Q & A (if you don't want to read this, then just skip down until you get to the chapter):
How does Kalasin find the book? Has it always been there and she just found it that day or did it show up because she specifically needed it?
How does Kally find the book? She doesn't. It finds her. *evil laugh* I hope that was as cryptic as I wanted it to be… *frowns*
Is there a mention of a Lauryn in one of the books? or has someone written another fanfiction set in Tortall about a Lauryn? It seems familiar.
I don't think there's a mention of a Lauryn in the books. And if someone has written another fanfic about a Lauryn…err… I was not intentionally trying to use the same name. Has anybody used the name for one of their own fics? Drop me a line if you have. Although, it's a bit too late for me to start changing it now.
How old is she?
Eh? Who? Kalasin? Lauryn? Hmm….I would have to say Kalasin is in her late teens-ish. Seventeen, eighteen, or nineteen. I haven't quite decided. Lauryn? Well, that segment you read from her personal point of view was written in retrospect, so let's just say that she was old. But when it's the actual story she's telling, she's younger.
Author's Note: I would have had this at the end of the chapter… but then I'd probably just ruin the mood that is established by the chapter. So I'll just have to have it here. At the beginning. Yes. *nods* First off, here's the longer chapter everyone's been wanting. I only hope it doesn't become dull. Second, it's been decided. The review button is periwinkle. So go and tell all your friends. Some people agreed with me that it was orange…but we were overruled (damn democracy). Periwinkle. What an odd word… it's almost as bad as cauliflower. Where the hell did they come up with cauliflower anyhow? Third, thank you everyone for your reviews! I was pleasantly surprised by how many reviews I got for my first chapter. I had been expecting fifteen max (and twenty if I was in a self-flattering mood, heh), but not more than 30. I was most certainly surprised. Thank you!
….eh….*look around nervously* …Cauliflower!
2. A Lord's Anger
Noble's Bane: The Prologue
"Travis?"
The girl opened the door to the stables and peeked into the building. Several of her family's horses neighed in greeting.
"Travis?" she called out again.
She jumped visibly when she heard an unexpected cry from above.
"Got'cha, Lauryn! Got'cha!" Travis leapt from the loft and landed nimbly on a pile of hay less than a foot from where Lauryn stood.
He squinted at her as he lifted himself into an upright position. "Did I scare you?"
She grinned. "Not in the least," she said.
"Liar! Liar!" he cried, tossing a handful of hay at her. His small handful instigated a full-on war, and soon both children were shrieking with laughter as they tried to stuff hay down each other's collars.
Soon, the tall, dignified pile of hay was gone, leaving only scattered bunches of hay spread across the stable floor.
The children, wide-eyed, glanced first at the mess they had made, and then at each other.
And then they both laughed and ran out of the building.
Lauryn glanced at her younger brother. "Travis, where's Tinklefoot? I didn't see him in the stables."
He gave her a heavy shouldered shrug as he pulled a piece of hay out of his mussed blonde hair. "Papa took him and Suna out for exercise a little while ago."
Lauryn was going to be turning seven in less than a month. As a birthday gift, her parents had promised to give her Tinklefoot, the new colt they had bred. Travis had turned six just a few weeks ago, and he was as excited about Tinklefoot as she was.
"Look! There's Papa!"
Lauryn squinted into the direction that Travis pointed. Several figures were visible from where they stood.
Travis poked her in the shoulder. "Race you!" he said, taking off before giving her a moment to respond.
"Not fair!" she shouted as she hurried to catch up. "You started before I did!"
"Papa!" Lauryn threw her arm around her father's legs. "You--"
Her father made a quick motion with his hand, motioning for silence.
It was then that Lauryn realized that her father was not alone. He stood facing another man, a younger man who wore fine, unwrinkled clothes, had shiny black boots, and gold dangling from his ear.
The younger man looked down at her and Travis disdainfully. He grimaced as he saw her mussed clothes, her tangled blonde hair, and her smudged cheeks.
"Your children?" the young man said with distaste. Before waiting for a response, he spoke again, "Ask almost any price, and I will probably pay it."
