, eating his full, yet a little perplexed when he did not even look up at her coming.
The other two figures at the table, their apparent hosts, where two ladies. Both dressed in the most startling white, they looked her over with what seemed like kindly eyes and ushered her to a seat.
Jasmine sat, and watched as the others imediately continued their private conversations. She figeted, wondering what they were talking about in hushed voices.
The thought of eating the food set out before here was repulsive. She had a sick feeling in her stomache that just would not leave her be.
Her mind ran back over the rhyme they should have been following.
into the mists you pass
beneath the tall snake grass
fall on your knees
to avoid comfort and ease
beneath your feet
lies deep deceit
answer the same
regret you came
the wind turns west
it's for the best
COMFORT AND EASE... DECEIT... REGRET...
The words jumped out at Jasmine as she remembered. And they did not bode well for their current situation. Although all seemed right she could not shake off the feeling that something was very wrong.
She looked up at their hosts.
One, the woman talking to Barda, had dark hair framing her thin face. A sharp nose might have made her seem cruel, but her face was smiling and she seemed the picture of kindness.
The other, who was talking to Lief in a way that made Jasmine's blood boil, had dark hair like her companion. In fact this girl, for she was their age, resembled Jasmine greatly, though her manners were perfect and she was open and almost seductive in the way she stared at Lief.
The night wore on, and Jasmine figited in her seat. Not once had anyone made an attempt to speak with her! She could stand it no longer!
And when the young dark haired girl learnt forward towards Lief as though to kiss him, something Jasmine herself had never dared to attempt, she kicked back her chair and jumped to her feet. "No!"
Lief and Barda looked up at her, startled, as though they had not noticed she had been beside them for hours.
"What devilry has possessed you both to forget why we came to this land?" Jasmine heard her own voice rise with an anger she had never before experienced. "Lief," she continued, "do you forget that your mother, even now, lies upon her death bed waiting for our return?"
There was a low hiss from the dark haired girl, and Lief was looked up at her, his face dark with horror and confusion.
"And Barda," she continued, "your love for Sharn is strong, we have all seen as much, yet you come to this witch's house and forget your devotion within one night!"
Barda gasped suddenly and flung his chair back, gazing at the woman beside him with fear and disgust.
She reached out to him with a pale, boney hand and said gently, "fear not, my love, we gave you shelter in your time of need, all we ask now is a little in return."
Barda staggered away from the outstreched hand, as though afraid to let it touch him, and moved to where Jasmine stood. Lief followed quickly, and they stood together, staring down upon the two woman wondering what they would do.
"We thank you for your hospitality," Barda said stiffly, "but we are in a hurry to be on our way."
The younger woman stood, staring straight at Lief, "Then the nights and day you spent in our house have given you no sense of gratidude?"
"Nights?" Jasmine asked in horror, "how long have we been here?"
"It is the night of the sixth day since you came to our land," said the older woman, "And we would that you would spend the rest of your stay here with us. We can make you... comfortable.."
All three shuddered, not quite sure what they feared.
"We thank you," Lief said, "but we will leave now."
There was a silence, and Jasmine could feel the anger radiating from the two women, then there was a scream, and Jasmine was pressing her hands over her ears.
The glasses on the table smashed and Jasmine felt the flying projectiles cut into the skin of her bare arms. The mirrors on the walls also exploded, then everything changed.
The red carpet beneath their feet changed to splintered boards, the table grew a layer of thick dust and cobwebs, and the food upon it... agh, Jasmine pressed her hand over her mouth as she saw the maggots the weaved their way into the rotten meat, and the ants that trailed in long lines over the green decaying cakes.
And the women! Their hair thinned and became white. It fell to the ground until only the scaresest amount still clung to their hidious skulls. Their dark eyes became hollow sockets, and pale rotten skin flaked off thier faces. Their beautiful white gowns becames threads of dust and webs, clinging to emaciated skelletons, and their hands reached out for their guests.
Beside her Jasmine saw Lief and Barda's faces drain of colour, and she knew herself to be just as white.
Then suddenly Lief cried out, and pulled the vial from his pocket. "It burns!" he cried, "The next ingredient is here!"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I'm very sorry I had no time for reviewer responces, but they'll be up tommorow so please check back then.
Lief stared in rapture towards the white lady. Her voice was soft and as delicate as the mists. He felt drawn to her...
Then suddenly a sickening feeling in his stomach made him hesitate. Perhaps it was his good sense that revolted, or perhaps it was something to do with their next clue...
The beautiful voice rose another note, and he felt all his worries disappear with it.
