Chapter 7: To the Castle

"Damn you Schmendrick!" Lir shouted above the wind. "Damn you!"

With an abrupt movement, he remounted, kicked his heels into the flanks of his steed, and sped toward his castle. Ariana had a bewildered look upon her face and all could see her desire to go after Lir, but remembering her duty as hostess, she led the three wind-tossed travelers toward her home. Ariana was quiet, but her mind was reeling as she pondered what had caused Lir so much distress when he had seen his oldest friends. As she thought, she knew it had something to do with the beautiful woman that had accompanied them.

Amalthea saw the dagger-like look that emanated from Ariana's agate hard green eyes. Were she still a unicorn, Amalthea would not have understood jealousy, but since she was a human, she felt its fire burning in her and she tasted the bitterness it left on her soft pink lips. She did not like this new emotion stirring inside her, but she knew that its passion would her give her strength to overcome.

Ariana led her guests through the beautiful stone fortress and set about finding one of her ladies-in-waiting to show Schmendrick and Molly to their quarters and find a room for their tag-along.

"This is Serana," Ariana said of the demure blonde next to her, "she'll make sure you get settled. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go see what's become of Lir." With that, she retreated down a long corridor and the sound of a heavy wooden door being closed echoed behind her.

Serana had the trio follow her down another corridor and into a large room filled with gorgeous tapestries and decorations. "I'll see about preparing a room for you milady," Serana said to Amalthea, "I'll have it ready for you after dinner. Feel free to explore the castle if you wish. Dinner will be served in just a few hours and his Majesty prefers his guests to dress."

"Dress?" Amalthea repeated after Serana had left, "Lir never cared about that before."

"Lir took a comment I made seriously," Schmendrick told her with a chuckle. "I once said to Haggard that he was missing out on all of the joys of the court: the balls, the feasts, the hunts. Once Haggard was gone, Lir decided he would see what he had been missing."

Amalthea nodded her understanding and after peering around the ornately decorated room, she strode over to the extremely tall window and let her gaze wander over the grey-blue sea.

A/N: I hope that everyone has enjoyed these new chapters. Please, I would love to hear your thoughts and criticisms on this story. I just want to make sure that you all are enjoying HALF-LIFE and that you are pleased with where the story is going. So, as I have said before, any reviews are greatly appreciated. Namarie - IrethAnwarunya