Lauryn turned her head over her shoulder and glanced at the two horses that stood behind her father. The smaller one, Tinklefoot, pranced over to her, nosing through her pockets and looking for the lumps of sugar he knew she always had. His mother was more dignified; Suna waited for Travis to come over to her before she started looking for sugar.
"There is no price because the colt is not for sale."
Lauryn started and glanced up at her father.
The young man laughed. "Of course there's a price. There's always a price. Here," he took a pouch from his belt and opened it, "how much gold do you want for him?"
"I am sorry, my lord, but the colt is not for sale."
The young man's eyes narrowed, he was getting angry. "I will only ask you one more time. How much do you want--"
"You can't have him!" Travis interrupted the young man boldly. "He belongs to Lauryn! He's her birthday gift!" Travis glared at the young man.
The young man's lips tightened visibly. He glanced from Travis, to Lauryn, and then finally to her father. He stepped back and mounted his own horse, lips curled into an almost snarl. "So be it."
But he didn't just ride away. He guided his horse closer to the three of them, closer to Travis. He studied her brother carefully, and then turned to her father.
"He's a pretty little boy. But you should be careful. He won't look as pretty after a whip rips through his back."
And then he rode away.
Travis took a step back and wrapped his arms around Suna's neck, obviously frightened.
"Papa, what happened?" Lauryn asked uncertainly.
"Let's go into the house, Lauryn," her father said tiredly. "We will talk there. Come, Travis."
Lauryn walked with Tinklefoot at her side. He nudged at her, pranced lop-sided circles around her, and stumbled into her when he lost his balance, making it hard for her to walk straight. And although Tinklefoot's antics usually made her laugh, she wasn't smiling today.
Her mother glanced up from the cloth she was busily dying as they opened the door. The usual light-hearted smile that lined her mother's face drooped when she saw her husband's face.
"Darius, what's wrong? What happened?"
"One of the young lords came asking about Tinklefoot," her father said wearily.
Her mother frowned. "Well, what did you say?"
"I told him he was not for sale."
Her mother nodded. "Good." She started to go back to her work.
"But then Travis interrupted the young lord while he was speaking, and the lord threatened Travis."
Her mother froze. She glanced at her only son with an anxious look. "A serious threat?"
Her father shrugged. "I've got to settle the horses in." He left the house.
Lauryn saw that Travis was trembling. When he saw that she had noticed, he gave an exaggerated shiver and rubbed his hands together as if he was cold.
Lauryn shook her head and crossed the room until she reached his side. And then she put her arms around him and pulled him into a hug.
"He won't hurt you, Travis. I won't let him hurt you," she whispered into his ear.
He slowly returned her hug, and she felt the trembling leave his body.
And then their mother started to sing:
"Sleep, my child
Sleep, my babe
I will protect you
And keep the nightmares away"
It was the chorus of Travis' and Lauryn's favorite lullaby. Lauryn's mother motioned to her, and so Lauryn joined in to sing:
"When the night is too dark,
And the stars hide from your gaze,
Just reach out your hand
And I will chase your fears away"
Lauryn loved singing that verse of the lullaby. Because it was her own. Her and her family's. No one else knew it. It was their special verse, the verse that her family had made up themselves.
By the time they got to the chorus again, Travis had also cheered up enough to join in.
"Sleep, my child
Sleep, my babe
I will protect you
And keep the nightmares away"
"Well," her father said as he came through the door, "with a little more practice, Lauryn will become a better singer than even her mother," he teased.
Her mother took no insult, but instead smiled at her daughter. "Indeed, Lauryn has a beautiful voice. Come now; it's time for bed."
Her mother pulled Travis into her arms and carried him into their room, but Lauryn didn't let her father pick her up.
"I'm a big girl now, Papa. Nearly seven. I don't need to be held any longer," she said solemnly.
Her father smiled at her. "You are my daughter, Lauryn. And I will always want to hold you." He took her hand and they walked to the room together.
Lauryn's bed was on the side of the room with the window, while Travis' was on the other side. Lauryn loved her place under the window, the window that was made of glass. She had seen some of the other villagers' homes. Hers was the only one with glass windows. Just like the homes and mansions that belonged to rich lords.