He rose, and approached her beckoning hand.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jasmine gave up struggling after a few moments, seeing it was getting her nowhere. She tried to slow her breathing, but the feeling of the cold mud swallowing her more every moment defeated this purpose.
Fili's panicked twittering on her shoulder did not help to steady her mind, but it did give her an idea. She lifted her mud soaked hand to her lips and let out a shrill whistle. Even among all this wretched fog she knew a bird would hear clearly.
"Kree!" she shouted, "Kree!"
The mud had risen to her waist, and she could feel is slithering beneath her shirt and pulling her lower with its weight.
She was searching desperately in the foggy air for any sign that Kree had heard her call. She had not seen him since they entered the Jungle of the Dead and though she thought he would be following them above, she could not be sure.
There was something above her. A shadow of some kind. "Kree!" she called, and almost cried in relief as the bird gave his answering cry. The black shape swooped down, quickly assessing the situation.
Jasmine's first attempt to rescue herself had been to try to catch hold of the long strands of snakegrass that grew close to the bog she had slipped into, but they had been too far away. She pointed to them now, "swiftly Kree!"
The bird's understanding was sound, and immediately he grasped the end of a long strand of the weed in his teeth and flew with it till Jasmine could grab hold of it.
The mud sucked greedily at her as she pulled herself towards the bank. She could feel it within her clothes, weighing her down.
She knew then that she must follow the trails between the snakegrass. Perhaps Lief and Barda had already realised this and were waiting for her at the end of the mists. So with Kree upon her shoulder, and the warmth of Filli against her skin, she made her way into the endless whiteness.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Leaning his weight on the foot on the bank Barda strained and wrenched his muscles until his boot came free of the greedy, viscous mud.
He swiped the back of his sleeve across his forehead in agitation and worry, where were the others?
"Lief?" he called again, "Jasmine!"
But only the mist answered him with their sensual hiss and sickening white caress.
Yet as he peered into the whiteness, he suddenly caught sight of a figure moving away from him. It was a woman with dark hair.
"Jasmine!" he called uncertainly, knowing full well it could not be she in that flowing white gown.
The figure did not turn to face him, only kept moving away through the paths that trails between the snakegrass. Paths! He saw them now! Before he had only seen a random pattern but now it was easy to pick out the trail leading away into the mists. He would follow!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jasmine woke beneath a ceiling of rich brown wood.
She lay there for a moment, then suddenly sat up straight in alarm. Where was she? What had happened? Sharp pains stabbed through her head, and arms ached with a strange numbness.
She looked around to try and gauge some idea of where she was from her surroundings. The room was large, and lit dimly by candles set in holsters on the walls. Upon the floor was furry a rug that seemed to have been made from some type of animal. The heads of beasts stared back at her with glazed eyes from the walls, and she grimaced with the thought of their needless deaths.
Once she had decided she was alone, she threw back the thick hairy covers of the fourposter bed and stepped onto the cold bare boards of the floor. Her feet were also bare, though she gasped in shock when she realised she was not wearing her normal travelling cloak and garments, but... a dress!
It was red velvet and she stared at her reflection in the glass behind the door. She looked so different! For a moment the thought that someone had dressed her without her consent disgusted her, but the reflection in the looking glass drew her attention away from the strangeness of her situation.
Dark eyes framed by dark hair stared back at her, and she allowed herself to wonder, for a moment, what Lief would think of her if he were to see her dressed as a traditional princess of Deltora might be. A little shiver of pleasure ran down her spine.
Suddenly she realised what she had been thinking! She was no princess! She was just a wild girl not bred for the society of the royal court.
And where was Lief? Probably still trapped out there in the swamp! While she... she.. how had she come here? She remembered walking into the mists with Kree.. Kree! Where was he?
The strange pain in her wrists seemed to hint at part of the story, and she looked down to see grazes on the other sides of her hands. Perhaps she had fallen...
But she would go outside this room and discover where she was, then see if she could get the people who owned this house to help her search for Lief and Barda.
The stepped cautiously to the door, twisting the iron door nob in her hand. It was not locked. That was well, she was not a prisoner here.
Jasmine found herself to be upon a balcony with a dark curling banister sweeping down the staircase to her left. The red carpet beneath her feet felt strange, though she could not say why.. From below she could here voices, and suddenly she froze. She recognised that voice!
There it was again! A hearty laugh, one which she hadn't heard since Sharn fell into her death sleep. Then Barda was here!
She quickened her pace, and reaching the bottom of the stairs she tried to judge in which way to turn. To her left there was a wide arch which opened to a sort of wide antechamber, and from that direction she heard the noise of plates being shifted and voices in loud conversation. She approached cautiously, peering through the smaller arch before she entered the long dining hall.