"Thank you for not selling Tinklefoot, Papa," she said as she settled under her sheets.
Her father shook his head grimly. "Do not thank me yet. The young lord might come and try to take him again."
"But--" she started to protest angrily.
"And I'm sorry to say this," her father interrupted, "but if he comes to take the colt, then we must not stand in his way. He is a lord, Lauryn. A lord. You know that the lords and other rich folk rule this country."
"I hate Tortall," she declared angrily under her breath.
"Hush. Tortall is a good country. And we are a lucky family. We have our own land, our own home, and one another. My ability with horses and your mother's talent with dying cloth has given us enough money to make that possible. We are not forced into the backbreaking lives of slaves. Or the tedious lives of servants. But we are still not powerful. If we try to stand against the lords of this land, they will take everything from us, everything we worked so hard for. Not just Tinklefoot, Lauryn, but all the other horses. Our stables. Our house. They will take us and make us slaves."
"But why are they so mean to us? We haven't done anything to them," she said, struggling to understand.
Her father smiled sadly. "We don't need to. We live at their whim. All we can do is hope we don't get noticed."
"All right, Papa."
"Now go to sleep, and I'll see you in the morn--"
There was a sudden clatter outside.
"Darius?" her mother glanced about fearfully.
Her father stood. "Stay here. I'll go check on what that was." He strode determinedly out of the room.
Moments later, she heard her father speak. "What can I do for you gentleman this late in the eve?"
Her mother stood. "Lauryn, Travis. Get under the bed."
"What?"
"Quickly!" Her mother pulled Travis from his bed and pulled him toward Lauryn's bed. "Both of you, get underneath now!"
"We've come for your horses, horsebreeder. Since you've decided that you're too good to sell them to us, we've decided to take them," someone said. Lauryn heard several other voices grunt in agreement.
"Stay here," her mother ordered. "Lauryn, look after your brother." She turned and left the room.
"Stop!" she heard her father shout.
There was the unmistakable sound of metal sliding from a sheathe.
And then, "No! Darius!"
Lauryn clutched desperately at Travis and realized that he was also reaching for her as well.
"What's going on Lauryn?" he whispered, bright blue eyes dark with fear. Lauryn had always loved Travis' blue eyes. They were a dark, stormy blue, the blue of the night when there wasn't a cloud in the sky.
She shivered. "I don't know, Travis. I don't know."
There was the sound of rough, masculine laughter. And then the tearing of clothing.
And then the worst sound of all. Her mother started to scream.
Lauryn tried to press herself deeper into the wooden floor under her bed. She covered her ears with her hands and felt tears prickling her eyes.
"What's happening? What's happening?" Each time Travis spoke, his voice got shriller. "Mama's hurt! Mama's hurt!"
Lauryn grabbed him. "No, Travis! We have to stay here!"
"They're hurting Mama! They're hurting Papa! They're hurting our horses!" he babbled while he clawed at her hands. "We have to help! Help!" he cried as her grip around him got tighter.
Travis suddenly lifted her arm and sank his teeth into her wrist.
Lauryn cried out and let go; Travis scurried out from under the bed and rushed out of the room.
Mercifully, her mother's screaming came to a halt.
But was only to be replaced by another's: "Mama! Mama!"
"Take care of the little brat!" The shout was heard over various sounds of screaming horses, thudding hooves, and grunts of other men.
Travis' screaming came to an abrupt stop, but to Lauryn, that silence was just as bad.
"They had two children! A boy and a girl! We should get rid of the second one too!"
"Oh, she's still in the house. Let her stay in there and burn with the rest of her family's things." Someone laughed.
"Torch it! Torch the little shack!"
Movement suddenly flooded into her limbs; Lauryn crawled out from under her bed and glanced around. She had to get out. She had to escape.
The door wasn't an option: the men were out there.
All right then. The window.
Lauryn jumped atop her bed and pushed the glass window open. Just as she started to squeeze her small body through it, the house exploded.
Lauryn's body flew through the air, through the window and shattering the glass. The glass was everywhere, in her face, her hair, her arms.
Lauryn didn't feel her body land. She didn't feel the painful scratches the glass shards left on her skin.
There was only darkness.