At the other end of the room four figures were seated around the end of the long wooden table.
"Jasmine!" Barda called out, catching sight of her as she entered, "come and eat!"
Jasmine looked in wonder at the food spread out before them, and was almost disgusted by the amount of waste that would be produced by this one meal alone. There were lucious amounts of meat set out extravegantly on sivler platters, salads piled higher than their heads, and several large white cakes placed strategically a
She was glad to see Lief, healthy and well, eating his full, yet a little perplexed when he did not even look up at her coming.
The other two figures at the table, their apparent hosts, where two ladies. Both dressed in the most startling white, they looked her over with what seemed like kindly eyes and ushered her to a seat.
Jasmine sat, and watched as the others imediately continued their private conversations. She figeted, wondering what they were talking about in hushed voices.
The thought of eating the food set out before here was repulsive. She had a sick feeling in her stomache that just would not leave her be.
Her mind ran back over the rhyme they should have been following.
into the mists you pass
beneath the tall snake grass
fall on your knees
to avoid comfort and ease
beneath your feet
lies deep deceit
answer the same
regret you came
the wind turns west
it's for the best
COMFORT AND EASE... DECEIT... REGRET...
The words jumped out at Jasmine as she remembered. And they did not bode well for their current situation. Although all seemed right she could not shake off the feeling that something was very wrong.
She looked up at their hosts.
One, the woman talking to Barda, had dark hair framing her thin face. A sharp nose might have made her seem cruel, but her face was smiling and she seemed the picture of kindness.
The other, who was talking to Lief in a way that made Jasmine's blood boil, had dark hair like her companion. In fact this girl, for she was their age, resembled Jasmine greatly, though her manners were perfect and she was open and almost seductive in the way she stared at Lief.
The night wore on, and Jasmine figited in her seat. Not once had anyone made an attempt to speak with her! She could stand it no longer!
And when the young dark haired girl learnt forward towards Lief as though to kiss him, something Jasmine herself had never dared to attempt, she kicked back her chair and jumped to her feet. "No!"
Lief and Barda looked up at her, startled, as though they had not noticed she had been beside them for hours.
"What devilry has possessed you both to forget why we came to this land?" Jasmine heard her own voice rise with an anger she had never before experienced. "Lief," she continued, "do you forget that your mother, even now, lies upon her death bed waiting for our return?"
There was a low hiss from the dark haired girl, and Lief was looked up at her, his face dark with horror and confusion.
"And Barda," she continued, "your love for Sharn is strong, we have all seen as much, yet you come to this witch's house and forget your devotion within one night!"
Barda gasped suddenly and flung his chair back, gazing at the woman beside him with fear and disgust.
She reached out to him with a pale, boney hand and said gently, "fear not, my love, we gave you shelter in your time of need, all we ask now is a little in return."
Barda staggered away from the outstreched hand, as though afraid to let it touch him, and moved to where Jasmine stood. Lief followed quickly, and they stood together, staring down upon the two woman wondering what they would do.
"We thank you for your hospitality," Barda said stiffly, "but we are in a hurry to be on our way."
The younger woman stood, staring straight at Lief, "Then the nights and day you spent in our house have given you no sense of gratidude?"
"Nights?" Jasmine asked in horror, "how long have we been here?"
"It is the night of the sixth day since you came to our land," said the older woman, "And we would that you would spend the rest of your stay here with us. We can make you... comfortable.."
All three shuddered, not quite sure what they feared.
"We thank you," Lief said, "but we will leave now."
There was a silence, and Jasmine could feel the anger radiating from the two women, then there was a scream, and Jasmine was pressing her hands over her ears.
The glasses on the table smashed and Jasmine felt the flying projectiles cut into the skin of her bare arms. The mirrors on the walls also exploded, then everything changed.
The red carpet beneath their feet changed to splintered boards, the table grew a layer of thick dust and cobwebs, and the food upon it... agh, Jasmine pressed her hand over her mouth as she saw the maggots the weaved their way into the rotten meat, and the ants that trailed in long lines over the green decaying cakes.
And the women! Their hair thinned and became white. It fell to the ground until only the scaresest amount still clung to their hidious skulls. Their dark eyes became hollow sockets, and pale rotten skin flaked off thier faces. Their beautiful white gowns becames threads of dust and webs, clinging to emaciated skelletons, and their hands reached out for their guests.
Beside her Jasmine saw Lief and Barda's faces drain of colour, and she knew herself to be just as white.
Then suddenly Lief cried out, and pulled the vial from his pocket. "It burns!" he cried, "The next ingredient is here!"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I'm very sorry I had no time for reviewer responces, but they'll be up tommorow so please check back then.